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By Root 616 0

1937. Following the lunchtime meal, he and over a hundred other inmates remained in their cells, refusing to work and announcing a general strike in protest against confinement conditions at Alcatraz. Four days later when the inmates filed into the Mess Hall, Warden Johnston stood near the line to observe the inmates. Suddenly and without warning, Phillips stepped out of the line and viciously attacked the Warden. He knocked Johnston to the floor and delivered several sharp kicks to his head and torso. Johnston was rendered unconscious, and the guards quickly tackled Phillips. Correctional Officer E.F. Chandler used his Browning automatic rifle to smash away one of the windowpanes inside the caged Mess Hall catwalk, and aimed his rifle straight at Phillips. The other inmates took cover and the disturbance was quickly smothered. Phillips was removed to the dungeon cells located under A Block and allegedly handcuffed to the bars in a standing position.

Johnston woke up on the operating table in the hospital and he would later write that he had no recollection of the event. It is said that Phillips was taken to the dungeon where he was severely beaten and rendered unconscious, but this is not officially documented. He was then transferred to the hospital and quoted as saying that he regretted not having had a weapon with which to kill the Warden. Johnston, however, did not cower following the attack. Though he had suffered several cuts and bruises to his head, face and upper torso, he reaffirmed his stature by returning to the Mess Hall, standing in the very spot where he had been attacked and greeting the inmates who were filing in for lunch. Johnston would finally lift the rule of silence in late 1937, thus ending one of the most trying aspects of prison life on the island.

Violence among the inmates was not uncommon at Alcatraz over the entire span of its operation. Former inmate John Dekker, a Chicago born bank robber, recalled witnessing a murder that resulted from a simple dispute over a pack of cigarettes. During the island’s tenure as a federal penitentiary, eight people were murdered by inmates, five men committed suicide, and fifteen died of natural causes. The island had its own morgue, a remnant from the military period, but no autopsies were performed there. All deceased inmates were brought back to the mainland and released to the San Francisco County Coroner.

Alcatraz wanted no surprises when it came to administering discipline to prisoners. Adherence to the rules at Alcatraz was mandatory in the strictest sense, and inmates who broke the rules were subject to a level of discipline that was dictated by the severity of the offense. Due to the tales that leaked out about strict routines and harsh punishments, the public came to believe that Alcatraz was a grim place, but the reality was that the morale at Alcatraz was typically better than at most other penal institutions. Former inmate Willie Radkay commented: “The correctional staff treated us with respect, though we rarely spoke to one another. If you minded your own business and did your own time, no one ever bothered you.” Former inmate Darwin Coon would concur with this assessment. He stated: “If you were on the up-and-up and didn’t carry any debts towards other inmates, you would be okay.” Former correctional officer Al Bloomquest recalled: “It was really a very respectful environment. The public's idea that Alcatraz was some hellhole wasn't at all true. We ate the exact same menu as the inmates, we lived together day-to-day, and for the most part, we treated each other with dignity.” Former correctional officer Phil Bergen later wrote in a letter:

The public never wanted to know the real Alcatraz. There was never any form of abuse that I ever witnessed. If an inmate struck an officer, well, that might earn someone a hard dragging to the hole. There wasn't ever a true silence rule like some of these men claim; it was essentially a quiet rule. I imagine it was a better deterrent letting people believe that it was a place straight out of a horror film,