A riot broke out at the Liberty County Jail on Thursday morning, Feb. 27, as inmates in two dorm units barricaded doors, broke windows, and defied law enforcement during a tense two-hour standoff. The incident, which began around 9:30 a.m., involved 44 inmates across both dorms, though only a handful of the main instigators are expected to face charges.
According to Sgt. Oscar Martinez, who supervises the jail deputies for the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office, when the uprising began, jail staff initially evacuated to a secure hallway after realizing they were outnumbered. They awaited backup from multiple law enforcement agencies before attempting to regain control of the facility.
Lt. John Bennett, also with LCSO, attributed the uprising to a routine shakedown, during which officers search inmates’ possessions for contraband.
“Look, these guys don’t want to be shook down. They don’t want the stuff they are bringing in to be taken away from them. They took over the dorms, and we had to go in with force and take them back,” Bennett explained.
Authorities quickly secured the first dorm, subduing inmates and placing them in restraints. However, the second dorm posed a greater challenge as inmates tied sheets to the doors to block entry and covered the windows that remained intact after others had been shattered. Although they attempted to break out, the facility’s layered window system prevented any escape.
Law enforcement deployed chemical agents through a small opening in the door, forcing the inmates to surrender after about 30 minutes.
“Once we made entry, everybody was on the ground,” Bennett said.
One of the main instigators suffered injuries during the confrontation and is undergoing medical evaluation. No law enforcement officers were harmed.
Sheriff Bobby Rader, who was on-site during the incident, said his next priority is finding space in other county jails to house some inmates while repairs to the facility are made. However, with nearby jails in Jasper and Newton counties already at capacity, options are limited. The sheriff, as of 4 p.m, continues to look for other facilities outside the county to house inmates while repairs are made.
Rader extended his gratitude to the agencies that assisted in the response, including the Liberty Fire Department, Liberty PD, Dayton PD, the Texas Rangers, Texas DPS, the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team, local constable offices, and the Liberty County District Attorney’s Office.
“I just want to thank everyone for the team effort,” Rader said.
Bennett issued a stern warning to those who believe they can disrupt operations at the jail.
“Listen, if you get locked up in Liberty County and this DA’s office gives you a significant amount of time and you’re going to be sent to TDCJ, you’re not going to come in this facility and run it,” Bennett stated. “If you think that you’re going to get out, you’re wrong. If you think you’re going to cause problems, it’s not going to be squashed, you’re wrong. If you come to Liberty County and you get arrested, you’re going to be seeing a judge, you’re going to be going to court. While you’re here, you’re going to be treated fairly, respectfully. We expect the same thing from you. We treat you the way that you treat us. And this right here is totally unacceptable. And we have the main instigators, and they’re going to be charged with this, and we’ll be moving forward with it.”
Authorities have not yet released the names of the inmates expected to face charges, but the investigation into the riot remains ongoing.
Photos from inside the jail following the riot:
What’s the inmates side of the story, it’s 3 sides to every thing,yalls theirs, and the truth, it’s far more behavior going on in side the jail and the inmates are not always at fault but the people will never know that part do to the way society view inmates period, Bobby Raider doesn’t spend a lot of his time in side the jail to know what has taken place to set off such things of this nature he’s just a spectator as well as the people that’s never spent a night in side that place to even have a attempt to voice their opinion, and by far there’s know need for a inmate to act out in the manner that they did do to the fact they can not and will not win against the system regardless weather their right are not because being fair and treated with respect is what CJ citizen, Whitney citizen, and Chucky Mouton, along with lots more inmates suffer from out of fairness, and respect, that Liberty, county has to offer
I no that right paw paw
Good job to al law enforcement and firefighter teams for coming out unharmed, most respect to all of you, and God Bless
I was at the dentist that day. And the way I found out one of the people that work in the dentist office said her family works in law enforcement. And they would tell her what happened. Cuz I jokingly said be careful out there the police are out there real bad today because I seen them all flying by thank you for your services
Thanks for your service.
Inmates are not in there for being goodie 2 shoes. But they do need to be treated properly. If they need to be punished for their behavior in jail. Then so be it. Some order has to be followed