Two guards and a chaplain have been released from a hospital after being hurt at Menard penitentiary during an attack Tuesday.
Prison officials say the attack at the Chester prison involved up to 15 inmates. The assaults were the latest in a series of violent incidents over the last month at Menard Correctional Center and other Illinois state prisons. Last Thursday, a Menard inmate died in what one official called suspicious circumstances. The inmate's body was found in his cell. Union officials say the violence is a result of Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn's decision to close several prisons around the state - including the Tamms Supermax prison - to save money.
The assaults happened as about 200 union members marched outside the prison. They were protesting over what they say are growing threats to their safety. Corrections officials say the attack led to a lockdown.
State Representative Mike Bost criticized lawmakers for failing to restore funding to keep Tamms and other state prisons open. Tuesday on the House floor, during a debate on a supplemental funding bill, Bost called the action "Blood Money." The Murphysboro Republican says he wants to fix the problems of overcrowding and safety in the state's prisons but keeping Tamms closed will only lead to more deaths in the state's prisons.
