SAN FRANCISCO: US Attorney General Pam Bondi visited the former Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay on Thursday (Jul 17), weeks after President Donald Trump said he intended to reopen the long-shuttered facility to house violent offenders.
Aerial footage showed Bondi speaking with park rangers and touring the island, which is now operated by the National Park Service as a historical site and tourist destination. Television cameras followed the attorney general, who did not speak to reporters during the visit.
Trump, in May, said he had directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons, overseen by Bondi, to rebuild and reactivate Alcatraz as a functioning prison. However, it remains unclear whether any formal plans have been drawn up. The administration did not request funds for the project in its latest budget submission to Congress.
Bondi has recently faced criticism from some Trump supporters following the Justice Department’s decision to close a review of material linked to accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.
Alcatraz operated as a maximum-security federal prison from 1934 to 1963. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, it was shut down due to high operational costs. The facility once held some of the most notorious US criminals, including gangster Al Capone.
Today, the former prison is one of San Francisco’s most visited landmarks.
The Trump administration has also dubbed a newly opened migrant detention centre in the Florida Everglades “Alligator Alcatraz,” drawing comparisons to the isolated prison island.
A spokesperson for the Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding Bondi’s visit.
