Trump says he’ll reopen Alcatraz, once home of Juneau’s most notorious criminal

President Donald Trump announced on social media a proposal to reopen the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary, the island prison in San Francisco Bay that once held some of America’s most famous criminals, including a notorious one from Juneau — Robert Stroud, better known as the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”

Although Alcatraz ceased operating as a federal prison in 1963 and has since become a national historic site managed by the National Park Service, Trump believes the island facility could be brought back into operation for some of America’s most violent criminals, who he intends to see brought to justice.

Stroud, who spent 17 years in the island penitentiary, was convicted in 1909 of manslaughter after shooting a bartender in Juneau during a dispute involving his mistress. Born in Seattle, he had left home at age 13 to escape his father, described in various accounts as abusive and alcoholic. By the age of 18, he was living in the Alaska Territory, where he became a pimp. During his incarceration, he had a reputation for violence, and in 1916, he fatally stabbed a prison guard.

Stroud became known for his interest in ornithology and for keeping and studying birds during his time in prison. Unlike the romanticized depiction in the movie, he was not allowed to keep birds while at Alcatraz. He had raised canaries at Leavenworth federal penitentiary, and he also served time at McNeil Island, where he was first placed after being held in a Juneau jail. He was eventually transferred to Alcatraz in 1942 and died in 1963 at the Medical Center for Federal Prisoners, in Springfield, Missouri. He was 73 and had spent 55 years in prison.

The 1962 film Birdman of Alcatraz, starring Burt Lancaster, made Stroud famous, although great liberties were taken with his life story, and the film did not include all of his violent episodes in prison. The prison also held Al Capone and George “Machine Gun” Kelly and was featured in the movies, “The Rock,” which starred Sean Connery and Nicolas Cage, and “Escape from Alcatraz,” starring Clint Eastwood.

“For too long, America has been plagued by vicious, violent, and repeat Criminal Offenders, the dregs of society, who will never contribute anything other than Misery and Suffering. When we were a more serious Nation, in times past, we did not hesitate to lock up the most dangerous criminals, and keep them far away from anyone they could harm. That’s the way it’s supposed to be,” Trump wrote on TruthSocial. “That is why, today I am directing the Bureau of Prisons, together with the Department of Justice, FBI, and Homeland Security, to reopen a substantially enlarged and rebuilt ALCATRAZ, to house America’s most ruthless and violent Offenders.”

Currently, the island is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and sees over a million tourists every year. The Federal Bureau of Prisons has no current authority over the island and it would cost an enormous sum to bring it up to standard, after it has been mothballed for 60 years.