A team of 35 officers diffused a potential jail riot before it happened this morning at the Washington County Detention Center in Jonesborough.
According to Sheriff Ed Graybeal, Inmates grew angry after being forced to spend the night in three holding cells. Jailers moved the 17 inmates to the holding cells after they flooded a jail pod by stuffing fabric into toilets, Graybeal said.
While jail employees cleaned their pod, Sheriff Graybeal said the inmates began threatening guards. That prompted the sheriff to send a SWAT team, Special Operations Response Team, deputies, and detention officers into the facility to surround one of the holding cells filled with nine inmates who'd been making threats.
"We opened the door, all of the guys had their SWAT gear on, their helmets, their vests," Graybeal said. "We had the (tear) gas with us, so we opened up the door where you put the food in and told them to comply, leave their hands down, and get on their knees."
According to Graybeal, the inmates quickly surrendered before the officers needed to activate the tear gas.
"When you show that force, that's what it takes," Graybeal said. "It's just having enough people to say, 'Hey, you got 17, we got 35, we got the keys and you don't."
No one was hurt during Monday's exchange.
Sheriff Graybeal called it the worst jail violence since 1997 when a riot happened at the Washington County Detention Center. Once returned to their pods Monday morning, detention officers locked down the inmates who made the threats and stripped them of some of their privileges.
"When everything was done, I had a talk with all of them," Graybeal said. "I explained to them that we're just not going to tolerate that. We can't.'"
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