The Federal Bureau of Prisons on Monday announced it locked down all 122 facilities it oversees nationwide due to ongoing civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd.
The temporary security measure that went into effect in the afternoon was taken "in an abundance of caution" due to the nationwide protests, some of which turned to riots. There are more than 165,000 inmates in federal custody.
No inmates will be moved during the lockdown to ensure the safety of staff and the inmates, BOP added.
The last time BOP issued an order of this magnitude locking down about 70 facilities was in October 1995, when rioting broke out at prisons in Alabama, Tennessee, Illinois and Pennsylvania.
The BOP was already operating under a modified lockdown, which the agency calls an "enhanced modified operation model," to promote social distancing and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, NBC News reports.
Floyd's death last week, ruled a homicide by both a Minneapolis medical examiner and an independent autopsy, generated protests nationwide.
