Thompson, Miran

Miran Thompson was born on December 17, 1917 . He began a criminal biography early. With arrests and sentences, he tried to escape eight times. Before being transferred to Alcatraz, he was convicted of murder, including several policemen.

The “battle for Alcatraz” was described as an unsuccessful escape attempt, which was undertaken from 2 to 4 May 1946 , as a result of which two guards were killed (one died of severe injuries later) and three prisoners, and 14 prison guards and one prisoner were injured.

Bernard Coy, a bank robber who was serving a twenty-year sentence, found a weak spot in the grid that defended the western armory. At about 2 pm on May 2, he (after being on a diet for a long time) undressed, put some grease on it, and climbed over the grille below the storehouse with the weapon. Using a self-made device, made by him in the workshop, he slightly straightened the bars of the grille and squeezed between them, outwitting the guards on duty. When he reached the goal, he armed himself with a Springfield rifle and began to throw off automatic weapons, keys, batons and gas grenades to his accomplices. Armed prisoners captured nine guards and locked them in a cell. One of Koya’s five accomplices was Miran Thompson ^{[1] [2]} .

The purpose of the prisoners was to capture the boat, which was supposed to arrive in prison from the mainland. They planned, hiding behind captured guards, to try to capture the boat, and on it to get to San Francisco . But for this they needed to get outside the prison building, and then the prisoners realized that they did not have the key to the door leading to the courtyard. Bernard Coy and his accomplice Joseph Kretzer began demanding the key they needed from the captured guards, and when they realized that they could not get it, Kretzer started shooting at the guards in the cell. A key, by happy coincidence, did not put in place one of the captured guards, Bill Miller. Later, the prisoners found his key, but because of the selection of all the keys to the door leading to the courtyard, she had a blocking mechanism, and the prisoners were trapped ^{[1] [2]} .

Shooting did not go unnoticed, the siren was turned on and help was called. Soon, the Marines, the coast guard, and later the FBI agents arrived to help. It was decided to go on the assault, the guards opened fire on the rebellious prisoners, and the assault team attempted to enter the prison. One fighter from the assault team was mortally wounded, probably by a bullet of his partner. Marines began to shower tear gas into the prison building D ^{[1] [2]} .

At 9:45 am on May 4, the guards took the prison by storm. They found the bodies of Kretzer, Koy, and another accomplice, Marvin Hubbard. A total of six prisoners participated in the conspiracy. The prisoners of Miran Thompson, Sam Shockley, and Clarence Carnes were taken from Alcatraz to be tried for rebellion and the killing of guards ^{[1] [2]} .

Miran Thompson, Sam Shockley, and Clarence Carnes were found guilty of murder. Nineteen-year-old Clarence Carnes received a second life sentence for active participation in the rebellion instead of the death penalty. Prisoners Miran Thompson and Sam Shockley were sentenced to death. On December 3, 1948, Miran Thompson was executed in the gas chamber of San Quentin ^{[1] [2]} .

• Battle of alcatraz
• A Brief History of Alcatraz
• Executions of Federal Prisoners (since 1927)