St. Louis City officials provide a statement on Monday, April 5, 2021, after a second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center late Sunday night. Officials say no staff was harmed and the only injuries sustained by inmates were cuts from breaking the glass windows. This is the second uprising in as many months at the facility. Video by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
UPDATED at 9:30 a.m. Monday with comments from mayoral candidates and the city.
ST. LOUIS — Inmates in at least two areas of the City Justice Center escaped their cells Sunday to break windows, shout to spectators and throw debris to the sidewalk below in the latest uprising over conditions at the downtown jail.
Inmates broke through the windows on the northwest corner of the third floor of the jail, below windows that were boarded up from the last riot in February. They threw furniture, a computer, toilet paper and their own clothing to the street below, and started a fire on the exterior of the building. Some chanted "We want court dates," a reference to delays in court appearances and trials caused by the pandemic.Â
About 50 to 75 supporters on the sidewalk below were protesting what they called "inhumane conditions" at the jail.
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The inmates disappeared from the windows about 10:15 p.m., with sheriff's deputies in riot gear appearing a short time later.
Police had established a perimeter about a block away to keep more onlookers from gathering, but just watched the crowd in front of the jail from afar.Â
Just before 11 p.m., cheers erupted from the spectators as broken glass indicated a second incident — this time in the southwest corner of the third floor.
Inmates break out more windows around 11 p.m. on the third floor of the St. Louis Justice Center on Sunday, April 4, 2021. This follows an uprising in February when dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Video by Robert Patrick, Post-Dispatch
Inmates again threw objects to the street, including a large plastic chair that was immediately commandeered by a man who sat in the street to watch the action.
But this time the inmates were coughing, apparently from mace, with one repeatedly saying, "I can't breathe" and complaining of health problems.Â
They also lowered a rope made of bed sheets that had been tied together, but no one risked a climb down. After about 30 minutes, the inmates disappeared again, and officers in riot gear appeared.
Mayoral spokesman Jacob Long said in an email early Monday that the first of "two violent and dangerous disturbances" began about 8:30 p.m. He said there were no reports of serious injuries.
Both candidates for St. Louis mayor criticized the correctional system, with Treasurer Tishaura Jones saying in a statement Monday that she is "horrified and deeply frustrated by the cries for help coming from those being held within the City Justice Center."
She said there "is an immediate need for change in our city’s justice system," and that a "clear chain of command" is needed.
Alderman Cara Spencer said in her own statement, "It's clear that the city is failing to insure that staff and the city residents incarcerated there are safe." Spencer said she is committed to "competent and humane administration" of the jail and the closure of the city's Medium Security Institution, a second city jail that's commonly known as the workhouse.
The uprising comes after a similar incident in February when about 115 inmates took control of the fourth floor of the City Justice Center, where they set fires, clogged toilets, flooded parts of the floor and caused other damage, officials said at the time.
´¡Ìýreport last month by the Corrections Task Force, formed after February's riot, called for an independent oversight board and said inmates were most upset about being locked in their jail cells “for most of the day," isolation from family and a perceived lack of COVID-19 precautions, the length of time they've been held awaiting trial and the medical care provided in the jail.
Officials acknowledged after February's riot that they'd struggled to deal with faulty cell door locks. An inmate told the Post-Dispatch that the faulty locks were well known to inmates but rarely did detainees taken advantage of them.Â
It wasn't immediately clear what prompted Sunday's uprising or how it happened.
Firefighters spray water in burning debris after inmates at the St. Louis Justice Center broke windows and tossed items out windows on Sunday, April 4, 2021. This follows an uprising in February when dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Video by Robert Patrick, Post-Dispatch
Photos: Inmates again smash windows at downtown St. Louis jail
Clean-up repeats following another city jail disturbance downtown

An employee of Woodard Restoration removes broken glass from windows in preparation for boarding them up on the third floor of the St. Louis City Justice Center on Monday, April 5, 2021. Inmates broke windows, set fires and tossed items to the ground during two disturbances on Sunday. The unrest followed a February disturbance at the same facility. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
Clean-up repeats following another city jail disturbance downtown

Employees of Woodard Restoration remove broken glass from third floor windows in preparation for boarding them up at the St. Louis City Justice Center on Monday, April 5, 2021. Inmates broke windows, set fires and tossed items to the ground during two disturbances on Sunday. The unrest followed a February disturbance at the same facility, where fourth floor windows remain boarded. Photo by Robert Cohen, rcohen@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates, from a second cell block, chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Onlookers watch from the street as inmates chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis City Justice Center on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising there in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
Watch now: St. Louis Justice Center uprising happens again
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

An onlooker with a gun poses for a photo with debris from inmates breaking windows, throwing items onto the street and setting fires at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

An inmate raises his fist through a broken window at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Officers in riot gear look out broken windows after inmates broke windows, started fires and threw things into the street at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates, from a second cell block, cough and try to breathe through broken windows after officers deploy a chemical irritant at the St. Louis City Justice Center on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising there in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates in a second cell block break windows and chant at the St. Louis City Justice Center on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising there in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates in a second cell block break windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates at the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis look through smashed windows that they tossed burning debris from, in a disturbance on Easter Sunday night, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

A firefighter watches as inmates at the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis look through smashed windows that they tossed burning debris from, in a disturbance on Easter Sunday night, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

A firefighter watches as inmates at the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis look through smashed windows that they tossed burning debris from, in a disturbance on Easter Sunday night, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Officers in riot gear line up inside the cell block following an incident where inmates broke windows, set fires and threw things into the street at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates, from a second cell block, chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on April 4, 2021. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Onlookers watch from the street as inmates chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. The chair was thrown from a window a few minutes before, it was later carried away by a different group of people. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

A bystander throws a broken keyboard back at the building after inmates broke windows, set fires and threw things into the street at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

A kid carries rolls of toilet paper down the sidewalk while wearing a "City of St. Louis Corrections" shirt after inmates broke windows and threw items into the street at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. The inmates threw multiple shirts and pants out of the window, which bystanders picked up and wore. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates pull a shoe up on an improvised rope from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. The shoe was dropped down to people waiting on the street then pulled back up to the windows where inmates removed something from it. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Inmates chant and throw things from broken windows at the St. Louis Justice Center, known as the city jail, on Sunday, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
St. Louis City Justice Center Easter Sunday Incident

Firefighters watch as inmates at the City Justice Center in downtown St. Louis look through smashed windows that they tossed burning debris from, in a disturbance on Easter Sunday night, April 4, 2021. It is the second uprising at the St. Louis Justice Center in less than two months. In February, dozens of inmates broke windows and set fires. Photo by Colter Peterson, cpeterson@post-dispatch.com
Inmates break windows, set fires again at Justice Center

Office and security equipment, now debris, lay in a pile on Monday, April 5, 2021, outside the St. Louis City Justice Center and across from City Hall downtown after another incident in which CJC inmates escaped their cells, broke windows and set fires. Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Inmates break windows, set fires again at Justice Center

Office and security equipment, now debris, lay in a pile on Monday, April 5, 2021, outside the St. Louis City Justice Center and across from City Hall downtown after another incident in which inmates escaped their cells, broke windows and set fires. Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com
Inmates break windows, set fires again at Justice Center

The St. Louis City Justice Center shows damage on Monday, April 5, 2021, downtown after another incident where inmates appeared to have escaped their cells, set fires, broke windows and threw debris and furniture outside. Christian Gooden, cgooden@post-dispatch.com