Supermax Neighbors Fear Gitmo Influx

Townspeople worry that transfer will make them a target for terrorists
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 23, 2009 7:59 AM CDT
Supermax Neighbors Fear Gitmo Influx
The Administrative Maximum prison, the only one in the federal system, is seen in Florence, Colorado.   (Bureau of Prisons)

People who live near some of America's most notorious killers fear closing Guantanamo Bay will wreck their neighborhood, the New York Times reports. Residents of Cañon City, Colo., close to the Florence "Supermax" prison, worry the detainees will be transferred there, making them a target for terrorists and potentially prompting the terror suspects' families to move to their town.

"People here are good Christian conservatives,” said one resident who fears property values will fall, and that the detainees' families may themselves be Muslim terrorists. Others in the town, where the surrounding prisons have long underpinned the economy, note that nobody has ever escaped from the prison and believe the move will hardly be noticed. "Bring them on,” said one business owner. “I don’t worry a lick.” (More Guantanamo Bay stories.)

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