10 Star Trek Episodes Based On Real-Life Events
4. Past Tense
The third season two-part episode, Past Tense, sees Sisko, Bashir and Dax accidentally transported back to the 21st century in San Francisco. The situation they discover is grim. Thousands of people have been shunted into so-called Sanctuary Zones, which are designed to house the homeless while they look for work. The conditions are wretched and there is a huge amount of growing discontent. Muggings and attacks are frequent, leaving the areas in a seemingly endless cycle of depression.
The story was based on the Attica Prison Riot from 1971. This remains the largest prisoner uprising in American history, caused by poor conditions and well-being in the prison system. The death of George Jackson, a prisoner and activist, two weeks before the riot led to the outbreak of violence. This is loosely mirrored in the episode with the death of Gabriel Bell, for whom the Trek riot would later be named.
The Attica riot would result in several days of a stand-off, with quite a few of the prisoners' demands being met. However, Governer Nelson Rockefeller ordered the police to storm the prison. By the time the shooting stopped, at least 43 people had died, though few of them were attributed to the prisoners themselves. It paved the way for prison reform in the United States, much as the Bell Riots paved the way for better conditions for the poor and homeless on Star Trek's Earth.