On Thursday night, neighbors noticed a new feature at the prison: a mesh privacy screen was put up along a portion of the fencing, blocking their views. Then on Friday, additional privacy screening was affixed to the fence around the campus, blocking public views of the running path used.
Arrington said he has not personally heard from constituents about Maxwell’s arrival, but he believes local law enforcement and prison security would be able to handle any related threats.
“We don’t have any fears,” Arrington said. “We didn’t have any issues in the past week.”
Residents around FPC Bryan say the change in security is a diversion from the norm.
“They are patrolling for her, not for us,” Marc Ybarra, 22, said from his home across the street from the prison, referring to Maxwell.
Ybarra said it makes sense she would end up in Texas, and in a semi-remote area such as Bryan, to keep her and the controversy surrounding her “hush-hush.”
“It makes for whatever agenda they had, whatever they are trying to push,” added Ybarra’s partner, Mya Lopez, 21. She waved to an inmate who was walking the prison’s jogging path.
On a recent afternoon, Bryan native Angel Castaneda worked with a crew on a driveway and sidewalk of a home across from the prison camp, as armed guards with bulletproof vests and other equipment patrolled around the property.
“They’re 24/7 now,” Castaneda said.
Cars used to be able to drive up to the prison’s entrance and use a scanner to get past a barrier arm, he said, but now, drivers are met by guards.
“Most people have always felt this was safe. It has never really been a problem,” Castaneda said of the prison camp. “They’ve always had everything under control.”
“You’ll hear of a woman escaping every two, three, five years. It’s random,” he said, adding that they usually don’t make it far.
Maxwell’s arrival at the prison does have him concerned, he said, but more so given her status as a sex offender than any conspiratorial association.
“If they have them in custody,” Castaneda said, “it’s probably better that way.”
Suzanne Gamboa reported from Bryan and Erik Ortiz from New York.
