Despite his criminal record for an armed offense, Banks had started working as a prison guard at Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, in 1980. In 1982 Banks had told coworkers at the prison that "the world would soon be consumed by a race war" and said he wanted "to prevent the five children he fathered with the four white girlfriends from the torment and agony of racism". He was put on "an extended leave of absence" the first week in September 1982 after a conflict with a supervisor and threatening suicide. The prison ordered Banks to be examined for mental health issues at a Harrisburg-area hospital.