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151-474: The Black Liberation Army gained strength as Black Panther Party membership declined. By 1970, police and FBI sabotage (see COINTELPRO ), infiltration , sectarianism , the lengthy prison sentences, and death of key members (among them Fred Hampton ) had significantly undermined the Black Panther Party. This convinced many former party members of the desirability of underground existence, seeing that

302-528: A New York Times editor, who was present at the prison as an observer, published A Time to Die . Another Attica observer, Clarence Jones , released (with Stuart Connelly) his historical account Uprising: Understanding Attica, Revolution and the Incarceration State in 2011. In 1985, Malcolm Bell, a former prosecutor for the Attica Task Force and eventual whistleblower, released his account of

453-487: A "revolutionary internationalist movement ": [The Party] dropped its wholesale attacks against whites and began to emphasize more of a class analysis of society. Its emphasis on Marxist–Leninist doctrine and its repeated espousal of Maoist statements signaled the group's transition from a revolutionary nationalist to a revolutionary internationalist movement. Every Party member had to study Mao Tse-tung's "Little Red Book" to advance his or her knowledge of peoples' struggle and

604-614: A 1958 rape conviction. They settled in Algeria. By the end of the year, party membership peaked at around 2,000. Party members engaged in criminal activities such as extortion, stealing, violent discipline of BPP members, and robberies. The BPP leadership took one-third of the proceeds from robberies committed by BPP members. No kid should be running around hungry in school. Bobby Seale Inspired by Mao Zedong 's advice to revolutionaries in The Little Red Book , Newton called on

755-434: A 90-minute gun battle with the police. The standoff ended with Cleaver wounded and Hutton voluntarily surrendering. According to Cleaver, although Hutton had stripped down to his underwear and had his hands raised in the air to prove that he was unarmed, Oakland Police shot Hutton more than 12 times, killing him. Two police officers were also shot. He became the first member of the party to be killed by police. Although at

906-503: A California law that permitted carrying a loaded rifle or shotgun as long as it was publicly displayed and pointed at no one. Generally this was done while monitoring and observing police behavior in their neighborhoods, with the Panthers arguing that this emphasis on active militancy and openly carrying their weapons was necessary to protect individuals from police violence. For example, chants like "The Revolution has come, it's time to pick up

1057-927: A big influence on the White Panther Party , tied to the Detroit/Ann Arbor band MC5 and their manager John Sinclair (author of the book Guitar Army ), which also promulgated a ten-point program. Violent conflict between the Panther chapter in LA and the US Organization , a black nationalist group, resulted in shootings and beatings and led to the murders of at least four Black Panther Party members. On January 17, 1969, Los Angeles Panther Captain Bunchy Carter and Deputy Minister John Huggins were killed in Campbell Hall on

1208-412: A broken taillight. Zayd Shakur and state trooper Werner Foerster were both killed during the exchange. Following her capture, Assata Shakur was tried in six different criminal trials. According to Shakur, she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges against them ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Assata Shakur

1359-538: A circulation of 250,000. The group created a Ten-Point Program , a document that called for "Land, Bread, Housing, Education, Clothing, Justice and Peace", as well as exemption from conscription for black men, among other demands. With the Ten-Point program, "What We Want, What We Believe," the Black Panther Party expressed its economic and political grievances. Curtis Austin states that by late 1968, Black Panther ideology had evolved from black nationalism to become more

1510-617: A civilian clerk were there. Two days later, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter signed by the BLA claiming responsibility for the attack. On November 3, 1971, Officer James R. Greene of the Atlanta Police Department was shot and killed in his patrol van at a gas station. His wallet, badge, and weapon were taken, and the evidence at the scene pointed to two suspects. The first was Twymon Myers (suspected to be one of

1661-537: A cleavage between the prison population's reformist and revolutionary/abolitionist elements. Published in 1972, the first historical account of the Attica Prison Uprising was written by The New York State Special Commission on Attica and was entitled Attica: The Official Report . Published in 1974, The Brothers of Attica is a first hand account written by a former Attica prisoner and Nation of Islam member named Richard X. Clark. In 1975, Tom Wicker ,

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1812-405: A decision later called "inexcusable" by the commission established by Rockefeller to study the riot and the aftermath. By the time the facility was reported as fully secured at 10:05 a.m., law enforcement had shot at least 128 men and killed nine hostages and twenty-nine inmates. A tenth hostage, Correctional Officer Harrison W. Whalen, died on October 9, 1971, of gunshot wounds received during

1963-479: A guard and two police officers dead. Boudin, Gilbert and Clark along with several BLA and May 19 Communist Organization members, were subsequently arrested. Following the collapse of the BLA, some members — including Ashanti Alston , Donald Weems (a.k.a. Kuwasi Balagoon) , and Ojore Lutalo — became outspoken proponents of anarchism . Weems died in prison of an AIDS -related disease in 1986. Alston remains active in prison support and other activist circles. Lutalo

2114-471: A new period of violent repression by the U.S federal and local government was at hand. BLA members operated under the belief that only through covert means, including but not limited to retribution, could the movement be continued until such a time when an above-ground existence was possible. The conditions under which the Black Liberation Army formed are not entirely clear. It is commonly believed that

2265-484: A plan to send a group of 26 armed Panthers led by Seale from Oakland to Sacramento to protest the bill. The group entered the assembly carrying their weapons, an incident which was widely publicized, and which prompted police to arrest Seale and five others. The group pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of disrupting a legislative session. At the time of the protest, the Party had fewer than 100 members in total. In May 1967,

2416-539: A police officer, Party members cited laws proving they had done nothing wrong and threatened to take to court any officer that violated their constitutional rights. Between the end of 1966 to the start of 1967, the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense's armed police patrols in Oakland black communities attracted a small handful of members. Numbers grew slightly starting in February 1967, when the party provided an armed escort at

2567-491: A raid by the Chicago Police Department . Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Huey Newton allegedly killed officer John Frey in 1967, and Eldridge Cleaver (Minister of Information) led an ambush in 1968 of Oakland police officers, in which two officers were wounded and Panther treasurer Bobby Hutton was killed. The party suffered many internal conflicts, resulting in

2718-694: A revolutionary anti-imperialist perspective working with more active and militant groups like the Soul Students Advisory Council and the Revolutionary Action Movement . Their paid jobs running youth service programs at the North Oakland Neighborhood Anti-Poverty Center allowed them to develop a revolutionary nationalist approach to community service, later a key element in the Black Panther Party's " community survival programs ." Dissatisfied with

2869-410: A term of up to two years for attempted assault, and John Hill, who was Mohawk , was convicted of murder and sentenced to 20 years to life. Supporters alleged that the trial was unfairly conducted and that the men's ethnicity contributed to their indictment and conviction, with Hill's lawyer William Kunstler saying at the sentencing, "I'm not going to give the impression to the outside world that there

3020-475: A third was sentenced in 2016 to 21 years for selling heroin to undercover police. Another suspect, Henry Brown, was tried for the murders and found not guilty. Evidence found at the scene has since been lost. On July 31, 1972, five armed individuals hijacked Delta Air Lines Flight 841 en route from Detroit to Miami , eventually collecting a ransom of $ 1 million and diverting the plane, after passengers were released, to Algeria . The authorities there seized

3171-641: A variety of locations throughout the country which focused their curriculum on Black history , writing skills, and political science. The first Liberation School was opened by the Richmond Black Panthers in July 1969 with brunch served and snacks provided to students. Another school was opened in Mt. Vernon New York on July 17 of the subsequent year. These schools were informal in nature and more closely resembled after-school or summer programs. While these campuses were

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3322-419: Is justice here." In 1975, Malcolm Bell, a prosecutor in the Attica Task Force, sent a report to Governor Hugh Carey alleging that his superiors were covering up evidence of criminal actions by law enforcement officers in the retaking of Attica and preventing him from fully investigating and prosecuting law enforcement. After Bell's report was leaked to the public, Carey appointed Judge Bernard S. Meyer of

3473-416: Is noted as saying, "I think that the school's principles came from the socialist principles we tried to live in the Black Panther Party. One of them being critical thinking—that children should learn not what to think but how to think ... the school was an expression of the collective wisdom of the people who envisioned it. And it was ... a living thing [that] changed every year. Joan Kelley oversaw funding for

3624-685: The New York Times ; James Ingram of the Michigan Chronicle ; State Senator John Dunne , head of a Prisons Committee in the legislature; State Representative Arthur Eve , U.S. congressman from New York; attorney Herman Badillo ; civil rights lawyer William Kunstler ; Clarence Jones , publisher of the Amsterdam News in New York and former advisor to Martin Luther King, Jr. ; representatives of

3775-651: The Anarchist Book Fair in Los Angeles, being mistakenly identified as making terrorist threats on his cell phone. The charge was dropped for lack of evidence, and Lutalo settled a suit against the city of La Junta, Colorado , where his arrest was made, for an undisclosed amount. In January 2007, eight men, labelled the San Francisco 8 , were charged by a joint state and federal task force with John Young's murder. The defendants have been identified as former members of

3926-771: The Black Panther Party , was shot and killed during an escape attempt in which three prison guards and two white inmates were murdered at San Quentin State Prison in California. Through his writings, Jackson had encouraged imprisoned people throughout the United States to become politically active. As a result, Jackson became one of the first targets of the FBI's Black Extremist Activities in Penal institutions program, which later evolved into

4077-534: The Ku Klux Klan . In December 1966, he became the first treasurer and recruit of the Black Panther Party at the age of just 16 years old. On April 6, 1968, two days after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , and with riots raging across cities in the United States, the 17-year-old Hutton was traveling with Eldridge Cleaver and other BPP members in a car. The group confronted Oakland Police officers, then fled to an apartment building where they engaged in

4228-577: The Prison Activists Surveillance Program (PRISACTS). Many incarcerated people in Attica had read Jackson's books and cited Jackson's death as a major catalyst for the riot. The day after Jackson's death, at least 700 Attica inmates participated in a hunger strike in his honor. On Wednesday, September 8, 1971, two inmates fought during their recreation break, and a correctional officer came up to intervene. One inmate had already left

4379-719: The Progressive Labor Party , Bob Avakian of the Community for New Politics, and the Red Guard . For example, the Black Panther Party collaborated with the Peace and Freedom Party , which sought to promote a strong antiwar and antiracist politics in opposition to the establishment Democratic Party . The Black Panther Party provided needed legitimacy to the Peace and Freedom Party's racial politics and in return received invaluable support for

4530-897: The Southern states during the Second Great Migration , moving to Oakland and other cities in the Bay Area to find work in the war industries such as Kaiser Shipyards . The sweeping migration transformed the Bay Area as well as cities throughout the West and North , altering the once white-dominated demographics. A new generation of young black people growing up in these cities faced new forms of poverty and racism unfamiliar to their parents, and they sought to develop new forms of politics to address them. Black Panther Party membership "consisted of recent migrants whose families traveled north and west to escape

4681-1055: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee , the Revolutionary Action Movement and the Nation of Islam , as well as leaders including the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. , Stokely Carmichael , H. Rap Brown , Maxwell Stanford and Elijah Muhammad . As assistant FBI Director William Sullivan later testified in front of the Church Committee , the Bureau "did not differentiate" between Soviet spies and suspected Communists in black nationalist movements when deploying surveillance and neutralization tactics. COINTELPRO attempted to create rivalries between black nationalist factions and to exploit existing ones. One such attempt

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4832-521: The Third-World , the Black Power Movement and New Left movements within the United States, and intensifying state repression of these movements, including via War on Crime and the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program . Some of the prisoners in Attica participated in the riot because they desired better living conditions. Historian and left-wing activist Howard Zinn wrote the following about

4983-507: The UCLA campus, in a gun battle with members of the US Organization. Another shootout between the two groups on March 17 led to further injuries. Two more Panthers died. Paramount to their beliefs regarding the need for individual agency to catalyze community change, the Black Panther Party (BPP) strongly supported the education of the masses. As part of their Ten-Point Program which set forth

5134-613: The Weather Underground launched a retaliatory attack on the New York Department of Corrections, exploding a bomb near Oswald's office. "The communiqué accompanying the attack called the prison system an example of 'how a society run by white racists maintains its control,' with white supremacy being the 'main question white people have to face. ' " In response to public criticism, in November 1971 Governor Rockefeller established

5285-530: The Young Lords , and others. Prisoners requested Minister Louis Farrakhan , national representative of the Nation of Islam , but he declined. Inmates also requested representatives from the Black Panther Party ; Bobby Seale addressed the inmates briefly on September 11 but did not stay long and some believed that he inflamed tensions. The prisoners and team of observers continued to negotiate with Commissioner of Corrections Russell Oswald, who agreed to 28 of

5436-673: The excessive force and misconduct of the Oakland Police Department . From 1969 onward, the party created social programs, including the Free Breakfast for Children Programs, education programs, and community health clinics. The Black Panther Party advocated for class struggle , claiming to represent the proletarian vanguard . In 1969, J. Edgar Hoover , the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), described

5587-568: The "Free Huey" campaign. In 1968 the southern California chapter was founded by Alprentice "Bunchy" Carter in Los Angeles. Carter was the leader of the Slauson Street gang, and many of the L.A. chapter's early recruits were Slausons. Bobby James Hutton was born April 21, 1950, in Jefferson County, Arkansas. At the age of three, he and his family moved to Oakland, California after being harassed by racist vigilante groups associated with

5738-551: The 1,200 prisoners for which it was designed to 2,243. Additionally, as in many American prisons, racial disparities also existed at Attica. Within the prison population, 54% of the incarcerated men were African American , 9% of them were Puerto Rican , and 37% of them were white . All of the guards or all but one of the guards (depending on the source) were white. Guards often threw out letters written in Spanish sent to or from Puerto Rican prisoners, and relegated black prisoners to

5889-420: The 1980s and 1990s many of these improvements were reversed. For example, the 1994 Crime Bill eliminated all Pell Grants for prisoners, resulting in the defunding of higher education within prisons. As a result, all university-level education programs in prisons ended with no other educational options for inmates. Overcrowding worsened, with the prison population of New York increasing dramatically from 12,500 at

6040-513: The Ashes of Attica is a memoir by Deanne Quinn Miller (with Gary Craig), the daughter of the prison guard killed during the initial riot, William Quinn, and an organizer with The Forgotten Victims of Attica, a group made up of surviving hostages and families of prison employees who were killed. In 2022, Joshua Melville, the son of Sam Melville, one of the inmates killed in the retaking of the prison, released American Time Bomb: Attica, Sam Melville, and

6191-579: The Auburn prison riot were subsequently transferred to other New York State prisons, including Attica. In July 1971, a group of Attica inmates presented a list of 27 demands regarding improvements in living conditions in Attica to state Commissioner of Corrections Russell Oswald and Governor Nelson Rockefeller . These demands included improvements in multiple areas such as diet, the quality of guards, rehabilitation programs, and, in particular, education programs. The inmates also demanded increased religious freedom,

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6342-558: The BLA "as a movement concept pre-dated and was broader than the BPP," suggesting that it was a refuge for ex-Panthers rather than a new organization formed through schism. Assata Shakur , in her autobiography, Assata: An Autobiography , asserts: "the Black Liberation Army was not a centralized, organized group with a common leadership and chain of command. Instead, there were various organizations and collectives working together and simultaneously independent of each other." One such organization

6493-510: The Black Liberation Army assassinated police officers Gregory Foster and Rocco Laurie at the corner of 174 Avenue B in New York City. After the killings, a note sent to authorities portrayed the murders as a retaliation for the prisoner deaths during the 1971 Attica prison riot . Two suspects died in "unrelated shootouts with cops — one in New York, and one in St. Louis, with Laurie’s gun in his car" and

6644-480: The Black Liberation Army. A similar case was dismissed in 1975 when a judge ruled that police gathered evidence through the use of torture . On June 29, 2009, Herman Bell pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in the death of Sgt. Young. In July 2009, charges were dropped against four of the accused: Ray Boudreaux, Henry W. Jones, Richard Brown and Harold Taylor. That same month, Jalil Muntaquim pleaded no contest to conspiracy to commit voluntary manslaughter, becoming

6795-453: The Black Panther Party and a black nationalist group called the US Organization , allegedly sending a provocative letter to the US Organization to increase existing antagonism. COINTELPRO also aimed to dismantle the Black Panther Party by targeting their social/community programs, including its Free Breakfast for Children program, whose success had served to "shed light on the government's failure to address child poverty and hunger—pointing to

6946-448: The Black Panther Party and sought to focus directly on political action. Members were encouraged to carry guns and to defend themselves against violence. An influx of college students joined the group, which had consisted chiefly of "brothers off the block". This created some tension in the group. Some members were more interested in supporting the Panthers' social programs, while others wanted to maintain their "street mentality". By 1968,

7097-625: The Black Panther Party emerged. In late October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense). In formulating a new politics, they drew on their work with a variety of Black Power organizations. Newton and Seale first met in 1962 when they were both students at Merritt College . They joined Donald Warden's Afro-American Association , where they read widely, debated, and organized in an emergent black nationalist tradition inspired by Malcolm X and others. Eventually dissatisfied with Warden's accommodationism, they developed

7248-540: The Black Panther symbol. Newton and Seale decided to adopt the Black Panther logo and form their own organization called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. Newton and Seale decided on a uniform of blue shirts, black pants, black leather jackets, black berets, the latter adopted as an homage to Che Guevara . Sixteen-year-old Bobby Hutton was their first recruit. By January 1967, the BPP opened its first official headquarters in an Oakland storefront and published

7399-565: The Black Panthers and their allies had become primary COINTELPRO targets, singled out in 233 of the 295 authorized " Black Nationalist " COINTELPRO actions. The goals of the program were to prevent the unification of militant black nationalist groups and to weaken their leadership, as well as to discredit them to reduce their support and growth. The initial targets included the Southern Christian Leadership Conference ,

7550-545: The Intercommunal Youth Institute which was provided through a combination of Black Panther fundraising and community support. Attica prison riot 10 correctional officers killed (9 by correctional officers) 5 correctional officers wounded during the assault The Attica Prison riot took place at the state prison in Attica, New York ; it started on September 9, 1971, and ended on September 13 with

7701-688: The New York State Special Commission on Attica, appointing members and naming Dean of NYU Law School Robert B. McKay as chair. Known as the McKay Commission, the commission was directed to investigate the circumstances leading up to, during, and following the events at Attica. The commission's report, published in September 1972, was critical of Rockefeller, the Department of Corrections, and New York State Police for their handling of

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7852-413: The Panther , writer Hugh Pearson alleges that Newton was intoxicated in the hours before the incident, and claimed to have willfully killed John Frey. At the time, Newton claimed that he had been falsely accused, leading to the Party's "Free Huey!" campaign. The police killing gained the party even wider recognition by the radical American left and it stimulated the growth of the Party nationwide. Newton

8003-778: The Panthers Party claimed to have fed twenty thousand children in the 1968–69 school year. The Black Panther Party's free breakfast program is "the greatest threat to efforts by authorities to neutralize the BPP and destroy what it stands for." FBI director J. Edgar Hoover Other survival programs were free services such as clothing distribution, classes on politics and economics, free medical clinics, lessons on self-defense and first aid, transportation to upstate prisons for family members of inmates, an emergency-response ambulance program, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and testing for sickle-cell disease . The free medical clinics were very significant because they modeled an idea of how

8154-587: The Panthers invaded the State Assembly Chamber in Sacramento , guns in hand, in what appears to have been a publicity stunt . Still, they scared a lot of important people that day. At the time, the Panthers had almost no following. Now, (a year later) however, their leaders speak on invitation almost anywhere radicals gather, and many whites wear "Honkeys for Huey " buttons, supporting the fight to free Newton, who has been in jail since last Oct. 28 (1967) on

8305-460: The Panthers to "serve the people" and to make "survival programs" a priority within its branches. The most famous of their programs was the Free Breakfast for Children Program , initially run out of an Oakland church. The Free Breakfast For Children program was especially significant because it served as a space for educating youth about the current condition of the Black community, and the actions that

8456-454: The Panthers' many legal battles. The BPP adopted a "Serve the People" program, which at first involved a free breakfast program for children . By the end of 1968, the BPP had established 38 chapters and branches, claiming more than five thousand members. Eldridge and Kathleen Cleaver left the country days before Cleaver was to turn himself in to serve the remainder of a thirteen-year sentence for

8607-439: The Party had expanded into many U.S. cities, including Atlanta , Baltimore , Boston , Chicago, Cleveland , Dallas , Denver , Detroit, Kansas City , Los Angeles, Newark , New Orleans , New York City, Omaha , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , San Diego , San Francisco, Seattle , Toledo , and Washington, D.C. Peak membership was near 5,000 by 1969, and their newspaper , under the editorial leadership of Eldridge Cleaver , had

8758-448: The Party was taking to address that condition. "While the children ate their meal[s], members [of the Party] taught them liberation lessons consisting of Party messages and Black history." Through this program, the Party was able to influence young minds, and strengthen their ties to communities as well as gain widespread support for their ideologies. The breakfast program became so popular that

8909-1014: The Queens Branch House of Detention at Long Island City, and the Adolescent Remand Shelter on Rikers Island. Inmates at the Manhattan House of Detention held five guards hostage for eight hours, until state officials promised to hear prisoner grievances and they also promised not to take any punitive action against the rioters. Despite that promise, officials had the primary ringleaders shipped to various New York State Prisons and many were brutalized, held for months in solitary confinement and faced further criminal charges. Incarcerated people and state authorities in Auburn Correctional Facility engaged in an ongoing conflict and confrontation between November 2, 1970 and June 9, 1971. Several participants in what came to be known as

9060-412: The Sacramento action, in the second issue of The Black Panther newspaper. In August 1967, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructed its program " COINTELPRO " to "neutralize ... black nationalist hate groups" and other dissident groups. In September 1968, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover described the Black Panthers as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country". By 1969,

9211-404: The San Francisco airport for Betty Shabazz , Malcolm X's widow and keynote speaker for a conference held in his honor. The Black Panther Party's focus on militancy was often construed as open hostility, feeding a reputation of violence even though early efforts by the Panthers focused primarily on promoting social issues and the exercise of their legal right to carry arms. The Panthers employed

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9362-410: The Supreme Court for Nassau County, New York to the post of Special Deputy Attorney General to investigate. The Meyer Report, released in December 1975, found "[t]here was no intentional cover-up", but "there were, however, serious errors of judgment" including "important omissions on the part of the State Police in the gathering of evidence." Initially, only the first of the three-volume Meyer report

9513-412: The ability to engage in political activity, and an end to censorship, which they argued were all vital to a proper education within the prison. The commissioner did not take any actions on the list of demands. Attica warden Vincent Mancusi responded by adding additional restrictions to inmates' reading materials and personal belongings. In August 1971, George Jackson , an author and prominent member of

9664-583: The altercation to be taken to solitary confinement, but when the officers arrived at 5 Company to take the inmates away, other prisoners resisted. The other inmates in 5 Company shouted and threw things at the guards and one inmate, William Ortiz, hit an officer with a can of soup, resulting in him being assigned to "keep lock", or confinement to his cell. The morning of Thursday, September 9, 1971, prisoners of 5 Company were still upset and demanded that officers tell them what would become of Ortiz. Officer Gordon Kelsey told them he did not know and tried to continue

9815-593: The approximately 2,200 men incarcerated in the Attica Correctional Facility rioted and took control of the prison, taking 42 staff hostage. During the following four days of negotiations, authorities agreed to 28 of the prisoners' demands but would not agree to demands for the removal of Attica's superintendent nor to complete amnesty from criminal prosecution for inmates for the prison takeover. By order of Governor Nelson Rockefeller (after consultation with President Richard M. Nixon ), armed corrections officers and state and local police were sent in to regain control of

9966-402: The area, but the officer demanded the remaining inmate return to his cell, and in the ensuing argument the inmate hit the officer. Other inmates and guards joined the commotion, and another inmate also hit the officer, but before the violence could intensify, Lieutenant Robert Curtiss moved to deescalate the situation. Later that evening, warden Vincent Mancusi ordered the two inmates involved in

10117-422: The assault. Inmate survivors alleged that leaders were singled out and killed by troopers during and after the retaking. According to a doctor who treated survivors, "[m]any of the ringleaders were approached by guards and shot systematically. Some had their hands in the air surrendering. Some were lying on the ground." One of the leaders, Elliott James "L.D." Barkley, who was frequently featured in news coverage,

10268-505: The black migration "fled to the suburbs along with white residents", the black population was concentrated in poor "urban ghettos" with high unemployment and substandard housing and was mostly excluded from political representation, top universities, and the middle class. Northern and Western police departments were almost all white. In 1966, only 16 of Oakland's 661 police officers were African American (less than 2.5%). Civil rights tactics proved incapable of redressing these conditions, and

10419-474: The books, make the money, buy the guns, and go on the streets with the guns. We'll protect a mother, protect a brother, and protect the community from the racist cops." On October 29, 1966, Stokely Carmichael – a leader of SNCC – championed the call for " Black Power " and came to Berkeley to keynote a Black Power conference. At the time, he was promoting the armed organizing efforts of the Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) in Alabama and their use of

10570-449: The charge that he killed a policeman ... In 1967, the Mulford Act was passed by the California legislature and signed by governor Ronald Reagan . The bill was crafted in response to members of the Black Panther Party who were copwatching . The bill repealed a law that allowed the public carrying of loaded firearms. The Black Panther Party first publicized its original "What We Want Now!" Ten-Point program on May 15, 1967, following

10721-489: The commissioner hours before the attack, and if we had been allowed to continue, everyone would be alive and the matter would be settled today." The situation may have been further complicated by Governor Rockefeller's refusal even to come to the prison or meet with the inmates. Instead, Rockefeller dispatched Commissioner of the Office of General Services Almerin C. O'Hara , a retired National Guard major general, as his personal representative and liaison. Because Rockefeller

10872-417: The conditions in Attica prior to the uprising, Prisoners spent 14 to 16 hours a day in their cells, their mail was read, their reading material restricted, their visits from families conducted through a mesh screen, their medical care disgraceful, their parole system inequitable, racism everywhere. Overcrowding contributed to the poor conditions, as in recent years the prison's population had increased from

11023-474: The daughter of two Black Panther members, Mary Luana Williams . Fonda and other Hollywood celebrities became involved in the Panthers' leftist programs. The Panthers attracted a wide variety of left-wing revolutionaries and political activists, including writer Jean Genet , former Ramparts magazine editor David Horowitz (who later became a major critic of what he describes as Panther criminality) and left-wing lawyer Charles R. Garry , who acted as counsel in

11174-415: The doors locked. The inmates believed they were about to be punished and a melee broke out, which resulted in chaos as some inmates attacked the guards and others tried to flee. The chaos spread to other nearby companies of inmates, and the uprising began. During this stage, several guards and inmates were injured. Officer William Quinn would die in the hospital two days later of injuries sustained during

11325-575: The exception of Indian massacres in the late 19th century, the State Police assault which ended the four-day prison uprising was the bloodiest one-day encounter between Americans since the Civil War." State officials, including Oswald and Rockefeller, initially stated that inmates slit the throats of many of their hostages. The false information was widely reported in the media. But less than 24 hours later, official medical examiners confirmed that all

11476-581: The explosive rebellious anger of the ghetto as a social force and believed that if he could stand up to the police, he could organize that force into political power. Inspired by Robert F. Williams ' armed resistance to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and Williams' book Negroes with Guns , Newton studied gun laws in California extensively. Like the Community Alert Patrol in Los Angeles after the Watts Rebellion , he decided to organize patrols to follow

11627-544: The faculty to student ratio was 1:10. The Panther's goal in opening Liberation Schools, and specifically the Intercommunal Youth Institute, was to provide students with an education that was not being provided in the "white" schools, as the public schools in the district employed a Eurocentric assimilationist curriculum with little to no attention to black history and culture. While students were provided with traditional courses such as English, Math, and Science, they were also exposed to activities focused on class structure and

11778-494: The failure of these organizations to directly challenge police brutality and appeal to the "brothers on the block", Huey and Bobby took matters into their own hands. After the police killed Matthew Johnson, an unarmed young black man in San Francisco, Newton observed the violent insurrection that followed. He had an epiphany that would distinguish the Black Panther Party from the multitude of Black Power organizations. Newton saw

11929-468: The families of the deceased, and for their correctional officer counterparts who had been killed or injured and their bereaved as well. Partially in response to the Attica uprising, the New York State Department of Corrections implemented changes including: While there were improvements in prison conditions in the years immediately following the uprising, during the "tough on crime" era of

12080-523: The first issue of The Black Panther: Black Community News Service . The newspaper would be in continuous circulation, though varying in length, format, title, and frequency until the party dissolved. At its height, it sold one hundred thousand copies a week. The initial tactic of the party used contemporary open-carry gun laws to protect Party members when policing the police. This act was done to record incidents of police brutality by distantly following police cars around neighborhoods. When confronted by

12231-569: The first to open, the first full-time and longest-running Liberation School was opened in January 1971 in Oakland in response to the inequitable conditions in the Oakland Unified School District which was ranked one of the lowest-scoring districts in California. Named the Intercommunal Youth Institute (IYI), this school, under the directorship of Brenda Bay, and later Ericka Huggins , enrolled twenty-eight students in its first year, with

12382-402: The following principles: According to a Justice Department report on BLA activity, the Black Liberation Army was suspected of involvement in over 70 incidents of violence between 1970 and 1976. The Fraternal Order of Police blamed the BLA for the murders of 13 police officers. On October 22, 1970, the BLA was believed to have planted a bomb in St. Brendan's Church in San Francisco while it

12533-564: The following titles (listed in order): Number 5 of the "What We Want Now!" section of the Ten-Point Program reads: "We want education for our people that exposes the true nature of this decadent American society. We want education that teaches us our true history and our role in present-day society." To ensure that this occurred, the Black Panther Party took the education of their youth into their own hands by first establishing after-school programs and then opening up Liberation Schools in

12684-422: The governor's refusal, Oswald and Rockefeller agreed that Oswald would order the State Police to retake the facility by force, a decision which was later criticized. On the night of Sunday, September 12, 1971, plans were drawn up to retake the prison by force. Members of the team of observers argued for Oswald to deliver to inmates one final appeal for a settlement before the forcible retaking. Oswald agreed, but

12835-470: The group's leaders), who was killed in a police shootout in 1973, and the second was Freddie Hilton (a.k.a. Kamau Sadiki), who evaded capture until 2002, when he was arrested in New York City on a separate charge and was recognized as one of the men wanted in the Greene murder. Apparently, the two men had attacked the officer to gain standing with their compatriots within Black Liberation Army. On January 27, 1972,

12986-409: The gun, they can recapture their dreams and bring them into reality. On October 28, 1967, Oakland police officer John Frey was shot to death in an altercation with Huey P. Newton during a traffic stop in which Newton and backup officer Herbert Heanes also sustained gunshot wounds. Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter at trial, but the conviction was later overturned. In his book Shadow of

13137-425: The gun. Off the pigs!", helped create the Panthers' reputation as a violent organization. The black community of Richmond, California wanted protection against police brutality. With only three main streets for entering and exiting the neighborhood, it was easy for police to control, contain, and suppress the population. On April 1, 1967, a black unarmed twenty-two-year-old construction worker named Denzil Dowell

13288-570: The highest number of fatalities in the history of United States prison uprisings . Of the 43 men who died (33 inmates and 10 correctional officers and employees), all but one guard and three inmates were killed by law enforcement gunfire when the state retook control of the prison on the final day of the uprising. The Attica Uprising has been described as an historic event in the prisoners' rights movement. Prisoners revolted to seek better living conditions and political rights, claiming that they were treated as beasts. On September 9, 1971, 1,281 of

13439-420: The hostages had been killed by bullets fired by law enforcement officers. The Special Commission found that state officials failed to quickly refute the early rumors and false reports. Troopers and prison officers set about with physically violent and humiliating reprisals. Inmates were made to strip naked and crawl through mud, broken glass, and the prisoners' hand-dug latrines. State officials also subjected

13590-414: The hostages if the state was to come in by force. The inmates brought eight corrections officers to the catwalk on top of the command center and surrounded them with inmates armed with homemade weapons. According to surviving inmates, they did not intend to kill the hostages, but rather to use them as insurance. Shortly after inmates and hostages were positioned on the catwalk, Oswald gave the order to begin

13741-492: The ideals and goals of the party, they demanded an equitable education for all black people. Study and reading was important for all would-be candidates of the Party, which included studying the Ten-Point Program, reading the Black Panther newspaper , and attending a series of political education classes as well as weapons training. A 1968 "Panther Party Book List" was circulated in the party newspaper, recommending Panthers read

13892-407: The initial riot. By noon on September 9, correctional officers and police controlled about half the prison and its inmates, while 1,281 of Attica's approximately 2,200 inmates controlled the other half, including D-yard, two tunnels, and the central control room, referred to as "Times Square". Inmates held 42 officers and civilian employees as hostages. Once inmates had secured their section of

14043-459: The inmates' demands, but refused to agree to amnesty for the inmates involved in the uprising or to fire the Attica warden. William Kunstler, a lawyer who agreed to represent the inmates in negotiations, said, "The prisoners had two non-negotiable demands: the removal of the warden, and general amnesty, and they had already given up on the removal of the warden. And on the general amnesty, we had worked out several formulas that we were discussing with

14194-603: The investigation and alleged coverup The Turkey Shoot: Tracking the Attica Cover-up . A detailed historical account of the uprising was published by historian Heather Ann Thompson in 2016. The book, entitled Blood in the Water , draws on interviews with former inmates, hostages, families of victims, law enforcement, lawyers, and state officials, as well as significant archives of previously unreleased materials. Published in 2021, The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through

14345-409: The limits of the nation's War on Poverty". According to Bloom & Martin, the FBI denounced the Party's efforts as a means of indoctrination because the Party taught and provided for children more effectively than the government. "Police and Federal Agents regularly harassed and intimidated program participants, supporters, and Party workers and sought to scare away donors and organizations that housed

14496-706: The lives of not only us but of every one of you, as well. As speakers such as Barkley raised morale, the elected group of negotiators drafted proposals to present to the commissioner. The Attica Liberation Faction Manifesto of Demands was a compilation of complaints written by the Attica prisoners, which speak directly to the "sincere people of society". It included 33 demands, including better medical treatment, fair visitation rights, improved food quality, religious freedom, higher wages for inmate jobs, "an end of physical abuse, for [access to] basic necessities like toothbrushes and showers every day, for professional training, and access to newspapers and books." The manifesto assigns

14647-459: The lowest-paid jobs and subjected them to regular racial harassment. There were also geographic disparities – most of the incarcerated men were from urban areas, including metropolitan New York, while most of the guards were from the local region. Anthropologist Orisanmi Burton has shown that while improving prison conditions and racial disparities were an important concern, many Attica prisoners were critical of prison reform and participated in

14798-486: The majority being the children of Black Panther parents. This number grew to fifty by the 1973–1974 school year. To provide full support for Black Panther parents whose time was spent organizing, some of the students and faculty members lived together year around. The school itself was dissimilar to traditional schools in a variety of ways including the fact that students were separated by academic performance rather than age, and students were often provided one-on-one support as

14949-525: The mood among the inmates deteriorated. In preparation for prison authorities potentially taking the prison back by force, inmates had dug defensive trenches, electrified metal gates, fashioned crude battlements out of metal tables and dirt, and fortified the "Times Square" prison command center. After Oswald left following the inmates' rejection of his latest offer, the inmates decided to try to impress upon prison officials that they were serious about their demands, and to remind them that inmates had power over

15100-584: The murder of Alex Rackley . Government persecution initially contributed to the party's growth among African Americans and the political left, who both valued the party as a powerful force against de facto segregation and the US military draft during the Vietnam War. Party membership peaked in 1970 and gradually declined over the next decade, due to vilification by the mainstream press and infighting largely fomented by COINTELPRO. Support further declined over reports of

15251-588: The next rallies. Awareness of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense grew rapidly after their May 2, 1967, protest at the California State Capitol . On May 2, 1967, the California State Assembly Committee on Criminal Procedure was scheduled to convene to discuss what was known as the " Mulford Act ," which would make the public carrying of loaded firearms illegal. Newton, with Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver , put together

15402-438: The organization was founded by those who left the Black Panther Party after Eldridge Cleaver was expelled from the party's Central Committee. A fallout between Cleaver and other Panther leaders followed from his public criticism of the BPP, among other things accusing Panther social programs of being reformist rather than revolutionary . Others, including black revolutionary Geronimo Pratt (AKA Geronimo ji Jaga), assert that

15553-628: The organizations that had "led much of the nonviolent civil disobedience ", such as SNCC and CORE , went into decline. By 1966 a "Black Power ferment" emerged, consisting largely of young urban black people, posing a question the Civil Rights Movement could not answer: "How would black people in America win not only formal citizenship rights, but actual economic and political power?" Young black people in Oakland and other cities developed study groups and political organizations, and from this ferment

15704-405: The party as "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." The FBI sabotaged the party with an illegal and covert counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO) of surveillance , infiltration , perjury , and police harassment , all designed to undermine and criminalize the party. The FBI was involved in the 1969 assassinations of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark , who were killed in

15855-551: The party's alleged criminal activities, such as drug dealing and extortion . The party's history is controversial. Scholars have characterized the Black Panther Party as the most influential black power organization of the late 1960s, and "the strongest link between the domestic Black Liberation Struggle and global opponents of American imperialism ". Other scholars have described the party as more criminal than political, characterized by "defiant posturing over substance". During World War II , tens of thousands of black people left

16006-454: The police around to monitor for incidents of brutality. But with a crucial difference: his patrols would carry loaded guns. Huey and Bobby raised enough money to buy two shotguns by buying bulk quantities of the recently publicized Mao Zedong's Little Red Book and reselling them to leftists and liberals on the Berkeley campus at three times the price. According to Bobby Seale, they would "sell

16157-585: The power to negotiate to five inmates elected to represent the others: Donald Noble, Peter Butler, Frank Lott, Carl Jones-El, and Herbert Blyden X. Additionally, the document specifically lists "vile and vicious slave masters" who oppressed the prisoners, such as the New York governor, New York corrections, and the United States courts. Inmates requested a team of outside observers to assist with negotiations, whom they considered knowledgeable of prison conditions, many of whom officials were able to persuade to come to Attica. Observers included Tom Wicker , an editor of

16308-404: The prevalence of institutional racism . The overall goal of the school was to instill a sense of revolutionary consciousness in the students. With a strong belief in experiential learning, students had the opportunity to participate in community service projects as well as practice their writing skills by drafting letters to political prisoners associated with the Black Panther Party. Huggins

16459-461: The prison as a radical, was allegedly shot while he had his hands in the air trying to surrender. The final death toll from the rebellion also includes the officer fatally injured by inmates during the initial uprising and three inmates who were subjected to vigilante killings by fellow inmates before the retaking of the prison. Ten hostages died from gunfire by state troopers and soldiers. The New York State Special Commission on Attica wrote, "With

16610-527: The prison maintained a reputation as "a facility where a small group of correction officers dole out harsh punishment largely with impunity" and inmates conveyed numerous stories of poor conditions and severe treatment by guards. Interpreting the post-Attica reforms through the lens of counterinsurgency theory and practice, anthropologist Orisanmi Burton has argued that these temporary "improvements" to prison conditions were designed to fracture that organizing and activism taking place within prisons and to create

16761-431: The prison retaking and for their negligence in protecting inmates from reprisals after the riot. In October 1971, Robert Fischer was appointed as Special Deputy Attorney General to lead the Attica Task Force and was charged with investigating any criminal acts that may have been committed during the uprising or retaking (Fischer was later succeeded as the Attica Task Force leader by Anthony Simonetti). Within four years of

16912-551: The prison retaking sued the State of New York for civil rights violations by law enforcement officers and prison officials during and after the retaking of Attica. After decades in the courts, the state agreed in 2000 to pay $ 8 million ($ 12 million minus legal fees) to settle the case. In 2005, the state separately settled with surviving prison employees and families of the slain prison employees for $ 12 million. Frank "Big Black" Smith advocated both for compensation for inmate survivors and

17063-483: The prison, they began organizing. Inmates elected leaders to represent them in negotiations, appointed inmates to serve as medics and security, and began drafting a list of demands for officials to meet before they would surrender. For example, Frank "Big Black" Smith (September 11, 1933 – July 31, 2004) was appointed as head of security, and he kept both the hostages and the observers committee safe. Additionally, 21-year-old Elliott James "L.D." Barkley, an ardent orator,

17214-415: The prison. By the time they stopped firing, at least 39 people were dead: 10 correctional officers and civilian employees and 29 inmates, with nearly all killed by law enforcement gunfire. Law enforcement subjected many of the survivors to various forms of torture, including sexual violence. Rockefeller had refused to go to the prison or meet with prisoners. After the uprising was suppressed, he said that

17365-549: The prisoners "carried out the cold-blood killings they had threatened from the outset". Medical examiners confirmed that all but the deaths of one officer and three inmates were caused by law enforcement gunfire. The New York Times writer Fred Ferretti said the rebellion concluded in "mass deaths that four days of taut negotiations had sought to avert." As a result of the rebellion, the New York Corrections Department made changes in prisons to satisfy some of

17516-414: The prisoners occurred, especially in New York, but also in cities as far away as Los Angeles and Norman, Oklahoma; several rallies in support of Governor Rockefeller also took place. In addition, activists such as Angela Davis and artists such as John Lennon wrote works in support of the inmates and condemning the official response. At 7:30 p.m. on September 17, militant left-wing organization

17667-412: The prisoners to sexual violence and rape. Directed into the prison, they were forced to run hallways naked between lines of enraged officers, who beat the inmates and yelled insults and racial slurs. Some inmates, including leaders such as Frank Smith, were subject to additional reprisals and punishments, including repeated physical abuse and being locked in solitary confinement. Several days after

17818-435: The prisoners' demands, reduce tension in the system, and prevent such incidents in the future. While there were improvements to prison conditions in the years immediately following the uprising, many of these improvements were reversed in the 1980s and 1990s. Attica remains one of the most infamous prison riots to have occurred in the United States. The uprising occurred within the context of anti-colonial movements throughout

17969-440: The programs like churches and community centers". Black Panther Party members were involved in many fatal firefights with police. Newton declared: Malcolm , implacable to the ultimate degree, held out to the Black masses ... liberation from the chains of the oppressor and the treacherous embrace of the endorsed [Black] spokesmen. Only with the gun were the black masses denied this victory. But they learned from Malcolm that with

18120-699: The ransom but allowed the group to flee. Four were eventually caught by French authorities in Paris , where they were convicted of various crimes, but one— George Wright —remained a fugitive until September 26, 2011, when he was captured in Portugal . Portuguese courts rejected the initial pledge for extradition . American authorities may still appeal this decision. In another high-profile incident, Assata Shakur , Zayd Shakur and Sundiata Acoli were said to have opened fire on state troopers in New Jersey after being pulled over for

18271-557: The report were released in May 2015. The released pages contain accounts from witnesses and inmates describing torture, burning, and sexual abuse of inmates by prison authorities. In 2021, the 50th anniversary of the uprising, the Forgotten Victims of Attica, surviving inmates, families of killed inmates, historians, and lawyers continued to push for the release of all records related to Attica. In December 1976, Governor Carey announced he

18422-472: The retaking. Of the decision, he later said, "On a much smaller scale, I think I have some feeling now of how Truman must have felt when he decided to drop the A-bomb." At 9:46 a.m. on Monday, September 13, 1971, tear gas was dropped into the yard and hundreds of New York State Police troopers, Bureau of Criminal Investigation personnel, deputy sheriffs, park police, and correctional officers opened fire into

18573-499: The revolutionary process. Panther slogans and iconography spread. At the 1968 Summer Olympics , Tommie Smith and John Carlos , two American medalists, gave the black power salute during the American national anthem. The International Olympic Committee banned them from all future Olympic Games. Film star Jane Fonda publicly supported Huey Newton and the Black Panthers during the early 1970s. She actually ended up informally adopting

18724-443: The routine. As inmates headed to breakfast, some managed to open Ortiz's cell door and he left with them to the mess hall. When the command staff found out what had occurred, they decided to return all of the men of 5 Company to their cells after breakfast. But they did not inform all the correctional officers, and when officers led inmates out toward the recreation area after breakfast, both officers and inmates were surprised to find

18875-399: The ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We've called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens

19026-558: The second person to be convicted in this case. BLA members in prison as of 2023 include the following: BLA fugitives: Other BLA members and associates: Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense ) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California . The party

19177-416: The shootings include Anthony Bottom (a.k.a. Jalil Muntaqim) , Albert Washington, Francisco Torres, Gabriel Torres, and Herman Bell. On August 29, 1971, three armed men murdered 51-year-old San Francisco police sergeant John Victor Young while he was working at a desk in his police station, which was almost empty at the time due to a bombing attack on a bank that took place earlier - only one other officer and

19328-508: The smoke. Among the weapons used by the troopers were shotguns loaded with buckshot pellets, which led to the wounding and killing of hostages and inmates who were not resisting. Additionally, some of the guns utilized by law enforcement used unjacketed bullets, "a kind of ammunition that causes such enormous damage to human flesh that it was banned by the Geneva Conventions ." Correctional officers from Attica were allowed to participate,

19479-634: The southern racial regime, only to be confronted with new forms of segregation and repression". In the early 1960s, the Civil rights movement had dismantled the Jim Crow system of racial subordination in the South with tactics of non-violent civil disobedience , and demanding full citizenship rights for black people. However, not much changed in the cities of the North and West. As the wartime and post-war jobs which drew much of

19630-509: The time of the Attica uprising to 72,600 in 1999. In 2011, after a man incarcerated in Attica was brutally beaten by guards, for the first time in New York State history, correction officers were criminally charged for a non-sexual assault of an inmate. The guards pleaded guilty in 2015 to a misdemeanor charge of misconduct in order to avoid prison time. In news stories regarding the incident, current and former inmates of Attica reported that

19781-404: The time the BPP claimed that the police had ambushed them, several party members later admitted that Cleaver had led the Panther group on a deliberate ambush of the police officers, provoking the shoot-out. Seven other Panthers, including Chief of Staff David Hilliard, were also arrested. Hutton's death became a rallying issue for Panther supporters. In 1968, the group shortened its name to

19932-407: The uprising because they understood prisons like Attica as sites of revolutionary warfare. Burton therefore argues that the Attica rebellion was informed by the politics of prison abolition . For example, in 1972 an Attica prisoner named Joseph Little told a government panel, "I'm not for no penitentiary reform. I'm for abolishing the whole concept of penitentiary reform." During this period, there

20083-435: The uprising's end, doctors treating wounded inmates reported evidence of more beatings. As the repression was happening in Attica, incarcerated people in other New York State Prisons, especially Auburn Correctional Facility and Clinton Correctional Facility , were subjected to similar forms of violence. Many of these men had previously been incarcerated in Attica and had been involved in political organizations. Following

20234-406: The uprising, 62 inmates had been charged in 42 indictments with 1,289 separate counts. One state trooper was indicted for reckless endangerment. In May 1975, two former inmates were convicted in the death of William Quinn, despite the fact that "[o]nly faltering evidence linked the two inmates to the actual beating that left Quinn dead". Charles Pernasilice, who was Catawba Indian , was sentenced to

20385-435: The uprising, protests and riots occurred in prisons across the United States, including in prisons in New York, Massachusetts, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Georgia. According to a Prisoners Solidarity Committee newsletter from September 30, 1971, "[t]he 13 reported rebellions since the Attica massacre doubles the total number of reported prison rebellions since the beginning of this year". Numerous rallies in support of

20536-495: The world might work with free medical care , eventually being established in 13 places across the country. These clinics were involved in community-based health care that had roots connected to the Civil Rights Movement, which made it possible to establish the Medical Committee for Human Rights. In 1968, BPP Minister of Information Eldridge Cleaver ran for presidential office on the Peace and Freedom Party ticket. They were

20687-454: Was "closing the book on Attica". He pardoned all inmates who had previously pleaded guilty to obtain reduced sentences, commuted the sentences of the two inmates convicted in court, and dismissed pending disciplinary actions against 20 law enforcement officers relating to the uprising. Though the possibility of criminal suits was closed with Carey's decision, civil suits were allowed to proceed. Surviving inmates and families of inmates killed in

20838-545: Was a growing culture of activism in which prisoners not only demanded better treatment, but sought to participate in broader movements for radical social transformation within and beyond the United States. The previous year, multiple rebellions occurred throughout the New York City Jail system, including the Manhattan House of Detention, the Brooklyn House of Detention, The Queens Branch House of Detention at Kew Gardens,

20989-434: Was a strong force during the negotiations. He spoke eloquently to the inmates, journalist camera crews, and viewers at home. Barkley, just days away from his scheduled release at the time of the uprising, was killed during the recapturing of the prison. We are men! We are not beasts and we do not intend to be beaten or driven as such. The entire prison populace, that means every one of us here, has set forth to change forever

21140-469: Was active in the United States between 1966 and 1982, with chapters in many major American cities, including San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle , and Philadelphia . They were also active in many prisons and had international chapters in the United Kingdom and Algeria. Upon its inception, the party's core practice was its open carry patrols ("copwatching") designed to challenge

21291-409: Was allegedly alive after the initial retaking. Assemblyman Arthur Eve testified that Barkley was alive after the prisoners had surrendered and the state regained control; another inmate stated that the officers searched Barkley out, yelling his name, and executed him with a shot to the back. Sam Melville , a member of the committee that helped organize and draft inmates' demands and who was known in

21442-463: Was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Zayd Shakur, but escaped prison in 1979. Shakur eventually fled to Cuba and received political asylum there. Acoli was convicted of killing Foerster and sentenced to life in prison. The BLA was active in the US until at least 1981 when a Brinks truck robbery , conducted with support from former Weather Underground members Kathy Boudin , David Gilbert and Judith Alice Clark , left

21593-425: Was full of mourners attending the funeral of San Francisco police officer Harold Hamilton, who had been killed in the line of duty while responding to a bank robbery . The bomb was detonated, but no one in the church suffered serious injuries. On May 21, 1971, as many as five men participated in the murder of two New York City police officers, Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones. Those arrested and brought to trial for

21744-606: Was instructed not to phrase the demand as an ultimatum, as Rockefeller did not want to let inmates know that the assault was beginning. At 8:25 a.m. on Monday, September 13, 1971, Oswald gave the inmates a statement directing them to release the hostages and accept the offered settlement within the hour. However, he did not tell them that negotiations had ended and he would take the prison back by force if they refused, even stating, "I want to continue negotiations with you." The inmates rejected his offer, and as it appeared to them as though Rockefeller remained opposed to their demands

21895-455: Was released after three years, when his conviction was reversed on appeal. As Newton awaited trial, the "Free Huey" campaign developed alliances with numerous students and anti-war activists, "advancing an anti-imperialist political ideology that linked the oppression of antiwar protestors to the oppression of blacks and Vietnamese". The "Free Huey" campaign attracted black power organizations, New Left groups , and other activist groups such as

22046-580: Was released from prison in 2009 after serving 28 years on charges related to a shootout with a drug dealer in 1981 (and parole violation stemming from his conviction for a 1975 bank robbery), during which time he was punished with solitary confinement for receiving anarchist literature. While incarcerated, the Anarchist Black Cross Federation gave him support. On January 26, 2010, Lutalo was arrested for endangering public transportation while on an Amtrak train to New Jersey, after attending

22197-535: Was released to the public; in 1981 the State Supreme Court ordered that the other two be sealed permanently. The Forgotten Victims of Attica, a group made up of officers injured in the riot and families of killed officers, pushed for the State of New York to release state records of the uprising to the public. In 2013, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said he would seek release of the entirety of volumes 2 and 3, totaling 350 pages. After redactions, 46 pages of

22348-598: Was shot dead by police in North Richmond. Dowell's family contacted the Black Panther Party for assistance after county officials refused to investigate the case. The Party held rallies in North Richmond that educated the community on armed self-defense and the Denzil Dowell incident. Police seldom interfered at these rallies because every Panther was armed and no laws were broken. The Party's ideals resonated with several community members, who then brought their own guns to

22499-614: Was the Philadelphia-based Black Unity Council, which renamed itself the Black Liberation Army in 1970, independent of BLA groups in New York and DC. Maxwell Stanford, founder of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM), cites the Black Guards, a wing of the RAM, as direct BLA forerunners. The newly formed BLA believed that "the character of reformism is based on unprincipled class collaboration with our enemy" and asserted

22650-522: Was to "intensify the degree of animosity" between the Black Panthers and the Blackstone Rangers , a Chicago street gang. The FBI sent an anonymous letter to the Rangers' gang leader claiming that the Panthers were threatening his life, a letter whose intent was to provoke "preemptive" violence against Panther leadership. In Southern California, the FBI made similar efforts to exacerbate a "gang war" between

22801-417: Was unwilling to compromise, some analysts' later evaluations of the incident postulated that Rockefeller's absence prevented the situation from deteriorating. Negotiations broke down, as Oswald was unwilling or unable to make further concessions to the inmates. Oswald and members of the observers committee called Rockefeller and begged him to come to the prison to calm the situation, but he refused. Following

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