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==Acquittal==
==Acquittal==
The black panther members were acquitted on May 12, 1971.<ref name="co"/><ref name="ny">[http://books.google.com/books?id=4-YCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&dq=%22Panther+21%22+%22Joan+Bird%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wG9FU-3tF5PNsQTkroDACQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Panther%2021%22%20%22Joan%20Bird%22&f=false One Year Later: The Radicalization of the Panther 13 Jury], New York Magazine May 29, 1972, Catherine Breslin</ref>
The black panther members were acquitted on May 12, 1971 of 156 charges.<ref name="co"/><ref name="ny">[http://books.google.com/books?id=4-YCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA54&dq=%22Panther+21%22+%22Joan+Bird%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wG9FU-3tF5PNsQTkroDACQ&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=%22Panther%2021%22%20%22Joan%20Bird%22&f=false One Year Later: The Radicalization of the Panther 13 Jury], New York Magazine May 29, 1972, Catherine Breslin</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 16:44, 9 April 2014

The Panther 21 is a group of twenty-one Black Panther members who were arrested and accused of planned coordinated bombing and long-range rifle attack on two police stations and an education office in New York City.[1] The trial eventually collapsed and the twenty one members were acquitted.[2]

Attempted Bombings

Three attacks were all planned on Friday, January 17, 1969 at 9 am. Dynamite had been placed in the three locations:

Attack Result
Bronx Forty-fourth precinct police station Dynamite sticks at the Forty-fourth Precinct station had been switched by a police undercover agent with phonies, so that only a blasting cap exploded
Manhattan Twenty-fourth Precinct police station The fuse on the phoney sticks had been improperly lit
Queens Board of Education office Real dynamite which was from a source other than the undercover police blew a hole in the side of the building

At the Queens school near the forty-fourth precinct station, one Panther, nine­teen-year-old Joan Bird, was arrested, while two men escaped. The men left behind a long-range rifle with which they had planned to shoot at the police as they rushed out of the burning building after the explosion.[1]

Arrests and trial

On April 2, 1969 twenty-one Black Panther members who were indicted. The number dropped from twenty one to thirteen, who were arraigned before Judge Charles Marks with bail set at $100,000. Joseph A. Phillips from the District Attorney's Office led the prosecution, with Jeffrey Weinsten as his assistant.[1][3]

The District Attorney read Chairman Mao's little red book and showed them movie The Battle of Algiers.[3]

The eight month trial was the longest and most expensive in New York State History.[3]

Acquittal

The black panther members were acquitted on May 12, 1971 of 156 charges.[2][3]

References

  1. ^ a b c Political Trials in History: From Antiquity to the Present, Ron Christenson.
  2. ^ a b The Black Panther Party (reconsidered) Charles Earl Jones.
  3. ^ a b c d One Year Later: The Radicalization of the Panther 13 Jury, New York Magazine May 29, 1972, Catherine Breslin