THE PANTHER 21
Fight for freedom
PANTHER 21
In honor of black history month we share the story of The Panther 21, Or the New York 21. 21 members of the Harlem chapter of the Black Panther party was indicted and charged with 56 counts of Conspiracy.
April 2, 1969 prosecutors contend that the 21 had planned three attacks for Friday January 17, 1969 at 9 am. police claim that dynamite had been placed in three locations. Police say Dynamite sticks that was placed at the Forty fourth precinct police station had been switched by a police undercover agent with phonies so that only a blasting cap exploded.
in Manhattan at the twenty fourth police precinct the fuse on the phony sticks had been improperly lit.
At the 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 one panther, nineteen year old Joan bird was arrested, while two men escaped. According to police the men left behind a long-range rifle. police claimed that the Men planned to shoot at the police as they rushed out of the burning building after the explosion.
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During the Pre-dawn raid on April 2, 1969 Afeni shakur was arrested along with Lumumba Shakur. Ali Bey Hassan, Michael Tabor, Dhoruba al-Mujahid bin Wahad, Jamal joseph, Abayama Katara, Baba Odinga, Joan Bird, Robert Collier, Sundiata Acoli, Lonnie Epps, Curtis Powell, Kueasi Balagoon, Richard Harris, Lee Berry, Lee Roper, and Kwando kinshasa.
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TRIAL
The news of the Arrest was heavily covered by the New York media. FBI director Edgar Hoover and then President Nixon Hailed the New York Police Department. The Case was prosecuted by D.A Joseph A. Phillips and assisted by Jeffrey Weinstein. The judge on the case was Judge Charles Murtagh. Bail was set at $100,000 for each defendant. Support For the panther 21 was Nation wide with churches and supporters of the Black panther party Raising funds to bail out the defendants. Abbe Hoffman put up the money to bail out one of the defendants. Composer Leonard Bernstain hosted parties raising money for the panthers. During the trial which was the longest and most expensive in New York State. Due to insufficient evidence the number shrunk from 21 to 13 defendants. Most of the charges was supported by testimony from undercover agents sent to infiltrate the Black panther party. Afeni Shakur now Pregnant Defended herself during the trial.
On May 12, 1971 All were acquitted of all 156 charges. Several were held due to other cases pending. This should have been a time of positive movement for the Black Panthers However, due to Government misinformation and Interference this was the beginning of the fracturing of the Party.
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