Legacy of Torture

In 1971, John Young, a San Francisco police officer was killed. Members of the Black Panther party were arrested, charged and then tortured by San Francisco and New Orleans police.

Courts eventually dismissed the charges based on the police extracting confessions via torture. Now more than 35 years later, the case has been reopened. On January 23rd, 2007, some of those same men were arrested again.

In this special documentary from the Freedom Archives, we hear from some of the accused men themselves. They describe the torture and how they were targeted for their political activities.

Featuring::

Ray Boudreaux, John Bowman, Richard Brown, Hank Jones and Harold Taylor, former Black Panthers; Soffiyah Elijah, attorney.

Senior Producer/Host: Tena Rubio
Freelance Associate Producer: Emily Polk
Mixing Engineer: Phillip Babich
Intern: Alexis McCrimmon

For more information::

Committee for Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) - Defend the San Francisco Eight
P.O. Box 90221
Pasadena, CA 91109
626-345-4939
www.cdhrsupport.org

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia St.
San Francisco, CA 94110
415-863-9977; info@freedomarchives.org
www.freedomarchives.org

Center for Constitutional Rights
Report on these recent arrests and torture:
www.ccr-ny.org/v2/reports/report.asp?ObjID=ktRDgqT2La&Content=927
OR
www.cdhrsupport.org/CCR.html

"A Legacy of Torture: From Cointelpro to the Patriot Act"
by Ron Jacobs
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/jacobs050107.html

"Arrest of Former Black Panthers Aims to Erase Revolutionary Legacy,"
by Sérgio Ramires
www.cdhrsupport.org/erasing_legacy.html

DemocracyNow!
"Murder Charges Against Former Black Panthers
Based on Confessions Extracted by Torture"
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/26/1559250

"John Bowman remembered at the African American Art and Culture Complex,"
by Wanda Sabir
www.cdhrsupport.org/John_Bowman_tribute.html

Profile of Richard Brown and Richard O'Neal (ABC News story)
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=local&id=4964954

Greener News Room

Keywords:: BLACK PANTHERS TORTURE CIVIL RIGHTS SAN FRANCISCO