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<font size=3>Government continues harassment of former Black
Panthers<br>
6/28/2006<br>
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Federal agents and local police served DNA warrants on several former
Black activists throughout the US today allegedly in connection with an
unsolved 1971 incident in San Francisco resulting in the death of a
police officer. Despite being available to the prosecutor through their
attorneys, police served the warrants through coordinated early-morning
raids in 5 different cities on Tuesday.<br>
<br>
Five former Black Panthers were jailed for refusing to cooperate with a
California State Grand Jury investigating the same events in 2005 in San
Francisco. All five were released October 31, 2005 when that Grand Jury
term expired. Those served with warrants today included the same
individuals and others. They have been harassed by police visits for
several years. <br>
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Two men, John Bowman and Harold Taylor, were also tortured in 1973 in New
Orleans to force them to make statements about the 1971 case. Subsequent
attempts to prosecute Black activists were halted by court orders because
of the illegal coercion and physical brutality inflicted on them. The
1973 arrests and torture were part of the US Government’s COINTELPRO
program designed to destroy the Black Liberation movement. <br>
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The continued harassment of these same activists is being carried on in
the spirit of unending government human rights violations and to
discourage dissent.<br><br>
Claude Marks<br><br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">The Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br>
(415) 863-9977<br>
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<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a> </font></body>
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