Committee to Defend the Panther 21

http://keywiki.org/index.php?title=Committee_to_Defend_the_Panther_21_-_1970

In 1970, a mixed group of Communist Party USA members, CPUSA sympathizers, assorted socialists and a few left-liberals formed the Committee to Defend the Panther 21, a group of Black Panther Party BPP members in New York City who, according to the fundraising letter of January 25, 1970, have been charged "with a conspiracy to murder New York City policemen and to dynamite a variety of sites ranging from Abercrombie & Fitch to the Bronx Botanical Gardens." ...

"The Committee to Defend the Panther 21 has been formed to raise funds for the defense effort, to focus local and national attention on the case, and to inform people about the full scope of what is happening to the Black Panther Party. Bail money for the 21 totals over one million dollars. Twelve thousand dollars is needed immediately for a defense investigation. Transcripts will cost $3000 a day for a trial that may last as long as four months. The total defense costs are now projected at well over $100,000, even though the lawyers are volunteering their services."

"Your for the Committee", Murray Kempton