1968: The Global Revolutions

In 1969, 21 members of the New York chapter of the Black Panther Party were arrested and accused of planning a series of attacks on police officers in the city. It soon became clear that the state had scant evidence for these charges, and that prosecutors were engaging in a political persecution of a radical organization. The trial became a celebrated cause, with supporters nationwide rallying to the aid of the defendants. The Street Wall Journal was printed by the Committee to Defend the Panther 21. Issues were distributed primarily on the campus of Columbia University with the goal of stirring up resistance against the oppression of the Panthers. In the end, massive protests and the state’s lack of evidence cause the trial to collapse. After the longest and most expensive trial in New York State history, the defendants were acquitted of all charges.