Biography
Page 3 reports police arrested Benjamin Phillips, a Black elevator operator and Local 32B Building Service Employees Union striker, held him almost five hours without a formal charge and beat him with a rubber hose, causing stomach injuries. It says apartment occupant Dr. Salem refused to press the robbery allegation, while the superintendent had sought retaliation for Phillips's strike participation. Police also searched his home without a warrant. The ILD demanded investigation. Phillips had returned to work but was threatened with replacement and dismissal; no judicial sentence or exact measured custody interval is established beyond the nearly five-hour account. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1936/v13-n098-NY-apr-23-1936-DW-Q.pdf
Contemporary original newspaper source; individual page evidence retained in review audit 848. Exact individual custody dates and duration are not inferred from relative dates or collective claims.
