Biography
Benny Long was jailed in Winston-Salem, North Carolina after city police, led by Officer R.A. Spillman, forced their way into the Long family home and beat its occupants with nightsticks. Benny Long was knocked to the floor and beaten, suffering a badly injured back. Benny Long, his mother, and Marvin Wilson were taken to jail and charged with disorderly conduct, cursing and abusing police officers, and assault upon police officers; Benny (whose back was badly injured) and Marvin both needed hospital treatment. Documented in The Black Panther (December 25, 1971).
Benny Ray Long and his mother, Selma Long, were convicted on December 13, 1971 before Judge Buford T. Henderson following the police raid on their home. The newspaper reports a sentence of 30 days or a $90 fine plus costs. It had already described Benny’s release on $100 bond and hospital treatment for a back injury; the imposed alternative sentence does not establish a later 30-day confinement.
Original document 1248, PDF page 7; Original document 1248, PDF page 15.
