Biography
Francisco “Cisco” Torres is a former Black Panther and one of the San Francisco 8. California authorities arrested him in Queens on January 23, 2007 in a renewed prosecution over the 1971 killing of San Francisco police officer John V. Young. He was transferred to San Francisco and held on high bail. Supporters secured his release on bail by September 24, 2007, although the exact release day has not been established. Prosecutors dropped the conspiracy count in December 2009 and the court dismissed the last charges on August 18, 2011. Torres was not convicted in the case.
The May 30, 1975 statement in the July newsletter individually names this prisoner in its contemporary political-prisoner account. The statement documents historical imprisonment rather than a new arrest or a current custody claim. It supplies no new individual discharge or complete sentence duration. Black Community News Letter, volume13, July1975, Awakening of a Dragon, original PDF page 22. Source: https://www.freedomarchives.org/Documents/Finder/DOC32_scans/32.BlackComNewsletter.AwakeningofaDragon.pdf#page=22
The New York Five trial was underway in March 1974
The April 10, 1974 bulletin individually names Francisco Torres among the New York Five, with Herman Bell, Anthony Bottoms, Gabriel and Francisco Torres, and Albert Washington. It reports that their trial on the May 21, 1971 police-killing charges began March 11, 1974 after pretrial motions, and was still underway when this issue was prepared. The source’s names and case context correspond to this existing profile; the 1971 date is the alleged offense, not every defendant’s arrest day.
This is a contemporary report of a pending trial, not a report of final conviction, dismissal, admission or discharge. It is kept separate from later trial outcomes and other prosecutions already described here. No new imprisonment interval or counter is inferred from the trial opening or the general appeal for prisoner support.
Friends of Assata Shakur and Sundiata Acoli Bulletin, no. 4, April 10, 1974, original PDF pages 4. Contemporary descriptions are attributed to the bulletin.
The appendix names him among prisoners in an alleged February 16, 1975 Rikers Island escape attempt. This confirms historical confinement on that date, not an original admission or final discharge. The account is attributed to the state report; no new conviction or sentence is inferred from the alleged attempt. The earlier Tombs account places the Torres brothers, Washington, Anthony Bottoms and Herman Bell in custody awaiting trial.
Report of the New York State Policy Study Group on Terrorism, November 1985, PDF page 85.
