Biography
Fletcher Bay was a Black man reported killed during police questioning in the Brooklyn Hammer Man investigation. In its February 6, 1936 account of the defense campaign for Clyde Allen, the Daily Worker said that police questioning of suspects killed Bay and seriously injured several others before Allen was shot and arrested. The report does not establish Bay’s arrest date or exact death date, and its allegations of police responsibility are attributed to the newspaper.
Daily Worker, July 10, 1934: Pages 1–2 spell his name “Fletcher Bey” and describe him as a Black worker arrested and shot dead by two plainclothesmen who entered his premises; the delegation further alleges theft of property worth $527 and demands police accountability and support for his family. These are attributed claims in the same New York police-violence context as the existing Hammer Man inquiry record. No precise arrest or death date is supplied, and the variant spelling is preserved rather than creating another identity. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n164-jul-10-1934-DW-LOC.pdf
The June 20, 1934 account spells the name Fletcher Bey and reports police shooting him at his home on March 10, followed by death Sunday June 17 in Kings County Hospital Prison Ward. Thus June 17 is his death date; March 10 is a shooting date, not an established arrest date. It attributes police responsibility and the policy-slip allegation to the newspaper. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n147-jun-20-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=3
Source: Daily Worker, February 6, 1936, page 4.
Daily Worker, July 10, 1934; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
Page 2 reports him gravely ill in the Kings County Hospital prison ward following a March 10 police shooting at his home, 149 Thatford Avenue. According to the account, two plainclothes officers entered without a warrant and shot him in the back as he moved toward a window to call for help. His family sought ILD assistance and disputed the Moorish Temple defense collection’s handling. He was still alive in this report; the later independently recorded death date is retained, and no precise arrest or total duration is inferred.
