Biography
John Porter was a Black taxi driver held in the Tombs Prison in New York on a homicide charge over the death of wealthy clubman Tyler C. Bronson. Jerome Arnold interviewed him there for the Daily Worker of May 14, 1934. Porter said Bronson and a companion repeatedly used racist insults and advanced toward him, one carrying a gin bottle; he said he punched Bronson fearing attack and drove away without knowing he had seriously hurt him. The ILD assigned a lawyer and began a defense campaign. These are the jailed defendant's attributed statements, not court findings. The exact arrest, admission, verdict and release remain unknown. This taxi driver is distinct from the existing New Bedford textile organizer and military prisoner of the same name.
The May 10 dispatch dates the arrest of the Black New York taxi driver to that day, gives his age as twenty-six and reports $5,000 bail and a May 17 hearing. The ILD assigned David Schriftman. The newspaper presents his punch of Tyler C. Bronson in the context of racist abuse and threats; that is attributed defense reporting. This is the taxi driver already interviewed in the Tombs, distinct from the textile organizer of the same name. Daily Worker, May 11, 1934, page 1. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n113-may-11-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The May 18, 1934 Daily Worker reports the homicide case against the Black taxi driver John Porter dismissed at the previous day’s hearing. It says Tyler C. Bronson had repeatedly used racist insults and lunged at Porter, who struck him in self-defense. Dismissal is established on May 17; the report does not separately state a physical jail discharge day. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n119-may-18-1934-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
John Porter was a Black taxi driver held in the Tombs Prison in New York on a homicide charge over the death of wealthy clubman Tyler C. Bronson. Jerome Arnold interviewed him there for the Daily Worker of May 14, 1934. Porter said Bronson and a companion repeatedly used racist insults and advanced toward him, one carrying a gin bottle; he said he punched Bronson fearing attack and drove away without knowing he had seriously hurt him. The ILD assigned a lawyer and began a defense campaign. These are the jailed defendant's attributed statements, not court findings. The exact arrest, admission, verdict and release remain unknown. This taxi driver is distinct from the existing New Bedford textile organizer and military prisoner of the same name.
