Biography
Milton McGriff was a Philadelphia Black Panther Party member arrested in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 4, 1969, while distributing the Party newspaper. Contemporary Party reporting identifies a charge of soliciting papers without a permit and denounces the arrest as political harassment. McGriff later recalled police-station detention and release on bail within 24 hours.
Atlantic City newspaper-selling arrest
Milton McGriff was a Philadelphia Black Panther Party member arrested in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on July 4, 1969, while distributing the Party newspaper. Contemporary Party reporting identifies a charge of soliciting papers without a permit and denounces the arrest as political harassment. McGriff later recalled police-station detention and release on bail within 24 hours.
The Party report described an initial $30 financial demand, later increased to $100 each. McGriff’s later account recalled $50 bail. These differently described sums do not establish a final sentence.
The 24-hour bound is not an exact one-day prison term. A precise release date and individual detention duration remain unverified. The allegation of political targeting is attributed to the Party’s contemporary report. This record documents a historical detention and does not establish current incarceration.
Sources
- The Black Panther, July 19, 1969, printed page 17
- Omari L. Dyson, Kevin L. Brooks and Judson L. Jeffries, “Brotherly Love Can Kill You,” in Comrades (2007), page 246, note 148: McGriff’s firsthand account
Milton McGriff continued organizing around reparations after his Black Panther years. His January 30, 2003 Capitol Hill press-conference remarks identify him as national coordinator of A Year of Black Presence Coalition (AYBP). A June 21, 2003 legislative workshop report records that McGriff and J. Damu co-chaired the session and describes the Philadelphia campaign to memorialize lynching victims on plaques while advocating support for H.R. 40.
