Biography
Nathan Kaplan was one of the workers arrested in the July 3, 1928 Wall Street demonstration against U.S. intervention in Nicaragua, and — unlike the others, who drew five days — was held for the grand jury on a framed felonious-assault charge arising from the police attack on the "Hands Off Nicaragua" meeting.
Daily Worker, July 22, 1929, page 1, 5: Printed Nat Kaplan, a Communist organizer and Bronx assembly candidate, he is named among those arrested Friday July 19 outside the Nanking consulate at 13 Astor Place. Magistrate Hyman Bushel imposed five days after refusal to pay a fine. The common Nat/Nathan identification is retained as a candidate match to the existing New York activist, without adding an asserted alias. This is distinct from the July 1928 Nicaragua demonstration; the five-day sentence is not an independently measured full custody total. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1929/1929-ny/v06-n116-NY-jul-22-1929-DW-LOC.pdf
The July 26 report follows Kaplan’s existing July 3 Wall Street arrest through a not-guilty plea before Judge Otto Rosalsky in General Sessions Part 1, with Jacques Buitenkant as counsel. The finger-biting charge and the defense account of police striking him remain attributed competing accounts, with no final disposition inferred. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1928/1928-ny/v05-n176-NY-jul-26-1928-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
The July 3 dispatch, continued on page 2, named these participants among those arrested in the Wall Street anti-imperialist demonstration and jailed at the second precinct. The report gave collective charges of obstructing traffic, speeches to incite riot and insulting an officer, with hearings scheduled that night and International Labor Defense representation. Later case-specific reporting may differ from these initial collective charges. Daily Worker, July 4, 1928, original PDF page 2. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1928/1928-ny/v05-n157-NY-jul-04-1928-DW-LOC.pdf#page=2
The July 11 report named Nathan Kaplan among defendants arrested at the July 3 Wall Street anti-imperialist demonstration and due for a hearing the next morning. It distinguished his charge of felonious assault from the other defendants' disorderly conduct charges. Daily Worker, July 11, 1928, original PDF page 1. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1928/1928-ny/v05-n163-NY-jul-11-1928-DW-LOC.pdf#page=1
Daily Worker, July 22, 1929; relevant page stated in the accompanying profile note.
After a July12 hearing Magistrate GeorgeWashingtonSimpson held Kaplan’s felonious-assault accusation for the grand jury. The ILD provided an additional $1,500 bail to obtain release. The defense said the policeman injured his finger while punching Kaplan; this remains attributed testimony. The report establishes actual bail release by July13, not a conviction or complete custody total.
