Biography
Black liberation organizer and longtime co-founder of the December 12th Movement, charged as a New York 8+ defendant in the October 17-18, 1984 federal RICO indictment alleging a Black liberation conspiracy to free Sundiata Acoli from prison, commit armed bank expropriations, and bomb federal buildings. Arrested in a predawn FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force raid. Held without bail in federal custody under the 1984 Bail Reform Act for roughly three to four months before being released pending trial in early 1985. Trial began May 13, 1985 before Judge Kevin Thomas Duffy in the Southern District of New York; on August 5, 1985 the jury acquitted him and his co-defendants of all RICO and conspiracy counts. After his release he continued organizing through the December 12th Movement.
January 1985 civil-contempt custody
The June 1985 defense publication reports the seven original defendants other than Coltrane Chimurenga remanded January 29, 1985 for refusing physical samples. This distinct civil-contempt detention is recorded separately from the October 1984 arrest and subsequent criminal verdict. Actual January remand discharge remains unknown; no police rearrest or continuous custody through the later trial is inferred. The initial seven are identified from the article's named October arrestees, not from its group-photo caption, which substitutes Jose Rios for Chimurenga.
Source: Death to the Klan, June 1985, printed pages 8-9 (PDF pages 9 and 8). Complete relevant pages and captions visually checked. Existing identified photo retained.
