Biography
Ripley Gibson was a member of the Scottsboro branch of the International Labor Defense in Denver. During the October 30, 1934 relief workers’ strike, police clubbed him unconscious and arrested him. The strike opposed relief cuts and sought a thirty-hour week at union wages. The International Labor Defense obtained bail for sixteen defendants and organized their defense against riot and related charges, with trial scheduled for December 11.
Page 3's caption individually identifies this defendant in the Denver relief-strike group photograph. The December 6 report dates the police attack and arrests to October 30, says all defendants were actually out on bail and announces December 11 jury trials, defended by Thomas J. Croaff and Grover C. Johnson. Its potential six-month to two-year penalty range is not an imposed sentence. Henry Brown is identified as Englewood Colorado Workers Union president, shot by police and denied dressing of his wound for 72 hours in jail. Dietrich is described here as a Congressional candidate, differing from the earlier legislature designation. No final December outcome is inferred from this pretrial report. Source: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/dailyworker/1934/v11-n292-Nat-dec-07-DW-LOC.pdf
