Biography
Robert Wright, identified as Robert (17X) Wright, was a Nation of Islam member detained following a January 25, 1974 confrontation with Berkeley police. The Black Panther reported that police stopped a van marked Nation of Islam and that fellow member Larry Crosby was shot. It named Robert Wright among three defendants who pleaded not guilty a week after the incident and had been held on $45,000 bail each. Attorney Clinton White secured reduced bail and their release during hearings before the February 9 report. The newspaper characterized the incident as racial harassment and challenged the police account; those allegations are attributed to the report. The exact admission and release days, detention facility and final court outcome remain unresolved. The printed 17X is a Nation of Islam name identifier, not a prisoner number. Source: The Black Panther, February 9, 1974, pp. 9 and 22, https://www.lincoln.edu/_files/langston-hughes-memorial-library/Black%20Panthers%20Newspaper%20Publications/BP02091974.pdf
