Biography
Frank Salas was a Cannery and Agricultural Workers Industrial Union organizer jailed in Riverside, California, in 1934. Police arrested him and Ambrose while they were arranging the opening of a hall for a union meeting. Justice Moore required $2,500 cash bail. Salas initially received an eighteen-month jail sentence on misdemeanor counts under sections 647 and 650½ of the California Penal Code. On appeal, the superior court reversed two counts, leaving two consecutive six-month sentences. He remained in Riverside County Jail when the appellate court denied his habeas corpus petition on December 14, 1934.
The November 12 Riverside report describes October 2–3 food poisoning and refusal of rotten soup October 15. Jailers allegedly clubbed inmates; Mike Rivera and Joe Gomez were put in solitary. A subsequent protest led to solitary for Earl Ambrose after Salas was blamed. An ILD account attributed to a released prisoner describes months of threats and abuse after their orange-grove strike arrests near San Bernardino. Its Earl/other records’ Ben Ambrose discrepancy is preserved without merging or creating another identity.
