Biography
White Panther Party member sentenced to 5½ years-to-life for assault with a deadly weapon after firing warning shots during a July 1974 San Francisco police raid on the party's Page Street food-program office (which supporters accused police of setting afire); The Black Panther Vol. 14 (1975) reports he was denied bail pending appeal in what supporters called a trumped-up prosecution.
The Gay Crusader, issue 29 (June 1976), reports that Tom Stevens and Terry Phillips were arrested as they left the burning Page Street house during the July 12, 1974 raid and were in state prison when the article appeared. The accusation that police set the fire is the newspaper’s and supporters’ account. The article does not give a state-prison admission or release date.
Gay Crusader, issue 29, June 1976, Berkeley collection, PDF page 6.
The Black Panther’s January 10, 1976 report said that Tom Stevens was imprisoned at San Quentin following the May 1975 conviction arising from the police raid on the White Panther Party’s Page Street food-program office. Attorney Alan Caplan had filed a motion seeking bail pending appeal. The report attributed the prosecution to retaliation for the party’s lawsuit over the raid.
The Black Panther, January 10, 1976, volume XIV no.17, PDF page 11.
