Biography
Viola Plummer was a Black liberation organizer and co-founder of the December 12th Movement, charged as a New York 8+ defendant in the October 18, 1984 federal RICO indictment alleging a conspiracy to free Sundiata Acoli, commit armed bank expropriations, and bomb federal buildings. Arrested in a predawn FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force raid and held without bail under the 1984 Bail Reform Act before being released pending trial in early 1985. Trial began May 13, 1985 before Judge Robert L. Carter in the Southern District of New York; in August 1985 she was acquitted of every RICO and conspiracy count, convicted only of one minor count of falsely identifying herself to gain admittance to the MCC. After release, she became one of New York City's most prominent Black liberation organizers, co-chair of the December 12th Movement, and a leader of the international human-rights coalition WBAI Pacifica defenders; she also served as chief of staff to New York City Councilman Charles Barron until her death on January 15, 2024.
At a December 4, 2006 New York press conference about the police shooting of Sean Bell and wounding of Joseph Guzman and Trent Benefield, Plummer spoke as a December 12th Movement leader and former political prisoner. This documents continuing community organizing, without implying another arrest. Source: https://www.workers.org/pdf/2006/ww121406.pdf#page=2
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.
1980s custody-date audit: primary appellate chronology
The appellate opinion dates the original eight defendants arrest and initial detention October 18, 1984; the district-court caption identifies each defendant and Judge Robert L. Carter. Release orders, bond arrangements and actual discharge remain distinct. No exact bail-release date or uninterrupted duration is asserted. 760 F.2d 400; 609 F. Supp. 1066.
