Black Liberation Army

The Black Liberation Army (BLA) was an underground, black nationalist-Marxist militant organization that operated in the United States from 1971 to 1981. Composed largely of former Black Panthers (BPP), the organization's program was one of "armed struggle" and its stated goal was to "take up arms for the liberation and self-determination of black people in the United States." [MIPT Terrorism Knowledge Base. [http://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=3708] ] The BLA carried out a series of bombings, robberies (what participants termed "expropriations"), and prison breaks.

Formation

The Black Liberation Army was formed in the wake of the demise of the Black Panther Party. By 1970, police and FBI pressure (see COINTELPRO), infiltration, sectarianism, the criminalization of the Black Power movement (including long prison sentences and the deaths of key members, among them Fred Hampton, at the hands of police) had crippled the Black Panther Party. This convinced many former party members of the desirability of an underground existence, including the assumption that a new period of violent repression was at hand. BLA members operated under the belief that only through covert means, including but not limited to violent acts, could the movement be continued until such a time when an above-ground existence was possible. In this sense, the BLA's reasoning was similar to that of the Weather Underground.

The conditions under which the Black Liberation Army formed are not entirely clear. It is commonly believed that the organization was founded by those who left the Black Panther Party after Eldridge Cleaver was expelled from the party's Central Committee. [Le Monde diplomatique, "Caged panthers", 2005. [http://mondediplo.com/2005/10/14blackpanthers] ] A fallout was made inevitable between Cleaver and other Panther leaders after he publicly criticized the BPP, among other things accusing Panther social programs of being reformist rather than revolutionary. Others, including black revolutionary Geronimo Pratt (aka Geronimo ji Jaga), assert that the BLA "as a movement concept pre-dated and was broader than the BPP," suggesting that it was a refuge for ex-Panthers rather than a new organization formed through schism. ["Liberation, Imagination and the Black Panther Party", 2001.]

The newly formed BLA believed that "the character of reformism is based on unprincipled class collaboration with our enemy" [The BLA Coordinating Committee, "Message to the Black Movement: A Political Statement from the Black Underground". [http://archive.lib.msu.edu/AFS/dmc/radicalism/public/all/messageblackmovement/AAL.pdf?CFID=327481&CFTOKEN=39064116] ] and asserted the following principles::1. That we are anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist, anti-racist, and anti-sexist.:2. That we must of necessity strive for the abolishment of these systems and for the institution of Socialistic relationships in which Black people have total and absolute control over their own destiny as a people.:3. That in order to abolish our systems of oppression, we must utilize the science of class struggle, develop this science as it relates to our unique national condition.

Activities

According to a Justice Department report on BLA activity, the Black Liberation Army is suspected of involvement in over 60 incidents of violence between 1970 and 1976. ["Blast from the Past", 1979. [http://www.assatashakur.org/forum//showpost.php?p=37245&postcount=101] ] The Fraternal Order of Police blames the BLA for the murders of 13 police officers. [New York State FOP, "New York State Fraternal Order of Police Criticizes Judge's Decision on the release of Kathy Boudin". [http://www.nysfop.org/events/kathy_boudin.htm] ]

On October 22, 1970, the BLA is believed to have planted a bomb in a San Francisco church full of mourners attending the funeral of San Francisco police officer Harold Hamilton, who had been killed in the line of duty while responding to a bank robbery. The bomb was detonated, but no one in the church suffered serious injuries. [Van Derbeken and Lagos. " [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/23/BAGRKNNFV04.DTL Ex-militants charged in S.F. police officer's '71 slaying at station] ", San Francisco Chronicle (January 23, 2007)]

On May 21, 1971, as many as five men participated in the shootings of two New York City police officers, Joseph Piagentini and Waverly Jones. Those arrested and brought to trial for the shootings include Anthony Bottom (aka Jalil Muntaqim), Albert Washington, Francisco Torres, Gabriel Torres, and Herman Bell.

On August 29, 1971, three armed men murdered 51-year old San Francisco police officer John Victor Young while he was working at a desk in his police station, which was almost empty at the time due to a bombing attack on a bank that took place earlier - only one other officer and a civilian clerk were there. Two days later, the "San Francisco Chronicle" received a letter signed by the BLA claiming responsibility for the attack.

In January 2007, eight men, labeled the San Francisco 8 were charged by a joint state and federal task force with Young's murder. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/24/MNGDONO11G1.DTL Ex-militants charged in S.F. police officer's '71 slaying at station] (via SFGate)] The defendants have been identified as former members of the Black Liberation Army. [ [http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2007/01/black_liberatio.html Black Liberation Army tied to 1971 slaying] (via USA Today)] A similar case was dismissed in 1975 when a judge ruled that police gathered evidence through the use of torture. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-012307police,1,7612402.story?coll=la-default-underdog&ctrack=1&cset=true 8 arrested in 1971 cop-killing tied to Black Panthers] (via Los Angeles Times)]

On the 3 November, 1971, Officer James R. Greene of the Atlanta Police Department was shot and killed in his patrol van at a gas station. His wallet, badge, and weapon were taken, and the evidence at the scene pointed to two suspects. The first was Twymon Meyers, who was killed in a police shootout in 1973, and the second was Freddie Hilton (aka Kamau Sadiki), who evaded capture until 2002, when he was arrested in New York on a separate charge, and was recognized as one of the men wanted in the Greene murder. Apparently, the two men had attacked the officer to gain standing with their compatriots within Black Liberation Army. [Fulton Co. District Attorney Report, [http://www.fultonda.org/featuredarticle/30years.htm] ]

In another high-profile incident, Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur), James Coston (aka Zayd Shakur) and Clark Edward Squire (aka Sundiata Acoli) were said to have opened fire on state troopers in New Jersey after being pulled over for a broken taillight. Coston (Shakur) and state trooper Werner Foerster were both killed during the exchange. Following her capture, Chesimard was tried in six different criminal trials. According to Chesimard, she was beaten and tortured during her incarceration in a number of different federal and state prisons. The charges ranged from kidnapping to assault and battery to bank robbery. Chesimard was found guilty of the murder of both Foerster and her companion Coston (Shakur), but escaped prison in 1979 and eventually absconded to Cuba. Squire was convicted of killing Foerster and sentenced to life in prison.

The BLA was active in the US until at least 1981 when a Brinks truck robbery, conducted with support from Weather Underground members Kathy Boudin and David Gilbert, left a guard and two police officers dead. Boudin and Gilbert, along with several BLA members, were subsequently arrested. [CourtTV Crime Library, "Ambush: The Brinks Robbery of 1981". [http://www.crimelibrary.com/terrorists_spies/terrorists/brinks/1.html] ]

Following the collapse of the BLA, some members (including Ashanti Alston and Donald Weems (aka Kuwasi Balagoon) became outspoken proponents of anarchism. Weems died in prison of an AIDS-related disease in 1986. Alston is currently active in organizing and activism in New York City.

Members and associates

BLA members who remain in prison (as of January 2006), include:
* Clark Edward Squire (aka Sundiata Acoli), convicted along with Joanne Chesimard (aka Assata Shakur) of the murder of a New Jersey state trooper in 1973.
* Jeral Wayne Williams (aka Mutulu Shakur), charged in part with conspiracy in 1979 BLA prison break of Chesimard (Assata Shakur), FBI's top ten Fugitive #380. Captured in 1986 and convicted of participating in the 1981 Brinks robbery, he received a 60-year sentence in a federal prison.
* Herman Bell and Anthony Bottom (aka Jalil Muntaqim), convicted of the murder of two New York City police officers in 1971.
* Joseph Bowen
* Robert Seth Hayes, convicted of the murder of a NYC Transit Police Officer.
* William Turk (aka Sekou Kambui), convicted of two murders in Alabama.
* Ojore N. Lutalo, convicted following a shootout with a drug dealer.
* Anthony LaBorde (aka Abdul Majid) and James D. York (aka Bashir Hameed), convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1981.
* Nathaniel Burns (aka Sekou Odinga), convicted of six counts of attempted murder for his participation in the 1981 Brinks robbery and other incidents.
* Grailing Brown (aka Kojo Bomani Sababu), convicted of bank robbery.
* Freddie Hilton (aka Kamau Sadiki), convicted of the murder of an Atlanta police officer in 1971.
* Russel "Maroon" Shoatz, convicted of the murder of a police officer in 1972.

Other high-profile BLA members and associates:
* Arthur Lee Washington, Jr., FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitive #427, wanted for 1989 murder of a New Jersey state trooper, presumed deceased from AIDS as of 2000.
* Joanne Chesimard (AKA Assata Shakur), fugitive from justice and currently in Havana, Cuba.

References