Huey P. Newton
From Metapedia
Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989), was a career criminal and co-founder of the Black Panther Party, a revolutionary Black militant organization that existed in the 1960s and 70s.
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[edit] Early Life
Newton was born in Monroe, Louisiana, the seventh and youngest child in his family, from Armelia and Walter Newton, a sharecropper and Baptist minister. He was named after Louisiana governor Huey Long. In 1945 Newton's family moved to Oakland, California. As a teenager he was arrested several times. After attending Oakland Technical High School, Newton was still illiterate. On his own, he struggled to read Plato's Republic, which he managed to understand only after going through it five times.
[edit] College
He attended Merritt College, earning an Associate of Arts degree. He supported himself through college by burglarizing homes in the Oakland and Berkeley Hills area. He studied law at Oakland City College and at San Francisco Law School in order to be a better criminal. In 1964, he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon after stabbing a man at a party, and was sentenced to six months in the Alameda County jail.
[edit] Founding of the Black Panthers
While at Oakland City College, Newton had become involved in radical politics which at the time dominated the San Francisco Bay area. He read the works of Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Mao Tse-tung, and Che Guevara. It was during his time at Oakland City College that Newton, along with Bobby Seale, organized the Black Panther Party. In October 1966 Seale was made chairman and Newton was "minister of defense". Armed members of the Black Panther Party began patrolling the Oakland area. Panther member Earl Anthony describes the party as being created with the goal to organize America for armed Maoist revolution.
[edit] Accusation of Murder
In the predawn hours of October 28, 1967, Newton was stopped by Oakland police officer John Frey. Just after fellow officer Herbert Heanes arrived for backup, shots were fired, with all three individuals wounded. Frey was hit four times and died within an hour, while Heanes was in serious condition with three bullet wounds. Despite also being hit by gunfire, Newton fled on foot before staggering into the city's Kaiser Hospital, where he was admitted to the hospital, but chained to his bed.
Newton beat the murder charge and was convicted in September, 1968 of "voluntary manslaughter." He was sentenced from 2 to 15 years in prison. In May, 1970 the California Appellate Court reversed Newton's conviction, and ordered a new trial. Due to the political climate at the time and two subsequent mistrials, the State of California dropped its case against Newton letting him go free.
While Newton had been imprisoned, party membership had decreased significantly in several cities. The Panther party supported itself with the help of drug dealers and prostitution rings. Bobby Seale later wrote about his knowledge of Newton’s involvement and attempted takeover of the Oakland drug trade. Seale admitted that Newton attempted to 'shake down' pimps and drug dealers, and as a result, a contract was taken out on Newton’s life.
In 1974, several charges were filed against Newton, and he was also accused of murdering a 17 year-old prostitute, Kathleen Smith. Newton failed to make his court appearance. His bail was revoked, a bench warrant was issued, and Newton's name was added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 'most wanted' list. Newton had jumped bail and escaped to Cuba, where he spent three years in exile. He returned home in 1977 to face murder charges because, he said, the 'climate' in the United States had changed, and he believed he could get a 'fair trial'. He was acquitted of the murder of Kathleen Smith after two trials were dead-locked.
[edit] Later Life
In 1985, Newton was arrested for embezzling state and federal funds from the Black Panthers' community education and nutrition programs. In 1989, he was convicted of embezzling funds, to support his alcohol and drug addictions, from a school run by the Black Panthers.
[edit] Death
On August 22, 1989, Newton was shot and killed by a drug dealer in Oakland. Official accounts relate that Newton had become involved in drug dealing and was shot during the drug deal.
