Congress. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC). Subversive Influences in Riots,
Looting, and Burning. Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1967, 1968. Pt. 2: Subversive Influences
in Riots, Looting, and Burning (October 31, November 1, 1967).
SuDoc No.: Y4.Un1/2:R47/pt.2
Date(s) of Hearings: October 31, November 1, 1967
Congress and Session: 90th - 1st
 EXCERPTS
SYNOPSIS
On October 31 and November 1, 1967, a subcommittee of the Committee on Un-American
Activities met in Room 311, Cannon House Office Building. Congressman Edwin E. Willis,
chairman of the full committee, presided over the subcommittee composed of the
Representatives William M. Tuck, Richard H. Ichord, John M. Ashbrook, Albert W. Watson,
and himself.
The hearing concerned the Harlem, New York City, riot of July 1964, the role of
subversive elements in the riot, their agitational activities preceding the riot,
and also those carried out from the time the riot ended to the date of the hearing.
The first witness was Detective Adolph W. Hart of the New York City Police Department.
Detective Hart had been an undercover agent for the police department in the Chinese
Communist-oriented Progressive Labor Movement (PLM), since renamed the Progressive
Labor Party (PLP).
Detective Hart, a PLM member for several months prior to the Harlem riot of 1964,
testified that he had attended classes in Marxism organized by PLM where he was also
taught various urban guerrilla warfare tactics and methods of hampering riot-control
forces. He became acquainted with William Epton, chairman of the Harlem chapter of
the Progressive Labor Movement, through these classes.
The witness told the subcommittee that he had become familiar with a printing company,
Tri-Line Offset Co. Inc., which produced the official PLM magazine,
Progressive Labor, and other "leftist literature," and was owned
by three members of the Progressive Labor Movement. He stated that he wrote articles
for Progressive Labor and for the PLM newspaper, Challenge.
Mr. Hart identified various members of the Harlem Club of PLM and gave a chronological
rundown of PLM meetings and agitational activities – including its formation of
the Harlem Defense Council – leading to the 1964 Harlem riot.
On the day the riot started, July 18, 1964, he attended a Harlem street-corner
meeting held about 2 hours before the breakout of the riot and organized by
Progressive Labor. The witness offered the transcript of remarks made at this
rally by William Epton who, in a highly inflammatory speech, told the crowd of
300 that "we're going to have to kill a lot of these cops, a lot of these
judges..."
On July 19, the day after the riot started, the witness attended a meeting of the
PLM-created Harlem Defense Council. At the meeting, which preceded the resumption
of the rioting on that day, it was suggested that the group attempt to lure a
police officer into a side street where he would be killed as a form of retaliation
against the police department. At this same meeting, William McAdoo, a PLM member,
told of plans to print a leaflet showing how to make a Molotov cocktail with an
empty soda bottle and a rag.
Mr. Hart said that William Epton entered the room during the July 19 meeting and
stated "that another riot should be organized on the Lower East Side, which
would spread out the police force and keep them from suppressing the riot in the
Harlem area."
The witness offered a number of exhibits which related to his testimony concerning
PLM and its role in the 1964 Harlem riot. Epton, he noted, had been indicted and
convicted of "advocacy of criminal anarchy" and 11 other PLM members
were convicted, along with Epton, on similar charges.
Detective Hart, a Negro, was asked to comment on a claim by William Epton that he
spoke for the Negro people. He stated:
I can only say that Epton and people like him speak only for a small disillusioned
segment of un-American misfits – rabblerousers, who would like to see America
fall into the hands of communism.
The responsible black man today wants a change, but he has enough faith in this
country to change it through the ballot, which he is doing every day. He has
proven and continues to prove his loyalty to this country – and in no
uncertain terms – by this outstanding record in Vietnam.
He realizes that it is no longer impossible to become a black sheriff, a black
mayor, a black Supreme Court Justice, and that it is quite possible he can even
be elected President in the not too distant future.
The witness testified that he believed the July 18, 1964, Progressive Labor Movement
sponsored meeting was the "triggering device or the catalyst" which sparked
the 1964 Harlem riot.
TESTIMONY OF PHILLIP A. LUCE AND JUDITH WARDEN
On October 24, 1967, the members of the House Committee on Un-American Activities
had voted to make public certain portions of executive testimony of Mr. Phillip
Abbott Luce and Miss Judith Warden received on June 8 and 9, 1965. Mr. Luce and Miss
Warden had both been members of the Progressive Labor Party. Mr. Luce had been a
member from approximately July 1964 until January 1965. Miss Warden, who had been
an editor of Challenge, official newspaper of PLP, joined a few months previous
to Mr. Luce and also left the organization in January 1965.
The committee staff director read those portions of the Luce/Warden testimony
which were relevant to the topic of the hearings, namely, the involvement of the
Progressive Labor Party (formerly Progressive Labor Movement) in the 1964 Harlem riot.
The earlier testimony of Mr. Luce and Miss Warden corroborated the testimony
of Detective Hart in pinpointing PLM as the primary catalyst in helping to initiate
and prolong the 1964 Harlem riot.
TESTIMONY OF HERBERT ROMERSTEIN
In the afternoon session of the hearings of October 31, 1967, Herbert Romerstein,
an investigator for the House Committee on Un-American Activities, stated that he
had conducted a background investigation into the events leading up to the Harlem riot.
He noted that racial and antipolice agitation had taken place for many years in
New York. This agitation, Mr. Romerstein observed, was–
developed by the various organizations within the Communist periphery – the
Communist Party itself, as well as other organizations affiliated with the Communist
Party and, subsequently, organizations of the Red Chinese-oriented Communists, such
as the Progressive Labor Party and organizations affiliated with it.
Mr. Romerstein declared that the Communist Party had very little success in gaining
recruits among the Negro working class in the past. He added:
But we have suddenly seen a new approach by the Communists. Rather than attempting
to win over Negro workers whom they have been unsuccessful with, there is now an
attempt to win over another segment of the Negro population, a segment which exists
in every population, the juvenile delinquent and semi-criminal element...
The committee investigator introduced documents which showed "police brutality"
agitation by the Communists, from 1948 on, in this country. He made specific references
to Progressive Labor publications which were disseminated in the months prior to,
during, and after the 1964 Harlem riot. These publications deliberately framed police
brutality incidents in propaganda form. The headlines: "POLICE WAR ON HARLEM,"
"COPS TRIGGER TWO MORE MURDERS," "COPS BEAT PICKETS IN THIRD ST. 'WAR,'"
are indicative of the type of inflammatory literature which was distributed by PLM.
The witness told of rally of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) which was held
shortly after, and only a few blocks away from, the PLM rally of July 18, 1964, the
day the riot started.
The CORE rally, aforementioned, actually served to bring a large crowd marching down
to the police station in Harlem for a confrontation with the police.
Mr. Romerstein told the subcommittee of the statement of rent strike leader, Jesse
Gray, at a July 19, 1964, meeting of various Harlem-based militant organizations
after the first night of rioting. The committee investigator stated:
He called for a hundred skilled black revolutionaries who are ready to die to correct
what he called the police brutality situation in Harlem. He said, "There is only
one thing that can correct the situation, and that is guerrilla warfare."
Jesse Gray was a fifth amendment witness before the Committee on Un-American Activities
in 1960. He had been identified in sworn testimony as the former organizer for the
Communist Party in Harlem.
James Farmer, then CORE director, made a speech at this same meeting (which he repeated
later the same day on WABC-TV) that he was eyewitness to a policeman in Harlem coldly
shooting in the groin a Negro woman who had merely asked him for directions out of the
riot area. He, Farmer, later admitted – long after his inflammatory statement
had had its effect – that he had only been told of the incident which, after
investigation, proved to have never taken place.
Farmer's statement was quoted in a black nationalist magazine and was accepted as
fact until months later when the statement was repudiated as nothing more than rumor.
Mr. Romerstein disclosed that the Lower East Side Club of Progressive Labor refused
to trigger another riot (during the Harlem disturbance) in the area of New York City
"because they felt that they only had a small percentage of the juvenile
delinquents..." on the Lower East Side.
The committee investigator asserted that the Harlem 1964 riot was a classic pattern
of a Communist-manipulated civil disorder.
Mr. Romerstein offered for insertion into the record the criminal contempt citations
against five members of the Progressive Labor Movement in New York County.
The five PLM members refused to answer the questions of a New York City grand jury
pertaining to the Harlem riot, even though the grand jury voted to confer immunity
upon them for any crimes that might have been revealed by their testimony.
TESTIMONY OF RAYMOND WOOD
On November 1, 1967, subcommittee hearings resumed at 10 a.m., and the next witness,
Detective Raymond Wood, a member of the New York City Police Department, was sworn in.
In April 1964 Detective Wood, assigned to the Bronx section of New York City, had
joined the Bronx chapter of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE).
He testified that in July 1964, following the riot, he, Herbert Callender, leader
of the Bronx CORE chapter, and John Valentine, a member of the Bronx CORE, attempted
to make a "citizen's" arrest on the mayor. The three were subsequently arrested.
Detective Wood told of meeting, on December 14, 1964, Robert Collier, an ex-member
of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM).
The witness revealed a conversation with Collier pertaining to the need to obtain a
list of technical books for Major Ernesto "Che" Guevara, then a member
of Castro's Cuban U.N. delegation. Mr. Wood agreed to help Collier obtain the books.
Robert Collier told the witness that he was interested in forming a "Black
Liberation Front." The former RAM member described how to use mortars on a
police station and disclosed a plan to obtain arms from New York State armories.
Collier also had a plan for an alliance with "French Liberation forces,"
a Canadian activist group, to obtain "plastique" explosives.
The former RAM member also hoped to persuade the leadership of the all-Negro Freedom
Now Party to become a "front organization for the Black Liberation Front."
Mr. Wood detailed Collier's plan to blow up docks along the New York City waterfront
and the Statue of Liberty. Plans were also discussed among members of the RAM to blow
up the Liberty Bell and the Washington Monument.
The witness stated that Robert Collier, Walter Bowe, and Khaleel Sayyed were all
convicted in the conspiracy, as fourth member, Michelle Duclos, turned "state's
evidence" and was subsequently deported to Canada.
The police detective concluded his testimony by saying that Robert Collier had
formulated his plans to blow up the docks and national monuments in order to help
create a situation of guerrilla warfare in the United States by showing young
Negroes who wished to fight that somebody was prepared to take positive violent
action. Collier hoped that these young Negroes could be recruited for guerrilla
warfare or for future riot activity.
TESTIMONY OF HERBERT ROMERSTEIN – RESUMED
Committee investigator Romerstein resumed his testimony concerning the 1964 Harlem
riot on November 1, 1967. His testimony was centered around the postriot period
of the 1964 riot and outlined the activities of various organizations which have
continued to foster discord among the races and which continue to circulate highly
inflammatory literature designed to maintain a high degree of racial tension in
the New York area.
The committee investigator noted that "Progressive Labor continued its
agitational activity after the Harlem riot." He introduced several exhibits
which graphically demonstrated the postriot propaganda activity of the Progressive
Labor Movement.
Mr. Romerstein testified briefly regarding the East Harlem disturbances in 1967.
He recalled that the altercation was termed "minor" in terms of the number
of participants and damage.
Committee investigator Romerstein emphasized the point that a "relative
handful" of people "trained and prepared to commit acts of violence can
always be considerably more dangerous than a large mob that has no direction and
that can be controlled by the police."
Mr. Romerstein reported in his testimony on the activities of the Revolutionary
Action Movement (RAM) in this country in order to further demonstrate how far a
small handful of individuals, dedicated to violence, can go toward disrupting society.
He cited the abortive plot by RAM members to assassinate moderate Negro leaders as one
example of the determination of RAM members to disrupt American society.
The witness described the backgrounds of certain RAM members in order to show that,
for the most part, these individuals were highly educated – one member was an
assistant principal of a school in New York City – and held "extremely good
white-collar jobs."
Mr. Romerstein noted that a Black Arts Theater in New York City had been a recipient
of Federal poverty funds. The theater, discovered to have been a storage house for
weapons, had once produced a play instructing Negroes in methods of slaying white persons.
The witness went on to cite example after example of continued organizational
propaganda activity in and around the Harlem area in the postriot period (July 1964
to the present day). He cited the examples of agitation of groups such as:
SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), whose director of international
affairs, James Foreman, called for the various Afro-Asian U.N. delegations to put
direct and indirect pressures on the U.S. Government to stop "'unwarranted and
brutal suppression' of Americain [sic] Negroes by police."
Mau Mau Society, whose leader, Charles Morris, was quoted as saying Negro youth
"must take machetes and destroy Uncle Toms" (Negroes friendly to whites).
Exhibits were entered on these and other groups which have been involved in racial
agitation in the New York City area following the 1964 Harlem riot. Mr. Romerstein
emphasized that such racial agitation is currently taking place as it has over the
past 4 years and longer.
At the close of testimony into the Harlem riot, Chairman Willis stated:
I do not believe there can be doubt in the mind of any reasonable person but that
these activities tended to – and were designed to – inflame the community
and arouse emotions to such an intense pitch that any number of incidents might have
touched off a riot.
The Progressive Labor Party, of course, was not the only subversive organization
operating in the area. Other such groups took actions and distributed propaganda
which inflamed the community. The most important role, however, was clearly played
by the Progressive Labor Party.
In my view, there is no doubt but that subversive elements played a major and probably
the key role in precipitating the Harlem riot of July 1964.
TESTIMONY OF ADOLPH W. HART
********************************************
Mr. Watson. Can the witness tell us now where this man Epton is today?
Mr. Hart. To my knowledge he is still in the New York City area.
Mr. Smith. Were you then a witness at the Epton trial?
Mr. Hart. Yes, sir; I was a witness.
At this time Mr. Epton was convicted of criminal anarchy for his activities in the
1964 riot in New York.
Mr. Smith. Were other members of the Progressive Labor Movement
indicted and convicted as a result of the Harlem riot?
Mr. Hart. Yes, sir. David Douglas, William McAdoo, Nathaniel
Barnett, Vivian Anderson, Michael Crenovich, Levi Laub, Stefan Matinot, Robert Apter,
Susan Karp, Jeremy Gellis, and Otis Chestnut were also convicted.
Mr. Smith. Detective Hart, William Epton claims to speak for the
Negro people. As a Negro, would you care to comment on that?
Mr. Hart. I can only say that Epton and people like him speak only
for a small disillusioned segment of un-American misfits – rabble-rousers, who
would like to see America fall into the hands of communism.
The responsible black man today wants a change, but he has enough faith in this country
to change it through the ballot, which he is doing every day. He has proven and
continues to prove his loyalty to this country – and in no uncertain
terms – by this outstanding record in Vietnam.
He realizes that it is no longer impossible to become a black sheriff, a black
mayor, a black Supreme Court Justice, and that it is quite possible he can even
be elected President in the not too distant future.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, that concludes the interrogation of
this witness.
The Chairman. Detective Hart, I want to take this opportunity
not only to thank you for your testimony, but congratulate you for what is
really extraordinary performance of duty, both as a citizen and police officer.
You undertook the task of infiltrating an organization which, the evidence clearly
indicates, is violence prone. Without intending any criticism, I would say that
many Americans would not want to undertake such a mission.
In addition to the inconvenience involved and the demands it made on your time, a
considerable amount of personal danger was clearly involved in your work. That,
however, did not deter you from performing it and, despite the possibility of
reprisals, from testifying publicly – both in this hearing and elsewhere –
about what you learned while on your assignment.
Sir, you are a credit not only to the New York Police Department, but to your country.
You have my thanks and the thanks of all members of the committee – particularly
since you have taken time from your vacation to appear before the committee.
We are extremely grateful to you. You are a credit to your country and to the
police department.
Mr. Hart. Thank you.
Mr. Smith. Mr. Chairman, at this point, I request a 10-minute recess.
Mr. Ichord. Will the witness return? I have some questions to
ask the witness.
The Chairman. Why don't we take a recess after the questions
that might be addressed to him, Mr. Smith? Will that be all right?
Mr. Smith. Yes, sir.
Mr. Ichord. Detective Hart, the committee has heard a great deal
of testimony in regard to the activities of the Progressive Labor group over the past few years.
I believe you indicated in your testimony that the Progressive Labor group in
New York City was composed of, predominantly, Negroes. I believe that all the
other Progressive Labor groups that have been brought to the attention of the
committee were not predominantly Negroes but, rather, predominantly whites.
Did I misunderstand you? Would you say that the Progressive Labor group in
New York City is composed predominantly of Negroes?
Mr. Hart. The Harlem chapter is comprised predominantly of Negroes.
Mr. Ichord. You were speaking only of the Harlem chapter?
Mr. Hart. Only of the Harlem chapter.
Mr. Ichord. Of course, it is always difficult to establish cause
and effect, Detective Hart. I am sure that, as one who was right in the midst, so
to speak, of the Harlem riots, the causes, were probably many. Is that correct?
Mr. Hart. Yes, sir, I would. I could not pinpoint one.
Mr. Ichord. Of course, in order to create a riot you have to have
a group that is discontented. This discontent can be because of real or imagined
events and conditions.
Let me ask you this – and we can only deal in opinions.
These riots occurred on July 18, 1964, and July 19, 1964. Did they occur after that
period of time? How long a period did they last? Was it only a 2-day riot?
Mr. Hart. As I recall, it was more like 6 days – 5 or 6 days.
Mr. Ichord. About 5 or 6 days?
Mr. Hart. Yes, sir.
Mr. Ichord. You testified about the activity of Mr. Epton and
the Harlem Progressive Labor group. You testified about a meeting on July 18,
1964, and the riots occurring 2 hours after that Progressive Labor meeting, as which
approximately 250 people attended.
Is it your opinion that this meeting was the proximate cause of the riots?
Mr. Hart. That is a hard question. I wouldn't say it was the cause
of it. It certainly helped the riots along. The idea was there.
Mr. Ichord. Of course, there are several causes of a riot. We all
understand that.
Mr. Hart. Yes, sir.
Mr. Ichord. Do you feel that the riots would have started on that
day if it had not been for the meeting?
Mr. Hart. No, sir; I don't believe so.
Mr. Ichord. That is all I have Mr. Chairman.
TESTIMONY OF HERBERT ROMERSTEIN (RESUMED)
ROMERSTEIN EXHIBIT NO. 22
DEMOCRATIC CIRCUS COMES TO HARLEM
(The following is issued by the Harlem branch of the Progressive Labor Party,
336 Lenox Avenue, FI 8-2254. It will appear in the April issue of CHALLENGE. Call
the above number or 924-8848 for the newstand nearest you that carries CHALLENGE.)
The people of Harlem and the Black people in general correctly interpreted the denial
of Adam Powell's seat as another racist act on the part of the Congress. They also
correctly saw this racist act as another open attack on the Black people – but
this is exactly what the U.S. government wanted them to know and to react to.
In 1963 the government and its "uncle tom" lackeys pulled off the "march
on Washington" to change the struggle of the Black people for their liberation to
a meaningless "march" that sapped-up a lot of the energy of the people. Now,
in 1967 the government, its lackeys and some mis-guided civil rights workers plan to
pull-off a "support Powell" campaign, whose purpose will be to again divert
the struggle away from national liberation to one of supporting a man whose role has
consistently been that of collaborator with U.S. imperialism.
It was another Powell that the people of Harlem rallied around in 1963 – his
name was James and he was 16 years old and he was murdered by Thomas Gilligan, a New
York cop.
The people rightfully protested and demonstrated their support for young Jimmy. And
as a result, many were shot down and brutally attacked by the police for their support.
We didn't hear one word from the other Powell (Adam), and very little from the
"civil rights leaders."
Every day in the United States, both north and south, Black people are being murdered
by the agents of the U.S. government – either in blue uniforms of the police,
hiding under white sheets or by "justice" lynchings in the courts of this
country. Every day our Black youth are being dragged from our homes to go into the
U.S. army to kill and be killed in foreign wars (against other colored peoples),
especially in Vietnam. Where is the mass protest on the part of these so-called
leaders?
- Medgar Evers was shot to death!
- Malcolm X was shot to death right here in New York!
- Wharlest Jackson was just blown to bits in Natchez, Miss.!
These are only three of countless thousands. Where were the mass protest on the
part of the so-called "leaders"? There were none, except for cynical
statements to the press. We must therefore ask, Why?
The answer is clear. Powell has worked within this corrupt system and gotten
rich off of it. At the same time the condition of the vast majority of the
Black people has gotten worse. Powell has been as corrupt as those thieves who
denied him his seat. Therefore it is safe to come all out in his support, because
it is safe to defend crooks and gangsters rather than genuine militants.
Malcolm X was a potential revolutionary and that makes a lot of difference! No
great rallies, money collections, and big speeches by the so-called civil rights
"leaders," when Malcolm was gunned down by bullets paid for by the
C.I.A. Only empty statements!
THE FAKE MEREDITH CAMPAIGN
The vast majority of the so-called "leaders" read the signs correctly
that the people knew that Congress is racist and acted that way. They therefore
knew that anyone who would run for Powell's seat in Congress would be labeled an
"uncle tom" by the Black people. So, despite the fact that any one of
them would give their right arm for Powell's seat they had to "bide their
time" and wait for a better opportunity. James Meredith, who first
came into Harlem as a stooge for Robert Kennedy, could not resist the money
that was dangled in front of him; he first accepted with great fanfare, and then
declined with an equal amount of fanfare. The New York Times of March 13th,
in an interview that covered almost three-quarters of a full page, attempted to
make Meredith look and sound like a complete idiot, so obviously they were not
going all-out to support him. Under pressure from the so-called "civil-rights
leaders" he withdrew and left the field open to Powell. They wanted to save
him for a better time. The government has succeeded in doing jus what it wanted
to do.
They were successful in making Powell and his seat in the house of Representatives
the major issue and news item in the Black communities... while Black youth are
being drafted for Vietnam... while Black people are being murdered in this country
and the investigations of all of the other thieves in Washington become back page news.
Adam Powell becomes the 1967 version of the "March on Washington."
WHAT IS A LEADER?
If these "leaders" want the Black people to rally around Powell then why
doesn't he have a program for the people to identify with, rather than the silly
slogan, "Keep the faith, baby"? If Powell is a "leader," let's
put him to the test. Let him publicly denounce the racist and fascist war against
the Vietnamese people. Let him tell Black youth not to go into the U.S. army. Let
him come out in defense of the "Harlem Six," framed-up and jailed these
last three years. Let him investigate, or protest the countless acts of brutality
and murder that occur in the 32nds precinct (three blocks from his church). Let
him offer bills to jail the many slumlords in his 18th Congressional District. Yes,
let him defend the interest of the Black people. This is the only criterion to judge!
To say that we must defend him because he is "Black," and that we must
unite behind him because the "man" is out to get him, is a weak argument.
Should we defend a Black dope pusher that poisons our children because he is Black
and because the "man" is "out to get him"? Should we defend a
stick-up killer – who robs us – because he is Black and the "man"
is out to get him? Should we defend one of "our own" by saying, "why
did they pick on him, he is just as crooked as the rest of them"? Yes, we always
agree that the biggest crooks and gangsters in this country sit in high offices in
Washington.
But the point is: They ALL should be in jail!
NATIONAL LIBERATION
But we, Black people fighting for our national liberation, have only one yardstick to
judge those that we will accept as our "leaders" and that is whether or not
they have devoted their lives in the interest of our liberation, and have developed
programs and organizations towards that end.
So there are important lessons to be learned from this circus that is taking place.
We must learn to choose our own leaders from among the ranks of the people that will
be beholden only to us – not to the Democratic or Republican parties. We must
choose militant revolutionaries who will not sell themselves to U.S. imperialism and
who have only one thought, goal and desire – and that is for the national
liberation of the Afro-American peoples of the United States.
ISSUED BY THE HARLEM BRANCH OF THE PROGRESSIVE LABOR PARTY
336 LENOX AVENUE – FI 8-2254
TESTIMONY OF HERBERT ROMERSTEIN (RESUMED)
********************************************
Mr. Romerstein. This is from a statement that Charles Kenyatta,
real name Charles Morris, made on June 22, 1967, to a group of reporters who were
standing outside the courthouse during the arraignment of the RAM people who were
arrested in connection with that case.
He was asked, "Is there a Revolutionary Action Movement in this country?"
He answered, "There is no one organization planning revolution. The entire
country is in a revolutionary period now." He was asked what he thought of the
plot to assassinate Roy Wilkins and Whitney Young. He said, "Roy Wilkins can't
go among his own people now. Whitney Young can't go among his own people now. It
would be a waste of time to kill them."
He was asked, "What about Martin Luther King?"
"The people are beginning to accept Martin Luther King since he has changed."
He was asked about the riots. He said, "There is no such thing as riots."
Mr. Ashbrook. What people do you think he meant there?
Mr. Romerstein. I think he was referring to the people who thought
the way he did, the black nationalists. All of these groups, the Communists and black
nationalists, have a tendency to speak of themselves as if they represented the
majority of the American people. In fact, they represent a very thin majority.
Mr. Ashbrook. What is the date on this?
Mr. Romerstein. This is June 22, 1967.
He was asked about riots. He said, "There is no such thing as riots. A
revolution is when what's at top has to go to the bottom." He was asked,
"Do you believe in assassination? Do you think it is necessary?" He
said, "You use any means necessary?"
He was asked, "Is assassination necessary?"
He answered, "How did Stalin get to the top? How did Mao Tse-tung get to the top?
Long live Mao Tse-tung. People in the country are scared of revolution and they
do anything to suppress it."
He was asked, "Do the Mau Mau possess weapons?"
He replied, "The only way to gain freedom is through the barrel of a gun,"
which is a paraphrase of a Mao Tse-tung quote that power comes out of the barrel
of a gun.
They asked, "Did you say that Negro youth must take the machete and slay moderate
Negro leaders?" – because Charles Kenyatta frequently runs around the
streets wearing a machete.
He said, "They must take machetes and destroy Uncle Toms. When the Government
does not represent the people, the people must rise up and overthrow the Government."
He was asked, "Do you personally know the RAM people that were arrested?"
He said, "Do I personally know them, they are my brothers."
This is a picture taken during the April 15 Spring Mobilization [against the war
in Vietnam] demonstration in New York. This was a group called the Black United
Action Front which led a demonstration away from the main line of the march and
eventually got into an altercation with the police. Pictured in the demonstration
and walking side by side are James Haughton, William Epton of the Progressive Labor
Movement, both wearing dark glasses, and Charles Kenyatta dressed in a helmet liner
and uniform of sorts. At this point he did not have his machete with him.
(Photograph marked "Romerstein Exhibit No. 38" follows:)
ROMERSTEIN EXHIBIT NO. 38
[No. 1, James Haughton; No. 2, William Epton; and No. 3, Charles Kenyatta]
Mr. Romerstein. During the black power conference in Newark he
and his other members carried their machetes. It was his group that invaded a
press conference during the black power conference and beat up some of the white
reporters that were present.
Here he was walking together with Bill Epton. He has been closely associated with
Epton and the Progressive Labor people in some of these activities.
This is another poster that was put up on walls in Harlem, "Charles Kenyatta."
It says, "Let's Use Black Force Now!" It is headed Mau Mau Society.
It carries a picture that purports to be Lyndon Johnson. It quotes Johnson as saying
"Niggers ain't dy'n fast 'nuff in Viet Nam! But we'll do better in the Mid-East!"
The answer, "IF, 'WE' LET HIM!!!" The implication being, of course, that
there was some connection between the Middle East war between Israel and the Arab
countries and the war in Vietnam – and this was opposing both. That Lyndon
Johnson is deliberately trying to kill black people, and Arabs, in the case of the
Middle East war. Once again we find the grotesque types of lies being told by
these people.
(Document marked "Romerstein Exhibit No. 39" follows:)
ROMERSTEIN EXHIBIT NO. 39
CHARLES KENYATTA
MAU MAU SOC.
LET'S USE BLACK FORCE NOW!
"NIGGERS AIN'T DY'N FAST 'NUFF IN VIET NAM! BUT WE'LL DO BETTER IN THE MID-EAST!"
IF 'WE' LET HIM!!!
********************************************
Mr. Watson. There is no question about it. That could absolutely ruin
and poison the minds of people, and any innocent event may trigger a tragic situation.
You have pointed out one leaflet where they showed the four pictures of these people
labeled dangerous, and these are the ones supposed to testify against the RAM members
who attempted to assassinate Wilkins and so forth.
I was wondering if perhaps that might contribute to the reticence or reluctance on the
part of responsible people to try to counteract it because they feel, who knows,the
next day my picture will be on one of those flyers.
Do you think that that might contribute to the reluctance on their part? I mean fear
from their own people?
Mr. Romerstein. Yes, sir, it might contribute to the reluctance of
some of the private citizens who might take the initiative in answering this. I don't
think it would affect the police department. But the police department does not answer
this type of thing.
Mr. Watson. The police department is in an impossible situation.
They can do nothing right; you know that.
Mr. Romerstein. That is right. They are made the enemy and they
are the targets.
Mr. Watson. I think the police need a little help from the citizens.
I don't know where they are going to get it. You paint a rather grim picture here.
Mr. Romerstein. The New York City Police Department, despite the
difficulties that all police departments have in recruiting and so on, have done a
remarkably good job.
The Chairman. There is no question about that in light of the
representation by the witnesses here today.
Mr. Romerstein. Yes, sir. They are typical of what has been called
the new breed of police officer.
Mr. Watson. We can bring it close to home. The citizens are not
interested. Did you see the picture in the early edition of the Evening Star
yesterday where a man, totally nude, was walking here in Washington, and two ladies
came up and two men right beside him. This is not a racial matter. But the two
looked as if such a scene were an everyday occurrence. If I were there we would not
call the police: that man would be dealt with. Of course, I would go to jail, but
he would be dealt with right then, and he would have less to show off the next day.
And I am not a member of one of these violent groups.
The Chairman. Does that conclude your examination?
Mr. Smith. That concludes it, sir.
The Chairman. The Chair wishes to make a statement.
It has been said that things were so tense in Harlem in the summer of 1964 that a riot
was bound to break out sooner or later. This may be true. Again, it may not. Expert
testimony received by the subcommittee indicates that no one can predict a riot with
certainty. It is possible to do no more, after careful study, than indicate the
degree of probability of a riot.
Perhaps a riot would have occurred in Harlem some time during the summer of 1964
even if the Progressive Labor Party did not exist. Based on the testimony and evidence
received during the past 2 days, however, I would say that is is highly improbable
that a riot would have broken out in Harlem on July 18, 1964, if the Progressive Labor
Party did not exist and if it did not have a Harlem chapter.
I say this not only because of the Progressive Labor Party rally just a few hours
before the riot broke out at which Bill Epton said that policemen and judges would
have to be killed, but also because of all the actions taken by the Progressive Labor
Party, and its Harlem chapter, over a period of approximately 2 months before the
riot broke out – the establishment of the Harlem Defense Council to develop
conflict in the community and direct the hostility of certain segments of it against
the police, its concerted campaign to distribute highly inflammatory racial and
antipolice literature in the area, the instruction given its members in the manufacture
of Molotov cocktails, and so forth.
I do not believe there can be doubt in the mind of any reasonable person but that
these activities tended to – and were designed to – inflame the
community and arouse emotions to such an intense pitch that any number of incidents
might have touched off a riot.
The Progressive Labor Party, of course, was not the only subversive organization
operating in the area. Other such groups took actions and distributed propaganda
which inflamed the community. The most important role, however, was clearly played
by the Progressive Labor Party.
In my view, there is no doubt but that subversive elements played a major and
probably the key role in precipitating the Harlem riot of July 1964.
I want to make that statement in closing the 2 days of hearings.
Thank you so much. This concludes today's hearing.
The subcommittee will adjourn subject to the call of the Chair.
(Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, November 1, 1967, the subcommittee recessed
subject to call of the Chair.)
(Committee Exhibits Nos. 4 through 9, referred to on p. 1091, follow:)
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 4
HARLEM DEFENSE COUNCIL
336 LENOX AVENUE, NEW YORK, N.Y.
Origin: June 17, 1964.
Purpose: The Harlem Defense Council (HDC) was a front group for the
Progressive Labor Movement, now known as the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). The HDC,
a creation of William Epton, an open PLP official, was organized as a "block by
block federation" of groups of Negroes for the purpose of stopping alleged police
brutality. The HDC has claimed that it organized Negroes to "intervene non-violently
to discourage brutality by police officers"; however, "the possibility of
self-defense in such cases" was "not excluded." The council's program
included the furnishing of firearms to its affiliates as a "defensive"
measure against law enforcement officers. The HDC was also formed for the purpose
of obtaining recruits for the PLP.
This organization is now defunct.
Organization: Small membership. Exact size unknown.
The HDC operated out of the headquarters of the Harlem branch of the PLP, which was
also used as the office of the party's Black Liberation Commission.
Key Leaders: Cochairmen:
William Epton (Harlem PLP leader)
William McAdoo (PLP official)
Publications: No newspapers or periodicals. HDC has issued posters,
flyers, and other literature of a highly inflammatory nature.
Activities: The council has –
(1) prepared and distributed literature creating hate and distrust of law enforcement
officers, and has disseminated propaganda falsely charging police brutality;
(2) called for violence against police and other governmental authority;
(3) sponsored unlawful and disorderly demonstrations in which violence was urged; and
(4) conducted training in karate to be used to "fight cops" under the
guise of "self-defense."
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 5
COMMITTEE TO DEFEND RESISTANCE TO GHETTO LIFE
1 UNION SQUARE WEST, ROOM 617, NEW YORK, N.Y.
Origin: November 1, 1964.
Purpose: The Committee to Defend Resistance to Ghetto Life (CERGE)
was basically a defense front for the Progressive Labor Movement (now known as
Progressive Labor Party (PLP)) and its affiliates. CERGE has claimed that it was formed
to "protect the right to resist and challenge a system that relegates the black
man to third-class citizenship in fourth-class ghetto communities." CERGE also
stated that it was established to "defend victims of police brutality" and
the "victims of the Grand Jury Inquisition" in New York. (A New York State
grand jury, which conducted an investigation of the July 1964 riots, subpenaed numerous
leaders of the Progressive Labor Party, some of whom were subsequently convicted of
criminal contempt for refusing to testify.) CERGE publicized cases of alleged
"police brutality" and raised funds for legal defense of police
"victims."
This organization is now defunct.
Organization: Small membership. Exact size unknown.
National office – see above-listed address, West Coast office – P.O.
Box 4403, San Francisco, Calif.
Key Leaders: William McAdoo, chairman (PLP leader); Sue Karp,
secretary (PLP member).
Sponsors: Carl and Anne Braden (identified members of the Communist
Party, U.S.A.), Maxwell Geismar, Vincent Hallinan, LeRoi Jones, Leroy McLucas, J. P.
Morray, Truman Nelson, Mare Schleifer, A. B. Spellman, and Paul Sweezy.
Publications: No newspapers or periodicals. CERGE has issued numerous
leaflets and tracts of a highly inflammatory nature.
Activities: The committee has –
(1) conducted fundraising rallies for the defense of Progressive Labor Party leaders;
(2) prepared and distributed literature in defense of the Progressive Labor Party;
(3) prepared and distributed literature in an attempt to exploit Negro unrest;
(4) prepared and distributed literature creating hate and distrust of law enforcement
officers, and has disseminated propaganda falsely charging police brutality; and
(5) prepared and distributed literature challenging governmental authority and
attempting to discredit the grand jury system.
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 6
MOTHERS' DEFENSE COMMITTEE
163 WEST 129th STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y.
Origin: June 1964.
Purpose: The Mothers' Defense Committee was formed at the instigation
of the Progressive Labor Movement (now known as Progressive Labor Party) as a defense
group for six teenage Negro male youths who have been convicted for the murder of
Mrs. Margit Sugar, a white shopkeeper, at 3 West 125th Street, New York, N.Y., on
April 20, 1964.
This organization is now defunct.
Organization: Small membership. Exact size unknown.
Membership included the mothers of the teenage Negroes convicted of the crime of homicide.
Key Leaders: Mrs. Mildred Thomas, chairlady; Mrs. Mary Hamm, treasurer.
Publications: None.
Activities: The committee has –
(1) sponsored fundraising rallies for the defense of the six Negro defendants;
(2) sponsored street rallies in which members of the committee have made charges of
"police brutality," "frame-up," and "police terror," in
connection with the case;
(3) staged meetings for the purpose of generating hate and distrust of law enforcement
officers; and
(4) functioned to undermine the American judicial system.
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 7
HARLEM SOLIDARITY COMMITTEE
Origin: The Harlem Solidarity Committee (HSC) was formed at a meeting
held at 40 East 7th Street in New York City on July 23, 1964. The Spartacists claim to
have initiated the group.
Purpose: According to a press release dated July 25, 1964, the purpose
of the HSC was "support of the citizens of Harlem and Bedford-Stuyvesant against
police terror" under such slogans as "Demand the removal of the rioting cops
from Harlem!" and "Support the right of the citizens of the ghetto to defend
themselves!"
Organization: Number of members, if any, unknown. Directed by a
coordinator. Address unknown; telephone given as SC4-6052.
Supported as of July 25, 1964, by the following: Brooklyn Civil Rights Defense Committee,
Committee for Peace Organization, Jesse Gray, Progressive Labor Movement, Spartacist,
Youth Against War and Fascism, and Liberator editor Daniel H. Watts.
Key Leader: Judy Weiner, coordinator.
Publication: Only known publication was a mimeographed press release
dated July 25, 1964, and reportedly printed by Tri-Line Offset Cod. Inc.
Activities: The only recorded public activity of the Harlem Solidarity
Committee was a rally at 8th Avenue and 38th Street in the garment center of New York
City at noon on July 28, 1964, at which time there were inflammatory antipolice speeches
by James Robertson of Spartacist, Conrad Lynn, Vincent Copeland of
Workers World, Milton Rosen of PLM, Sandra Rodriquez of Movimiento Pro
Independencia de Puerto Rico, and Key Martin of YAWF.
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 8
COMMUNITY COUNCIL ON HOUSING
6 EAST 117th STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y.
Origin: Early 1960's.
Purpose: Organizing of every slum tenement in Harlem as a
"political pressure approach to socialized housing" and as an
"organizing tool" that may "even kick off the revolution in the ghetto."
Key Leader: Jesse Willard Gray, director.
Organization: 2,300 in January 1964.
Participating Organizations: Lower East Side Rent Strike Committee
(Formation announced in The Worker, 1/14/64: 1,7.), Bedford-Stuyvesant Rent
Strike Committee, Metropolitan Council on Housing.
Publications: No newspapers or periodicals. CCOH has issued flyers
of a highly inflammatory nature.
Activities: (1) In December 1963 Jesse W. Gray took over the
leadership of a Harlem rent strike which had been in effect since September. In
November 1964 Gray's plans for intensified rent strikes were reported in the
National Guardian. He reportedly told the Guardian that rent strikes
"'are not intended to solve the problems of housing or of slums, but to
give people in the ghetto a feeling that they have some power...'" [Emphasis added.]
(2) held mass rallies;
(3) held demonstrations at City Hall;
(4) planned a citywide Rent Strike Coordinating Committee
(5) agitated against the police;
(6) conducted "The World's Worst Fair" in June 1964.
On July 19, 1964, during the Harlem riots, CCOH issued a flyer entitled
"IS HARLEM MISSISSIPPI?" It charged police with the murder of three
children in 2 weeks and with "whipping people's heads for no reason all
over Harlem." The flyer made three demands:
1. Commissioner Murphy's resignation
2. Indict Lieutenant Gilligan for murder
3. Remove Armed Forces from Harlem
Another flyer issued on about the third day of the riot called on the people to
"ORGANIZE YOUR BLOCKS" so that you will be "in a position to properly
deal with the enemy." This flyer carried the names of the Community Council on
Housing and the Harlem Defense Council. CCOH was to be contacted for information on
a "MASS DEMONSTRATION AT THE UNITED NATIONS TO PRESENT... THE CASE OF TERRORISM
AND GENOCIDE COMMITTED AGAINST BLACK AMERICANS, AND THE CASE OF ORGANIZED POLICE
BRUTALITY THAT IS RAMPANT IN THE UNITED STATES."
On July 25, 1964, Justice Charles T. Marks, New York State Supreme Court, New York
County, issued a temporary restraining order preventing further demonstrations by
the Community Council on Housing and Jesse Gray.
Statements by Jesse Gray:
THE WORKER, FEBRUARY 4, 1964, P. 7:
"'The police... are the running dogs of the slumlords'..."
WORKERS WORLD, FEBRUARY 6, 1964, P. 1:
";There's no law for people up here,' said Jesse Gray angrily. 'The police work
only for the landlords. Blood is going to flow if something isn't done.'"
THE WORKER, FEBRUARY 16, 1964, P. 2:
"the eviction tactic is a 'conspiracy between the police department and the
slumlords.'"
THE WORKER, FEBRUARY 18, 1964, P. 6:
"'The police... did nothing about the slumlords who refuse to fix violations,'..."
NEW YORK TIMES, JULY 20, 1964, P. 16:
Gray (on July 19, during the Harlem riot) called for "'100 skilled black
revolutionaries who are ready to die' to correct what he called 'the police brutality
situation in harlem.'
...
"'There is only one thing that can correct the situation, and that's guerrilla
warfare,' he said.
...
"Mr. Gray said that he was seeking platoon captains, who could each recruit 100
men loyal to them."
COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 9
MAU MAU SOCIETY
1964 SEVENTH AVENUE, HARLEM
NEW YORK, N.Y.
Origin: Late 1966 or early 1967.
Purpose: The Mau Mau Society is a tiny all-Negro extremist group
that has apparently taken upon itself the task of providing protection for well-publicized
black power leaders. Its official emblem is an octagon insignia within which is
depicted a black arm holding a poised bloody dagger and the words "Charles
Kenyatta – Mau Mau Soc. – Let's Use Black Force Now!"
As its name indicates, the group is patterned after the famed dread Mau Mau tribe of
Africa which is best remembered for its merciless killing of white settlers and
missionaries.
Organization: 10-20 members (estimated).
Key Leaders: Charles (37X) Kenyatta (also known as Charles Morris),
chairman.
Theodore K. Smith
Herbert Spencer
Publication: None.
Activities: The Mau Mau Society has –
(1) acted as guards at the Newark, N.J., National Black Power Conference (July 1967)
and forcibly ejected white newsmen covering the event;
(2) provided guards for various speaking engagements by black power leaders in the New
York City metropolitan area;
(3) participated in a small separate anti-Vietnam black power rally which coincided with
the October 21 "Confrontation" at the Pentagon (1967).
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