Vol. 1, No. 1

HOOVER FEB 1 9 1993 PUTIONS/ ACK ¢ COMMUMTY NEWS SERVICE Ae Beh, NUMBER 1 RYVILLE “"™ RANCEH 7z BLACK PANTHER VOLUME 7 APRIL 25, 1967 P.O. BOX 8644 OAK. CALIF EME ae | PUBLISHED BY iemiasseeasinipinneisanaiiaibias THE BLACK gees PARTY FOR WHY WAS DENZIL DOWELL KILLED we “| BELIEVE THE POLICE MURDERED My SON” SAYS THE MOTHER OF DENZIL DOWELL. Brothers and Sisters of the Riehmond community, here is the view of the family's side of the death of Denzil DOwes.. as comptie? bythe Black Panther Party for Self Defense, concerned citizens, and the Dowell aes As you know, April Less 1967, Denzel Dowell (ace 22), was shot and killed py an "officer of the Martinez Sheriff's Department”, so read the newspaper. But there are too many unanswered guestions that have been raised by the Dowell family and other neighbors in the North Richmond community. Questions that don't meet the satis- faction of the killing of Denzil. The Richmond Police, the Martinez Sheriff's ee cast and the Richmond Indenendent would have us black people believe some thing contrary to Mrs. Dowell's was ‘unjustifiably" murdered | WE BLACK PEOFLE ARE | 5 aa ae ae MEETING SATURDAY £30. | able fects supporting the | AT J7I7 SECim Sivan Dowell family's point of view. LET US SUPPORT THE Seek, facts are DOWELL FAIMLY 1, Denzil Dowell was unarmed EVERY BLACK BROTHER and shot gun blasts be | AND SISTER MUST UNITE oe ee FOR REAL POLITICAL ACTION (Con't Page 2) PAGE 2 | THE BLACK PANTHER APRIL 25, 1962 gave its verdict. The foreman on the jury could not read. A biased qury of 10 white people and two ‘Negroes" protected the racist cop who murdered Denzil Dowell. Why did the newspaper and police say only three shots were fired when the coroner's report and surrounding neigh- bars established the fact that six to ten shots were used and heard? 3. The police and the newspaper stated that the time of the shooting.was 4:49 A.M. to 5:01 A.M., yet Denzii Dowell's Sister and neighbors in the area, testified to hearing shots at 3:50 A.M. 2. 11.The Dowell family also notes a very important fact. The cop }. who shot Denzil Dowell knew ,+ him by name and had stopped :’ Denzil and hollered to him - meny times, "Denzil Dowell give me your identification.” The: cop-had at other times threatened to-kill him. ; The Dowell family and concerned citizens have called for a Grand Jury investigation and are ao Gemanding that all law enfordé- ment officers Change their / policy of killing people over property. 4, Only Richmond police were first seen on the scene; not until later (an hour or so), around 4:50 A.M. were Martinez -sheriffs seen on the scene where Denzil Dowell was murdered. 5. The police reported that Denzil Dowell was running and jumped a fence and ran to jump another when he was shot. The Dowell family knows that Denzil had been injured in the hip. in a car accident some time ago and after leaving the hospital could not run much at all, let alone jump two fences with a hamer in his hand, - On April 18th a group of concerned citizens went to discuss this proposal with SHeriff Young of Martinez. The gitizens enumerated the areas of doubt in the case of Denzil Dowell and requested that the officer who — admitted doing the shooting be removed from duty pending an investigation. The Sheriff REFUSED to hear our request and we consider his action to be a pracistdisreg able request of black taxpayers and citizens concerned with the survival of black people. 6, fhe Lot that Denzil was supposed to have run across between the two fences is an old car junk yard loaded with grease and oil and why wasn't™ oil found on his shoes? LET US ORGANIZE To DEFEND OURSELVES 7. The coroner reported that Denzil Dowell bled to death. Where was the blood where Denzil Dowell lay? Denzil's sister remembers that night and says she saw very little blood. She said she never saw a pool of blood and yet the coroner said he bled to death after being shot ten times. "We believe we can end police brutality in our black community by organizing black self-defense groups that are dedicated to defending our black community from racist police oppression and - brutality. The second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States gives a right to bear arms. We therefore believe that all black people should arm themselves for self defense." (from the program of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense, Point No. 7 of "What We Believe") 8. Denzil Dowell was found by his « brother and friend and they noticed that no attempt had been made by police to summon a doctor or to save his life. WHY MUST BLACK PEOPLE QRGANIZE? 9. The family of Denzil Dowell has been denied the right to see or have the clothes that Denzil was murdered in. They want the clothes to see how many buliet holes the clothes have in them. The family was also denied the right to take pictures of his body so they could check for numerous bullet holes, --The murder of Denzil] Dowéha, April 1, 1967 he® in North Richmond; --The murder of @2 week befor here in Nort --The brutal beating lo oa woman here in em --The killing of Geort son iy i F cisco isSmantere ela Gag, 59" 0. The newspaper came out with a stasement of "justifiable homo- cide 2 hours before the jury in September, 1°66; --The beating of a 14 year old girl in East Oakland in October 1966. These are only a few of the murders and brutal beatings by racist cops that have happened and been reported in the news- paper and are known about in the black community. BROTHERS: AND SISTERS THESE RACIST MURDERS ARE HAPPENING EVERY DAY; THEY COULD HAPPEN TO ANY ONE OF US. , BROTHERS AND SISTERS WE MUST UNITE. MANY OTHER MURDERS AND BRUTAL BEATINGS HAVE TAKEN PLACE WITHOUT US DOING MUCH OF ANYTHING BUT LET'S STOP IT Now! WITH REAL NITTY GRITTY POLITICAL ACTION MEETING THIS COMMING SATURDAY SO WE'LL KNOW WHAT 10 DO AND HOW 10 D0 IT NOW! 1717 SECOND stREET» THE BLACK PANTHER-April 25, 196' ARMED BLACK BROTHERS IN RICHMOND COMMUNITY 15 Black Brothers, most of them armed; with Magnum 12 gauge shot guns, M-1 rifles, and side arms, held a street rally at the corner of Third and Chesley in North Richmond last Saturday afternoon about 5 P.M. The nice thing about these Bloods is that they had their arms to defend them= selves and their Black Brothers and Sisters while they exercised their Constitutional Rights: Freedom of Speech, and the right to Peacefully Assemble. And while they exercised another Constitutional right: the right to bear arms to defend themselves The racist cops could only look on. The Dog Cops made no attempt to break up the meeting like they generally do when Black people get together to souna their greviences against—the white power structure. The point to get firmly into your mind is that both the Black Brothers and the racist cops had "POWER". They -had righteous "GUN POWER", but the significant thing is that the Black Brothers had some of this raed con! Psi eo EVERYBODY out NORTH RIGHMOND AT £30 P.M. the mercy of cops who feel that their badges are a license to shoot, maim, and out-right murder any Black man, woman, or chiid who crosses their gun-sights. But there are now strong Black men and women on the scene who are Willing to step out front and do what is necessary to bring peace, security, and justice to a people who have been denied all of these for four hundred years, At this rally, the Brothers were uptight and knew exactly what they were doing at all times. They knew that they were acting strictly within their rights. These Brothers have become aware of something that the white racists have been trying to keep secret from Black people all the time: that a citizen has the right to protect himself. They were ready to insure that the rally went ahead as planned, without any interference from outlaw cops who wanted to suppress the meeting so that other Black People would not get the message. Black People must realize that the time is short and growing shorter by the day. Check it out. People talk about "Power". There is White Power, Black Power Yellow Power, Green Power, etc. put all Black People want out of all these different forms of Power is BLACK POWER. Black People want and need the power to stop the white racist power structure from grinding the life out of the Black Race through the daily operation of this system which is designed to exploit and oppress Black People. The beautiful thing about the Brothers who held the rally is that they are organized, discip- lined and politically aware of a the ins and outs of the problems racing Black People throughout . “the Bay Area in particular. When the cops came rolling up looking, the brothers spreaded out all across the street waiting for some fool cop to try and start something. The brothers were organized. So, Brothers and Sisters every~ where: vrighteous BLACK POWER organized is where its at. The STARCK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF~ really has something going. These brothers are the cream of Black Manhood. They are there for the protection, and defense of our Black Community. The Black Community owes it to itself, to the future of our le, to get behind these =? THE BLACK PANTHER - April 25, 197 know that black people are not stupid fools who are unable to recognize when someone is acting in the best interest of Black People. These Brothers have a political perspective. Most important, they are down here on the GRASS ROOTS LEVEL where the great majority of our people ara, The BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF DEFENSE moves. The PARTY takes action. “Hverybody else just sits back and talk. Ail Black People know what needs to be done, but } not all of them are willing to do it. The White man has instilled fear into the very hearts of our people. We must act to remove this fear. The only way to remove this fear is to stand up and look the white man in his blue eyes. Many Black People are able nowadays to look the white man in the eyes--but the line thins out when it comes to looking the white cops in the eye. But the white cop is the instrument sent into our community by the Power Structure to keep Black People quiet and under control. So it is not surprising that the action these days centers around the conduct of these white cops who come from way across town to patrol our communities for 8 hours & day. ~ But Black People have to live in these communities 24 hours a day. So it is time that Black People start moving in a direction that will free our communities from this form of outright brutal oppression. The BLACK PANTHER PARTY FOR SELF DEFENSE has worked out a program that is carefully designed to cope with this situa- tion. BLACK MEN!!! It is your duty to your women and children, to your mothers and sisters, to investi- gate the program of the PARTY. There is no other way. We have tried everything else. This is the moment in history when Black People have no choice but to move and move rapidly to gain their freedom, justice, and all the other ingredients of civiliz- ed living that have been denied ta us. This is where it\is at. Check it out, Black~-Brothers\and Sister} This is our Day!!!itt