Photo by James Cornwell

James Cornwell/ The Daily The discussion panel fields questions about the San Francisco 8 from the audience in the Molly Shi Boren Ballroom on Saturday. The panel consisted of some of the original members of the San Francisco 8, attorneys representing the group, as well as famous actor and Activist, Danny Glover.

Two years ago today, eight former civil rights activists began reliving a decades-old nightmare they thought they left in the past.

That nightmare is the highly politicized human and civil rights struggle now known as the San Francisco 8. Eight men were arrested Jan. 23, 2007, and face charges of conspiracy and murder in the 1971 death of a police officer.

Those charges originally were dropped when the judge discovered the confessions were obtained illegally, but now, under the Patriot Act, the eight men could find themselves behind bars again.

Five of the San Francisco 8 shared that nightmare with members of the OU community Saturday night at “The San Francisco 8” symposium. Joined by actor and civil rights activist Danny Glover, Harvard Law professor Soffiyah Elijah and Emory Law professor Kathleen Cleaver.

African and African American Studies program director Jeanette R. Davidson organized the symposium in honor of the late Wayne Thompson. Thompson, a human rights activist and Oklahoma native, played an integral role in the story of the San Francisco 8, Davidson said.

“The San Francisco 8 cause was very, very dear to his heart, and so the members of the San Francisco 8 got a message to me and asked if they could do this program to honor him,” she said. “Of course I just said yes ... so we could do the work he always wanted us to do here at OU.”

‘Legacy of torture’

The case began with the 1971 murder investigation of a San Francisco police officer that lead to the interrogation of two suspects. The Black Panther Party and affiliated black civil rights activists were suspects in the case.

On Aug. 29, 1971, San Francisco Sgt. John V. Young was shot and killed inside the Ingleside Police Station. Black Panther Party members Harold Taylor and John Bowman were taken into custody in New Orleans. Police used cattle prods, hot wet blankets and their fists to extract confessions, as Taylor and Bowman would later recall in “The Legacy of Torture,” a documentary of the case featured at Saturday night’s symposium.

They would also recall Thompson as a young civil rights legal investigator discovering the horrific events in the police station. He fought to secure legal counsel for them and stop the torturous interrogations, Davidson said.

“[Taylor] absolutely knows in his heart that Wayne saved his life, literally, not figuratively,” Davidson said. “That’s why there’s such a bond between the San Francisco 8 members and [Thompson], and that’s why he was so committed to working with them — because he actually saw the reality of them being tortured.”

In 1974, a court found that the confessions extracted from Taylor and Bowman were not credible. The case was thrown out, and the men accused of the murder continued with their lives.

Civil unrest

Though their arrest sapped the morale from civil rights groups, Bowman, Taylor and their fellow activists continued with their work in the community.

Glover, who had been in contact with the Black Panther Party’s work when he was in college in the ’60s and ’70s, said the investigation took a toll on the relationship the party tried to create with its community with outreach and charity work.

“It created a climate of suspicion even within the party itself,” Glover said. “It attempted to faction the kind of extraordinary movement.”

Still, the party continued with its work for the community and black civil rights. The members of the San Francisco 8 present at Saturday’s symposium said their main goal as members of the Black Panther Party was to serve their community.

“My father always taught me to look out for the underdog and to help those who could not help themselves,” San Francisco 8 member Henry “Hank” Jones said. “That’s what brought me to the Black Panther Party.”

For the next 32 years, that’s what many of the San Francisco 8 attempted to do. Serving as civil rights activists and working honest jobs, “these were men just living their lives” Davidson said. “And suddenly their lives are turned upside down once more.”

Case continues

In 2003, the case was reopened without any identifiable new evidence, Davidson said.

Bowman died in 2006.

On Jan. 23, 2007, police arrested the San Francisco 8 in California, New York and Florida in the reopened investigation of the 1971 murder. A grand jury convened in 2005 to begin questioning for the investigation. All members of the San Francisco 8 are posted bail except those in New York who could not afford to.

Cleaver, Emory Law professor and civil rights activist, said the Patriot Act allowed the case to be reopened, and investigators reopened the case to target the Black Panther Party.

“They don’t want the next generation to be able to say we know who we are,” Cleaver said. “We’re here to say we’re ready to continue to resist.”

The San Francisco 8 resistance continues today through symposiums like the one at OU.

By informing the public of their plight, the San Francisco 8 hope to bring attention to this case that they said has been unjustly brought against them.

Biochemistry senior Huliamatu Bah attended the symposium with other members of the OU African Student Association. During the question and answer session, she said she wanted to know how she could get involved.

“I thought as a black student, I should have known about this,” Bah said.

Davidson said many people are not aware of this issue, but its social, political and cultural importance is something she is glad to have helped spread at OU.

“I think people need to know what’s going on. Everyone has thanked me for bringing such an important program and they’ve also talked about how eye-opening it’s been,” she said. “They understand we need to be aware.”

Timeline of events

Aug. 29, 1971 – San Francisco Police Sgt. John V. Young is shot and killed.

1971 – Harold Taylor and John Bowman, two men that would become part of the San Francisco 8, were arrested in New Orleans in connection with Young’s murder and confessed under interrogation.

1974 – A court found that the confessions were not valid since they were extracted by torture. Without these confessions, the investigation ended.

2003 – The case is reopened.

Jan. 23, 2007 – Eight men were arrested in California, New York and Florida in connection with the reopened investigation. The San Francisco 8 await a June 8 court date to make their case.