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Title on Reel (transcribed from original)
Stokely Carmichael and his group at the federal reformatory, Petersbug, VA, 4-11-68
Date Created
1968-04-11
Reel Format
Super 8mm
Reel Description
This reel contains footage filmed outside of the Federal Reformatory in Petersburg, VA, on April 11, 1968, where Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown) was being held after the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his bond request. The footage films several cars and individuals in them, including previous (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) SNCC chairman Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael), who traveled to Richmond for Al-Amin's hearing. There is also footage at an unidentified gas station.
Timestamp Description
00:00:09 Footage begins. An individual looks up at the sky while a uniformed police officer walks by in front of them. Parts of cars are visible around them. The individual then leans over to speak with someone in the car to their right.
00:00:16 Footage of the rear license plate of a parked car. The camera pans up to fill individuals sitting in the car, then left to other cars and individuals outside of the cars.
00:00:38 Footage of the individual from the beginning of the reel standing alongside a red car, leaning in the window to speak with those in the car. The passenger in the car holds a newspaper, likely the Richmond Afro American, which features the headline "Free At Last" and a photograph of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
00:00:41 Footage of the front of the red car, which pans up to film the driver with the newspaper and the individual standing next to the car.
00:00:46 Footage of a gray car focused on the individual sitting in it.
00:00:55 Footage of the red car focused on the individual in the passenger seat, this appears to be Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael).
00:01:02 Footage of the driver in another car, they cover their face with the hood of their jacket and point at the camera. The camera pans to film others in the car, though their faces are obscured by shadow.
00:01:23 Footage of the individuals in the rear seat of the same car. The individual on the left raises a middle finger towards the camera while smoking a cigarette.
00:01:30 Zoomed in footage of a Tennessee temporary tag taped to the windshield of the red car.
00:01:42 Footage of an individual getting into the gray car.
00:01:45 Footage of Ture in the passenger seat of the red car reading the newspaper. He holds the paper with the middle finger of his left hand raised.
00:01:58 Footage of a U.S. Army tandem-rotor aircraft/helicopter flying above the camera.
00:02:06 Footage filmed from a distance of an individual who appears to be Ture standing and stretching in front of a gas station, with a car between him and the camera. He speaks with other individuals who are blocked from view by a gas pump.
00:02:29 Footage following an individual walking in front of the gas station between vending machines.
00:02:38 Footage of individuals including Ture exiting the gas station and standing in front of it. Several individuals get into a car.
00:03:08 Footage ends.
Event Description
This series of reels centers around various court hearings in Richmond, Virginia related to Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) chair Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown) from 1967 to 1969. Read more about Al-Amin via the SNCC Digital Gateway. During his incarceration from 1971-1976, Al-Amin converted to Islam and changed his name from H. Rap Brown to Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin. For the narrative below, and materials related to these events, the name Jamil Al-Amin will be used.
According to a August 22, 1967 article in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Al-Amin did not need to appear in person for an extradition hearing in Virginia, where officials had charged him on July 26th of "unlawful flight from Maryland." Maryland sought him on charges of "incitement to riot and arson" in Cambridge, Maryland. More information on the Cambridge incident is available via Wikipedi here and here. Virginia Assistant Attorney Reno S. Harp III told the paper that the hearing was requested by Al-Amin's attorneys. The following day, the RTD (August 23, 1967) reported that the hearing had been delayed by request of Al-Amin's attorneys due to another legal situation in New York. The hearing was postponed to September 5 (per the RTD, September 5, 1967), and Al-Amin would not be in attendance. His attorneys William M. Kunstler, Philip J. Hirschkop, and Charles Mangum represented him at the hearing. Al-Amin remained in New York. Kunstler argued that Al-Amin's arrest in July in Alexandria was unlawful, and his federal fugitive warrant was "a direct derivative...of the Fugitive Slave Act." (RTD, September 6, 1967.) His lawyers also argued he would not receive a fair trial in Maryland, where he was shot by a police officer after giving a speech on the evening of July 24th. On September 7, Virginia Governor Mills E. Godwin Jr. signed the extradition order (RTD, September 8, 1967). It was believed his attorneys would file habeas corpus proceedings to block the extradition. On September 13, Al-Amin was transferred from Alexandria city jail to Richmond City jail as Judge Franklin P. Backus on the habeas corpus petition believed he could not set a bond for Al-Amin. However, Judge Backus was not made aware of the transfer (RTD, September 14, 1967). On September 15, Al-Amin was transferred from Richmond to a state prison farm in Powhatan County, and Richmond Mayor Morrill M. Crowe stated the city requested the transfer "based upon the desire of the City of Richmond to maintain tranquility within our community by avoiding all circumstances potentially disruptive to that tranquility." Three individuals protested in front of the jail on September 15. (RTD, September 16, 1967). An emergency habeas corpus hearing was held on September 16 (RTD, September 17, 1967). On September 18, Al-Amin was released on a $10,000 bond and ordered to not leave New York other than for court appearances. A full habeas corpus hearing was scheduled for October 3 (RTD, September 19, 1967). On October 3, the Corporation Court judge Backus turned down the motion for a writ of habeas corpus, but the decision was appealed to the Virginai Supreme Court (RTD, October 4, 1967). In February 1968, Al-Amin was ordered to appear in Richmond on charges of breaking the bond, allegedly having given two speeches in California, per the testimony of three FBI agents. (RTD, February 20, 1968). Al-Amin arrived at Hanover County jail on February 22 (RTD, February 23, 1968). At the February 23 hearing, Al-Amin's bond was revoked and he was ordered to return to New Orleans to face federal charges (RTD, February 24, 1968). His lawyer William M. Kunstler stated that he believed Al-Amin was allowed to travel to meet with him in California, and that his speeches were coincidental (Film Reel #8). On March 1, 1968, the Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals upheld the previous granting of extradition of Al-Amin to Maryland (RTD, March 2, 1968). Just days after the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Al-Amin had another hearing in Richmond on April 8, 1968 (RTD, April 8, 1968). Judge Robert R. Merhige denied bond at this hearing (RTD, April 9, 1968). The U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the bond request on April 11 (RTD, April 12, 1968). On March 10, 1970, the Bel Air, Maryland courthouse where Al-Amin was to be tried on the incitement charges was bombed. The previous day, two SNCC officials (Ralph Featherstone and William “Che” Payne) died in a car bombing--some activists believed it was an assassination attempt on Al-Amin, police claimed a bomb was being transported to the court house and went off accidentally (RTD, March 11, 1970). After the bombings, Al-Amin disappeared for 18 months, ending up on the FBI's Most Wanted List. After being arrested in 1971, the charges in Maryland were dropped on November 6, 1973 due to lack of evidence. (RTD, November 7, 1973).
Runtime
00:03:48
Personal Name Subject
Al-Amin, Jamil, 1943-; Carmichael, Stokely, 1941-1998
Corporate Name Subject
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (U.S.); United States. Court of Appeals (4th Circuit)
Topical Subject
Al-Amin, Jamil, 1943---Trials, litigation, etc.; Students--Political activity; Extradition; Trials; Civil rights movements; Civil rights movements--United States; Civil rights demonstrations; Civil rights workers; Student protesters; African American student movements; Student movements; Demonstrations; Black power; Black power--United States; Black militant organizations; Courts; Courthouses; Jails; Police; Police patrol--Surveillance operations; Electronic surveillance; Video surveillance
City/Location
Richmond (Va.)
Genre
color films (visual works)
Local Genre
moving image
Type
Moving Image
Digital Format
video/mp4
Language
eng
Rights Statement URL
Rights
This material is in the public domain in the United States and thus is free of any copyright restriction. Acknowledgement of Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries as a source is requested.
Collection
Richmond Police Department Surveillance Collection
Source
Jamil Al-Amin (H. Rap Brown) Trial in Richmond Film Reel #13, 1968 April 11
File Name
VCU_M571_046.mp4