New Haven Black Panther trials

In 1970 there was a series of criminal prosecutions in New Haven, Connecticut against various members of the Black Panther Party. The charges ranged from criminal conspiracy to felony murder. All indictments stemmed from the murder of 19-year-old Alex Rackley in the early hours of May 21, 1969. The trials became a rallying-point for the American Left, and marked a decline in public support, even among the black community, for the Black Panther Party.

On May 19, 1969, members of the Black Panther Party kidnapped fellow Panther Alex Rackley, who had fallen under suspicion of informing for the FBI. He was held captive at the New Haven Panther headquarters on Orchard Street, where he was tortured and interrogated for two days until he confessed. His interrogation was tape recorded by the Panthers. During that time, national party chairman Bobby Seale visited New Haven and spoke on the campus of Yale University for the Yale Black Ensemble Theater Company. After his speech, Seale briefly stopped by the headquarters where Rackley was being held captive, though it was never proven that he went inside or knew about Rackley's treatment.

Early the next day, three Panthers - Warren Kimbro, Lonnie McLucas, and national Panther "Field Marshal" George Sams, Jr. - drove Rackley to the nearby town of Middlefield, Connecticut. Kimbro shot Rackley once in the head and McLucas shot him once in the chest. They dumped his corpse in the Coginchaug River, where it was discovered the next day.

Police raided the Panther headquarters, eventually arresting nine New Haven area Black Panthers (in addition to two juveniles). McLucas and Sams were captured later.

Sams and Kimbro confessed to the murder, and agreed to testify against McLucas in exchange for a reduction in sentence. Sams also implicated Seale in the killing, telling his interrogators that while visiting the Panther headquarters on the night of his speech, Seale had directly ordered him to murder Rackley. In all, nine defendants were indicted on charges related to the case. In the heated political rhetoric of the day, these defendants were referred to as the "New Haven Nine", a deliberate allusion to other cause-celebre defendants like the "Chicago Seven".

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