Abandoning its Marxist-Leninist ideology, Newton now concentrated on community survival programs. While he had been imprisoned, party membership had decreased significantly in several cities, and the FBI had started a campaign to disrupt and eventually bring down the Black Panthers. After his release from prison Newton overhauled the Black Panther Party, revised its program, and changed its rhetoric. After two more trials the State of California dropped its case against Newton, citing technicalities including the judge's failure to relay proper instructions to the jury. In May 1970 the California Appellate Court reversed Newton's conviction and ordered a new trial. In September 1968 Newton was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. " Huey Newton proved to be as violent as the party he helped to create when he was thrust into the national limelight in October 1967 accused of murdering Oakland police officer John Frey. , intelligence spent many years trying to bring down what they believed to be "the most violence-prone of all the extremist groups. But there was a darker side to the group, described in Former Panther Earl Anthony's book, Spitting in the Windas a party created with the goal to organize America for armed revolution. In addition to patrolling the police, Newton and Seale were responsible for writing the Black Panther Party Platform and Program, which called for freedom, full employment, decent housing, education, and military exemption for African-Americans. Newton and other Black Panther members observed police procedure, ensured that African-American citizens were not abused, advised African-Americans of their rights, and posted bail for those arrested. Guns were the essential ingredient on these patrols. Members of the Black Panther Party for Self Defense began patrolling the Oakland police. " Newton was familiar with the California penal code and the state's law regarding weapons and was thus able to convince a number of African-Americans of their right to bear arms. Cop-haters since childhood, Newton and Seale decided the police must be stopped from harassing Oakland's African-Americans in other words, to "defend the community against the aggression of the power structure, including the military and the armed might of the police. Like a wary panther that would not attack unless attacked, so too was the organization regarded. Realizing that there were few organizations to speak for or represent lower class African-Americans, Newton along with Bobby Seale organized the Black Panther Party for Self Defense in October 1966, with Seale as chairman and Newton as minister of defense. A child of the ghetto and a victim of discrimination and the "system, " Newton was very much aware of the plight of Oakland's African-American community. He read the works of Frantz Fanon, Malcolm X, Chairman Mao Tse-tung, and Che Guevara. He joined the Afro-American Association and played a role in getting the first black history course adopted as part of the college's curriculum. While at Oakland City College, Newton had become politically oriented and socially conscious. Newton spent most of this sentence in solitary confinement, including the "soul breaker"-extreme solitary confinement. In 1964, at age 22, he was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to six months in the Alameda County jail. He was arrested several times for minor offenses while still a teenager and he supported himself in college by burglarizing homes in the Oakland and Berkeley Hills area and running the "short change" game. Newton claimed he studied law to become a better burglar. (age 47) Monroe, Louisiana, United States
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