ROMERSTEIN EXHIBIT NO. 41 MURDERERS MURDERERS THE WHITE ANNE CRIMES GODS UNPUNISHED ́ND THE EL COIN GOES TO CANCER AND TUBERCULOSIS GENS GIVEN IN FOOD IN NEGRO 'RE Senator Thayler is right the Blackman & Puerto Ricans are Guine pigs here! Dear Friends and Neighbors, We are faced with a tragic situation within our neighborhood. Since the effects are injurious to you as a whole, you should closely read this report. We have a germicidal case going on in which live tuberculosis, cancer, other contagious germs, in food sugar, etc., poisonous gas were forced into a window to contaminate and cause the death of a whole family. Children have been af ected by the germ which has beer. distributed by the police in the 103rd precinct in Queens and police in other areas. These germs were even given on a frankfuter in the Jamaica store and in New York. Do you want to sit still and be mur.. dered by your local police? The case is now in Federal Court, but the witnesses have been threatened even before the trial begins. The case involves the castration of a Negro woman who was photographed illegally in the nude and placed under hypnosis, drug ed. FBI, San Francisco and New York rolice are involved in this case. get at one person they contaminated the water in a whole Negro area and caused the death of residents. These officials are also bugging homes and illegally wire tapping while you must pay for a private pline call in the Negro community. 11 of this is illegal. The racist police have used impersonators who force black woman to be photgra graphed for pictures to discredit Negro Womanhood. Where is the wh to man's pictures of his sister or his mother in this condition. Do we have to allow these pictures shown to our youth in the area by the polic to discredit this woman and her before she goes to court? How long vill you be fooled as a people to discredit your brothers and sisters while the whiteman laughs at the games he is playing on you? In the 1966 riots in East New York, a Negro boy who was later freed, was accused of a crime that was committed by a policeman's gun. Black man, awake and expose the villians if those pcitures are shown. Demand an investigation by your civil rights leaders. And demand that the pictures be shown to the accused. Deman that the law be enforce for the guilty. Jews and White businessmen have wiped germs on food for the police. Boycott Stores and Hitlerism Here! Mr. ASHBROOK. I notice you say "currently." Mr. ROMERSTEIN. Yes, sir. Mr. ASHBROOK. I think, Mr. Chairman, if there is anything that is obvious from these hearings it is that Communist radicals bent on anarchy and killing are operating at the present time. We have examined the 1964 riots. We have examined the effort to blow up the Statue of Liberty. I think what Mr. Romerstein is pointing out is particularly cogent; this is going on currently, at the present time. It is obvious from the evidence these people have plans; they have their own arms. Above all they have no scruples against violence, murder, and inciting others to riot. I think they certainly represent a clear and present danger which has been highlighted in these 2 days of very forceful testimony by the Detectives Hart and Wood and Mr. Romerstein. I think they should be commended for the work they have done in bringing this to the attention of the American people. Mr. ROMERSTEIN. Sir, may we enter into the record the background reports prepared by the research staff on the Harlem Defense Council, a front for Progressive Labor; the Committee to Defend Resistance to Ghetto Life, another front for Progressive Labor; Mothers' Defense Committee, a Progressive Labor front; and the Harlem Solidarity Committee, which was a combination of a number of organizations. It has the participation of both Progressive Labor and some of the Trotskyite groups such as the Spartacists, Jesse Gray's Community Council on Housing, and Charles 37X's Mau Mau Society. Mr. SMITH. I request permission to accept all of these documents used by Mr. Romerstein for the record. The CHAIRMAN. The documents will be accepted for the record. (Documents marked "Committee Exhibits Nos. 4 through 9," respectively. See pp. 1093–1097.) Mr. WATSON. Mr. Romerstein, any responsible, reasonably intelligent person would immediately discount and ignore all of this type of inflammatory, totally false material. But unfortunately we are not dealing always with people who are able to decide for themselves as to whether or not it is false or true. You have stated that this is going on now. Some would discount its effect. I agree with my friend Mr. Ashbrook that I attach a lot of importance and significance to it, and I think the American people had better wake up or else it might be a little too late to avoid a lot of heartaches and bloodshed. Do you know of any organization in that area where you have been working for a number of years that is actively, by way of brochures or leaflets or anything else, trying to counteract and put the big lie label to all of this material? Mr. ROMERSTEIN. No, sir, I know of no such organization that has engaged in such a project. Mr. WATSON. Is it because responsible citizens in that area are fearful of the consequences of trying to take a responsible position? Mr. ROMERSTEIN. Sir, I think the main reason is, as you have pointed out, that people have a tendency to say, well, this stuff is so grotesque and so obviously untrue, how can anybody believe it. Responsible people sometimes feel it is beneath their dignity to answer this type of thing. Actually, when a crisis situation develops it is this type of untrue material, this type of rumor that begins to start, that helps create the riot situation. Mr. WATSON. There is no question about it. That could absolutely ruin and poison the minds of people, and any innocent event may trig ger a tragic situation. You have pointed out one leaflet where they showed the four pictures of these people labeled dangerous, and these are the ones supposed to testify against the RAM members who attemped to assassinate Wilkins and so forth. I was wondering if perhaps that might contribute to the reticence or reluctance on the part of responsible people to try to counteract it because they feel, who knows, the next day my picture will be on one of those flyers. Do you think that that might contribute to the reluctance on their part? I mean fear from their own people? Mr. ROMERSTEIN. Yes, sir, it might contribute to the reluctance of some of the private citizens who might take the initiative in answering this. I don't think it would affect the police department. But the police department does not answer this type of thing. Mr. WATSON. The police department is in an impossible situation. They can do nothing right; you know that. Mr. ROMERSTEIN. That is right. They are made the enemy and they are the targets. Mr. WATSON. I think the police need a little help from the citizens. I don't know where they are going to get it. You paint a rather grim picture here. Mr. ROMERSTEIN. The New York City Police Department, despite the difficulties that all police departments have in recruiting and so on, have done a remarkably good job. The CHAIRMAN. There is no question about that in light of the representation by the witnesses here today. Mr. ROMERSTEIN. Yes, sir. They are typical of what has been called the new breed of police officer. Mr. WATSON. We can bring it close to home. The citizens are not interested. Did you see the picture in the early edition of the Evening Star yesterday where a man, totally nude, was walking here in Washington, and two ladies came up and two men right beside him. This is not a racial matter. But the two looked as if such a scene were an everyday occurrence. If I were there we would not call the police: that man would be dealt with. Of course, I would go to jail, but he would be dealt with right then, and he would have less to show off the next day. And I am not a member of one of these violent groups. The CHAIRMAN. Does that conclude your examination? Mr. SMITH. That concludes it, sir. The CHAIRMAN. The Chair wishes to make a statement. It has been said that things were so tense in Harlem in the summer of 1964 that a riot was bound to break out sooner or later. This may be true. Again, it may not. Expert testimony received by the subcommittee indicates that no one can predict a riot with certainty. It is possible to do no more, after careful study, than indicate the degree of probability of a riot. Perhaps a riot would have occurred in Harlem some time during the summer of 1964 even if the Progressive Labor Party did not exist. Based on the testimony and evidence received during the past 2 days, however, I would say that it is highly improbable that a riot would have broken out in Harlem on July 18, 1964, if the Progressive Labor Party did not exist and if it did not have a Harlem chapter. I say this not only because of the Progressive Labor Party rally just a few hours before the riot broke out at which Bill Epton said that policemen and judges would have to be killed, but also because of all the actions taken by the Progressive Labor Party, and its Harlem chapter, over a period of approximately 2 months before the riot broke out the establishment of the Harlem Defense Council to develop conflict in the community and direct the hostility of certain segments of it against the police, its concerted campaign to distribute highly inflammatory racial and antipolice literature in the area, the instruction given its members in the manufacture of Molotov cocktails, and so forth. I do not believe there can be doubt in the mind of any reasonable person but that these activities tended to-and were designed to-inflame the community and arouse emotions to such an intense pitch that any number of incidents might have touched off a riot. The Progressive Labor Party, of course, was not the only subversive organization operating in the area. Other such groups took actions and distributed propaganda which inflamed the community. The most important role, however, was clearly played by the Progressive Labor Party. In my view, there is no doubt but that subversive elements played a major and probably the key role in precipitating the Harlem riot of July 1964. I want to make that statement in closing the 2 days of hearings. Thank you so much. This concludes today's hearing. The subcommittee will adjourn subject to the call of the Chair. (Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, November 1, 1967, the subcommittee recessed subject to call of the Chair.) (Committee Exhibits Nos. 4 through 9, referred to on p. 1091, follow:) ORIGIN: PURPOSE: ORGANIZATION: COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 4 HARLEM DEFENSE COUNCIL 336 Lenox Avenue, New York, N.Y. June 17, 1964. The Harlem Defense Council (HDC) was a front group for the Progressive Labor Movement, now known as the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). The HDC, a creation of William Epton, an open PLP official, was organized as a "block by block federation" of groups of Negroes for the purpose of stopping alleged police brutality. The HDC has claimed that it organized Negroes to "intervene non-violently to discourage brutality by police officers"; however, "the possibility of self-defense in such cases" was "not excluded." The council's program included the furnishing of firearms to its affiliates as a "defensive" measure against law enforcement officers. The HDC was also formed for the purpose of obtaining recruits for the PLP. This organization is now defunct. Small membership. Exact size unknown. The HDC operated out of the headquarters of the Harlem branch of the PLP, which was also used as the office of the party's Black Liberation Commission. KEY LEADERS: PUBLICATIONS: ACTIVITIES: Cochairmen : William Epton (Harlem PLP leader) William McAdoo (PLP official) No newspapers or periodicals. HDC has issued posters, flyers, (1) prepared and distributed literature creating hate and (3) sponsored unlawful and disorderly demonstrations in (4) conducted training in karate to be used to "fight cops" under the guise of "self-defense." COMMITTEE EXHIBIT NO. 5 COMMITTEE TO DEFEND RESISTANCE TO GHETTO LIFE ORIGIN: ORGANIZATION: KEY LEADERS: SPONSORS: PUBLICATIONS: ACTIVITIES: November 1, 1964. The Committee to Defend Resistance to Ghetto Life (CERGE) was basically a defense front for the Progressive Labor Movement (now known as Progressive Labor Party (PLP)) and its affiliates. CERGE has claimed that it was formed to "protect the right to resist and challenge a system that relegates the black man to third-class citizenship in fourth-class ghetto communities." CERGE also stated that it was established to "defend victims of police brutality" and the "victims of the Grand Jury Inquisition" in New York. (A New York State grand jury, which conducted an investigation of the July 1964 riots, subpenaed numerous leaders of the Progressive Labor Party, some of whom were subsequently convicted of criminal contempt for refusing to testify.) CERGE publicized cases of alleged "police brutality" and raised funds for legal defense of police "victims." This organization is now defunct. Small membership. Exact size unknown. National office see above-listed address, West Coast office- William McAdoo, chairman (PLP leader); Sue Karp, secretary Carl and Anne Braden (identified members of the Communist No newspapers or periodicals. CERGE has issued numerous (1) conducted fundraising rallies for the defense of Progres- (2) prepared and distributed literature in defense of the Progressive Labor Party; (3) prepared and distributed literature in an attempt to (4) prepared and distributed literature creating hate and |