New Haven Panther Rally Avoids Violence 'til Dark

(Special to the CRIMSON)

NEW HAVEN, Conn,-The anxiously awaited outbreak of major violence failed to come about yesterday as 15,000 demonstrators rallied peacefully yesterday afternoon on the New Haven Green in support of jailed Black Panther leader Bobby Seale.

Several hundred demonstrators scirmished briefly with city police and National Guardsmen on the Green last night, but the afternoon gathering was entirely non-violent with police reporting no arrests or injuries.

Tonight's conflict erupted at 10 p. m. as demonstrators tried to march to the New Haven County Courthouse, where Seale goes on trial for murder later this year. It resulted in several injuries.

The afternoon rally on the Green was the focus of the first day of a two-day series of events in support of jailed Black Panthers here and in other cities.

Organizers of the rally had originally predicted 35,000 demonstrators would join the May Day protest.

The main theme of the rally events was to protest the trial here of eight Black Panthers, including National Chairman Bobby Seale, on murder and kidnapping charges in connection with the death of another Panther last May.

Speakers at a morning news conference-attended by all seven defendants in the Chicago riot conspiracy trial-said, however, they also were protesting police arrests Thursday in Baltimore of 10 Panthers and their sympathizers in connection with the slaying there of a reputed Panther.

Gov, John N. Dempsey had alerted the entire 6000-man state National Guard and asked Atty. Gen John N. Mitchell to have federal troops stand by. Four thousand troops were flown to bases in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

The demonstrators, most of them young whites, began gathering in the moring at the New Haven Green, a small park downtown. Through the early afternoon they sat peacefully, occasionally chanting or waving flags during a rock and folk concert that preceded the main rally.

Rally Begins

After three hours of rock music by bands including Elephant's Memory, the massive rally began at 4 p. m. Author Jean Genet passed the mircrophone to Elbert "Big Man" Howard, Panther Deputy Minister of Information, who read Genet's statement in English to the crowd. "The existence of the Black Panther Party comes first, ahead of your diplomas. You must face life directly, not in comfortable aquaria," Genet had said.

"If we truly want to save this country," Panther Chief of Staff David Hilliard said, "we'll take power from the pigs and the other conspiracy-the conspiracy to rip off the chairman of the Black Panther Party."

"We recognize that the U. S. A. is the most inveterate enemy of black people and the number one target for liberation," Hilliard added. "When Ted Kennedy speaks out as an authority on non-violence, I say he's a motherfuckin'liar. The only way to end this is to pick up guns."

David Dellinger said that government preparations for the demonstration were "a classic case of inciting to riot. The issue is not whether we are peaceful or not. The issue is whether it's a peaceful weekend in Cambodia or not."

"What happened to all those liberal senators when that racist anal judge Julius Geritol Hoffman spit in the face of the Constitution at our trial?" Abbie Hoffman shouted. "Clean for Gene, George McGovernment, Teddy-with-the-

Bridge, all those fuckers? Not one word. Our only court is in the streets."

As the demonstration broke up at dusk, about 2400 National Guardsmen who had been stationed in armories around the city moved onto the main streets and lined up in front of businesses and department stores. Though they did not enter the Yale campus, the Guardsmen stood at attention as demonstrators strolled away from the Green and dispersed into the Yale area.

Bartholemew F. Guida and James F. Ahern, mayor and chief of police of New Haven, expressed gratification earlier last night that the afternoon demonstration was peaceful and said they hoped that tomorrow's rally at 4 p. m. on the New Haven Green would also be non-violent.

A spokesman for New Haven police stated earlier last night that fewer arrests were made yesterday than during a normal day of business in New Haven, and demonstration medics said that the only injury resulting from the afternoon protest was one man who was bruised when a flying football hit him in the face.

All but 400 of the 2400 National Guardsmen who had been stationed on the streets earlier in the day had been pulled back to staging areas during the evening. The 400 and some 200 police were involved in the nighttime demonstration.

Police said the evening trouble started after a false rumor circulated that three Yale students acting as medics had been arrested.

The demonstrators threw rocks and bottles at police, who repeatedly charged and gassed the demonstrators in return. Rally marshals circulated through the crowd-often acting as a buffer between rioters and police-urging everyone to "go back to the campus." The large crowd dispersed by 11:30 p. m. National Guardsmen remained on duty along New Haven streets and scattered groups roamed the area, but no more outbreaks occurred.

A small bomb exploded at midnight in Ingalls Hockey Rink, where a dance had just concluded. Two-hundred people were in the building; one girl was injured, not seriously.

Over 3000 out-of-town demonstrators spent last night in Yale dormitories. The university is supplying everyone with free food.