We Accuse: Bill Epton Speaks to the Court

Brooklyn: Progressive Labor Party, 1966. Offset. Saddle-stapled in wraps. [36] pp. 5 x 7 ¾ in.

Transcript of the radical speech made the 1960s Harlem organizer before his sentencing on charges of “criminal anarchy.”

In the summer of 1964, 15-year old James Powell was murdered by NYPD Lt. Thomas Gilligan, resulting in a widespread rebellion Uptown and resulted in several high-profile court cases.

The first, that of the Harlem Six, centered around a group of young men who were beaten and arrested during the early stages of the uprising and then re-arrested a week later, this time on charges of murder. Defended by civil rights attorneys William Kunstler and Conrad Lynn, five of the six would eventually have their charges dismissed after spending nearly a decade in prison. One man, Robert Rice, was found guilty and remains in prison today.

This pamphlet directly transcribes the brave and radical speech that organizer Bill Epton gave at his sentencing. Though Lt. Gilligan would receive no jail time for the murder of James Powell, Epton was charged with conspiring to riot and advocating criminal anarchy. During Epton’s trial, it was revealed that a wired informant had taped much of his organizing efforts and private conversations that summer.

Includes a section with statements of support and solidarity from SNCC, the SDS, the VietCong, Bertrand Russell, Jean Paul Sartre and Simone De Beauvoir, organizers in Ghana, and others.

“We ask you, who are the real criminals? The criminal is the system that lives on greed, corruption, and the exploitation of man by man.”