Farblondjet
An Interactive Memoir
Jerry Ross, the Painter
The arrest of Bruce ...Wikipedia:
In the summer of 1968, a group of anti-war protesters centered on the University of Buffalo in New York State began to engage in draft resistance. Note: Click heading above to see video.
Fearing arrest, a number of them sought sanctuary in the Unitarian Universalist Church on Elmwood Avenue. They remained for twelve days attracting a group of supporters, while the Unitarian minister mediated between the activists and the F.B.I agents, U.S. Marshals and city police who surrounded the building.
The mediation failed: on 19th August the Federal Marshall's stormed the church, which they forcefully cleared using blackjacks (or according to some accounts, chains), making eight arrests on charges including draft evasion and assault on federal officers.
Those arrested were William Berry, Bruce Beyer, and Bruce Cline of the Buffalo Draft Resistance Union; Vietnam veterans Ray Malak, James McGlynn and Thomas O'Connell; Carl Kroneberg of the Peace and Freedom Party; and Jerry Gross, Chairman of Youth Against War and Fascism. Following an investigation, they later also arrested Bill Yates, an organiser for Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
In February 1969, the first federal trial of the nine began in a U.S. Courthouse besieged by protesters from the University of Buffalo and elsewhere. After the judge sentenced Beyer to three years imprisonment the nine became a cause célèbre on campus attracting even more support from students and faculty members.
A group of students formed the Buffalo Nine Defence Committee and published a newsletter, Liberated Community News, the offices of which were violently raided by the city police much to the disgust of the ACLU. The inability of the jury to reach a verdict on the other defendants' cases necessitated another trial, which became a political circus.
Berry, Malak and Yates gave raised fist salutes when introduced and, in contempt of court, Malak and Yates remained seated when the judge left for a recess, actions that probably played a part in their convictions and sentences of three years each. Berry and Kroneberg were acquitted, and the government decided to drop Gross' case after the jury, again, couldn't reach a verdict.”
Martin Gonzales Sostre
Like several other UB students that I knew of, I had developed a close friendship with Martin Sostre, an Afro-American bookseller on Buffalo’s East side (the black section of town.) Martin was extremely articulate and very engaging. He had the little red book by Mao and other books by Marx and Lenin. He had writings by Malcolm X and pamphlets on Vietnam. Best of all, he had all manner of books on black history and he was an excellent historian on that subject himself.
I was shocked one day in 1967 to read the papers and to find out that the fire department had put out a blaze next door to Martin’s store but had used the opportunity to turn high power hoses onto his storefront bookstore. We went over to see for ourselves only to find Martin trying to repair what looked like extensive damage to his store. According to Martin this was deliberate and that the police, working in conjunction with fire officials, were trying to drive him out of the neighborhood because he was talking to the youth, politicizing them.
We returned with radical books we had collected on campus. Thinking that was the end if it, and Martin would be able to continue running his bookstore, we (YAWF members and friends) retreated to campus and our own problems.
But not long after that, the unrest in the black community again bubbled over and we awoke to new, more dramatic headlines: “Martin X Arrested!!” was blasted over the front page. We read with intensity the saga it told of Martin being arrested for riot, arson, and heroin. We read that a preliminary hearing would be held in the Erie County courthouse downtown.
After consulting with WWP members (Jeanette and Ed Merrill), I went down to the courthouse and sat in the front row.