The Wilmington Ten were a group of civil rights activists who spent nearly a decade in jail after being convicted of arson and conspiracy in 1971. The case became an international cause celebre amidst widespread beliefs that the individuals in the case were only guilty of holding dissenting political beliefs.[1] Amnesty International took up the case in 1976. [2] The convictions were finally overturned in 1980 because the prosecutor and the trial judge both violated the defendants' constitutional rights. Chavis v. State of North Carolina, 637 F.2d 213 (4th Cir., 1980).
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In the 1960s and 1970s, African-American residents of Wilmington, North Carolina were unhappy with the lack of progress in implementing reforms from federal legislation and court decisions during the American Civil Rights Movement. Additionally the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. increased racial tensions and led to an increase in outbreaks of violence, including the arson of several white-owned businesses.
In February 1971, Reverend Benjamin Chavis, Jr. of Oxford, North Carolina was sent to Wilmington by the United Church of Christ to lead African American students in a boycott of the city's schools. Racial tension had increased after the 1969 integration of Wilmington high schools and a number of clashes between white and African-American students had resulted in a number of arrests and expulsions. In response to a number of arsons in Wilmington, members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups began patrolling the streets. [2]
On February 6, 1971, Mike's Grocery, a white-owned business, was firebombed. When firefighters arrived to put out the flames, they were fired upon by snipers positioned on the roof of Gregory Congregational Church. A number of people, including Chavis and several students, were barricaded inside the building. The area erupted into rioting for the next day. On February 8 the National Guard entered the church and found it empty. The violence resulted in two deaths,[2] six injuries, and over $500,000 in property damage. Chavis and nine others, eight African American men and one white woman, were arrested and tried and convicted for arson and conspiracy in connection with the firebombing of Mike's Grocery.[2] They were sentenced to nearly 28 years in prison.
The state's case against the Wilmington Ten was seen as controversial both in the state of North Carolina and in the United States. Two witnesses recanted. One testified that he was given a minibike in exchange for his testimony against the group. Another witness, Allen Hall, had a history of mental illness and had to be forcibly removed from the courthouse after recanting on the stand upon cross examination. But despite these incidents, the group was convicted.
The resulting sentences for the men ranged from 29 years to 34 years for arson. Ann Shepard of Auburn, New York age 35, received 15 years as an accessory before the fact and conspiracy to assault emergency personnel. The youngest of the group, Earl Vereen, was 18 years old at the time of his sentencing. Reverend Chavis was the oldest of the men at age 24. The sentences totaled 282 years. The convictions were eventually overturned by the federal appeals court in 1980. [2] The defendants were exonerated by the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals for two reasons: (1) because the prosecutor failed to disclose exculpatory evidence, in violation of the defendants' due process rights [the Brady rule]; and (2) because the trial judge erred by limiting the cross-examination of key prosecution witnesses about special treatment the witnesses received in connection with their testimony, in violation of the defendants' 6th Amendment right to confront the witnesses against them. Chavis v. State of North Carolina, 637 F.2d 213 (4th Cir. 1980).
Several national magazines, including Time, Newsweek, Sepia and The New York Times Magazine, published articles on the trial and its aftermath. When then President Jimmy Carter admonished the Soviet Union for holding political prisoners, the Soviets responded by citing the incarceration of the Wilmington Ten as an example of American political imprisonment. In 1977, 60 Minutes aired a special about the case, insinuating that the evidence against the Wilmington Ten was fabricated.[2]
Amnesty International (AI) took on the Wilmington Ten case in 1976.[2] The men still in prison at the time were part of a group of 11 African American men incarcerated in the U.S. that AI considered to be political prisoners, under the definition in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[1]