Nearly two thousand people filled the Central United Church of Christ in Detroit on the evening of August 30, 1967 — by early evening the sidewalks were packed around the church as well. They were there to hold a people’s trial of the officers who had killed three young men (Carl Cooper, 17, Fred Temple, 18, and Aubrey Pollard, 19) at the Algiers Motel — after the officers weren’t indicted and the media refused to press the issue.
Young activists organized this “People’s Tribunal” on the suggestion of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee organizer H. Rap Brown.
Among the people selected to be jurors were African American novelist John O. Killens, bookstore owner Edward Vaughn, and Rosa Parks.
Continue reading on the Rosa Parks Biography website. Find lessons and other resources below.
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