The San Francisco 8 (SF8) are former members and associates of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense who resisted Joint Terrorism Task Force questioning in 2003, refused to testify before a San Francisco Grand Jury in 2005 and were eventually charged in 2007 by California Attorney General Jerry Brown with a 1971 attack on the Ingleside police station that resulted in the death of a police sergeant. This 30 + year-old cold case was revived post September 11, 2001 to re-criminalize the Black Liberation Movement. The case raised issues of police abuse and the role of the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1973, thirteen Black Panthers were arrested in New Orleans, purportedly in connection with the San Francisco events. Several of them were tortured to exact confessions and collaboration. In 1975, a Federal Court in San Francisco prevented the use of statements made under torture and obtained in New Orleans. All charges were subsequently dismissed. 30 years later, the San Francisco Police Department, along with the FBI and other agencies, re-opened the case. 

The Freedom Archives played an active role in the Campaign to Free the San Francisco 8. The archive produced the documentary, Legacy of Torture, in 2007, discussing the tortures in New Orleans and the history of COINTELPRO targeting the Black Liberation Movement. The film was used as an organizing tool for the campaign which succeeded in forcing the state to drop charges against most of the defendants.

This collection contains materials related to the campaign to Free the SF8, including informational brochures, pamphlets and web files. It also contains a number of news articles about the case. 

View the Legacy of Torture on Vimeo or Purchase a Copy.

For more information, check out the following collections: the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, COINTELPRO, Herman Bell, Jalil Muntaqim