Home / Full timeline / Seven Republic of New Africa members are convicted on charges resulting from a shootout at RNA headquarters in 1971.
Seven Republic of New Africa members are convicted on charges resulting from a shootout at RNA headquarters in 1971.
1973 (Oct 20)
Seven members of the Republic of New Africa (RNA), including its president, Imari A. Obadele, were convicted in the U.S. District Court in Biloxi, Mississippi, on charges resulting from a shootout at RNA headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1971. Two women and five men were charged with illegal possession of weapons and assault on a federal officer. Two of the defendants, Wayne M. James and Thomas E. Norman, were already serving life sentences for convictions in state courts. In the federal trial Obadele received a twelve-year sentence; the other defendants received sentences ranging from three to twelve years. Attorneys for the RNA indicated they would file a motion for a rehearing of the cases.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.