Wilmington Ten facts for kids

The Wilmington Ten were nine young men and one woman who were unfairly accused and found guilty in 1971 in Wilmington, North Carolina. They were charged with setting a fire and planning other illegal acts. Most were sentenced to many years in prison. All ten served almost ten years in jail before their convictions were overturned. This case became very famous around the world. Many people believed these activists were political prisoners, meaning they were jailed for their beliefs and actions related to civil rights.

Amnesty International, a group that works for human rights, started helping the Wilmington Ten in 1976. They provided legal support to appeal the convictions. In 1978, Governor Jim Hunt reduced their sentences. In 1980, a federal appeals court decided that the trial was unfair because the prosecutor and judge had not followed the law. The convictions were overturned, and the Wilmington Ten were not tried again. In 2012, Governor Bev Perdue officially pardoned all ten, including four who had already passed away.

Why Things Were Tense in Wilmington

In the 1960s and 1970s, many Black people in Wilmington, North Carolina, were unhappy. They felt that changes promised by the Civil Rights Movement were not happening fast enough. They faced poverty and lacked good opportunities. When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968, it made racial tensions even worse. There was more violence, and some white-owned businesses were set on fire.

Tensions grew even more after Wilmington high schools started to integrate in 1969. The city decided to close Williston Industrial High School, which was a beloved school for the Black community. Black teachers, principals, and coaches lost their jobs. Students were moved to schools where white students were the majority. This led to fights between white and Black students, and many were arrested or expelled.

In response to these problems, members of the Ku Klux Klan and other white supremacist groups started patrolling the streets. They even hung a doll representing the white school superintendent and cut his phone lines. Street fights broke out between these groups and Black men.

Students decided to boycott the high schools in January 1971. In February, the United Church of Christ sent 23-year-old Benjamin Chavis to Wilmington. He came from their Commission for Racial Justice to help calm the situation. Chavis had worked with Martin Luther King Jr. He taught about non-violence and met regularly with students at Gregory Congregational Church. They discussed Black history and planned the boycott.

The Fire and the Arrests

On February 6, 1971, a white-owned business called Mike's Grocery was attacked with firebombs. Firefighters who arrived to put out the fire said they were shot at from the roof of the nearby Gregory Congregational Church. Benjamin Chavis and several students were meeting at the church, along with other people. The neighborhood became very chaotic, with rioting that lasted into the next day. Two people died during this time.

The governor of North Carolina called in the North Carolina National Guard. On February 8, the Guard entered the church and took out the people inside. The Guard claimed they found ammunition in the building. The violence caused two deaths, six injuries, and over $500,000 in property damage.

Chavis and nine other people were arrested. These included eight young Black high school students and an older white woman who worked to help people in poverty. They were charged with setting the grocery store fire and planning the acts. Based on what two Black men said, they were found guilty in state court.

The "Ten" and their sentences were:

• Benjamin Chavis (age 24) – 34 years
• Connie Tindall (age 21) – 31 years
• Marvin "Chilly" Patrick (age 19) – 29 years
• Wayne Moore (age 19) – 29 years
• Reginald Epps (age 18) – 28 years
• Jerry Jacobs (age 19) – 29 years
• James "Bun" McKoy (age 19) – 29 years
• Willie Earl Vereen (age 18) – 29 years
• William "Joe" Wright, Jr. (age 19) – 29 years
• Ann Shepard (age 35) – 15 years

An Unfair Trial

At the time, the state's case against the Wilmington Ten was seen as very controversial. One witness later said he was given a small motorcycle in exchange for his testimony against the group. Another witness, Allen Hall, had a history of mental health issues. He had to be removed from the courtroom after he changed his story during questioning.

All ten defendants were found guilty. The men received sentences ranging from 29 to 34 years for the fire. This was seen as a very harsh punishment, especially since no one died in the fire. Ann Shepard, age 35, received 15 years for helping before the crime and planning to attack emergency workers. Earl Vereen was the youngest of the group at 18 years old when he was sentenced. Reverend Chavis was the oldest man at 24.

Fighting for Justice

Amnesty International started working on the Wilmington Ten case in 1976. They believed the eight men still in prison were "political prisoners." This means they were jailed for their political beliefs, as defined by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

In 1976 and 1977, three main witnesses for the prosecution changed their stories. They said their earlier testimony was not true. In 1977, the TV show 60 Minutes aired a special report about the case. It suggested that the evidence against the Wilmington Ten might have been made up. In 1978, Governor Jim Hunt reduced the sentences of the Ten.

In 1980, the federal 4th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the convictions. The court found that the prosecutor had hidden important evidence that could have helped the defendants. Also, the judge had unfairly limited how much the defense could question the main witnesses about special treatment they received. The court ordered a new trial, but the state decided not to try the case again. Chavis and the other seven prisoners were then released.

A group called the Wilmington Ten Foundation for Social Justice was created to help improve conditions in the city.

A Pardon of Innocence

In May 2012, Benjamin Chavis and six other living members of the group asked North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue for a pardon. The NAACP supported the pardon. They also argued that the men and their families should receive money for the years they spent in jail. On December 22, 2012, The New York Times newspaper published an article urging Governor Perdue to pardon the group.

Governor Perdue granted a pardon of innocence for each of the ten on December 31, 2012. This pardon meant that each person was eligible for state compensation of $50,000 for each year they were in prison.

The claims for money were approved in May 2013. The total amount of compensation was $1,113,605. Ben Chavis received $244,470, Marvin Patrick received $187,984, and most of the others received $175,000 each. Four of the Wilmington Ten had passed away before the pardons in December 2012. Their families did not receive compensation at that time.

The Wilmington Ten in Media

The story of the Wilmington Ten has been told in different ways:

Films

• Wilmington 10 -- U.S.A. 10,000
• In 2003, a student named Laura Colatuno made a documentary film called The Wilmington Ten: A Story Retold.
• In 2014, the National Newspaper Publishers Association and CashWorks HD Productions made the documentary film Pardons of Innocence: The Wilmington Ten.

Books

• Dr. Kenneth Janken wrote The Wilmington Ten: Violence, Injustice, and the Rise of Black Politics in the 1970s.
• Larry Reni Thomas wrote Rabbit! Rabbit! Rabbit!: A Fictional Account of the Wilmington Ten Incident of 1971.

Images for kids

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  Jerry Jacobs, one of the Wilmington Ten, in prison, June 1976.