Biography
Harold Holmes was a leader of the New Orleans National Committee to Combat Fascism (NCCF), the recruiting arm of the Black Panther Party, which established itself in the city's Desire Housing Project in 1970. He became the public face of the group's standoff with New Orleans police over an attempted eviction and a challenge to Louisiana's criminal-trespass law. On November 25, 1970 he was arrested as he and several carloads of supporters tried to leave the city, reportedly using vehicles rented by activist Jane Fonda to travel to a Washington, D.C. rally. He is profiled in Orissa Arend's history "Showdown in Desire: The Black Panthers Take a Stand in New Orleans." (A 1969 issue of The Black Panther separately reported a "Harold Holmes" jailed over a draft card; that earlier claim is not independently corroborated and is not confirmed to be the same person.)
