Biography
Herman Bell is a former Black Panther framed for the murder of a police officer in New York and is serving 25 years to life in prison. Herman Bell was born in Mississippi and moved to Brooklyn, New York as a boy. He was a talented High School football player and won a football scholarship to the University of California in Oakland. While in Oakland, Herman joined the Black Panther Party and became active around human rights issues in the Black community. In 1971, he went underground because of relentless FBI attacks on the Black Panther Party. While underground, Herman joined the Black Liberation Army, and in September of 1973 he was captured and extradited to New York on charges of having killed 2 New York City police officers– a case for which Jalil Muntaquim and Nuh Washington were already serving time. No witnesses were able to put Herman at the scene of the crime. The first trial ended in a hung jury and he was convicted at his second trial and given 25 years to life. Herman is a prison activist and has coached various sports teams inside the prison system. In 1990 he earned his B.S. degree from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Most recently, Herman was indicted as one of the San Francisco 8, 8 former Black Panthers all accused of murdering a police officer in San Francisco in the 1970’s. Herman pled guilty to a smaller offense and was not given any additional time to his sentence.
