Biography
Jack Ivory Johnson was a member of the Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther Party. On April 24, 1970 Baltimore police officer Donald W. Sager was shot and killed and a second officer wounded in the 1200 block of Myrtle Avenue. Johnson, then 23, and James E. Powell were found hiding beneath the steps of a nearby house during the manhunt that followed.
By the account of Nana Njinga Conway, published by the Freedom Archives and circulated by itsabouttimebpp.com, Johnson was beaten after his arrest and coerced into signing a statement, written for him, implicating himself, Powell and Marshall Eddie Conway. He was hurt badly enough that supporters had to go to court to have him taken to hospital, where he remained for some days. Once he had his own counsel he recanted the statement. Prosecutors offered him complete immunity if he would stand by it and testify against Conway. He refused, and Conway went on to serve forty-four years.
He was the third Black Panther Party member tried in the case. He was released in May 2010. A Campaign to Free Jack Johnson was still filling Baltimore courtrooms for his hearings in June 2009.
