Biography
Sal Candelaria was a leader and organizer of the Black Berets (Black Berets por La Justicia), a Chicano militant self-defense and community organization based in East San Jose, California. According to The Black Panther (Sept. 6, 1969), he was convicted in 1969 of resisting arrest, possession of a loaded firearm in public, and assault with a deadly weapon following a February 16, 1969 confrontation at the University of Santa Clara, and was sent to the California Medical Facility at Vacaville for evaluation before sentencing. He is independently documented as a figure in San Jose Black Berets / Chicano-movement history. NOTE: the specific 1969 charges and outcome are documented only in The Black Panther and are not independently corroborated.