Biography
Tyrone Edwards was a member of the New Orleans chapter of the Black Panther Party (organized as the National Committee to Combat Fascism) and one of the defendants arrested after the September 14-15, 1970 police assault on the party's Piety Street office near the Desire housing project. In a landmark trial in August 1971 — the first Black Panther trial held before a Black judge and a majority-Black jury — twelve of the New Orleans defendants were acquitted of attempting to murder police. Tyrone Edwards is named among the defendants in The Black Panther's contemporaneous coverage.
Born about 1952, he later styled his name Tyronne Edwards, became the Rev. Dr. Tyronne Edwards, and as of 2026 is identified by Plaquemines Parish as its District 1 representative.
