T.H. Johnson – Geronimo Pratt

Ed welcomes film maker and researcher T.H.Johnson to discuss the story of Geronimo Pratt.

Geronimo Pratt was a military veteran and a high-ranking member of the Black Panther Party in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A decorated soldier, having served in Vietnam, he moved on to study at UCLA in Los Angeles under the GI Bill. Around the same time he joined the Black Panther Party. However, he became a person of interest to the FBI in their COINTELPRO operation; the aim of which was to “neutralise Pratt as an effective BPP functionary”. This led to Pratt being incarcerated for 27 years four years after he allegedly murdered Caroline Olsen in 1968. Seven of those years were spent alone in solitary confinement. His freedom was secured in 1997 with the vacation of his conviction due to the withholding of key evidence by the prosecution. Despite appeals, the vanquishing of charges was upheld after appeal.

He spent much of the rest of his life as a human rights campaigner and activist until his death in 2011.

T.H.Johnson is a researcher of note, with some truly quality work under his belt. His other projects include deep-dive films and books into the O.J. Simpson case and controversy.

Projects Serpents Rising: An Independent Investigation of the O.J. Simpson Murder

O.J. Simpson: Serpents Rising: An independent investigation (DVD)

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