The Divided Panthers

The charge: conspiracy to bomb public places in New York City and assassinate police. The courtroom atmosphere: chaotic, as scuffling and shouting became part of the daily docket in the pretrial hearings of 13 Black Panthers. Only after Judge John Murtagh stopped all action, presenting the prospect of indefinite jail stays, did the proceedings settle down to ten months of routine, producing little dramatic evidence and no political show reminiscent of the Chicago Seven trial.

Last week the case took an astonishing turn with the disappearance of Michael Tabor and Richard Moore, two of the four defendants free on bail. The two others who had been free, both women, were promptly remanded to jail. An angered Huey Newton, cofounder, minister of defense and supreme commander of the Black Panthers, expelled Tabor and Moore from the party. He denounced them as "enemies of the people," whose disappearance had "propped up the dying case of the prosecution" and jeopardized the chances of the rest of the accused to go free on bail.

Newton was also enraged by the apparent defection of his personal secretary, Connie Matthews, who married Tabor two months ago. Missing with her were some of Newton's private papers--documents that Newton considered important to the defense of Panther Chairman Bobby Seale in his murder trial in New Haven.

Intercommunalism. The split was further complicated when Newton read nine of the remaining defendants out of the party. Their offense, apparently, was an open letter to the Weatherman faction last month, critical of Moore and Tabor. The party and other supporters had arranged their bail ($150,000) because of the pair's leadership qualities. Both Tabor, 24, and Moore, 28, had been counted on to attract support--and money--for those still in jail. Their performance failed to live up to expectations. But no one thought that Moore and Tabor would run out. It had seemed that they were headed for light sentences or perhaps acquittal.

The New York incident underscored the worsening factionalism and rebellion against discipline among the Panthers. For years there has been dissension between the leadership, based in Oakland and represented by Newton and Seale, and the less prominent New York group. The New Yorkers have resented what they consider autocratic rule from a distance. They have also remained relatively close to black nationalism, while Newton has broadened his view to what he calls "intercommunalism"--a willingness to cooperate with a variety of revolutionaries, including whites.

The New Yorkers, as well as some rank and file elements elsewhere, have also kept the pugnacity that originally guided Panther tactics. The Oakland Panthers have recently become more restrained in their activities. The increasing preoccupation with "pan-revolutionism" and ideological rhetoric helped weaken the Panthers' efforts to attract the less sophisticated. The fact that so many Panther leaders are in jail or exile also damaged discipline.

Expatriation may explain the disappearance of Moore and the Tabor couple. The fact that Connie Matthews held an Algerian passport led to rumors that the trio may have fled to Algiers. There has also been speculation that Moore and Tabor have been killed or kidnaped. If they are still alive, they now occupy a no man's land between the factions, estranged from both the Oakland group and the New Yorkers.

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