where they were ordered to identify themselves to the police officers. Arrested were 15 NOI members, the majority of whom were visiting members from the Buffalo Mosque.
Four trials have been held as a result of these arrests. The first trial was terminated following picketing of the courthouse in which the trial was being held. The second and third trials resulted in deadlocked juries. Following new indictments returned by a grand jury, a fourth trial was held which ended in the conviction of the 15 members. All the defendants received four-year suspended sentences and were placed on probation for one year.
On October 27, 1963, three Flint, Michigan, police officers sought admission to an NOI meeting being addressed by Elijah Muhammad. NOI guards called on them to surrender their weapons before entering the hall, but the police refused to obey the NOI rule that only unarmed persons can enter their meetings. Elijah Muhammad then suspended the meeting. He later instituted a million-dollar damage suit against the police officers and the city attorney, charging that the constitutional immunities and guarantees of the NOI were violated by the police.
A Federal district court judge in July, 1964, dismissed the suit on grounds that the police had a legitimate right to enter the hall, that three police officers could hardly be considered too many when about 2,500 people
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