William Lee Brent

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William Lee Brent
U.S.
DiedNovember 4, 2006 (aged 75)
Havana, Cuba
NationalityAmerican

William Lee "Bill" Brent (1931 – November 4, 2006) was an American member of the

defector, best known for hijacking a passenger jet and diverting it to Cuba in 1969, where he spent the last 37 years of his life in exile.[1]

Biography

William Lee Brent was born in 1931, in

San Quentin State Prison
. On April 21, 1964, Brent married Gloria L. Harness, age 30, in Oakland.

Black Panther Party activity

In November 1968, Brent and two accomplices in a van marked "Black Panther Black Community News Service" allegedly robbed a gas station in

Bayview district of $80.[2] Police caught up to them on Seventh Street near the Hall of Justice, prompting a shootout, where one of the officers, Lieutenant Dermott Creedon, was critically wounded. When Brent was arrested and identified as the triggerman, Eldridge Cleaver kicked him out of the Black Panther Party, accusing him of "banditry".[3]

After his arrest, Brent was released on

.38 Caliber revolver to the pilot's head, and ordered him to fly to Cuba instead.[4]

Brent spent 22 months in an immigration jail in Cuba when he arrived, and after his release he earned a

ISBN 0-595-00288-9), and for several years prior to his death Brent was working on a book about discrimination against Black people in Cuba.[5]

Death

Brent died from pneumonia on November 4, 2006, at age 75, while still living in Cuba.[6]

References

  1. New York Times
    . Another fugitive from a similar hijacking several years earlier, William Lee Brent, also died recently. He is buried in an unmarked grave in the pauper's portion of Colón Cemetery, where eight coffins are stacked atop one another and then topped with concrete. Mr. Brent, who was 75, holds position No. 5.
  2. ISBN 0595002889
    .
  3. ^ Fimrite, Peter, William Lee Brent -- former Black Panther hijacked jet to Cuba, San Francisco Chronicle, November 20, 2006
  4. ^ Jocelyn Y. Stewart, William Lee Brent, 75; Black Panther hijacked plane to Cuba, Nov 20, 2006 LA Times
  5. New York Times
    . April 9, 1996.
  6. ^ Goodman, Amy (November 22, 2006). "William Lee Brent 1930-2006: A 1998 Conversation in Havana with the Former Black Panther on His Plane Hijacking, Life in Cuba and Much More". Democracy Now!.
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