In 1970, a murder trial in New Haven became a national reckoning as the Black

Panther Party faced the U.S. government — and this documentary reveals how

Yale became ground zero for America’s war on Black activism.

SYNOPSIS:

In 1970, New Haven, Connecticut became the epicenter of a trial that revealed the

hidden fractures of America. The New Haven Black Panther Trials revisits the

prosecution of the “New Haven 9,” members of the Black Panther Party accused in the

murder of recruit Alex Rackley. This case exposed the FBI’s covert war on Black

activism and turned New Haven into a battleground of race, justice, and power.

This story goes beyond one trial. It’s about a city once hailed as a “Model City” for urban

reform and now defined by one of the largest wealth gaps in America. It’s about how

Yale’s moment of solidarity with the Panthers revealed the power of collective

conscience—and how the same forces that tried to silence them still shape our

struggles over poverty, justice, and equality today.

Through archival footage, expert interviews, and the voices of those who lived it, The

New Haven Black Panther Trials uncovers how a single city’s story can illuminate the

nation’s deepest divides. If it happened in New Haven, it can happen anywhere making

this documentary not just a reflection on the past, but a powerful lens on the present

and the future.