On the evening of May 21, 1971, Waverly Jones, a 33-year-old Black male police officer, was on foot patrol with his partner, Joseph Piagentini, in the Colonial Park Houses public housing complex at 159th Street and Harlem River Drive in Manhattan. What began as a routine tour of duty took a tragic turn when they were ambushed by members of the Black Liberation Army.
As the two officers were heading back to their patrol car around 10:00 p.m., three assailants approached them from behind and opened fire.
The attack was sudden and brutal. Officer Jones was shot in the back of the head and died instantly. His partner, Officer Piagentini, was also shot multiple times. One of the attackers stole Officer Jones's service weapon. This same weapon would later be recovered in San Francisco after members of the Black Liberation Army used it in an attack on a police officer there. Officer Piagentini succumbed to his numerous injuries while en route to the hospital.
An investigation into the murders of Officers Jones and Piagentini led to the identification and arrest of three suspects: Anthony Bottom Albert Washington, and Herman Bell. All three were members of the Black Liberation Army, a radical black nationalist organization. They were tried and ultimately convicted for the murders, each receiving a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Over the years, the legal saga continued for the convicted men. Albert Washington died in prison in April 2000. Herman Bell was granted parole in March 2018. Anthony Bottom was also granted parole and released in 2020. Two of the men convicted in the officers' murders, along with others, were also implicated in the killing of a San Francisco police sergeant on August 29, 1971.
