1970 – Angela Davis Added to FBI's Ten Most Wanted List

On May 15, 1970, activist and scholar Angela Davis was added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in connection to a courtroom shooting in California. Although she did not commit the act, a gun registered in her name was used during the incident. Davis, a prominent Communist Party member and Black liberation advocate, had already been targeted for her political beliefs and association with the Black Panthers. The FBI’s aggressive pursuit and her eventual arrest sparked a global campaign for her release, turning her into a symbol of political repression and resistance. Davis was acquitted in 1972 after a high-profile trial. Her case exposed the criminal justice system’s racial and ideological bias and galvanized international support for political prisoners. Today, May 15 marks the moment Davis entered the national spotlight as a powerful icon of revolutionary justice.