employees, responsible for the safety of the President to notify Washington DC of a plan to assassinate the President when he came into Chicago.

They didn’t like it. He told me, I was “… talking above my pay grade.” Well, I didn’t like it. But I had made the decision to bring about the truth and I wanted to live with that decision. But in January of 1964, the Secret Service made a move that was dreadfully wrong, in that there had been reports of people in the group of the assassins who had Secret Service identification. It was strong evidence from Dallas. The Secret Service Chief recalled all of the Secret Service agents’ identifications, and they made new identification books. It seemed that there was some truth to that fact that some people had obtained credentials and were part of the assassination team. So I decided to take time off and pay my way to Washington, D.C., where the Warren Commission was meeting and tell them the truth. When I went to Washington, DC on May the 17^th, I tried to telephone the investigation’s lead attorney, J. Lee Rankin. I actually called the White House switchboard and asked to be put through to Mr. Rankin. I was concerned because reports out of Washington, DC, were that we weren’t getting any mention of the information and suspects that I knew had been investigated. As a matter of fact, one of the secret service agents who was one of the main investigators of the activities to assassinate the President in Chicago, told me that personally because he used to confide in me.

At noon, another man called me. He was the Department of Employee Employment Policy Service, and he said, “Abraham, they need you in Chicago. We have just cracked a counterfeiting plant, and we need a person to go under cover.” So, two SAIC’s went to the hotel room, packed my clothes, and whisked me to American Airlines. When they got me back to Chicago, they accused me of all things. They locked me up and didn’t let me eat for 24 hours. I couldn’t even make a telephone call. They held me incommunicado all day long.

A deputy attorney general and a special agent in charge of the Secret Service, walked into the office and he said, “We’re going to charge you with soliciting a bribe.” And I said, “That’s what you take from me?” Then they named two people that I had investigated for counterfeiting money. One guy was Frank Jones. I had arrested Frank Jones twice. We found a counterfeiting plant in his house. I was the person who investigated Jones for soliciting money on a false pretense.

On July 12, 1964, Judge J. Sam Perry, who was hearing the case, instructed the jury in the following words, “In my opinion, the defendant, Abraham Bolden, is guilty of counts one, two, and three in the indictment.” But the government’s case was so weak that he declared a mistrial. The judge said that, If we hadn’t had that black woman on the jury, they would have got a conviction. So, we asked for another judge for a second trial. As a matter of fact, the first trial ended somewhere around July the 12th. The judge set a second trial for August the 3rd of the same year, that was just three weeks I had to prepare for my life.

In the meantime, of course, I had just bought a house, and now my funds were almost depleted. Here again, my wife and I were trying to figure out how best to confront the government and prove my innocence. We had discussed the fact that, as an alternative to me, some of the avenues that she could take in order for the family, my wife and three children, to survive. The doorbell rang. I went to the door and brought in a big package. Now, I had until August the third, to either say we were going to trial again or go to jail. We had $500 in the bank and lots of bills. I brought the box in and we opened it. There was a big typewriter wrapped in a box. I still have that Olympic typewriter. So, we’re talking now about 1964. I’m preparing to go to the Penitentiary because we didn’t have the funds to fight anymore.

In the box with the typewriter was a ream of paper. It was from Richard Wagner from Turner Falls, Massachusetts. I opened the box, and an envelope fell on the floor. My wife brought it to me and in it was a check for $2,500 which permitted me to file a motion of appeal and to continue my fight for justice. I knew that one day I would have to leave my family. I knew how the government operated.

They put you in a place where they question your sanity. So, what I had to do was contact Mark Lane. Once they sent me to the penitentiary, Mark Lane came all the way to Springfield, Missouri, after I asked to see him. I had contacted many others who would come to Springfield but they were stopped by government officials because on the record, at the penitentiary, they were trying to declare me insane.

The government came on July the fifth, 1967, 3:00 in the morning. I was in the camp. Two guards with five-cell flashlights tapped me on the bottom of my feet and said, “Let’s go.” So, as we began to walk, I knew what they were up to. They took me to the Psychiatry Division. I protested. But it did no good. I knew what they were going to try to do first. They tried to fill me with drugs. They gave me 175 grams of what they call LV. Now, what happens is this. They start you out on a weak mental drug, and then they ease you into something else — one of the great, strong mental drugs. As a matter of fact, they had a reputation that there weren’t too many who ever came out again in their right mind. So that scheme to declare me insane was aided by the person who had to sign the commitment papers on August 3^rd to change my status of count to psychiatric. But he had committed suicide.

Praise be to God. So now they had nothing to do but put me on parole. So, at that point, I wrote the book. As a matter of fact, I’ve read several books that are available now in several bookstores, including Amazon. These books mentioned me at various times of my life, and they tend to solve the problem among race because racism is ignorance. It’s only one race. It’s a human race, and there are different opinions. So, tonight I want to tell all of you that I really appreciate this award, and I accept it with all humility and praise to God. And may we all continue to fight for justice. Fight for justice for Lee Harvey Oswald, who was, as he said, “just a patsy.” Thank you, Lord. Fight for justice for the Kennedy family, and fight for justice for all the underprivileged people who make up the United States of America. And I want to give special thanks to President Joe Biden, who gave me a pardon on April  26, in 2022. He gave me the renewed liberty of innocence.

So, carry on, my brothers and sisters. Carry on this research. Because in not too many years from now, the only thing in my pockets will be dirt. But the truth cannot die. The truth is God. Now, all praise be to God. Thank you again for this recognition. May God be with you all. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Thank you very much.