B. J. Brooks
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Reverend Billie Joe (B. J.) Brooks was president of the Pensacola chapter of the NAACP in December 1974 when black motorist Wendel Blackwell was shot and killed by an Escambia County Sheriff's Deputy. Brooks, along with SCLC leaders H. K. Matthews and Otha Leverette, led a series of demonstrations early the next year that culminated in a February 24 confrontation in which 47 people were arrested for unlawful assembly, including the three men. Brooks and Matthews were later charged with felony extortion and convicted on June 10, 1975.