that his presence there was of symbolic value. The University authorities regarded Brenner as a trouble-maker. Some days after the incident, the University police contacted Brenner's probation officer expressing concern that his exceptional rhetorical talents might induce "mob action or violence" on the campus. According to David Goines, Brenner was then arrested when a policemen observed him accepting a beer from a passer-by and charged him with drinking in public. This charge signified legally that he had violated the terms of his three year probation. Lewis Feuer frequently referred to Brenner (Glaser) as the nihilistic Nechayev of the FSM, the evil genius behind the movement. The UC sent a representative to testify against Brenner's probation while Brenner was denied the right to call witnesses on his own behalf. The court ruling revoked his probation on the grounds that he had obstructed police in the execution of their duties. He was sentenced to 1 to 10 years' imprisonment. Brenner's appeal against his conviction was turned down by Judge Richard Sims who however, according to Brenner, wrote that he was troubled by Judge Dieden's ruling. For Sims, Brenner was not a felon. If he were mentally ill, referral to an appropriate institution would have been proper. Were he a trespassing social malcontent, he should have been judged for a normal misdemeanour. UC faculty scholar William Petersen wrote an extensive report on the incident which, on 17 May 1965, was read into a Senate inquiry into putative Communist influence on American universities into internal security laws. In it Petersen described Brenner as a convicted narcotics user who assaulted police. Brenner subsequently spent 39 months in jail at California Men's Colony. In the Oakland lockup, while waiting to be sent to the state penitentiary, he met and had intense discussions with Huey Newton. He recalls that his time in prison enabled him to read widely in the library, enjoy free medical care, and engage with some of the "most impressive & intelligent people" he encountered in the 60s decade. Brenner was released on January 22, 1968, after serving a term of 3 years and 3 months. In a memoir of the period, one of the FSM leaders, Michael Rossman argued that the movement, in failing to stand by Brenner when he was targeted by the authorities, had effectively betrayed him and his distinctive campus voice. Latter activism Brenner joined in the Free Speech Movement