Two Black Panther Party Members, Fred Hampton And Mark Clark Shot Dead 14 Police

Photo illustration of the founders of the Black Panther Party, Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton (Source: Commons Wikimedia)

JAKARTA - On December 4, 1969, members of the Black Panther Party named Fred Hampton and Mark Clark (22) were shot dead by 14 policemen. Both were shot while sleeping in their apartment in Chicago, Illinois, United States (US). About a hundred bullets were fired in what police described as heavy gunfire. However, the ballistics experts then saw that there was only one bullet from the Black Panther's side.

In addition, the "bullet holes" in the front door of the apartment, which the police said were evidence that the Black Panther shot them from inside the apartment was actually a hole the police made themselves in an attempt to cover up the attack. As a result of the attack, four other Black Panthers Party members and two police officers were injured.

Citing History, Friday, December 4, the shooting began in a raid led by Cook County State Attorney Edward Hanrahan. This is only one of many attempts by the government to weaken the Black Panther Party movement.

Under J. Edgar Hoover's leadership, the FBI battled civil rights activists and other minority leaders for years with the Cointelpro program. According to one FBI document, the program aimed to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or neutralize the activities of black nationalist organizations and groupings."

Although the FBI is not in charge of leading these particular raids, a federal jury indicates the FBI played a key role in the events that led to the raids. Hanrahan had used information provided by FBI informant William O'Neal, the third person in the raid command to plan attacks.

There are also conscious attempts by the FBI to use "aggressive and imaginary tactics" to prevent "the rise of a 'messiah' who could unite and electrify the militant black nationalist movement." They considered Fred Hampton, the outspoken and charismatic activist and chairman of the Black Panther Illinois Party as a dangerous powerful leader.

Hampton was involved in the civil rights struggle from a very early age. At the age of 15, he organized a secondary school branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Hampton went on to become Chairman of the Black Panther Party in Illinois when she was 20 years old. Many Black Panther Party leaders, such as Huey Newton, Assata Shakur and Bobby Seale, spent time in prison on charges based on little or no evidence.

The Black Panther Party Movement

While most media coverage of the Black Panther Party focuses on their violent rhetoric and the fact that they carry weapons, members of the Black Panther Party are involved in many nonviolent community organizing activities. They provide food and medical care to the needy, preach political empowerment, fight police brutality, and open schools.

As Fred Hampton himself said shortly before his death: There have been a lot of attacks against the Black Panther Party, so we feel it is best to be an armed propaganda unit. But the most basic thing is to educate.

Unfortunately, Hampton and other members of the Black Panther Party who were targeted by the FBI were not protected from government oppression. In fact, it may have made matters worse by helping the FBI to legitimize their aggressive tactics.

While evidence provided by ballistics experts suggests police fired 99 percent of the bullets and faked reports of the incident, the first federal jury did not indict anyone involved in the raids. Furthermore, although the subsequent jury did indict all the police officers involved, the charges were dropped.

The survivors of the attack and relatives of Hampton and Clark filed a lawsuit against Hanrahan and other officials, which was finally settled in 1983.

Black Panther was founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The party's original aim was to patrol African-American neighborhoods to protect the population from acts of police brutality.

Later however, the Black Panther developed into a group of Marxist revolutionaries calling for the armament of all African-Americans.

They also carried out the release of African-Americans from conscription and from all sanctions imposed by white Americans, the release of all African-Americans from prison, and compensation payments for African-Americans exploited by white Americans for centuries.