UPDATED: 6:30 p.m. ET, Dec. 3, 2024
Assassinated on Dec. 4, 1969, Chairman Fred Hampton was one of the major figures in the original Black Panther Party that rose to prominence after the height of the civil rights movement. The extrajudicial murder of Hampton and his comrade, Mark Clark, 54 years ago as they slept is an example of the lengths white supremacy has gone to deny Black power and self-determination.
Hampton was only 21 at the time of his murder, but his accomplishments and contributions to empowering Black people in America have lasted for decades. Law enforcement began “heavy surveillance” of him before the fateful police raid in Peoria, Illinois, where he died and other Black Panther members were injured.
Magazine (@cartermagazine)Hampton, chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, and Clark, a 22-year-old Peoria Panther leader, were murdered by Chicago police officers working with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. At the time of the attack, Hampton and Clark were both asleep inside their Chicago home.
Driven by Cook County State’s Attorney Edward Hanrahan, the deadly raid of the local BPP chapter—which left four other BPP members severely injured—was one of the multiple attempts to attack the Black Panther Party amid Cointelpro’s mission to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist hate type organizations and groupings, their leadership, spokesmen, membership and supporters,” as written in an FBI document.
Though the FBI is said not to have been responsible, a federal grand jury did indicate the bureau played a notable role in events leading up to it. Specifically, FBI informant William O’Neal—third in command of the Chicago Panthers—supplied Hanrahan with information to plan his attack. The families of Hampton and Clark, along with the seven survivors, filed a $47.7 million damage suit.
As chairman of the BPP’s Illinois chapter, Hampton was known as a charismatic leader. His other accomplishments include organizing a student chapter of the NAACP in Maywood, Illinois. Hampton also brought together poor Black, white and Puerto Rican people as part of the “Rainbow Coalition” committed to dismantling white supremacy. He also inspired peace among several gangs in rivalry with one another.
On the anniversary of Hampton’s death, we remember the life of an inspiring revolutionary, as well as the other lives lost on that date 55 years ago.
SEE ALSO:
All Power To The People: The Beautiful Life And Tragic Death Of Mark Clark
