Fred Hampton Assassinated (1969)

Thu Dec 04, 1969

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On this day in 1969, the Chicago Police Department assassinated revolutionary socialist and Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark. “You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution.”

Hampton also served deputy chairman for the national Panther party. In this capacity, he founded the Rainbow Coalition, a multi-racial class-conscious organization that included the Black Panthers, the Young Patriots, and the Young Lords, as well as an alliance among major Chicago street gangs to help them work for social change rather than fight amongst each other.

In 1967, Hampton was identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) as a threat. The FBI attempted to subvert his activities in Chicago, sowing disinformation among activist and placing a counterintelligence operative in the local Panthers organization.

On December 4th, 1969, Hampton was assassinated in his bed during a predawn raid at his Chicago apartment by a tactical unit of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, in conjunction with the Chicago Police Department and the FBI. During the raid, another Panther, Mark Clark, was killed and several more were seriously wounded.

At a press conference the next day, police announced the arrest team had been attacked by the “violent” and “extremely vicious” Panthers, and had defended themselves accordingly.

In a second press conference on December 8th, police leadership praised the assault team for their “remarkable restraint”, “bravery”, and “professional discipline” in not killing all Panthers present.

Photographic evidence was presented of bullet holes allegedly made by shots fired by the Panthers, but this was soon challenged by reporters. It was later found that all but one of nearly 100 shots were fired by police.

Hampton’s death was ruled a justified homicide at the time, although a civil lawsuit filed on behalf of the survivors and the relatives of Hampton and Clark won $1.85 million dollars in damages in 1982.

“You can kill a revolutionary but you can never kill the revolution.”

- Fred Hampton