Monroe, Louisiana - Huey P. Newton was born, on Tuesday. Newton co-founded the Black Panther Party, with Bobby Seale.
Newton was the youngest child of Armelia Johnson and Walter Newton. His father, Walter Newton, was a sharecropper and Baptist lay preacher.
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Houston, Texas - Khalid Abdul Muhammad was born Harold Moore Jr. and raised by his aunt. Muhammad was a prominent member of the Nation of Islam.
Later, Muhammad served as the National Chairman of the New Black Panther Party. Muhammad held this title, until his death. He died February 17th, 2001, in Atlanta, Georgia.
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Lowndes County, Alabama - The Lowndes County Freedom Organization (LCFO) was formed. It used the black panther for its voter drives. This was an early step toward the Black Power movement, in the United States.
Some call the LCFO the first Black Panther Party since it used the black panther image. The Black Panther comic book character appeared later, July 1, 1966. The Oakland, California Black Panther Party was founded October 15, 1966.
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Chicago, Illinois - Fred Hampton was killed, in bed, in his apartment. Chicago police workers killed him. Hampton was unarmed and asleep, and in bed.
On Wednesday, December 3rd, Fred Hampton taught a political education course. It was at a local church. Members of the Black Panther Party attended. This was the night before his death.
After the class, several Black Panthers went to his Monroe Street apartment to spend the night. This was routine after a course.
Besides Hampton, the group included Deborah Johnson, Blair Anderson, James Grady, Ronald 'Doc' Satchell, Harold Bell, Verlina Brewer, Louis Truelock, Brenda Harris, and Mark Clark.
William O'Neal waited for them, when they arrived. O'Neal was chief of security. There, the group ate a late meal, prepared by O'Neal. The time was around midnight.
O'Neal slipped drugs into Hampton's drink. It was the barbiturate sleep agent secobarbitol. Hampton consumed the drink during the dinner.
The drug sedated Hampton. It kept him asleep, during the police raid. O'Neal left at this point.
At about 1:30 a.m., December 4th, Hampton was on the phone with his mother. He fell asleep, mid-sentence.
At 4:00 a.m., a heavily armed tactical unit, of white males, went to Hampton's apartment. They were sent by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office. They were joined by the Chicago Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
At 4:45 a.m., the tactical unit and Chicago Police shot first. They shot 90 times into Hampton's apartment. Only Mark Clark fired a shot, after being shot first.
Hampton survived the barrage. He was still breathing. The Chicago Police executed him. A point-blank shot was fired, that killed Hampton.
This was part of the FBI's Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO).
William O'Neal committed suicide on January 15th, 1990 (Martin Luther King Day). O'Neal ran into oncoming traffic on a Chicago expressway. An automobile hit and killed O'Neal.
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Media, Pennsylvania - Documents were stolen that exposed COINTELPRO. They were taken, at night, in a break-in, from a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field office.
COINTELPRO stood for COunter-INTELligence PROgram. It was a years-long government effort to disrupt, confuse, and spy on Black Americans and groups. It began at the start of the Black (later Civil) Rights movement, in 1956.
The break-in happened during the 'Fight of the Century' the same day. It was hoped the spectacle of the fight was enough to divert attention from the break-in. The plan was carried out by the Citizen’s Commission. They were never caught. Their names were not known until 2014.
Targets of COINTELPRO were Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, The Nation of Islam, The Black Panther Party, and Fred Hampton, to name just a few victims.
The FBI claimed COINTELPRO ended, in 1971.
Source:
COINTELPRO Exposed
FBI COINTELPRO statement
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