Black Panther Party

The Black Panther Party (originally called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a revolutionary, Black nationalist organization in the United States that formed in the late 1960s and grew to national prominence before falling apart due to a combination of internal problems and suppression by state actors, especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation (which included assassination, arrests and stirring-up of factional rivalries via infiltration). It is best known for its Free Breakfast for Children program, its use of the term "Pigs" to describe police officers and for once carrying guns on the floor of the California Assembly.

COINTELPRO & East/West split

The Party was targeted by the FBI's COINTELPRO program, which systematically attempted to disrupt their activities and dissolve the party. COINTELPRO achieved this through a combination of infiltration, public propaganda, and the exacerbation of interfactional rivalries, mostly through the mailing of anonymous or forged letters. The police tied the group up in endless prosecutions, shoot-outs, assassinations, investigations, surveillance, and dirty tricks.

Related Topics:
COINTELPRO - Dirty tricks

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In one of the most notorious of such actions, the FBI and Chicago Police raided the home of talented and charismatic Panther organizer Fred Hampton on December 4, 1969. The people inside the home had been drugged by an FBI informant, William O'Neal, and were all asleep at the time of the raid. Hampton was shot and killed, as was the guard, Mark Clark. The others in the home were then dragged into the street and beaten and subsequently charged with assault. These charges were later dropped.

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While part of the organization was already participating in, or on the fringes of local government social services, another group was in constant run-ins with the police. The separation between political action, criminal activity, social services, access to power, and grass-roots identity became confused in bizarre and contradictory ways. As a result, the Panther's political momentum got bogged down in navigating the criminal justice system.

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