The Assassination of Fred Hampton: COINTELPRO, the Black Panther Party & the 1969 Chicago Police Raid

1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,720
He was 21 years old.
A rising political leader, a

2
00:00:03,720 --> 00:00:06,920
father to be in the US
government, decided that he was

3
00:00:06,920 --> 00:00:10,880
too dangerous to live.
On December 4th, 1969 in

4
00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,480
Chicago, IL, a pre dawn police
raid shattered the quiet of a

5
00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,080
West Side apartment.
Officers stormed inside and

6
00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:21,000
unleashed 99 shots.
One bullet was fired by the

7
00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,840
Panthers.
When it was over, Fred Hampton

8
00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,360
lay dead in his bed.
Authorities called it a

9
00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,600
shootout.
Survivors called it an

10
00:00:28,600 --> 00:00:32,400
execution.
I'm Brittany Ransom, and This is

11
00:00:32,400 --> 00:00:35,160
When Killers Get Caught, the
podcast where we examine the

12
00:00:35,160 --> 00:00:38,440
lives, behavior and psychology
behind the most extreme acts of

13
00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:42,120
violence and what happens when
the truth finally catches up.

14
00:00:43,080 --> 00:00:44,920
This week, we're talking about
Fred Hampton.

15
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:48,800
He wasn't just another activist.
As the chairman of the Illinois

16
00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,520
chapter of the Black Panther
Party, he was building something

17
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:55,560
radical, not only resistance to
police brutality, but

18
00:00:55,560 --> 00:00:59,760
multiracial working class unity.
And that kind of coalition drew

19
00:00:59,760 --> 00:01:04,080
the attention of the FBI and its
secret counterintelligence

20
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,120
program.
This story isn't just about one

21
00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,040
deadly raid.
It's about government

22
00:01:09,040 --> 00:01:11,800
surveillance, race power and
state violence.

23
00:01:12,080 --> 00:01:14,640
It's about what happens when
political movements are labeled

24
00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,840
threats and the lasting legacy
of political repression within

25
00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:40,960
America.
Fred Hampton was born in 1948 in

26
00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:42,880
Maywood, IL, just outside of
Chicago.

27
00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,680
From an early age, he stood out.
Teachers and classmates

28
00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,160
described him as sharp,
discipline, and fearless when it

29
00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,400
came to speaking his mind.
By his teens, Hampton wasn't

30
00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:54,160
just participating in student
activities, he was organizing

31
00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:55,920
them.
He had a natural ability to

32
00:01:55,920 --> 00:01:58,800
command a room, blending his
charisma with a deep

33
00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,240
understanding of both history
and politics.

34
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:04,800
Before he ever joined the Black
Panther Party, Hampton served as

35
00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:08,080
the president of the local N
Double ACP Youth Council.

36
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,160
Under his leadership, membership
reportedly grew into the

37
00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,360
hundreds, and he pushed for
better recreational facilities

38
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:17,120
and resources for Black youth in
his community.

39
00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,560
Even then, he showed a pattern
that would define his life,

40
00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:24,240
organizing at the grassroots
level and demanding structural

41
00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:27,920
change, not symbolic reform.
When Hampton joined the Black

42
00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,480
Panther Party, his rise was very
rapid.

43
00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,520
He became chairman of the
Illinois chapter at just 21

44
00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:35,600
years old.
He was named deputy chairman of

45
00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,480
the national organization.
But his leadership wasn't only

46
00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,840
rhetorical, it was practical.
He helped expand the Panthers

47
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,000
Free Breakfast program, eating
children before school at a time

48
00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:46,840
when food insecurity was
widespread.

49
00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,600
He supported community health
clinics that offered basic

50
00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,480
medical care.
He prioritized political

51
00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:56,160
education classes and organized
against police brutality in

52
00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,800
Chicago within neighborhoods
where tensions with law

53
00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:01,040
enforcement were constant and
often violent.

54
00:03:01,840 --> 00:03:04,680
Perhaps his most groundbreaking
effort was the formation of what

55
00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:08,120
he called the Rainbow Coalition,
an alliance between the

56
00:03:08,120 --> 00:03:12,000
Panthers, the Young Lords, and
the Young Patriots organization.

57
00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:16,440
This coalition united Black,
Puerto Rican, and poor white

58
00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:20,400
communities around shared
economic struggles rather than

59
00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,600
racial division.
That multiracial class based

60
00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:29,360
solidarity is precisely what
made Hampton so powerful to many

61
00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:31,680
within our government.
So threatening.

62
00:03:32,480 --> 00:03:35,480
He wasn't just criticizing the
system, he was building

63
00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,200
relationships across racial
lines among working class

64
00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,080
people.
A united coalition of poor and

65
00:03:42,080 --> 00:03:46,440
marginalized communities had the
potential to disrupt entrench

66
00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:48,880
political and economic power
structures.

67
00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:52,560
The question becomes, was
Hampton targeted because he was

68
00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,040
radical or because he was
effective?

69
00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:57,480
Now, the assassination of Fred
Hampton didn't happen in a

70
00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,760
vacuum.
Unfolding during one of the most

71
00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,440
volatile decades in modern
American history, the 1960s were

72
00:04:03,440 --> 00:04:06,960
defined by mass movements,
political upheaval, a deep

73
00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,960
crisis of legitimacy within the
United States government.

74
00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,080
The civil rights movement had
already transformed the country

75
00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,360
from SIT insurance to Freedom
Rides to the March on

76
00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:17,720
Washington.
Activists forced the nation to

77
00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:19,800
confront segregation and racial
terror.

78
00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,280
But legislative victories like
the Civil Rights Act and Voting

79
00:04:23,280 --> 00:04:26,320
Rights Act did not end systemic
inequality.

80
00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,160
Frustrations over housing
discrimination, economic

81
00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:35,000
injustice, and release brutality
continued to grow, especially in

82
00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:39,560
northern cities like Chicago.
At the same time the Vietnam War

83
00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:42,560
was escalating, graphic
television coverage brought the

84
00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:46,120
brutality of the conflict into
American living rooms, fueling

85
00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:49,520
massive anti war protests.
Young people were marching,

86
00:04:49,520 --> 00:04:52,600
resisting the draft and
questioning the morality of US

87
00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:56,040
foreign policy.
Trust in government institutions

88
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:59,240
was eroding.
Urban uprisings erupted across

89
00:04:59,240 --> 00:05:02,120
the country in response to
police violence and entrenched

90
00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:08,040
poverty, from Watts in 1965 to
Detroit and Newark in 1967.

91
00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,920
These rebellions were often
framed as riots, but many

92
00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:15,040
participants described them as
reactions to years of systemic

93
00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,680
neglect and abuse.
It actually reminds me very much

94
00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:25,240
of the Mike Brown shooting.
I don't know if I guess it was

95
00:05:25,240 --> 00:05:27,720
already over 10 years ago.
It's crazy.

96
00:05:27,720 --> 00:05:30,480
I didn't even think about that.
But for people who don't know,

97
00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,440
Mike Brown was an 18 year old
who was shot and killed by

98
00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:36,240
police officer named Darren
Wilson in Ferguson, MO.

99
00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:41,480
It was August 9th, 2014 and the
resulting riots that came from

100
00:05:41,480 --> 00:05:44,440
his death were not just because
he was killed, but because

101
00:05:44,720 --> 00:05:48,680
within Ferguson, MO there had
been a history of systemic

102
00:05:48,680 --> 00:05:50,880
inequality.
Essentially, the Police

103
00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,880
Department were using the
citizens of Ferguson as a way to

104
00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:58,480
boost the money that the Police
Department was getting.

105
00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:02,080
Now, for most police departments
in the United States, you get

106
00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:06,240
your money based on taxing the
people within your community.

107
00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,840
The problem is Ferguson is a
community, Ferguson, MO, a

108
00:06:11,840 --> 00:06:15,400
suburb of Saint Louis, that
struggles financially.

109
00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:17,600
And so they guessed they felt
that they weren't getting enough

110
00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:19,800
money.
So they were doing things that

111
00:06:19,800 --> 00:06:23,080
were bordering illegal, but kind
of technically still legal.

112
00:06:23,280 --> 00:06:26,280
Essentially, they were creating
like debtors prisons, which is

113
00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:29,000
something that's been banned
within the United States for

114
00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,520
decades.
And they were doing it through

115
00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:35,160
aggressively ticketing people.
And then they would take their

116
00:06:35,160 --> 00:06:36,800
cars.
And it was just this whole

117
00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:40,840
situation equation that had
stacked on top of themselves so

118
00:06:40,840 --> 00:06:43,840
aggressively that by the time
the shooting happened August

119
00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:50,520
9th, the people of Ferguson were
already primed to be upset.

120
00:06:51,800 --> 00:06:54,200
And that's the same thing that
was happening in the States in

121
00:06:54,200 --> 00:06:58,680
the 60s, riots, as they were
being called, you know, like

122
00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:04,040
Watts in 1965 and in Newark in
1967.

123
00:07:04,520 --> 00:07:08,720
These were a response, a
response to years of systemic

124
00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,840
neglect from their police and
from within their local

125
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,280
government.
Now you have all that going on.

126
00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:17,760
But then you have to layer on to
this tension are the

127
00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:21,240
assassinations of the two most
prominent black leaders in the

128
00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,320
country at the time.
Malcolm X was assassinated in

129
00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,480
1965, and Martin Luther King
Junior was assassinated in 1968.

130
00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:32,360
These deaths deepened both the
grief and radicalization within

131
00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:34,880
the Black community.
Many activists to begin to

132
00:07:34,880 --> 00:07:38,320
question whether non violence
alone could protect them or

133
00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,120
bring about any meaningful
change.

134
00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:44,360
And then amidst this unrest, the
federal government intensified

135
00:07:44,360 --> 00:07:48,000
its surveillance operations.
The FBI's counterintelligence

136
00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,960
program, COINTELPRO, expanded
its focus on Black nationalist

137
00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:57,360
organizations specifically.
It was officially designed to

138
00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:02,880
monitor subversive threats, but
they 100% focused on engaging in

139
00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,960
infiltration, psychological
warfare, disinformation

140
00:08:05,960 --> 00:08:09,840
campaigns, and efforts to sow
internal conflict, specifically

141
00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:15,400
in organizations that were
projecting Black excellence and

142
00:08:15,400 --> 00:08:18,880
trying to put Black people in a
better position in this country.

143
00:08:19,200 --> 00:08:24,120
Which means we were being
directly sabotage by our own

144
00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:26,680
government.
And a lot of people know this,

145
00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,080
but this all happened under FBI
Director J Edgar Hoover, who did

146
00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:35,799
a host of very illegal things.
The last time I probably

147
00:08:35,799 --> 00:08:39,159
referenced J Edgar Hoover on
this podcast was when I talked

148
00:08:39,159 --> 00:08:42,600
about Killers of the Flower
Moon, that book about what

149
00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:46,560
happened to the indigenous
people on the West Coast who

150
00:08:46,560 --> 00:08:51,840
owned a lot of gas and natural
oil and how they were slowly

151
00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,120
being killed within their own
community by people within their

152
00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:57,800
community.
And the US government just

153
00:08:57,800 --> 00:09:01,960
didn't seem to care for a while.
So we have a history of not

154
00:09:01,960 --> 00:09:04,120
liking J Edgar Hoover on this
podcast.

155
00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:07,960
And he specifically labeled the
Black Panther Party as the

156
00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,760
greatest threat to the internal
security of the country.

157
00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:15,720
And there are internal FBI memos
that revealed his specific

158
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:20,120
objective to prevent the
so-called surprise of the Black

159
00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,000
Messiah who could unify and
electrify the movement.

160
00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:28,520
In this climate where activism
has been equated with subversion

161
00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:32,360
and dissent with danger, it's
not really a surprise that

162
00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:34,640
someone like Fred Hampton was
being monitored.

163
00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:38,440
He was being viewed as a threat
that needed to be neutralized.

164
00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:40,800
It's just how they did it was
pretty jacked up, too.

165
00:09:41,840 --> 00:09:46,480
Now, behind the scenes of Fred
and his rising influence was a

166
00:09:46,480 --> 00:09:49,280
quiet operation already in
motion.

167
00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:54,400
The FBI had planted an informant
inside the Illinois chapter of

168
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,240
the Black Panther Party.
His name was William O'Neill,

169
00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,720
and he wasn't just a casual
source.

170
00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,960
He had infiltrated this
organization, gained trust, and

171
00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:06,440
he was climbing the ranks.
And eventually he became

172
00:10:06,680 --> 00:10:10,400
Hamptons personal bodyguard, a
position that gave him direct

173
00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,480
access to meeting strategies and
Hampton himself.

174
00:10:13,960 --> 00:10:17,320
While presenting himself as a
loyal Panther, O'Neill was

175
00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:19,400
feeding information back to the
FBI.

176
00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:24,520
But most critically, he provided
A detailed floor plan of Fred

177
00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:29,200
Hampton's apartment at 2337 W
Monroe St. in Chicago.

178
00:10:29,840 --> 00:10:32,760
He identified where in the
apartment that Hampton slept.

179
00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:34,960
He mapped out the entrances and
exits.

180
00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:38,320
And that intelligence would
later shape the trajectory of

181
00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:42,440
bullets in the early morning
hours of December 4th, 1969.

182
00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:45,080
And then came the setup.
On the night before the raid,

183
00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:47,600
Hampton returned home after
teaching a political education

184
00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:50,280
class.
According to later testimony, he

185
00:10:50,280 --> 00:10:53,240
drank from a beverage that had
been laced with barbiturates.

186
00:10:53,880 --> 00:10:57,760
Multiple survivors reported that
Hampton was unusually difficult

187
00:10:57,760 --> 00:10:59,360
to wake up the following
morning.

188
00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,440
Some believe that he was
intentionally drugged, a claim

189
00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:05,040
that has long shadowed this
case, though the exact

190
00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:09,040
circumstances are still debated.
Just before dawn, a heavily

191
00:11:09,040 --> 00:11:11,440
armed tactical unit from the
Cook County State's Attorney

192
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:14,360
office, working in coordination
with the Chicago Police

193
00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,160
Department, executed a raid on
the apartment.

194
00:11:17,520 --> 00:11:21,560
The operation tied to the
COINTELPRO and the officers

195
00:11:21,560 --> 00:11:24,720
burst inside, firing before
anyone even knew what happened.

196
00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:27,800
Nearly 100 shots were
discharged, ballistic evidence.

197
00:11:27,800 --> 00:11:30,600
What later suggested only a
single shot came from inside the

198
00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:34,200
apartment, which was an
accidental firing by Panther

199
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,600
Mark Clark as he was being
fatally shot.

200
00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:41,720
Hampton reportedly remained
unconscious and heavily sedated

201
00:11:41,920 --> 00:11:43,880
the entire time they were in
there.

202
00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:48,520
He was found deceased in his
bed, and witnesses say that he

203
00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:52,120
was shot at a very close range.
I'm going to go more into the

204
00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:55,480
raid, but I want you to ask
yourself, would you consider

205
00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,640
this a police shootout or an
execution?

206
00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:00,080
Because for me, when an
informant supplies the floor

207
00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:04,000
plan and then the leader is
incapacitated and the raid

208
00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:08,440
unfolds with such overwhelming
force, even though the

209
00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:11,920
organization has not shown this
force was needed, I feel like

210
00:12:11,920 --> 00:12:15,160
the line between law enforcement
action and political elimination

211
00:12:15,160 --> 00:12:16,960
becomes very impossible to
ignore.

212
00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,200
But like I said, this was the
early morning hours of December

213
00:12:20,200 --> 00:12:24,000
4th, 1969.
The police all converge on 2337

214
00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:27,720
W Monroe St.
It's a modest West side

215
00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:30,400
apartment and members of the
Illinois Chapter of the Black

216
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,880
Panther Party were all asleep.
They forced their way in shortly

217
00:12:33,880 --> 00:12:37,200
before 5:00 AM.
Now, authorities would claim

218
00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:40,000
they were met with gunfire, that
the Panthers shot first,

219
00:12:40,000 --> 00:12:43,640
triggering a violent exchange.
But forensic analysis and later

220
00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:46,280
investigations paint a starkly
different picture.

221
00:12:46,600 --> 00:12:50,320
Nearly 100 shots were fired
during this raid, and Ballistics

222
00:12:50,320 --> 00:12:53,320
would show that almost all of
them came from police weapons.

223
00:12:53,720 --> 00:12:57,000
Only a single shot came from
within the apartment.

224
00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:00,920
And again, they think that's
when Panther Mark Clark fell

225
00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:04,160
after he got shot, and he
reflexively pulled the trigger

226
00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:06,960
when he was dying now.
But Hampton lay in a back

227
00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,880
bedroom, and he was beside his
pregnant partner, Akua Najera.

228
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:15,840
Akua Najeri, who was known at
the time as Deborah Johnson.

229
00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:19,120
Survivors, reported that Hampton
was extremely difficult to wake

230
00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:21,680
up.
They ran to him and tried to

231
00:13:21,680 --> 00:13:25,000
shake him awake.
But as the gunfire erupted

232
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,320
through the apartment walls,
Akua just couldn't wake him up.

233
00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:31,920
When the officers entered the
bedroom, she later recounted

234
00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,800
that they pulled her out of the
room.

235
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,360
She said she heard two shots
fired after officers stood over

236
00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,000
Hampton's body.
And according to her testimony,

237
00:13:40,000 --> 00:13:43,400
one officer remarked that
Hampton was barely alive,

238
00:13:43,680 --> 00:13:46,200
followed by another person
saying he'll make it.

239
00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,080
And then came the final shots.
Johnson maintained that Hampton

240
00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:53,560
was shot at point blank range
while laying in his bed.

241
00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:57,280
When it was over, only two
Panthers were dead, Mark Clark

242
00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,960
and Fred Hampton.
Several others were wounded, and

243
00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:04,160
police initially described the
scene as a fierce gun battle.

244
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,080
But the official account would
be challenged with real facts

245
00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,080
very, very quickly.
One fact cut through the

246
00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:12,880
political debate.
Fred Hampton was only 21 years

247
00:14:12,880 --> 00:14:14,840
old.
He didn't have a chance to stand

248
00:14:14,840 --> 00:14:17,960
up, no opportunity to defend
himself in any meaningful way.

249
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,040
Weeks after his death, his son,
Fred Hampton Junior was born.

250
00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,360
And that raid at 2337 W Monroe
St. did more than just end the

251
00:14:26,360 --> 00:14:28,280
life.
It became one of the most

252
00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,560
controversial police operations
in American history, a

253
00:14:32,560 --> 00:14:35,840
flashpoint in the ongoing
conversation about state power,

254
00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,240
accountability and political
dissent.

255
00:14:38,440 --> 00:14:41,440
In the immediate aftermath of
the raid, they quickly tried to

256
00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:44,640
control the narrative.
Officials described it again as

257
00:14:44,640 --> 00:14:46,640
a fierce and justified gun
battle.

258
00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:50,320
Police claim they have been met
with heavy gunfire and were

259
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:53,720
forced to defend themselves.
Press conferences was emphasized

260
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,640
the danger officers already
faced, framing this operation as

261
00:14:57,640 --> 00:14:59,920
a lawful response to armed
militants.

262
00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,440
But that version of offense
would unravel almost immediately

263
00:15:03,720 --> 00:15:07,840
because members of the Black
Panther Party said come on in,

264
00:15:07,840 --> 00:15:10,560
guys.
And they invited the reporters

265
00:15:10,600 --> 00:15:14,640
and community members and other
activists into the apartment

266
00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:18,120
before it was repaired.
And what they saw contradicted

267
00:15:18,120 --> 00:15:21,200
the official account.
The bullet holes all travel

268
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:25,040
inward from the outside.
There are virtually none toward

269
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,440
the doorway where the police
would have been standing.

270
00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,840
The walls were riddled with
police gunfire, and the physical

271
00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:35,240
evidence suggested that it was a
barrage directed into the

272
00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,200
apartment rather than equal
crossfire.

273
00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,280
Independent investigations and
later forensic analysis

274
00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,920
supported this observation.
Nearly all of those shots came

275
00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:47,960
from police weapons.
The idea of a prolonged shootout

276
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,080
suddenly looked to much less
credible and the families of

277
00:15:52,080 --> 00:15:54,880
Fred Hampton and Mark Clark,
along with other survivors of

278
00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,200
the raid, began to file civil
lawsuits against the City of

279
00:15:58,200 --> 00:16:01,640
Chicago, Cook County and federal
officials.

280
00:16:02,240 --> 00:16:06,520
What followed was a grueling 13
year legal battle marked by

281
00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:09,840
delays, dismissed charges,
appeals, and the eventual

282
00:16:09,840 --> 00:16:12,840
revelation of prior hidden
documents.

283
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:17,200
During the proceedings, evidence
surfaced of coordination between

284
00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,280
local law enforcement and
federal authorities through

285
00:16:20,280 --> 00:16:24,120
Cohen's help Pro.
Internal memos and records show

286
00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,520
that the FBI had not only
infiltrated the Panthers, but

287
00:16:27,520 --> 00:16:30,080
provided intelligence that
directly contributed to the

288
00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:31,840
raid.
The involvement of the Bureau

289
00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,400
challenged the narrative that
this was just a local political

290
00:16:34,400 --> 00:16:37,000
matter, this had nothing to do
with the local police, and this

291
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:40,520
all came from the FBI.
And then in 1982, without

292
00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:45,000
admitting any wrongdoing, the
government agreed to pay $1.85

293
00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:47,440
million to the family and
survivors.

294
00:16:47,800 --> 00:16:50,120
At this time, it was on the
largest civil rights settlements

295
00:16:50,120 --> 00:16:52,720
in U.S. history.
But the settlement didn't bring

296
00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:55,560
criminal convictions.
No officer was charged for

297
00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:59,120
Hamptons murder, but the civil
case forced disclosure of

298
00:16:59,120 --> 00:17:02,760
documents that confirmed illegal
surveillance and disruption

299
00:17:02,760 --> 00:17:05,920
tactics that were carried out
under COINTELPRO.

300
00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:09,880
The broader implications were
profound, and the case exposed

301
00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:13,920
how federal and local agencies
had collaborated to target a

302
00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,160
political organization.
It revealed the extent to which

303
00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,680
dissent, particularly Black
people organizing.

304
00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,520
It revealed the extent to which
dissent, particularly black

305
00:17:25,520 --> 00:17:30,120
people organizing, was treated
as a national security threat.

306
00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:33,240
And it's cemented the
assassination of Fred Hampton

307
00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,720
not only as a tragic killing,
but a defining example of

308
00:17:36,720 --> 00:17:40,000
government overreach and
political repression in the

309
00:17:40,000 --> 00:17:42,520
United States.
More than 5 decades after his

310
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:46,080
death, Fred Hampton remains a
powerful and polarizing figure

311
00:17:46,080 --> 00:17:49,360
in American political memory.
For years, his story lived

312
00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:52,560
primarily in activist circles,
documentaries, and community

313
00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,160
history, but in 2021 it reached
a much wider audience with the

314
00:17:56,160 --> 00:18:01,600
release of Judas and the Black
Messiah, a dramatization of

315
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:04,120
Hamptons leadership within the
Black Panther Party, and the

316
00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:07,320
betrayal by his FBI informant
William O'Neill.

317
00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:11,160
It introduced a new generation
to Hampton, speeches, his

318
00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:13,840
organizing, and the
circumstances of the raid that

319
00:18:13,840 --> 00:18:16,440
killed him.
The movie sparked renewed public

320
00:18:16,440 --> 00:18:20,320
conversation about COINTELPRO,
government infiltration, and the

321
00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:23,360
extent to which the state viewed
black political movements as

322
00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:26,160
internal enemies.
For many viewers, it was the

323
00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,120
first time they encountered
Hampton not as a footnote in

324
00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:33,240
history, but as a charismatic,
strategic and deeply committed

325
00:18:33,240 --> 00:18:36,080
leader.
That renewed interest didn't

326
00:18:36,080 --> 00:18:39,400
exist in isolation.
The film arrived during a period

327
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:43,440
of heightened national reckoning
over police violence and racial

328
00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:46,560
injustice.
Protests following high profile

329
00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:49,600
police killings led to
widespread examination of law

330
00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:53,200
enforcement accountability,
systemic racism, and the

331
00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:57,080
militarization of policing.
In that context, Hampton's death

332
00:18:57,080 --> 00:19:00,720
felt less like distant history
and more like part of an ongoing

333
00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:04,360
pattern within this country.
Conversations about government

334
00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:07,880
surveillance also resurfaced,
from digital data tracking to

335
00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:09,960
federal monitoring of activist
groups.

336
00:19:10,200 --> 00:19:12,680
Questions about how the state
response to dissent remain

337
00:19:12,680 --> 00:19:14,640
relevant.
Hamptons targeting under

338
00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:17,880
COINTELPRO serves as a
historical precedent, a reminder

339
00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:21,320
that intelligence agencies have
in the past moved beyond

340
00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:25,080
surveillance into disruption and
elimination even of people

341
00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:28,400
within our own country.
His legacy also lives in the

342
00:19:28,400 --> 00:19:32,120
language of modern activism.
Hampton emphasized coalition

343
00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:36,240
building across racial and
economic lines, focusing on

344
00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,960
shared material conditions
rather than division.

345
00:19:39,440 --> 00:19:42,680
Today, organizers who advocate
for multiracial working class

346
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:45,520
solidarity reference similar
principles.

347
00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,000
Perhaps the most enduring piece
of his legacy is a quote that

348
00:19:49,000 --> 00:19:52,760
continues to circulate widely.
You can kill a revolutionary,

349
00:19:52,920 --> 00:19:54,520
but you can't kill the
revolution.

350
00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,040
This line captures why Hampton
story persists.

351
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:02,040
While his life was cut short at
just 21, the ideas he championed

352
00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:05,720
community empowerment, political
education, collective

353
00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:08,240
resistance.
They didn't disappear with him.

354
00:20:08,840 --> 00:20:11,680
Instead, they echo through
contemporary movements that

355
00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:13,560
continue to challenge state
power.

356
00:20:14,120 --> 00:20:17,480
In that sense, Hamptons cultural
impact extends beyond film or

357
00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:20,480
historical debate.
It lives in the ongoing struggle

358
00:20:20,480 --> 00:20:23,960
over who gets to define justice,
security, and freedom within

359
00:20:23,960 --> 00:20:26,120
America.
More than 50 years later, the

360
00:20:26,120 --> 00:20:28,920
assassination of Fred Hampton
still forces us to confront

361
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:33,040
uncomfortable truths.
This was the youth leader

362
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:37,000
Hampton wishes 21 brilliant,
disciplined, already building

363
00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,440
programs that fed children and
united communities.

364
00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:44,160
And his age matters.
It shows just how powerful young

365
00:20:44,160 --> 00:20:47,880
voices can be and how
threatening those voices are to

366
00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,280
entrench systems.
This was about state power, not

367
00:20:51,280 --> 00:20:54,000
just police at someone's
doorstep, but coordinated

368
00:20:54,000 --> 00:20:57,040
intelligence operations and
narratives shaped before the

369
00:20:57,040 --> 00:20:58,880
public could ever see the
evidence.

370
00:20:59,840 --> 00:21:03,840
Hampden's death forced us to ask
who controls the story and who

371
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,760
benefits from that story.
This was about fear, fear of a

372
00:21:07,760 --> 00:21:11,160
multiracial solidarity.
Hampden's Rainbow Coalition

373
00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,720
wasn't symbolic.
It was uniting Black, Puerto

374
00:21:14,720 --> 00:21:18,440
Rican and poor white communities
around a shared economic

375
00:21:18,440 --> 00:21:21,760
struggle, something we should be
doing right now, too.

376
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:25,760
That kind of unity doesn't just
challenge policy, it challenges

377
00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:28,560
the hierarchy.
It disrupts long standing

378
00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:30,960
strategies of dividing working
class people.

379
00:21:31,120 --> 00:21:33,880
And ultimately, this is about
the cost of dissent.

380
00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,640
Today, that conversation is
urgent.

381
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:39,720
Political actions are
escalating, protest is being

382
00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:43,440
framed as extremism, and
everyday Americans demanding A

383
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,640
fairer society are being treated
like threats.

384
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:50,680
Hampton's story is a warning.
When they equate our

385
00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:53,840
organization with danger, our
lives are at stake.

386
00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,640
I worry that if we don't learn
from this history, we may see

387
00:21:57,640 --> 00:21:59,200
more Fred Hamptons in our
future.

388
00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:01,960
The answer isn't division.
It is unity.

389
00:22:02,320 --> 00:22:05,680
What Hampton fought for,
solidarity among working people

390
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,320
across race and background.
It's exactly what this country

391
00:22:09,320 --> 00:22:12,080
needs right now.
Not billionaires separating us

392
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:15,440
for profit, not culture wars
meant to distract, but real

393
00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,480
coalition workers recognizing
our shared power.

394
00:22:20,240 --> 00:22:24,840
They need us remember the truth
always leaves a trail.

395
00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:29,000
If we follow it, question
official narratives and examine

396
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:31,800
power critically.
We don't just honor Hamptons

397
00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,320
legacy, we protect our own
future.

398
00:22:34,440 --> 00:22:37,800
I'm Brittany Ransom and this has
been when killers get caught.

399
00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,000
I leave you with one final
question.

400
00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,280
What does it mean if the
government decides someone is

401
00:22:42,280 --> 00:22:44,840
too dangerous to live and what
should we do about it?