Fred Hampton

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Fred Hampton (born August 30, 1948 in Chicago , † December 4, 1969 in Near West Side , Chicago) was an American civil rights activist and activist of the Black Panther Party . He was shot dead in his sleep on the night of December 4, 1969, when an elite police unit attempted to arrest him.

Life

Hampton graduated in 1966 Proviso East High School and then enrolled at Triton Junior College , where he Jura studied. During his student days, Hampton began to get involved in the civil rights movement. He joined the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and later became head of the organization's “Youth Council” in the western suburbs of the city. In 1968 he joined the Black Panther Party and founded the Chicago branch. His leadership qualities made themselves felt early on. At age 20 he became chairman of the Illinois Section .

Violent death

Hampton's assassination was part of the state's counterinsurgency program, COINTELPRO , which aimed to disrupt undesirable political groups. The local police received support from the FBI and smuggled an informant into the immediate vicinity of Hampton. The operations command even knew how Hampton's bed was oriented and which wall to shoot into to quickly incapacitate him. It was later claimed that the police acted in self-defense, which, however, seemed extremely implausible due to the bullet holes in the walls, all of which went from the outside to the inside. The only shot fired by the BPP members present came from the shotgun of Hampton's bodyguard - but only out of reflex when he was shot. A neighbor and witness later stated that the police were talking about Hampton's condition. According to this statement, he should not have been dead and the police allowed themselves jokes until one of them went into the premises and two more shots could be heard. He stepped out of the apartment and informed the colleagues that Hampton was now definitely dead.

In addition to Fred Hampton, the Black Panther member Mark Clark was also shot. The other Panther members present were arrested on charges of attacking the police. Those arrested also included Deborah Johnson, Hampton's friend who was eight months pregnant.

Movies

• Howard Alk: The Murder of Fred Hampton , 1971, 88 min documentary

literature

• Jeffrey Haas: The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther. Chicago Review Press, Chicago 2010, ISBN 978-1-56976-709-2 .

Web links

• Fred Hampton in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Fred Hampton - Biography Resource Center (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Fred Hampton . In: Spartacus Educational . ( spartacus-educational.com [accessed December 16, 2017]).