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U.S. Government Intervention - COINTELPRO
A specific example of COINTELPRO’s disruption of the BPP was its defamation and active attempts to spread negative news coverage in order to cause a ridge between the party. Here is a document of the FBI authorizing the project:
“COINTELPRO.” FBI, FBI, 5 May 2011, vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro.
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The document explicitly states “Bureau requested to furnish essence of above data to source national news media. Text should be pitched along line that friction being built up between west and east coast BPP Leadership. East coast BPP Leaders feel they are being used merely as newspaper delivery boys while West coast leaders take in the profits. East coast leadership in NYC are feel national leadership no longer interested in “Panther Twentyone” who remain in jail.”
In order to separate the movement, which had already gained support throughout the country, the FBI attempted to split the East and West coast leaderships through exposing feelings of resentment within the party. This infiltration by the FBI took private information within the group, in order to manipulate and broadcast to the mass media, in hopes of ultimately separating the movement.
Fred Hampton
Chicago Police photographed carrying Fred Hampton’s body out of his apartment
Image Source: “The Chicago police raid that killed Black Panthers Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969 - The Washington Post 2019.
After his death, the FBI was able to shift public opinion on his death, deeming his murder “justifiable”. After the incident, “The articles and photographs they published about the murder were pro-police, anti-Panther, anti-Hampton, and above all, anti-Black” (Goforth, 2019)
After his death, the FBI was able to shift public opinion on his death, deeming his murder “justifiable”. After the incident, “The articles and photographs they published about the murder were pro-police, anti-Panther, anti-Hampton, and above all, anti-Black” (Goforth, 2019) Another drastic measure performed by the FBI was the murder of Fred Hampton. Hampton was the chairman of the Illinois chapter and deputy chairman of the national party. In 1969, Chicago police broke into Hampton’s apartment, firing 90 shots, and killing him. His fiancée, Deborah Johnson, recalls the incident saying “After I was pulled out of the room, two policemen entered the room, and one of them said, 'Is he dead yet?' I heard two shots, and then the other one said, ’He’s good and dead now.’” (“The Assassination of Fred Hampton”, 2014) Fred Hampton was made a target by the FBI for his potential to become a leader of the BPP as a young, charismatic, and eloquent young man. This potential for success resulted in his death.
Copy of the Black Panther Newspaper after Fred Hampton’s death
Hampton was commonly referred to as a ‘Black Messiah’ to the Party, founding the Chicago Chapter of the Black Panther Movement.
Image Source: “The Black Panther Newspaper, vol. 4, no. 2 (Fred Hampton murdered)” By Emory Douglas. The Museum of Modern Art. 1969.
- Fred Hampton
The Black Panther Newspaper, vol. 4, no. 2 (Fred Hampton murdered)” By Emory Douglas. The Museum of Modern Art. 1969. Image Source: “6 Things You Need to Know About the 'Black Messiah', Fred Hampton” - Stratford Circus - 2019.
In the same period of political turbulence in April of 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., two panthers fell victim to the initiatives of COINTELPRO. The Minister of Information of the BPP, Eldridge Cleaver, and BPP member, Bobby Hutton were involved in a shootout with Oakland Police. As Bobby Hutton tried to surrender, he was shot and killed. the shootout, the three officers were wounded. Cleaver was then charged with assault and attempted murder.
Bobby Hutton was only 17 years old when he was killed. In November of 1968, Eldridge Cleaver was bailed for $50,000 and fled to Mexico City and Cuba.
Cleaver had lived in exile, leaving the BPP vulnerable, as he was considered a core member to the party. Image shows Eldridge Cleaver’s FBI Wanted Poster (1968). Poster statesImage Source: “Hutton, Black Panthers honored “Consider Armed and Extremely with grove’s naming.” East Bay Times. 2016.
Eldridge Cleaver and Bobby Hutton
In the same period of political turbulence in April of 1968, after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., two panthers fell victim to the initiatives of COINTELPRO. The Minister of Information of the BPP, Eldridge Cleaver, and BPP member, Bobby Hutton were involved in a shootout with As Bobby Hutton tried to surrender, he was shot and killed. As a result of the shootout, the three officers were wounded. Cleaver was then charged with assault and
Image Source: “FBI Wanted poster for Leroy Eldridge Cleaver.” National Museum of African American History and Culture. 1968.
In November of 1968, Eldridge Cleaver was bailed for $50,000 and fled to Mexico City and Cuba. Cleaver had lived in exile, leaving the BPP vulnerable, as he was considered a core member to Image shows Eldridge Cleaver’s FBI Wanted Poster (1968). Poster states “Consider Armed and Extremely Dangerous”
COINTELPRO’s Efforts: Murder and Prosecution As discussed, Huey P. Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton Newton was a core member to the Black Panther Party as its co-founder and Minister of Defense. According to an article from the New York Times in 1976, “These F.B.I. efforts began, the report says, in March 1970 while Mr. Newton was in jail on a voluntary manslaughter conviction”, as the Panthers became more united during the “Free Huey” campaign.
As the BPP presented a more united front, the FBI became more threatened. Photograph capturing Newton after his release, shouting “You have the power
and the power is with the people.”
Murder and Prosecution Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton The article mentions how the FBI intentionally attempted to drive a wedge in between Eldridge Cleaver and Huey P. Newton, as the two most influential members to the party, through sending “divisive letters” (Kifner, 1976)
Photograph capturing Newton after his
Nacio Jan Brown, photograph of Huey Newton upon his release from prison, May 29, 1970. This feud only furthered the wedge between the Black Panthers. After Newton’s release from prison, he wished to focus on welfare programs to avoid the deaths of more Panthers.
According to Newton, the role of the vanguard is to ““raise the consciousness of the masses through educational programs and other activities…a vanguard party is never underground in the beginning of its existence, that would limit its effectiveness and educational goals.”
Cleaver wished to exercise an armed struggle with authorities in power, and as a result, split the party. According to Cleaver, “The fact is, there’s a split in the party. The right wing has seized the reins of leadership and put a muzzle on the Panther. The vanguard party has become a breakfast-for-children club.””
Eventually, Newton kicked Cleaver out of the BPP. The separation between the two most influential figures of the party divided the movement, thus weakening it, as COINTELPRO’s intention.
“Remembering the burglary that broke COINTELPRO” MuckRock. 2019.
In 1971, burglars broke into an FBI office, coming forward with tons of documents exposing FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover, and COINTELPRO’s efforts against the Black Panther Movement. Among these documents was a statement from Hoover, stating the program aimed to “enhance the paranoia endemic in these circles and will further serve to get the point across there is an F.B.I. agent behind every mailbox”.
“Remembering the burglary that broke COINTELPRO” MuckRock. 2019. According to the New York Times, “what was perhaps the most damning document from the cache, a 1970 memorandum that offered a glimpse into Hoover’s obsession with snuffing out dissent. The document urged agents to step up their interviews of antiwar activists and members of dissident student groups” (Mazzetti, 2014). These documents exposed COINTELPRO’s active initiatives to create a ripple between the Black Panther Movement.
As these documents stirred public outrage, COINTELPRO was put to an end in 1972.
According to an article from Time, based on Don Cox’s testimony from his memoir entitled “Just Another N****r: My Life in the Black Panther Party”, COINTELPRO’s involvement with the BPP was not the reason for its downfall. Don Cox was a part of the party’s high command. He expands on the events following Huey Newton’s imprisonment and Eldridge Cleaver’s exile. He identified the main issues in the party to be the party’s foundations in Marxism-Leninism, Democratic Centralism, and the aftermath of the Free Huey Campaign. According to Cox, those who did not adhere to Marxist-Leninist ideas were deemed inferior. As a result of “Adopting the Marxist Leninist structure of the party, with democratic centralism as its soul, all power was then confiscated in the name of the central committee.” Cox expounds on the lack of communication between the group as David Hilliard and Bobby Seale led all of the party’s projects with no objection. Then, in the beginning of 1969, the effects of the Free Huey Campaign created a ripple in the group as “not much more than loyalty was asked of our members. As long as one did what one was told, that was about all that was required to be part of the party.” As a result, the group had lost its direction and “undisciplined” individuals would claim the title of “Panthers”, showing up to rallies and events in Panther uniform, without pursuing the other everyday tasks such as selling newspapers and distributing leaflets. According to Cox, “these individuals began roaming around intimidating people, trying to prove how bad they were.” The party soon began to view Newton and Eldridge as messiahs, leading to the creation of Huey Newton as a cult personality. “His every word became the law and line of the party” leading the party to stray away from their foundations. As Cox phrases it “We refuse our own history by blaming everything negative that occurred on the COINTELPRO. That is a very convenient way of avoiding analysis” and “I do not agree with the widespread idea that it was repression by law enforcement agencies that destroyed the Black Panther Party.” Don Cox provides an interesting analysis of the fall out between the BPP members. Though, it is difficult to dismiss the considerable amount of evidence exhibiting COINTELPRO’s involvement in the Black Panther Movement. It is difficult to conclude a factual answer for the fallout of a party taking place through several years.
According to an article from Time, based on Don Cox’s testimony from his memoir entitled “Just Another N****r: My Life in the Black Panther Party”, COINTELPRO’s involvement with the BPP was not the reason for its downfall. Don Cox was a part of the party’s high command. He expands on the events following Huey Newton’s imprisonment and Eldridge Cleaver’s exile. He identified the main issues in the party to be the party’s foundations in Marxism-Leninism, Democratic
According to Cox, those who did not adhere to Marxist-Leninist ideas were deemed inferior. As a result of “Adopting the Marxist Leninist structure of the party, with democratic centralism as its soul, all power was then confiscated in the name of the central committee.” Cox expounds on the lack of communication between the group as David Hilliard and Bobby Seale led all of the party’s projects with no objection. Then, in the beginning of 1969, the effects of the Free Huey Campaign created a ripple in the group as “not much more than loyalty was asked of our members. As long as one did what one was told, that was about all that was required to be part of the party.” As a result, the group had lost its direction and “undisciplined” individuals would claim the title of “Panthers”, showing up to rallies and events in Panther uniform, without pursuing the other everyday tasks such as selling newspapers and distributing leaflets. According to Cox, “these individuals began roaming around intimidating people, trying to prove how bad they were.” The party soon began to view Newton and Eldridge as messiahs, leading to the creation of Huey Newton as a cult personality. “His every word became the law and line of the party” leading the party to stray away from their foundations. As Cox phrases it “We refuse our own history by blaming everything negative that occurred on the COINTELPRO. That is a very convenient way of avoiding analysis” and “I do not agree with the widespread idea that it was repression by law enforcement agencies that destroyed the Black Panther Party.” Don Cox provides an interesting analysis of the fall out between the BPP members. Though, it is difficult to dismiss the considerable amount of evidence exhibiting COINTELPRO’s involvement in the Black Panther Movement. It is difficult to conclude a factual answer for the fallout of a party taking place through several years.
As Cox explains, the end of the Black Panther Movement is not the end of the pursuit for justice. With current events such as the Black Lives Matter movement, the need to pursue such a movement is as relevant and important as ever. Burying the mistakes of such important historical events only hurts the movement, instead, it is their historical responsibility to share them. When Cox says “we cannot afford the luxury of leaving it up to historians to reveal what we did after fifty or one hundred years have passed” he reiterates the importance of remaking or creating new history; where taking the lessons of the Black Panther Movement is imperative in creating a brighter future.
