On this day, Dec. 4, in 1969, Black Panther Party members Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were shot and killed by Chicago police officers.
The pre-dawn raid came less than a month after two police officers were killed in an ambush. The FBI asserted that the Black Panthers had been responsible.
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Hampton, 21, a fast-rising leader, was shot dead in his bed. Clark, 22, who was standing guard with a shotgun, fired once before he was gunned down.
Police said the officers were involved in a fierce gun battle, pointing to photos of bullet holes. But an FBI ballistics expert later showed that police had fired 99 percent of the gunshots. A U.S. Senate investigation also discovered that Hampton’s bodyguard was an FBI informant who had delivered a floor-plan with an “X” marking Hampton’s bed.
A grand jury indicted the 14 police officers involved, but the charges were dismissed.
The city eventually settled a lawsuit with the families for $1.8 million.
– Scott McCabe
