The map clearly identified the bedroom of Fred Hampton, the 21-year-old “chairman” of the Chicago Black Panthers, who was asleep beside his eight … Grab a copy of our NEW encyclopedia for Kids! Although that sum was far less than what they’d sought, the settlement was an acknowledgement, to a degree, of wrongdoing. The violence culminated on December 4, 1969, when a 14-man team of police officers raided Hampton’s apartment in Chicago. They mortally wounded Mark Clark, who was guarding Hampton. As a Black Panther Party leader, Hampton persuaded Chicago’s Black and Puerto Rican street gangs to call a truce. Fred Hampton was killed on December 4, 1969, in Chicago during a raid on his residence by Chicago police officers. The family members of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark sued the Chicago Police, Cook County, and the FBI for $47.7 million in 1970 for wrongfully killing the men. married (by common law) to Deborah Johnson (later called Akua Njeri), Proviso East High School (Maywood, Illinois). Don Casper/Chicago Tribune/TNS via Getty Images Fred Hampton’s death at the age of 21 ended a promising career as an activist for Black rights. At age 21, Hampton was fatally shot alongside a fellow activist during a law enforcement raid. In 1982, Fred Hampton’s relatives received part of a $1.85 million settlement. Fred Hampton was born Fredrick Allen Hampton, on August 30, 1948, in present-day Summit, Illinois, U.S., to Louisiana natives Francis Allen Hampton and Iberia Hampton. His parents, Francis Allen Hampton and Iberia Hampton, were Louisiana natives who relocated to Chicago. As a youth, Fred excelled in sports and dreamed of playing baseball for the New York Yankees. Activists considered the killing of Hampton to be an assassination. (2021, February 17). Fred Hampton. Bringing together groups that otherwise would have had almost no positive contact, the Rainbow Coalition provided aid to low-income citizens by combining the member groups' varied resources. His death was ruled a suicide by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office. He had two elder siblings: Bill Hampton and Delores "Dee Dee" Hampton. While a student Hampton became active in the civil rights movement. The program served to undermine, infiltrate, and spread misinformation (often through extrajudicial means) about political groups and the activists who belonged to them. Fred Hampton was killed on December 4, 1969, in Chicago during a raid on his residence by Chicago police officers. After Hampton graduated from high school, he enrolled in a pre-law program at Triton Junior College in River Grove, Illinois. But they could not kill Fred Hampton’s legacy and, 50 years later, his words still echo… louder than ever. At age 21, Hampton was fatally shot alongside a fellow activist during a law enforcement raid. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. Njeri continued, “I bear in mind somebody saying that Fred was barely alive or he may not make it after which they began taking pictures once more after which it stopped. The BPP had successfully launched a free breakfast program to feed children in a number of cities. This … Soon after his death, the BPP filmed an investigation of his apartment, which police did not close off. Chairman Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was assassinated by the FBI, who coerced a petty criminal named William O’Neal to help them silence him and the Black Panther Party. Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948–December 4, 1969) was an activist for the NAACP and the Black Panther Party. Claim: The mother of Fred Hampton, a civil rights activist killed by the FBI in 1969, used to babysit Emmett Till, a Black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. Fred Hampton, deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, was born on August 30, 1948 and raised in the Chicago suburb of Maywood, Illinois.In high school he excelled in academics and athletics. Fred Hampton was born in Chicago on 30th August 1948 and grew up in Maywood, a suburb of the city. The police lied and said that when they knocked on … The killing of Hampton, who was 21 years old when he was shot dead in his bed, ignited the city in fresh political strife and marked a new wave of tension in the ongoing civil rights movement. Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader. He called the multiracial groups he collaborated with his "Rainbow Coalition." He was given the name Alfred Johnson at birth. On Dec. 4, 1969, a sudden crack of bullets shattered the early morning calm on Chicago’s West Side. American civil rights leader Fred Hampton served as deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party's Illinois chapter. The Black Panther Party and the Chicago Police Department often clashed during Hampton’s tenure as deputy chairman of the Panthers' Illinois chapter, resulting in casualties on both sides. ThoughtCo, Feb. 17, 2021, thoughtco.com/fred-hampton-biography-4582596. The police believed that the apartment—which often served as a de facto headquarters for the Panthers—would reveal a stockpile of weapons, including illegal firearms. https://www.thoughtco.com/fred-hampton-biography-4582596 (accessed April 26, 2021). As Hampton’s influence in the Black Panthers grew, the FBI began to focus on his activities, opening a file on him in 1967. A number of writers, rappers, and musicians have referred to Fred Hampton in their writings or lyrics. CHICAGO—The police of Cook County took the life of 21-year-old Fred Hampton and 20-year-old Mark Clark in one of the most sadistic of all the genocidal attacks on the Black Panther Party. Hampton was a rising activist in Chicago and worked his way to become chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. Fred Hampton (August 30, 1948–December 4, 1969) was an activist for the NAACP and the Black Panther Party. He was only 21 years old when he was assassinated. Martin Luther King Jr. as well as radical groups like the Black Panther Party, the American Indian Movement, and the Young Lords. That case was thrown out, but a new case took place in 1979 after officials concluded that the law enforcement agencies involved had obstructed justice and refused to hand over relevant paperwork related to the killings. Who Was Fred Hampton, the Black Panther Shot and Killed by Chicago Police 48 Years Ago? Black Panther leader Mark Clark was also killed in the raid. Johnson was over eight months pregnant when Hampton Sr. was assassinated by the Chicago police in a 1969 raid, which occurred 25 days before he was born.. When the FBI’s Pennsylvania field office was broken into not long after, the COINTELPRO files found included a floor plan of Hampton’s apartment and documents that mentioned covering up the FBI’s part in Hampton’s killing. Fred Hampton was 21 years … Fourteen Chicago Police Officers in a Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Unit Conducted the Raid … Somebody stated, ‘He’s good and useless now.’ I knew they’d killed Fred at this level.” Hampton was simply 21 years previous when he died. Fred Hampton was born on August 30, 1948 in Summit, Illinois. Sowing discord in the community wasn’t the only way O’Neal attempt to undermine Hampton. In 1968, he was on the verge of creating a merger between the BPP and a southside street gang with thousands of members, which would have doubled the size of the national BPP. Hampton, like other political activists, seemed keenly aware that his work would put his life in jeopardy. Chicago police remove the body of Fred Hampton, leader of the Illinois Black Panther Party, who was slain in a gun battle with police on Chicago’s West Side on Dec. 4, 1969. The rear bedroom in which Black Panthers leader Fred Hampton was killed at 2337 W. Monroe St. on Dec. 4, 1969, during a raid by authorities. Hampton is the son of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and his fiancée, Deborah Johnson. However, when a Department of Justice investigation revealed that Chicago Police had fired up to 99 shots, and the Panthers had only fired once, the charges were dropped. The FBI enlisted a man named William O'Neal to infiltrate and sabotage the Black Panthers Party. Deborah Johnson aka Akua Njeri Who is Deborah Johnson? Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Later it was revealed that, of the nearly 100 shots fired during the raid, all except perhaps one were fired by the police. In … Soon afterward, seven Panthers in the building were arrested and indicted by a grand jury on charges of attempted murder, armed violence, and weapons charges. On December 3, 1969, O’Neal secretly drugged Hampton by putting a sleeping pill into his drink. He engaged in grassroots activism, working as an organizer, a peacemaker, and taking part in the BPP’s free breakfast program and people’s medical clinic. In the city of Chicago, December 4 is “Fred Hampton Day.” A public pool in Maywood, Illinois, where Hampton grew up, bears his name. Deborah Johnson, now known as Akua Njeri, is an American activist and writer. Following Fred Hampton’s meteoric rise as a political organizer, he was dead in December 1969 at just 21 years old, shot twice in the head by FBI raiders. When an officer realized that Hampton hadn’t been killed, he proceeded to shoot the activist twice in the head. O’Neal quickly gained access to Hampton by becoming both his bodyguard and a security director in Hampton’s Black Panther Party chapter. Early life and education. Civil Rights Movement Timeline From 1965 to 1969, Biography of the Rev. The footage captured is seen in the 1971 documentary “The Murder of Fred Hampton.”. Hampton had success with the NAACP, but the radicalism of the Black Panther Party resonated with him even more. Her reporting focuses education, race, and public policy. Though weapons were seized from the apartment, they were never properly identified. Fred Hampton was killed in Chicago, Illinois, on December 4, 1969, during a raid on his residence by Chicago police officers. Alternative Title: Frederick Allen Hampton Fred Hampton, in full Frederick Allen Hampton, (born August 30, 1948, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.—killed December 4, 1969, Chicago), American civil rights leader and deputy chairman of the Black Panther Party ’s Illinois chapter who formed the city of Chicago’s first “Rainbow Coalition.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Civil Rights Leader, Biography of Angela Davis, Political Activist and Academic, Biography of Huey Newton, Co-Founder of the Black Panthers, Biography of Richard Aoki, Asian-American Black Panther, Biography of Barack Obama, 44th President of the United States, Black Women Who Have Run for President of the United States, dreamed of playing baseball for the New York Yankees, Black Panther icon Fred Hampton’s boyhood home facing foreclosure. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/fred-hampton-biography-4582596. deputy chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. Though Hampton and Clark’s families and the raid’s survivors eventually received a settlement payment of $1.85 million from the city of Chicago, Cook county, and the federal government, none of the officers, agents, or officials involved in the raid were ever convicted of a crime. He was tragically murdered in his home in 1969 and had been targeted by the FBI for his social work in Chicago. O'Neal, who had been previously arrested for car theft and impersonating a federal officer, agreed to the task because the federal agency promised to drop the felony charges against him. The group also advocated for self-defense rather than nonviolence and took a global perspective on the Black freedom struggle, finding inspiration in Maoism. Fred Hampton (1948-1969) Hampton was a Black activist and deputy chairman of the Illinois Black Panther Party. After his death, an interview O’Neal had sat for in April 1989 with the public television series ''Eyes on the Prize II” aired in Chicago. Three years later, the families of Hampton and Clark learned that they would receive a $1.85 million settlement from the local and federal agencies responsible for the men’s deaths. A skilled speaker and organizer, Hampton quickly moved through the ranks of the BPP. He also worked with white-dominated groups like Students for a Democratic Society and the Weather Underground. CHICAGO—The police of Cook County took the life of 21-year-old Fred Hampton and 20-year-old Mark Clark in one of the most sadistic of all the genocidal attacks on the Black Panther Party. He was just 21 years old. Despite not having a warrant for weapons charges, they entered the apartment with guns firing. Hampton and his fiancee, Deborah Johnson (also called Akua Njeri), were asleep in their bedroom. He became the leader of Chicago’s BPP branch, then the chairmain of the Illinois BPP, and finally the deputy chair of the national BPP. COINTELPRO targeted civil rights leaders such as the Rev. That was Dec. 4, 1969. Hampton was just 21 years old when he died. He also played a direct role in his killing. "Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader." Hampton never got that opportunity, but he has not been forgotten. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. O’Neal then bolted onto a nearby expressway, police said. Hampton's son, Fred Hampton Jr. was born just a … BLACK Panther activist Fred Hampton was just 21-years-old when he was tragically gunned down by police in his apartment. BLACK Panther activist Fred Hampton was just 21-years-old when he was tragically gunned down by police in his apartment. In his short life, Fred Hampton accomplished a lot in terms of revolutionary activisms. In 1990 and 2004 the Chicago City Council passed resolutions designating December 4 as Fred Hampton Day. However, while he was alive, he expressed confidence in his own legacy: Nadra Kareem Nittle is a journalist with bylines in The Atlantic, Vox, and The New York Times. A bright student, Hampton graduated from Proviso East High School in 1966 before enrolling at Triton Junior College where he studied law. Shortly afterward, law enforcement agents initiated an early morning raid on Hampton’s apartment. Fred Hampton was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 30, 1948. By signing up for this email, you are agreeing to news, offers, and information from Encyclopaedia Britannica. As a teen, Hampton became involved in civil rights by leading a local NAACP youth council. Watch: The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther, M.A., English and Comparative Literary Studies, Occidental College, B.A., English, Comparative Literature, and American Studies, Occidental College. In 1970, raid survivors … Fred Hampton was 21 years old when he was killed. JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH stars Daniel Kaluuya as Chicago Black Panther leader Chairman Fred Hampton - but the actor revealed had to go … Fred Hampton: Fred Hampton was an American radical civil rights activist who lived from 1948 to 1969. He was 40. Hampton ultimately attended Triton College, where he studied pre-law in hopes of helping people of color fight back against police brutality. How was Fred Hampton killed? Today, Hampton is widely remembered as a martyr for the cause of Black liberation. "Biography of Fred Hampton, Black Panther Party Leader." Johnson, who was expecting a child with Hampton, was not killed. Later it was revealed that, of the nearly 100 shots fired during the raid, all except perhaps one were fired by the police. When the raid was over, Hampton and fellow Panther Mark Clark were dead. Hampton formed the city of Chicago's first "Rainbow Coalition," an alliance of the Panthers with other groups organized around racial, ethnic, or ideological affiliation. However, he also excelled in the classroom. When they were done, chapter founder and chairman Fred Hampton, 21, and member Mark Clark, 22, were dead; four others were seriously injured. Hampton had quickly risen in the Black Panther Party, and his talent as a political organizer was described as remarkable. Personal Life. In the early hours of Dec. 4, 1969, Chicago police raided Illinois Black Panther Party Chairman Fred Hampton's home and shot him to death. From the 1950s until the 1970s, the FBI’s Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) targeted leaders of activist organizations like Fred Hampton. Activists and the broader Black community considered the deaths of these men unjust, and their families ultimately received a settlement stemming from a civil lawsuit. How old was Fred Hampton when he died? Following FBI director J. Edgar Hoover’s orders, O’Neal undid much of Hampton’s work to foster peace in the community, leading community members to lose confidence in the BPP. ThoughtCo. He helped to grow the council's membership to more than 500 members. A bust of Hampton sits outside the Fred Hampton Family Aquatic Center. Had the Chicago Police not killed Fred Hampton, he would have been named chief of staff of the Black Panther Party's central committee, making him a key spokesman for the group. Nittle, Nadra Kareem. Before he was brutally killed by racists in Mississippi at 14 in 1955, Emmett Till had sometimes been cared for by the mother of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, who was shot to … An estimated 5,000 mourners turned up to Hampton’s funeral, during which the activist was remembered by civil rights leaders such the Rev. Related: Why Judas & The Black Messiah's Reviews Are So Positive The real O'Neal was only 17 years old when he teamed up with the FBI in 1967, and Hampton hadn't yet reached his 20th birthday. At 5 a.m. on Dec. 4, 1969, Chicago and state’s attorney police raided the headquarters of the Black Panther Party at 2337 W. Monroe St. on the West Side of the city. BLACK activist Fred Hampton was the chairman of the Black Panther Party in the 1960’s. The Panthers and the Chicago Police Department often clashed during Hampton’s brief tenure as deputy chairman, resulting in casualties on both sides, and on December 4, 1969, Hampton was killed during a raid on his residence by Chicago police officers. On December 4, 1969, Chicago police raided Fred Hampton’s apartment and shot and killed him in his bed. They had been wounded but survived the gunfire. He was 21. The group Rage Against the Machine famously mentions the activist in its 1996 hit “Down Rodeo,” in which frontman Zack de la Rocha declares, “They ain’t gonna send us campin’ like they did my man Fred Hampton.”. The other seven Black Panthers present in the apartment were charged with several serious crimes, including attempted murder, armed violence, and multiple weapons charges. Jesse Jackson and Ralph Abernathy. 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