Not only did the police lie, claiming that Fred and Mark had been killed during a shoot-out initiated by the Panthers; it was also revealed that Fred and other Panthers had been drugged by William O’Neil, an FBI informant within the organization. The police had unleashed a firestorm against the Panthers that was both unprovoked and carefully premeditated. Here’s what else we were sure of: Fred Hampton had been targeted for nothing other than his ability to articulate the problems, dreams, and goals of masses of Black people. Another Black leader had been killed. This was counterinsurgency—a
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