The Assassination of Chairman Fred Hampton Sr.

At approximately 4:30 AM on December 4, 1969, 14 plainclothes Chicago Police officers, armed with pistols, a shotgun, and a machine gun, executed a pre-dawn raid on the apartment at 2337 West Monroe Street. Between 90 and 99 shots were fired by police; only one shot came from the Panthers — from Mark Clark's shotgun as he fell.

Chairman Fred Hampton Sr., just 21 years old, was murdered in his bed. Defense Captain Mark Clark, 22, was killed at the front door. Four other Panthers were critically wounded. Akua Njeri (then Deborah Johnson), 19 years old and eight months pregnant with Fred Hampton Jr., was in bed next to Hampton.

FBI informant William O'Neal had provided the apartment floor plan and was paid a bonus. No officers were ever indicted.

The raid was part of COINTELPRO — the FBI's systematic campaign to neutralize the Black Panther Party.