THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT KILLS BLACK LEADERS

WAR WAS NEVER PROFITABLE

DENY. DEFEND. DEPOSE.

They Fear Our Power: The Murder of Fred Hampton and the War on Black Liberation

Let’s get one thing straight: the U.S. government has a long, bloodstained history of killing Black leaders who dared to speak truth, organize the people, and build real power. We’re not talking about conspiracy theories—we’re talking about documented, declassified, government-orchestrated violence. And if you don’t know the name Fred Hampton, it’s time to wake up.

Fred Hampton was 21 years old. Twenty. One. A brilliant organizer, a revolutionary, and the chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party. But more than that, he was a unifier. Fred was building something real. He didn’t just talk about liberation—he built coalitions. Black, white, Brown, poor folks—he brought people together under the banner of class solidarity, self-defense, and survival programs. That scared the hell out of the state.

You see, the government doesn’t mind a Black voice as long as it’s safe, watered-down, and controlled. But Fred wasn’t safe. Fred was dangerous—to white supremacy, to capitalism, to the status quo. And so they killed him.

Let’s call it what it was: an assassination.

On December 4, 1969, around 4:30 a.m., the Chicago Police—backed by the FBI—raided Fred Hampton’s apartment. He was asleep next to his pregnant fiancée, and he’d been drugged the night before by William O’Neal, an FBI informant who had infiltrated the Panthers [Source: Eyes on the Prize II, PBS].

The FBI’s role is not speculation—it’s fact. Under COINTELPRO (Counterintelligence Program), the FBI explicitly stated its goal was to “prevent the rise of a Black messiah” who could unify and electrify the movement [FBI Memo, March 4, 1968 – Source: Church Committee Reports, 1976].

The raid was carried out using a floor plan of the apartment drawn by O’Neal and handed over to the FBI and police [Source: The Assassination of Fred Hampton by Jeffrey Haas]. They came in shooting. 99 bullets were fired by police. Only one came from inside the apartment. Fred never had a chance. A survivor said they heard the police say, “He’s good and dead now,” after shooting him twice in the head [Source: The Assassination of Fred Hampton, Haas].

This was a coordinated hit.

And don’t let anyone tell you different.

This wasn’t just about Fred—it was about killing a movement. Because what terrified them wasn’t just the guns. It was the free breakfast programs, the health clinics, the political education, the fact that the Panthers were showing Black folks we didn’t need scraps—we could build systems for ourselves. That’s what real revolution looks like.

Fred wasn’t alone. Dr. King was under COINTELPRO surveillance until the day he was killed. Malcolm X was relentlessly watched and targeted. So was Assata Shakur, Angela Davis, Huey Newton, and dozens more.

This is the pattern: any time a Black leader rises up with clarity, strategy, and the ability to mobilize the people, the state steps in to neutralize, discredit, imprison—or kill.

So what do we do with that truth?

We tell it. Loud. Clear. With receipts.

We organize. We educate. We build like Fred built—across lines, for the people, with fire in our hearts and clarity in our minds.

Fred Hampton once said:
“You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution.”

So let’s be the revolution they feared.

Sources & References:

1. FBI COINTELPRO Memo (March 4, 1968):
   https://vault.fbi.gov/cointel-pro
   (Search for “Black Nationalist Hate Groups”)

2. The Assassination of Fred Hampton – Book by Jeffrey Haas
   (First-hand account from the lawyer who represented the Hampton family)

3. Eyes on the Prize II: “A Nation of Law?” (1968–1971) – PBS Documentary
   https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/eyesontheprize/

4. Church Committee Reports (1976) – U.S. Senate Investigation of Intelligence Abuses
   https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/churchcommittee.html

5. Fred Hampton’s Speeches and Interviews (Archive):
   https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/hampton/

6. Democracy Now! Coverage – “The Murder of Fred Hampton”
   https://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/4/the_murder_of_fred_hampton_40