Panther Slayings Split the City Into Name Calling' Factions (December 14, 1969)

Panther Slayings Split the City Into Name Calling' Factions

BY RONALD KOZIOL

An early morning raid by state s attorney s police 10 days ago has divided Chicago Into two name-calling factions.

Opinion in the city has not been so polarized since the controversy over who was to blame for the convention riots of 1968.

In both instances, the split pitted the police and their sup- porters against a variety of critics r a n g i n g from civil libertarians to extreme radi- cals.

Hanrahan Raps Critics

State's .Atty, Edward V. Hanrahan has accused critics of the raid of "Indulging ih an orgy of publicity," and has as- sailed the news media for re- peating their charges. Some of Hanrahan's critics have called

Bobby Rush

the raid a politically-inspired assassination and described po- lice as "murderers."

The controversy began in the pre-dawn darkness of Dec. 4 in a routine-tho possibly dangerous-raid of a west side apartment by state s attorney s police.

Carrying a warrant to search the first-floor apartment at 2337 Monroe st. for a cache of weapons, allegedly being chan- there by members of the Black Panther party, the raiders engaged in what was later termed "a 10-minute shootout."

2 Panthers Killed

When the smoke had cleared, two Panther leaders lay dead. They were Fred Hampton,.21, Illinois party : and Mark Clark, 22, the Peoria chapter leader. Four Panthers were wounded and three others arrested. Two members of the raiding party suffered minor injuries.

Hanrahan, who just a few months earlier had created a special prosecution unit to crack down on street gangs terrorizing the city, told-apress conference that his men were met by 2 blasts of shotgun fire when they attempted to enter the flat.

A few hours after the raid, Hanrahan spoke glowingly ol work performed by his detec. tives and said it was a miracle

Fred Hampton [from left], Edward Hanrahan, and Mark Clark

that none of the policemen were killed or seriously wounded. He added that "the violent criminal reaction of the occupant In shooting at announced police officers emphasizes the er- treme viciousness of the Black Panther party."

Controversy Not Expected

Hanrahan apparently never expected his words to be contradicted, let alone the controversy that the raid was to touch off.

The Black Panther party wa? the first to denounce the raid. It took newsmen, neighbors, the curious, and anyone else on a tour of the west side apart- ment.

Bobby Rush, the Illinois Panthers minister of defense, purported to show the visitors that all of the shooting in the apartment was done by -the police.

Called Execution Squad

He later appeared on televi- sion and proclaimed that the police killed Hampton while he was asleep in bed. He charged that the four other persons wounded in the apartment were lined up against the wall by the raiders and shot in the legs and thighs. Rush'repeatedly called the raiding party an execution squad. His version became a popular one.

Scores of organizations and civic groups, many of which had nothing in common with the violence-prone Panthers, denounced the 'raid and sub- sequent actions by the state s attorney s police.

Among them were the Na- tional Association for the Ad- vancement of Colored People, the Southern Christian Leader- ship Conference, the Cook County Bar association, the Chicago section of the National Council*of Jewish Women, the joint action board, which is composed of 26 human relations and social welfare agencies, the local chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, the American Jewish Congress, and Local 2816 of the American Federation of Governmenti Em- .

Call for Probe

Aldermen, state legislators, and some congressmen called for immediate investigations of

the raid by the justice depart- ment, a county grand jury, the police department internal In- division, and the President's commission, on vio- lence.

Coroner Andrew Toman be- gan impaneling a blue-ribbon jury to investigate. Chicago Bar association said the coroner s jury should be composed of out- standing citizens and lawyers, and a lawyer should conduct the hearing. The association also suggested that the hear- ings be of a quasi-legal nature, with television cameras and tape recorders barred.

Interest In Panthers

As the controversy continued, interest in the Black Panthers in Chicago reached a new high. Rush called a press conference last week to say that Hanrahan was a "madman" who should be indicted for murder. More than 50 ne*smen and techni- cians were present. Rush also was in popular demand to be interviewed by: local radio stations.

Chicago's Negro community was especially concerned about the raid.

Ironically, before the Dec. 4 raid, the Panthers had been steadily losing influence as a significant force in the black community. Membership had fallen to lass than 100 in the city. Street gangs, including the Black P Stone Nation and the ViceLords, had openly been at odds with the Panthers.

Plan to Join Forces

The street gangs wanted nothing to do with the Maoist t e a c h i n g s, pro-communist philosophies, and restrictive discipline of the Panthers. This often led to open hostility.

Since the raid and the killing of the Panther leaders, the street gangs have indicated they will join forces with the Panthers!

The controversy came to a boiling point Wednesday after attorneys for the seven sur-

vivors of the raid released statements of witnesses to another newspaper. From the statements, there were again indications that Hampton had been shot in his bed, while defenseless.

IThis prompted Hanrahan to

release a detailed account of the. raid and -pictures which showed that gunfire apparently had been directed at the by Panthers inside the apart- ment. The account and pictures were made public exclusively in Thursday's and Friday's editions of THE TnmuI5.

Offers Lie Tests

In a further effort to answer critics, Hanrahan offered to make available the 14 members of the raiding party for lie detector tets If those in the apartment also would submit to tests. The offer was turned down by Panther leaders.

Hanrahan said he also would favor a United States justice department investigation into the raid. It was announced Friday that the department s civil r i g h t s division would launch a preliminary inquiry into the raid.

The policemen said they conducted the raid at 5 a. m. because the Panther party o p e n I y advocates violence, especially against police, and they feared for their safety and that of area residents.

Seize 17 Weapons

In the raid, police seized 17 weapons, including shotguns, carbines, and pistols, and more than 1,000 rounds of - tion. According to Panther p a r t y documents, members would not be reluctant to use such weapons.

The group s publication, The Black Panther, noted in a recent edition that the Panthers "were not just a passing phenomenon but a permanent, serious attempt to organize a revolutionary party to serve and protect the black commu- nity and in coalition with other groupings to overthrow capital- ism-by force if necessary."

The Illinois chapter was founded in June,. 1968, by Hampton, Rush, Jewell Cook, and Billy Brooks. In October, 1968, the local chapter was officially recognized by the national office in Oakland, Cal.

Must Own Gens

Each member was required to attend three politi- cal orientation classes a week, sell at least 75 Panther news- papers a week, own and be proficient in the use of at least two guns, obey all party rules, and do constant political work among the. masses.* Members who do not-fulfill the require- ments are expelled.

The basic reading list for Panthers consists of 12 books. These include "Quotations from Mao Tse-tung," "The Commu- nist Manifesto," and "Selected Military. Writings of Mao Tse- tung."

Panther leaders have` said repeatedly that they hope, to live up to the revolutionary example of such Communists as Mao, Ho Chi Mini, and Fidel Castro.