The Murder of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark
Thirty-nine years ago on this day in people’s history, Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were murdered by the Chicago Police Department. On December 4th, 1969, the two members of the Black Panther Party were shot to death during an early morning raid on their apartment. Despite the police having been cleared of any guilt in their deaths by the judicial system, the evidence suggests other wise. Hampton, as a young brilliant orator and an effective radical organizer, became a frightening prospect for the FBI and Illinois state officials. Prior to the police raid, an FBI informant provided a floor plan for the apartment and Hampton was shot in his bed. The Black Panther Party organized tours in the bloody aftermath to illustrate the glaring truth about the assassinations.
Hampton’s funeral was attended by 5,000 people as he was eulogized by the likes of Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson. But perhaps the greatest eulogy for Hampton was spoken by none other than himself when he said, “You can kill a revolutionary, but you can’t kill the revolution.”
