Fred Hampton FBI File: What's Actually in the Declassified Records

By 1969 Hampton, still in his early twenties, had built a multiracial coalition in Chicago and was an effective public speaker with a growing following. The Bureau classified the Black Panther Party as a major internal security threat and used COINTELPRO tactics against it: informants, forged letters designed to provoke conflict between groups, and pressure on employers and landlords. O'Neal, an FBI informant, served as Hampton's security chief and supplied a floor plan of his apartment. On December 4, 1969, Chicago police conducted a pre-dawn raid; Hampton and Mark Clark were killed. Ballistics later showed nearly all shots came from police. Civil litigation ended in a $1.85 million settlement in 1982 involving federal, county, and city defendants. Later Senate investigations documented the Bureau's COINTELPRO conduct in detail.

• ▸Surveillance and informant reporting on the Illinois Black Panther Party and Hampton personally
• ▸COINTELPRO material aimed at disrupting the Panthers' alliances with other Chicago organizations
• ▸Reporting connected to informant William O'Neal, including material about Hampton's apartment
• ▸Records surrounding the December 4, 1969 raid and its aftermath
• ▸Correspondence with local law enforcement and prosecutors
• ▸Later material generated by litigation and congressional scrutiny

• ✗"Hampton was killed in a shootout." Ballistics evidence showed the overwhelming majority of shots were fired by police, not by those inside the apartment.
• ✗"COINTELPRO is a conspiracy theory." It was a real, documented Bureau program, confirmed by Senate investigation in the 1970s.
• ✗"The FBI had nothing to do with the raid." An FBI informant supplied a floor plan of the apartment beforehand.

1. 1968–1969
   Hampton rises as Illinois Black Panther Party chairman; the Bureau steps up surveillance and COINTELPRO activity.
2. 1969
   Informant William O'Neal, Hampton's security chief, provides information including a floor plan of his apartment.
3. 1969
   Hampton and Mark Clark are killed in a pre-dawn police raid on December 4.
4. 1982
   A long-running civil suit ends in a $1.85 million settlement with federal, county, and city defendants.

Was Fred Hampton targeted by the FBI?

Yes. He was an explicit target of the Bureau's COINTELPRO program against Black political organizations.

Did an FBI informant help set up the raid?

Informant William O'Neal, Hampton's security chief, supplied information including a floor plan of the apartment before the December 1969 raid.

Was the raid a shootout?

Ballistics evidence indicated nearly all rounds were fired by police.

What was the legal outcome?

A civil suit brought by survivors and families ended in a $1.85 million settlement in 1982.

Always consult the primary source. Public records may include redactions, allegations, and unverified informant claims.

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