American Experience (1988–…): Season 20, Episode 6 - Eyes on the Prize II (Parts V & VI): Ain't Gonna' Shuffle No More/A Nation of Law? - full transcript
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♪ I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
♪ WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON. ♪
ONLY OUR BROTHER,
MARTIN LUTHER KING,
EXHAUSTED A MEANS OF NONVIOLENCE
WITH HIS LIFE BEING TAKEN
BY SOME RACIST.
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO US
IS WHAT WE HATE,
AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MARTIN
LUTHER KING IS WHAT WE HATE.
YOU'RE DARN RIGHT,
WE RESPECT NONVIOLENCE.
BUT TO SIT AND WATCH OURSELVES
BE SLAUGHTERED
LIKE OUR BROTHER?
WE MUST DEFEND OURSELVES,
AS MALCOLM X SAID,
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Man:
AT THIS POINT
I QUESTION THE WHOLE PURPOSE
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
IN MY THINKING,
THEY WERE NECESSARY.
IT WAS A SHOCK TREATMENT
FOR WHITE AMERICA
TO SEE BLACK MEN RUNNING
AROUND WITH GUNS
JUST LIKE BLACK MEN
HAD SAW WHITE MEN
RUNNING AROUND WITH GUNS.
YEAH, THAT WAS
A SHOCK TREATMENT.
IT WAS GOOD IN THAT EXTENT,
BUT IT GOT A LOT
OF BLACK PEOPLE HURT.
THERE WAS NO JOKE
ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON,
BUT WE BELIEVED WITH OUR HEARTS
THAT WE SHOULD DEFEND OURSELVES,
AND THERE WERE SO MANY
THAT DID DO THAT.
Narrator:
BY 1968, THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
WAS PART OF AN INCREASINGLY
VOLATILE POLITICAL SCENE.
THAT SUMMER, THE NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
WAS DISRUPTED BY VIOLENT CLASHES
BETWEEN DEMONSTRATORS
AND POLICE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
AS HORRIBLE IN MY WHOLE LIFE.
♪ WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
♪ WE SHALL
OVERCOME... ♪
Narrator:
THE WAR IN VIETNAM
POLARIZED THE NATION
AND THE POLITICAL AND
RACIAL UPHEAVAL AT HOME
SOON BECAME AN ISSUE
IN THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.
THIS IS A NATION OF LAWS,
AND AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAS SAID:
"NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,
NO ONE IS BELOW THE LAW."
AND WE'RE GOING TO
ENFORCE THE LAW,
AND AMERICANS SHOULD
REMEMBER THAT
IF WE'RE GOING TO
HAVE LAW AND ORDER.
I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY
THAT IN...
AS THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION
CAME INTO OFFICE,
AS WE CAME INTO OFFICE IN 1969,
THERE CERTAINLY WAS A STRONG
PERCEPTION OF RADICALIZATION.
Narrator:
IN CHICAGO, AND IN OTHER CITIES,
F.B.I. DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER
EXPANDED SURVEILLANCE
OF ORGANIZATIONS
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY,
ESPECIALLY THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY.
Narrator:
DIRECTIVES ISSUED
BY F.B.I. HEADQUARTERS
A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE ELECTIONS
CALLED FOR:
"IMAGINATIVE AND HARD-HITTING
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE MEASURES
AIMED AT CRIPPLING
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY."
ON CHICAGO'S WEST SIDE,
THE PANTHERS HAD JUST OPENED
THEIR FIRST OFFICE IN ILLINOIS.
WELL, THE THING THAT I REALLY
LOVED ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHERS
IS THAT THEY REFUSED
TO BE IGNORED.
UH, IT WAS VERY EASY TO IGNORE
BLACK PEOPLE BACK THEN
BECAUSE EVERYBODY FIGURED,
WELL, IT'S JUST A LOT OF TALK
AND THEY'RE NOT GOING
TO DO ANYTHING.
THEY'LL JUST GO ON AND ON
AND ON MOANING AND GROANING
ABOUT HOW TERRIBLE EVERYTHING IS
AND THEY, OF COURSE, AT BEST,
THEY JUST MIGHT GET INVOLVED
IN SOME ACTS OF NONVIOLENCE,
BUT THAT'S ABOUT IT.
AND THEN THEY JUST KIND OF,
YOU KNOW, BUSINESS AS USUAL.
YOU COULDN'T HAVE BUSINESS AS
USUAL WITH THE BLACK PANTHERS.
THE BLACK PANTHERS WERE
DEFINITELY GOING TO BE HEARD.
SO WE'RE SAYING, WE ALWAYS SAY
IN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY,
THAT THEY CAN DO ANYTHING
THEY WANT TO TO US.
WE MIGHT NOT BE BACK...
I MIGHT BE IN JAIL,
I MIGHT BE ANYWHERE,
BUT WHEN I LEAVE,
YOU'LL REMEMBER I SAID,
WITH THE LAST WORDS ON MY LIPS,
THAT I AM...
A REVOLUTIONARY.
AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE
TO KEEP ON SAYING THAT.
YOU'LL HAVE TO SAY THAT
"I AM A PROLETARIAT."
"I AM THE PEOPLE."
"I'M NOT THE PIG."
YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE
A DISTINCTION.
AND THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO
HAVE TO ATTACK THE PIGS.
THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO
STAND UP AGAINST THE PIGS.
THAT'S WHAT THE PANTHERS
ARE DOING ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Narrator:
FRED HAMPTON, A FORMER
N.A.A.C.P. YOUTH ORGANIZER,
BECAME, AT AGE 20,
CHAIRMAN OF THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
THE PANTHERS' PROGRAM
DREW MIXED REACTIONS
IN CHICAGO'S BLACK COMMUNITY.
MANY BLACK PEOPLE INITIALLY
WAS VERY, VERY AFRAID
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
I UNDERSTOOD WHERE THEY WERE
TRYING TO GO POLITICALLY
AND FELT THAT THEY
HAD TO CHANGE THINGS.
AND WHEN I TALK ABOUT FEAR,
I WAS AFRAID THEY WEREN'T
GOING TO DO IT RIGHT,
AND I WAS ALWAYS TRYING
TO COOL THEM OUT
AND SAY, "THAT'S NOT
THE RIGHT WAY TO GO."
THEY WERE TOO DIRECT.
YOU COULD TELL THAT
THIS WAS A MOVEMENT
THAT WAS VERY
MEANINGFUL TO THEM.
AND NONE OF THEM WAS SUICIDAL,
SO IT WASN'T LIKE
THEY WERE OUT THERE
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
A WAY GET KILLED,
BUT THEY DID
HONESTLY AND TRULY BELIEVE
IN POWER TO THE PEOPLE...
I MEAN, THAT WAS THEIR SLOGAN.
HERE YOU FOUND SOME BROTHERS
AND SISTERS
SAYING FIRST, YOU KNOW, LOOK,
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
GUARANTEES US THE RIGHT TO BEAR
ARMS AND TO PROTECT OURSELVES.
AND WE UNDERSTAND
THAT WE NEED PROTECTION
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY,
AND IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY
TO PROTECT BLACK WOMEN
AND BLACK CHILDREN,
NOT THE POLICE,
BECAUSE THE POLICE IS NOT HERE
TO SERVE AND PROTECT US,
ONLY TO CONTINUE TO ENSLAVE US.
IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY
TO SEE TO IT
THAT OUR PEOPLE HAVE
A DECENT PLACE TO LIVE,
DECENT FOOD TO EAT, AND QUALITY
HEALTH CARE, NOT THE SYSTEM.
SO THAT FRIGHTENED
A LOT OF PEOPLE.
I MEAN, THEY DIDN'T THINK
THAT IT COULD HAPPEN.
THEY DIDN'T THINK IT WAS RIGHT.
PEOPLE LEARN BY EXAMPLE.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY
HAS AN ARGUMENT WITH THAT.
I THINK THAT WHAT
HUEY P. NEWTON SAID,
THAT PEOPLE LEARN BASICALLY BY
OBSERVATION AND PARTICIPATION,
I THINK THAT EVERYBODY
CAUGHT ON TO THAT.
SO WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS SIMPLY
IF THEY LEARN BY OBSERVATION
AND PARTICIPATION
THEN WE NEED TO DO MORE ACTING
THAN WE NEED TO DO WRITING.
AND I THINK THE BLACK PANTHER
PARTY IS DOING THAT.
WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT A
BREAKFAST-FOR-CHILDREN PROGRAM.
WE'VE GOT ONE.
Panther:
COME ON IN, LITTLE BROTHERS,
COME ON IN, LITTLE SISTERS,
Y'ALL CAN SIT DOWN
AND GET
SOMETHING TO EAT.
Y'ALL TAKE OFF
Y'ALL'S COATS.
SIT DOWN, MAN.
Y'ALL CAN EAT AS MUCH
AS Y'ALL WANT TO.
Narrator:
THE NEW BREAKFAST-
FOR-CHILDREN PROGRAM
SOON ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION
OF THE F.B.I.
CLAIMING THE PROGRAM SERVED
TO INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN,
THE BUREAU DIRECTED
FIELD OFFICES
TO "FORMULATE SPECIFIC
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES
TO DISRUPT THIS
NEFARIOUS ACTIVITY."
THE F.B.I. STEPPED UP
ITS EFFORTS
TO RECRUIT BLACKS TO INFILTRATE
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
MY RECRUITMENT BY THE F.B.I.
WAS VERY EFFICIENT,
VERY SIMPLE, REALLY.
I'D STOLEN A CAR AND WENT
JOYRIDING OVER THE STATE LIMIT,
AND, UM... THEY HAD A POTENTIAL
CASE AGAINST ME
AND I WAS LOOKING FOR
AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IT OFF.
AND A COUPLE MONTHS LATER
THAT OPPORTUNITY CAME
WHEN F.B.I. AGENT ROY MITCHELL
ASKED ME TO GO DOWN
TO THE LOCAL OFFICE
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
AND TRY TO GAIN MEMBERSHIP.
I THINK EVERYONE THAT WAS
IN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
KIND OF UNDERSTOOD,
IT WAS A GIVEN,
THAT WE WOULD HAVE WIRETAPS,
THAT WE WOULD BE FOLLOWED,
THAT WE WOULD BE HARASSED,
WE'D BE LOCKED UP,
THAT WE WOULD EVEN
BE BEATEN BY THE POLICE.
Narrator:
IN THE WINTER OF 1969,
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
LAUNCHED EFFORTS
TO UNDERMINE
AN ATTEMPTED COALITION
BETWEEN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
AND THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS,
A CHICAGO GANG.
Saffold:
THE PANTHERS WERE PURSUING
AN IDEOLOGY THAT SAID:
WE NEED TO TAKE THESE
YOUNG MINDS, THIS YOUNG ENERGY,
AND TURN IT INTO
PART OF OUR MOVEMENT
IN TERMS OF BLACK LIBERATION
AND THE REST OF IT.
AND I SAW A VERY PURPOSEFUL,
INTENTIONAL EFFORT
ON THE PART OF
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
TO KEEP THAT HEAD
FROM HOOKING UP TO THAT BODY.
IT WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW,
DO NOT LET THIS THING BECOME
A PART OF WHAT COULD ULTIMATELY
BE A POLITICAL MOVEMENT.
BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT IT WAS.
Narrator:
F.B.I. AGENTS WROTE AN ANONYMOUS
LETTER TO JEFF FORT,
THE LEADER OF
THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS,
WARNING RT THAT THE PANTHERS
HAVE "A HIT OUT FOR YOU."
THE BUREAU KNEW THAT
THE INFORMATION WAS FALSE,
BUT BELIEVED THAT FORT
MIGHT TAKE "RETALIATORY ACTION"
AGAINST THE PANTHERS.
MEANWHILE, CITY OFFICIALS
ANNOUNCED A CRACKDOWN ON GANGS.
Reporter:
WOULD YOU SAY THAT STREET GANGS
CAN DO NO GOOD?
IS THAT WHAT
YOU WOULD SAY?
NO, I WOULDN'T SAY THAT.
I THINK THAT THE ENERGY
OF YOUTH, PROPERLY DIRECTED,
COULD BE A TREMENDOUS
BETTERMENT,
COULD LEAD TO A TREMENDOUS
BETTERMENT OF OUR CITY
AND TO INDIVIDUALS'
PROGRESS THEMSELVES.
I'M COMPLAINING
ABOUT THE MISDIRECTION.
I'M COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FACT
THAT 620 OUT OF 693 SHOOTING
VICTIMS ARE BLACK THEMSELVES,
AND I THINK THAT'S A TRAGEDY.
THAT IS WHERE BLACK GENOCIDE
IS OCCURRING HERE.
Narrator:
THE CHICAGO POLICE EXPANDED
THEIR ANTI-GANG CAMPAIGN
TO INCLUDE
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
IN LATE MAY, FRED HAMPTON
WAS SENT TO PRISON.
HE HAD BEEN CONVICTED
ON A CHARGE
OF STEALING 71 DOLLARS' WORTH
OF ICE CREAM BARS.
WE TRIED TO DEVELOP NEGATIVE
INFORMATION TO DISCREDIT HIM,
JUST LIKE WE DID EVERYBODY ELSE;
WE, MEANING THE F.B.I.
I TRIED TO COME UP WITH SIGNS
OF HIM DOING DRUGS OR SOMETHING,
AND NEVER COULD.
HE WAS CLEAN,
HE WAS DEDICATED.
I'VE HAD PRIVATE
CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM.
WE GOT ALONG PRETTY WELL.
Narrator:
WHILE FRED HAMPTON
WAS IN PRISON,
A POLICE RAID ON THE PANTHER
OFFICE TURNED INTO A SHOOT-OUT.
FIVE POLICEMEN AND THREE
PANTHERS WERE WOUNDED.
NOBODY WAS UP THERE
EXCEPT THE POLICE
WHEN THE FIRE STARTED?
Panther:
RIGHT ON.
FRANK, YOU WANT TO COME...?
Panther:
GET A PICTURE
OF THAT DOOR.
CHECK THAT
DOOR OUT, MAN.
THEY FIRED
A SHOTGUN.
Rush:
THEY SHOT UP THE DOOR
AT THE OFFICE THERE,
ARRESTED SOME PANTHERS.
AND JUST TO SHOW YOU
THE NATURE, UH, UH...
OF THE RAIDING OFFICERS THERE,
THEY BURNED BOXES OF CEREAL
THAT WE HAD ON THE THIRD FLOOR.
THEY DELIBERATELY
SET FIRE TO THAT.
THEY DIDN'T SET FIRE
TO THE SECOND FLOOR.
THEY SET FIRE TO THE THIRD FLOOR
WHERE ALL THE, YOU KNOW...
THAT WAS KIND OF INDICATIVE
OF WHAT THEY WERE THINKING
AND HOW THEY WERE MOVING.
Man:
THE IDEA ON THE PART
OF THE POLICE
WAS TO PSYCH THE COMMUNITY OUT.
THEY CALL ME UP THE NEXT DAY;
I SAYS, "IS THE OFFICE OPEN?"
"WELL, NO, THE POLICE
BOARDED THE PLACE UP."
I SAY, "OPEN IT BACK UP...
YOU GOT THE LEASE TO THE PLACE."
"WHAT?"
I SAYS, "OPEN IT UP!
TAKE ALL THAT BOARDING DOWN,
PAINT THAT PLACE."
AND THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
MEMBERS STARTED WORKING
FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS,
THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW,
THE COMMUNITY STARTED BRINGING
WOOD, PAINT AND EVERYTHING,
AND OPENED THAT BLACK PANTHER
PARTY OFFICE RIGHT BACK UP.
AND, OF COURSE,
THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO TERRORIZE US
OUT OF EXISTENCE.
AT THE SAME TIME,
IF WE WOULD CLOSE DOWN,
IT WOULD LEAVE
THE BLACK COMMUNITY
SAYING,
"WELL, THEY STOPPED THEM."
Narrator:
IN A REPORT MADE PUBLIC
IN THE SUMMER OF 1969,
F.B.I. DIRECTOR HOOVER DECLARED
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
THE NUMBER ONE THREAT
TO THE INTERNAL SECURITY
OF THE UNITED STATES.
I THINK, FRANKLY,
THAT HE OVERSTATED THE CONCERN...
THE REAL CONCERN...
THAT THE BLACK PANTHERS
WERE TO THE COUNTRY.
I THINK IT WAS LEGITIMATE
FOR HIM TO STATE THAT THEY WERE
A VIOLENT AND UNLAWFUL ELEMENT,
BUT REFERRING TO THEM
AS THE MOST DANGEROUS,
OR MOST IMPORTANT...
AND I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY
THE WORDS HE USED...
THE GREATEST THREAT TO
THE UNITED STATES AT THAT TIME,
I THINK WAS AN OVERSTATEMENT.
THE POLICE COMMUNITY HAS
SORT OF A BUILT-IN REWARD AND
PUNISHMENT SYSTEM OF ITS OWN.
AND YOU GET A LOT OF REWARDS
WHEN YOU GO AFTER WHO THE BOSS
SAYS IS THE BAD GUY
AND YOU GET HIM.
AND I THINK WHAT J. EDGAR HOOVER
WAS ABLE TO DO
WAS TO GIVE
POLICE OFFICERS THE IMPRESSION
THAT IT WAS OKAY,
IT WAS OPEN SEASON.
YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE LAW.
YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE
IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT
AND THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT.
I THINK WHAT HE,
IN EFFECT, SAID
IS "IT'S OUR BALL GAME, GUYS.
"WE'VE GOT THE AUTHORITY,
WE HAVE THE CAPACITY.
LET'S CRUSH 'EM."
Narrator:
PANTHER LEADER FRED HAMPTON
WAS STILL IN PRISON,
BUT EFFORTS WERE UNDERWAY
TO APPEAL HIS CONVICTION.
♪ FREE FRED HAMPTON,
FREE FRED HAMPTON ♪
♪ WE NEED OUR WARRIOR
BESIDE US. ♪
WE WERE SUCCESSFUL,
AND WE GOT HIM OUT OF JAIL
TOWARDS THE END OF THAT SUMMER
BECAUSE A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
LOOKED AT WHAT KIND OF
A PERSON HE WAS,
LOOKED AT THE KIND
OF CASE IT WAS
AND GAVE HIM AN APPEAL BOND.
THAT'S THE FIRST TIME
I SAW FRED HAMPTON.
AND I WAS A YOUNG, WHITE STUDENT
IN A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK CHURCH,
FULL TO THE RAFTERS,
WELCOMING FRED HAMPTON BACK.
OKAY, YOU CAN PUT
YOUR HANDS DOWN NOW.
WE SAY ALL POWER TO ALL PEOPLE.
WE SAY WHITE POWER
TO WHITE PEOPLE.
BROWN POWER TO BROWN PEOPLE.
YELLOW POWER TO YELLOW PEOPLE.
BLACK POWER TO BLACK PEOPLE.
Brown:
WE'D GO OUT,
WE'D DRIVE ALONG TO SOME
SCHOOLYARD OR SOMETHING
AND THERE WERE LIKE
200, 300 PEOPLE
WAITING THERE
FOR FRED TO SHOW UP.
AND THE PHENOMENAL PART WAS
THAT, I MEAN, THESE ARE ALL
PEOPLE FROM THE STREETS,
I MEAN, WHO WERE NOT
GOING TO GET UP
AND GO TO WORK OR ANYTHING ELSE
AND NEVER HAD NO DISCIPLINE
AND NEVER WOULD,
BUT THERE THEY WERE,
IT WAS 6:30 IN THE MORNING...
FREEZING CHICAGO WEATHER.
AND FRED WOULD
HAVE THEM OUT THERE
DOING PUSH-UPS
AND JUMPING JACKS
AND GETTING THEMSELVES ENERGIZED
FOR THE DAY'S WORK,
WHICH INCLUDED MAKING
THE BREAKFAST,
WHICH INCLUDED SELLING PAPERS,
WHICH INCLUDED WORKING
IN THE MEDICAL CLINIC...
WHICH INCLUDED A BUNCH OF STUFF.
IT WAS A VERY DAY-TO-DAY
KIND OF A THING,
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
AND YOU'D HAVE FRED OUT THERE
RALLYING THEM.
AND HE'D SAY, "ALL RIGHT,
ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
EVERYBODY SAID,
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
HE'D SAY, "NOW, I'M NOT GOING
TO DIE ON NO AIRPLANE."
EVERYONE WOULD SAY, "NO."
"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE
SLIPPING ON NO ICE."
THEY'D SAY, "NO."
HE'D SAY, "I'M GOING TO DIE
FOR THE PEOPLE
BECAUSE I'M GOING TO
LIVE FOR THE PEOPLE."
HE SAID, "I'M GOING
TO LIVE FOR THE PEOPLE
BECAUSE I LOVE THE PEOPLE."
HE'D SAY, "I LOVE
THE PEOPLE... WHY?"
AND THEY'D SAY, "BECAUSE
WE'RE HIGH ON THE PEOPLE."
AND THAT WAS FRED HAMPTON.
WHEN YOU SAW THIS...
THIS WAS 21 YEARS OLD...
IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.
YOU COULD NOT NOT BE MOVED
BY FRED HAMPTON.
Narrator:
IN THE FALL OF 1969,
CHICAGO WAS THE SCENE
OF A CONTROVERSIAL TRIAL.
THE DEFENDANTS WERE LEADERS
OF THE ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS
THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE DURING
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION.
NATIONAL PANTHER CHAIRMAN
BOBBY SEALE
INSISTED ON SPEAKING
IN HIS OWN DEFENSE.
ON OCTOBER 29,
TRIAL JUDGE JULIUS HOFFMAN
ORDERED SEALE BOUND AND GAGGED.
THIS IS A SYMBOL
TO EVERY ONE OF US.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS
ARE GAGGED.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS
DO NOT FEEL AS THOUGH
THERE IS ANY JUSTICE.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS,
WHENEVER CASE THEY COME,
FEEL THAT JUDGES
DO NOT UNDERSTAND
AND ARE WITHOUT MERCY.
Narrator:
TWO WEEKS LATER,
A GUN BATTLE ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH
SIDE FURTHER ESCALATED TENSIONS.
A FORMER PANTHER
AND TWO POLICEMEN WERE KILLED.
THE DEATHS PROVOKED A RESPONSE
FROM INFORMANT WILLIAM O'NEAL'S
F.B.I. CONTACT.
MITCHELL BECAME MORE SPECIFIC
DURING THAT TIME.
UM... HE WANTED TO KNOW
THE LOCATIONS OF WEAPONS CACHES.
HE WANTED TO KNOW
IF WE HAD EXPLOSIVES.
UM, HE NEEDED TO KNOW WHO
WAS STAYING AT WHAT LOCATIONS,
WHO SPENT THE NIGHT WHERE.
HIS INFORMATION DIDN'T CHANGE
SO MUCH AS HE REQUESTED
MORE DETAIL, AND I KNEW WHY.
THE SHOOT-OUT ON THE SOUTH SIDE
HAD PRETTY MUCH LAID
THE FOUNDATION WITHIN THE PARTY,
WITHIN THE BLACK PANTHERS,
WE KNEW THAT THE POLICE
WOULD REACT SOME TYPE OF WAY.
Narrator:
EXPECTING POLICE ACTION,
THE BLACK PANTHERS
HAD FORTIFIED THEIR OFFICE.
F.B.I. INFORMANT O'NEAL
WAS NOW HEAD OF PANTHER
SECURITY IN CHICAGO.
WE'RE VERY CONFIDENT
THAT NOBODY'S COMING IN
THE FRONT DOOR... NOBODY.
NO GAS.
NOBODY GETTING ON
THE ROOF THERE.
I WANT YOU
TO KNOW THAT.
NOBODY GETTING
ON THE ROOF.
WE BELIEVE IN, WHAT IS IT...
FIRE... COVER AND FIRE?
YES, WE DO DEFEND OUR OFFICES
AND WE DO DEFEND OUR HOMES.
THIS IS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
EVERYBODY HAS,
AND NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THAT.
THE ONLY REASON THEY GET MAD
AT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
IS FOR THE SIMPLE REASON
THAT WE'RE POLITICAL.
AND THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT
THAT THERE'S A LOT OF YOUNG
ORGANIZATIONS AROUND
BUT WE ARE A POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION.
WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION
THAT UNDERSTANDS
THAT POLITICS IS NOTHING
BUT WAR WITHOUT BLOODSHED,
AND WAR IS NOTHING BUT
POLITICS WITH BLOODSHED.
Narrator:
ON NOVEMBER 19,
F.B.I. AGENT ROY MITCHELL
DREW A FLOOR PLAN
OF HAMPTON'S APARTMENT
BASED ON INFORMATION
SUPPLIED BY INFORMANT O'NEAL.
ON DECEMBER 4,
AT 4:45 IN THE MORNING,
14 POLICEMEN...
NINE WHITE AND FIVE BLACK...
RAIDED THE APARTMENT.
DEBORAH JOHNSON,
EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT,
WAS ASLEEP IN THE BACK BEDROOM,
NEXT TO FRED HAMPTON.
THE FIRST THING I REMEMBER AFTER
FRED AND I HAD WENT TO SLEEP
WAS BEING AWAKENED BY
SOMEBODY SHAKING FRED
WHILE WE WERE LAYING IN BED,
SAYING, "CHAIRMAN, CHAIRMAN,
WAKE UP, THE PIGS ARE VAMPING."
THIS PERSON THAT WAS
IN THE ROOM WITH ME
KEPT SHOUTING OUT, "WE HAVE
A PREGNANT SISTER IN HERE.
STOP SHOOTING."
EVENTUALLY THE SHOOTING STOPPED
AND THEY SAID WE COULD COME OUT.
I REMEMBER CROSSING OVER FRED
AND TELLING MYSELF OVER
AND OVER, "BE REAL CAREFUL.
"DON'T STUMBLE.
"THEY'LL TRY TO SHOOT YOU.
"JUST BE REAL CALM.
"WATCH HOW YOU WALK.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS UP.
"DON'T REACH FOR ANYTHING.
DON'T EVEN TRY
TO CLOSE YOUR ROBE."
WHEN I WAS IN THE KITCHEN, I
HEARD AN UNFAMILIAR VOICE SAY:
"HE'S BARELY ALIVE"
OR "HE'LL BARELY MAKE IT."
THEN THE SHOOTING STARTED
BACK AGAIN.
THEN I HEARD THE SAME
UNFAMILIAR VOICE SAY:
"HE'S GOOD AND DEAD NOW."
I KNEW IN MY MIND... I ASSUMED
THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT FRED
AND I KNEW WHEN I LEFT
OUT OF THERE
I COULDN'T LOOK
TOWARDS THE ROOM.
Narrator:
PARTY LEADERS MARK CLARK
AND FRED HAMPTON
WERE KILLED IN THE RAID.
FOUR OF THE SEVEN SURVIVING
OCCUPANTS OF THE APARTMENT
WERE WOUNDED.
ALL WERE CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.
Johnson:
WHEN THEY LOCKED ME UP
AT THE POLICE STATION,
I KEPT BEGGING THEM FOR A CALL,
TO MAKE ONE CALL.
I CALLED, I THINK, THE OFFICE...
THE BLACK PANTHER OFFICE...
AND I SPOKE TO BOBBY RUSH.
HE TOLD ME THAT FRED WAS DEAD,
FRED HAD BEEN KILLED.
I REMEMBER WALKING
OUT OF THE OFFICE
AND LOOKING THROUGH A LITTLE
CLEARING OVER ON THE NEXT BLOCK,
WHICH WAS RIGHT IN FRONT
OF THE MONROE STREET ADDRESS
AND SEEING A LOT OF
POLICE CARS OVER THERE
AND AT THAT TIME,
BOBBY RUSH CAME TO THE OFFICE.
HE HAD JUST COME FROM OVER THERE
OR MAYBE THE CORONER'S OFFICE.
WE WALKED BACK OVER THERE
AND WE BOTH WERE SPEECHLESS.
WE JUST WALKED THROUGH THE HOUSE
AND SAW WHERE...
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE
AND WHERE HE DIED
AND IT WAS SHOCKING.
AND THEN I WAS, YOU KNOW,
I JUST BEGAN TO REALIZE
THAT THE INFORMATION
THAT I HAD SUPPLIED
LEADING UP TO THAT MOMENT
HAD FACILITATED THAT RAID.
I KNEW THAT, INDIRECTLY, I HAD
CONTRIBUTED, AND I FELT IT
AND I FELT BAD ABOUT IT.
AND THEN I GOT MAD.
YOU KNOW, I HAD...
AND THEN I HAD TO
CONCEAL THOSE FEELINGS,
WHICH MADE IT WORSE.
I COULDN'T...
I COULDN'T SAY ANYTHING.
I JUST HAD TO CONTINUE
TO PLAY THE ROLE.
Narrator:
F.B.I. HEADQUARTERS AUTHORIZED
PAYMENT OF A $300 BONUS
TO INFORMANT WILLIAM O'NEAL
FOR "UNIQUELY VALUABLE SERVICES
WHICH HE RENDERED OVER
THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS."
THEY CAME IN OUR COMMUNITIES
LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
AND THEY JUST SNATCHED
FRED'S LIFE, JUST LIKE THAT.
AND IT'S JUST LIKE, WHY?
THIS BROTHER HAS DONE NOTHING
TO NONE OF YOU ALL.
THE ONLY THING THAT
THIS BROTHER HAS DONE
WAS TO INSTILL A SENSE
OF PRIDE AND DIGNITY
AND SELF-DETERMINATION
IN HIS PEOPLE.
Narrator:
STATE'S ATTORNEY EDWARD HANRAHAN
GAVE AN OFFICIAL ACCOUNT
OF THE RAID TO THE PRESS.
AS SOON AS SERGEANT DANIEL GROTH
AND OFFICER JAMES DAVIS,
WHO WERE LEADING OUR MEN,
ANNOUNCED THEIR OFFICE,
OCCUPANTS OF THE APARTMENT
ATTACKED THEM WITH SHOTGUN FIRE.
THE OFFICERS
IMMEDIATELY TOOK COVER.
THE OCCUPANTS CONTINUED FIRING
AT OUR POLICEMEN
FROM SEVERAL ROOMS
WITHIN THE APARTMENT.
THEREAFTER, THREE TIMES SERGEANT
GROTH ORDERED ALL HIS MEN
TO CEASE FIRING
AND TOLD THE OCCUPANTS
TO COME OUT WITH THEIR HANDS UP.
EACH TIME, ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS
REPLIED, "SHOOT IT OUT"
AND CONTINUED FIRING
AT THE POLICE OFFICERS.
THE PRESS AT THE BEGINNING
HAD TAKEN HANRAHAN'S LINE.
THIS WAS A SHOOT-OUT.
200 SHOTS WERE FIRED.
THE PANTHERS FIRED HALF OF THEM.
NOBODY WAS REALLY
CHALLENGING THAT
EXCEPT A YOUNG
SUN-TIMES REPORTER
BY THE NAME OF BRIAN BOYER,
WHO WENT DOWN THERE,
AND HE SAW THE EVIDENCE.
IT DIDN'T TAKE A GENIUS
TO LOOK AT WHAT WAS THERE
AND SEE THAT ALL THE BULLETS
WERE GOING IN ONE DIRECTION
AND ALL THOSE BULLET HOLES
WERE POINTING TOWARDS
FRED HAMPTON'S BEDROOM
AND THE MIDDLE BEDROOM
WHERE VERLINA AND DOC SATCHEL
AND EVERYONE WAS.
Narrator:
CONFLICTING DESCRIPTIONS
OF THE RAID
MADE HEADLINES
IN THE CHICAGO PAPERS.
THE ACCOUNT THAT WE
MADE PUBLIC YESTERDAY
GIVES A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF
WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT APARTMENT.
I STAND WHOLEHEARTEDLY BEHIND
IT AS ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE.
Reporter:
THERE IS ONE
INCONSISTENCY.
WELL, FOR EXAMPLE...
I DO NOT INTEND TO QUIBBLE
OUT THAACCOUNT.
DO YOU INTEND TO
GET AT THE TRUTH?
THE ACCOUNT THAT WE GAVE
OF THE EVENTS IS THE TRUTH.
Narrator:
STATE'S ATTORNEY HANRAHAN
SUPPORTED HIS ACCOUNT
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
INTENDED TO PROVE
THE PANTHERS HAD FIRED
AT THE POLICE.
WE WENT, TOOK THOSE PICTURES
AND SAW THEY WEREN'T
WHAT THEY APPEARED TO BE.
THE BACK DOOR, THE CIRCLES
AROUND THE BULLET HOLES
TURNED OUT TO BE NAIL HEADS.
WE WENT AND WE SAW THAT
THEY WERE NAIL HEADS,
BECAUSE WE HAD POSSESSION
OF THE APARTMENT.
THAT THE PANTHERS WERE
SUPPOSEDLY FIRING INTO,
THAT TURNED OUT TO BE
THE BEDROOM DOOR.
IT WAS THE DOOR THAT THE POLICE
HAD MADE INTO SWISS CHEESE
WITH THEIR MACHINE GUN BULLETS.
Narrator:
THE CONTROVERSY GREW.
THIS BLATANT ACT OF
LEGITIMATIZED MURDER
STRIPS ALL CREDIBILITY
FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT.
IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER ACTS
AGAINST MILITANT BLACKS
IN RECENT MONTHS,
IT SUGGESTS AN OFFICIAL POLICY
OF SYSTEMATIC REPRESSION.
THE BLACK PANTHERS PREACH
EVERY DAY: HATE;
KILL WHITEY;
KILL THE POLICE;
KILL THE PIGS;
HATE, HATE, HATE.
THAT'S ALL YOU HEAR FROM THEM.
DID THEY EXPECT
THOSE POLICE OFFICERS
TO WALK INTO THAT APARTMENT
WITH PEASHOOTERS?
YOU'VE SEEN THE GUNS
THAT WERE THERE.
WHAT WERE THEY THERE FOR?
Johnson:
MEMBERS OF THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY
WERE TAKING PEOPLE FROM THE
COMMUNITY THROUGH THE APARTMENT
SO THEY CAN ACTUALLY SEE
WHAT WAS GOING ON.
PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO GO
THROUGH THE HOUSE
AND THEY WERE LINED UP
ALL AROUND THE BLOCK
IN THE COLD, IN THE WINTERTIME,
TO SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
Panther:
DON'T TOUCH NOTHING,
DON'T MOVE NOTHING,
BECAUSE WE WANT TO KEEP
EVERYTHING JUST THE WAY IT IS.
DON'T TOUCH NO WALLS.
THIS IS THE ROOM
WHERE THE FIRST BROTHER,
MARK CLARK, WAS MURDERED.
EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO TAKE
SOMEBODY TO JAIL,
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
A SIMPLE MATTER
OF JUST SHOOTING SOME TEAR GAS
IN HERE TO DRAW EVERYBODY OUT.
THIS IS WHERE OUR CHAIRMAN
HAD HIS BRAINS BLOWN OUT
AS HE LAY IN HIS BED SLEEPING
AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING.
Taylor:
I THINK THAT THE POLICE WAITED
TILL DECEMBER 17
TO ACTUALLY SEAL THAT APARTMENT,
SO IT WAS OPEN FOR ALMOST
TWO WEEKS.
AND WE SPENT THE BETTER PART
OF THOSE TWO WEEKS
GETTING THAT EVIDENCE
OUT OF THERE.
AND SO WE WOULD BE TALKING TO
PEOPLE WHEN THEY WENT THROUGH.
WHILE WE WERE WORKING, PEOPLE
WERE WALKING THROUGH CONSTANTLY
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET...
I DON'T KNOW WHAT DAY IT WAS
OR WHAT,
BUT I JUST REMEMBER
SOME OLDER BLACK WOMAN
COMING THROUGH THERE,
SHAKING HER HEAD
AND GOING, "IT'S NOTHING
BUT A NORTHERN LYNCHING."
THE PEOPLE WHO HAD JUST COME
PURELY OUT OF CURIOSITY
WERE SAYING,
"THIS IS ATROCIOUS."
EVEN LAW-AND-ORDER
PEOPLE WERE SAYING,
"THIS IS UNLAWFUL
AND IT'S DISORDERLY.
"AND IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT PART
OF WHAT I WANT TO CONDONE
"IN TERMS OF MY LAW ENFORCEMENT
OR MY TAXES, TO BE PROTECTED.
THIS IS NOT THE POLICE
FUNCTION HERE."
PEOPLE REALIZED THAT THERE
HAD BEEN A TRIAL, A CONVICTION
AND AN EXECUTION IN THAT HOUSE.
YOU KNOW, IT CAN
HAPPEN TO ANY OF US.
AND THAT WAS, THAT WAS FEAR,
SHAME, YOU KNOW, SORRY...
WHAT COULD WE DO?
HOW COULD... WHY COULDN'T
WE HAVE PROTECTED FRED?
Woman:
♪ I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD
FEEL TO BE FREE ♪
♪ I WISH I COULD BREAK ALL
THE CHAINS HOLDING ME ♪
♪ I WISH I COULD SAY ALL THE
THINGS THAT I SHOULD SAY... ♪
Clements:
I HAD A MASS FOR FRED
AND I WAS JUST SHATTERED,
I WAS DEVASTATED.
AND IN THE MIDST OF THIS MASS,
I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN
TO OUR CHILDREN...
BECAUSE WE HAD ALL
THE SCHOOLCHILDREN THERE,
ALL 1,300...
AND I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN
TO THEM THE IMPORTANCE OF FRED.
AND I WASN'T GETTING THROUGH,
AT LEAST I FELT LIKE
I WASN'T GETTING THROUGH.
AND IN THE MIDST
OF MY EXPLANATION
I JUST BURST INTO TEARS.
AND THE NEXT THING I KNEW,
HERE WAS ONE
OF OUR EIGHTH-GRADE BOYS.
HE JUMPED UP AND HE SAID,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND THEN A GIRL
IN THE SIXTH GRADE,
SHE JUMPS UP,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND ANOTHER KID IN FIRST GRADE,
"I'M FRED HAMPTON!"
AND BEFORE YOU KNEW IT,
THE WHOLE CHURCH,
KIDS WERE ALL SHOUTING,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND WOW, I JUST
FELT SO WONDERFUL.
I FELT LIKE, GEE WHIZ, THIS
DEATH WAS NOT IN VAIN AT ALL,
BECAUSE THESE KIDS ARE SAYING
THAT THEY ARE WILLING
TO GET UP HERE
AND SPEAK OUT FOR LIBERATION,
FOR FIRST-CLASS CITIZENSHIP.
Narrator:
IN THE WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED,
PUBLIC PRESSURE LED TO A SERIES
OF INVESTIGATIONS.
AN F.B.I. BALLISTICS
EXPERT ESTABLISHED
THAT ALL BUT ONE
OF THE MORE THAN 90 SHOTS
HAD BEEN FIRED BY THE POLICE.
ALL CHARGES AGAINST
THE PANTHERS WERE DROPPED.
NO POLICE WERE INDICTED.
BUT THE FAMILIES
OF HAMPTON AND CLARK
AND THE SURVIVORS OF THE RAID
SUED THE GOVERNMENT
FOR VIOLATION OF
THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS.
YEARS LATER, THE CASE WAS CLOSED
WHEN FEDERAL AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS AND THE POLICE
AGREED TO AN OUT-OF-COURT
SETTLEMENT OF $1.8 MILLION.
THE SCOPE OF THE F.B.I.
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM,
COINTELPRO... BEGAN
TO EMERGE IN 1971
AFTER POLITICAL ACTIVISTS
BROKE INTO AN F.B.I. OFFICE
IN MEDIA, PENNSYLVANIA.
STOLEN F.B.I. FILES DOCUMENTED
EXTENSIVE F.B.I. OPERATIONS
AGAINST U.S. CITIZENS
AND ORGANIZATIONS,
INCLUDING TRADITIONAL
CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS.
AMID GROWING CRITICISM OF THE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM,
PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON
REAFFIRMED
HIS SUPPORT FOR THE F.B.I.
DURING GRADUATION CEREMONIES AT
THE BUREAU'S NATIONAL ACADEMY.
I AM HONORED TO BE HERE
TO BREAK INTO YOUR
GRADUATION CEREMONY
TO REASSURE YOU, AND ALL OF
THE MEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY,
OF THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE
AT THE VERY HIGHEST LEVELS
IN GOVERNMENT FOR YOUR WORK.
AND I AM HONORED TO SPEAK
FOR THE ENTIRE NATION
IN SAYING TO YOU,
"CONGRATULATIONS,"
WISHING YOU WELL IN SEEING
THAT THIS NATION
IS ONE IN WHICH WE WILL
HAVE RESPECT FOR LAW,
IN WHICH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
CAN HAVE FREEDOM FROM FEAR.
WE HAD TALKED ABOUT
POLICE BRUTALITY.
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
TALKED ABOUT THE POLICE
AS AN OCCUPYING FORCE
IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT WE HAD NOT REALLY
UNDERSTOOD THE EXTENT
TO WHICH THE WHOLE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM...
THE POLICE, THE COURTS,
THE PRISON SYSTEM...
IS VERY MUCH INTERTWINED
WITH THE ECONOMIC OPPRESSION
OF BLACK PEOPLE.
Narrator:
BLACKS AND LATINOS FILLED
THE NATION'S PRISONS
IN DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBERS.
AT ATTICA CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY IN UPSTATE NEW YORK,
THEY COMPRISED MORE THAN
60% OF THE INMATE POPULATION.
MOST CAME FROM POOR
INNER-CITY NEIGHBORHOODS.
Man:
I THINK THE SYSTEM WAS DAMAGING
TO THE PEOPLE THAT CAME IN.
THE ONLY INSPIRATION
ANYBODY COULD HAVE
NOT TO GO BACK, OR DESIRE NOT
TO GO BACK TO A PLACE LIKE THAT,
IS BECAUSE OF WHAT
A HORRIBLE PLACE IT WAS.
THERE'S ALWAYS THE TENDENCY
TO PUSH PRISONS TO THE FRINGES
OF OUR AWARENESS
SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE
TO DEAL WITH WHAT HAPPENS
INSIDE OF THESE
HORRIFYING INSTITUTIONS.
CONDITIONS IN 1971, BEFORE
THE REBELLION, UH... WAS BAD.
YOU KNOW... BAD FOOD,
BAD EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS,
VERY, VERY LOW, LOW WAGES.
WE WERE CALLED SLAVE WAGERS.
MYSELF, I WAS WORKING
IN THE LAUNDRY
AND I WAS MAKING
LIKE 30 CENT A DAY
BEING THE WARDEN'S LAUNDRY BOY.
AND THAT WAS THE TITLE YOU HAD
WITH MY JOB... "WARDEN'S BOY."
AND I'M FAR FROM A BOY.
WE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF THE JAILS
AS A KIND OF EXPLOSIVE RESOURCE
FOR REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE.
CERTAINLY PEOPLE LIKE MALCOLM X
HAD COME OUT OF PRISON
AND THE NATION OF ISLAM
HAD DONE A GREAT JOB
OF TRANSFORMING A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN IN PRISON.
AND SOME PEOPLE IN PRISON
HAD BEEN IN THE PANTHERS.
SO WE SAW REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY
AS A MEANS OF TRANSFORMING
PRISONERS INTO REVOLUTIONARIES.
Narrator:
ONE OF THE MOST IMPASSIONED
VOICES TO EMERGE
WAS GEORGE JACKSON'S.
HIS PUBLISHED
LETTERS FROM PRISON
HAD REACHED A WIDE AUDIENCE.
ON AUGUST 21, 1971,
JACKSON WAS SHOT TO DEATH
IN SAN QUENTIN PRISON
IN CALIFORNIA.
AT ATTICA, THE NEWS OF HIS DEATH
GREATLY AFFECTED THE INMATES.
WHEN IT REALLY HIT ME IS GOING
TO BREAKFAST THAT MORNING.
EVERYBODY WAS QUIET AND NOBODY
WASN'T PICKING UP NO SILVERWARE.
WHEN YOU GO IN THE DINING ROOM,
IN THE MESS HALL,
YOU HAD TO PICK UP
A KNIFE, SPOON AND FORK
AND WHEN YOU COME OUT,
YOU HAD TO HAVE THAT.
NOBODY WAS PICKING UP,
NOBODY WAS TALKING.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN
DESCRIBE IN WORDS
HOW IT AFFECTED ME,
BECAUSE GEORGE WAS,
IN EFFECT, MY MENTOR.
I REMEMBER HIS GOING
TO COURT IN SHACKLES
AND THE BROTHER WOULD
STAND ERECT, YOU KNOW,
PROUD BLACK MAN THAT HE WAS.
AND THEY HAD NOT
BROKEN HIS SPIRIT.
AND THESE ARE THE THINGS
THAT DR. KING AND
MALCOLM TALKED ABOUT...
THE BREAKING DOWN
OF THE BLACK MAN'S SPIRIT.
Narrator:
THREE WEEKS LATER,
A FIGHT BETWEEN INMATES
AND GUARDS AT ATTICA
SPARKED A PRISON-WIDE UPRISING.
VIOLENCE SWEPT THROUGH
THE INSTITUTION.
Reporter:
AN ESTIMATED 1,000 PRISONERS
TOOK OVER FOUR CELL BLOCKS
AT ATTICA STATE PRISON
ABOUT 9:30 THIS MORNING.
Blyden:
THE GENERAL CHAOS WAS SUCH
THAT EVEN I WAS TAKEN ABACK,
BECAUSE YOU HAD 40 OR 50
CORRECTION OFFICERS
WHO NO LONGER, IT APPEARED,
HAD CONTROL OF THE INSTITUTION.
SO ORDER HAD TO BE MADE
OUT OF THIS DISORDER
AND AT THAT POINT, THE MUSLIM
CONTINGENT IN THE YARD...
I THINK THERE WERE
35 MUSLIM BROTHERS...
SAW TO IT THAT THERE
WAS NO FURTHER INJURIES
TO THE HOSTAGES.
Narrator:
THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED
INMATE LEADERSHIP
RELEASED 11 INJURED GUARDS,
BUT STILL HELD HOSTAGE
39 PRISON EMPLOYEES.
COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIONS
RUSSELL OSWALD
AGREED TO NEGOTIATE.
ACCOMPANIED BY ADVISERS
AND A LOCAL TELEVISION CREW,
HE ENTERED THE YARD WHERE
1,200 INMATES WERE IN CONTROL.
Inmate:
TAKE IT AS YOU WALK,
TAKE IT AS YOU WALK.
MAKE SURE YOU GET
THAT ROOF OVER THERE.
Narrator:
THE NEWS TEAM WAS PERMITTED
TO TALK TO THE HOSTAGES.
Reporter:
HAVE YOU BEEN
TREATED ALL RIGHT?
YES, I HAVE SO FAR
BEEN TREATED VERY GOOD.
Narrator:
THE MEETING WITH COMMISSIONER
OSWALD QUICKLY FOCUSED
ON INMATE FEAR OF REPRISALS
FOR THE REBELLION.
Inmate:
IN VIEW OF
THE FACT NOW
THAT THE SHERIFF'S
DEPARTMENT, THE
VARIOUS COUNTIES,
AND THE STATE TROOPERS
HAS TAKEN OVER...
BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN DECLARED
NOW A STATE OF EMERGENCY...
YOU COULDN'T GUARANTEE
NO REPRISAL ANYWAY.
THIS IS NOW OUT
OF YOUR HANDS, ISN'T
IT, COMMISSIONER?
NO, IT IS NOT.
YOU STILL CONTROL
THE STATE TROOPERS?
ABSOLUTELY.
YOU WANT TO PUT
YOUR "NO REPRISALS"
IN WRITING?
YES.
I TALKED AS RATIONALLY
AS I COULD WITH THEM
AND LISTENED TO THEM
FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME.
AND ULTIMATELY, THEY
SAID THEY HAD AN AGENDA
OF WHAT THEY WANTED.
AND I SAID, "WELL,
GIVE ME THE AGENDA."
Narrator:
THE AGENDA INCLUDED DEMANDS
FOR IMPROVED CONDITIONS.
THE INMATES CALLED
FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS,
AN END TO CENSORSHIP
OF LETTERS AND MAGAZINES,
ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE
AND HIRING OF BLACK AND
SPANISH-SPEAKING GUARDS.
DISTRUSTFUL OF STATE OFFICIALS,
THE INMATES ALSO ASKED
FOR OUTSIDERS
TO OBSERVE NEGOTIATIONS.
ASSEMBLYMAN
ARTHUR O. EVE
OF BUFFALO;
THE PRISON SOLIDARITY
COMMITTEE OF NEW YORK;
MINISTER FARRAKHAN
FROM THE MUSLIMS;
WE WANT HUEY P. NEWTON FROM
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY...
Narrator:
IN ALL THE INMATES REQUESTED
13 OBSERVERS.
I FELT GOOD.
YOU KNOW, I FELT RELIEVED.
I FELT, I GUESS, LIBERATED
THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE BAR
IN THE FRONT OF ME.
EVEN THOUGH I FELT AND KNEW
THAT I WAS IN PRISON,
AND THAT'S THE REALITY,
BUT THAT VISIBLE THING
WASN'T THERE NO MORE.
YOU KNOW, THE WALLS WAS THERE,
BUT THAT BAR WASN'T REALLY
IN THE FRONT OF ME,
THAT VISIBLE BAR...
IT WAS MORE INVISIBLE THEN.
Inmate:
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT
UNTIL YOU GET THE CUE!
COME ON, IT'S ON NOW.
ALL OF US HERE REALIZE THAT
WHEREVER THERE IS THAT STRUGGLE,
THERE IS SACRIFICE.
Narrator:
THE NEXT MORNING, COMMISSIONER
OSWALD RETURNED TO THE YARD,
STILL SEEKING A NEGOTIATED
SOLUTION TO THE CRISIS.
Oswald:
I TALKED WITH THE GOVERNOR'S
LEGAL COUNSEL YESTERDAY
AND HE TOLD ME THE SAME
AS MR. SCHWARTZ TOLD ME
AND THAT IS, THAT THE
GOVERNOR, NOR NO ONE ELSE
HAS THE POWER TO GRANT AMNESTY
FOR THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME
AND THAT'S THE, THE...
FALLS WITHIN THE PURVIEW
OF THE LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
MR. OSWALD,
MR. OSWALD...
NOW, YOU AND I KNOW
THAT THAT'S A LIE.
AMNESTY WAS VERY IMPORTANT
TO THE INMATES
BECAUSE IT TO A GREAT DEGREE
WOULD DETERMINE
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM
AFTER THE STATE TOOK OVER;
WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS
GOING TO BE
A PEACEFUL KIND OF TAKEOVER
AND SUBSEQUENTLY, HOW
THEY WOULD BE TREATED.
Narrator:
THE TALKS HAD REACHED
AN IMPASSE.
TENSIONS IN THE YARD INCREASED.
WE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR OVER
29 HOURS FOR FOOD AND WATER.
WE HAVEN'T GOT NONE.
WE'RE GOING TO KEEP MR. OSWALD,
RUSSELL G. OSWALD, HERE
UNTIL WE GET THE FOOD AND WATER.
I'LL SEE AS SOON
AS I GET BACK THERE
THAT FOOD IS BROUGHT
INTO THIS YARD.
Narrator:
PROTECTED BY THE INMATE
SECURITY FORCE,
COMMISSIONER OSWALD
LEFT THE YARD.
THE HOPES OF BOTH SIDES NOW
RESTED ON THE OUTSIDE OBSERVERS
WHO ARRIVED IN ATTICA
LATER THAT DAY.
Man:
WE WERE LED DOWN A LONG CORRIDOR
WHICH HAD BEEN TRASHED
AND BURNED OUT
IN THE INITIAL RIOTING.
THE FIRST FEELING
OF SHOCK, I THINK,
FOR SORT OF A SEDENTARY,
MIDDLE-CLASS PERSON LIKE ME
WAS THE FEELING OF BEING
OUT OF REACH OF THE LAW
THAT ONE ORDINARILY
THINKS PROTECTS YOU...
THAT SORT OF PROTECTION WE ALL
TAKE FOR GRANTED
UNTIL YOU DON'T HAVE IT.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I REALIZED
THAT THERE WASN'T
ANYTHING IN THERE TO PROTECT ME
EXCEPT THESE OTHER INMATES
WHOM IT'S ALL TOO
EASY TO THINK OF, YOU KNOW,
AS MURDERERS AND
THIEVES AND SO FORTH.
AND THAT IS A SOMEWHAT SCARY
FEELING, THERE'S NO QUESTION,
BUT VERY SHORTLY AFTER THAT,
WE ALL GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS
TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, WORK
OUT THE PROBLEMS THERE.
THE INMATE LEADERS GOT INTO
SOME VERY FERVID ORATORY.
THEY WERE GREAT ORATORS.
WE ARE MEN, WE ARE NOT BEASTS,
AND WE DO NOT INTEND TO BE
DRIVEN OR BEATEN AS SUCH.
THE ENTIRE PRISON POPULACE HAS
SET FORTH TO CHANGE FOREVER
THE RUTHLESS BRUTALIZATION
AND DISREGARD
FOR THE LIVES
OF THE PRISONERS HERE
AND THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE IS
BUT THE SOUND BEFORE THE FURY
OF THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED.
Inmates:
RIGHT ON!
THE MOMENT I SAW HIM
SPEAK ON TELEVISION,
I SAID TO MYSELF,
"ELLIOTT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
BECAUSE I FELT THAT THEY
WOULD MAKE HIM PAY FOR THAT
AND PAY DEARLY.
Narrator:
THE FIRST MEETING
OF OBSERVERS AND INMATES
LASTED ALMOST TILL DAWN.
A PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM
SET UP IN THE YARD
KEPT THE 1,200 INMATES INFORMED.
Eve:
THERE WAS A SENSE OF HOPE
THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME
THERE WERE SOME OUTSIDERS;
PEOPLE WOULD NOW BEGIN TO LISTEN
AND HOPEFULLY SOME CHANGES
COULD BE MADE.
Narrator:
ON SATURDAY, THE THIRD
DAY OF THE UPRISING,
TROOPERS SURROUNDING
THE PRISON YARD
WAITED FOR A DECISION
BY THE STATE.
USING A VIDEO CAMERA,
THEY RECORDED THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE INMATES.
Trooper:
AND THERE IS THE UGLIEST,
BLACKEST NEGRO GENTLEMAN
I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE
IN THAT BLACKOUT.
BOY, WHEN THEY PAINTED HIM,
THEY PAINTED HIM DARK.
THE MAN DOING THE SPEAKING
IS WEARING A BRIGHT RED ROBE.
HE'S JUST GOTTEN SEVERAL
VERY LOUD RESPONSES
FROM THE... THE CROWD.
TYPICAL RABBLE-ROUSER TYPE TALK.
Frank Smith:
IT WAS A GOOD FEELING, YOU KNOW,
AND ESPECIALLY AFTER
WE START DEALING
AND START ORGANIZING, AND START
TALKING ABOUT THE CONDITIONS
AND START TALKING ABOUT
WHY WE WERE OUT THERE
AND START TALKING
ABOUT THE GRIEVANCES
AND START TALKING ABOUT
WHY WE WERE REBELLING
AND WHY REBELLING WAS NECESSARY
THE FEELING BECAME MORE
AND MORE AND MORE INTO ME
AND I START FEELING
A PART OF IT MORE.
AIN'T NOTHING DEAD ABOUT US.
WE AIN'T GONNA DIE...
WE WILL NOT DIE IN HERE.
IT WAS ALMOST A COMMUNITY
WITHIN A COMMUNITY.
AND IT WAS SOMEWHAT...
VERY, VERY IMPRESSIVE
THAT THEY HAD SAID,
"THIS IS OUR HOME
AND WE'RE NOW GOING TO MAKE IT
AS LIVABLE AS POSSIBLE."
AND THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT OF DISCIPLINE
THERE WITHIN THE YARD.
Narrator:
FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
OF THE HOSTAGES
GATHERED OUTSIDE THE PRISON
WALLS, WAITING FOR NEWS.
RELATIVES AND SUPPORTERS OF
THE INMATES DEMONSTRATED NEARBY.
Protesters:
THE RICH SET THE BAIL,
AND THE POOR STAY IN JAIL!
Narrator:
THAT EVENING, THE MOOD
IN THE YARD CHANGED.
WILLIAM QUINN, A GUARD HURT
IN THE INITIAL TAKEOVER,
GOVERNOR NELSON ROCKEFELLER
AND COMMISSIONER OSWALD
HAD EARLIER AGREED
TO MOST OF THE DEMANDS
CONCERNING PRISON CONDITIONS,
BUT REBELLING INMATES COULD
NOW FACE MURDER CHARGES
UNLESS AMNESTY WAS GRANTED.
THE NEXT DAY, STATE TROOPERS
MOVED INTO POSITION
TO RETAKE THE PRISON,
IF ORDERED.
Trooper:
THE TIME IS 1:55 P.M.
WE'RE ON THE ROOF OF C-BLOCK
LOOKING AT A DETAIL
OF 270-MARKSMEN
WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO KI...
CLEAR THE CATWALKS
UPON COMMAND.
Wicker:
WE THOUGHT THAT THE SITUATION
HAD REACHED CRISIS,
THAT IN FACT THERE WAS ABOUT
TO BE
AN ATTEMPT TO RETAKE THE PRISON.
WE THOUGHT THAT THERE WOULD
BE A LOT OF BLOODSHED.
THAT IF THAT HAPPENED,
THERE WOULD BE A MASSACRE.
AND HIS RESPONSE WAS, BASICALLY,
THAT HE SYMPATHIZED
WITH OUR POSITION.
HE FELT THAT EVERYTHING HAD
BEEN DONE THAT COULD BE DONE.
HE WAS VERY... ANYONE WHO
REMEMBERS GOVERNOR ROCKEFELLER
WILL REMEMBER
HIS EFFUSIVE MANNER.
HE THANKED US FOR OUR EFFORTS
AND THAT SORT OF THING.
BUT THE NET EFFECT OF IT WAS
THAT HE FELT EVERYTHING HAD
BEEN DONE THAT COULD BE DONE.
HE COULD NOT GRANT AMNESTY
AND IN FACT SAID, "EVEN IF
I COULD, I WOULDN'T DO IT."
Narrator:
WITH NEGOTIATIONS DEADLOCKED,
INMATES REQUESTED BLACK
AND LATINO REPORTERS
AND A MEMBER OF
THE ESTABLISHMENT PRESS.
IT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO SPEAK
DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC.
Y'ALL DUDES RUNNING AROUND
HERE SHOOTING THAT DOPE,
RUNNING AROUND HERE
SHOOTING THAT DOPE,
GETTING HIGH, RAPING THEM
SISTERS, THEM WHITE FOLKS,
JUSTIFYING IT IN THE CAUSE
OF REVOLUTION...
WELL, WE'RE GONNA DIE HERE
IN ATTICA, TODAY OR TOMORROW.
AND WE ASK YOU TO GET TOGETHER,
GET OUR PEOPLE
TOGETHER, AND UNITE.
THE PEOPLE IN HERE
ARE TREATED LIKE DOGS.
NOT ONLY THE BLACKS... THE
PUERTO RICANS AND THE WHITES.
AND WE'RE GONNA GET
WHAT WE DEMAND,
OR WE'RE GONNA DIE TRYING.
AND I WANT YOU BROTHERS
TO GET TOGETHER,
BECAUSE WE TOGETHER HERE.
AND THESE PEOPLE THINK
WE SHUCKING AND JIVING,
BUT WE IS FOR REAL.
ALL THESE DOGS UP THERE
WITH ALL THOSE RIFLES
ARE TRYING TO KILL US.
BUT WE AIN'T GONNA QUIT.
YOU KNOW WHY WE'RE
NEVER GOING TO QUIT?
BECAUSE WE'RE ONE...
WE'RE ONE UNIT.
WE'RE TIRED OF BEING BEATEN;
WE'RE TIRED OF BEING OPPRESSED.
WE GONNA GET THIS IF WE ALL
HAVE TO DIE... ALL OF US.
Inmates:
WE ARE READY TO DIE!
GONNA DIE, ALL OF US.
Eve:
THE HOSTAGES APPEALED
TO THE STATE
NOT TO COME IN, NOT TO KILL;
THAT THE INMATES'
REQUESTS WERE RIGHT.
ON THAT LAST DAY WE WERE THERE
IT WAS A VERY EMOTIONAL
KIND OF EXCHANGE
FROM THE HOSTAGES
AND FROM EVERYONE.
I JUST HOPE
THAT THE COMMISSIONER
AND THE OTHER PEOPLE
IN THE COMMITTEE THAT
THEY'VE GATHERED TOGETHER
CAN COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO
SOLVE THESE PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS...
AND OURS.
Man:
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I GOT TO SAY:
WE'VE STOOD OUT HERE
SINCE THURSDAY.
AND MY SON IS IN THERE.
MICHAEL SMITH IS ONE
OF THE HOSTAGES.
I'VE TALKED TO SEVERAL
OF THE OTHER PEOPLE HERE
THAT HAVE HUSBANDS IN THERE,
AND SOME OF THE FATHERS.
AND I CAN'T SPEAK
FOR ALL OF THEM,
BUT MY FEELINGS ARE THIS:
YOU CAN ONLY PACIFY A KID
WITH A PACIFIER SO LONG.
AT 3:00 THIS AFTERNOON,
WE WAS LED TO BELIEVE
THAT THERE WAS GOING TO
BE A DEFINITE DECISION.
THEY WAS GOING TO
BRING THEM OUT.
NOW, DAMN IT ALL, DO IT!
Narrator:
MONDAY MORNING, DAY FIVE.
COMMISSIONER OSWALD DEMANDED
THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OF THE HOSTAGES.
IN RESPONSE, THE INMATES
POSITIONED EIGHT OF THE HOSTAGES
ON THE CATWALK.
BY THEIR SIDE STOOD INMATES
ARMED WITH KNIVES AND CLUBS,
THREATENING TO KILL THE HOSTAGES
IN CASE OF AN ATTACK.
Michael Smith:
I WAS LED BLINDFOLDED
TO THE TOP OF THE CATWALK.
AND I CAN RECALL, WHEN THAT
HELICOPTER FLEW OVERHEAD,
BESIDES BEING ABLE TO HEAR IT,
YOU COULD ACTUALLY FEEL
THE CONCUSSION OF THE PROPELLERS
FROM THE HELICOPTER OVERHEAD.
Frank Smith:
WE KNEW THAT THEY WERE
GOING TO COME IN,
BUT WE NEVER KNEW
THAT THEY WERE GOING
TO COME IN THERE THAT WAY.
THAT WAS REALLY A BIG SURPRISE,
THE WAY THAT THEY CAME
IN THE YARD.
WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING
TO COME IN THERE
AND BUST SOME HEADS OPEN,
AND THAT KIND OF WAY.
AND ONCE WE START SEEING
THE HELICOPTERS
AND THEY START SHOOTING
THE GAS PELLETS
AND I START SEEING PEOPLE
GETTING OPENED UP WITH SHOTGUNS,
THEN I KNEW THAT THEY WERE
REALLY COMING IN THERE
IN A VIOLENT, VIOLENT WAY.
Voice from helicopter:
JUST ALL LAY DOWN!
SURRENDER PEACEFULLY!
YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!
IT'S AN AWFUL SCENE.
WILLIAM KUNSTLER HAS SAID THAT
PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THERE AND...
I AGREE WITH THAT.
I THINK THAT PEOPLE
ARE DYING IN THERE
AND THE SCENE IS... I'M
GOING TO CUT THIS OFF.
HELICOPTERS ARE STILL
FLYING OVERHEAD.
IT SEEMS THERE WAS
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
FROM THE HELICOPTER RIGHT
ABOVE ME TO THE INMATES BELOW
THAT THEY SHOULD PUT THEIR HANDS
ON THEIR HEADS AND COME OUT.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER
ANYONE HAS DIED INSIDE
AND I'M UPSET.
THIS IS UNFORTUNATE,
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE.
WHATEVER HAPPENS, AFTER
THE SITUATION HERE IN ATTICA,
THE PENAL SYSTEM HERE
IN THE UNITED STATES
AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
KEPT INSIDE OF THEM
WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
Narrator:
AS THE INMATES SURRENDERED,
THEY WERE HERDED
INTO AN ADJACENT YARD.
Voice from helicopter:
YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!
Blyden:
WE WERE MADE TO STRIP,
LAY IN THE MUD FACE DOWN
AND CRAWL TO A GUARD
10 TO 20 FEET AWAY
FROM THE GUARD
THAT HAD YOU STRIPPED.
AT THAT POINT, THAT GUARD WOULD
MARK AN X WITH WHITE CHALK
ON THE BACK OF SELECT INMATES
WHO WERE THEN REMOVED
FROM THE MUD PHYSICALLY
BY TWO ADDITIONAL GUARDS,
PLACED IN A LINE, TO RUN A
GAUNTLET OF CORRECTION OFFICERS
TO BE BEATEN ALL THE WAY
TO ANOTHER CELL BLOCK.
Frank Smith:
YOU KNOW, YOU GOT TO LET
ME EXPLAIN IT THIS WAY.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS VERY,
VERY BARBARIC, YOU KNOW,
VERY, VERY CRUEL, YOU KNOW,
AND I... AND I REALLY FEEL IT,
YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY
REALLY DID, YOU KNOW.
THEY RIPPED OUR CLOTHES OFF.
THEY MADE US CRAWL ON THE GROUND
LIKE WE WERE ANIMALS, YOU KNOW,
AND THEY SNATCHED ME,
AND THEY...
THEY LAY ME ON A TABLE,
YOU KNOW,
AND THEY BEAT ME IN MY TESTICLES
AND THEY BURNED ME
WITH CIGARETTES
AND THEY DROPPED
HOT SHELLS ON ME
AND THEN PUT A FOOTBALL
UP UNDER MY THROAT
AND THEY KEPT TELLING ME
THAT IF IT DROPPED,
THEY WAS GONNA KILL ME.
AND I REALLY FELT, YOU KNOW,
AFTER SEEING SO MANY PEOPLE SHOT
FOR NO APPARENT REASON
THAT THEY REALLY WERE
GOING TO DO THIS.
ARMED REBELLION
OF THE TYPE WE HAVE FACED
THREATENS THE DESTRUCTION
OF OUR FREE SOCIETY.
WE CANNOT PERMIT THAT
DESTRUCTION TO HAPPEN.
IT HAS INDEED BEEN
AN AGONIZING DECISION.
Wicker:
WE HAD PREDICTED THE DAY BEFORE
THAT IT
WAS GOING TO BE A MASSACRE.
HERMAN BADILLO TURNED
TO ME AND SAID,
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT
THE HURRY WAS."
HE SAID, "THERE'S
ALWAYS TIME TO DIE."
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT
THE HURRY WAS, EITHER.
YOU KNOW, THOSE GUYS WEREN'T
GOING ANYWHERE.
THEY WERE INSIDE 30-FOOT WALLS.
IT WAS SEPTEMBER,
IT WAS GETTING COLD UP THERE,
THE FOOD WAS RUNNING OUT,
THE SANITARY CONDITIONS
WERE BAD,
THE PLACE SMELLED AWFUL.
I MEAN, THAT SENSE OF FREEDOM
THAT THE GUYS HAD HAD
TO BEGIN WITH,
JUST BEING OUT OF THEIR CELLS...
THAT WAS BEGINNING TO WEAR AWAY
IN THE REALITY
OF THEIR SITUATION.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HURRY WAS.
THEY COULD HAVE WAITED TWO DAYS,
THREE DAYS, FOUR DAYS.
THOSE GUYS WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO IN
AND KILL THEM ALL.
BUT, THEY DID.
Narrator:
39 MEN WERE KILLED
IN THE ASSAULT:
29 INMATES AND 10 HOSTAGES.
AMONG THE DEAD, INMATE LEADER
ELLIOTT BARKLEY.
89 MEN WERE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
HOSTAGE MICHAEL SMITH WAS SHOT
FOUR TIMES IN THE ABDOMEN.
THREE INMATES WERE FOUND
STABBED TO DEATH,
KILLED EARLIER
BY OTHER PRISONERS.
INITIAL REPORTS
BY STATE OFFICIALS
THAT THE HOSTAGES HAD DIED
OF SLASHED THROATS
WERE REFUTED BY
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER.
THE FIRST EIGHT AUTOPSIES
WERE ON THE CASES IDENTIFIED
TO US AS HOSTAGES.
ALL EIGHT CASES DIED
OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS.
Narrator:
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S
FINDING WAS SIGNIFICANT.
THE INMATES HAD NO FIREARMS.
GUNFIRE BY STATE TROOPERS
AND PRISON GUARDS
WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR ALL THE DEATHS
DURING THE RETAKING
OF THE PRISON.
Reporter:
WHAT DID YOU DO DURING
THOSE MOMENTS
WHEN THE ASSAULT WAS
ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE,
THE ORDER HAD
BEEN GIVEN?
WELL, I KEPT IN TOUCH BY PHONE,
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET THE MOMENT
WHEN THE REPORT WAS GIVEN
THAT 14 GUARDS
HAD COME OUT ALIVE.
AND WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE
WITH BOBBY DOUGLAS,
HE SAID, "NOW IT'S 15, NOW
IT'S 16, NOW IT'S 17."
HE SAID, "NOW 18"
AND WE WENT UP TO 21,
AND I WANT TO TELL YOU
I WAS... I JUST WAS
ABSOLUTELY OVERWHELMED.
I JUST DIDN'T SEE
HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE
WITH 1,200 MEN IN THERE, ARMED
WITH ELECTRIFIED BARRICADES,
WITH TRENCHES,
WITH A PLEDGE WHICH THEY SAID
THAT THEY WOULD ALL GO RIGHT
DOWN FIGHTING TO THE LAST MAN,
HOW IT WAS GOING TO BE POSSIBLE.
Reporter:
WHAT DOES
THIS TELL YOU
ABOUT THE PRISONERS,
GOVERNOR?
PARDON ME?
WHAT DOES THIS
TELL YOU ABOUT
THE PRISONERS?
THE FACT THAT
SO MANY MEN DID
EMERGE UNHARMED.
ARE YOU TALKING NOW ABOUT...
WELL, I THINK WHAT IT TELLS
IS THAT THE USE OF THIS GAS
IS A FANTASTIC INSTRUMENT
IN A SITUATION OF THIS KIND.
GOVERNOR, AFTER THAT
ORDER HAD BEEN GIVEN,
DID YOU PRAY?
NOT AFTER IT... I PRAYED BEFORE.
Narrator:
IN TOWNS NEAR ATTICA,
PEOPLE GATHERED TO MOURN
THE DEAD HOSTAGES.
IN THE CITIES,
FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
CARRIED THE BODIES OF THE DEAD
INMATES TO THEIR GRAVES.
IN A COUNTRY TROUBLED BY UNREST,
THE CALL FOR LAW AND ORDER
REMAINED POPULAR.
WAS THE NATION WELL SERVED
BY LAW ENFORCEMENT USED
TO SILENCE VOICES OF DISSENT?
AND WAS AMERICA WILLING
TO MAINTAIN ORDER,
NO MATTER WHAT THE COST?
Marvin Gaye:
♪ MOTHER, MOTHER, THERE'S
TOO MANY OF YOU CRYING ♪
♪ BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER ♪
♪ THERE'S FAR TOO
MANY OF YOU DYING ♪
♪ YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT
TO FIND A WAY ♪
♪ TO BRING SOME LOVIN'
HERE TODAY ♪
♪ YEAH ♪
♪ FATHER, FATHER, WE DON'T
NEED TO ESCALATE ♪
♪ YOU SEE, WAR IS NOT
THE ANSWER ♪
♪ FOR ONLY LOVE CAN
CONQUER HATE ♪
♪ YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT
TO FIND A WAY ♪
♪ TO BRING SOME LOVIN'
HERE TODAY, OH ♪
♪ PICKET LINES
AND PICKET SIGNS ♪
♪ DON'T PUNISH ME
WITH BRUTALITY ♪
♪ TALK TO ME... ♪
THERE'
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
OF AMERICAN EXPERIENCE.
MAJOR FUNDING FOR AMERICAN
EXPERIENCE with captioning
IS PROVIDED BY THE
ALFRED P. SLOAN FOUNDATION.
NATIONAL CORPORATE FUNDING
IS PROVIDED BY LIBERTY MUTUAL
AND THE SCOTTS COMPANY.
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
IS ALSO MADE POSSIBLE
BY THE CORPORATION
FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING
FUNDING FOR THE RE-RELEASE
OF EYES ON THE PRIZE
MADE POSSIBLE BY:
♪ I KNOW THE ONE THING
WE DID RIGHT ♪
♪ WAS THE DAY
WE STARTED TO FIGHT ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON, HOLD ON ♪
♪ KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE PRIZE ♪
♪ HOLD ON. ♪
ONLY OUR BROTHER,
MARTIN LUTHER KING,
EXHAUSTED A MEANS OF NONVIOLENCE
WITH HIS LIFE BEING TAKEN
BY SOME RACIST.
WHAT IS BEING DONE TO US
IS WHAT WE HATE,
AND WHAT HAPPENED TO MARTIN
LUTHER KING IS WHAT WE HATE.
YOU'RE DARN RIGHT,
WE RESPECT NONVIOLENCE.
BUT TO SIT AND WATCH OURSELVES
BE SLAUGHTERED
LIKE OUR BROTHER?
WE MUST DEFEND OURSELVES,
AS MALCOLM X SAID,
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.
Man:
AT THIS POINT
I QUESTION THE WHOLE PURPOSE
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
IN MY THINKING,
THEY WERE NECESSARY.
IT WAS A SHOCK TREATMENT
FOR WHITE AMERICA
TO SEE BLACK MEN RUNNING
AROUND WITH GUNS
JUST LIKE BLACK MEN
HAD SAW WHITE MEN
RUNNING AROUND WITH GUNS.
YEAH, THAT WAS
A SHOCK TREATMENT.
IT WAS GOOD IN THAT EXTENT,
BUT IT GOT A LOT
OF BLACK PEOPLE HURT.
THERE WAS NO JOKE
ABOUT WHAT WAS GOING ON,
BUT WE BELIEVED WITH OUR HEARTS
THAT WE SHOULD DEFEND OURSELVES,
AND THERE WERE SO MANY
THAT DID DO THAT.
Narrator:
BY 1968, THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
WAS PART OF AN INCREASINGLY
VOLATILE POLITICAL SCENE.
THAT SUMMER, THE NATIONAL
DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION IN CHICAGO
WAS DISRUPTED BY VIOLENT CLASHES
BETWEEN DEMONSTRATORS
AND POLICE.
I'VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING
AS HORRIBLE IN MY WHOLE LIFE.
♪ WE SHALL OVERCOME ♪
♪ WE SHALL
OVERCOME... ♪
Narrator:
THE WAR IN VIETNAM
POLARIZED THE NATION
AND THE POLITICAL AND
RACIAL UPHEAVAL AT HOME
SOON BECAME AN ISSUE
IN THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN.
THIS IS A NATION OF LAWS,
AND AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN HAS SAID:
"NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW,
NO ONE IS BELOW THE LAW."
AND WE'RE GOING TO
ENFORCE THE LAW,
AND AMERICANS SHOULD
REMEMBER THAT
IF WE'RE GOING TO
HAVE LAW AND ORDER.
I THINK IT'S FAIR TO SAY
THAT IN...
AS THE NIXON ADMINISTRATION
CAME INTO OFFICE,
AS WE CAME INTO OFFICE IN 1969,
THERE CERTAINLY WAS A STRONG
PERCEPTION OF RADICALIZATION.
Narrator:
IN CHICAGO, AND IN OTHER CITIES,
F.B.I. DIRECTOR J. EDGAR HOOVER
EXPANDED SURVEILLANCE
OF ORGANIZATIONS
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY,
ESPECIALLY THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY.
Narrator:
DIRECTIVES ISSUED
BY F.B.I. HEADQUARTERS
A FEW WEEKS AFTER THE ELECTIONS
CALLED FOR:
"IMAGINATIVE AND HARD-HITTING
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE MEASURES
AIMED AT CRIPPLING
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY."
ON CHICAGO'S WEST SIDE,
THE PANTHERS HAD JUST OPENED
THEIR FIRST OFFICE IN ILLINOIS.
WELL, THE THING THAT I REALLY
LOVED ABOUT THE BLACK PANTHERS
IS THAT THEY REFUSED
TO BE IGNORED.
UH, IT WAS VERY EASY TO IGNORE
BLACK PEOPLE BACK THEN
BECAUSE EVERYBODY FIGURED,
WELL, IT'S JUST A LOT OF TALK
AND THEY'RE NOT GOING
TO DO ANYTHING.
THEY'LL JUST GO ON AND ON
AND ON MOANING AND GROANING
ABOUT HOW TERRIBLE EVERYTHING IS
AND THEY, OF COURSE, AT BEST,
THEY JUST MIGHT GET INVOLVED
IN SOME ACTS OF NONVIOLENCE,
BUT THAT'S ABOUT IT.
AND THEN THEY JUST KIND OF,
YOU KNOW, BUSINESS AS USUAL.
YOU COULDN'T HAVE BUSINESS AS
USUAL WITH THE BLACK PANTHERS.
THE BLACK PANTHERS WERE
DEFINITELY GOING TO BE HEARD.
SO WE'RE SAYING, WE ALWAYS SAY
IN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY,
THAT THEY CAN DO ANYTHING
THEY WANT TO TO US.
WE MIGHT NOT BE BACK...
I MIGHT BE IN JAIL,
I MIGHT BE ANYWHERE,
BUT WHEN I LEAVE,
YOU'LL REMEMBER I SAID,
WITH THE LAST WORDS ON MY LIPS,
THAT I AM...
A REVOLUTIONARY.
AND YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE
TO KEEP ON SAYING THAT.
YOU'LL HAVE TO SAY THAT
"I AM A PROLETARIAT."
"I AM THE PEOPLE."
"I'M NOT THE PIG."
YOU'VE GOT TO MAKE
A DISTINCTION.
AND THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO
HAVE TO ATTACK THE PIGS.
THE PEOPLE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO
STAND UP AGAINST THE PIGS.
THAT'S WHAT THE PANTHERS
ARE DOING ALL OVER THE WORLD.
Narrator:
FRED HAMPTON, A FORMER
N.A.A.C.P. YOUTH ORGANIZER,
BECAME, AT AGE 20,
CHAIRMAN OF THE ILLINOIS CHAPTER
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
THE PANTHERS' PROGRAM
DREW MIXED REACTIONS
IN CHICAGO'S BLACK COMMUNITY.
MANY BLACK PEOPLE INITIALLY
WAS VERY, VERY AFRAID
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
I UNDERSTOOD WHERE THEY WERE
TRYING TO GO POLITICALLY
AND FELT THAT THEY
HAD TO CHANGE THINGS.
AND WHEN I TALK ABOUT FEAR,
I WAS AFRAID THEY WEREN'T
GOING TO DO IT RIGHT,
AND I WAS ALWAYS TRYING
TO COOL THEM OUT
AND SAY, "THAT'S NOT
THE RIGHT WAY TO GO."
THEY WERE TOO DIRECT.
YOU COULD TELL THAT
THIS WAS A MOVEMENT
THAT WAS VERY
MEANINGFUL TO THEM.
AND NONE OF THEM WAS SUICIDAL,
SO IT WASN'T LIKE
THEY WERE OUT THERE
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
A WAY GET KILLED,
BUT THEY DID
HONESTLY AND TRULY BELIEVE
IN POWER TO THE PEOPLE...
I MEAN, THAT WAS THEIR SLOGAN.
HERE YOU FOUND SOME BROTHERS
AND SISTERS
SAYING FIRST, YOU KNOW, LOOK,
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
GUARANTEES US THE RIGHT TO BEAR
ARMS AND TO PROTECT OURSELVES.
AND WE UNDERSTAND
THAT WE NEED PROTECTION
IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY,
AND IT'S OUR RESPONSIBILITY
TO PROTECT BLACK WOMEN
AND BLACK CHILDREN,
NOT THE POLICE,
BECAUSE THE POLICE IS NOT HERE
TO SERVE AND PROTECT US,
ONLY TO CONTINUE TO ENSLAVE US.
IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY
TO SEE TO IT
THAT OUR PEOPLE HAVE
A DECENT PLACE TO LIVE,
DECENT FOOD TO EAT, AND QUALITY
HEALTH CARE, NOT THE SYSTEM.
SO THAT FRIGHTENED
A LOT OF PEOPLE.
I MEAN, THEY DIDN'T THINK
THAT IT COULD HAPPEN.
THEY DIDN'T THINK IT WAS RIGHT.
PEOPLE LEARN BY EXAMPLE.
I DON'T THINK ANYBODY
HAS AN ARGUMENT WITH THAT.
I THINK THAT WHAT
HUEY P. NEWTON SAID,
THAT PEOPLE LEARN BASICALLY BY
OBSERVATION AND PARTICIPATION,
I THINK THAT EVERYBODY
CAUGHT ON TO THAT.
SO WHAT WE'RE SAYING IS SIMPLY
IF THEY LEARN BY OBSERVATION
AND PARTICIPATION
THEN WE NEED TO DO MORE ACTING
THAN WE NEED TO DO WRITING.
AND I THINK THE BLACK PANTHER
PARTY IS DOING THAT.
WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT A
BREAKFAST-FOR-CHILDREN PROGRAM.
WE'VE GOT ONE.
Panther:
COME ON IN, LITTLE BROTHERS,
COME ON IN, LITTLE SISTERS,
Y'ALL CAN SIT DOWN
AND GET
SOMETHING TO EAT.
Y'ALL TAKE OFF
Y'ALL'S COATS.
SIT DOWN, MAN.
Y'ALL CAN EAT AS MUCH
AS Y'ALL WANT TO.
Narrator:
THE NEW BREAKFAST-
FOR-CHILDREN PROGRAM
SOON ATTRACTED THE ATTENTION
OF THE F.B.I.
CLAIMING THE PROGRAM SERVED
TO INDOCTRINATE CHILDREN,
THE BUREAU DIRECTED
FIELD OFFICES
TO "FORMULATE SPECIFIC
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE TECHNIQUES
TO DISRUPT THIS
NEFARIOUS ACTIVITY."
THE F.B.I. STEPPED UP
ITS EFFORTS
TO RECRUIT BLACKS TO INFILTRATE
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
MY RECRUITMENT BY THE F.B.I.
WAS VERY EFFICIENT,
VERY SIMPLE, REALLY.
I'D STOLEN A CAR AND WENT
JOYRIDING OVER THE STATE LIMIT,
AND, UM... THEY HAD A POTENTIAL
CASE AGAINST ME
AND I WAS LOOKING FOR
AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK IT OFF.
AND A COUPLE MONTHS LATER
THAT OPPORTUNITY CAME
WHEN F.B.I. AGENT ROY MITCHELL
ASKED ME TO GO DOWN
TO THE LOCAL OFFICE
OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
AND TRY TO GAIN MEMBERSHIP.
I THINK EVERYONE THAT WAS
IN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
KIND OF UNDERSTOOD,
IT WAS A GIVEN,
THAT WE WOULD HAVE WIRETAPS,
THAT WE WOULD BE FOLLOWED,
THAT WE WOULD BE HARASSED,
WE'D BE LOCKED UP,
THAT WE WOULD EVEN
BE BEATEN BY THE POLICE.
Narrator:
IN THE WINTER OF 1969,
LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES
LAUNCHED EFFORTS
TO UNDERMINE
AN ATTEMPTED COALITION
BETWEEN THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
AND THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS,
A CHICAGO GANG.
Saffold:
THE PANTHERS WERE PURSUING
AN IDEOLOGY THAT SAID:
WE NEED TO TAKE THESE
YOUNG MINDS, THIS YOUNG ENERGY,
AND TURN IT INTO
PART OF OUR MOVEMENT
IN TERMS OF BLACK LIBERATION
AND THE REST OF IT.
AND I SAW A VERY PURPOSEFUL,
INTENTIONAL EFFORT
ON THE PART OF
THE POLICE DEPARTMENT
TO KEEP THAT HEAD
FROM HOOKING UP TO THAT BODY.
IT WAS LIKE, YOU KNOW,
DO NOT LET THIS THING BECOME
A PART OF WHAT COULD ULTIMATELY
BE A POLITICAL MOVEMENT.
BECAUSE THAT'S EXACTLY
WHAT IT WAS.
Narrator:
F.B.I. AGENTS WROTE AN ANONYMOUS
LETTER TO JEFF FORT,
THE LEADER OF
THE BLACKSTONE RANGERS,
WARNING RT THAT THE PANTHERS
HAVE "A HIT OUT FOR YOU."
THE BUREAU KNEW THAT
THE INFORMATION WAS FALSE,
BUT BELIEVED THAT FORT
MIGHT TAKE "RETALIATORY ACTION"
AGAINST THE PANTHERS.
MEANWHILE, CITY OFFICIALS
ANNOUNCED A CRACKDOWN ON GANGS.
Reporter:
WOULD YOU SAY THAT STREET GANGS
CAN DO NO GOOD?
IS THAT WHAT
YOU WOULD SAY?
NO, I WOULDN'T SAY THAT.
I THINK THAT THE ENERGY
OF YOUTH, PROPERLY DIRECTED,
COULD BE A TREMENDOUS
BETTERMENT,
COULD LEAD TO A TREMENDOUS
BETTERMENT OF OUR CITY
AND TO INDIVIDUALS'
PROGRESS THEMSELVES.
I'M COMPLAINING
ABOUT THE MISDIRECTION.
I'M COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FACT
THAT 620 OUT OF 693 SHOOTING
VICTIMS ARE BLACK THEMSELVES,
AND I THINK THAT'S A TRAGEDY.
THAT IS WHERE BLACK GENOCIDE
IS OCCURRING HERE.
Narrator:
THE CHICAGO POLICE EXPANDED
THEIR ANTI-GANG CAMPAIGN
TO INCLUDE
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
IN LATE MAY, FRED HAMPTON
WAS SENT TO PRISON.
HE HAD BEEN CONVICTED
ON A CHARGE
OF STEALING 71 DOLLARS' WORTH
OF ICE CREAM BARS.
WE TRIED TO DEVELOP NEGATIVE
INFORMATION TO DISCREDIT HIM,
JUST LIKE WE DID EVERYBODY ELSE;
WE, MEANING THE F.B.I.
I TRIED TO COME UP WITH SIGNS
OF HIM DOING DRUGS OR SOMETHING,
AND NEVER COULD.
HE WAS CLEAN,
HE WAS DEDICATED.
I'VE HAD PRIVATE
CONVERSATIONS WITH HIM.
WE GOT ALONG PRETTY WELL.
Narrator:
WHILE FRED HAMPTON
WAS IN PRISON,
A POLICE RAID ON THE PANTHER
OFFICE TURNED INTO A SHOOT-OUT.
FIVE POLICEMEN AND THREE
PANTHERS WERE WOUNDED.
NOBODY WAS UP THERE
EXCEPT THE POLICE
WHEN THE FIRE STARTED?
Panther:
RIGHT ON.
FRANK, YOU WANT TO COME...?
Panther:
GET A PICTURE
OF THAT DOOR.
CHECK THAT
DOOR OUT, MAN.
THEY FIRED
A SHOTGUN.
Rush:
THEY SHOT UP THE DOOR
AT THE OFFICE THERE,
ARRESTED SOME PANTHERS.
AND JUST TO SHOW YOU
THE NATURE, UH, UH...
OF THE RAIDING OFFICERS THERE,
THEY BURNED BOXES OF CEREAL
THAT WE HAD ON THE THIRD FLOOR.
THEY DELIBERATELY
SET FIRE TO THAT.
THEY DIDN'T SET FIRE
TO THE SECOND FLOOR.
THEY SET FIRE TO THE THIRD FLOOR
WHERE ALL THE, YOU KNOW...
THAT WAS KIND OF INDICATIVE
OF WHAT THEY WERE THINKING
AND HOW THEY WERE MOVING.
Man:
THE IDEA ON THE PART
OF THE POLICE
WAS TO PSYCH THE COMMUNITY OUT.
THEY CALL ME UP THE NEXT DAY;
I SAYS, "IS THE OFFICE OPEN?"
"WELL, NO, THE POLICE
BOARDED THE PLACE UP."
I SAY, "OPEN IT BACK UP...
YOU GOT THE LEASE TO THE PLACE."
"WHAT?"
I SAYS, "OPEN IT UP!
TAKE ALL THAT BOARDING DOWN,
PAINT THAT PLACE."
AND THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
MEMBERS STARTED WORKING
FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS,
THE NEXT THING YOU KNOW,
THE COMMUNITY STARTED BRINGING
WOOD, PAINT AND EVERYTHING,
AND OPENED THAT BLACK PANTHER
PARTY OFFICE RIGHT BACK UP.
AND, OF COURSE,
THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT
TO TERRORIZE US
OUT OF EXISTENCE.
AT THE SAME TIME,
IF WE WOULD CLOSE DOWN,
IT WOULD LEAVE
THE BLACK COMMUNITY
SAYING,
"WELL, THEY STOPPED THEM."
Narrator:
IN A REPORT MADE PUBLIC
IN THE SUMMER OF 1969,
F.B.I. DIRECTOR HOOVER DECLARED
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
THE NUMBER ONE THREAT
TO THE INTERNAL SECURITY
OF THE UNITED STATES.
I THINK, FRANKLY,
THAT HE OVERSTATED THE CONCERN...
THE REAL CONCERN...
THAT THE BLACK PANTHERS
WERE TO THE COUNTRY.
I THINK IT WAS LEGITIMATE
FOR HIM TO STATE THAT THEY WERE
A VIOLENT AND UNLAWFUL ELEMENT,
BUT REFERRING TO THEM
AS THE MOST DANGEROUS,
OR MOST IMPORTANT...
AND I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY
THE WORDS HE USED...
THE GREATEST THREAT TO
THE UNITED STATES AT THAT TIME,
I THINK WAS AN OVERSTATEMENT.
THE POLICE COMMUNITY HAS
SORT OF A BUILT-IN REWARD AND
PUNISHMENT SYSTEM OF ITS OWN.
AND YOU GET A LOT OF REWARDS
WHEN YOU GO AFTER WHO THE BOSS
SAYS IS THE BAD GUY
AND YOU GET HIM.
AND I THINK WHAT J. EDGAR HOOVER
WAS ABLE TO DO
WAS TO GIVE
POLICE OFFICERS THE IMPRESSION
THAT IT WAS OKAY,
IT WAS OPEN SEASON.
YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE LAW.
YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE
IN THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT
AND THE JUDICIAL BRANCH
OF GOVERNMENT.
I THINK WHAT HE,
IN EFFECT, SAID
IS "IT'S OUR BALL GAME, GUYS.
"WE'VE GOT THE AUTHORITY,
WE HAVE THE CAPACITY.
LET'S CRUSH 'EM."
Narrator:
PANTHER LEADER FRED HAMPTON
WAS STILL IN PRISON,
BUT EFFORTS WERE UNDERWAY
TO APPEAL HIS CONVICTION.
♪ FREE FRED HAMPTON,
FREE FRED HAMPTON ♪
♪ WE NEED OUR WARRIOR
BESIDE US. ♪
WE WERE SUCCESSFUL,
AND WE GOT HIM OUT OF JAIL
TOWARDS THE END OF THAT SUMMER
BECAUSE A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE
IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS
LOOKED AT WHAT KIND OF
A PERSON HE WAS,
LOOKED AT THE KIND
OF CASE IT WAS
AND GAVE HIM AN APPEAL BOND.
THAT'S THE FIRST TIME
I SAW FRED HAMPTON.
AND I WAS A YOUNG, WHITE STUDENT
IN A PREDOMINANTLY BLACK CHURCH,
FULL TO THE RAFTERS,
WELCOMING FRED HAMPTON BACK.
OKAY, YOU CAN PUT
YOUR HANDS DOWN NOW.
WE SAY ALL POWER TO ALL PEOPLE.
WE SAY WHITE POWER
TO WHITE PEOPLE.
BROWN POWER TO BROWN PEOPLE.
YELLOW POWER TO YELLOW PEOPLE.
BLACK POWER TO BLACK PEOPLE.
Brown:
WE'D GO OUT,
WE'D DRIVE ALONG TO SOME
SCHOOLYARD OR SOMETHING
AND THERE WERE LIKE
200, 300 PEOPLE
WAITING THERE
FOR FRED TO SHOW UP.
AND THE PHENOMENAL PART WAS
THAT, I MEAN, THESE ARE ALL
PEOPLE FROM THE STREETS,
I MEAN, WHO WERE NOT
GOING TO GET UP
AND GO TO WORK OR ANYTHING ELSE
AND NEVER HAD NO DISCIPLINE
AND NEVER WOULD,
BUT THERE THEY WERE,
IT WAS 6:30 IN THE MORNING...
FREEZING CHICAGO WEATHER.
AND FRED WOULD
HAVE THEM OUT THERE
DOING PUSH-UPS
AND JUMPING JACKS
AND GETTING THEMSELVES ENERGIZED
FOR THE DAY'S WORK,
WHICH INCLUDED MAKING
THE BREAKFAST,
WHICH INCLUDED SELLING PAPERS,
WHICH INCLUDED WORKING
IN THE MEDICAL CLINIC...
WHICH INCLUDED A BUNCH OF STUFF.
IT WAS A VERY DAY-TO-DAY
KIND OF A THING,
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY.
AND YOU'D HAVE FRED OUT THERE
RALLYING THEM.
AND HE'D SAY, "ALL RIGHT,
ALL RIGHT, ALL RIGHT.
POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
EVERYBODY SAID,
"POWER TO THE PEOPLE."
HE'D SAY, "NOW, I'M NOT GOING
TO DIE ON NO AIRPLANE."
EVERYONE WOULD SAY, "NO."
"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE
SLIPPING ON NO ICE."
THEY'D SAY, "NO."
HE'D SAY, "I'M GOING TO DIE
FOR THE PEOPLE
BECAUSE I'M GOING TO
LIVE FOR THE PEOPLE."
HE SAID, "I'M GOING
TO LIVE FOR THE PEOPLE
BECAUSE I LOVE THE PEOPLE."
HE'D SAY, "I LOVE
THE PEOPLE... WHY?"
AND THEY'D SAY, "BECAUSE
WE'RE HIGH ON THE PEOPLE."
AND THAT WAS FRED HAMPTON.
WHEN YOU SAW THIS...
THIS WAS 21 YEARS OLD...
IT WAS UNBELIEVABLE.
YOU COULD NOT NOT BE MOVED
BY FRED HAMPTON.
Narrator:
IN THE FALL OF 1969,
CHICAGO WAS THE SCENE
OF A CONTROVERSIAL TRIAL.
THE DEFENDANTS WERE LEADERS
OF THE ANTI-WAR DEMONSTRATIONS
THAT HAD TAKEN PLACE DURING
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY CONVENTION.
NATIONAL PANTHER CHAIRMAN
BOBBY SEALE
INSISTED ON SPEAKING
IN HIS OWN DEFENSE.
ON OCTOBER 29,
TRIAL JUDGE JULIUS HOFFMAN
ORDERED SEALE BOUND AND GAGGED.
THIS IS A SYMBOL
TO EVERY ONE OF US.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS
ARE GAGGED.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS
DO NOT FEEL AS THOUGH
THERE IS ANY JUSTICE.
BLACK MEN IN OUR COURTS,
WHENEVER CASE THEY COME,
FEEL THAT JUDGES
DO NOT UNDERSTAND
AND ARE WITHOUT MERCY.
Narrator:
TWO WEEKS LATER,
A GUN BATTLE ON CHICAGO'S SOUTH
SIDE FURTHER ESCALATED TENSIONS.
A FORMER PANTHER
AND TWO POLICEMEN WERE KILLED.
THE DEATHS PROVOKED A RESPONSE
FROM INFORMANT WILLIAM O'NEAL'S
F.B.I. CONTACT.
MITCHELL BECAME MORE SPECIFIC
DURING THAT TIME.
UM... HE WANTED TO KNOW
THE LOCATIONS OF WEAPONS CACHES.
HE WANTED TO KNOW
IF WE HAD EXPLOSIVES.
UM, HE NEEDED TO KNOW WHO
WAS STAYING AT WHAT LOCATIONS,
WHO SPENT THE NIGHT WHERE.
HIS INFORMATION DIDN'T CHANGE
SO MUCH AS HE REQUESTED
MORE DETAIL, AND I KNEW WHY.
THE SHOOT-OUT ON THE SOUTH SIDE
HAD PRETTY MUCH LAID
THE FOUNDATION WITHIN THE PARTY,
WITHIN THE BLACK PANTHERS,
WE KNEW THAT THE POLICE
WOULD REACT SOME TYPE OF WAY.
Narrator:
EXPECTING POLICE ACTION,
THE BLACK PANTHERS
HAD FORTIFIED THEIR OFFICE.
F.B.I. INFORMANT O'NEAL
WAS NOW HEAD OF PANTHER
SECURITY IN CHICAGO.
WE'RE VERY CONFIDENT
THAT NOBODY'S COMING IN
THE FRONT DOOR... NOBODY.
NO GAS.
NOBODY GETTING ON
THE ROOF THERE.
I WANT YOU
TO KNOW THAT.
NOBODY GETTING
ON THE ROOF.
WE BELIEVE IN, WHAT IS IT...
FIRE... COVER AND FIRE?
YES, WE DO DEFEND OUR OFFICES
AND WE DO DEFEND OUR HOMES.
THIS IS A CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT
EVERYBODY HAS,
AND NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT THAT.
THE ONLY REASON THEY GET MAD
AT THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
IS FOR THE SIMPLE REASON
THAT WE'RE POLITICAL.
AND THEY DON'T WANT TO ADMIT
THAT THERE'S A LOT OF YOUNG
ORGANIZATIONS AROUND
BUT WE ARE A POLITICAL
ORGANIZATION.
WE ARE AN ORGANIZATION
THAT UNDERSTANDS
THAT POLITICS IS NOTHING
BUT WAR WITHOUT BLOODSHED,
AND WAR IS NOTHING BUT
POLITICS WITH BLOODSHED.
Narrator:
ON NOVEMBER 19,
F.B.I. AGENT ROY MITCHELL
DREW A FLOOR PLAN
OF HAMPTON'S APARTMENT
BASED ON INFORMATION
SUPPLIED BY INFORMANT O'NEAL.
ON DECEMBER 4,
AT 4:45 IN THE MORNING,
14 POLICEMEN...
NINE WHITE AND FIVE BLACK...
RAIDED THE APARTMENT.
DEBORAH JOHNSON,
EIGHT MONTHS PREGNANT,
WAS ASLEEP IN THE BACK BEDROOM,
NEXT TO FRED HAMPTON.
THE FIRST THING I REMEMBER AFTER
FRED AND I HAD WENT TO SLEEP
WAS BEING AWAKENED BY
SOMEBODY SHAKING FRED
WHILE WE WERE LAYING IN BED,
SAYING, "CHAIRMAN, CHAIRMAN,
WAKE UP, THE PIGS ARE VAMPING."
THIS PERSON THAT WAS
IN THE ROOM WITH ME
KEPT SHOUTING OUT, "WE HAVE
A PREGNANT SISTER IN HERE.
STOP SHOOTING."
EVENTUALLY THE SHOOTING STOPPED
AND THEY SAID WE COULD COME OUT.
I REMEMBER CROSSING OVER FRED
AND TELLING MYSELF OVER
AND OVER, "BE REAL CAREFUL.
"DON'T STUMBLE.
"THEY'LL TRY TO SHOOT YOU.
"JUST BE REAL CALM.
"WATCH HOW YOU WALK.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS UP.
"DON'T REACH FOR ANYTHING.
DON'T EVEN TRY
TO CLOSE YOUR ROBE."
WHEN I WAS IN THE KITCHEN, I
HEARD AN UNFAMILIAR VOICE SAY:
"HE'S BARELY ALIVE"
OR "HE'LL BARELY MAKE IT."
THEN THE SHOOTING STARTED
BACK AGAIN.
THEN I HEARD THE SAME
UNFAMILIAR VOICE SAY:
"HE'S GOOD AND DEAD NOW."
I KNEW IN MY MIND... I ASSUMED
THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT FRED
AND I KNEW WHEN I LEFT
OUT OF THERE
I COULDN'T LOOK
TOWARDS THE ROOM.
Narrator:
PARTY LEADERS MARK CLARK
AND FRED HAMPTON
WERE KILLED IN THE RAID.
FOUR OF THE SEVEN SURVIVING
OCCUPANTS OF THE APARTMENT
WERE WOUNDED.
ALL WERE CHARGED WITH ASSAULT
AND ATTEMPTED MURDER.
Johnson:
WHEN THEY LOCKED ME UP
AT THE POLICE STATION,
I KEPT BEGGING THEM FOR A CALL,
TO MAKE ONE CALL.
I CALLED, I THINK, THE OFFICE...
THE BLACK PANTHER OFFICE...
AND I SPOKE TO BOBBY RUSH.
HE TOLD ME THAT FRED WAS DEAD,
FRED HAD BEEN KILLED.
I REMEMBER WALKING
OUT OF THE OFFICE
AND LOOKING THROUGH A LITTLE
CLEARING OVER ON THE NEXT BLOCK,
WHICH WAS RIGHT IN FRONT
OF THE MONROE STREET ADDRESS
AND SEEING A LOT OF
POLICE CARS OVER THERE
AND AT THAT TIME,
BOBBY RUSH CAME TO THE OFFICE.
HE HAD JUST COME FROM OVER THERE
OR MAYBE THE CORONER'S OFFICE.
WE WALKED BACK OVER THERE
AND WE BOTH WERE SPEECHLESS.
WE JUST WALKED THROUGH THE HOUSE
AND SAW WHERE...
WHAT HAD TAKEN PLACE
AND WHERE HE DIED
AND IT WAS SHOCKING.
AND THEN I WAS, YOU KNOW,
I JUST BEGAN TO REALIZE
THAT THE INFORMATION
THAT I HAD SUPPLIED
LEADING UP TO THAT MOMENT
HAD FACILITATED THAT RAID.
I KNEW THAT, INDIRECTLY, I HAD
CONTRIBUTED, AND I FELT IT
AND I FELT BAD ABOUT IT.
AND THEN I GOT MAD.
YOU KNOW, I HAD...
AND THEN I HAD TO
CONCEAL THOSE FEELINGS,
WHICH MADE IT WORSE.
I COULDN'T...
I COULDN'T SAY ANYTHING.
I JUST HAD TO CONTINUE
TO PLAY THE ROLE.
Narrator:
F.B.I. HEADQUARTERS AUTHORIZED
PAYMENT OF A $300 BONUS
TO INFORMANT WILLIAM O'NEAL
FOR "UNIQUELY VALUABLE SERVICES
WHICH HE RENDERED OVER
THE PAST SEVERAL MONTHS."
THEY CAME IN OUR COMMUNITIES
LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT
AND THEY JUST SNATCHED
FRED'S LIFE, JUST LIKE THAT.
AND IT'S JUST LIKE, WHY?
THIS BROTHER HAS DONE NOTHING
TO NONE OF YOU ALL.
THE ONLY THING THAT
THIS BROTHER HAS DONE
WAS TO INSTILL A SENSE
OF PRIDE AND DIGNITY
AND SELF-DETERMINATION
IN HIS PEOPLE.
Narrator:
STATE'S ATTORNEY EDWARD HANRAHAN
GAVE AN OFFICIAL ACCOUNT
OF THE RAID TO THE PRESS.
AS SOON AS SERGEANT DANIEL GROTH
AND OFFICER JAMES DAVIS,
WHO WERE LEADING OUR MEN,
ANNOUNCED THEIR OFFICE,
OCCUPANTS OF THE APARTMENT
ATTACKED THEM WITH SHOTGUN FIRE.
THE OFFICERS
IMMEDIATELY TOOK COVER.
THE OCCUPANTS CONTINUED FIRING
AT OUR POLICEMEN
FROM SEVERAL ROOMS
WITHIN THE APARTMENT.
THEREAFTER, THREE TIMES SERGEANT
GROTH ORDERED ALL HIS MEN
TO CEASE FIRING
AND TOLD THE OCCUPANTS
TO COME OUT WITH THEIR HANDS UP.
EACH TIME, ONE OF THE OCCUPANTS
REPLIED, "SHOOT IT OUT"
AND CONTINUED FIRING
AT THE POLICE OFFICERS.
THE PRESS AT THE BEGINNING
HAD TAKEN HANRAHAN'S LINE.
THIS WAS A SHOOT-OUT.
200 SHOTS WERE FIRED.
THE PANTHERS FIRED HALF OF THEM.
NOBODY WAS REALLY
CHALLENGING THAT
EXCEPT A YOUNG
SUN-TIMES REPORTER
BY THE NAME OF BRIAN BOYER,
WHO WENT DOWN THERE,
AND HE SAW THE EVIDENCE.
IT DIDN'T TAKE A GENIUS
TO LOOK AT WHAT WAS THERE
AND SEE THAT ALL THE BULLETS
WERE GOING IN ONE DIRECTION
AND ALL THOSE BULLET HOLES
WERE POINTING TOWARDS
FRED HAMPTON'S BEDROOM
AND THE MIDDLE BEDROOM
WHERE VERLINA AND DOC SATCHEL
AND EVERYONE WAS.
Narrator:
CONFLICTING DESCRIPTIONS
OF THE RAID
MADE HEADLINES
IN THE CHICAGO PAPERS.
THE ACCOUNT THAT WE
MADE PUBLIC YESTERDAY
GIVES A DETAILED EXPLANATION OF
WHAT HAPPENED IN THAT APARTMENT.
I STAND WHOLEHEARTEDLY BEHIND
IT AS ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE.
Reporter:
THERE IS ONE
INCONSISTENCY.
WELL, FOR EXAMPLE...
I DO NOT INTEND TO QUIBBLE
OUT THAACCOUNT.
DO YOU INTEND TO
GET AT THE TRUTH?
THE ACCOUNT THAT WE GAVE
OF THE EVENTS IS THE TRUTH.
Narrator:
STATE'S ATTORNEY HANRAHAN
SUPPORTED HIS ACCOUNT
WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
INTENDED TO PROVE
THE PANTHERS HAD FIRED
AT THE POLICE.
WE WENT, TOOK THOSE PICTURES
AND SAW THEY WEREN'T
WHAT THEY APPEARED TO BE.
THE BACK DOOR, THE CIRCLES
AROUND THE BULLET HOLES
TURNED OUT TO BE NAIL HEADS.
WE WENT AND WE SAW THAT
THEY WERE NAIL HEADS,
BECAUSE WE HAD POSSESSION
OF THE APARTMENT.
THAT THE PANTHERS WERE
SUPPOSEDLY FIRING INTO,
THAT TURNED OUT TO BE
THE BEDROOM DOOR.
IT WAS THE DOOR THAT THE POLICE
HAD MADE INTO SWISS CHEESE
WITH THEIR MACHINE GUN BULLETS.
Narrator:
THE CONTROVERSY GREW.
THIS BLATANT ACT OF
LEGITIMATIZED MURDER
STRIPS ALL CREDIBILITY
FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT.
IN THE CONTEXT OF OTHER ACTS
AGAINST MILITANT BLACKS
IN RECENT MONTHS,
IT SUGGESTS AN OFFICIAL POLICY
OF SYSTEMATIC REPRESSION.
THE BLACK PANTHERS PREACH
EVERY DAY: HATE;
KILL WHITEY;
KILL THE POLICE;
KILL THE PIGS;
HATE, HATE, HATE.
THAT'S ALL YOU HEAR FROM THEM.
DID THEY EXPECT
THOSE POLICE OFFICERS
TO WALK INTO THAT APARTMENT
WITH PEASHOOTERS?
YOU'VE SEEN THE GUNS
THAT WERE THERE.
WHAT WERE THEY THERE FOR?
Johnson:
MEMBERS OF THE BLACK
PANTHER PARTY
WERE TAKING PEOPLE FROM THE
COMMUNITY THROUGH THE APARTMENT
SO THEY CAN ACTUALLY SEE
WHAT WAS GOING ON.
PEOPLE WERE ABLE TO GO
THROUGH THE HOUSE
AND THEY WERE LINED UP
ALL AROUND THE BLOCK
IN THE COLD, IN THE WINTERTIME,
TO SEE WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED.
Panther:
DON'T TOUCH NOTHING,
DON'T MOVE NOTHING,
BECAUSE WE WANT TO KEEP
EVERYTHING JUST THE WAY IT IS.
DON'T TOUCH NO WALLS.
THIS IS THE ROOM
WHERE THE FIRST BROTHER,
MARK CLARK, WAS MURDERED.
EVEN IF THEY WANTED TO TAKE
SOMEBODY TO JAIL,
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN
A SIMPLE MATTER
OF JUST SHOOTING SOME TEAR GAS
IN HERE TO DRAW EVERYBODY OUT.
THIS IS WHERE OUR CHAIRMAN
HAD HIS BRAINS BLOWN OUT
AS HE LAY IN HIS BED SLEEPING
AT 4:30 IN THE MORNING.
Taylor:
I THINK THAT THE POLICE WAITED
TILL DECEMBER 17
TO ACTUALLY SEAL THAT APARTMENT,
SO IT WAS OPEN FOR ALMOST
TWO WEEKS.
AND WE SPENT THE BETTER PART
OF THOSE TWO WEEKS
GETTING THAT EVIDENCE
OUT OF THERE.
AND SO WE WOULD BE TALKING TO
PEOPLE WHEN THEY WENT THROUGH.
WHILE WE WERE WORKING, PEOPLE
WERE WALKING THROUGH CONSTANTLY
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET...
I DON'T KNOW WHAT DAY IT WAS
OR WHAT,
BUT I JUST REMEMBER
SOME OLDER BLACK WOMAN
COMING THROUGH THERE,
SHAKING HER HEAD
AND GOING, "IT'S NOTHING
BUT A NORTHERN LYNCHING."
THE PEOPLE WHO HAD JUST COME
PURELY OUT OF CURIOSITY
WERE SAYING,
"THIS IS ATROCIOUS."
EVEN LAW-AND-ORDER
PEOPLE WERE SAYING,
"THIS IS UNLAWFUL
AND IT'S DISORDERLY.
"AND IT'S OBVIOUSLY NOT PART
OF WHAT I WANT TO CONDONE
"IN TERMS OF MY LAW ENFORCEMENT
OR MY TAXES, TO BE PROTECTED.
THIS IS NOT THE POLICE
FUNCTION HERE."
PEOPLE REALIZED THAT THERE
HAD BEEN A TRIAL, A CONVICTION
AND AN EXECUTION IN THAT HOUSE.
YOU KNOW, IT CAN
HAPPEN TO ANY OF US.
AND THAT WAS, THAT WAS FEAR,
SHAME, YOU KNOW, SORRY...
WHAT COULD WE DO?
HOW COULD... WHY COULDN'T
WE HAVE PROTECTED FRED?
Woman:
♪ I WISH I KNEW HOW IT WOULD
FEEL TO BE FREE ♪
♪ I WISH I COULD BREAK ALL
THE CHAINS HOLDING ME ♪
♪ I WISH I COULD SAY ALL THE
THINGS THAT I SHOULD SAY... ♪
Clements:
I HAD A MASS FOR FRED
AND I WAS JUST SHATTERED,
I WAS DEVASTATED.
AND IN THE MIDST OF THIS MASS,
I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN
TO OUR CHILDREN...
BECAUSE WE HAD ALL
THE SCHOOLCHILDREN THERE,
ALL 1,300...
AND I WAS TRYING TO EXPLAIN
TO THEM THE IMPORTANCE OF FRED.
AND I WASN'T GETTING THROUGH,
AT LEAST I FELT LIKE
I WASN'T GETTING THROUGH.
AND IN THE MIDST
OF MY EXPLANATION
I JUST BURST INTO TEARS.
AND THE NEXT THING I KNEW,
HERE WAS ONE
OF OUR EIGHTH-GRADE BOYS.
HE JUMPED UP AND HE SAID,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND THEN A GIRL
IN THE SIXTH GRADE,
SHE JUMPS UP,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND ANOTHER KID IN FIRST GRADE,
"I'M FRED HAMPTON!"
AND BEFORE YOU KNEW IT,
THE WHOLE CHURCH,
KIDS WERE ALL SHOUTING,
"I AM FRED HAMPTON!"
AND WOW, I JUST
FELT SO WONDERFUL.
I FELT LIKE, GEE WHIZ, THIS
DEATH WAS NOT IN VAIN AT ALL,
BECAUSE THESE KIDS ARE SAYING
THAT THEY ARE WILLING
TO GET UP HERE
AND SPEAK OUT FOR LIBERATION,
FOR FIRST-CLASS CITIZENSHIP.
Narrator:
IN THE WEEKS THAT FOLLOWED,
PUBLIC PRESSURE LED TO A SERIES
OF INVESTIGATIONS.
AN F.B.I. BALLISTICS
EXPERT ESTABLISHED
THAT ALL BUT ONE
OF THE MORE THAN 90 SHOTS
HAD BEEN FIRED BY THE POLICE.
ALL CHARGES AGAINST
THE PANTHERS WERE DROPPED.
NO POLICE WERE INDICTED.
BUT THE FAMILIES
OF HAMPTON AND CLARK
AND THE SURVIVORS OF THE RAID
SUED THE GOVERNMENT
FOR VIOLATION OF
THEIR CIVIL RIGHTS.
YEARS LATER, THE CASE WAS CLOSED
WHEN FEDERAL AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENTS AND THE POLICE
AGREED TO AN OUT-OF-COURT
SETTLEMENT OF $1.8 MILLION.
THE SCOPE OF THE F.B.I.
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM,
COINTELPRO... BEGAN
TO EMERGE IN 1971
AFTER POLITICAL ACTIVISTS
BROKE INTO AN F.B.I. OFFICE
IN MEDIA, PENNSYLVANIA.
STOLEN F.B.I. FILES DOCUMENTED
EXTENSIVE F.B.I. OPERATIONS
AGAINST U.S. CITIZENS
AND ORGANIZATIONS,
INCLUDING TRADITIONAL
CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS.
AMID GROWING CRITICISM OF THE
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM,
PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON
REAFFIRMED
HIS SUPPORT FOR THE F.B.I.
DURING GRADUATION CEREMONIES AT
THE BUREAU'S NATIONAL ACADEMY.
I AM HONORED TO BE HERE
TO BREAK INTO YOUR
GRADUATION CEREMONY
TO REASSURE YOU, AND ALL OF
THE MEN IN LAW ENFORCEMENT
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY,
OF THE SUPPORT YOU HAVE
AT THE VERY HIGHEST LEVELS
IN GOVERNMENT FOR YOUR WORK.
AND I AM HONORED TO SPEAK
FOR THE ENTIRE NATION
IN SAYING TO YOU,
"CONGRATULATIONS,"
WISHING YOU WELL IN SEEING
THAT THIS NATION
IS ONE IN WHICH WE WILL
HAVE RESPECT FOR LAW,
IN WHICH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
CAN HAVE FREEDOM FROM FEAR.
WE HAD TALKED ABOUT
POLICE BRUTALITY.
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
TALKED ABOUT THE POLICE
AS AN OCCUPYING FORCE
IN THE COMMUNITY.
BUT WE HAD NOT REALLY
UNDERSTOOD THE EXTENT
TO WHICH THE WHOLE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM...
THE POLICE, THE COURTS,
THE PRISON SYSTEM...
IS VERY MUCH INTERTWINED
WITH THE ECONOMIC OPPRESSION
OF BLACK PEOPLE.
Narrator:
BLACKS AND LATINOS FILLED
THE NATION'S PRISONS
IN DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBERS.
AT ATTICA CORRECTIONAL
FACILITY IN UPSTATE NEW YORK,
THEY COMPRISED MORE THAN
60% OF THE INMATE POPULATION.
MOST CAME FROM POOR
INNER-CITY NEIGHBORHOODS.
Man:
I THINK THE SYSTEM WAS DAMAGING
TO THE PEOPLE THAT CAME IN.
THE ONLY INSPIRATION
ANYBODY COULD HAVE
NOT TO GO BACK, OR DESIRE NOT
TO GO BACK TO A PLACE LIKE THAT,
IS BECAUSE OF WHAT
A HORRIBLE PLACE IT WAS.
THERE'S ALWAYS THE TENDENCY
TO PUSH PRISONS TO THE FRINGES
OF OUR AWARENESS
SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE
TO DEAL WITH WHAT HAPPENS
INSIDE OF THESE
HORRIFYING INSTITUTIONS.
CONDITIONS IN 1971, BEFORE
THE REBELLION, UH... WAS BAD.
YOU KNOW... BAD FOOD,
BAD EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS,
VERY, VERY LOW, LOW WAGES.
WE WERE CALLED SLAVE WAGERS.
MYSELF, I WAS WORKING
IN THE LAUNDRY
AND I WAS MAKING
LIKE 30 CENT A DAY
BEING THE WARDEN'S LAUNDRY BOY.
AND THAT WAS THE TITLE YOU HAD
WITH MY JOB... "WARDEN'S BOY."
AND I'M FAR FROM A BOY.
WE ALWAYS THOUGHT OF THE JAILS
AS A KIND OF EXPLOSIVE RESOURCE
FOR REVOLUTIONARY CHANGE.
CERTAINLY PEOPLE LIKE MALCOLM X
HAD COME OUT OF PRISON
AND THE NATION OF ISLAM
HAD DONE A GREAT JOB
OF TRANSFORMING A LOT OF PEOPLE
WHO HAD BEEN IN PRISON.
AND SOME PEOPLE IN PRISON
HAD BEEN IN THE PANTHERS.
SO WE SAW REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITY
AS A MEANS OF TRANSFORMING
PRISONERS INTO REVOLUTIONARIES.
Narrator:
ONE OF THE MOST IMPASSIONED
VOICES TO EMERGE
WAS GEORGE JACKSON'S.
HIS PUBLISHED
LETTERS FROM PRISON
HAD REACHED A WIDE AUDIENCE.
ON AUGUST 21, 1971,
JACKSON WAS SHOT TO DEATH
IN SAN QUENTIN PRISON
IN CALIFORNIA.
AT ATTICA, THE NEWS OF HIS DEATH
GREATLY AFFECTED THE INMATES.
WHEN IT REALLY HIT ME IS GOING
TO BREAKFAST THAT MORNING.
EVERYBODY WAS QUIET AND NOBODY
WASN'T PICKING UP NO SILVERWARE.
WHEN YOU GO IN THE DINING ROOM,
IN THE MESS HALL,
YOU HAD TO PICK UP
A KNIFE, SPOON AND FORK
AND WHEN YOU COME OUT,
YOU HAD TO HAVE THAT.
NOBODY WAS PICKING UP,
NOBODY WAS TALKING.
I DON'T KNOW THAT I CAN
DESCRIBE IN WORDS
HOW IT AFFECTED ME,
BECAUSE GEORGE WAS,
IN EFFECT, MY MENTOR.
I REMEMBER HIS GOING
TO COURT IN SHACKLES
AND THE BROTHER WOULD
STAND ERECT, YOU KNOW,
PROUD BLACK MAN THAT HE WAS.
AND THEY HAD NOT
BROKEN HIS SPIRIT.
AND THESE ARE THE THINGS
THAT DR. KING AND
MALCOLM TALKED ABOUT...
THE BREAKING DOWN
OF THE BLACK MAN'S SPIRIT.
Narrator:
THREE WEEKS LATER,
A FIGHT BETWEEN INMATES
AND GUARDS AT ATTICA
SPARKED A PRISON-WIDE UPRISING.
VIOLENCE SWEPT THROUGH
THE INSTITUTION.
Reporter:
AN ESTIMATED 1,000 PRISONERS
TOOK OVER FOUR CELL BLOCKS
AT ATTICA STATE PRISON
ABOUT 9:30 THIS MORNING.
Blyden:
THE GENERAL CHAOS WAS SUCH
THAT EVEN I WAS TAKEN ABACK,
BECAUSE YOU HAD 40 OR 50
CORRECTION OFFICERS
WHO NO LONGER, IT APPEARED,
HAD CONTROL OF THE INSTITUTION.
SO ORDER HAD TO BE MADE
OUT OF THIS DISORDER
AND AT THAT POINT, THE MUSLIM
CONTINGENT IN THE YARD...
I THINK THERE WERE
35 MUSLIM BROTHERS...
SAW TO IT THAT THERE
WAS NO FURTHER INJURIES
TO THE HOSTAGES.
Narrator:
THE NEWLY ESTABLISHED
INMATE LEADERSHIP
RELEASED 11 INJURED GUARDS,
BUT STILL HELD HOSTAGE
39 PRISON EMPLOYEES.
COMMISSIONER OF CORRECTIONS
RUSSELL OSWALD
AGREED TO NEGOTIATE.
ACCOMPANIED BY ADVISERS
AND A LOCAL TELEVISION CREW,
HE ENTERED THE YARD WHERE
1,200 INMATES WERE IN CONTROL.
Inmate:
TAKE IT AS YOU WALK,
TAKE IT AS YOU WALK.
MAKE SURE YOU GET
THAT ROOF OVER THERE.
Narrator:
THE NEWS TEAM WAS PERMITTED
TO TALK TO THE HOSTAGES.
Reporter:
HAVE YOU BEEN
TREATED ALL RIGHT?
YES, I HAVE SO FAR
BEEN TREATED VERY GOOD.
Narrator:
THE MEETING WITH COMMISSIONER
OSWALD QUICKLY FOCUSED
ON INMATE FEAR OF REPRISALS
FOR THE REBELLION.
Inmate:
IN VIEW OF
THE FACT NOW
THAT THE SHERIFF'S
DEPARTMENT, THE
VARIOUS COUNTIES,
AND THE STATE TROOPERS
HAS TAKEN OVER...
BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN DECLARED
NOW A STATE OF EMERGENCY...
YOU COULDN'T GUARANTEE
NO REPRISAL ANYWAY.
THIS IS NOW OUT
OF YOUR HANDS, ISN'T
IT, COMMISSIONER?
NO, IT IS NOT.
YOU STILL CONTROL
THE STATE TROOPERS?
ABSOLUTELY.
YOU WANT TO PUT
YOUR "NO REPRISALS"
IN WRITING?
YES.
I TALKED AS RATIONALLY
AS I COULD WITH THEM
AND LISTENED TO THEM
FOR SOME PERIOD OF TIME.
AND ULTIMATELY, THEY
SAID THEY HAD AN AGENDA
OF WHAT THEY WANTED.
AND I SAID, "WELL,
GIVE ME THE AGENDA."
Narrator:
THE AGENDA INCLUDED DEMANDS
FOR IMPROVED CONDITIONS.
THE INMATES CALLED
FOR EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS,
AN END TO CENSORSHIP
OF LETTERS AND MAGAZINES,
ADEQUATE HEALTH CARE
AND HIRING OF BLACK AND
SPANISH-SPEAKING GUARDS.
DISTRUSTFUL OF STATE OFFICIALS,
THE INMATES ALSO ASKED
FOR OUTSIDERS
TO OBSERVE NEGOTIATIONS.
ASSEMBLYMAN
ARTHUR O. EVE
OF BUFFALO;
THE PRISON SOLIDARITY
COMMITTEE OF NEW YORK;
MINISTER FARRAKHAN
FROM THE MUSLIMS;
WE WANT HUEY P. NEWTON FROM
THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY...
Narrator:
IN ALL THE INMATES REQUESTED
13 OBSERVERS.
I FELT GOOD.
YOU KNOW, I FELT RELIEVED.
I FELT, I GUESS, LIBERATED
THAT I DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY
ABOUT THE BAR
IN THE FRONT OF ME.
EVEN THOUGH I FELT AND KNEW
THAT I WAS IN PRISON,
AND THAT'S THE REALITY,
BUT THAT VISIBLE THING
WASN'T THERE NO MORE.
YOU KNOW, THE WALLS WAS THERE,
BUT THAT BAR WASN'T REALLY
IN THE FRONT OF ME,
THAT VISIBLE BAR...
IT WAS MORE INVISIBLE THEN.
Inmate:
WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT, WAIT
UNTIL YOU GET THE CUE!
COME ON, IT'S ON NOW.
ALL OF US HERE REALIZE THAT
WHEREVER THERE IS THAT STRUGGLE,
THERE IS SACRIFICE.
Narrator:
THE NEXT MORNING, COMMISSIONER
OSWALD RETURNED TO THE YARD,
STILL SEEKING A NEGOTIATED
SOLUTION TO THE CRISIS.
Oswald:
I TALKED WITH THE GOVERNOR'S
LEGAL COUNSEL YESTERDAY
AND HE TOLD ME THE SAME
AS MR. SCHWARTZ TOLD ME
AND THAT IS, THAT THE
GOVERNOR, NOR NO ONE ELSE
HAS THE POWER TO GRANT AMNESTY
FOR THE COMMISSION OF A CRIME
AND THAT'S THE, THE...
FALLS WITHIN THE PURVIEW
OF THE LOCAL LAW
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
MR. OSWALD,
MR. OSWALD...
NOW, YOU AND I KNOW
THAT THAT'S A LIE.
AMNESTY WAS VERY IMPORTANT
TO THE INMATES
BECAUSE IT TO A GREAT DEGREE
WOULD DETERMINE
WHAT HAPPENED TO THEM
AFTER THE STATE TOOK OVER;
WHETHER OR NOT THERE WAS
GOING TO BE
A PEACEFUL KIND OF TAKEOVER
AND SUBSEQUENTLY, HOW
THEY WOULD BE TREATED.
Narrator:
THE TALKS HAD REACHED
AN IMPASSE.
TENSIONS IN THE YARD INCREASED.
WE HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR OVER
29 HOURS FOR FOOD AND WATER.
WE HAVEN'T GOT NONE.
WE'RE GOING TO KEEP MR. OSWALD,
RUSSELL G. OSWALD, HERE
UNTIL WE GET THE FOOD AND WATER.
I'LL SEE AS SOON
AS I GET BACK THERE
THAT FOOD IS BROUGHT
INTO THIS YARD.
Narrator:
PROTECTED BY THE INMATE
SECURITY FORCE,
COMMISSIONER OSWALD
LEFT THE YARD.
THE HOPES OF BOTH SIDES NOW
RESTED ON THE OUTSIDE OBSERVERS
WHO ARRIVED IN ATTICA
LATER THAT DAY.
Man:
WE WERE LED DOWN A LONG CORRIDOR
WHICH HAD BEEN TRASHED
AND BURNED OUT
IN THE INITIAL RIOTING.
THE FIRST FEELING
OF SHOCK, I THINK,
FOR SORT OF A SEDENTARY,
MIDDLE-CLASS PERSON LIKE ME
WAS THE FEELING OF BEING
OUT OF REACH OF THE LAW
THAT ONE ORDINARILY
THINKS PROTECTS YOU...
THAT SORT OF PROTECTION WE ALL
TAKE FOR GRANTED
UNTIL YOU DON'T HAVE IT.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN I REALIZED
THAT THERE WASN'T
ANYTHING IN THERE TO PROTECT ME
EXCEPT THESE OTHER INMATES
WHOM IT'S ALL TOO
EASY TO THINK OF, YOU KNOW,
AS MURDERERS AND
THIEVES AND SO FORTH.
AND THAT IS A SOMEWHAT SCARY
FEELING, THERE'S NO QUESTION,
BUT VERY SHORTLY AFTER THAT,
WE ALL GOT DOWN TO BUSINESS
TO TRY TO, YOU KNOW, WORK
OUT THE PROBLEMS THERE.
THE INMATE LEADERS GOT INTO
SOME VERY FERVID ORATORY.
THEY WERE GREAT ORATORS.
WE ARE MEN, WE ARE NOT BEASTS,
AND WE DO NOT INTEND TO BE
DRIVEN OR BEATEN AS SUCH.
THE ENTIRE PRISON POPULACE HAS
SET FORTH TO CHANGE FOREVER
THE RUTHLESS BRUTALIZATION
AND DISREGARD
FOR THE LIVES
OF THE PRISONERS HERE
AND THROUGHOUT
THE UNITED STATES.
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE IS
BUT THE SOUND BEFORE THE FURY
OF THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED.
Inmates:
RIGHT ON!
THE MOMENT I SAW HIM
SPEAK ON TELEVISION,
I SAID TO MYSELF,
"ELLIOTT, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
BECAUSE I FELT THAT THEY
WOULD MAKE HIM PAY FOR THAT
AND PAY DEARLY.
Narrator:
THE FIRST MEETING
OF OBSERVERS AND INMATES
LASTED ALMOST TILL DAWN.
A PUBLIC ADDRESS SYSTEM
SET UP IN THE YARD
KEPT THE 1,200 INMATES INFORMED.
Eve:
THERE WAS A SENSE OF HOPE
THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME
THERE WERE SOME OUTSIDERS;
PEOPLE WOULD NOW BEGIN TO LISTEN
AND HOPEFULLY SOME CHANGES
COULD BE MADE.
Narrator:
ON SATURDAY, THE THIRD
DAY OF THE UPRISING,
TROOPERS SURROUNDING
THE PRISON YARD
WAITED FOR A DECISION
BY THE STATE.
USING A VIDEO CAMERA,
THEY RECORDED THE ACTIVITIES
OF THE INMATES.
Trooper:
AND THERE IS THE UGLIEST,
BLACKEST NEGRO GENTLEMAN
I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE
IN THAT BLACKOUT.
BOY, WHEN THEY PAINTED HIM,
THEY PAINTED HIM DARK.
THE MAN DOING THE SPEAKING
IS WEARING A BRIGHT RED ROBE.
HE'S JUST GOTTEN SEVERAL
VERY LOUD RESPONSES
FROM THE... THE CROWD.
TYPICAL RABBLE-ROUSER TYPE TALK.
Frank Smith:
IT WAS A GOOD FEELING, YOU KNOW,
AND ESPECIALLY AFTER
WE START DEALING
AND START ORGANIZING, AND START
TALKING ABOUT THE CONDITIONS
AND START TALKING ABOUT
WHY WE WERE OUT THERE
AND START TALKING
ABOUT THE GRIEVANCES
AND START TALKING ABOUT
WHY WE WERE REBELLING
AND WHY REBELLING WAS NECESSARY
THE FEELING BECAME MORE
AND MORE AND MORE INTO ME
AND I START FEELING
A PART OF IT MORE.
AIN'T NOTHING DEAD ABOUT US.
WE AIN'T GONNA DIE...
WE WILL NOT DIE IN HERE.
IT WAS ALMOST A COMMUNITY
WITHIN A COMMUNITY.
AND IT WAS SOMEWHAT...
VERY, VERY IMPRESSIVE
THAT THEY HAD SAID,
"THIS IS OUR HOME
AND WE'RE NOW GOING TO MAKE IT
AS LIVABLE AS POSSIBLE."
AND THERE WAS A TREMENDOUS
AMOUNT OF DISCIPLINE
THERE WITHIN THE YARD.
Narrator:
FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
OF THE HOSTAGES
GATHERED OUTSIDE THE PRISON
WALLS, WAITING FOR NEWS.
RELATIVES AND SUPPORTERS OF
THE INMATES DEMONSTRATED NEARBY.
Protesters:
THE RICH SET THE BAIL,
AND THE POOR STAY IN JAIL!
Narrator:
THAT EVENING, THE MOOD
IN THE YARD CHANGED.
WILLIAM QUINN, A GUARD HURT
IN THE INITIAL TAKEOVER,
GOVERNOR NELSON ROCKEFELLER
AND COMMISSIONER OSWALD
HAD EARLIER AGREED
TO MOST OF THE DEMANDS
CONCERNING PRISON CONDITIONS,
BUT REBELLING INMATES COULD
NOW FACE MURDER CHARGES
UNLESS AMNESTY WAS GRANTED.
THE NEXT DAY, STATE TROOPERS
MOVED INTO POSITION
TO RETAKE THE PRISON,
IF ORDERED.
Trooper:
THE TIME IS 1:55 P.M.
WE'RE ON THE ROOF OF C-BLOCK
LOOKING AT A DETAIL
OF 270-MARKSMEN
WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO KI...
CLEAR THE CATWALKS
UPON COMMAND.
Wicker:
WE THOUGHT THAT THE SITUATION
HAD REACHED CRISIS,
THAT IN FACT THERE WAS ABOUT
TO BE
AN ATTEMPT TO RETAKE THE PRISON.
WE THOUGHT THAT THERE WOULD
BE A LOT OF BLOODSHED.
THAT IF THAT HAPPENED,
THERE WOULD BE A MASSACRE.
AND HIS RESPONSE WAS, BASICALLY,
THAT HE SYMPATHIZED
WITH OUR POSITION.
HE FELT THAT EVERYTHING HAD
BEEN DONE THAT COULD BE DONE.
HE WAS VERY... ANYONE WHO
REMEMBERS GOVERNOR ROCKEFELLER
WILL REMEMBER
HIS EFFUSIVE MANNER.
HE THANKED US FOR OUR EFFORTS
AND THAT SORT OF THING.
BUT THE NET EFFECT OF IT WAS
THAT HE FELT EVERYTHING HAD
BEEN DONE THAT COULD BE DONE.
HE COULD NOT GRANT AMNESTY
AND IN FACT SAID, "EVEN IF
I COULD, I WOULDN'T DO IT."
Narrator:
WITH NEGOTIATIONS DEADLOCKED,
INMATES REQUESTED BLACK
AND LATINO REPORTERS
AND A MEMBER OF
THE ESTABLISHMENT PRESS.
IT WAS AN ATTEMPT TO SPEAK
DIRECTLY TO THE PUBLIC.
Y'ALL DUDES RUNNING AROUND
HERE SHOOTING THAT DOPE,
RUNNING AROUND HERE
SHOOTING THAT DOPE,
GETTING HIGH, RAPING THEM
SISTERS, THEM WHITE FOLKS,
JUSTIFYING IT IN THE CAUSE
OF REVOLUTION...
WELL, WE'RE GONNA DIE HERE
IN ATTICA, TODAY OR TOMORROW.
AND WE ASK YOU TO GET TOGETHER,
GET OUR PEOPLE
TOGETHER, AND UNITE.
THE PEOPLE IN HERE
ARE TREATED LIKE DOGS.
NOT ONLY THE BLACKS... THE
PUERTO RICANS AND THE WHITES.
AND WE'RE GONNA GET
WHAT WE DEMAND,
OR WE'RE GONNA DIE TRYING.
AND I WANT YOU BROTHERS
TO GET TOGETHER,
BECAUSE WE TOGETHER HERE.
AND THESE PEOPLE THINK
WE SHUCKING AND JIVING,
BUT WE IS FOR REAL.
ALL THESE DOGS UP THERE
WITH ALL THOSE RIFLES
ARE TRYING TO KILL US.
BUT WE AIN'T GONNA QUIT.
YOU KNOW WHY WE'RE
NEVER GOING TO QUIT?
BECAUSE WE'RE ONE...
WE'RE ONE UNIT.
WE'RE TIRED OF BEING BEATEN;
WE'RE TIRED OF BEING OPPRESSED.
WE GONNA GET THIS IF WE ALL
HAVE TO DIE... ALL OF US.
Inmates:
WE ARE READY TO DIE!
GONNA DIE, ALL OF US.
Eve:
THE HOSTAGES APPEALED
TO THE STATE
NOT TO COME IN, NOT TO KILL;
THAT THE INMATES'
REQUESTS WERE RIGHT.
ON THAT LAST DAY WE WERE THERE
IT WAS A VERY EMOTIONAL
KIND OF EXCHANGE
FROM THE HOSTAGES
AND FROM EVERYONE.
I JUST HOPE
THAT THE COMMISSIONER
AND THE OTHER PEOPLE
IN THE COMMITTEE THAT
THEY'VE GATHERED TOGETHER
CAN COME UP WITH A SOLUTION TO
SOLVE THESE PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS...
AND OURS.
Man:
I'LL TELL YOU WHAT I GOT TO SAY:
WE'VE STOOD OUT HERE
SINCE THURSDAY.
AND MY SON IS IN THERE.
MICHAEL SMITH IS ONE
OF THE HOSTAGES.
I'VE TALKED TO SEVERAL
OF THE OTHER PEOPLE HERE
THAT HAVE HUSBANDS IN THERE,
AND SOME OF THE FATHERS.
AND I CAN'T SPEAK
FOR ALL OF THEM,
BUT MY FEELINGS ARE THIS:
YOU CAN ONLY PACIFY A KID
WITH A PACIFIER SO LONG.
AT 3:00 THIS AFTERNOON,
WE WAS LED TO BELIEVE
THAT THERE WAS GOING TO
BE A DEFINITE DECISION.
THEY WAS GOING TO
BRING THEM OUT.
NOW, DAMN IT ALL, DO IT!
Narrator:
MONDAY MORNING, DAY FIVE.
COMMISSIONER OSWALD DEMANDED
THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OF THE HOSTAGES.
IN RESPONSE, THE INMATES
POSITIONED EIGHT OF THE HOSTAGES
ON THE CATWALK.
BY THEIR SIDE STOOD INMATES
ARMED WITH KNIVES AND CLUBS,
THREATENING TO KILL THE HOSTAGES
IN CASE OF AN ATTACK.
Michael Smith:
I WAS LED BLINDFOLDED
TO THE TOP OF THE CATWALK.
AND I CAN RECALL, WHEN THAT
HELICOPTER FLEW OVERHEAD,
BESIDES BEING ABLE TO HEAR IT,
YOU COULD ACTUALLY FEEL
THE CONCUSSION OF THE PROPELLERS
FROM THE HELICOPTER OVERHEAD.
Frank Smith:
WE KNEW THAT THEY WERE
GOING TO COME IN,
BUT WE NEVER KNEW
THAT THEY WERE GOING
TO COME IN THERE THAT WAY.
THAT WAS REALLY A BIG SURPRISE,
THE WAY THAT THEY CAME
IN THE YARD.
WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING
TO COME IN THERE
AND BUST SOME HEADS OPEN,
AND THAT KIND OF WAY.
AND ONCE WE START SEEING
THE HELICOPTERS
AND THEY START SHOOTING
THE GAS PELLETS
AND I START SEEING PEOPLE
GETTING OPENED UP WITH SHOTGUNS,
THEN I KNEW THAT THEY WERE
REALLY COMING IN THERE
IN A VIOLENT, VIOLENT WAY.
Voice from helicopter:
JUST ALL LAY DOWN!
SURRENDER PEACEFULLY!
YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!
IT'S AN AWFUL SCENE.
WILLIAM KUNSTLER HAS SAID THAT
PEOPLE ARE DYING IN THERE AND...
I AGREE WITH THAT.
I THINK THAT PEOPLE
ARE DYING IN THERE
AND THE SCENE IS... I'M
GOING TO CUT THIS OFF.
HELICOPTERS ARE STILL
FLYING OVERHEAD.
IT SEEMS THERE WAS
AN ANNOUNCEMENT
FROM THE HELICOPTER RIGHT
ABOVE ME TO THE INMATES BELOW
THAT THEY SHOULD PUT THEIR HANDS
ON THEIR HEADS AND COME OUT.
I DON'T KNOW WHETHER
ANYONE HAS DIED INSIDE
AND I'M UPSET.
THIS IS UNFORTUNATE,
WHAT HAS HAPPENED HERE.
WHATEVER HAPPENS, AFTER
THE SITUATION HERE IN ATTICA,
THE PENAL SYSTEM HERE
IN THE UNITED STATES
AND THE PEOPLE WHO ARE
KEPT INSIDE OF THEM
WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.
Narrator:
AS THE INMATES SURRENDERED,
THEY WERE HERDED
INTO AN ADJACENT YARD.
Voice from helicopter:
YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED!
Blyden:
WE WERE MADE TO STRIP,
LAY IN THE MUD FACE DOWN
AND CRAWL TO A GUARD
10 TO 20 FEET AWAY
FROM THE GUARD
THAT HAD YOU STRIPPED.
AT THAT POINT, THAT GUARD WOULD
MARK AN X WITH WHITE CHALK
ON THE BACK OF SELECT INMATES
WHO WERE THEN REMOVED
FROM THE MUD PHYSICALLY
BY TWO ADDITIONAL GUARDS,
PLACED IN A LINE, TO RUN A
GAUNTLET OF CORRECTION OFFICERS
TO BE BEATEN ALL THE WAY
TO ANOTHER CELL BLOCK.
Frank Smith:
YOU KNOW, YOU GOT TO LET
ME EXPLAIN IT THIS WAY.
YOU KNOW, IT WAS VERY,
VERY BARBARIC, YOU KNOW,
VERY, VERY CRUEL, YOU KNOW,
AND I... AND I REALLY FEEL IT,
YOU KNOW, WHAT THEY
REALLY DID, YOU KNOW.
THEY RIPPED OUR CLOTHES OFF.
THEY MADE US CRAWL ON THE GROUND
LIKE WE WERE ANIMALS, YOU KNOW,
AND THEY SNATCHED ME,
AND THEY...
THEY LAY ME ON A TABLE,
YOU KNOW,
AND THEY BEAT ME IN MY TESTICLES
AND THEY BURNED ME
WITH CIGARETTES
AND THEY DROPPED
HOT SHELLS ON ME
AND THEN PUT A FOOTBALL
UP UNDER MY THROAT
AND THEY KEPT TELLING ME
THAT IF IT DROPPED,
THEY WAS GONNA KILL ME.
AND I REALLY FELT, YOU KNOW,
AFTER SEEING SO MANY PEOPLE SHOT
FOR NO APPARENT REASON
THAT THEY REALLY WERE
GOING TO DO THIS.
ARMED REBELLION
OF THE TYPE WE HAVE FACED
THREATENS THE DESTRUCTION
OF OUR FREE SOCIETY.
WE CANNOT PERMIT THAT
DESTRUCTION TO HAPPEN.
IT HAS INDEED BEEN
AN AGONIZING DECISION.
Wicker:
WE HAD PREDICTED THE DAY BEFORE
THAT IT
WAS GOING TO BE A MASSACRE.
HERMAN BADILLO TURNED
TO ME AND SAID,
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT
THE HURRY WAS."
HE SAID, "THERE'S
ALWAYS TIME TO DIE."
AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT
THE HURRY WAS, EITHER.
YOU KNOW, THOSE GUYS WEREN'T
GOING ANYWHERE.
THEY WERE INSIDE 30-FOOT WALLS.
IT WAS SEPTEMBER,
IT WAS GETTING COLD UP THERE,
THE FOOD WAS RUNNING OUT,
THE SANITARY CONDITIONS
WERE BAD,
THE PLACE SMELLED AWFUL.
I MEAN, THAT SENSE OF FREEDOM
THAT THE GUYS HAD HAD
TO BEGIN WITH,
JUST BEING OUT OF THEIR CELLS...
THAT WAS BEGINNING TO WEAR AWAY
IN THE REALITY
OF THEIR SITUATION.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HURRY WAS.
THEY COULD HAVE WAITED TWO DAYS,
THREE DAYS, FOUR DAYS.
THOSE GUYS WOULD HAVE GIVEN UP.
THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO IN
AND KILL THEM ALL.
BUT, THEY DID.
Narrator:
39 MEN WERE KILLED
IN THE ASSAULT:
29 INMATES AND 10 HOSTAGES.
AMONG THE DEAD, INMATE LEADER
ELLIOTT BARKLEY.
89 MEN WERE SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
HOSTAGE MICHAEL SMITH WAS SHOT
FOUR TIMES IN THE ABDOMEN.
THREE INMATES WERE FOUND
STABBED TO DEATH,
KILLED EARLIER
BY OTHER PRISONERS.
INITIAL REPORTS
BY STATE OFFICIALS
THAT THE HOSTAGES HAD DIED
OF SLASHED THROATS
WERE REFUTED BY
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER.
THE FIRST EIGHT AUTOPSIES
WERE ON THE CASES IDENTIFIED
TO US AS HOSTAGES.
ALL EIGHT CASES DIED
OF GUNSHOT WOUNDS.
Narrator:
THE MEDICAL EXAMINER'S
FINDING WAS SIGNIFICANT.
THE INMATES HAD NO FIREARMS.
GUNFIRE BY STATE TROOPERS
AND PRISON GUARDS
WAS RESPONSIBLE
FOR ALL THE DEATHS
DURING THE RETAKING
OF THE PRISON.
Reporter:
WHAT DID YOU DO DURING
THOSE MOMENTS
WHEN THE ASSAULT WAS
ACTUALLY TAKING PLACE,
THE ORDER HAD
BEEN GIVEN?
WELL, I KEPT IN TOUCH BY PHONE,
AND I'LL NEVER FORGET THE MOMENT
WHEN THE REPORT WAS GIVEN
THAT 14 GUARDS
HAD COME OUT ALIVE.
AND WHILE I WAS ON THE PHONE
WITH BOBBY DOUGLAS,
HE SAID, "NOW IT'S 15, NOW
IT'S 16, NOW IT'S 17."
HE SAID, "NOW 18"
AND WE WENT UP TO 21,
AND I WANT TO TELL YOU
I WAS... I JUST WAS
ABSOLUTELY OVERWHELMED.
I JUST DIDN'T SEE
HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE
WITH 1,200 MEN IN THERE, ARMED
WITH ELECTRIFIED BARRICADES,
WITH TRENCHES,
WITH A PLEDGE WHICH THEY SAID
THAT THEY WOULD ALL GO RIGHT
DOWN FIGHTING TO THE LAST MAN,
HOW IT WAS GOING TO BE POSSIBLE.
Reporter:
WHAT DOES
THIS TELL YOU
ABOUT THE PRISONERS,
GOVERNOR?
PARDON ME?
WHAT DOES THIS
TELL YOU ABOUT
THE PRISONERS?
THE FACT THAT
SO MANY MEN DID
EMERGE UNHARMED.
ARE YOU TALKING NOW ABOUT...
WELL, I THINK WHAT IT TELLS
IS THAT THE USE OF THIS GAS
IS A FANTASTIC INSTRUMENT
IN A SITUATION OF THIS KIND.
GOVERNOR, AFTER THAT
ORDER HAD BEEN GIVEN,
DID YOU PRAY?
NOT AFTER IT... I PRAYED BEFORE.
Narrator:
IN TOWNS NEAR ATTICA,
PEOPLE GATHERED TO MOURN
THE DEAD HOSTAGES.
IN THE CITIES,
FAMILIES AND FRIENDS
CARRIED THE BODIES OF THE DEAD
INMATES TO THEIR GRAVES.
IN A COUNTRY TROUBLED BY UNREST,
THE CALL FOR LAW AND ORDER
REMAINED POPULAR.
WAS THE NATION WELL SERVED
BY LAW ENFORCEMENT USED
TO SILENCE VOICES OF DISSENT?
AND WAS AMERICA WILLING
TO MAINTAIN ORDER,
NO MATTER WHAT THE COST?
Marvin Gaye:
♪ MOTHER, MOTHER, THERE'S
TOO MANY OF YOU CRYING ♪
♪ BROTHER, BROTHER, BROTHER ♪
♪ THERE'S FAR TOO
MANY OF YOU DYING ♪
♪ YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT
TO FIND A WAY ♪
♪ TO BRING SOME LOVIN'
HERE TODAY ♪
♪ YEAH ♪
♪ FATHER, FATHER, WE DON'T
NEED TO ESCALATE ♪
♪ YOU SEE, WAR IS NOT
THE ANSWER ♪
♪ FOR ONLY LOVE CAN
CONQUER HATE ♪
♪ YOU KNOW WE'VE GOT
TO FIND A WAY ♪
♪ TO BRING SOME LOVIN'
HERE TODAY, OH ♪
♪ PICKET LINES
AND PICKET SIGNS ♪
♪ DON'T PUNISH ME
WITH BRUTALITY ♪
♪ TALK TO ME... ♪
THERE'
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