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Black Panthers discover undercover police officers and beat them. A larger, violent fight erupts later.
1970 (Sep 14 - 15)
One Black youth was killed and twenty-one others were injured during a day-long gun battle between police and Blacks in a New Orleans, Louisiana, housing project. The incident began when two Black policemen were discovered by the National Committee to Combat Cascism (NCCF), a branch of the Black Panther party. The undercover officers had successfully infiltrated the organization, but, on September 14, they were discovered and beaten. The officers escaped when the NCCF turned them over to a crowd of about one hundred Blacks for a "people's trial." Later, police returned to the project to investigate reports of a burning automobile. Officers and fire fighters were fired upon and the melee broke out in full force. Fourteen Blacks, most of them from the NCCF, were arrested during the disturbance and charged with attempted murder.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.