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The Black Panthers, also known as the Black Panther Party, was a political organization founded in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, Ca to challenge police brutality against the African American community and soon around the world.
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The Black Panther newspaper debuts with the boldfaced headline “Why was Denzil Dowell Killed” to rally action over the death of a young black man shot by police in Richmond.
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Panther Chairman Seale leads a cadre of Black Panthers shouldering arms who march into the state Capitol to protest a law that will they say will restrict the right to bear arms. The law is in response to the Panthers’ armed patrols of their neighborhoods. Gov. Ronald Reagan signs the legislation into law.
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Panther Minister of Defense Newton is involved in a shootout with Oakland police after a traffic stop. Officer John Frey is killed. Newton is shot in the abdomen. Tracked to an Oakland hospital, he is arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
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17-year-old Panther treasurer Bobby Hutton is killed by police after a violent confrontation in West Oakland. Panthers maintain that Hutton was shot eight times while unarmed and with his arms raised to surrender.
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Bobby Seale is arrested in Berkeley on charges of inciting a riot at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago a year earlier. At the famous Chicago Seven trial, Seale is bound and gagged after refusing to stop his courtroom outbursts.
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Huey Newton is convicted of voluntary manslaughter. He is sentenced to 2 to 15 years.
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Activism builds around the notion that Newton is a political prisoner. The “Free Huey” campaign leads to the opening of Black Panther chapters in more than 20 cities. The Free Breakfast for Children program is launched at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland.
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After his first conviction is overturned, Newton is released on $50,000 bail pending retrial after serving 33 months for the death of officer Frey. He moves into a top-floor apartment at 1200 Lakeshore Ave., Oakland. After two retrials, the charges are ultimately dropped.
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After 21 months in jail, Seale’s murder conspiracy case is dismissed in New Haven, Conn., following dismissal of his case in Chicago.
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The Oakland Community School opens to educate the children of the Panthers. Capacity of 150 kids is soon reached.
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Black Panther Party is dissolved. Oakland Community School closes. Newton is charged with embezzling $600,000 from the school. He is sentenced to six months after pleading no contest to stealing $15,000 in state aid intended for the school.
