Chicago Rep. Bobby Rush Introduces Bill to Congress to Compel FBI to Disclose Fred Hampton Files

[Photo: Fred Hampton (l), U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (r) via revolt.tv]

U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush, a Democrat from Illinois and an Illinois Black Panther Party co-founder, yesterday introduced a bill to Congress to force the declassification of FBI files related to the death of Party Chairman Fred Hampton. 

Additionally, Rush sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland in which he requested “that you release unclassified and un-redacted versions of any files or papers in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice or the FBI pertaining to this assassination.”

Hampton and Mark Clark were assassinated on Dec. 4, 1969 in Chicago by federal agents, and renewed public attention to this event comes on the heels of the 2020 release of the Academy Award-winning film Judas and the Black Messiah, for which Daniel Kaluuya won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his portrayal of Hampton.

According to thegrio.com, Rush, who was first elected to Congress in 1992, said it was important that “the American people know about the odious and inhumane legacy of J. Edgar Hoover’s COINTELPRO operation and its assault on our nation’s civil liberties.”

Rush’s bill would require the FBI to release all files related to now-disbanded counterintelligence programs, including those related to the Black Panther Party and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  

The bill also calls for the removal of Hoover’s name from FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Read more: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2021/5/4/22419671/bobby-rush-fbi-doj-release-files-black-panther-fred-hampton-killing-chicago