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UPDATE: Fed Raid on Black Panther's Widow, Son Connected to Patterson Trial

Federal agents descended this morning on the home of Akua Njeri – the widow of assassinated Black Panther leader Fred Hampton – to 'question' her about an alleged threat to the U.S. Attorney for northern Illinois. According to Njeri and her son Fred Jr., who was present during the incident, federal agents connected the inquiry to Njeri's support of jailed police brutality opponent and former death row inmate Aaron Patterson, who is currently on trial in federal court on gun and drug charges that supporters say are trumped up. Read more below.
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Feds Mount Assault on Widow, Son of Black Panther
Federal agents descended this morning on the home of Akua Njeri – the widow of assassinated Black Panther leader Fred Hampton – to 'question' her about an alleged threat to the U.S. Attorney for northern Illinois. According to Njeri and her son Fred Jr., who was present during the incident, federal agents connected the inquiry to Njeri's support of jailed police brutality opponent and former death row inmate Aaron Patterson, who is currently on trial in federal court on gun and drug charges that supporters say are trumped up.

Njeri, Fred Jr. and eyewitnesses say that at least ten FBI agents came to the front of Njeri's house on Chicago's south side between 7 and 7:30 AM Wednesday morning. At the same time, four and possibly more unmarked police cars gathered outside. Eyewitnesses report that many additional officers gathered on foot in the vicinity, some as far away as the alley across the street, dressed in plain clothes or unmarked black military-style uniforms, with bulletproof vests and dogs. Several of the officers reportedly drew their guns.

The agents at the door flashed badges, identified themselves as FBI agents to Fred Jr., and asked to speak to 'Deborah', Njeri's slave name. Njeri came to the door, Fred Jr. began contacting members of the press and attorneys, and after Njeri declined to admit the agents to her house without a warrant, the subsequent conversation between Njeri and the agents was conducted through the closed door.

“We just want to talk to you about you threatening a U.S. Attorney's life,” the agents reportedly stated to Njeri, who was flabergasted by the question and refused to open the door, saying “I can hear you just fine through the door.” The agents alleged that Njeri had made a veiled threat to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, saying that Njeri stated that that 'the US attorney has a mark on his head' in federal court last week.

“Absolutely not,” responded Njeri. “I don't even talk like that.”Njeri also asked the FBI agents why they had brought so many officers, at which point an agent responded, “They're not with us.” After some additional verbal exchange through the door, the federal agents reportedly said to Njeri that if anything 'happened' to the U.S. Attorney, “the first person we'll come to is you.”

“And I said ' If anything happens to me, the people will know what happened, and they'll look to you-all,'” Njeri responded to the officers.

“The last time I saw the FBI was December 4, 1969, when they came calling,” Njeri said later in an interview, referring to the date the FBI and local law enforcement raided the west side apartment in which she was staying with her fiance, Black Panther activist and others. Police assassinated Hampton in that raid along with Black Panther Mark Clark, in an incident that sparked international outcry and condemnation from human rights groups around the world.

Njeri and Fred Jr. have linked today's early-morning FBI raid on her house to their position as supporters of jailed police accountability activist Aaron Patterson, who is currently on trial in federal court on drug and gun charges in a case that his supporters have characterized as a trumped-up vendetta designed to silence him and his advocates.

In 2003, Patterson and three other inmates awaiting execution were pardoned by former governor George Ryan, who cited evidence that the men's confessions had been extracted under torture by former Chicago police commander Jon Burge and his associates in ordering their release. Since his release from prison, Patterson has been a vocal – and very public – critic of police policy and tactics. He has vigorously challenged Chicagoans to hold Mayor Richard Daley and current Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine accountable for dozens of wrongful prosecutions of police torture victims when Daley was state's attorney and Devine was his second in command – including the prosecution of Patterson and the three other death row inmates pardoned by Ryan.

Njeri believes today's FBI raid is part of a sweeping campaign to intimidate community residents from attending Patterson's current trial on gun and drug charges. She says that last Tuesday, when she tried to get a seat in Patterson's courtroom, a white woman with no visible identification as a US marshal or other court official claimed that there were no seats in the court, even though Njeri could see that there was half of the court room had numerous open seats. When Njeri countered that there were many seats available, she says the woman escalated the situation, moved to have her evicted from the building, and brought other officers to the scene who threatened her son Fred Jr. with a stun gun. Njeri was taken to another floor the Federal Building's and reportedly subsequently barred from the building entirely, along with Fred Jr.

According to Njeri and Fred Jr., other Patterson supporters have been harrassed and even physically abused by officers of the court during the run-up to Patterson's trial. Police accountability activist David Bates was reportedly run into a turnstyle by U.S. Marshals, and an elderly community resident, Doris Quinn, was badly bruised when a US Marshall grabbed her for not getting up quickly enough when those present in the courtroom were ordered to rise at the entrance of the judge.

“I think these incidents in the courthouse are to provoke an incident,” says Njeri. “They want to pick people off individually. They know how people feel about me, and they think if they mess with me in front of other people, this is supposed to provoke an incident in the building, giving them an excuse to keep everybody out of the courtroom except their people.”

The judge in Patterson's case, U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, has also made several important rulings in the corruption case of former Governor Ryan, who is scheduled to go on trial for bribery and related charges this fall. Patterson and his supporters have questioned why Pallmeyer is serving as the judge in his case, as well. They have also argued that the federal government's current case against Patterson is itself fundamentally flawed and motivated at least in part by the mechanations of Kenneth Boudreau, a former Chicago police officer and member of Burge's cop torture ring who now serves with both the FBI and the DEA locally – the key agencies in the case against Patterson.

Pallmeyer has barred Patterson from appearing at his own trial and the case has been marred by a series of heated disputes between the judge and defense attorneys. One defense attorney who has now left Patterson's legal team asserted in open court that Pallmeyer had made a number of rulings that undercut even a modicum of fairness or constitutionality in the case.

“Daley's political future is tied to Patterson's,” says Njeri. “This whole machine could cruble, and Daley and his pals know it. Aaron has never stopped fighting injustice, and this case against him and the attacks on his supporters are not just about silencing dissent, they're about trying to silence Aaron Patterson permanently.”

Njeri's son, Fred Hampton Jr., agrees. “What happened this morning to my mother and me, along with the continuous attacks that Aaron and his supporters are subjected to, is further proof that Aaron Patterson possesses the potential to pop open the pandora's box of the city of Chicago,” he says. “People are comparing what's happening to Aaron in this trial to what happened 38 years ago when Black Panther Bobby Seale was chained and gagged inside that same court building. The authorities are planning on having a private legal lynching of Aaron Patterson. We will not let them slaughter this soldier in silence.”

Most recently, Pallmeyer appointed a new lawyer, Tommy Brewer, to Patterson's defense team, over Patterson's vigorous objections. Brewer touted his past ties to the FBI in his last run for public office. Patterson's supporters have also said they've heard that one of Patterson's two co-defendents has died this week under murky circumstances, a rumor that has not yet been confirmed.
 
 

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