‘Judas and the Black Messiah’ fact check: Was Fred Hampton drugged?
In the early hours of Dec. 4, 1969, Chicago police raided Illinois Black Panther Party chairman Fred Hampton’s home and shot him to demise. He was 21.
More than 50 years after Chairman Hampton’s assassination, director Shaka King’s “Judas and the Black Messiah” (in theaters and streaming on HBO Max now) is bringing Hampton’s story to the massive display with the assist of Daniel Kaluuya (as Hampton)and Lakeith Stanfield (as FBI informant William O’Neal) under the guidance of Hampton’s son, Fred Hampton Jr.
Viewers get a timely history lesson on how Hampton and the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party influenced the community and posed a threat to the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen), who became obsessed with bringing down the man he believed could be a “Black messiah.”
Though King says it was hard to get things 100% factual, because of the FBI’s unreliable record-keeping, he and Hampton Jr. walk USA TODAY through the historical details.
‘It felt heavy’:Daniel Kaluuya on portraying Fred Hampton in ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
Did Chicago police actually torch the Black Panther Party’s headquarters?
In the summer time of 1969, the police engaged in a shootout with Black Panther Party members which culminated in the arrest of a number of individuals and cops burning the constructing down.
The scene in “Judas and the Black Messiah” that reveals everyone seems to be silhouetted in a burned-out area “is based off a real photograph,” says King, who tried to seize the devastation. “The police were always trying to provoke the Panthers.”
King would not know the specifics about how the shootout began, however says police declare there was a sniper on the roof.
“But as you know, they lied incessantly,” King says. “It’s very hard to make a movie about historical events when the history has been written by people who aren’t biding truthful history.”
Was Fred Hampton drugged earlier than he was murdered?
Hampton’s post-mortem revealed he had sufficient fentanyl in his system to knock a horse out, his son says, although it is unclear whether or not O’Neal, the FBI informant who infiltrated the Black Panther Party, had drugged him, as the film suggests.
King says he is “convinced” it was O’Neal’s doing, including that Hampton would have died from the fentanyl even when police hadn’t killed him.
“If he had been conscious then he could’ve defended himself,” King says. “People were incredibly afraid of this man because he was a mighty figure, so they went through every means to make sure they could render him as defenseless as possible during the assassination.”
Was Fred Hampton actually arrested over ice cream?
In “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Hampton is imprisoned after he is accused of assaulting a Good Humor man and stealing $70 value of ice cream.
King says this actually occurred. In 1968, Nelson Suitt testified in court that he was promoting ice cream by a playground when a gaggle of older teenagers demanded free ice cream.
Moments later, Suitt mentioned, Hampton acquired out of a automotive, jumped into the ice cream truck and held him down whereas his crew unloaded ice cream from the car. The Black Panther Party chief denied Suitt’s accusations and claimed he was denied a good trial. Regardless, Hampton spent a while in jail.
Did William O’Neal attempt to go away the FBI?
Though O’Neal infiltrated the Black Panther Party on the FBI’s behalf, all through the film, he grows more and more uncomfortable. At occasions, it seems as if he believes in the Panthers’ ideologies and even threatens FBI Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) with quitting.
Very little has been written about O’Neal, King says, however so far as he is conscious, the informant by no means tried to half methods with the FBI. O’Neal’s 1990 obituary in the Chicago Tribute says he went into the Federal Witness Protection Program in 1973, 4 years after Hampton’s demise.
Even the methodology by which O’Neal was recruited continues to be up for debate.
At the starting of “Judas and the Black Messiah,” O’Neal walks right into a bar and flashes a faux FBI badge earlier than taking certainly one of the patron’s automobiles. After he is arrested, he agrees to develop into an FBI informant in alternate for immunity.
“I’ve heard multiple stories. That’s one of them,” King says. “I’ve heard multiple stories that corroborate the FBI badge story.”
Review:Daniel Kaluuya brings power, presence to ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’
