March 31, 2021

The Honorable Merrick Garland

Attorney General of the United States
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001

Dear Attorney General Garland:

Congratulations on your appointment and confirmation to serve as the 86th Attorney General of
the United States. We are also heartened by your dedication to justice, our constitutional liberties,
and the First Amendment, in particular.

With that in mind, we write you today in regard to a matter of justice that has been long-overdue
and suppressed. Specifically, we write you regarding the assassination of Fred Hampton,
Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party.

As you know, Fred Hampton was assassinated as he slept on December 4, 1969 in a predawn raid
that was executed by agents of the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, Chicago Police
Department, and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This assassination has been described as
having “fulfilled FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover’s goal of disrupting the local Black Panthers.”1

Later, through a wrongful death civil suit and an FBI whistleblower, Hoover’s nefarious
COINTELPRO operation was exposed. As described by the United States Senate Select
Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities (the Church
Committee), COINTELPRO “violated specific statutory prohibitions and infringed the
constitutional rights of American citizens.”2 Furthermore, the Church Committee went on to say
that “the [Federal] Bureau [of Investigation] conducted a sophisticated vigilante operation aimed
squarely at preventing the exercise of First Amendment rights of speech and association.”3

We are certain that you would agree that such violations of legal and constitutional protections are
not only unacceptable, they pose a direct threat to our notion of justice and to our standing as a
nation of laws. We, therefore, request that you release unclassified and unredacted versions of any

1
William Lee, “In 1969, Charismatic Black Panthers Leader Fred Hampton Was Killed in a Hail of Gunfire. 50 Years
Later, the Fight against Police Brutality Continues,” chicagotribune.com (Chicago Tribune, December 3, 2019),
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-black-panthers-raid-fred-hampton-50-years-20191203-
kbzgztrvtfh7tp7x4ggtvhncpm-story.html.
2
“Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities,”
Final Report of the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities
(1976).
3
Id.
files or papers in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice or the FBI pertaining to this
assassination.

The release of this information is even more timely now as, recently, new revelations have been
unearthed. The fact that these revelations are just now coming to light is worrisome. This is
especially true given the intensive scrutiny that has been paid to this heinous act, including the
aforementioned wrongful death civil suit. Furthermore, the circumstances of Fred Hampton’s
assassination have been riddled with, at minimum, obfuscation and, most egregiously, downright
lies. This is evidenced by the fact that a press conference following the killing, then-Cook County
State’s Attorney Edward V. Hanrahan stated that “the immediate, violent, criminal reaction of the
occupants in shooting at announced police officers emphasizes the extreme viciousness of the
Black Panther party.”4

This statement was not only intended to intentionally mislead the public surrounding the
circumstances of this cold-blooded, violent act, but it also ignores the fact that at the time of his
death, Fred Hampton was asleep in bed, having been drugged by an FBI operative. 5 With these
lies, government officials — at all levels of government — chose to lie about not only the
circumstances of Fred’s murder, but their role in it, as well.

For these reasons, we believe that it is past time that our country fully knows and understands its
dark past and the release, and study, of this information is an important step on this journey.
Therefore, we, once again, request the full, unclassified, and unredacted release of any files or
papers in the possession of the U.S. Department of Justice or the FBI pertaining to this
assassination.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

Bobby L. Rush
Member of Congress

/s/ /s/
Alcee L. Hastings Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress Member of Congress

4
David Alm, “‘The Murder Of Fred Hampton’ Still Has Much To Teach, Watch It Here,” Forbes (Forbes Magazine,
June 4, 2020), https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidalm/2020/06/03/the-murder-of-fred-hampton-still-has-much-
to-teach-watch-it-here/.
5
Id.
/s/ /s/
Danny K. Davis Jahana Hayes
Member of Congress Member of Congress

/s/ /s/
Ilhan Omar Rashida Tlaib
Member of Congress Member of Congress