| Remember Lil' Bobby Hutton |
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| Written by Robert ID1118 |
| Wednesday, 06 April 2005 10:24 |
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Bobby Hutton was born in 1950. He was only 16 years old when he joined the Black Panther Party (BPP) in December, 1966. He was arrested in May 1967 when he led a Black Panther march in Sacramento to protest against a new gun bill. The Mulford Act made it illegal to carry guns in public and was a direct response to the Panthers'' police patrols in the community. On 6th April, 1968 eight Black Panther Party members, including Hutton, Eldridge Cleaver and David Hilliard, were traveling in two cars when they were ambushed by the Oakland police. Cleaver and Hutton ran for cover and found themselves in a basement surrounded by police. A fifty-man assault force pounded bullets into the house where they hid for ninety minutes. When a tear-gas canister that had been thrown into the basement caught fire, Eldridge and Bobby agreed to surrender. Eldridge was not able to walk because a bullet had hit his leg. He told Bobby to take off his clothes so the police could not accuse him of hiding a weapon, but Bobby only removed his shirt. When he walked out into the floodlights in front of the house with his hands in the air, a hail of bullets killed him on the spot. Only the shouts from the crowd drawn by the gunfire saved Eldridge from an immediate death when he crawled out of the basement behind Bobby. Remember those who have fought and died to give us what we have. R.I.P. Bobby Hutton.
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The Drum Collective - http://www.thedrum.org
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