John Huggins
{{Short description|American activist}}
{{for|the racehorse trainer|John Huggins (racehorse trainer)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{more citations needed|date=January 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| image = John Huggins.jpg
| birth_date = February 11, 1945
| birth_place = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1969|1|17|1945|2|11}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_cause = Murder
| resting_place =
| occupation = Activist
| party = Black Panther Party
| education = Lincoln University
| years_active = 1967–1969
| employer =
| organization =
| known_for = Leader of the Los Angeles chapter Black Panther Party
| spouse = {{marriage|Ericka Jenkins|1968}}
| children = 1
| relatives =
}}
John Jerome Huggins Jr.Gordon, Larry, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-may-26-la-me-ucla-panthers-20100526-story.html UCLA students memorialize 1969 Black Panther slayings], Los Angeles Times, May 26, 2010 (February 11, 1945 – January 17, 1969) was an American activist. He was the leader in the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party who was killed by black nationalist US Organization members at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) campus in January 1969. As part of COINTELPRO, the FBI sent forged letters to Black Nationalists to inflame tensions between the Panthers and US organisation. Lary 'Watani' Stiner and his brother, were accused and charged for Huggins' assassination.{{Cite book|last=Republican Party in the United States Government|url=https://archive.org/details/counterintelligence|title=FBI Secret COINTEPLRO Documents Against the Black Communist|language=en}}
Early life
John Huggins was born February 11, 1945, in New Haven, Connecticut, where he attended Hopkins School, although ultimately left and graduated from James Hillhouse High School. He was briefly enlisted in the United States Navy before attending Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where he met his wife Ericka Huggins. They moved together to Los Angeles and both became deeply involved in the Black Panther Party. They had one child, Mai Huggins.
Death
On January 17, 1969, Huggins and fellow Party leader Bunchy Carter were gunned down by Claude "Chuchessa" Hubert, a 21–year old member of the black nationalist US Organization during a meeting at UCLA. According to a witness, Huggins got into a scuffle with another man; 19-year old member Harold "Tuwala" Jones when he was shot by Hubert.Pool, Bob, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jan-18-me-panthers18-story.html Witness to 1969 UCLA shootings speaks at rally], "Los Angeles Times", January 18, 2008.
The FBI had infiltrated the Black Panther Party and the US Organization and created divisions that likely contributed to the murders.{{Cite news |last=Kushner |first=Rachel |date=2019-04-17 |title=Is Prison Necessary? Ruth Wilson Gilmore Might Change Your Mind |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/17/magazine/prison-abolition-ruth-wilson-gilmore.html |access-date=2022-03-14 |issn=0362-4331}} An FBI memo dated November 29, 1968, described a letter that the Los Angeles FBI office intended to mail to the Black Panther Party office. The letter, which was made to appear as if it had come from the US Organization, described fictitious plans by US to ambush BPP members. The FBI memo stated, "It is hoped this counterintelligence measure will result in an 'US' and BPP vendetta."[http://www.icdc.com/~paulwolf/cointelpro/doc132.gif "Counterintelligence Program, Black Nationalist – Hate Groups, Racial Intelligence, Re Los Angeles letter to Bureau dated 9/25/68"], Federal Bureau of Investigation memo, November 29, 1968. Archived at COINTEL.org, retrieved September 7, 2007.
Lary 'Watani' Stiner and his brother were accused and convicted of the murders of Huggins and Carter though neither of them fired a weapon. Stiner is out on parole and has steadfastly maintained his innocence.{{Cite news|url=http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/article/NE/20150203/NEWS/150209909|title=Drummond: Legendary black revolutionary freed 46 years after UCLA murders|access-date=March 23, 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407231229/https://www.santacruzsentinel.com/2015/02/03/drummond-legendary-black-revolutionary-freed-46-years-after-ucla-murders/|archive-date=April 7, 2020|language=en}}
One consequence of Huggins' death was that it contributed to his cousin, Ruth Wilson Gilmore, leaving Swarthmore College.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070826131126/http://www.laweekly.com/general/features/children-of-the-revolutionary/17053/ Children of the Revolutionary] LA Weekly feature on the 1969 UCLA shootout that killed John Huggins and Bunchy Carter.
- [http://fbidocs.com/john-huggins FBI Docs] John Huggins FBI Files
{{Black Panther Party}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huggins, John}}
Category:Assassinated American activists
Category:People from New Haven, Connecticut
Category:Members of the Black Panther Party
Category:Hopkins School alumni
Category:Hillhouse High School alumni
Category:Deaths by firearm in California