"Didn't a few Black Panthers meet their ends at the hands of death squads of sorts?"
police departments and informant-infiltrators, as I recall, but not vigiliante style lynch-posses or such...anyone know, or remember differently??
fs ------
Most people should know this already, but just in case.
No. The usual technique was to stage a police raid on evidence or `citizen' report of weapons, drugs, or harboring fugitives from justice. The cops would get a court order then set up a massively armed raid. I forget how many times they pulled this in Oakland, and they managed to shoot and kill several people this way. Then they charged those arrested in the house with a long list of felonies, and could usually get convictions on at least some of the charges.
After the cops and city hall do this enough, it becomes a self-completing cycle. The group targeted becomes a criminal organization because it is only dealt with as a criminal organization and its political aspirations are simply denied. Criminal elements are attracted to it, political motivations are eventually ignored, and the whole group devolves into a criminalized survival game with the cops.
The Native American political movements were also treated this way by the FBI to great effect.
Then rightwing militias, neo-nazis, and militant christian sects had their turn at these games in the 80s and 90s. But the established Rigthwing so-called Republicans were much more effective in stopping the Clinton administration and the Reno DoJ.
I suspect this has been and will be the method of dealing with Arab and Muslim American groups in the states. Target them as `terrorist' organizations, harass them, raid them, arrest them on bogus charges. Sooner or later the authorities can get the same vicious cycle started by criminalizing their political activities and motivations. Then they can bust them on weapons, terrorist links over seas, etc. Armed raids become death squat like in effect, since you can always manage to shoot somebody in a raid and if that doesn't work, then you can charge them with enough crimes to make something stick.
Chuck Grimes