4115 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles 90011 (between E. 41st St. and E. 41st Pl.) — Historic South Central
The Black Panther Party (BPP) was the leading revolutionary nationalist organization in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The organization was first founded in Oakland, California, in 1966, and the Southern California chapter was established in 1968 under the leadership of Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter. The BPP defended the Black community against the police; created “survival programs” that focused on meeting people’s basic needs; and built bridges with other organizations across the globe that were fighting poverty and oppression. In 1969, the director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, proclaimed that the BPP “represents the greatest threat to the internal security of the country.”
In December of 1969, the Los Angeles Police Department launched a predawn raid on the headquarters of the Southern California chapter of the BPP, which was located at this address. Committed to obliterating the Panthers, the LAPD initiated the attack in search of illegal weapons and two Panthers wanted on assault charges. The four-hour gun battle, which signaled the inauguration of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team, involved hundreds of officers attacking the building. The LAPD fired thousands of rounds into the building, used a battering ram and helicopter, and subsequently trashed the inside of the building. The roof of the building caved in. The attack resulted in the injury of three Panthers and three patrolmen and the arrest of eleven Panthers. Soon after the attack, the BPP leadership called for a retrenchment and the relocation of Party members to Oakland. These two events led to the eventual demise of the Southern California chapter.
Images:
- The former site of the Black Panther Party headquarters, photographed in 2007, is now a parking lot flanked by a Mexican market and small businesses. Photo by Wendy Cheng.
- Black Panther Party members in their South L.A. office in December 1969, just before it was raided and destroyed by hundreds of LAPD officers. Courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library.