Fred Hampton was a gifted organizer and chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party who believed poor and working-class people could become more powerful by organizing across racial lines. Through community programs, political education, and his efforts to build what became known as the Rainbow Coalition, Hampton quickly emerged as a powerful voice in Chicago. But his growing influence also attracted the attention of law enforcement and the FBI. In 1969, at only 21 years old, Hampton was killed during a predawn police raid on his Chicago apartment. The circumstances surrounding the raid, including the role of an FBI informant and the FBI's COINTELPRO campaign against the Black Panther Party, would become the subject of investigations, lawsuits, and controversy for decades.