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Oe Rev, be _ Federal Jury Set in Deaths ' Of Panthers’ By William Chapman ‘y \ Washinzton Post Staff Writer A Justice Department team * headed by Assistant Attorney General Jerris Leonard and a special federal grand jury will investigate the slaying of two Black Panther leaders by Chi- .cago police o7 Dec. 4. A preliminary investigation had proved fruitless, Justice ‘said, because neither ; Panthers nor the Chicago po- ; lice involved in the incident . wauld cooperate. A grand jury would be able to require testimony from ei- ther side throuyzh its subpoena power. . beitenett General John N. itehell announced the new jtinvestigation yesterday and tsaid it “hopefully will put an f-end to the rumors and specu- ilation that have surrounded “this incident. “There nave been serious al- _legations raised criticizing po- Hee tactics," he noted. “A number.of_responsible citizens have questioned whether this incident may have involved a denial of federaily protected he Shootings ~ occurred ‘ eatlVUfrttfe morning of Dec. 7 when 14 policemen, armed with a search warrant for ille- gal weapons, raided a West I Side apartment. Mlinois Black “ Panther Chairman Fred Hampton and a Peoria Panther leader, Mark Clark, were killed. . Police say they fired only ‘after knocking on the door ‘and being fired on first. _,Panther spokesmen and sev- “eral prominent Chicago black ‘teaders maintain that police \fired first and that Hamptan aif CTirk' were murdered. the : rd, who is assistant at- torney general in™TWiSfee* of civil rights, will head an inves- tigatory team drawn from three cities, It is highly unusual for an official of his rank to be as- signed a grand jury probe. (Normally it is handled by the ‘local U.S. attorney or by a i‘special prosecutor from the ‘Justice Department. Others on the investigative squad are James P. Turney, deputy assistant attorney gen- ‘eral for civil rights; K. Wil- liam O’Connor, special assist- ‘ant. to Leonard; Jesse H. , Queen, a senior trial attorney : in the Civil Rights Division's criminal section; Milton C. Branch, assistant U.S. attor- :mey in Colorado; Robert J. ;, Breakstone, assistant U.S. at- }torney i in Chicago; and Maceo Hubbard, acting chief of the criminal section of the Civil (Rights Division. ) According to a Justice De- ‘partment source, the prelimi- inary investigation produced results because Cook County State's Attorney Ed- ward V. Hanrahan refused to permit his police to be ques- tioned unlcss a member of his staff was present. The police who staged the raid were members of a 100-man squad of Chicago officers assigned to jHanrahan. ’ However, Hanrahan _insist- ed that his men had offered to cooperate. His statement was Jwbacked up by Thomas Foran. ‘the U.S. attorney in Chicago. ‘He said Hanrahan “did make this men available.” | Hanrahan, a former U. S. at- ;torney in Chicago, said that e Justice Department, in us- sing the grand jury to conduct: ‘the investigation, is bypass- ing the established procedure .of using investigators to con- Hf duct an inquiry. || He said, “It is outrageous wthat the Department of Justice .would abandon its established practices because of the refus- : al of the Black Panther Party iito tell the truth to FBI agents.” “It is amazing,” Hanrahan: itadded, “that the Black Par-| ‘lthers,” who claim their pal :{rights were violated, would re- ifuse to support their claims" - Ppereme the facts to the jibecause ey distrust “PBL e Th orate | agents. ustice Department team: police may have violated the 19683 civil rights law or an old : {Reconstruction Era statute ' preventing anyone acting * {“under the color of law” from ‘ Jinterfering with a person's : [eivil rights. Chicago Police Superintend: ent James B. Conlisk issuad-a, statement saying that the police department's in inspection division inca Rated the shooting an rej ported there was no m.scong ‘duct by police. | He said the division's inves! itigation established that -“the + ‘police officers were ! )pursuant to the lawful direc: tion of a search warrant. The police were subjected to dead. ‘ly assault by firearms, which tis a forcible felony, and exer. leised lawful means to o aSua ee. 2 gd an: 7 if Jon | Va Geuauea 2 Walters: Mohr wa is] Cooke Po Callahan Conrad elt —______ Gale —_2 __ .. It was understood that the -.*: ipBpaen would look for evidence the’ Sullivan 7 2 Tavei Soy ars Tele. Room Holmes Gandy The Washington Post -- Times Herald The Washington Daily News The Evening Sunday Star (Washington) . Daily News ¢ Sunday News (New York) ~ “New York Post 22 Lea New York Times we = Star (Washington) New York) ja! mae wan Parke (Balt; Awe The New Leader _—_ dee Gore The Wall. Street Joumal ‘ te The National” Observer — am People! gWorld Examiner (Washington) Date REL AL SENT D RECTOR eee ae!