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Panthers urged biacks to carry guns with them on the street. continued from page 57 stantly harassed and humiliated by sd in Oakland, which had had a long urged blacks to arm themselves and walk gh kn — pa is guns, lett! ice guns. Suppeeedly, blacks would thus ac- quire equality with the police and be treated with more respect. temporary success. In September, they announced were going to open a medical Sale In Lawndale. Before the Dec. 4, 1969, raid, the Panthers in Chicago and elsewhere said they were constantly and illegally harassed by police and FBI — a paradoxical complaint for re- volutionaries, but this was America.. Looking back, one author later counted 348 Panthers arrested across the country in 1969 — on charges of murder, armed robbery, rape, bank robbery, and burglary. He did not count the convictions. Another source counted 95 arrests of Panthers just in Chicago jn the seven months ended in May, 1969, In addition to serious charges, Panthers were fre- quently stopped here for traffic viola- tions or for.selling the party anthers in a variety of ways. By far the most serious incident was. an anonymous letter written by the Ly FBI office and sent to Jeff Fort, leader of the Blackstone Rangers street gang in January, 1969. The letter, purportedly from a “black brother,” said the Panthers were rivals of the Stones and had “‘a hit out” for Fort. A related FBI memo said the letter to Fort might cause Fort to “take retaliat- ory actions." The Blackstone Rangers continued on page 71 en eee err