25-04-2010, 10:16 PM
Keith Millea Wrote:"They came with .45-calibre pistols and 9mm Lugers. They showed up with M1 rifles, America's favourite companion in three wars. They came with .357 Magnums. (They say when a bullet from a Magnum hits you, you feel like you've been struck by lightning.) They came with 12-gauge pump-action shotguns. They came with bandoliers strapped across their chests… Six women and 24 men, all dressed in black, head to toe – black berets, black leather jackets, black pants, black shoes, or black combat boots."
Though the Black Panthers were lined up against the bill alongside extreme Republicans and the right-wing rank and file of the National Rifle Association, the ironies of the event were overlooked in the subsequent media furore that ensued – one precipitated by the Panthers' staged invasion of the State Capitol building, where the Assembly was in session. "The proceedings came to a screeching halt," writes Moore, "as some of the Panthers took up 'combat' positions in the aisles."....
A wonderful piece of theatre, no doubt, but whose interests were served by such a display? And just how far did CIA tentacles reach in the BPs? Was it a Langley project from inception?