‘TELL IT LIKE IT IS’ Black History Series: The 1969 UCLA Shootout That Shook a Movement

Rivalry, Radical Politics and COINTELPRO: How a Deadly Campus Clash Between the Black Panther Party and the US Organization Altered the Trajectory of Black Power in Los Angeles

On January 17, 1969, a meeting inside Campbell Hall at the University of California, Los Angeles turned into one of the most consequential—and tragic—episodes of the Black Power era. What began as a debate over leadership of UCLA’s newly formed African American Studies Center ended in gunfire, leaving two prominent members of the Black Panther Party dead and exposing deep fractures within the movement for Black liberation.

The victims—Alprentice “Bunchy” Carter and John Huggins—were rising leaders in Southern California’s chapter of the Panthers. Their deaths followed escalating tensions with a rival Black nationalist group, the US Organization, founded in 1965 in the aftermath of the Watts uprising by Maulana Karenga and Hakim Abdullah Jamal.

The clash at UCLA did not occur in isolation. It unfolded amid fierce ideological competition, federal surveillance, and a broader struggle for influence within Black communities across Los Angeles and beyond.

Competing Visions of Black Liberation

Black Panther Party was established in 1966 in Oakland by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale. The organization embraced revolutionary socialism, armed self-defense, and community survival programs such as free breakfast initiatives and health clinics.

By contrast, US Organization emphasized cultural nationalism, African heritage, and community identity-building. Though both groups sought empowerment for Black Americans, their philosophies diverged sharply—one leaning toward Marxist revolutionary theory, the other toward Afrocentric cultural renewal.

In Los Angeles, the rivalry intensified as both organizations competed for influence among students and activists—particularly over who would lead UCLA’s African American Studies Center. What should have been a debate over academic leadership instead became a flashpoint in a broader struggle for legitimacy and authority within the movement.

The Role of COINTELPRO

Complicating the rivalry was the covert hand of the Federal Bureau of Investigation through its Counterintelligence Program, known as COINTELPRO. Declassified records later revealed that the FBI sent forged letters to both groups, designed to inflame tensions and sow distrust. Each organization was led to believe the other was publicly disparaging and threatening it.

Historians have argued that these tactics accelerated confrontations that might otherwise have remained political or rhetorical. By 1969, mistrust between the groups had hardened.

January 17, 1969: The Shootout at UCLA

During a Black Student Union meeting at UCLA’s Campbell Hall, a dispute erupted. Accounts differ on what triggered the gunfire. Some reports suggest derogatory remarks about Karenga. Others cite a heated exchange involving Panther member Elaine Brown.

What is undisputed is that shots were fired, and Carter and Huggins were killed.

The Panthers later characterized the incident as a premeditated assassination, asserting that both men were unarmed. Members of the US Organization maintained the confrontation was spontaneous. Panther security chief Geronimo Pratt would later describe it as an eruption rather than a planned ambush.

Three men associated with US—George and Larry Stiner and Donald Hawkins—eventually surrendered. They were convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of second-degree murder. The Stiner brothers received life sentences; Hawkins served time in California’s Youth Authority.

The alleged triggerman, Claude Hubert, was never apprehended.

Aftermath: Retaliation, Repression and Decline

In the weeks following the UCLA shooting, retaliatory violence escalated between the two groups in Los Angeles. Community leaders condemned the bloodshed. Federal, state, and local law enforcement intensified surveillance, arrests and prosecutions targeting both organizations.

Internal divisions, leadership disputes and sustained government pressure further weakened each movement. By the early 1970s, both the Black Panther Party and the US Organization had lost much of their national prominence.

The UCLA shootout remains a stark example of how ideological differences, competition for influence, and external interference converged during a volatile chapter of American history.

Why It Still Matters

More than five decades later, the events of January 17, 1969 continue to inform debates over:

• Government surveillance and political dissent
• The impact of COINTELPRO on civil rights movements
• The evolution of African American Studies programs
• The legacy of Black Power activism

As part of the ‘TELL IT LIKE IT IS’ Black History Series, this moment serves not only as a historical account, but as a reminder of how movements for justice can be reshaped—sometimes tragically—by internal divisions and external manipulation.

History demands context. And context demands courage.

🖤✊🏾 Black History Series content sponsored by Ford Motor Company.

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-- By Jasmine Thomas

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