J. Edgar Hoover: Black Panther Greatest Threat to U.S. Security

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- The Black Panther party represents the greatest threat among the black extremist groups to the internal security of the United States, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover said today.

Hoover said in his fiscal 1969 annual report the increased activity of "violence-prone black extremists group" had put more investigative responsibilities on the FBI.

"Of these," Hoover said, "the Black Panther party, without question, represents the greatest threat to the internal security of the country." '

'Schooled in the Marxist- Leninist ideology and the teachings of Chinese Communist leader Mao Tse-tung, its members have perpetrated numerous assaults on police officers and have engaged in violent confrontations with police in cities throughout the country," Hoover said.

"Leaders and representatives of the Black Panther party travel extensively all over the United States preaching their gospel of hate and violence not only to ghetto residents, but to students in colleges, universities and high schools as well.''

Huey Newton, the Panthers' minister of defense, was convicted Sept. 8, 1968 for the fatal shooting of an Oakland, Calif., policeman.

Another Panther, Bobby Seal, was among eight demonstrators at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago indicted on federal charges of inciting to riot.

Hoover announced new figures showing student revolutions during the 1968-69 academic year caused more than $3 million in damage to educational facilities and led to more than 4,000 arrests.

He said the use of "organized terror and violence" disrupted more than 225 institutions of higher learning.

There were 61 cases of arson or bombings on college campuses.

Hoover reiterated his contention that the radical Students' for a Democratic Society (SDS) was "the instigator for much of this unrest."