FBI INFORMANT WILLIAM O NEAL MOVIE
FBI INFORMANT WILLIAM O NEAL FREE

FBI INFORMANT WILLIAM O NEAL FREE

As Haas, who interviewed members of the Hampton family while researching his book, The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther, explains, “Fred just couldn’t accept injustice anywhere.” At 10 years old, he started hosting weekend breakfasts for other children from the neighborhood, cooking the meals himself in what Haas describes as a precursor to the Panthers’ free breakfast program.

FBI INFORMANT WILLIAM O NEAL MOVIE

“On the side of O’Neal, to humanize him as well so that viewers of the film could leave the movie wondering, ‘Is there any of that in me?’” Who are the film’s two central figures?īorn in a suburb of Chicago in 1948, Hampton demonstrated an appetite for activism at an early age.

“ lot of times when we think about these freedom fighters and revolutionaries, we don’t think about them having families … and plans for the future-it was really important to focus on that on the Fred side of things,” King tells Deadline. Speaking with Deadline, the filmmaker adds that the crew wanted to move beyond Hampton’s politics into his personal life, including his romance with fellow activist Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback), who now goes by the name Akua Njeri. And that’s always going to make for a more interesting protagonist.” “Whereas William O’Neal is in a conflict he’s confused. He knew what he was doing at a very young age,” says King. “Fred Hampton came into this world fully realized. Rather than focusing solely on the chairman, they opted to examine O’Neal-an enigmatic figure who rarely discussed his time as an informant-and his role in the FBI’s broader counterintelligence program, COINTELPRO.

As King tells the Atlantic, he worked with screenwriter Will Berson and comedians Kenny and Keith Lucas to pen a biopic of Hampton in the guise of a psychological thriller. In short: yes, but with extensive dramatic license, particularly regarding O’Neal. Is Judas and the Black Messiah based on a true story? Here’s what you need to know to separate fact from fiction ahead of Judas and the Black Messiah’s debut in theaters and on HBO Max this Friday, February 12. “Our counterintelligence program must prevent the rise of a black messiah.” Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen), echoing an actual assertion made by the FBI director, in the film. “The Black Panthers are the single greatest threat to our national security,” says a fictionalized J. Central to the narrative is the activist’s relationship with-and subsequent betrayal by-FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), who is cast as the Judas to Hampton’s “black messiah.” Starring Daniel Kaluuya of Get Out fame as the chairman, the movie chronicles the months preceding Hampton’s assassination in a December 1969 police raid, detailing his contributions to the Chicago community and dedication to the fight for social justice. Judas and the Black Messiah, a new film directed by Shaka King and co-produced by Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, deftly dramatizes this moment, capturing both Hampton’s oratorical prowess and the mounting injustices that led him and his audience to declare themselves revolutionaries.

Fbi informant william o neal