David Hilliard

Who is David Hilliard?

David Hilliard was a member of the Black Panther Party. He was Chief of Staff in the party. He is currently a visiting instructor at the University of New Mexico.

Hilliard was convicted on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon for his part in a 1968 ambush of the Oakland Police in retribution for the assassination of Martin Luther King. The April 6th ambush also resulted in the death of panther Bobby Hutton and the arrest of Panther Eldridge Cleaver who masterminded the botched operation. In July 1971, he was sentenced to one to ten years and incarcerated at in Vacaville. In January 1973 while serving a sentence of six months to 10 years, he was denied parole.

In his autobiography Revolutionary Suicide, Huey P. Newton claimed that the district attorney of Alameda County was attempting to send Hilliard to prison on "trumped up charges". With Fredrika Newton, Hilliard formed the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation.