On May 4, former Black Panther and long-time Rep. Bobby Rush As the former co-founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panthers, Rush has personally been on the receiving end of unwanted and unwelcome FBI attention during the Vietnam era, when COINTELPRO was at its height. Rush has long believed that the Bureau played a role in the killing of his friend and chairman of the Illinois Black Panthers, Fred Hampton. Rush is to be commended for trying to discover what else the Bureau might know about, or have been involved with, concerning Hampton’s killing. But his bill represents a major missed opportunity on several counts.