Fred Hampton spoke out against law enforcement officers who misused and abused their authority.

When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.

Everybody wants to cut off the limb to to deal with the problem. You can’t just keep cutting off limbs and destroying fruit. We have to become committed enough to examine the root. The root of the problem in our community, in our country is a systematic problem. And until all who are a part of the problem admit their role in the problem, we will never have a holistic solution.

Respect has left our society in so many ways – we don’t even respect the office of the Commander in Chief as we should. The strength of any building, organization or family must include respect. As a country, as a community, as mothers and fathers – we must teach and act in a manner that recognizes without this noble profession our society would be in total chaos. Respect that. Period.

It is time to have real conversations. Even in high crime areas – everybody in that area is not committing crimes. Everybody on the police force is not corrupt. Just like everybody in the hospital is not sick. Everybody in the jailhouse is not an inmate. What America and the media have to stop doing is painting the picture with such a broad stroke. We have to begin to deal with each incident and each individual as that – an individual incident. Until then, we will continue to have the needless loss of lives and unnecessary force.

In this case, the law enforcement officers felt that the jury's verdict was insufficient to the cause justice. Three men, good, veteran officers were murdered in cold-blood by a coward who surrendered to the tactical unit that responded because he was afraid getting shot himself. The jury's sentencing recommendation was not good enough.