Hell, they killed Bobby Seale Huey, (never history before morning coffee) because he actually met the Chinese comrades of his time; and they couldn't have a Black leader bringing communism to the hood
EDIT now that I've got a cup of ACTUAL coffee in me and not some watered down, burnt, gas station turpentine, lemme get more into this because I've got a pet theory. The Panthers meeting our Chinese comrades is the entire reason why COINTELPRO has only continued, intensified, and evolved in the decades since-- because it all boils down to 'they can't have anyone bringing communism to the hood'.
Back in the day, they had the shit locked down. The internet wasn't like that yet; we couldn't have whole-ass discussions, debates, arguments, and flame wars over theory or sects. The knowledge base wasn't out there yet, you had to be into some scholarly shit in the first place, or know somebody who jumped you in, to even be talking like we are now. The genie's out of the bottle now; and they CANNOT AFFORD another movement as large as or as motivated as the Panthers were. They can't have another community-based, community-focused mutual aid network like that again, because these theories are the next step.
This is why they train our misleaders to make the concept of seeking liberation sound corny. This is why the misleaders push "Black Excellence™", "Black Capitalism", and all that happy assimilation-reformist bullshit. Part of why the 'hotep' discourse is a thing. (I'm not gonna play around and act like some of it isn't some members of our community actually being corny about it; but I don't believe that sentiment came from the ground up.) This is why they locked up the Uhuru 3, and made 61 political prisoners under RICO charges in Georgia. This is why they still infiltrate our organizations, lock up our leaders, and kill the ones they know won't comply. They can't afford another.