apitol building. All thirty members were arrested. The delivery of the address, and the subsequent arrest, catapulted the Panthers into the spotlight of the national mass media.Suddenly, the Black Panthers had become a household name. Local groups sprang up across the nation. Tension was escalating between the Panthers and the authorities. On October 28, 1967, one year after the party was founded, a shootout occurred between the Panthers and the police. One officer was killed and Newton was wounded. Newton's arrest on murder charges gave the Panthers a rallying cry, and status and visibility nationwide. Eldridge Cleaver, the Panther Minister of Information, fled to Cuba, then to Algiers to escape charges stemming from the shootout. It was here that he developed the Black Panthers International Section. In the span of a couple of years, the Black Panthers were an international organization. In the United States alone, there were over 2,000 members, in 32 chapters in 15 states. Some chapters implemented community programs, such as the Free Breakfast Program, Liberation schools, and Medical Clinics. Of the international chapters, some were militant, others were propaganda factories.Many groups of activists rose to prominence in the 1960's. Many of these groups have made profound and lasting impressions on the world. The Black Panthers gave the blacks of the ghettoes a voice and hope, and the support and admiration of people around the globe....
