George Sams plays a minor role in Judas and the Black Messiah, but his real-life history deserves a more in-depth look. Terayle Hill portrays the Black Panther Party member in Shaka King's biopic centered on the life and death of chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). While Sams is depicted as a fellow FBI informant in King's film, his true story is more complicated.
Judas and the Black Messiah follows William "Bill" O'Neal (Lakeith Stanfield), a petty criminal who is enlisted by FBI Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) to infiltrate the Chicago chapter of the Black Panther Party. More specifically, the FBI wants O'Neal to get close to Hampton, the chapter's leader, who the agency views as a radical threat as a Black activist. O'Neal successfully rises as one of Hampton's most loyal allies, becoming the chapter's head of security. Though he worries about being labeled as an informant, his intel eventually leads to a police raid that results in Hampton's death in December 1969.
During the real-life case, Mitchell actually had multiple FBI informants planted in the Black Panther Party. The only other spy featured in Judas and the Black Messiah is Sams, but the film hardly dives into the man's significance. Hill's character encounters O'Neal after traveling from New Haven, where he serves as a leader in his respective chapter of the Black Panther Party. Sams shares a story about torturing and killing a Black Panther "rat" named Alex Rackley, who he claims was an informant for the FBI. In the movie, Sams is the real informant, and he killed Rackley to protect his own identity. As a wanted fugitive, Sams' involvement with the Black Panther Party allows the FBI to gather search warrants for anywhere the man goes.
What Judas And The Black Messiah Left Out About George Sams
In reality, the truth about Sams' role in the Black Panther Party wasn't so cut and dry. Like Judas and the Black Messiah, Sams was a member of the New Haven chapter that was heavily involved in the death of Rackley, who he claimed was an FBI spy. After a brutal interrogation, Sams ordered two fellow Black Panthers to shoot Rackley before the trio dumped his body in a nearby river. Sams was later convicted in the kidnapping, torture, and murder of Rackley, but he testified in exchange for a lesser sentence. The man then claimed the orders involving Rackley's murder came from party leader Bobby Seale. Others testifying were unable to corroborate Sams' claims during the New Haven Black Panther trials of 1970.
Based on a deadlocked jury, charges against Seale were dropped. Sams, however, was accused of being an FBI informant, matching the insinuations made in Judas and the Black Messiah. Other than his involvement in Rackley's killing, the truth regarding Sams' connection to the FBI has never been unearthed. Seeing as other Black Panther Party members feared Sams, they may not have investigated the truth out of fear for their own safety. It's unclear what happened to Sams after the 1970 trial, and his current whereabouts are unknown. If he was an informant, it's possible that the FBI urged him into joining the Witness Protection Program like the case with O'Neal. Then again, the agency could have cut ties based on the trouble he caused.