Cook County Hospital Rally during the Days of Rage

The Days of Rage were held in Chicago from October 9–11, 1969, to mark the first anniversary of the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests. The demonstrations were organized by the Weathermen, a militant faction of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) that emerged following the organization's split at its June 1969 national convention. The Revolutionary Youth Movement II (RYM II) faction rejected the Weathermen's strategy of armed confrontation and instead organized alternative demonstrations centered on labor, healthcare, and community organizing. The Days of Rage quickly escalated into violent confrontations between the Weathermen and Chicago police.

On October 10, 1969, the second day of the Days of Rage, Mike Klonsky and the Revolutionary Youth Movement II (RYM II) organized a rally of more than 400 people outside Cook County Hospital. 

Illinois Deputy Chairman Fred Hampton was openly critical of the Weathermen’s strategy

and said that the only SDS faction the Black Panthers aligned with was RYM II. "We do not support people who are anarchistic, opportunistic, adventuristic, and Custeristic. We do not believe in premature so-called acts of revolution."

Illinois Black Panther Lynn French, pictured just behind Hampton, also spoke at the rally criticizing Cook County Hospital, declaring that Chicago's hospitals were "run by the same people—the corporations—who run the war in Vietnam. And just as they profit from that war in Vietnam, they profit from these hospitals—they profit off the people. The Black Panther Party here in Chicago is organizing a people's health center, free to those people who need care."

On October 11, 1969, Chicago police raided Site 12 – Church of the Holy Covenant while searching for members of the Weathermen.

In January 1970, the Illinois Chapter opened the Spurgeon "Jake" Winters People's Free Medical Center (Site 6).