The Black Panthers or Black Panther Party was a black revolutionary party established by Huey P. Newton, Eldridge Cleaver, and Bobby Seale in 1966 in Oakland, California. Originally formed as a patrol to protect black residents from police brutality in urban areas, the organization soon became more extreme, endorsing violence as a tactic for social change and calling for radical changes to American society. Many Black Panther leaders were imprisoned or killed by police and the group was mostly dissolved by the early 1980s.