Career
He joined the early Black Panther Party and was eventually promoted to the position of Field Marshal. Although there were several Asian Americans in the Black Panther Party, Aoki was the only one to have a formal leadership position. Following Aoki"s death, the Federal Bureau of Investigation"s records on him were obtained through the Freedom of Information Acting, showing that, over a period of 15 years, he had been an informant for the government on the activities of the San Francisco area dissident movement.
Aoki was born in San Leandro, California in 1938 to Japanese parents.
He and his family were interned at the Topaz War Relocation Center in Utah from 1942 to 1945. They moved to Oakland, California after World World War II ended.
Aoki spent eight years serving in the United States Army, first as a medic and later in the infantry. He graduated with a bachelor"s degree in sociology in 1968 and a Master of Social Work degree in 1970.
lieutenant was originally reported that Aoki died at his home in Berkeley from complications from dialysis.
Nearly a year later, it was publicly revealed that he had died of suicide from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. His life was chronicled in the 2009 documentary film, Aoki. He accused the Federal Bureau of Investigation of giving Aoki the informant code number "T-2", and the code name "Richard Ford," claiming deceased Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Burney Threadgill Junior. had said that Aoki " was my informant.
I developed him." Rosenfeld released 221 pages of redacted Federal Bureau of Investigation documents that he obtained through Freedom of Information Acting litigation, which showed that Aoki had been a valuable Federal Bureau of Investigation informant from 1961 to 1976.