Seale became the chairman of the Black Panther Party and underwent FBI surveillance as part of its COINTELPRO program. He was one of the original "Chicago Eight" defendants charged with conspiracy and inciting to riot, in the wake of the 1968 Democratic National Convention, in Chicago. Judge Julius Hoffman sentenced him to four years of imprisonment for contempt because of his outbursts, and eventually ordered Seale severed from the case, hence the "Chicago Seven". During one of the trials Bobby Seale's many outbursts led the judge to have him bound and gagged, as commemorated in the song "Chicago" written by Graham Nash and mentioned in the poem and song H₂Ogate Blues by Gil Scott-Heron.

Seale was tried in 1970 in the New Haven Black Panther trials for the murder of Alex Rackley; his trial resulted in a hung jury. The New Haven trials were widely decried as an example of political repression by such relative moderates as Yale University president Kingman Brewster, Jr., and were accompanied by a large demonstration in New Haven, Connecticut, on May Day, 1970, which coincided with the beginning of the American college student strike of May, 1970.

In 2002, Bobby Seale began dedicating his time to Reach!, a group focused on youth education programs.

Bibliography

• Seize the Time: The Story of the Black Panther Party and Huey P. Newton, 1970 published by Arrow Books and Hutchinson & Co. Reprint ISBN 0-933121-30-X
• A Lonely Rage - The Autobiography of Bobby Seale, 1978. ISBN 0-8129-0715-9
• Hugh Pearson, The Shadow of the Panther: Huey P. Newton and the Price of Black Power in America, Addison-Wesley, 1994. ISBN 0-201-48341-6
• Seale shares Panthers' history with UW The Daily Cardinal
• Bobby Seale, October 22 Daily Bleed Calendar
• Seize The Time Free online edition of his book
• Barbeque Bill of Rights Bobby's "Declaration: Barbeque Bill of Rights"
• SWINDLE Magazine Interview