Richard Masato Aoki[1] (/ɑːˈoʊki/ ah-OH-kee or /eɪˈoʊki/ ay-OH-kee; November 20, 1938 – March 15, 2009) was an American educator and college counselor, best known as a civil rights activist and early member of the Black Panther Party.

[5] In junior high Aoki joined a gang, later would brag that he was a great street fighter, and still managed to become co-valedictorian.

He attended Merritt College for two years, where he became close friends with his longtime acquaintances Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, the founding members of the Black Panther Party;[4] the organization was founded in October 1966, one month after Aoki transferred to the University of California, Berkeley.

[9] In response to a FOIA request by Rosenfeld, it was revealed that a November 16, 1967, FBI intelligence report listed Aoki as an informant with the code number "T-2".

"[9] On September 7, 2012, the Center for Investigative Reporting published a second story about Aoki with new documents detailing his 221-page informant file.