On November 9, 1980, 23-year-old white New Orleans police officer Gregory Neupert was found fatally shot in the neck in a ditch near the Fischer Projects in the Algiers neighborhood. The New Orleans Police Department reported Neupert had been killed after stopping three suspects while on patrol in an area known for drug activity.

Police launched an intense response, carrying out raids in the predominantly Black Fischer housing project, rounding up and interrogating numerous residents. Four Black civilians died during those operations and dozens of residents later alleged mistreatment. Witnesses reported seeing two white men flee the scene of the shooting, and an investigative reporter advanced a theory that Neupert may have been involved in a drug deal and was killed by two white men rather than during a stop. A federal grand jury probe followed; seven officers known as the Algiers 7 were indicted on federal civil rights charges and three were convicted for the interrogation practices. The murder of Officer Neupert remains officially unsolved.