Historical Spotlight: COINTELPRO
There are a lot of conspiracy theories on the internet. They range from mundane topics like the quality of tap water to extremist topics like planning coups to overtake the government. Some are totally insane and have no real leg to stand on, but others have a semblance of truth that makes you question if what you think you know is really true. Join me as we shine a Historical Spotlight on the covert operations of COINTELPRO.
COINTELPRO, formally known as Counterintelligence Program, was a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the FBI between 1956 and 1971. The goal was to surveil, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt any organization that the FBI deemed subversive. Groups that were targeted included feminist organizations, the Communist Party USA, anti-Vietnam War organizers, activists in the civil rights and Black power movements like Martin Luther King Jr., the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party, environmentalist and animal rights organizations, and even some white supremacist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and the National States’ Rights Party.
The program was originally formed in 1956 as a way to undermine the operations of the Community Party of the United States. Over time, it broadened to include all the other groups that challenged the system. The FBI had already been surveilling black leaders for a long time, but reclassified their operations to be included in COINTELPRO, stating that the movement was infiltrated by communists.
Public opinion of the motives and legitimacy of these groups is irrelevant when we consider the fact that the FBI infiltrated these organizations in order to control them and the narratives that were being spread throughout society. Right or wrong, most of the organizations that were targeted challenged the societal norm and fought for change in many sectors, which posed a risk to the powers that were in control at the time.
The FBI has always utilized covert operations against domestic political groups since its establishment. It’s believed that while the official COINTELPRO label only existed for a short period in history, the actual motivation, techniques, and control used actually existed for years well before the formal programs were created. Many suspect that COINTELPRO-type activities still happen today under the guise of “investigation”.
The tactics used were scummy and oftentimes included smearing individuals and groups by using forged documents and false reports in the media, IRS audits, harassment, wrongful imprisonment, illegal violence, and even assassination. To justify those actions, a Senate report said the FBI’s motivation was to protect national security, prevent violence, and maintain the existing social and political order.
Leaders in the Black Panther Party, a black power political organization founded by Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966, started being targeted by COINTELPRO in 1969. They were assassinated, imprisoned, publicly humiliated, and falsely charged with crimes, and the FBI routinely used perjury, witness harassment and intimidation, and even withheld forgiving evidence to progress their attack on so-called dangerous groups.
J. Edgar Hoover was the FBI Director at the time and ordered FBI agents to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize” the activities of certain organizations and their leaders. Robert F. Kennedy, who was the Attorney General, also personally authorized some of the programs and gave written approval to spy on Martin Luther King’s phones and activities.
The FBI had a direct hand in the deaths of Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, found through evidence that has leaked and surfaced over time. There were agents working to fear-monger and stoke fires of dissension amongst the groups that were fighting to create better living conditions for Black Americans. Many of the Black leaders that were lost during the Civil Rights Movement were due to the FBI’s infiltration, coercion, and COINTELPRO practices.
During the Summer of 1967, the FBI began COINTELPRO - BLACK HATE that established the Ghetto Informant Program, an intelligence-gathering operation to collect information about riots and civil unrest, and used more than 7,000 people to infiltrate and keep tabs on poor black communities. The program produced abundant additional information on activities like black power meetings, illegal activities, or potential uprisings that the FBI used against those communities. It formally ended in July 1973, but there are lingering concerns about unwanted FBI surveillance.
The program was secret up until March 8, 1971 when an activist group called the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI field office in Pennsylvania. The group stole several dossiers and passed the material to news agencies, finally bringing the nefarious activities into the spotlight. The Washington Post was the first to publish the information on the front page.
Within the year, the centralized COINTELPRO was officially shut down, but behind the smoke screen, domestic spying continued between 1972 and 1974. It’s documented that the FBI planted over 500 bugs without a warrant and opened over 2,000 pieces of personal mail despite the assurance that all future counterintelligence operations were to be handled on a case by case basis.
Once COINTELPRO was stopped, both Congress and the American public criticized the tactics that ultimately infringed upon first amendment rights and other grounds. Not only did many of the agents outright lie to bring down voices that were allegedly dangerous to the status quo, but they frequently used immoral means to accomplish their mission. No one was safe from being mistreated, spied upon, and extorted.
Even now, it’s difficult to trust the government because of the history of surveilling, controlling, and ultimately undermining any organization or individual that has differing opinions. We see time and time again those who speak against certain topics that are pushed heavily in the media, tend to get wrapped up in petty charges, assassinated, or completely censored.
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Signed,
Jessica Marie
