The Era That Never Really Ended - The FBI has admitted that during the COINTELLPRO era it ran some 295 distinct COINTELPRO operations against individuals and organizations which were broadly or narrowly considered parts of the black liberation movement. It is important to understand that during the so-called COINTELPRO era--and as we shall learn in subsequent segments of this series, that era never really ended, one strategy used then and now is that of plausible deniability. That is, in case assassinations or other illegal or disrespectable and unpopular activities committed by high-ranking officials become public, those officials may deny connection to or awareness of those acts or the agents used to carry out such acts. As noted by Mike Ruppert in “By The Light Of A Burning Bridge” FTW over the years has frequently been victimized by attacks that appeared to have the fingerprints of COINTELPRO all over them, down to the use of convicted felons to commit those acts, in which case, the FBI or whatever agency(ies) are involved can plausibly deny connection with such individuals. Although we hear virtually nothing about COINTELPRO in mainstream media these days, Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney has introduced legislation to re-open the investigations of the Church Committee into COINTELPRO. As Congresswoman McKinney states: “We still to this day do not know the full scope of the abusive surveillance, targeting, discrediting and disruptive tactics and plans of the past.” (The War On You: U.S. Government Targeting of American Dissidents - Part I).
Neutralizing Potential Activist - One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why? 1) The message doesn’t get out; 2) A lot of time is wasted; 3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged; 4) Nothing good is accomplished. FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established. Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country. Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female. The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs. This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists. It is the agent’s job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control (How To Spot a Cointelpro Agent).
COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations. COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare, planting false reports in the media, smearing through forged letters, harassment, wrongful imprisonment, extralegal violence and assassination. Covert operations under COINTELPRO took place between 1956 and 1971, however the FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception. The FBI's stated motivation at the time was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order."
FBI records show that 85% of COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed "subversive," including communist and socialist organizations; organizations and individuals associated with the civil rights movement, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Congress of Racial Equality and other civil rights organizations; black nationalist groups; the American Indian Movement; a broad range of organizations labeled "New Left", including Students for a Democratic Society and the Weathermen; almost all groups protesting the Vietnam War, as well as individual student demonstrators with no group affiliation; the National Lawyers Guild; organizations and individuals associated with the women's rights movement; nationalist groups such as those seeking independence for Puerto Rico and a United Ireland; and additional notable Americans, such as Albert Einstein. The remaining 15% of COINTELPRO resources were expended to marginalize and subvert "white hate groups," including the Ku Klux Klan and the National States' Rights Party. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued directives governing COINTELPRO, ordering FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders (Wikipedia).
RELATED READING:
- COINTELPRO Original Documents
- ICDC: COINTELPRO
- Cold-War America: COINTELPRO, CIA, and Covert Operations
- #COINTELPRO - #CIA #BLACKOPS #CIA "CHAOS PROGRAM #DOJ #COVERT OPS OPERATION CHAOS: ROUND TWO
- US Domestic Covert Operations
- NSA warrantless surveillance controversy
- CIA/FBI's Wikepedia Pedophilia and Propaganda Ring Exposed
- Did COINTEL PRO & CIA “Back Pocket Agents” Kill Rev. King, Jr.?
