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The first cited source on this page is throwing a malware warning on Google Chrome. I haven't touched it but I urge editors to find an alternative or delete this link to protect users. Apologies for breaking tradition and editing at the top but this is time sensitive (even if it's a false flag or whatever it will alarm Chrome users like myself). 84.13.88.32 ( talk) 21:01, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
In the 1960's, when COINTELPRO was active, Malcolm X was assassinated. The alleged perpetrators of this were thought of as related to the FBI as agentes provocteteures. Why is there no discussion of this topic, though it appears germane, and the "target", was well within the scope that is documented the COINTELPRO's range? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.210.30.160 ( talk) 03:20, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
Just give up on trying to make this whole FBI-killed-Malcolm X thing happen. It won't happen.
Heck, even the leader of NOI pretty much admitted to NOI killing Malcolm X a few years ago.
90.184.72.43 (
talk)
13:42, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
I am a lawyer. I tried to cite legal encyclopedia Corpus Juris Secundum. My edit was deleted within seconds. 137.148.217.216 ( talk) 14:48, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
This article suggests that the FBI conducted political assassinations. If this is true, why is not one example of such an assassination provided? 69.133.126.117 ( talk) 23:25, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
I do not believe that there is sufficient evidence on this page yet to suggest that any of these individuals were murdered directly on the orders of the FBI. If there is hard evidence, I suggest we provide it. If not, I suggest we remove the word "assassinations" from the page, or at least say that they have been ACCUSED of orchestrating assassinations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.10.90.26 ( talk) 22:13, 24 November 2010 (UTC)
I have acquired and posted FBI records pertaining to the COINTELPRO operations directed at Violence Prone Yugoslav Emigres in U.S. http://historyanarchy.blogspot.com/2010/08/newly-declassified-cointelpro-files.html I tried to add them but the link got nuked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Historypunk ( talk • contribs) 03:43, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
I have to ask...why in the beginning is the independence for Puerto Rico in quotes ("")? Wikipedia is supposed to be unbiased. The fact that it is in quotes, supposes somebody's personal and subjective belief that puertorricans have no sound, legal claim for independence. The quotes imply that "independence for Puerto Rico" is a concept invented by a group. The UN has repeatedly spoken against US colonialism in Puerto Rico, and in favor of our claim for independence (as a distinct nation that was invaded and robbed as a geopolitical experiment in the Caribbean). I won't change it, but I ask here that the quotes be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.23.202.38 ( talk) 00:59, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
While it is technically correct to refer to the US Organization by its formal name, much of the literature (both official and academic) refers to the US Organization as "the United Slaves." Perhaps we should mention this fact, since it did become common usage. Apostle12 ( talk) 22:37, 17 February 2011 (UTC)
Albert Einstein is listed as a target of CoIntelPro. Einstein died in 1955, and the article states that the CoIntelPro program began the next year, in 1956.
Can someone elaborate?
Aoss ( talk) 08:22, 21 March 2011 (UTC)
Well done to those who have contributed to this page. This is a very well sourced article with great presentation.-- 217.35.82.108 ( talk) 19:43, 15 December 2011 (UTC)
Whoever composed the section which described "psychological warfare" and attributed certain claims to Brian Glick's book appears to have wildly embellished what it actually says. A preview reveals war at home by brian glick it never said anything about family, friends, landlords etc being "strong armed" but that they were presented false media articles about people. Why do editors make this stuff up, is it that hard to translate simple English? As it stands I think this could even be called a fringe position that this amounts to "psychological warfare" and maybe it shouldn't be in that section or the lede either. There are prolific sources which describe COINTELPRO tactics, is Glick the only one who calls this psychological warfare? "Dirty tricks" is not psychological warfare to my knowledge. Batvette ( talk) 02:14, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
It's very important to have information like this be well documented. Otherwise any errors can be used by those who want to dismiss the subject at hand as a mere conspiracy theory. It's certainly a distinct possibility that a racist organization would use character assassination without requiring the prompting of the FBI.
Of the four citations given in that part of article two make no reference to COINTELPRO. A third, now dead, was a book review of the fourth citation. The review makes no direct reference to COINTELPRO, though it's a bit closer to what I'm looking for. I think this could best be resolved by a page number or chapter reference within Mary Stanton's book. It's quite important to know exactly where the author is getting her information. I was unable to find such a reference via the horrific Google Books interface.
I was able to fix the dead link via the Wayback Machine, and am holding off tagging the disputed section while awaiting a response to my concerns. C_J_E ( talk) 20:10, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
I was able to find the allegations as to Hoover's direct involvement in the Mary Stanton book at Pg 190 Chapter 7. I'm going to make a slight change to the problematic wording in the article, which should resolve the dispute here in a mutally agreeable way. — Preceding unsigned comment added by My initials were taken ( talk • contribs) 22:03, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
Conspiracy theories—even published ones—should not be implied to be commonly accepted facts, and certainly not as they pertain to the still-living persons who may have been involved. As stated previously in the thread above, there is little or no evidence to support accusations of state-sponsored "assassinations". We're not talking about Watergate or Iran-Contra; these allegations have not been tried in any court. While it might be frustrating that the courts have been reluctant to try any COINTELPRO cases, this article should not be a soapbox about it. This all needs to be clarified as allegations, or in some cases (to avoid undue weight), removed entirely. Kafziel Complaint Department: Please take a number 18:23, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
A few examples:
Myriad other problems here, but these are a few I've tried to address. We're in desperate need of some neutral (as in, not famously anti-establishment), reliable (as in, not by outside theorists but actual participants) sources. I'll try to find time for that. Kafziel Complaint Department: Please take a number 18:55, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
Good debate here so far. I appreciate that all parties are respectful and constructive. I have a few questions. (1) While there seems little debate that Hampton's killing was a politically-motivated murder, I'm not so sure that the blame can be confidently placed on the FBI, given that the local police were also involved. This doesn't exonerate the FBI, but it does raise a reasonable doubt when it comes to accusing the FBI of "assassination". (2a) The BP witnesses re Pratt's whereabouts denied his presence in the Bay Area during the original trial. This changing story makes the Oakland BP position unreliable. (2b) Pratt's conviction was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct in not disclosing a key witness's informant work. Does this impeach the witness's testimony? (2c) While prosecutorial misconduct in Pratt's original trial is indisputable, it seems to me a stretch to assume Pratt's innocence. Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:26, 4 November 2012 (UTC)
I've read this commentary and will refrain from adding anything to the actual article. As one who has been a (sometimes) friend of the Bureau (and to better illustrate some of the problems here), I will add here what I know about one incident.
The allegation re the encounter between the Black Panthers and United Slaves is based on the following claimed facts, viz., that the Bureau wanted to "neutralize" co-operation between the Panthers and the Slaves by sowing dissension among the members of each organization. To accomplish that, unknown individuals believed to have been working for the Bureau burglarized the Panthers' offices in Los Angeles and stole blank letterhead belonging to that organization. That letterhead was used by someone to write an insulting note to the Slaves leader, Ron Karenga, and the said note was, indeed, delivered to him.
The intent alleged was merely to make Karenga mad and distrustful of the Panthers' leaders (including Bunchy Carter); but, Karenga flew off the handle and, in response, ordered several of his myrmidons to have Carter killed.
This, indeed, is what happened, and since the police were watching all along, they quickly solved the crime and really "neutralized" Karenga by sending him to prison for life for murder.
Now, people can castigate the Bureau for sanctioning (and even participating in) black-bag jobs; and, there is little doubt that these did occur. Indeed, Mark Felt (who eventually became Watergate's Deep Throat) was prosecuted and convicted for participating in them when the target was the Weather Underground.
Also, the same kinds of "letterhead" dirty tricks were used by Nixon's conspirators to sabotage the Democrats (and recall that Gordon Liddy was a former FBI agent who obviously learned how to do such stunts somewhere).
But, it completely stretches the truth to call the likes of that the Bureau's "assassination" of Carter.
Such a claim simply has no foundation in the evidence. Rather, it is a characterization on the part of individuals with their own ax to grind and who are offering their interpretation of the evidence.
If Wiki wants to be an encyclopedia, then these errors are precisely what it has to guard against. The Bureau can be accused of a lot (and some of it actually will stick), but a claim of "assassination" needs to be supported with solid evidence, not the opinions of random writers who can't even tell us who burgled the Panthers' office.
Robert Crim — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.112.56.154 ( talk) 23:49, 18 September 2013 (UTC)
Thoughts? groupuscule ( talk) 21:06, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
The Bureau's politically-motivated and activist investigations date back to the very beginning. Hoover's animus against black activism dates back to the Bureau's investigation of Marcus Garvey, and the Nation of Islam beginning in the 30s. IS there a place for some of this history in this article? Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:34, 4 November 2012 (UTC)
I've removed an old POV template with a dormant discussion, per the instructions on that template's page:
If editors are continuing to work toward resolution of any issue and I missed it, however, please feel free to restore. Cheers, -- Khazar2 ( talk) 03:43, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
The claim that COINTELPRO targeted Scientology is sourced to a Usenet posting. Really, is that what passes for reliability? Or is it just a leftover from the whole "Chanology" craze that should be removed? 2001:558:6045:1D:56E:DCCB:ED9D:24EA ( talk) 23:54, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
User:Thargor Orlando has now made two attempts to delete all of the external links section except government sources. Their edit summary invokes WP:EL, but there is nothing in our external links policy to exclude these videos, documents, etc. They were not added by spammers and they enrich the utility of the article for our readers. This seems to be part of a larger initiative on Thargor Orlando's part to simply delete sources they don't like. As far as I'm concerned, these deletions should be treated as vandalism. I'm interested to know the opinion of others. Thanks, groupuscule ( talk) 15:25, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
I understand that COINTELPRO might be a favorite subject of conspiracy theorists, but does it really need to be connected to that topic? It dilutes the definition of "conspiracy theory." COINTELPRO was not a 'theory,' but a real, validated, proven program... Maurizio689 ( talk) 18:57, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
"One of the great mysteries of the Vietnam War era has been solved. In 1971, a group of peace activists broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and lifted files that helped reveal the FBI’s elaborate program of illegally spying on political groups. The documents, given to journalists at the time, provided the first hints of a secret counter intelligence program, or COINTELPRO, the FBI’s secret program to infiltrate, monitor and disrupt social movements. The burglars called themselves the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI." SOURCE petrarchan47 t c 00:02, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
I question whether Ward Churchill's book can be considered a reliable source, given his extensively-documented history of research fraud. I would prefer that other, reliable sources be substituted. Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:21, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
The last time I saw this article, it stated that 85% of COINTELPRO resources were dedicated to targeting "subversive" groups, particularly leftists. It now states that 85% were dedicated to targeting "patriotic" and "conservative" groups. It now makes no mention of the SWP or the Black Panthers in that paragraph, but apparently includes "a broad range of organizations labeled "Anarcho-Capitalist" (dead link)", something I've never encountered in my studies of COINTELPRO or the U.S. government's response to the movements of the global 1960s. The edit was made by IP 68.199.99.160 and was clearly ideological. They even kept the same citation for the opposite information.
I'm a historian, but I'm not an active Wikipedia editor, so could someone who knows how to revert the old page please do so? This ideological vandalism will give anyone who visits the page a horribly inaccurate idea of this important piece of history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.165.13.181 ( talk) 05:23, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Village_pump (miscellaneous)/Archive 47#Take a deep breath... (permalink [2]) Maybe the third paragraph of the lede does contain the longest sentence in Wikipedia, or maybe again it doesn't. Either way, as sentences go, it is actually a lot more intelligible than others I've seen (and quite possibly written), but might merit at least a look for the sake of us older readers, who sometimes have trouble remembering the start of such constructions at the half-way point, never mind the end (and per Mark Twain, will never master the German language [3]). Just a thought. Not a criticism (because I'm not sure I could do better) but a thought... AndyTheGrump ( talk) 22:51, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
The quoted source talks about FBI and Malcolm X. It does not mention Martin Luther King. I have not come across any notable mention of schism between Martin Luther and Nation of Islam. Even if such schism existed and can be supported with sources, I have not heard of this supposed schism leading to Martin Luther's Death. Please elaborate further.-- Wikishagnik ( talk) 02:09, 2 May 2015 (UTC)
There is an early bias in this page against popular progressive Democratic political figures (RFK and FDR). The term "antecedents" is used to implicate FDR in COINTELPRO when FDR's minimal involvement in surveillance (as described in this very page: asking the FBI to file the names of persons sending him letters opposed to his wartime national defense policy) followed DECADES of Federal government surveillance and/or active violent repression of leftist or labor groups under every administration since Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft in 1908-09. Since the prime target of COINTELPRO was "communism",ANYTHING the FBI did to destroy socialist or communist organizations prior to COINTELPRO can be defined as "antecedent" so why single out FDR? If this singling out is solely referenced here because of the Church Committee report then that should be cited so in the text. A false impression is created here that FDR started or was instrumental in creating COINTELPRO when, in fact it was the Republican Eisenhower Administration under which this formally began, and another Republican administration in which "anarchist" illegal activities and repession began in the first place. The Palmer Raids were far more invasive and illegal than FDR's involvement, yet we aren't reading here "antecendents to COINTELPRO operated under Woodrow Wilson." Why not? As for RFK, he only authorized wire tapping of MLK for "a month or so" but Hoover extended that for years and went way beyond the scope RFK had intended. Taken together, this page exhibits a bias. 2606:6000:C5C2:CA00:2D6E:9B66:91E5:699B ( talk) 07:41, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
In Brian Glick's War at Home of primacy is detailed in the following quote:
Director Webster's highly touted reforms did not create a "new FBI."They served mainly to modernize the existing Bureau and to make it even more dangerous. In place of the backbiting competition with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies which had previously impeded coordination of domestic counter-insurgency, Webster promoted inter-agency cooperation. (pg.20) AND The combined experience of these veteran covert operatives has given rise to a growing literature and theory of counter-insurgency. (pg.37)
For example, an FBI memorandum in the Church Hearings concerning the American Indian Movement (AIM) refers to violent members as 'insurgents'.
So the evolution could possibly be COINTELPRO to modern day counter-insurgency as Brian Glick maintains.
Counter-insurgency domestically is most likely Homeland Security & Public Safety. At the onset of the Ferguson unrest the headlines were "counter-insurgency cops". Outlook.redirect ( talk) 18:46, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
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The New York Times article "The Black Panther Toll is Now 28" (found here) is used multiple times in support of the assertion that the FBI targeted Fred Hampton. Neither the FBI or COINTELPRO are mentioned in the article, so I am removing the source per {{failed verification}}. - Location ( talk) 20:14, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
I noticed that there were opinions from the people like Dhoruba Bin Wahad and groups such as the Church committee; however, there seems to be a lack of expressed opinions from FBI Agents themselves or other people working within the government or COINTELPRO. This could possibly add more viewpoints of the how COINTELPRO was viewed, not only from the outside or by those affected, but also by those who were affected on the inside. Otherwise, this may lead to a more favorable viewpoint to the reader rather than the article just being neutral.
Also, there could be more of a representation other groups that were targeted by the FBI in COINTELPRO. The article largely focuses on the experiences of people within the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement. While this is great, there could be a comparison of how other groups may have been affected by COINTELPRO. This may articulate how some groups may have been affected by COINTELPRO on a more severe level or if the experiences by the saboteurs were similar. This could possibly be fixed by adding quotes from members in groups like the Klu Klux Klan or other feminists organizations. TDFergus ( talk) 01:29, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
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MOS:LEAD states the following about images in an article lead: As with all images, but particularly the lead, the image used should be relevant and technically well-produced. It is also common for the lead image to be representative because it provides a visual association for the topic, and allow readers to quickly assess if they have arrived at the right page."
With that in consideration, I don't think a photo of Viola Liuzzo makes sense as a photo in the lead. The lead mentions Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Hampton, J. Edgar Hoover, and others, but not Viola Liuzzo. As far as I can tell, Liuzzo is one of a number of victims of COINTELPRO, but not the face of COINTELPRO. 154.160.17.72 reverted my removal of the image, stating that "She was part of civil rights groups int he [sic] 1960s, which is in the lead." But I think this is a pretty tenuous connection to make to justify inclusion. There were many people who were part of the civil rights groups mentioned in the lead. If there is a better justification for her inclusion, I would like to hear it. Trinitresque ( talk) 02:34, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
The lead as well as the article mention "assassination" and "murder" as being one of the ways in which COINTELPRO could "neutralize" subversive targets.
However, is there any actual evidence that the FBI knowingly used "murder and assassination" as a tactic? I haven't seen any, so I suggest that the lead be changed, since it gives the impression that assassinations were a part of CONINTELPRO.
PLEASE NOTE: I'm not saying that nobody died as an eventual consequence of COINTELPRO. There is no doubt that some of their tactics (creating splits and encouraging dissent within Black movements) led to people dying. But the FBI couldn't possibly have known that NOI or US would end up killing Malcolm X or Black Panthers. At least there is no evidence of that.
Likewise, while Fred Hamptons death seems suspicious, there is no evidence that FBI was involved. Sure, the FBI cooperated with Chicago PD. But even if we suppose that he was murdered in a premeditated way by Chicago PD, that doesn't mean that the FBI/COINTELPRO were involved or even knew about it.
Regarding the reference to a "Secret Army Organization" there is incredibly little material on this group, aside from Choskys claims. I certainly don't see them being mentioned by reputable sources much. Given this fact, and the fact that the SAO didn't really seem to do much of anything, I suggest that we delete the reference.
90.184.72.43 (
talk)
13:36, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
This edit tells: "COINTELPRO tactics are still used to this day, and have been alleged to include ... harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination." I quickly looked at the sources provided and do not really see support for this text. Which source it was? Moreover, this page only covers a period of time from 1956 to 1971. My very best wishes ( talk) 00:22, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
References
Why was this material below reverted?
"According to a report by the Inspector General (IG) of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI improperly opened investigations of American activist groups, even though they were planning nothing more than peaceful protests and civil disobedience. The review by the inspector general was launched in response to complaints by civil liberties groups and members of Congress. The FBI improperly monitored groups including the Thomas Merton Center, a Pittsburgh-based peace group; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); and Greenpeace USA, an environmental activist organization. Also, activists affiliated with Greenpeace were improperly put on a terrorist watch list, although they were planning no violence or illegal activities."Cite error: The <ref>
tag has too many names (see the
help page).
I maybe not have sourced it all properly, but if you read that pdf file, all that information in that above paragraph is sourced there. Lylefong94 ( talk) 14:53, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
References
The section about this really needs to be cleaned up and clear examples included: In the 1980s they were infiltrating and spying on a Communist group even as it was suing them for the COINTELPRO-era activities (the details are in Betty Medsgers book The Burglary), William Blums book and other sources have claimed they were infiltrating Central American solidarity groups in the 1980s, Eric McDavid was entrapped in their campaign against 'eco-terrorism', the 2009 Bronx terrorism plot is just one of numerous examples of Muslims being similarly entrapped, a couple years ago they admitted to infiltrating the Church groups that protest outside the School of the Americas, at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest an FBI informant was sleeping with one of the leaders and somehow his pistol wound up on her when shots were fired at private security. And it is claimed that numerous cases of terrorists being apprehended by the FBI are entrapment: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/how-fbi-entrapment-is-inventing-terrorists-and-letting-bad-guys-off-the-hook-244905/ LamontCranston ( talk) 13:20, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
Did the program actually start in the 30s? I've heard that Anarchist and whatnot were rounded up and deported. Did this not take place under COINTELPRO? 46.109.144.132 ( talk) 16:47, 13 June 2019 (UTC)
Can anyone summarize this and post information regarding this in the "Later similar operations" section? 129.45.59.227 ( talk) 10:02, 22 June 2019 (UTC)
I've heard the FBI did certain things to neutralize environmentalist in the 80's. Anyone here have any information on this? If so, can you please share any sourced information you might have? Not just the 80s, but any era what was done to environmentalist would be fine. Thanks a lot in advance. 104.0.45.37 ( talk)
There is a Request for Comment at the Fred Hampton article which may interest folks at this page. You are invited to participate! GPRamirez5 ( talk) 14:45, 8 October 2019 (UTC)
@ 146.199.180.157:, Please state a valid rationale for keeping those lines, as just saying that the Dutch Wikipedia keeps it doesn't mean anything. The lines are very much implied and are just pointless bytes added to the file size. puggo ( talk) 23:21, 27 October 2019 (UTC)
In the section "Notable people targeted", a man named "John Branch" is listed at the very bottom. I believe the linked person is the wrong John Branch (born 1782 and Florida's territorial governor) and someone else is supposed to be linked. FredModulars ( talk) 21:40, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
The source for Malcolm X being targeted is the nation of Islam's webpage. Seeing as they're the ones that assassinated Malcolm X, I would assume they're an unacceptable reference. Keytud ( talk) 16:37, 23 May 2021 (UTC)
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This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 1 April 2019 and 7 June 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): IamCorleone34.
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The first cited source on this page is throwing a malware warning on Google Chrome. I haven't touched it but I urge editors to find an alternative or delete this link to protect users. Apologies for breaking tradition and editing at the top but this is time sensitive (even if it's a false flag or whatever it will alarm Chrome users like myself). 84.13.88.32 ( talk) 21:01, 8 July 2013 (UTC)
In the 1960's, when COINTELPRO was active, Malcolm X was assassinated. The alleged perpetrators of this were thought of as related to the FBI as agentes provocteteures. Why is there no discussion of this topic, though it appears germane, and the "target", was well within the scope that is documented the COINTELPRO's range? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.210.30.160 ( talk) 03:20, 2 October 2009 (UTC)
Just give up on trying to make this whole FBI-killed-Malcolm X thing happen. It won't happen.
Heck, even the leader of NOI pretty much admitted to NOI killing Malcolm X a few years ago.
90.184.72.43 (
talk)
13:42, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
I am a lawyer. I tried to cite legal encyclopedia Corpus Juris Secundum. My edit was deleted within seconds. 137.148.217.216 ( talk) 14:48, 20 February 2010 (UTC)
This article suggests that the FBI conducted political assassinations. If this is true, why is not one example of such an assassination provided? 69.133.126.117 ( talk) 23:25, 9 March 2010 (UTC)
I do not believe that there is sufficient evidence on this page yet to suggest that any of these individuals were murdered directly on the orders of the FBI. If there is hard evidence, I suggest we provide it. If not, I suggest we remove the word "assassinations" from the page, or at least say that they have been ACCUSED of orchestrating assassinations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.10.90.26 ( talk) 22:13, 24 November 2010 (UTC)
I have acquired and posted FBI records pertaining to the COINTELPRO operations directed at Violence Prone Yugoslav Emigres in U.S. http://historyanarchy.blogspot.com/2010/08/newly-declassified-cointelpro-files.html I tried to add them but the link got nuked. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Historypunk ( talk • contribs) 03:43, 18 August 2010 (UTC)
I have to ask...why in the beginning is the independence for Puerto Rico in quotes ("")? Wikipedia is supposed to be unbiased. The fact that it is in quotes, supposes somebody's personal and subjective belief that puertorricans have no sound, legal claim for independence. The quotes imply that "independence for Puerto Rico" is a concept invented by a group. The UN has repeatedly spoken against US colonialism in Puerto Rico, and in favor of our claim for independence (as a distinct nation that was invaded and robbed as a geopolitical experiment in the Caribbean). I won't change it, but I ask here that the quotes be removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.23.202.38 ( talk) 00:59, 14 November 2010 (UTC)
While it is technically correct to refer to the US Organization by its formal name, much of the literature (both official and academic) refers to the US Organization as "the United Slaves." Perhaps we should mention this fact, since it did become common usage. Apostle12 ( talk) 22:37, 17 February 2011 (UTC)
Albert Einstein is listed as a target of CoIntelPro. Einstein died in 1955, and the article states that the CoIntelPro program began the next year, in 1956.
Can someone elaborate?
Aoss ( talk) 08:22, 21 March 2011 (UTC)
Well done to those who have contributed to this page. This is a very well sourced article with great presentation.-- 217.35.82.108 ( talk) 19:43, 15 December 2011 (UTC)
Whoever composed the section which described "psychological warfare" and attributed certain claims to Brian Glick's book appears to have wildly embellished what it actually says. A preview reveals war at home by brian glick it never said anything about family, friends, landlords etc being "strong armed" but that they were presented false media articles about people. Why do editors make this stuff up, is it that hard to translate simple English? As it stands I think this could even be called a fringe position that this amounts to "psychological warfare" and maybe it shouldn't be in that section or the lede either. There are prolific sources which describe COINTELPRO tactics, is Glick the only one who calls this psychological warfare? "Dirty tricks" is not psychological warfare to my knowledge. Batvette ( talk) 02:14, 23 April 2012 (UTC)
It's very important to have information like this be well documented. Otherwise any errors can be used by those who want to dismiss the subject at hand as a mere conspiracy theory. It's certainly a distinct possibility that a racist organization would use character assassination without requiring the prompting of the FBI.
Of the four citations given in that part of article two make no reference to COINTELPRO. A third, now dead, was a book review of the fourth citation. The review makes no direct reference to COINTELPRO, though it's a bit closer to what I'm looking for. I think this could best be resolved by a page number or chapter reference within Mary Stanton's book. It's quite important to know exactly where the author is getting her information. I was unable to find such a reference via the horrific Google Books interface.
I was able to fix the dead link via the Wayback Machine, and am holding off tagging the disputed section while awaiting a response to my concerns. C_J_E ( talk) 20:10, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
I was able to find the allegations as to Hoover's direct involvement in the Mary Stanton book at Pg 190 Chapter 7. I'm going to make a slight change to the problematic wording in the article, which should resolve the dispute here in a mutally agreeable way. — Preceding unsigned comment added by My initials were taken ( talk • contribs) 22:03, 26 April 2012 (UTC)
Conspiracy theories—even published ones—should not be implied to be commonly accepted facts, and certainly not as they pertain to the still-living persons who may have been involved. As stated previously in the thread above, there is little or no evidence to support accusations of state-sponsored "assassinations". We're not talking about Watergate or Iran-Contra; these allegations have not been tried in any court. While it might be frustrating that the courts have been reluctant to try any COINTELPRO cases, this article should not be a soapbox about it. This all needs to be clarified as allegations, or in some cases (to avoid undue weight), removed entirely. Kafziel Complaint Department: Please take a number 18:23, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
A few examples:
Myriad other problems here, but these are a few I've tried to address. We're in desperate need of some neutral (as in, not famously anti-establishment), reliable (as in, not by outside theorists but actual participants) sources. I'll try to find time for that. Kafziel Complaint Department: Please take a number 18:55, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
Good debate here so far. I appreciate that all parties are respectful and constructive. I have a few questions. (1) While there seems little debate that Hampton's killing was a politically-motivated murder, I'm not so sure that the blame can be confidently placed on the FBI, given that the local police were also involved. This doesn't exonerate the FBI, but it does raise a reasonable doubt when it comes to accusing the FBI of "assassination". (2a) The BP witnesses re Pratt's whereabouts denied his presence in the Bay Area during the original trial. This changing story makes the Oakland BP position unreliable. (2b) Pratt's conviction was overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct in not disclosing a key witness's informant work. Does this impeach the witness's testimony? (2c) While prosecutorial misconduct in Pratt's original trial is indisputable, it seems to me a stretch to assume Pratt's innocence. Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:26, 4 November 2012 (UTC)
I've read this commentary and will refrain from adding anything to the actual article. As one who has been a (sometimes) friend of the Bureau (and to better illustrate some of the problems here), I will add here what I know about one incident.
The allegation re the encounter between the Black Panthers and United Slaves is based on the following claimed facts, viz., that the Bureau wanted to "neutralize" co-operation between the Panthers and the Slaves by sowing dissension among the members of each organization. To accomplish that, unknown individuals believed to have been working for the Bureau burglarized the Panthers' offices in Los Angeles and stole blank letterhead belonging to that organization. That letterhead was used by someone to write an insulting note to the Slaves leader, Ron Karenga, and the said note was, indeed, delivered to him.
The intent alleged was merely to make Karenga mad and distrustful of the Panthers' leaders (including Bunchy Carter); but, Karenga flew off the handle and, in response, ordered several of his myrmidons to have Carter killed.
This, indeed, is what happened, and since the police were watching all along, they quickly solved the crime and really "neutralized" Karenga by sending him to prison for life for murder.
Now, people can castigate the Bureau for sanctioning (and even participating in) black-bag jobs; and, there is little doubt that these did occur. Indeed, Mark Felt (who eventually became Watergate's Deep Throat) was prosecuted and convicted for participating in them when the target was the Weather Underground.
Also, the same kinds of "letterhead" dirty tricks were used by Nixon's conspirators to sabotage the Democrats (and recall that Gordon Liddy was a former FBI agent who obviously learned how to do such stunts somewhere).
But, it completely stretches the truth to call the likes of that the Bureau's "assassination" of Carter.
Such a claim simply has no foundation in the evidence. Rather, it is a characterization on the part of individuals with their own ax to grind and who are offering their interpretation of the evidence.
If Wiki wants to be an encyclopedia, then these errors are precisely what it has to guard against. The Bureau can be accused of a lot (and some of it actually will stick), but a claim of "assassination" needs to be supported with solid evidence, not the opinions of random writers who can't even tell us who burgled the Panthers' office.
Robert Crim — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.112.56.154 ( talk) 23:49, 18 September 2013 (UTC)
Thoughts? groupuscule ( talk) 21:06, 25 August 2012 (UTC)
The Bureau's politically-motivated and activist investigations date back to the very beginning. Hoover's animus against black activism dates back to the Bureau's investigation of Marcus Garvey, and the Nation of Islam beginning in the 30s. IS there a place for some of this history in this article? Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:34, 4 November 2012 (UTC)
I've removed an old POV template with a dormant discussion, per the instructions on that template's page:
If editors are continuing to work toward resolution of any issue and I missed it, however, please feel free to restore. Cheers, -- Khazar2 ( talk) 03:43, 17 December 2012 (UTC)
The claim that COINTELPRO targeted Scientology is sourced to a Usenet posting. Really, is that what passes for reliability? Or is it just a leftover from the whole "Chanology" craze that should be removed? 2001:558:6045:1D:56E:DCCB:ED9D:24EA ( talk) 23:54, 13 April 2013 (UTC)
User:Thargor Orlando has now made two attempts to delete all of the external links section except government sources. Their edit summary invokes WP:EL, but there is nothing in our external links policy to exclude these videos, documents, etc. They were not added by spammers and they enrich the utility of the article for our readers. This seems to be part of a larger initiative on Thargor Orlando's part to simply delete sources they don't like. As far as I'm concerned, these deletions should be treated as vandalism. I'm interested to know the opinion of others. Thanks, groupuscule ( talk) 15:25, 30 August 2013 (UTC)
I understand that COINTELPRO might be a favorite subject of conspiracy theorists, but does it really need to be connected to that topic? It dilutes the definition of "conspiracy theory." COINTELPRO was not a 'theory,' but a real, validated, proven program... Maurizio689 ( talk) 18:57, 4 October 2013 (UTC)
"One of the great mysteries of the Vietnam War era has been solved. In 1971, a group of peace activists broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and lifted files that helped reveal the FBI’s elaborate program of illegally spying on political groups. The documents, given to journalists at the time, provided the first hints of a secret counter intelligence program, or COINTELPRO, the FBI’s secret program to infiltrate, monitor and disrupt social movements. The burglars called themselves the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI." SOURCE petrarchan47 t c 00:02, 9 January 2014 (UTC)
I question whether Ward Churchill's book can be considered a reliable source, given his extensively-documented history of research fraud. I would prefer that other, reliable sources be substituted. Pokey5945 ( talk) 21:21, 15 June 2014 (UTC)
The last time I saw this article, it stated that 85% of COINTELPRO resources were dedicated to targeting "subversive" groups, particularly leftists. It now states that 85% were dedicated to targeting "patriotic" and "conservative" groups. It now makes no mention of the SWP or the Black Panthers in that paragraph, but apparently includes "a broad range of organizations labeled "Anarcho-Capitalist" (dead link)", something I've never encountered in my studies of COINTELPRO or the U.S. government's response to the movements of the global 1960s. The edit was made by IP 68.199.99.160 and was clearly ideological. They even kept the same citation for the opposite information.
I'm a historian, but I'm not an active Wikipedia editor, so could someone who knows how to revert the old page please do so? This ideological vandalism will give anyone who visits the page a horribly inaccurate idea of this important piece of history. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.165.13.181 ( talk) 05:23, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
See Wikipedia:Village_pump (miscellaneous)/Archive 47#Take a deep breath... (permalink [2]) Maybe the third paragraph of the lede does contain the longest sentence in Wikipedia, or maybe again it doesn't. Either way, as sentences go, it is actually a lot more intelligible than others I've seen (and quite possibly written), but might merit at least a look for the sake of us older readers, who sometimes have trouble remembering the start of such constructions at the half-way point, never mind the end (and per Mark Twain, will never master the German language [3]). Just a thought. Not a criticism (because I'm not sure I could do better) but a thought... AndyTheGrump ( talk) 22:51, 22 December 2014 (UTC)
The quoted source talks about FBI and Malcolm X. It does not mention Martin Luther King. I have not come across any notable mention of schism between Martin Luther and Nation of Islam. Even if such schism existed and can be supported with sources, I have not heard of this supposed schism leading to Martin Luther's Death. Please elaborate further.-- Wikishagnik ( talk) 02:09, 2 May 2015 (UTC)
There is an early bias in this page against popular progressive Democratic political figures (RFK and FDR). The term "antecedents" is used to implicate FDR in COINTELPRO when FDR's minimal involvement in surveillance (as described in this very page: asking the FBI to file the names of persons sending him letters opposed to his wartime national defense policy) followed DECADES of Federal government surveillance and/or active violent repression of leftist or labor groups under every administration since Republicans Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft in 1908-09. Since the prime target of COINTELPRO was "communism",ANYTHING the FBI did to destroy socialist or communist organizations prior to COINTELPRO can be defined as "antecedent" so why single out FDR? If this singling out is solely referenced here because of the Church Committee report then that should be cited so in the text. A false impression is created here that FDR started or was instrumental in creating COINTELPRO when, in fact it was the Republican Eisenhower Administration under which this formally began, and another Republican administration in which "anarchist" illegal activities and repession began in the first place. The Palmer Raids were far more invasive and illegal than FDR's involvement, yet we aren't reading here "antecendents to COINTELPRO operated under Woodrow Wilson." Why not? As for RFK, he only authorized wire tapping of MLK for "a month or so" but Hoover extended that for years and went way beyond the scope RFK had intended. Taken together, this page exhibits a bias. 2606:6000:C5C2:CA00:2D6E:9B66:91E5:699B ( talk) 07:41, 25 May 2015 (UTC)
In Brian Glick's War at Home of primacy is detailed in the following quote:
Director Webster's highly touted reforms did not create a "new FBI."They served mainly to modernize the existing Bureau and to make it even more dangerous. In place of the backbiting competition with other law enforcement and intelligence agencies which had previously impeded coordination of domestic counter-insurgency, Webster promoted inter-agency cooperation. (pg.20) AND The combined experience of these veteran covert operatives has given rise to a growing literature and theory of counter-insurgency. (pg.37)
For example, an FBI memorandum in the Church Hearings concerning the American Indian Movement (AIM) refers to violent members as 'insurgents'.
So the evolution could possibly be COINTELPRO to modern day counter-insurgency as Brian Glick maintains.
Counter-insurgency domestically is most likely Homeland Security & Public Safety. At the onset of the Ferguson unrest the headlines were "counter-insurgency cops". Outlook.redirect ( talk) 18:46, 24 August 2015 (UTC)
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The New York Times article "The Black Panther Toll is Now 28" (found here) is used multiple times in support of the assertion that the FBI targeted Fred Hampton. Neither the FBI or COINTELPRO are mentioned in the article, so I am removing the source per {{failed verification}}. - Location ( talk) 20:14, 16 October 2015 (UTC)
I noticed that there were opinions from the people like Dhoruba Bin Wahad and groups such as the Church committee; however, there seems to be a lack of expressed opinions from FBI Agents themselves or other people working within the government or COINTELPRO. This could possibly add more viewpoints of the how COINTELPRO was viewed, not only from the outside or by those affected, but also by those who were affected on the inside. Otherwise, this may lead to a more favorable viewpoint to the reader rather than the article just being neutral.
Also, there could be more of a representation other groups that were targeted by the FBI in COINTELPRO. The article largely focuses on the experiences of people within the Civil Rights Movement and Black Power Movement. While this is great, there could be a comparison of how other groups may have been affected by COINTELPRO. This may articulate how some groups may have been affected by COINTELPRO on a more severe level or if the experiences by the saboteurs were similar. This could possibly be fixed by adding quotes from members in groups like the Klu Klux Klan or other feminists organizations. TDFergus ( talk) 01:29, 2 February 2017 (UTC)
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MOS:LEAD states the following about images in an article lead: As with all images, but particularly the lead, the image used should be relevant and technically well-produced. It is also common for the lead image to be representative because it provides a visual association for the topic, and allow readers to quickly assess if they have arrived at the right page."
With that in consideration, I don't think a photo of Viola Liuzzo makes sense as a photo in the lead. The lead mentions Martin Luther King, Jr., Fred Hampton, J. Edgar Hoover, and others, but not Viola Liuzzo. As far as I can tell, Liuzzo is one of a number of victims of COINTELPRO, but not the face of COINTELPRO. 154.160.17.72 reverted my removal of the image, stating that "She was part of civil rights groups int he [sic] 1960s, which is in the lead." But I think this is a pretty tenuous connection to make to justify inclusion. There were many people who were part of the civil rights groups mentioned in the lead. If there is a better justification for her inclusion, I would like to hear it. Trinitresque ( talk) 02:34, 9 May 2018 (UTC)
The lead as well as the article mention "assassination" and "murder" as being one of the ways in which COINTELPRO could "neutralize" subversive targets.
However, is there any actual evidence that the FBI knowingly used "murder and assassination" as a tactic? I haven't seen any, so I suggest that the lead be changed, since it gives the impression that assassinations were a part of CONINTELPRO.
PLEASE NOTE: I'm not saying that nobody died as an eventual consequence of COINTELPRO. There is no doubt that some of their tactics (creating splits and encouraging dissent within Black movements) led to people dying. But the FBI couldn't possibly have known that NOI or US would end up killing Malcolm X or Black Panthers. At least there is no evidence of that.
Likewise, while Fred Hamptons death seems suspicious, there is no evidence that FBI was involved. Sure, the FBI cooperated with Chicago PD. But even if we suppose that he was murdered in a premeditated way by Chicago PD, that doesn't mean that the FBI/COINTELPRO were involved or even knew about it.
Regarding the reference to a "Secret Army Organization" there is incredibly little material on this group, aside from Choskys claims. I certainly don't see them being mentioned by reputable sources much. Given this fact, and the fact that the SAO didn't really seem to do much of anything, I suggest that we delete the reference.
90.184.72.43 (
talk)
13:36, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
This edit tells: "COINTELPRO tactics are still used to this day, and have been alleged to include ... harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination." I quickly looked at the sources provided and do not really see support for this text. Which source it was? Moreover, this page only covers a period of time from 1956 to 1971. My very best wishes ( talk) 00:22, 5 June 2018 (UTC)
References
Why was this material below reverted?
"According to a report by the Inspector General (IG) of the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI improperly opened investigations of American activist groups, even though they were planning nothing more than peaceful protests and civil disobedience. The review by the inspector general was launched in response to complaints by civil liberties groups and members of Congress. The FBI improperly monitored groups including the Thomas Merton Center, a Pittsburgh-based peace group; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); and Greenpeace USA, an environmental activist organization. Also, activists affiliated with Greenpeace were improperly put on a terrorist watch list, although they were planning no violence or illegal activities."Cite error: The <ref>
tag has too many names (see the
help page).
I maybe not have sourced it all properly, but if you read that pdf file, all that information in that above paragraph is sourced there. Lylefong94 ( talk) 14:53, 11 June 2018 (UTC)
References
The section about this really needs to be cleaned up and clear examples included: In the 1980s they were infiltrating and spying on a Communist group even as it was suing them for the COINTELPRO-era activities (the details are in Betty Medsgers book The Burglary), William Blums book and other sources have claimed they were infiltrating Central American solidarity groups in the 1980s, Eric McDavid was entrapped in their campaign against 'eco-terrorism', the 2009 Bronx terrorism plot is just one of numerous examples of Muslims being similarly entrapped, a couple years ago they admitted to infiltrating the Church groups that protest outside the School of the Americas, at the Dakota Access Pipeline protest an FBI informant was sleeping with one of the leaders and somehow his pistol wound up on her when shots were fired at private security. And it is claimed that numerous cases of terrorists being apprehended by the FBI are entrapment: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/how-fbi-entrapment-is-inventing-terrorists-and-letting-bad-guys-off-the-hook-244905/ LamontCranston ( talk) 13:20, 23 January 2019 (UTC)
Did the program actually start in the 30s? I've heard that Anarchist and whatnot were rounded up and deported. Did this not take place under COINTELPRO? 46.109.144.132 ( talk) 16:47, 13 June 2019 (UTC)
Can anyone summarize this and post information regarding this in the "Later similar operations" section? 129.45.59.227 ( talk) 10:02, 22 June 2019 (UTC)
I've heard the FBI did certain things to neutralize environmentalist in the 80's. Anyone here have any information on this? If so, can you please share any sourced information you might have? Not just the 80s, but any era what was done to environmentalist would be fine. Thanks a lot in advance. 104.0.45.37 ( talk)
There is a Request for Comment at the Fred Hampton article which may interest folks at this page. You are invited to participate! GPRamirez5 ( talk) 14:45, 8 October 2019 (UTC)
@ 146.199.180.157:, Please state a valid rationale for keeping those lines, as just saying that the Dutch Wikipedia keeps it doesn't mean anything. The lines are very much implied and are just pointless bytes added to the file size. puggo ( talk) 23:21, 27 October 2019 (UTC)
In the section "Notable people targeted", a man named "John Branch" is listed at the very bottom. I believe the linked person is the wrong John Branch (born 1782 and Florida's territorial governor) and someone else is supposed to be linked. FredModulars ( talk) 21:40, 19 December 2020 (UTC)
The source for Malcolm X being targeted is the nation of Islam's webpage. Seeing as they're the ones that assassinated Malcolm X, I would assume they're an unacceptable reference. Keytud ( talk) 16:37, 23 May 2021 (UTC)