Defining COINTELPRO

A reader emailed me this evening requesting that I define COINTELPRO as discussed in my last post. It seems that suddenly it is a popular term, though few using it have real knowledge of the program or its effects on the lives of so many that chose to dedicate their lives to fighting injustice in history or today. As a student of Cold War era history in an academic context and in life experiences I am able to offer two perspectives of the US Counter Intelligence Program referred to as COINTELPRO.

Most are aware that COINTELPRO was implemented by the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover during the civil rights era and that Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were victims of the covert activities and scheme to disseminate misinformation and otherwise disrupt activities that furthered civil rights in the United States. Few understand the broad use of the program against any group deemed subversive under Hoover's directive.

The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a little mentioned movement these days, yet Leonard Peltier, American political prisoner, still wastes away in a federal prison. The AIM was under attack by the FBI during the same years that the Black Panther Party (BPP) was, but there's little doubt that the BPP was a primary target with many members languishing in prisons across the US today.

What did agents do under COINTELPRO?

The primary goal of COINTELPRO was to disrupt any group activities utilizing any means necessary. Agents would:

1. Create an atmosphere of animosity between rival groups that were not necessarily enemies in any way, but simply had different agendas. The FBI made the groups enemies.

2. Infiltrate any group considered subversive and destroy the group credibility in public perception while turning members and colleagues against each other.

3. Play the part of provocateur by inciting violence at peaceful protests and events.

4. Infiltrate and destroy family relationships and friendships with the intention of isolating the victim. Various means were used to achieve the goal including, but not limited to, forged letters to friends and colleagues, anonymous letters that discredited members to wives or husbands, anonymous telephone calls claiming members were informants, and painted a person with the "snitch jacket". A snitch jacket is when the agent spreads word that the victim is an informant when the truth is quite the opposite.

5. Agents actually committed violent acts against members of one group and left behind evidence that the acts were committed by a rival group.

6. Harassed, strong-armed, and threatened group family member, friends, and employers.

7. Planted drugs and guns in order to arrest and jail a victim.

8. Made the movement look foolish and/or prone to violence or as fringe radicals.

9. Plotted assassinations of group members; Fred Hampton is one example.

10. Utilized various illegal surveillance methods.

The feds used every tool in the toolbox to ruin and disrupt civil rights and anti-war movements. Socialist and pro-Communist groups (CPUSA for example) were substantial targets as were academics. Thousands of classified documents have been released in relation to COINTELPRO, but there is little doubt that many more will never be released by the federal government.

COINTELPRO is still in operation today, though methods used by agents have been redefined and modernized. Cyber warfare is really just a new way of playing the same old game, usually from the safe position of a keyboard in an office, but still with physical violence when deemed necessary.

Back in late 2007, I joined Cop Watch in Orlando, or rather I wanted to. I immediately discovered that an MBI agent was a member of the group so I never returned after the first meeting. One must always be aware of infiltrators in group or movement that would be a problem to those in authority is state and federal agencies. A couple of movements at the forefront today strike me as covert operations, though I will leave the parties nameless today as this is about defining COINTELPRO. I am positive that I am considered a dissident by at least a couple of federal agencies. Oh well.