COINTELPRO Exposed - FBI's Secret War on Civil Rights and Dissent Revealed

The Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI burglarized an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole classified documents that exposed COINTELPRO—the FBI’s covert and illegal program to surveil, infiltrate, discredit, and disrupt American civil rights organizations and political activists. The revelations documented a systematic 15-year campaign of domestic political repression.

The Burglary

On March 8, 1971, a group of anti-war activists calling themselves the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into the FBI field office in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole approximately 1,000 classified documents. The burglary was timed to coincide with the Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier boxing match, when the activists calculated that FBI agents and guards would be distracted. The stolen documents were anonymously mailed to journalists and members of Congress.

COINTELPRO Revealed

The documents exposed COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program), a series of covert and illegal projects conducted by the FBI from 1956 to 1971 under FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. The program targeted a wide range of domestic political organizations and individuals deemed subversive, including:

• Civil rights leaders, particularly Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X
• The Black Panther Party (233 of 295 operations against black nationalist groups targeted the Panthers)
• Anti-Vietnam War organizations
• The New Left and student movements
• Feminist organizations
• Puerto Rican independence groups
• The Communist Party USA

Tactics of Disruption and Repression

The documents revealed that COINTELPRO operations used tactics including:

• Psychological warfare: Sending anonymous letters to create suspicion and paranoia within organizations
• Legal harassment: Using false arrests and fabricated charges to drain resources
• Infiltration: Planting informants and agents provocateurs to disrupt organizations from within
• Smear campaigns: Providing derogatory information to the media to discredit activists
• Intimidation: Using surveillance, wiretapping, and threats to frighten activists
• Blackmail: Threatening to expose personal information to coerce cooperation
• Violence: In some cases, FBI activities facilitated or directly enabled violent attacks on activists

Martin Luther King Jr. Targeted

One of the most disturbing revelations was the FBI’s extensive campaign against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. FBI memos revealed that the Bureau’s goal was to find “avenues of approach aimed at neutralizing King as an effective Negro leader” because officials feared he might become a “messiah” who could unify black nationalist movements. The FBI:

• Conducted extensive wiretapping and surveillance of King’s personal life
• Sent King an anonymous letter attempting to blackmail him into suicide
• Shared derogatory information about King with government officials and journalists
• Worked to prevent King from receiving honors and meeting with foreign leaders
• Attempted to disrupt the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers

COINTELPRO documents showed that the FBI had infiltrated the Black Panther Party with informant William O’Neal, who became Fred Hampton’s security chief. O’Neal provided floor plans of Hampton’s Chicago apartment to the FBI and allegedly drugged Hampton before a December 4, 1969, police raid that killed Hampton and Mark Clark. The raid was later revealed to be a planned assassination facilitated by COINTELPRO.

Of the 295 authorized COINTELPRO operations targeting black nationalist groups between 1956 and 1971, 233 were directed against the Black Panther Party, revealing the extent of the FBI’s campaign to destroy the organization.

Public Reaction and Congressional Investigation

The Media burglary revelations sparked public outrage and led to congressional investigations, including the 1975-1976 Church Committee hearings. The investigations confirmed the scope of COINTELPRO’s illegal activities and led to reforms establishing oversight of domestic intelligence operations. However, many documents remain classified, and the full extent of COINTELPRO activities has never been disclosed.

Significance

The exposure of COINTELPRO revealed that the FBI had operated as a domestic political police force, using illegal tactics to suppress constitutionally protected speech, assembly, and political organizing. The program demonstrated how surveillance and intelligence powers could be weaponized against American citizens exercising their First Amendment rights.

The legacy of COINTELPRO continues to shape Black communities’ relationship with law enforcement and government surveillance. The program’s tactics—infiltration, disruption, and using legal harassment to drain resources—established patterns that civil liberties advocates argue persist in modern surveillance of activists, particularly those involved in racial justice, environmental, and anti-war movements.