The purpose of posting this excerpt is for use when someone hostile to our search for justice states that government "would never do such a thing", referring to crimes against the government's own citzens.
The author permits limited, properly footnoted excerpts without written
permission.
Memo to Field Offices
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Page 62:
GOVERNMENT ASSAULTS, BEATINGS, AND KILLINGS: Under the guise of enforcing
the law, FBI agents and police officers routinely roughed up 1960s activists
and often threatened or injured them. The coordinator of PEN American
Center's Freedom to Write Committee recorded the experience of one
alternative newspaper:
Kudzu, produced in Jackson, Mississippi, served as a major
organizational center for the New Left and counterculture in the
area. The tenacity of the paper and its allies can be gauged by
the fact that by 1968 the newspaper had survived a conviction on
obscenity charges, the arrest of salespeople, the confiscation of
cameras, and even eviction from its offices. On October 8, 1968,
eighteen staff members and supporters of Kudzu were attacked
and beaten by Jackson deputy sherriffs ... In 1970, Kudzu was
put under direct surveillance by the FBI. For more than two months
FBI agents made daily searches without warrants ... On October
24 and 25, Kudzu sponsored a Southern regional conference of the
Underground Press Syndicate. The night before the conference the
FBI and Jackson detectives searched the Kudzu offices twice.
During the search, an FBI agent threatened to kill Kudzu staffers.
On the morning of October 26, FBI agents again searched the offices.
That evening local police entered the building, held its eight
occupants at gunpoint, produced a bag of marijuana, then arrested
them ... A Kudzu staff member commented, "The FBI used to be
fairly sophisticated, but lately they have broken one of our doors,
pointed guns in our faces, told us that 'Punks like you don't have
any rights', and threatened to shoot us on the street if they see
us with our hands in our pockets." [166]
Similar violence was used to disperse 1960s demonstrations, with proactive
acts by undercover agents often providing a convenient pretext. Southern
police attacks on civil rights workers in the early 1960s have been widely
publicized, most recently in the film "Eyes on the Prize". Contrary to the
impression promoted by the media, however, 1960s brutality against political
protesters was not limited to any one period or region. As progressive
momentum surged in the final years of the decade, "Southern justice" spread
throughout the country. Unarmed demonstrators were attacked by police and
national guardsmen in Ohio (Kent State), Kansas, Wisconsin, Illinois, New
York, California and Puerto Rico as well as Mississippi (Jackson State) and
North Carolina (Orangeburg). Thousands were beaten and injured. Hundreds
were wounded and hospitalized. At least 17 were killed. [167]
166. Rips, Geoffrey, "The Campaign against the Underground Press"
(A PEN American Center Report), in UnAmerican Activities
(City Lights Books, 1981); Mackenzie, Angus, "Sabotaging the
Dissident Press", Columbia Journalism Reveiw, March 3,
1981; Armstrong, David, A Trumpet to Arms: The Alternative
Media in America (South End Press, 1981), pp. 137ff.
167. Goldstein, pp. 509-513; Petition to the United Nations,
p. 24
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MEMO TO FIELD OFFICES
This is not an excerpt from Brian Glick's writing itself. It is, however,
an excerpted FBI directive to its field offices, both in Brian Glick's files
and in the FBI Reading Room in Washington DC. Another source of FBI
COINTELPRO papers is COINTELPRO PAPERS: Documents from the FBI's Secret
War on Domestic Dissent (South End Press, 1989. REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING
FBI DOCUMENT IS EXCERPTED:
COUNTERINTELLIGENCE PROGRAM
INTERNAL SECURITY
DISRUPTION OF THE NEW LEFT
(COINTELPRO - NEW LEFT)
7/5/68
Bulletin 5/10/68 requested suggestions for Counterintelligence action against
the New Left. The replies to the Bureau's request have been analyzed and it
is felt that the following suggestions for counterintelligence action can be
utilized by all offices:
1. Preparation of a leaflet desgined to counteract the impression that
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and other minority groups
speak for the majority of students at universities. The leaflet
should contain photographs of New Left leadership at the respective
university. Naturally the most obnoxious pictures should be used.
2. The instigating of or the taking advantage of personal conflicts or
animosities existing between New Left leaders.
3. The creating of impressions that certain New Left leaders are
informants for the Bureau or other law enforcement agencies.
4. The use of articles from student newspapers and/or the "underground
press" to show the depravity of New Left leaders and members. In
this connection, articles showing the use of narcotics and free sex
are ideal to send to university officials, wealthy donors, members
of the legislature and parents of students who are active New Left
members.
5. Since the use of marijuana and other narcotics is widespread among
members of the New Left, you should be alert to opportunities to
have them arrested by local authorities on drug charges ...
6. The drawing up of anonymous letters regarding individuals active in
the New Left. These letters should set out their activities and
should be sent to their parents, neighbors, and the parents'
employers. This could have the effect of forcing the parents to
take action.
7. Anonymous letters describing faculty members and graduate assistants
in the various institutions of higher learning who are active in New
Left matters. The activities and associations of the individual
should be set out. Anonymous mailings should be made to university
officials, members of the state legislature, Board of Regents, and
to the press. Such letters could be signed "A Concerned Alumni" or
"A Concerned Taxpayer".
8. Whenever New Left gropus engage in disruptive activities on college
campuses, cooperative press contacts should be encouraged to emphasize
that the disruptive elements constitute a minority of the students
and do not represent the conviction of the majority ...
9. There is a definite hostility among SDS and other New Left groups
toward Socialist Workers Party (SWP), the Young Socialist Alliance
(YSA), and the Progressive Labor Party (PLP). This hostility should
be exploited wherever possible.
10. The field was previously advised that the New Left gropus are
attempting to open coffeehouses near military bases in order to
influence members of the Armed Forces. Wherever these coffeehouses
are, friendly news media should be alerted to them and their purpose.
In addition, various drugs such as marijuana, will probably be utilized
by individuals running the coffeehouses or frequenting them. Local
law enforcement authorities should be promptly advised whenever you
receive an indication that this is being done.
11. Consider the use of cartoons, photographs, and anonymous letters
which will have the effect of ridiculing the New Left. Ridicule
is one of the most potent weapons we can use against it.
12. Be alert for opportunities to confuse and disrupt New Left activities
by misinformation. For example, when events are planned, notification
that the event has been cancelled or postponed could be sent to various
individuals ...
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Assault excerpt
Memo to Field Offices