J. Edgar Hoover's FBI and COINTELPRO
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The COINTELPRO documents and investigation was made to stop “black” nationalist and even “white” nationalists.
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Many Black Panthers were arrested, spied on, killed, etc. because of these documents
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They plotted against Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., James Baldwin, Stokely Carmichael, and different organizations such as the Nation of Islam (NOI), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, and many more.
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Their plan was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize"
Bobby Rush said, “They [FBI] wanted to dismiss us as a street gang” and they did when they said, “Prevent militant black nationalist groups and leaders from gaining respectability, by discrediting them to the community.” They tried to make the Black Panther Party seem like a bad organization. Even though, they were helping the Black community by making food programs, free clinics, etc. This made the community turn against the Black Panther Party. Older people in the community looked down upon the Party even though they were doing good. They didn’t like how they were addressing the police; they thought they should just leave it alone.
Kathleen Cleaver said, “ We [Black Panther Party for Self-Defense] were held as colonial subjects within the United States.”
The COINTELPRO documents weren't just against the Blak Panther Party for Self-Defense. J. Edgar Hoover once stated, “Prevent the RISE OF A “MESSIAH” who could unify, and electrify the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a “Messiah;” he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael, and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammed is less of a threat because of his age. King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed “obedience” to “white, liberal doctrines” (nonviolence) and embrace black nationalism. Carmichael has the necessary charisma to be a real threat in this way.” ~COINTELPRO GOALS from an FBI memo dated 3/4/68 obtained by the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA)
The FBI sent letters to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense that were anonymous. They sent the letters anonymously so that they wouldn't embarrass the Bureau.
This exert of the COINTELPRO documents shows you that they had certain people to help them spy on the Black Panther Party and help them bring the Party down. An "informant" is a person that is used by the FBI to inform them about what is going on in the organization. These people helped the FBI "pull down" the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense.
The FBI documented the Dever police office raiding the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense Headquarters.
They even tried to scare the BPP. The policemen department used what the FBI was doing with the COINTELPRO to their advantage.
