2 The Harassment of political groups by the FBI
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A secret project called COINTELPRO (counter intelligence program) was initiated by the FBI which illegally formed projects to infiltrate domestic political organizations just to disgrace them. The activity included slander and fictitious accusations through forged documents, psychological warfare, false media reporting, wrongful imprisonment and intimidation. Some of the victims were Vietnam War critics and activists against it, civil rights groups led by leaders such as Martin Luther King and various journalists.
A book titled The United States of Paranoia stated how the FBI got targets fired from jobs, break up of marriages, publishing inflammatory literature against activist and leaders. One example was when a wedge was driven between the Students Democratic Society who was falsely accused of being a cowardly group that exploited the Black Panther social rights group making them do dirty work but reaping its benefits. The operation was successful when the Black Panther members were instructed not to associate themselves with members of the SD group. Martin Luther King’s hotel room was bugged; an attempt was made to break his marriage and sending him anonymous letters to push him to suicide. The facts such FBI conspiracies were revealed when anti war activists broke into an FBI office and discovered documents relating to such programs.
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