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 ============================================================================= 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 ============================================================================= Top Assault excerpt Page 82: 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 ... Top Assault excerpt Memo to Field Offices