Egypt Election: Muslim Brotherhood Candidate Could Face...
COINTELPRO is an acronym for the FBI’s Counter Intelligence Program, which was used in the 1960s to monitor, manipulate and disrupt social movements in the United States. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Black Panthers and the American Indian Movement were among the program’s targets. Democracy Now! has extensively covered COINTELPRO and its aftermath, as well as similar tactics still used today against anti-war and animal rights activists.
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Former Black Panther Leader, Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, Wrongfully Imprisoned for 27 Years, Dies in Tanzania
We look at the life of former Black Panther, Geronimo ji-Jaga Pratt, who died in Tanzania on Thursday. In 1972, Pratt was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Caroline Olsen for which he spent 27 years in prison, eight of those in solitary confinement. He was released in 1997 after a judge vacated his conviction. The trial to...June 06, 2011 | Story -
Noam Chomsky on Civil Rights, Obama, Latin America, and the History of the U.S. in the Middle East
We continue our conversation with world-renowned public intellectual Noam Chomsky. [includes rush transcript]Watch Part I of the Interview Democracy Uprising in the USA?hereusanoam
February 17, 2011 | Blog Post -
FBI Expands Probe into Antiwar Activists
The FBI’s probe into antiwar activists is growing. In September, FBI agents raided the homes and offices of activists in Chicago and Minneapolis. Subpoenas that were withdrawn have been reactivated, and a new subpoena was served to a Palestinian solidarity activist in Chicago. We speak with two of the people targeted and...December 23, 2010 | Story -
FBI Documents on Senator Paul Wellstone Raise Questions about His Death 8 Years Ago
Minnesota Public Radio has obtained the FBI record of the late Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota, who died in a plane crash eight years ago this week. The records show the FBI first tracked Wellstone in 1970 after he was arrested at an anti-Vietnam War protest. The records might also raise new questions about the plane crash...October 29, 2010 | Story -
"The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther"
Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. On December 4th, 1969, Chicago police raided Fred Hampton’s apartment and shot and killed him in his bed. He was just twenty-one years old. Black Panther leader Mark Clark was also killed in the raid. While authorities claimed the Panthers...December 04, 2009 | Story -
Democracy Now! Broadcast Exclusive: Declassified Docs Reveal Military Operative Spied on WA Peace Groups, Activist Friends Stunned
Newly declassified documents reveal that an active member of Students for a Democratic Society and Port Militarization Resistance in Washington state was actually an informant for the US military. The man everyone knew as "John Jacob" was in fact John Towery, a member of the Force Protection Service at Fort Lewis. The military’s role in the spying raises questions about possibly...July 28, 2009 | Story -
"Disclosure of ‘Secrets’ in the ’70s Didn’t Destroy the Nation"
Back in the Watergate era, the Church Committee documented and exposed extraordinary abuses by the government. Of course some people tried to block its work—Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld. Sound familiar? We confront a similar challenge today.April 29, 2009 | Blog Post -
Flashback: A Look Back at the Church Committee’s Investigation into CIA , FBI Misuse of Power
We take a look at one of the most famous special Senate investigations of government misconduct. In the mid-1970s, a US Senate committee chaired by Democratic Senator Frank Church of Idaho conducted a massive investigation of the CIA and FBI’s misuse of power at home and abroad. The multi-year investigation examined domestic spying, the CIA’s attempts to assassinate foreign leaders,...April 24, 2009 | Story -
Democracy Now! Special: Martin Luther King’s Life and Legacy 40 Years After His Assassination
The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated forty years ago today. He was in Memphis, Tennessee to march with sanitation workers demanding a better wage. We spend the hour on his life and legacy. We hear from the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was with King at the Lorraine Motel, where he was killed; Harry Belafonte, who was with Coretta Scott King at the King home in Atlanta on April 4, 1968;...April 04, 2008 | Story -
Former Black Panther Details Brutal Police Torture to Extract Confession in 1971 Murder Case
Two Nobel Peace Prize laureates are calling for all charges to be dropped against eight former Black Panthers arrested earlier this year for allegedly killing a San Francisco police officer over 35 years ago. Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mairead Maguire said the charges against the San Francisco Eight should be dropped, because the case is based in part on statements made under torture. Harold Taylor,...November 30, 2007 | Story -
Will You Die With Me? My Life and the Black Panther Party
Flores Forbes first joined the Black Panther Party when he was 16 years old. He became the youngest member of the Black Panther’s Central Committee and ended up spending nearly five years in prison for an attempted assassination. Flores is now chief strategic officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation in Harlem. His new memoir is called "Will You Die With Me? My Life and the Black...November 22, 2006 | Story -
An Impeachable Offense? Bush Admits Authorizing NSA to Eavesdrop on Americans Without Court Approval
President Bush has admitted he secretly ordered the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans without ever seeking court approval. Famed constitutional attorney Martin Garbus and former intelligence officer Christopher Pyle both say it is an impeachable offense. We also speak with investigative journalist James Bamford about the history of the NSA. Plus, The New York Times exposed the...December 19, 2005 | Story -
Senators George McGovern and Mike Gravel Reflect on How Deep Throat Helped Bring Down the Nixon Presidency by Exposing the Watergate Scandal
We look back at President Nixon’s political dirty tricks and intelligence-gathering operations that had helped Nixon win re-election over McGovern in 1972. [includes rush transcript]June 02, 2005 | Story -
EXCLUSIVE ... Jennifer Dohrn: I Was The Target Of Illegal FBI Break-Ins Ordered by Mark Felt aka "Deep Throat"
Mark Felt — who was exposed this week as Deep Throat — was one of only two FBI officials ever to be convicted for ordering COINTELPRO operations. In 1980 he was convicted for ordering FBI agents to break into the home of Dohrn and other associates of the Weather Underground. He was later pardoned by President Reagan. Jennifer Dohrn discusses the FBI surveillance, break-ins and a secret...June 02, 2005 | Story -
The Return of COINTELPRO : FBI Launches Nationwide Surveillance Of Activists Ahead of GOP Convention
The FBI has begun interrogating activists in Colorado, Kansas and other states about their plans to protest at the convention. Meanwhile the NYPD has put 56 activists around the country under 24 hours surveillance. Reports indicate the NYPD has assigned one supervisor and six police officers to track each of the 56 activists. [includes rush transcript]August 19, 2004 | Story -
Hip Hop Journalist Davey D on Police Surveillance of Rappers, the National Hip Hop Convention and the 2004 Election
Recent reports in Miami and New York have revealed how the police in these cities have been closely monitoring the hip hop community in ways critics say are a throwback to COINTELPRO. We talk acclaimed hip hop journalist Davey D who hosts a daily show on Pacifica station KPFA. [includes rush transcript]April 19, 2004 | Story -
"Me and My Shadow": A History of the FBI’s Covert Operations and COINTELPRO
Today on Democracy Now! we are going to return to the era of the FBI’s domestic so-called 'counter-intelligence' program, or COINTELPRO.June 06, 2002 | Story
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"Me and My Shadow": A History of the FBI’s Covert Operations and COINTELPRO
The House and Senate intelligence committees on Tuesday began their investigation into whether the FBI and CIA overlooked signals that warned of September 11th.June 05, 2002 | Story
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Does 'Arab National' Plus 'Flight School' Necessarily Equal 'Threat'? As Ashcroft Slashes COINTELPRO Restrictions On Domestic Spying, a Debate On Racial Profiling, Civil Liberties and National Securit
FBI director Robert Mueller III expressed regret on Wednesday about the FBI headquarters’ handling of a memo from its Phoenix office about a large number of Arabs seeking training at a U.S. flight school.May 30, 2002 | Story
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From COINTELPRO to the Shadow Government: As Fred Hampton Jr. Is Released From 9 Years Ofprison, a Look Back at the Assassination of Fred Hampton
In a moment we are going to hear from Fred Hampton Jr., who was recently released from prison in Illinois where heserved 9 years on charges of "aggravated arson" following the nationwide protests in 1992 after the acquittal of theLA police officers who beat Rodney King. Fred Hampton Jr. is the son of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton who wasassassinated on December 4, 1969 in a COINTELPRO...March 05, 2002 | Story
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By Amy Goodman with Denis Moynihan
Gen. John Allen, commander of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, spoke Wednesday at the Pentagon, four stars on each shoulder, his chest bedecked with medals. Unlike Allen, many decorated U.S. military veterans left the streets of Chicago after the NATO summit without their medals.
Web Exclusives
In an extended interview, David Bronner, president of Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, discusses the history of the company, why they put sustainability and social justice ahead of profits, the organic and GMO labeling movements, the U.S. war on hemp, and why they refuse to sell out. [includes rush transcript]
Human Rights Watch’s Kenneth Roth examines why the U.S. has not pressured Bahrain to release pro-democracy activists. He also discusses Syria and the conditions in Israeli jails and courts that prompted 1,550 Palestinian prisoners to go on a hunger strike. [includes rush transcript]
