As protests gain momentum, it's important to recognize and call out COINTELPRO-style behavior
Many people who engage in this type of behavior aren't feds. They probably mean well. They are also engaging in behaviors that are so good at disrupting movements that the FBI literally weaponized them
Many people who engage in this type of behavior aren't feds. They probably mean well. They are also engaging in behaviors that are so good at disrupting movements that the FBI literally weaponized them
Comments
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/23/texas-boogaloo-boi-minneapolis-police-building-george-floyd
COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story
https://cldc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/COINTELPRO.pdf
https://bsky.app/profile/johngreenla.bsky.social/post/3lm4s3pl36k2s
The FBI used COINTELPRO to neutralize left-wing movements, especially orgs fighting for Black liberation. Frivolous legal charges. Withholding evience. Intimidating witnesses
They also infiltrated organizations and disrupted them by provoking fights and stoking paranoia
Here's the relevant paragraph:
https://newlinesmag.com/argument/how-democrats-can-win-back-the-white-working-class/
This is something they have done before and will do again
Note: *the people who do these things are probably not federal agents! They probably mean well!!* But their good intentions do not protect against the damage these tactics do:
**Say they have stong evidence but never provide it, or demand you believe them without evidence
**Use the incident to disproportionally paint a person or group as irredeemably tainted