Roughly 30 years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation began what it called the Counter Intelligence Program or COINTELPRO— a vast national program that aimed to destroy left-wing and progressive political organizations emerging out of the African American, Native American, and Latino communities. Also targeted were student and youth groups that challenged the Vietnam War and the economic structure of American society.

The FBI launched major campaigns against Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, among others. Many in the Black Panther Party leadership were jailed and assassinated as were many leading organizers of the American Indian Movement.

Guest:
• Wesley Swearingen, formerly an FBI agent for 25 years and the author of FBI Secrets: An Agent’s Exposè, published by South End Press.
Taped excerpt:
• Attorney William Kunstler speaking to law students at Clark University in Worcester, MA, on April 4, 1978, about the assassination of former FBI deputy director William Sullivan and the COINTELPRO program.