How the FBI Employs and Entraps Americans to Silence Dissent
With a history of infiltrating groups from unions to churches, agents have more than "terrorists" in their sights
Do you remember when the FBI anonymously mailed Martin Luther King Jr. a demoralizing letter and told him to kill himself? How about when they had an undercover agent purchase a bar in the 1980s so they could bug the place and spy on patrons to infiltrate the Bandidos motorcycle gang? In the ‘80s and ‘90s they were accused of setting up elaborate stings of local black politicians in states like South Carolina, colluding with Judges to get them locked up or if that didn’t work, sending information to the media to smear them. Sadly, these offenses aren’t even the worst of it. The FBI has regularly had people on their payroll that lie, steal, cheat and sometimes murder to achieve the purported ends of “protecting our democracy.” Translation: to destroy legitimate, organized movements that are openly critical of the government.
These anecdotes are not conspiracy theory. They have been thoroughly documented in books, Senate hearings and news coverage over the last 50 years. If you haven’t heard of these events or forgot they happened, you are not alone. We have been trained to have a short attention span. In the “age of information” so many of us lack basic recall of situations that occurred within our lifetimes. We seem to drift along in a haze until the next sensationalized story or trauma captures every channel of communication and holds us hostage to any narrative that helps those in power manipulate opinion and/or pass legislation. This routine purports to make us safe from whatever scared us so badly but actually enslaves us further to the endless cycle of violence, poverty, sickness, inequality and war.
So, how did a progressive handbook become relevant for conservative dissidents? Easy. Those targeted by Federal agencies are categorized not by their alleged “extremist” beliefs but rather by how loudly they oppose the policies of the party in power or whether the group can be used as a tool to spread fear in the population.
Brian Glick’s ‘90s book, “The War at Home,” became a handbook for progressive political activists that were often targeted during the reign of conservative politicians. The book details a range of abuses against members of religious, labor, Native American, community and environmental groups in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s. These crimes included breaking into members cars, homes and offices; paying informants to sleep with leaders’ spouses to break up families; participating in violence at rallies and allegedly conspiring with local police and planted officials in the Bureau of Indian Affairs to cover-up the deaths of more than 70 people over several years at the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota.
So, how did a progressive handbook become relevant for conservative dissidents? Easy. Those targeted by Federal agencies are categorized not by their alleged “extremist” beliefs but rather by how loudly they oppose the policies of the party in power and whether the group can be used as a tool to spread fear in the population. Upon closer inspection, it’s clear both parties conspire behind the scenes to control public opinion and their own rank-and-file government workers with elaborate propaganda that pumps up fear but fails to depict the government’s true motives.
How Feds Infiltrate Groups and Target Americans:
An event occurs that takes over the news cycle and commands public attention.
The corporate media highlights or exacerbates the issue with multiple stories meant to steer public discourse and achieve some hidden ultimate action - usually a policy change or to shift public opinion.
Genuine grassroots movements organize around issue or “astroturfed” groups pop-up to commandeer the response. (Astroturfing masks who the actual sponsor of a group is but is meant to look grassroots and non-partisan. Groups are often backed by corporations or foundations who have a vested interest in getting involved.)
Online groups and encrypted chats become easy targets for people obfuscating their identities. Agents, informants, or bots may disrupt planned actions and cause conflict within groups, forcing members into opposing factions. These personas may encourage violence to see how other members respond.
Memorable chants, symbols and flags get created that Americans identify with and divide themselves under. People carry these flags at rallies, chant the phrases at the prompting of conspicuous characters with megaphones, and groups become easily identifiable in photos or video. Who hasn’t heard “stop the steal” or “my body, my choice” chanted incessantly with regard to certain divisive topics?
Federal agents and/or paid informants infiltrate groups and report back information about members to FBI handlers. According to former informants testifying at the Church committee hearings - the better the info, the more the informant gets paid.
Feds and informants fully embed in group. At events, they may attempt to blend in by wearing branded gear and flags. They may incite the crowd with hateful rhetoric or engage in violent acts that are caught on camera. As undercover members of a group, they may spread content that misrepresents the intent/purpose of the group, depicting members as hateful or uninformed with the goal of impacting public opinion.
Informants may rise in the ranks to lead groups through official authority or ability to influence. To gain acceptance and establish credibility, informants may help plan and participate in crimes by targeting individuals who can be easily manipulated into committing destructive acts. These actions can discredit and destroy the entire movement by projecting a negative caricature of the group that gets proliferated by Fed-controlled social media accounts and/or corporate media news coverage.
BLM and MAGA Targets of Fed Infiltration? You decide.
Even though Fed misdeeds against conservative and progressive groups have been uncovered many times, the abuse is still ongoing. The names of operations may change but the tactics used by federal agents and paid informants continue to trap unassuming Americans. We need look no further than the alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan Governor, Gretchen Whitmer, for proof that even loosely organized groups are being infiltrated by the FBI and aided in planning to commit acts of violence.
Reporting from local outlet Detroit Free Press in January 2022 revealed multiple FBI informants and agents participated in the alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan Governor by the so-called “Wolverine Watchmen,” a former Facebook group that according to affidavits, occasionally met to conduct “field exercises”.
The FBI claims one of their informants “went rogue” but with a history rife with similar occurrences, does anyone believe this defense anymore? Buzzfeed News reported in July 2021, the FBI had at least 12 informants working the case targeting a group that was unheard of prior to their arrests for the alleged plot to kidnap the Michigan Democrat, in October 2020 (right before a critical Presidential election).
According to testimony, the FBI pays informants according to the quality of information they report to handlers. The deleterious effects of this policy are obvious to anyone who cares to examine it. In fact, throughout the FBI’s history, multiple whistleblowers have come forward to say the FBI knew and endorsed acts of violence under the guise of needing evidence to secure indictments and/or dismantle “dangerous” groups.
“Counter-terrorism tactics have evolved because there wasn’t a lot of international terrorism occurring on the US soil,” said Mike German, author of Disrupt, Discredit and Divide: How the FBI Damages Democracy for a recent Guardian article on the topic. “But there’s still pressure to make cases and that’s caused the FBI to adopt this methodology of manufacturing terrorism plots.”
So, was this plot manufactured by the FBI?
Excerpt from Detroit Free Press report on alleged plot to kidnap Governor Whitmer, January 2022
Defense lawyers say a crooked FBI agent invented the Gretchen Whitmer kidnap plot to steer money into his private side business that he was running the entire time he was choreographing the kidnap scheme.
But he wasn't the only rogue FBI actor on the case, they say.
There's also a convicted wife beater, who was booted from the case in the wake of allegations he assaulted his wife following a swingers party. And a third FBI agent committed perjury in an unrelated case, they say.
The government doesn't plan to use any of the three FBI agents at trial, maintaining it can prove its case without them, and that alleged misbehavior by the agents has "marginal relevance at best."
In April of this year the Detroit News reported, “…jurors acquitted two men accused of plotting to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and deadlocked on charges against the two alleged ringleaders, delivering a staggering blow to the government in one of the largest domestic terrorism cases in recent U.S. history.”
Nearly two years later, were these acquittals a “staggering blow” or was the intended result to smear a President hated by both establishment political parties before the 2020 election? Reports claim Governor Whitmer believed President Trump was guilty of, “…fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists like those charged in the case.”
Are we all just pawns in their twisted political games?
Armed with new knowledge, WANJ challenges you to think critically about two controversial narratives that have been sold to us relentlessly.
Riots of 2020: If rioting and fires happened organically after the death of George Floyd and weren’t orchestrated, why were so many news crews already at the scene to document every second of action? Why did prosecutors refuse to press charges against violent participants? Why was Antifa at so many of these events? Why did some of the world’s largest corporations impose divisive and controversial “anti-racist” trainings based on critical race theory at the exact same time exacerbating an already precarious situation?
Outcome: These actions worsened race relations and made it appear there were no consequences for those guilty of destroying city blocks and businesses. The news widely disseminated videos of blacks looting businesses. These narratives (played on repeat) perpetuated stereotypes of the “angry black thug” and set back race relations in this country. These scenes justifiably caused angry responses from many people yet this anger was framed as white supremacist or racist.
January 6th: If the “armed insurrection” was due to President Trump inciting protestors during his speech, why did the breach occur during the speech approximately 2 miles away? Why hasn’t anyone been charged with insurrection if one occurred? Why were officials seemingly unprepared for an event they knew would draw so many people? Why did some officers wave people past barriers? Why were eyewitness videos of January 6th censored on every big tech platform but videos from “official sources” allowed to proliferate?
Outcome: These actions allowed bad actors to breach the Capitol (without a single firearm) enabling the media and politicians to claim a violent overthrow of the government was attempted which overshadowed any alleged tampering with the election. The coordinated censorship by big tech of eyewitness accounts still prevents anything but the government-endorsed narrative from being disseminated widely. Since January 6th, the narrative has shifted. Testimony this week suggests Trump’s “baseless” accusations of election fraud caused the Capitol violence but initial reports asserted white supremacists had taken over the Capitol. Early video of cops doing nothing to stop the rioters was chalked up to the protestors being white.
Can you see how perceived events and carefully crafted official narratives suit the agenda of those in power and never the people?
Progressives, Moderates and Conservatives: it is time to unite and fight the weaponization of federal agencies against the citizens they serve. These crimes rely on the complicit silence of those who do nothing while perceived “enemies” and ideological opponents endure political persecution.
Refuse to let ANY American be victimized by federal abuses of power because one day soon, the target may be you.