COINTELPRO Discussion at the Holdout: Counterinsurgency Then and Now

COINTELPRO Discussion at the Holdout: Counterinsurgency Then and Now

Join us for a discussion of COINTELPRO and its implications for contemporary social struggles. This will be the second of what will be monthly presentations and discussions at the Holdout about state repression. This month we will be discussing the tactics of “bad-jacketing” and entrapment. We will be presenting on the history of “bad-jacketing” in the Black Panther Party and the American Indian Movement. We will also look at entrapment – particularly the case of the Ohio 4 (within the Occupy Movement), and the role of FBI-informant Brandon Darby in Minneapolis (RNC 8) and New Orleans (Common Ground Collective), including a presentation by someone who had direct experiences with Darby. Our first meeting in October was a lively discussion of the logic and methods of state repression and counterinsurgency, including obstacles and challenges we are currently facing in Oakland and what we can do to overcome them. Next month will feature a screening of the film “Terrorizing Dissent” followed by a presentation by, and discussion with, Bradley Crowder – one of the RNC 8 who served time in federal prison because of Darby’s activities.

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counterintelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveying, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations. COINTELPRO tactics include[d] discrediting targets through psychological warfare; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination.

It is the goal of these monthly presentations and discussion about counterinsurgency tactics to better educate ourselves and create a movement culture of awareness that can withstand these ongoing methods of state repression.