A former FBI agent judged the black-extremism category a fabricated enforcement justification

Evidence

When Foreign Policy published the leaked memo, one former FBI agent, Michael German—putting wind in the sails of conspiracy theorists everywhere—said plainly that the agency had identified a movement that wasn’t real to justify ramping up enforcement activities. “Basically,” he said, “it’s black people who scare them.” — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 209

Categorization

• XREF: Note: German’s framing that the state fabricated a threat is itself what ‘puts wind in the sails’ of conspiracy theory — the state manufactures the very distrust legitimizing theories. — connects to: FBI invented a vaguely-defined ‘black identity extremism’ category mixing lawful protest with violent acts — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 206; The FBI manufactured ‘black identity extremism’ to justify policing black protest — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 209

Broader Connections

• The FBI manufactured ‘black identity extremism’ to justify policing black protest #corroborates (0.95) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 209