The FBI ran genuine conspiracies against black activists in the 1960s

Evidence

We have only to look at the early 1960s, when Hofstadter himself was writing, for proof. We now know that the federal government plotted to undermine its own citizens, with the FBI secretly plotting against black activists, fearful of the political and social power those groups could amass if left unchecked. In 1964, Martin Luther King, Jr., received an anonymous letter that called him evil, abnormal, and an animal, and threatened to expose his sexual affairs. — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 150

Categorization

• XREF: Concrete evidence for the warranted-mistrust claim that parallels state-surveillance material on Muslim Americans and left movements in the vault. — connects to: FBI surveillance shifted from communist to black movement targets — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 184; FBI counterintelligence programs targeted civil rights activism as threats to national security — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project: A New American Origin…, 392; The FBI operated a documented program undermining civil rights leaders — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 153 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The FBI operated a documented program undermining civil rights leaders #corroborates (0.95) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 153
• FBI counterintelligence programs targeted civil rights activism as threats to national security #expands (0.90) — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 392
• FBI surveillance shifted from communist to black movement targets #expands (0.85) — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 184
• Black American conspiracy beliefs trace real historical state abuses rather than delusion #complicates (0.75) — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 149