Responding to and defusing COINTELPRO -- any good guides?
The question popped up on Hacker News and I addressed it briefly there. I know of a number of resistance movement publications, with the Albert Einstein Institution having among the more comprehensive libraries, though it seems oddly silent on the matter of mitigating counterintelligence, defamation, or other disruption techniques.
On PrisonPlanet Forum's "COINTELPRO - The naked truth" I find some useful recommendations (see "WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT"):
Check out the authenticity of any disturbing letter, rumor, phone call or other communication before acting on it.
Document incidents which appear to reflect covert intervention, and report them to the Movement Support Network Hotline: 212/477- 5562.
Deal openly and honestly with the differences within our movements (race, gender, class, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, personality, experience, physical and intellectual capacities, etc.) before the FBI and police exploit them to tear us apart.
Don't rush to expose a suspected agent. Instead, directly criticize what the suspect says and does. Intra-movement witch hunts only help the government create distrust and paranoia.
Support whoever comes under government attack. Don't be put off by political slander, such as recent attempts to smear radical activists as "terrorists." Organize public opposition to FBI investigations, grand juries, show trials and other forms of political harassment.
Above all, do not let them divert us from our main work. Our most powerful weapon against political repression is effective organizing around the needs and issues which directly affect people's lives.
On the fourth point: triggering internecine conflicts is itself one of the tactics of COINTELPRO, as is turning different groups against one another -- at one point the FBI attempted to trigger discord between the Communist Party USA and La Cosa Nostra through a falsely planted letter (Operation HOODWINK).
Any y'all have suggestions?
#counterintelligence #nonviolence #resistance #defense #mitigation #fightingtheman
