America's Secret Police: the FBI's COINTELPRO operation

COINTELPRO, or Counter Intelligence Program, was an FBI program to disrupt and destroy political organizations in the United States that the government saw as subversive, dangerous, or threatening to the establishment. When it was uncovered in the 1970s, it was a massive scandal and politicians tripped over themselves to disavow and distance themselves from the program, blaming the FBI for breaking the law. The questions we will explore today are what was COINTELPRO, who did it target, and how much did the politicians really know about what was going on? This is important for anyone involved in modern protest or direct action organizations from BLM to ANTIFA to the sunrise movement, because you must understand the government playbook for disrupting and destroying political movements that threaten their power.