The FBI tried to get Martin Luther King to kill himself in 1964?

According to a Tweet from Soledad O'Brien today:

Soledad O'Brien
@soledadobrien
The FBI sent a letter to convince Dr. King to kill himself in 1964

Wow!

Holy crap...is this for real?

a reply to: Riffrafter

Interesting... It goes pretty deep as well to just how far the FBI and other public figures were trying to really get under King, or any other politically / socially charged figures.

FBI-King Suicide letter.

On March 8, 1971, an activist group called the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI burglarized a local office of the FBI in Media, Pennsylvania, and stole classified documents. Part of those documents revealed a secret FBI operation called COINTELPRO. Those documents were later sent to newspapers and members of the United States Congress. During the Church Committee hearings and investigations in 1975, a copy of the "suicide letter" was discovered in the work files of William C. Sullivan, deputy FBI director.

COINTELPRO

Cointelpro (syllabic abbreviation derived from COunter INTELligence PROgram) (1956–1971) was a series of covert and, at times, illegal[1][2] projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting American political organizations.

I doubt if that letter is real. Even the way it was back then, they would not have used that kind of words. The FBI was also smarter back then, they would personally deliver a message, not send a letter that could backfire against them. Back in sixty four, there was a lot of racial hate, especially in Detroit. I do not know how it was other than here and in the big cities. Those days are gone, and gladly so. Most people these days know that black people have equal rights, they also know that minorities should not have extra rights, everyone is equal.

Now I would believe that the FBI would hire a hit on someone like him back then. They hired mercenaries occasionally. They would also make deals with people they were investigating to take care of their business that they needed to get done. A friend of one of my uncles worked for the FBI years ago, I think it was in the late sixties. He was a jerk, he thought he could do anything he wanted to.

The FBI has always been a corrupt institution. Why would anyone be surprised by this?

a reply to: rickymouse

They found a copy of the letter in the files of the deputy FBI director at the time ...

a reply to: Riffrafter

I had thought that the King family won thier civil lawsuit in 1999 where a jury found that the US government conspired to assassinate him.

Sorry, driving so cannot do links.

a reply to: strongfp

Interesting... It goes pretty deep as well to just how far the FBI and other public figures were trying to really get under King, or any other politically / socially charged figures.

Thanks for the links. Who would've thought there would be a Wikipedia entry for this?

Certainly not me....

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: Riffrafter

I had thought that the King family won thier civil lawsuit in 1999 where a jury found that the US government conspired to assassinate him.

Sorry, driving so cannot do links.

I know that feeling....

No worries - if you have some time later, I'd love to check them out.

1964...you say?

Wasn't a Democrat in the WH back then?

Yeah it's real (at least from memory back when I was introduced to all this alternative info). Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if both Kennedys, King and X were state sanctioned hits.

We've had some questionable leadership ... at times... at the least.

originally posted by: IAMTAT
1964...you say?

Wasn't a Democrat in the WH back then?

I believe that would have been Lyndon B. Johnson.
And J.Edgar Hoover was Director of the FBI
Go figure.....

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: Riffrafter

I had thought that the King family won thier civil lawsuit in 1999 where a jury found that the US government conspired to assassinate him.

Sorry, driving so cannot do links.

Texting while driving??? Shame on you!

I thought so too but King vs Jowers said otherwise.

originally posted by: HalWesten

originally posted by: Lumenari
a reply to: Riffrafter

I had thought that the King family won thier civil lawsuit in 1999 where a jury found that the US government conspired to assassinate him.

Sorry, driving so cannot do links.

Texting while driving??? Shame on you!

I thought so too but King vs Jowers said otherwise.

Sorry... I am far too drunk to text links and drive right now.

Safety first!!

originally posted by: Gothmog

originally posted by: IAMTAT
1964...you say?

Wasn't a Democrat in the WH back then?

I believe that would have been Lyndon B. Johnson.
And J.Edgar Hoover was Director of the FBI
Go figure.....

Figures the Party of the KKK would be behind that.

originally posted by: LtFluffyCakes96

He also published 'The FBI and Martin Luther King Jr' , a work that analyses the relationship between the intelligence service and the civil rights leader...

The FBI tapes accuse Martin Luther King Jr of having extramarital affairs with '40 to 45 women', and even claim that he "looked on and laughed" as a pastor friend of his, raped a parishioner exist.  The civil rights hero was also heard allegedly joking that he was the founder of the 'International Association for the Advancement of P***y-Eaters', on an agency recording that was obtained by bugging his room, according to David Garrow.

Along with many US civil rights figures, King was subject to an FBI campaign of surveillance ordered by Director J Edgar Hoover, in an effort to undermine his power amid fears he could have links to the Communist Party. Hoover went after big-named stars as well, such as Charlie Chaplin, Malcolm X, Ernest Hemingway, Muhammad Ali, Jane Fonda and John Lennon.

He spied on the celebrities using methods such as wire-tapping, infiltration, forging documents and spreading false rumours.

In an article to be published in Standpoint, Garrow tells how the FBI planted transmitters in two lamps in hotel rooms booked by King in January 1964, according to The Sunday Times.

The recording from the Willard Hotel near the White House shows how King was accompanied his friend Logan Kearse, the pastor of Baltimore's Cornerstone Baptist church, along with several female parishioners of his church.

In King's hotel room, the files claim they then 'discussed which women among the parishioners would be suitable for natural and unnatural sex acts'.

The FBI document says: 'When one of the women protested that she did not approve, the Baptist minister immediately and forcefully raped her' as King watched.

He is alleged to have 'looked on, laughed and offered advice' during the encounter. FBI agents were in the room next door but did not intervene. 

The following day, King and a dozen others allegedly participated in a 'sex orgy' engaging in 'acts of degeneracy and depravity'. When one woman showed reluctance, King was allegedly heard saying that performing the act 'would help your soul'.

Senior FBI officials later sent King a copy of the incriminating tape and called him an 'evil abnormal beast' and his sexual exploits would be 'on record for all time'.

The letter also suggested he should commit suicide before his wrongs were revealed to the world.

King's philandering has long been suspected, however Garrow, who spent several months digging through the archive material, said he had no idea of the scale or the ugliness of it and his apparent indifference to rape until he saw the files.

He said:  'It poses so fundamental a challenge to his historical stature as to require the most complete and extensive historical review possible.'

Among the revelations is a claim by a prostitute who said she was involved in a threesome with King, which she described as the worst orgy she had ever experienced.

There is even a suggestion in the files that King fathered a daughter with a secret girlfriend in Los Angeles. Both the mother and child are alive but refused to talk to Garrow.

The FBI surveillance tapes detailing his indiscretions are being held in a vault at the U.S. National Archives and are not due for release until 2027.

I hope this can be beneficial in some way, for this is the first time ive seen anybody else post about this sort of topic -- since i posted about it awhile back. Here is some information regarding Martin King and the FBI.

I just happened to skim over the article and saw that it was a little off topic, i apologize for that, i just knew it was involving the two main entities of the OP. If you'd like, you can remove this comment from the thread.

a reply to: LtFluffyCakes96

I hope this can be beneficial in some way, for this is the first time ive seen anybody else post about this sort of topic -- since i posted about it awhile back. Here is some information regarding Martin King and the FBI.

I just happened to skim over the article and saw that it was a little off topic, i apologize for that, i just knew it was involving the two main entities of the OP. If you'd like, you can remove this comment from the thread.

Remove it?

Why? It's dead on topic....

Thanks for the post and links!