Volume 23, Number 18 · November 11, 1976
The Campaign to Destroy Martin Luther King
By David Wise
Perhaps the most shocking example of the FBI's abuse of power was its campaign of unrelenting surveillance and harassment of Martin Luther King, Jr. Hoover set out to destroy King by using the full powers of the FBI against him. Various theories have been offered for Hoover's motive, and a combination of circumstances may have been involved. Hoover was enraged when King criticized the FBI. The FBI's stated rationale for bugging and tapping King was to uncover 'Communist' influence on the civil rights leader. Nor was Hoover pleased with King's growing success in the use of nonviolent confrontation. The police dogs of Birmingham snarling and ripping at black men and women in the summer of 1963 created a bad image for law enforcement. 'We Shall Overcome' fell harshly on Hoover's ears.
Feature, 4937 words
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