Vigilantes in the Philippines: From Fanatical Cults to Citizens ...
OPERATION Z RR0 - Harold Weisbergjfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index... · completely...
Transcript of OPERATION Z RR0 - Harold Weisbergjfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index... · completely...
14 TH
E B
LA
CK
PA
NT
HE
R, S
AT
UR
DA
Y, F
EB
RU
AR
Y 12, 1977
Th
e P
ers
ecu
tion
An
d A
ssassin
atio
n O
f Martin
Lu
ther K
ing
Jr.
OP
ER
AT
ION
Z
RR
01.1
By
Do
n F
ree
d A
nd
Th
e P
eo
ple
's In
form
atio
n P
roje
ct
"Opera
tion
Zorro
— T
he P
ersecutio
n a
nd
Assa
ssinatio
n o
f Martin
Luth
er Kin
g" is a
so
on-to
-be relea
sed, in
-dep
th rep
ort o
n th
e slaying of the late civil rights leader w
ritten by noted author. researcher D
onald Freed and the
People's Inform
ation Project. F
ollowing, T
HE
B
LA
CK
PA
NT
HE
R p
resents P
art 1
of th
e ch
apter "W
ho S
lew th
e Drea
mer?
A S
pecu
la-
tion
." P
UT
1 "T
his la
nd
which
man
ha
s desw
am
ped
and
den
uded
and d
erivered in
two g
enera
tions.. .
wh
ere White m
en ren
t farm
s and
live like nig
gers a
nd n
iggers cro
p o
n sh
ares a
nd live
like anim
als. . . n
o w
onder th
e ruin
ed w
oods
don't cry for retribution.': The people w
ho have destroyed it w
ill accomplish its revenge. "
William
Faulkner
At th
e Plaza H
otel, Jack
Yo
un
gb
loo
d, th
e C
IA m
ercenary
, said th
at there w
ere two
dimensions in the K
ing conspiracy, "rednecks on th
e gro
und
" and, h
igh b
ehin
d th
e local
types, the executive planners calling the shots. T
he o
nly
real questio
n b
efore th
e natio
n n
ow
is w
heth
er Martin
Lu
ther K
ing
was ex
ecuted
by a m
ajor or a minor conspiracy.
Youngblo
od h
ad sa
id, "S
tart w
ith th
e
rednecks on the ground." P
oor W
hite S
outh
erners
have red
neck
s becau
se the su
n b
eats dow
n an
d b
urn
s them
. A
nd they wear w
ool hats because the cold wind
wo
uld
oth
erwise freeze th
em. T
he R
ays —
The m
ule-a
raw
n ca
sket lean
s the fu
nera
l procession of D
r. Martin L
uther King after
his a
ssassin
atio
n in
Mem
phis o
n A
pril 4
, 1968.
The R
ay brothers and millions like them
have been
misled
and set ag
ainst th
emselv
es. The
turned in on itself by economic. interests that
before the Civil W
ar, for instance, caused to be prin
ted an
d circu
lated m
illions o
f pseu
do
scientific books about Afro-A
merican inferior-
ity. T
hese n
oto
rious p
ropag
anda w
ork
s are current today in S
outh Africa.
Only
month
s after the d
eath o
f Dr. K
ing,
importan
t elemen
ts of th
e natio
nal m
edia
beg
an to
discu
ss, seriou
sly, "n
ew research
" p
urp
ortin
g to
pro
ve, o
nce ag
ain, th
at Black
people w
ere genetically inferior, intellectually. (In
1976, th
e same m
edia w
as constrain
ed to
rep
ort th
at the B
ritish stu
dies o
n' w
hich
this
racial argument w
as based had been .exposed as a fraud.)
Racism
is fueled
and p
erpetu
ated b
y an
econom
ic class that never needs to worry about
where o
n a b
us th
ey w
ill sit to rid
e to so
me
dreary, back-breaking temporary job.
Over th
e decad
es, natio
nal lead
ers like
Martin
Lu
ther K
ing
hav
e arisen to
con
fron
t th
is terrible h
um
an scan
dal. T
heir fate h
as alw
ays b
een th
e sa
me —
jaiI, c
hara
cte
r assassination, exile, death:
•The forerunner to the F
BI, the old B
ureau of In
vestig
ation, p
layed
the m
ajor ro
le in th
e destruction of the peerless B
lack heavyweight
champion, Jack Johnson, in the early years of
this cen
tury
. Th
e Bu
reau an
d its allies w
ere convinced that Johnson's physical and com
ba-tive prow
ess would "set a bad exam
ple to the N
egroes of the South, if they w
ere to perceive that a B
lack man w
as more than the equal of a
White m
an," to
use th
e new
spap
er languag
e _ _
types, th
e execu
tive 1.31E
MIlel
411C
011,M
+3
The o
nly
real questio
n b
efore th
e natio
n n
ow
is w
heth
er Martin
Luth
er Kin
g w
as execu
ted
by
a majo
r or a m
ino
r con
spiracy
. Y
oungblo
od h
ad sa
id, "
Sta
rt with
the
redneck
s on th
e gro
und."
Poo
r Wh
ite S
ou
thern
ers h
av
e re
d n
eck
s becau
se the su
n b
eats dow
n an
d b
urn
s them
. A
nd th
ey w
ear wool h
ats becau
se the co
ld w
ind
wo
uld
oth
erw
ise fre
eze th
em
. Th
e R
ay
s -Jam
es Earl, Jerry
, all of th
em —
are and w
ere poor S
outh
ern b
ord
er state Whites. B
ut th
ey
were m
ore th
an ju
st poor. T
hey
were casu
alties of A
meric
a's se
cre
t cla
ss war; a
part o
f the
body c
ount, v
ictim
s of th
e p
sycholo
gic
al
warfare an
d P
ropag
anda o
f pow
er interests.
Dr. M
AR
TIN
LU
TH
ER
KIN
G
The m
ule-d
raw
n ca
sket leads th
e funera
l pro
cession o
f Dr. M
artin
Luth
er Kin
g a
fter his a
ssassin
atio
n in
Mem
phis o
n A
pril 4
, 1968.
Th
e Ray
bro
thers an
d m
illion
s like th
em h
ave
been
misled
and set ag
ainst th
emselv
es. The
self-in
tere
st, the b
est in
tere
sts of th
e R
ays
dictated
that th
rw sh
ould
hav
e march
ed o
n
Wash
ing
ton
, Do
m., w
ith M
artin L
uth
er Kin
g
and h
is poor B
lack, In
dian
, Chican
o an
d so
me
White leg
ions in
the P
oor P
eople's M
arch!
Instead
, the h
istory
of th
e Am
erican p
ooris o
ne
long co
nvulsio
n o
f poor W
hite v
iolen
ce again
st B
lack people. This violence is not spontaneous;
the p
oo
r Wh
ite sh
ock
troo
ps a
re d
irecte
d,
contro
lled, an
d m
anag
ed, as in
any o
ther w
ay,
by men of w
ealth and power.
The ly
nchin
g m
ania
that to
re a
part th
e
Am
erica of Reconstruction flow
ed directly from
the en
trance o
f millio
ns o
f form
er slaves in
to
the sh
rinkin
g lab
or m
arket o
f first the ru
ral S
outh
and th
en th
e North
ern u
rban
centers.
Docu
men
tation rev
eals that th
e Ku K
lux K
lan
and o
ther a
rmed v
igila
nte
gro
ups w
ere
fin
an
ced
an
d p
rote
cte
d b
y la
rge fin
an
cia
l in
terests, North
and S
outh
. W
hen
Andrew
Carn
egie's m
iners w
ent o
ut
on strik
e, the fam
ous p
hilan
thro
pist, w
ho en
-dow
ed B
lack co
lleges, ru
shed
in B
lack "scab
" w
ork
ers to m
an th
e min
es, pittin
g th
em ag
ainst
Wh
ites. As th
e un
ion
mo
vem
ent so
lidified
, in
dustria
lists litera
lly d
rove h
undre
ds o
f th
ousa
nds o
f rura
l Bla
cks in
to b
ord
er a
nd
No
rthern
city en
claves, g
hetto
s, to p
rov
ide
pools/o
f cheap
labor. H
enry
Ford
the F
irst flo
od
ed th
e So
uth
with
ads o
ffering
assemb
ly
line jobs at $5 a day to poor Blacks. T
o this day in
Detro
it separate su
burb
s of B
lack an
d W
hite
work
ers are segreg
ated an
d sid
e by sid
e in a
state of co
nstan
t, often
vio
lent ten
sion.
Th
ere
was a
Po
pu
list mo
vem
en
t in th
is
country
. It was sp
lit alo
ng ra
ce lin
es a
nd
of In
vestig
ation
, play
ed th
e majo
r role in
the
destru
ction o
f the p
eerless Black
heav
yw
eight
cham
pio
n, Jack
Johnso
n, in
the early
years o
f th
is centu
ry. T
he B
ureau
and its allies w
ere
convin
ced th
at Johnso
n's p
hysical an
d co
mba-
tive p
row
ess would
"set a bad
exam
ple to
the
Neg
roes o
f the S
outh
, if they
were to
perceiv
e th
at a Black
man
was m
ore th
an th
e equal o
f a W
hite m
an," to
use th
e new
spap
er languag
e of th
at day:
•The to
werin
g a
rtist and a
thle
te P
aul
Ro
beso
n w
as placed
un
der v
irtual h
ou
se arrest by th
e FB
I after World
War II, an
d h
is mig
hty
MA
LC
OL
M X
lies o
n th
e flo
or o
f Harle
m
Feb
ruary 2
1. 1
9(1
5. K
neelin
g o
ver I
TH
E B
LA
CK
PA
NT
HE
R, SA
TU
RD
AY
, FE
BR
UA
RY
12, 1977 15
voice w
as stilled. H
is crime? E
mbracin
g
socialism as opposed to A
merican racism
and the capitalism
that he saw lying behind it.
*The suprem
e Black scholar of this century,
Dr. W
.E. B
. Du B
ois, was driven into A
frican ex
ile in h
is declin
ing
years. A
s with
Dr. K
ing
an
d D
r. Robeso
n, th
e charg
e was alw
ays
com
mu
nism
. Co
mm
un
ism an
d in
tegratio
n,
comm
unism and civil rights, com
munism
and voter reg
istration, co
mm
unism
and u
nio
n
org
anizin
g. B
lack an
d W
hite u
nity
equaled
co
mm
unism
to A
merican
corp
orate in
terests and their federal police, the F
ederal Bureau of
Investig
ation. T
o H
oover an
d h
is min
ions,
Martin L
uther King w
as another in a long line. of insurrectionary B
lack reds. *U
ntil h
is death
, Malco
lm X
- Is do
mestic
political enemy num
ber one to ti91. intelligence esta
blish
ment b
ecause
he c
ould
, in th
e
Directo
r's word
s, "Electrify
the B
lack m
ass-es," M
ore importantly, M
alcolm X
had moved
to a multiracial class perspective, poor W
hites and B
lacks to
geth
er, a
s had e
very
oth
er
martyred rights leader since old John B
rown.
The e
vid
ence in
dic
ate
s that a
ll majo
r W
estern E
uro
pean
intellig
ence serv
ices had
b
een w
arned
, by
the C
IA, to
refuse en
try to
M
alcolm because an assassination attem
pt was
imm
inen
t. On
the d
ay o
f his assassin
ation
in
Harlem
, his security was stripped aw
ay. Inside th
e mosq
ue M
alcolm
was g
unn
ed d
ow
n. T
he
body guard who bent over the dying leader to
"assist" his lab
ored
breath
ing w
as Eugen
e R
oberts, a Black undercover agent provocateur
for the New
. York "R
ed Squad."
*The F
BI covered up the m
urder of the three civ
il rights w
ork
ers in M
ississippi —
carried
out b
y p
olic
e o
fficers —
until P
resid
ent
Ken
ned
y an
d h
is bro
ther p
ersonally
took
charge of the investigation. *A
ccording to an FB
I informant, the B
ureau had a
dvance k
now
ledge o
f the h
orrib
le
bom
bin
g m
urd
er of th
e four little g
irls in th
e B
irmin
gh
am ch
urch
durin
g an
org
anizin
g
ririvc in
cniro
rl th
n !prin.:" rrin
vo
rt-In-n
t in +
ho
t
came S
outh to work w
ith Martin L
uther King,
she was m
urdered by a carload of White night
riders. One of the m
en is a confessed FB
I agent provocateur.
*The conspiracy that cut dow
n the Southern
civil rights organizer, Medgar E
vers, involved ex
tremist g
roups so
heav
ily in
filtrated b
y. th
e F
BI th
at the B
ureau
boasted
over th
e years at
PA
UL
RO
BE
SO
N, o
ne o
f the g
reate
st artists in
U.S
. histo
ry, was b
lacklisted
due
to h
is oppositio
n to
racism
and ca
pita
lism.
every
Co
ng
ression
al bu
dg
et hearin
g th
at they
w
ere in control of these so-called "White H
ate G
roups."
•1
n
on
a
Mu
, nrrsve 1. in
destruction of evidence just as in the murder of
Presid
ent K
enned
y? W
hat o
f the attem
pts at
sexual blackmail —
that continue to this hour —
in o
rder to
disru
pt th
e Co
ng
ression
al investigation into K
ing's homicide?
Political assassination is as old as the state.
The m
ethods, to
o, are tim
e-honored: people in high places use very ordinary m
en, indeed, as their instrum
ent of execution; men w
ho, often as not, are them
selves victims of the existing
system.
Who, re
ally
, did
Martin
Luth
er K
ing
threaten
? Surely
not th
e likes o
f James E
arl R
ay, en
joyin
g lo
ve an
d life, p
erhap
s for th
e first tim
e, in Canada and M
exico. Ray, a m
an w
hose
life b
y e
very
Obje
ctiv
e c
riterio
n
completely contradicts the profile of the lone
and fanatical political assassin. What could be
mo
re ho
llow
than
this stale an
d stereo
typ
ed
fanatic k
iller boiler p
late — n
urtu
red b
y th
e F
BI and its allies as a m
otive for Lee H
arvey O
swald after D
allas, and applied mechanically
to Jam
es Earl R
ay an
d S
irhan
B. S
irhan
to
explain
their "m
agnicid
es," to u
se anoth
er w
ord coined by the media.
The q
uestio
n is elem
entary
: There are an
d
hav
e been
fanatics w
ho h
ave k
illed —
and
then
pro
claimed
their resp
onsib
ility an
d v
in-
dication by history. Lee H
arvey Osw
ald, James
Earl R
ay an
d S
irhan
Sirh
an w
ere charg
ed
and painted as, respectively, a lone comm
unist fan
atic; a lone racist fan
atic; a lone A
rabic
fanatic. B
ut n
one o
f these m
en b
ragged
or
trumpeted any m
egalomaniacal rhetoric as to
why th
ey h
ad to
slay fam
ous m
en —
for th
e "m
asse
s," or th
e "W
hite
race," o
r the
"anti-Zionist" -cru
sade. In
stead, each
pro
-claim
ed h
is innocen
ce or m
anip
ulatio
n b
y
others. Thus, at one stroke every official book,
report and study which explains the crim
es as th
e re
sult o
f fan
atic
al a
nd
lon
ely
zeal, is
overtu
rned b
y th
e re
fusa
l of th
e a
lleged
assassins to speak the lines assigned to them in
the FB
I's scenario.
du
bo
n H
otel B
allro
om
after fa
tal sh
oo
ting
on
his distraught w
ife BE
TT
Y SH
AB
AZ
Z.
Roberts, a B
lack undercover agent provocateur for the N
ew Y
ork "Red S
quad." • T
he FB
I covered up the murder of the three
civil rig
hts w
ork
ers in M
ississipp
i — carried
o
ut b
y p
olic
e o
fficers —
un
til Pre
sident
Ken
ned
y an
d h
is bro
ther p
ersonally
took
charge of the investigation. • A
ccording to an FB
I informant, the B
ureau had a
dvance k
now
ledge o
f the h
orrib
le
bo
mb
ing m
urd
er of th
e fou
r little girls in
the
Birm
ingham
church
durin
g an
org
anizin
g
driv
e insp
ired b
y th
e Kin
g m
ovem
ent in
that
city. • W
hen a White union activist, V
iola Liuzzo,
PA
UL
RO
BE
SO
N, o
ne o
f the g
reatest
artists in
U.S
. histo
ry, was b
lacklisted
due
to his opposition to racism and capitalism
.
every
Co
ng
ression
al bu
dg
et hearin
g th
at they
w
ere in control of these so-called "White H
ate G
roups. •In
Chicag
o, w
hen
a Black
—, y
outh
gan
g
refused to be provoked intig • fraticide against th
e Black
Pan
ther P
arty lead
ership
, the F
BI,
working through the C
hicago police and a paid agent provocateur, sim
ply shot Panther deputy
chairman F
red Ham
pton in cold blood. T
he p
oin
t of th
is blo
od
y h
istory
of o
fficial co
mplicity
in v
iolen
ce again
st civil rig
hts
leaders is a
s terrib
le a
s it is simple
. The
qu
estion
befo
re a frigh
tened
natio
n is —
did
the F
ederal Bureau of Investigation conspire in
the murder of D
r. Martin L
uther King, Jr.?
The ev
iden
ce is dam
nin
g. T
he F
BI sin- veil-
lance — photo and electronic —
was all over
Martin
Luth
er Kin
g as late as A
pril 3
, yet w
e still d
o n
ot k
now
who o
r where th
e agen
ts w
ere at the time of his death. W
hy would they
cover up for men the likes of Jam
es Earl R
ay, w
ho have no power at all?
Why w
as a majo
r share o
f the h
om
icide
inv
estigatio
n p
ut in
to th
e han
ds o
f the F
BI's
Atla
nta
"get K
ing
" squ
ad
? A
gen
ts wh
o
"jumped for joy" w
hen the news of the m
urder w
as flashed
? Ag
ents w
ho
had
hig
hly
placed
inform
ants and provocateurs in every extrem-
ist gro
up in
their reg
ion, th
is by th
eir ow
n
repeated admission?
_ W
hat e
ntity
had th
e p
ow
er to
cause
Mem
ph
is Po
lice Directo
r and
ex-F
BI ag
ent
Fran
k H
ollo
man
to v
irtually
strip K
ing o
f his
last remaining security?
Why the revealed collusion of the F
BI w
ith frie
nd
ly jo
urn
alists a
nd
au
tho
rs in th
e
pro
pag
ation o
f the "lo
ne n
ut" th
eory
of D
r. K
ing's death? And w
hy the withholding of and
trum
peted
any m
egalo
man
iacal rheto
ric as to
why th
ey h
ad to
slay fam
ous m
en —
for th
e "m
asse
s," o
r the "
Wh
ite ra
ce,"
or th
e
"anti-Z
ion
ist" crusad
e. Instead
, each p
ro-
claimed
his in
nocen
ce or m
anip
ulatio
n b
y
others. Thus, at one stroke every official book,
report and study which explains the crim
es as th
e re
sult o
f fanatic
al a
nd lo
nely
zeal, is
overtu
rned b
y th
e re
fusa
l of th
e a
lleged
assassins to speak the lines assigned to them in
the FB
I's scenario. T
he FB
I admits to conspiring w
ithout letup to destroy D
r. Martin L
uther King's m
arriage, his m
ovement, his character. D
id they destroy h
is life, too
, or sim
ply
let the k
illing
un
fold
, help it along? TO
H C
ON
TINU
ED
the g
reat B
lack scnotar W
ho w
as fo
rced in
to a
n A
frican exile b
y U
.S. reactionaries.