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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    The FBI’s War on Martin Luther King

    The day after the speech at the Lincoln Memorial, a top aide to FBI Director J. Edgar described Dr. King as, "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security." Six weeks later, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy authorized wiretaps on King's phones.

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    The day after the speech at the Lincoln Memorial, a top aide to FBI Director J. Edgar described Dr. King as, "the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation from the standpoint of communism, the Negro and national security." Six weeks later, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy authorized wiretaps on King's phones. David Corn's column in Mother Jones magazine today is entitled, "The Dark Side of ‘I Have a Dream': the FBI's War on Martin Luther King."

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
    1. 0:00US, UN and Middle East Weigh Syria Strikes
    2. 8:06The March on Washington: Myths and Realities
    3. 42:54The FBI’s War on Martin Luther KingYou’re reading this
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • KCRW placeholder

      Katie Cooper

      Producer, 'One year Later'

    • KCRW placeholder

      Kerry Cavanaugh

      editorial writer at the Los Angeles Times

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Anna Scott

      Former KCRW Housing and Homelessness Reporter

    • KCRW placeholder

      David Corn

      Mother Jones magazine

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    3 of 3
    50th Anniversary of the March on Washington
    1. 0:00US, UN and Middle East Weigh Syria Strikes
    2. 8:06The March on Washington: Myths and Realities
    3. 42:54The FBI’s War on Martin Luther KingYou’re reading this
    Back to To the Point