Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties

by Tom O'Neill

COINTELPRO had been activated on and off throughout the early sixties, often to vilify civil rights leaders—Martin Luther King Jr. most prominent among them. In his ’67 memo, Hoover formed a new branch of the operation, aiming to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of black nationalist, hate-type organizations… The activities of all such groups of intelligence interest to this Bureau must be followed on a continuous basis… Efforts of various groups to consolidate their forces or to recruit new or youthful adherents must be frustrated. No opportunity should be missed to exploit… the organizational and personal conflicts of the leaderships of the groups… [and] to capitalize upon existing conflicts between competing black nationalist organizations.