Hoover had declared the Panthers “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country” in 1968. In the years that followed, the group became the primary focus of COINTELPRO, with the FBI employing surveillance, informants, psychological warfare, legal threats, smear campaigns, and violence in an attempt to “neutralize” the Panthers. The organization, its chapters and leaders, were the target of an estimated 233 authorized actions, according to a later report on COINTELPRO by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Activities.
