[Ppnews] Omaha Two story: (Part 10) Ed Poindexter is victim of bogus letter

[Political Prisoner News]

As J. Edgar Hoover pressured the Omaha FBI to 
take action against the Black Panthers a plot 
emerged to smear Ed Poindexter with a bogus 
letter, see link for article and slideshow of COINTELPRO documents:

http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/ed-poindexter-was-target-of-fbi-anonymous-letter-and-phone-call-campaign


Ed Poindexter was target of FBI anonymous letter and phone call campaign

    * By 
<http://www.examiner.com/user-richardsonreports>Michael 
Richardson, COINTELPRO Examiner
    * March 23rd, 2011 5:09 pm ET
Omaha Two story: April 3, 1970

<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-ed-poindexter-on-cointelpro-and-the-omaha-police>Ed 
Poindexter headed the Omaha chapter of the Black 
Panthers called the 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/j-edgar-hoover-informed-of-united-front-against-fascism-omaha>United 
Front Against Fascism in February 1970.  One 
night at a party, after too much drinking, 
Poindexter’s girlfriend overdosed on something 
and had to be taken to the emergency room.  By 
Poindexter’s own account, he rode along and there 
was a wild scene at the Douglas County Hospital 
that ended with Ed being clubbed by Omaha police before he passed out.

Poindexter says when he came to the next morning 
he found himself in the drunk tank at the Omaha 
City Jail where he was later released.  While 
Poindexter was locked up some of his friends 
sought to raise bail money in case it was needed.

The Omaha office of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation learned of the escapade and decided 
the incident could be turned into a 
counter-intelligence action against 
Poindexter.  Paul Young, the Special 
Agent-in-Charge had been under pressure from FBI 
director 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/fbi-s-director-hoover-let-killer-of-omaha-policeman-get-away-with-murder-40-years-ago>J. 
Edgar Hoover to take some sort of action against 
the leadership of the Black Panthers under the 
clandestine 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/omaha-fbi-sets-up-cointelpro-unit-and-j-edgar-hoover-targets-black-panthers>COINTELPRO 
operation.

Young proposed an anonymous letter to be sent to 
various publications in the black community 
accusing Poindexter of fraud in an effort to 
discredit him.  On April 3, 1970, J. Edgar Hoover 
gave his personal approval to the plan.

Hoover wrote to Young:  “Provided you have 
developed no information indicating [Edward 
Poindexter] was incarcerated in February,1970, 
and the Identification Division has no arrest 
record for [Poindexter] during this pertinent 
time period, you are authorized to prepare a 
typewritten letter on plain bond paper as 
enclosed
.Take the usual security precautions to 
insure this letter and mailing cannot be traced to the Bureau.”

Hoover continued:  “You are also authorized to 
discreetly make anonymous phone calls to the 
publishers of “Black Realities,” “Everyone 
Magazine,” and the “Omaha Star,”
.The context of 
the anonymous calls should relate to [Poindexter] 
receiving bail money under false pretenses as you 
have previously described.  Use discretion in 
making these calls to insure they cannot be traced to the Bureau.”

The anonymous letter approved by J. Edgar Hoover 
was written by the FBI pretending to be a 
disenchanted Black Panther supporter.  The  text 
of the anonymous letter, with typos to supposedly 
make it appear more authentic, was:

“I wish to report a violation against the people 
by the leader of the United Front Against Fascism 
in Omaha, Nebrask a.  [Ed Poindexter] claimed he 
was put in jail by the Pigs on Feb. 11th and he 
got donations from the people to get him out of 
jail.  I gave two bucks.  Last week while in the 
Pig Department I overheard a Pig Laughing and 
telling another Pig (Black) how the Black Panther 
cheif [Poindexter] screwed the people on the 
North side.  The Pig said [Poindexter] was not in 
jail and he snowed the people getting donations 
for bail money. If that’s the kind of leaders you 
want in the panthers I don’t want to join.  Power 
to the Pigs if thats how you treat us fellow brothers and sister.  Right On.”

The bogus letter was signed, “Former supporter of the BPP.”

On May 5, 1970, quarry dynamite was stolen from 
Quick Supply Co. in Des Moines, Iowa.  According 
to testimony by Omaha Police Captain Murdock 
Platner before the U.S. House Committee on 
Internal Security, “There were probably ten cases 
of this dynamite that was stolen from Des Moines 
and brought to the Omaha area.”

A week later on May 13th, the Des Moines Police 
Station was bombed causing $250,000 damages.

In Washington, D.C. the U.S. House Committee on 
Internal Security was holding hearings on the 
Black Panthers in Seattle, Washington.

At the headquarters of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation the COINTELPRO directorate reviewed 
daily reports from field offices and filtered 
messages for FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.  The 
two men who took it upon themselves to be in 
charge of the flow of information were head of 
Domestic Intelligence, William C. Sullivan, and 
head of Racial Intelligence, George C. Moore.

On May 14, 1970, Moore sent Sullivan a COINTELPRO 
memo discussing “excellent results” from a year 
of active counter-intelligence operations.  Moore 
revealed the split in the Black Panthers between 
Eldridge Cleaver and Huey Newton was instigated 
by bogus information fed by the FBI to the Panthers.

Moore also discussed a number of media operations 
where FBI propaganda was published as news 
reports.  The memorandum began with its 
conclusion, “This is to recommend that the 
Counterintelligence Program against black extremists be continued.”

On May 22, 1970, the Ames, Iowa Police Station was bombed.

Suddenly, the heartland of America was under 
attack, or so it seemed, and now the FBI actually 
had some criminal activity to pursue.

On June 11, 1970, the North Omaha Police sub-station was bombed.

The bombing of the sub-station was likely the 
central topic of the next meeting of a 
greater-Omaha law enforcement task force called 
Domino.  The Treasury Department’s Division of 
Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms also was competing 
with the FBI to crack the case.  Something had to be done.

Ed Poindexter and 
<http://www.examiner.com/cointelpro-in-national/prison-interview-with-mondo-we-langa-on-cointelpro-and-omaha-two-case>Mondo 
we Langa, then David Rice, are now known as the 
Omaha Two and thought their only problems with 
police came from hostile Omaha officers.  The two 
Black Panther leaders had no idea they were the 
focus of attention all the way to the nation’s capital.

To view all the Omaha Two story articles click 
<http://www.examiner.com/omaha-two-story-in-national>HERE

Permission granted to reprint


Michael Richardson
COINTELPRO Examiner
Examiner.com



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