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<b>February 18, 2009<br><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size=4>J. Edgar Hoover used Omaha
World-Herald as 'Whiteys newspaper' in FBI bogus letter against Ed
Poindexter<br><br>
</b></font><font face="Verdana" size=2><i>By Michael Richardson<br><br>
</i>J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for
48 years, waged an illegal, clandestine war on domestic political
activists and groups called Operation COINTELPRO. Hoover declared
the Black Panther Party the most dangerous of all and unleashed dirty
tricks and illegal tactics with lethal ferocity. In Omaha, Nebraska
the two principal targets of COINTELPRO were Edward Poindexter and Mondo
we Langa (formerly David Rice). <br><br>
Ed Poindexter was the Chairman of the local chapter known variously as
the National Committee to Combat Fascism, the United Front Against
Fascism, and the Nebraska Committee to Combat Fascism. Mondo we
Langa was the Minister of Information and published the group's
newsletter. Both men were targeted for harassment and special
attention after Hoover complained the Omaha FBI office was not getting
results against the Panthers. <br><br>
On December 10, 1969, Hoover ordered the Omaha FBI
Special-Agent-in-Charge to "give consideration to
counterintelligence measures directed against these leaders to weaken or
destroy their positions." Hoover told Omaha FBI agents to make
up a plan against the Panther leaders. "Evaluate your approach
to this program and insure that it is given the imaginative attention
necessary to produce effective results." <br><br>
Heavily redacted COINTELPRO files, now archived at Political Research
Associates, tell part of the Omaha story. At least four COINTELPRO
actions were planned and approved in 1970 against the Panthers. One
plan was to ambush the delivery of the Black Panther Party newspaper
after it arrived at Eppley Airport aboard United Airlines Air
Freight. The FBI office was working with the airline to determine a
pattern of newspaper pick-ups at the airport to 'disrupt' delivery of the
papers. <br><br>
A second plan revealed in the PRA archive of confidential FBI documents
was directed against Poindexter and involved sending a bogus letter to
the <i>Omaha Star</i> and two other 'Negro publications'. The plan
used an anonymous letter accusing Poindexter of falsely soliciting for
bail money after an arrest that purportedly never happened.
Poindexter had gotten into an altercation at a hospital with authorities
and ended up on the wrong end of a billy club. The FBI said the
incident was never recorded and that was the basis for one of the agents
drafting a bogus letter that was sent to the newspaper. Hoover also
allowed anonymous calls to the publisher, which also occurred. <br><br>
The third plan revealed in the COINTELPRO files involved another bogus
letter and the <i>Omaha World-Herald. </i>The FBI disruption plan
was proposed to Hoover on August 15, 1970 in a three-page memo. The
proposal was to use an article published the day before in the <i>Omaha
World-Herald</i> to discredit Poindexter and the Panther chapter with
another bogus letter sent to Black Panther Party headquarters in
California. <br><br>
The <i>Omaha World-Herald</i> article was titled 'Panthers Cut Omaha
Link' and made reference to a notice in a July issue of the Black Panther
newspaper announcing the suspension of the Omaha chapter. The
redactions of FBI censors prevent a clear understanding of the sequence
of events and may cover up another COINTELPRO manipulation of the
<i>World-Herald</i> or of the Panther publication. An anonymous
phone call to the Omaha Panthers was made on August 4th which would
indicate prior approval by Hoover to create a disruption. <br><br>
What the August 15th COINTELPRO memo does reveal is that the Omaha FBI
office wanted to send a copy of the clipping along with a bogus letter to
David Hilliard, the Black Panther chief of staff. The plan was to
drive a wedge between the Omaha chapter and the national office of the
party. <br><br>
The FBI had an informant in the local group who reported that they had
not received the Black Panther newspaper "in the last three or four
weeks" and thus were not aware of the July notice about the Omaha
chapter. That information led to the anonymous call.
<br><br>
"It appears [REDACTED] misunderstood the phone call. In a
newspaper article appearing 8/14/70, in the Omaha World Herald, a daily
Omaha, Nebraska, newspaper, [REDACTED] states that a letter recently
appeared in the BPP newspaper stating that the local NCCF was ending its
affiliation with the panthers and that this letter was attributed to
[REDACTED] and NCCF member, Raleigh House." <br><br>
The Omaha FBI office requested permission to send copies of the letter to
Hilliard at the national party headquarters, to the Omaha chapter, and to
affiliate chapters in Kansas City and St. Louis. <br><br>
A copy of the anonymous letter is included in the PRA archive. The
letter targeted Ed Poindexter and although his name is redacted three
times, the FBI censor missed one use of Poindexter's name revealing he
was the subject of the bogus letter. <br><br>
The fabricated letter was addressed to Hilliard. The letter covered
the notice of expulsion and misunderstanding of the Omaha chapter's
status with the Black Panther Party. The FBI letter also called the
<i>Omaha World-Herald</i> newspaper "Whiteys newspaper".
<br><br>
"[Poindexter] has been rapping to the people, that the guys in
California don't know what in the hell they are doing. In fact
[Poindexter] said the same thing to Whiteys newspaper the Omaha World
herald. I am sending you copies of this jive to show you who
Poindexter thinks he is." <br><br>
On August 17, 1970, two days after the Omaha FBI office asked for
Hoover's permission to mail the letter about Poindexter and the
<i>World-Herald,</i> a dispatcher at police headquarters received an
anonymous phone call about a woman screaming in a vacant house.
Four squad cars were sent to investigate the early-morning emergency
call. <br><br>
As eight officers searched the house and yard, one of them approached a
suitcase near a doorway. A powerful explosion instantly killed
officer Larry Minard, a 29 year-old father of five young children.
In the hours following the deadly blast Omaha uniformed officers searched
frantically for Minard's killers. <br><br>
The FBI immediately joined the investigation and offered to analyze the
911 recording of the killer's voice that had lured Minard to his
death. However, acting under COINTELPRO directives to
"destroy" Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa's position as
leaders of the Omaha Black Panthers, the FBI offer of help was tainted.
<br><br>
As day broke on the crime scene and investigators sifted through the
bombing debris looking for clues, a new COINTELPRO action was being
planned by Omaha FBI agents. Assistant Chief of Police Glen W.
Gates met with the FBI and agreed that it was more important to stop the
Black Panthers than find Minard's killers. An urgent COINTELPRO
'airtel' memo was drafted for FBI headquarters. <br><br>
"By airtel 8/17/70 the Omaha Office has advised that the Omaha
Police Department has requested laboratory assistance in connection with
a bombing which took place in Omaha 8/17/70. This bombing resulted
in the death of one police officer and the injuring of six other officers
and is apparently directly connected with a series of racial bombings
which Omaha Police have experienced. The Police were lured to the
bomb site by a telephonic distress call from an unknown male."
<br><br>
"[REDACTED] of the Omaha Police has requested [REDACTED]."
<br><br>
"The SAC, Omaha strongly recommends that the assistance requested by
the Omaha Police Department be conducted." <br><br>
"[REDACTED] It is felt, in view of the SAC's recommendation and the
significance of this case, an exception should be made in this case in
order to assist the Omaha Police in developing investigative leads.
The results of any examination will not be furnished directly to the
Police but orally conveyed through the SAC of Omaha." <br><br>
"If approved, the results of any examinations will be orally
furnished the Police on an informal basis through the SAC, Omaha."
<br><br>
When the COINTELPRO memo reached the FBI Crime Laboratory two days later
on August 19th the lab director, Ivan Willard Conrad, spoke by phone with
Hoover over the unusual request to withhold a report on the killer's
voice analysis. Conrad was given the go ahead to withhold evidence
about the identity of the anonymous 911 caller. Conrad initialed
the memo noting, "Dir advised telephonically & said OK to
do." <br><br>
The fix was in, Minard had not yet been buried and J. Edgar Hoover had
already given the order to abandon the search for his killer to make a
case against Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa. <br><br>
On August 24th Hoover gave written approval to the earlier FBI bogus
letter request about "Whiteys newspaper". At that point,
Poindexter was already in custody and the search was on for Mondo we
Langa. Both men were tried for Minard's murder. <br><br>
Conrad followed orders and issued no report on the 911 tape. The
jury that would convict the two Panther leaders never got to hear the
recording of Minard's killer. Nor did the jury know about the
existence of Operation COINTELPRO or that Poindexter and Langa had been
targeted by the clandestine operation. <br><br>
Raleigh House, named in the August 15th COINTELPRO memo, was identified
at the trial as the supplier of the dynamite that killed Minard. A
suspected informant, House faced no formal charges for supplying the
explosives and only spent one night in jail before being released on his
own signature by order of Arthur O'Leary of the county prosecutor's
office. <br><br>
Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa were convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment. Both are confined at the maximum-security Nebraska
State Penitentiary where they continue to deny any involvement in
Minard's death.<br><br>
A new trial request over the withheld evidence and conflicting police
testimony is pending before the Nebraska Supreme Court. No date for
a decision has been set. <br><br>
***<br><br>
<i>Permission granted to reprint</i> <br><br>
Author's Bio: Michael Richardson is a freelance writer based in Boston.
Richardson writes about politics, law, nutrition, ethics, and music.
Richardson is also a political consultant. <br><br>
<br><br>
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