1971
A group of ordinary citizens broke into a small FBI office in Pennsylvania in 1971 and shared with the world their findings on COINTELPRO, the FBI’s illegal surveillance program. Now, they tell their story publicly for the first time
Awards & Recognition
Winner
2014 International Documentary Association (IDA) - ABC News VideoSource Award
Nominee
2015 News and Documentary Emmy Awards - Outstanding Historical Reporting
The FBI was unaccountable and untouchable until 1971, when a group of citizens uncovered its illegal domestic spying programs. On March 8, 1971, The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, as they called themselves, broke into a small FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, took every file, and shared them with the American public.
These actions exposed COINTELPRO, the FBI's illegal surveillance program that involved the intimidation of law-abiding Americans and helped lead to the country's first Congressional investigation of U.S. intelligence agencies.
Never caught, 43 years later, these previously anonymous Americans – parents, teachers and citizens – publicly reveal themselves for the first time and share their story in the documentary 1971.