The FBI’s Opposition to the «Nation of Islam» in the 1960s and 1970s

The article, based on declassified archives, provides a historical overview of the FBI’s activities in relation to the radical organization «Nation of Islam» based on declassified archives. The authors examined in detail the case of the organization’s leader Elijah Poole and his supporter Malcolm X. To counter the organization, the special service has undertaken methods that are contrary to the Constitution of the United States, such as installing listening devices, opening personal correspondence, and obtaining information about income and tax returns. The article also considers the Congressional hearings on the case of violations of American citizens’ rights by intelligence agencies, which resulted in the creation of the «Church Committee» that criticized the Bureau’s actions under the COINTELPRO program. The authors concluded that the FBI, by opening such programs as ‘Key Black Extremists,’ avoided the control of the Department of Justice and went unpunished. The FBI’s illegal actions against black and other extremists and their public investigation by the Committee led to the adoption of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978, which restricted the actions of American intelligence agencies.