1 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,400 Speaker 1: Trey Quinn, the black nationalist who is among the organizers 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: of Denver's racial justice protests, is the first to suspect 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: that Mickey Windecker isn't a badass ANTIFA warrior. Trey doesn't 4 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:17,600 Speaker 1: have any concrete evidence, always got as a hunch there's 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,479 Speaker 1: just something off about Mickey. And so I am told 6 00:00:22,520 --> 00:00:25,800 Speaker 1: by a couple of friends that Mickey's got some suspicious 7 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: connections and ties that they're unsure of. They don't know 8 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: if we should be doing any actions with them specifically. 9 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: So Trey comes up with a test for Mickey. I'm 10 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:37,120 Speaker 1: gonna call Mickey and I'm gonna propose something, and then 11 00:00:37,159 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna see what happens. Trey meets up with Mickey 12 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:41,879 Speaker 1: at one of the demonstrations and tells him that he 13 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 1: has concerns the protesters aren't being radical enough. This peaceful 14 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,839 Speaker 1: protest stuff, it ain't working. What if we did more? 15 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,040 Speaker 1: And so I start speaking in hypothetical and like, hypothetically, 16 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: what if this happened? What if an enclave was lit 17 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:02,880 Speaker 1: on fire in the middle of the night. And he 18 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:04,760 Speaker 1: was like, oh, yeah, I got some guys who could 19 00:01:04,760 --> 00:01:06,120 Speaker 1: probably do that. You know what, I'm saying, who were 20 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,280 Speaker 1: probably down? And so at this point I recognize my 21 00:01:10,360 --> 00:01:13,240 Speaker 1: vague language in his specific language, and so he's trying 22 00:01:13,280 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: to lead me to say specific things, and so I 23 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:18,920 Speaker 1: just still keep in a vague I'm like, well, hypothetically, 24 00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,679 Speaker 1: if you were down to do something like that, you 25 00:01:21,720 --> 00:01:24,039 Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, like, could we get it done? 26 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: And he was like, oh yeah, you know what I'm saying. 27 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: I got the right guy for the job. This is 28 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: how he's talking. So once we're done, I'm like, I 29 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: think he's I think he's fucking suspicious. I knew during 30 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:37,520 Speaker 1: that in the middle of that conversation. I knew because 31 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:39,280 Speaker 1: he was he was trying to get it to happen. 32 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: He was just waiting for me to set the date, 33 00:01:42,640 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: the time that meeting spot. And then for sure he 34 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: was trying to get it to happen. I'm Trevor Aaronson 35 00:01:55,080 --> 00:02:11,240 Speaker 1: from Western Sound and I Heart Podcasts. This is Alphabet Boys, 36 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: episode five. Give him hell. If you're willing to accept 37 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:34,280 Speaker 1: the FBI's internal reports as accurate. Then Mickey didn't appear 38 00:02:34,320 --> 00:02:37,320 Speaker 1: to realize that he'd failed tray Quinn's test. In fact, 39 00:02:37,480 --> 00:02:41,040 Speaker 1: Mickey and the FBI seemed to take Tray seriously. In 40 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:44,560 Speaker 1: an internal FBI report, Scott Dahlstrom, the agent who was 41 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:48,760 Speaker 1: Mickey's handler, describes Tray's hypothetical question to Mickey, what if 42 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,959 Speaker 1: an enclave was lit on fire in the middle of 43 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:56,639 Speaker 1: the night as and I quote a fire bomb plan 44 00:02:57,639 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: as if it were an actual plan. So Mickey's primary 45 00:03:04,560 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: goal as an FBI informant is to gather evidence that 46 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:11,600 Speaker 1: demonstrators are about to or are willing to commit violence, 47 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: and a way to push people in that direction is 48 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 1: by subtly encouraging violence while sewing distrust. This stuff with 49 00:03:19,160 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 1: Trey and the fire bomb plot is happening. In late 50 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:24,680 Speaker 1: August twenty twenty, about three months after Mickey first arrived 51 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: on the scene in Denver, Mickey had by now sidled 52 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:31,119 Speaker 1: up to activists with the Young Democratic Socialists of America 53 00:03:31,440 --> 00:03:35,680 Speaker 1: or y DSA. Mickey's association with the y DSA activists 54 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 1: was critical to his ability to infiltrate the protesters. His 55 00:03:39,520 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: new y DSA friends had given him credibility, which he 56 00:03:42,960 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 1: badly needed in order to maintain his cover as an 57 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: ANTIFA warrior. Because let's be clear, this Mickey dude, he 58 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:55,480 Speaker 1: was suspicious Mickey dressed like a biker. He often used 59 00:03:55,520 --> 00:04:00,680 Speaker 1: crude language that isn't tolerated within the activist groups, including racist, homophobic, 60 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 1: and transphobic splurs. Plus, Mickey was old, a guy approaching 61 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: fifty in a crowd of protesters who were mostly teens 62 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: and twenty somethings. But Mickey's association with his y DSA 63 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: friends acted as a kind of shield against suspicion. The 64 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,040 Speaker 1: other activist would see Micky hanging around with these young allies, 65 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: and so the thinking went, if they trusted him, then 66 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:28,840 Speaker 1: Mickey must be legit right. As a part of Mickey's 67 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,080 Speaker 1: ploy to entrap protesters, he participates in a group on 68 00:04:32,120 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: an encrypted messaging app that includes his new y DSA friends. 69 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: Mickey tells everyone in the chat about how Trey is 70 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:42,760 Speaker 1: planning some sort of fire bomb plot, and Mickey suggests 71 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:44,880 Speaker 1: that they all meet for dinner to talk it out. 72 00:04:45,120 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: I think it was at a Chili's or Applebee's. This 73 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: is zeb Hal and for the record, it's a Chili's 74 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:55,400 Speaker 1: according to the FBI's internal files. So zeb drives the chilies. 75 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,320 Speaker 1: Then you know, I meet him at this restaurant, and 76 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: you know, they say, hey, just talked to Trey and 77 00:05:01,200 --> 00:05:03,560 Speaker 1: he said he wanted to go blow up a white 78 00:05:03,600 --> 00:05:05,880 Speaker 1: supremacist bar and he wanted us to help him out. 79 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,560 Speaker 1: And you know, I was like, holy fucking shit. Just 80 00:05:09,680 --> 00:05:12,760 Speaker 1: to be crystal clear about this, Trey didn't mention the 81 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: fire bomb plot to any of the y DSA kids, 82 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:18,720 Speaker 1: as far as I could corroborate, only to Mickey as 83 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: part of the test. Mickey then, and I'm connecting dots here, 84 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:24,200 Speaker 1: but I believe this is the accurate course of events. 85 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: Mickey tells the y DSA activists about what Trey is 86 00:05:27,360 --> 00:05:31,800 Speaker 1: supposedly planning, the white supremacist bar as a target that 87 00:05:31,839 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: appears to be Mickey's invention. The FBI claims in its 88 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:38,240 Speaker 1: internal report that Mickey tells zeb and the y DSA 89 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: activists to stay away from Trey. Although it's not stated 90 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,200 Speaker 1: specifically in the report, the way it's written suggest that 91 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:46,560 Speaker 1: Mickey did this out of concern that Trey is violent, 92 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: that the fire bomb plot is real, and so stay 93 00:05:50,160 --> 00:05:54,560 Speaker 1: away kids, that kind of thing. But that's not the 94 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,040 Speaker 1: way Mickey frames is warning about trade to this group 95 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,400 Speaker 1: he's gathered at Chili's. Instead, Mickey invent something out of 96 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,279 Speaker 1: thin air. He tells them that they thinks Trey might 97 00:06:05,279 --> 00:06:09,560 Speaker 1: be working for the FBI. Mickey seemed like super concerned, 98 00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:13,039 Speaker 1: like Trey was an informant. Mickey reminds everyone that Trey 99 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,120 Speaker 1: is a felon, and as a felon, Mickey claims he's 100 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 1: gotten incentive to be an informant. And just look here 101 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: he is talking about a fire bomb plot. The gagulet 102 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,839 Speaker 1: Chili's seems to agree. Trey this leader of the demonstrations 103 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,920 Speaker 1: in Denver, The guy must be a snitch. Then I 104 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: started getting concerns about it. Mickey is trying to discredit Trey. 105 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:38,320 Speaker 1: Trey had always been upfront with activists that he had 106 00:06:38,320 --> 00:06:41,040 Speaker 1: a criminal record. He had even told Mickey about it. 107 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: Here's Tray again, home a felon, so I don't keep 108 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:48,320 Speaker 1: my identity secret. Back when Trey was a college student, 109 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: he was into the rave scene and into drugs. He 110 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:54,920 Speaker 1: sold drugs too, and participated in some robberies, but by 111 00:06:54,960 --> 00:06:57,279 Speaker 1: twenty ten he'd stopped using and he was trying to 112 00:06:57,279 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 1: go straight. That's about when a friend of his was 113 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: short on cash and face eviction. Trey wanted to help, 114 00:07:03,400 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: so we called one of his old contacts and so 115 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:08,160 Speaker 1: I called up my homie and I was like, hey, 116 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: you know, we're short on some money. If you can 117 00:07:09,960 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: spot us some then I'll get you back. And he 118 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,640 Speaker 1: was like, hold on, let me call my homie. He's like, 119 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: this dude got me. If you can get him for me, 120 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:19,160 Speaker 1: you just keep whatever whatever he gets. I just want 121 00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:21,360 Speaker 1: to get backs, and so I was like, all right, 122 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,480 Speaker 1: I'll do it. So basically, Tray's friend gives him the 123 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,680 Speaker 1: name of a guy who had ripped him off. Trey's 124 00:07:26,720 --> 00:07:31,160 Speaker 1: friend just wants revenge. Rob that guy, he tells Trey, 125 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,240 Speaker 1: and you can keep all the money. We didn't have 126 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:37,240 Speaker 1: any guns, and so I brought my axes. I had 127 00:07:37,320 --> 00:07:40,800 Speaker 1: two axes, and so my friend had one and I 128 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: had one like a wood chopping axe. We get into 129 00:07:44,080 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: this to this dorm room and I end up breaking 130 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,600 Speaker 1: through this kid's door and I hit him in the 131 00:07:50,600 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: head with the flat side of the axe. It still 132 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 1: cuts them, still fucking gashes open his head and there's 133 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,920 Speaker 1: blood everywhere. I get in a fight with his roommate, 134 00:08:00,080 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 1: end up breaking his eye socket in the fight, and 135 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,400 Speaker 1: his friend had a big old gash in his head 136 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: and we didn't get anything, and he was calling for 137 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:09,680 Speaker 1: people who weren't in the dorm. I stayed in that 138 00:08:09,720 --> 00:08:11,680 Speaker 1: donor before, so I know the walls are paper thing 139 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: he's calling down the hallway, and so this is a 140 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:18,600 Speaker 1: whole mass. Trey ended up getting fourteen years in prison, 141 00:08:18,920 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: but he was granted parole after serving five and a half. Yeah, 142 00:08:22,160 --> 00:08:25,200 Speaker 1: it was it was a trying time, but it definitely 143 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:28,040 Speaker 1: needed to happen. Tray says the felony conviction in the 144 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:31,280 Speaker 1: prison time helped him straighten out his life. He's married 145 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,560 Speaker 1: now with a young child, and he's running a painting business. 146 00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 1: The criminal life it's in the past for Trey, but 147 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: it's Tray passed that allows Mickey to construct his lie. 148 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: Mickey tells his allies among the activists, the trade must 149 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,680 Speaker 1: be an informant. Why else would a former felon be 150 00:08:49,679 --> 00:08:53,240 Speaker 1: talking about a fire bomb plot. The rumor about Trey 151 00:08:53,280 --> 00:08:57,040 Speaker 1: starts circulating online, then in person among the demonstrators, you 152 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:00,720 Speaker 1: see people accusing me of being an aide, and you 153 00:09:00,920 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: start seeing people saying, well, this is what Mickey said, 154 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 1: or this is what X said. Who also would hear 155 00:09:07,960 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: from either this person or that person? Who would hear 156 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,840 Speaker 1: from Mickey? Right? And so I was like, I think 157 00:09:12,920 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 1: Mickey's called I think Mickey's trying to set me up 158 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,600 Speaker 1: here as a FED. It's a classic move for an 159 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:23,760 Speaker 1: informant to pull. Trey has been snitch jacketed more after 160 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: the break. I can't say this with absolute certainty since 161 00:09:38,760 --> 00:09:41,520 Speaker 1: Mickey won't talk to me, but I don't think Mickey 162 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:44,400 Speaker 1: really thought Trey was interested in any sort of fire 163 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:48,000 Speaker 1: bomb plot. I think Mickey realized that he'd fallen for 164 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:51,439 Speaker 1: Trey's trap By so eagerly suggesting he could make Trey's 165 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:55,280 Speaker 1: hypothetical fire bomb plot happen. Mickey had revealed himself as 166 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:59,520 Speaker 1: an informant, or at least had given Tray plenty of 167 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,160 Speaker 1: reason to be suspicious, and that's why Mickey says Tray 168 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:06,720 Speaker 1: is an informant. Mickey has a lot to lose if 169 00:10:06,760 --> 00:10:10,240 Speaker 1: Trey outs him as a snitch, specifically the thousands of 170 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: dollars in cash the FBI is paying him regularly about 171 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,640 Speaker 1: every two or three weeks. If too many activists in 172 00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:19,760 Speaker 1: Denver think Mickey is cooperating with the cops, then he's 173 00:10:19,760 --> 00:10:22,760 Speaker 1: no longer useful to the FBI. The FBI, of course, 174 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: only pays informants when they're useful By raising suspicions that 175 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,840 Speaker 1: Trey is an informant, Mickey can protect his cover and 176 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:35,360 Speaker 1: his income. If everyone suspects Treys a snitch, this thinking goes, 177 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: then they'll be focused on him and no one will 178 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:42,000 Speaker 1: be suspecting Mickey's the real informant. This is a time 179 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:48,160 Speaker 1: tested tactic called snitch jacketing, and snitch jacketing has a 180 00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:56,079 Speaker 1: long troubling history in the FBI. From his office, j 181 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:59,760 Speaker 1: Edgar Hoover has placed on the entire organization's own rigid 182 00:10:59,800 --> 00:11:02,960 Speaker 1: code of service, integrity, and morality in a way that 183 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: is true a few organizations. J Edgar Hoover is the FBI, 184 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:12,840 Speaker 1: and that is our story. The practice of snitch jacketing 185 00:11:13,080 --> 00:11:14,960 Speaker 1: goes way back to the infamous days of the first 186 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:20,319 Speaker 1: FBI Director, j. Gar Hoover. Remember always at the spy 187 00:11:20,960 --> 00:11:25,880 Speaker 1: and the Sabbata all the destroyer carrignal badge he hides 188 00:11:26,000 --> 00:11:31,720 Speaker 1: behind a hundred fronts, he pretends innocence. In nineteen fifty six, 189 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 1: Hoover secretly launched a program too. And these are the 190 00:11:34,559 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: words Hoover used in its directive quote expose, disrupts, misdirect, discredit, 191 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,040 Speaker 1: or otherwise neutralize political groups that Hoover and his FBI 192 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 1: agents considered quote subversive to American society. Hoover secret operation 193 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: was called the counter Intelligence Program or co intel Pro. 194 00:11:55,640 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: For fifteen years, FBI agents and informants infiltrated political movement 195 00:12:00,480 --> 00:12:03,680 Speaker 1: and disrupted them from within. Well. The targets of co 196 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:06,120 Speaker 1: intel Pro did include some far right groups, such as 197 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,679 Speaker 1: the Ku Klux Klan, Hoover's FBI focus its efforts primarily 198 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: on left wing political and civil rights movements, including communist groups, 199 00:12:14,080 --> 00:12:18,040 Speaker 1: anti war advocates, the American Indian Movement, the Black Panther Party, 200 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:22,959 Speaker 1: and even doctor Martin Luther King Junior's organization. Snitch Jacketing 201 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: was a common tactic of co intel Pro, particularly in 202 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,600 Speaker 1: the bureau's infiltration of black political groups such as the Panthers, 203 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:32,280 Speaker 1: whose leaders were very aware that they were being spied 204 00:12:32,320 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: on by government informants. I'm the depth chairman of the 205 00:12:34,720 --> 00:12:37,920 Speaker 1: State of Illinois Blackcap Party. Him and a lot of 206 00:12:37,960 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: people are on the fan Black Panther Party relationship with 207 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,320 Speaker 1: white Muther Country Rata. Here's Fred Hampton, a senior Black 208 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:47,920 Speaker 1: Panther official, speaking eight months before he was shot and 209 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,120 Speaker 1: killed in his bed during a pre dawn raid in 210 00:12:50,200 --> 00:13:00,000 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty nine. Informants and agents would accuse other members, 211 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:04,079 Speaker 1: even leaders, of being informants. This would so mistrust, create 212 00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:09,240 Speaker 1: interpersonal suspicion, lead to dysfunction, and in some cases, wholesale 213 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:12,920 Speaker 1: collapse of these political and civil rights groups. Some informants 214 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,040 Speaker 1: even took on leadership roles in the very organizations the 215 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 1: FBI was infiltrated. In nineteen seventy five, the US Senate 216 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,839 Speaker 1: formed a committee to investigate and reveal the extent of 217 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 1: the FBI's abuses during co Intel pro. Today, we are 218 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:30,000 Speaker 1: here to review the major findings of our full investigation 219 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:35,240 Speaker 1: of FBI domestic intelligence, including the Cointel program and other 220 00:13:35,360 --> 00:13:39,679 Speaker 1: programs aimed at domestic targets. The committee is commonly known 221 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:42,760 Speaker 1: as the Church Committee after its chairman, the late Senator 222 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:47,040 Speaker 1: Frank Church of Idaho. As one example of the FBI's egregious, 223 00:13:47,320 --> 00:13:51,240 Speaker 1: politically motivated actions during Hoover's co Intel pro Frederick Shores, 224 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,240 Speaker 1: the Chief Council of the Church Committee, described how agents 225 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: sent letters to America's most prominent civil rights activist. The 226 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: bureau went so far as to male anonymous letters to 227 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: doctor King and his wife, which finishes with this suggestion, King, 228 00:14:09,480 --> 00:14:11,559 Speaker 1: there is only one thing left for you to do. 229 00:14:11,640 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 1: You know what it is. You have just thirty four 230 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: days in which to do it. You were done. You 231 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:22,480 Speaker 1: are done. The FBI under Hoover, sent an anonymous letter 232 00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,960 Speaker 1: to King strongly suggesting that he kill himself before accepting 233 00:14:25,960 --> 00:14:29,000 Speaker 1: the Nobel Peace Prize, because the US government was concerned 234 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: that the award would lend global legitimacy to King's civil 235 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:34,960 Speaker 1: rights movement. That was the pretext for all of this was, 236 00:14:35,560 --> 00:14:40,200 Speaker 1: you know, threat of external and internal subversion. This is 237 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:43,000 Speaker 1: Mark Peiskia, an investigative reporter who has spent most of 238 00:14:43,000 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 1: his career in Memphis, where Martin Luther King was assassinated 239 00:14:45,920 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight. And of course, you know, at 240 00:14:48,720 --> 00:14:51,720 Speaker 1: that time there was a great paranoia still in this 241 00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:56,400 Speaker 1: country the nineteen fifties nineteen sixties of the communists, the 242 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 1: Soviets had infiltrated all of our institutions, and that there 243 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: was this massive conspiracy. That's certainly what j Edgar Hoover 244 00:15:03,000 --> 00:15:04,640 Speaker 1: was selling that to the public. And there was a 245 00:15:04,680 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: lot of people believed that Hoover believed that black America 246 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: was particularly susceptible to subversion because of the history of 247 00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: oppression in this country and disadvantage, so they were constantly 248 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: under watch. While the Church Committee revealed many of co 249 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,360 Speaker 1: intel pros abuses, it's taken journalists and researchers up until 250 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:27,440 Speaker 1: more recently to reveal who was spying on black civil 251 00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:32,200 Speaker 1: rights groups for Hoover's FBI. In twenty ten, Mark Pereskia 252 00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 1: brought to light that Ernest Withers, a celebrated Civil rights 253 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,360 Speaker 1: era photographer who was particularly close to Martin Luther King, 254 00:15:38,720 --> 00:15:43,200 Speaker 1: had been a paid FBI informant for eighteen years. He 255 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,640 Speaker 1: was an informant. There's no question that records are mean 256 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: several feet thick of everything they did. But it might 257 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:51,880 Speaker 1: be even more helpful to think of him as an asset, 258 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:54,600 Speaker 1: because it wasn't. When you think of an informant, you 259 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: think of somebody undercover playing a role. Ernest wasn't playing 260 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,320 Speaker 1: any role. He didn't have to. He was who he was, 261 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,520 Speaker 1: and he could go any place he wanted. And so 262 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 1: if it's helpful to think of him more as an asset, 263 00:16:07,080 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: I guess you could. But it's the same thing. He 264 00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,480 Speaker 1: was getting paid for information, and he was supplying it, 265 00:16:12,520 --> 00:16:15,880 Speaker 1: and it was harmful. We've come to view this era 266 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: of FBI infiltration as a dark chapter in American history, 267 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,160 Speaker 1: as something that's over, never to be repeated. But while 268 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,720 Speaker 1: co intel pro no longer exists, its methods and tactics 269 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: have survived in various ways inside the FBI and then Denver. 270 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:38,840 Speaker 1: In the summer of twenty twenty, Mickey started snitch jacketing, 271 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: just as FBI agents and informants had done during the 272 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:47,120 Speaker 1: sixties and seventies, and just as happened back then, snitch 273 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:51,960 Speaker 1: jacketing undermined political organizers like Trey Quinn. He goes back 274 00:16:51,960 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: and tells his group, He's like, oh, he's a fit. 275 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,720 Speaker 1: He's fit for Tray. The effects of this FBI subversion 276 00:16:58,240 --> 00:17:01,440 Speaker 1: are subtle at first. The hy dsa activist who'd gotten 277 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: close to Mickey, they stopped communicating with Tray and now 278 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:09,720 Speaker 1: I'm like, what's going on here? And so that kind 279 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: of clues me, and it's like, all right, they were 280 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 1: obviously scared of me for some reason. Later, Zeb Hall, 281 00:17:17,040 --> 00:17:21,880 Speaker 1: who's fully enamored with Mickey, confirms tray suspicions. Zeb confides 282 00:17:21,920 --> 00:17:24,679 Speaker 1: in his old friend Mickey and the wy DSA activists, 283 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: they think you're a FED, and so that's kind of 284 00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:32,639 Speaker 1: when my ears started to perk up. But remember Mickey 285 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:36,600 Speaker 1: failed Tray's test. Tray is pretty sure that Mickey is 286 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,960 Speaker 1: a FED, but Trey chooses not to respond in kind 287 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 1: and snitch jacket Mickey to the Denver activists. Instead, Trey 288 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:47,359 Speaker 1: actively tries not to let Mickey know about his suspicions. 289 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 1: When you suspect someone of being a cop in your group, 290 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:54,080 Speaker 1: you don't kick him out of the group. That's the 291 00:17:54,160 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 1: last thing you do, because now you don't know what 292 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,560 Speaker 1: they're going to do. You keep them around. So Trey 293 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:04,399 Speaker 1: plays his own game of deception. He continues to exchange 294 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:06,879 Speaker 1: messages and coordinate with Mickey and to invite him to 295 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: meetings and events. So he shows up to those and 296 00:18:12,040 --> 00:18:15,199 Speaker 1: acts quote unquote friendly. But then there's a couple he 297 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:18,320 Speaker 1: does a couple of suspicious things even then, and that's 298 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,800 Speaker 1: when the like, the narrative just progresses even more and 299 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,199 Speaker 1: more and more afterwards, because yeah, like one night we 300 00:18:26,200 --> 00:18:28,840 Speaker 1: were supposed to meet up for an assembly, he was 301 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:31,359 Speaker 1: supposed to be there, he didn't show up, and so 302 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,639 Speaker 1: as we're doing our group meeting, it's a small general assembly, 303 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: and it just everything seems strange. And then he calls 304 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:41,920 Speaker 1: and he's like, the cops are the cops are circling around, 305 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: there's some suspicious activity. He calls in. He doesn't show up, 306 00:18:44,800 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: but he calls in. Cops around. There's some suspicious activity 307 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: around there. You guys are got to get out of there. 308 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:51,520 Speaker 1: I got a guy who's down there, just give me 309 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:54,960 Speaker 1: a call. And so we're all like, well, who is he? 310 00:18:55,400 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: Because he's not with us, So you just got a 311 00:18:57,760 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: guy watching us. And so at that point, you know, 312 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: it became super wild. Tray is onto Mickey. He doesn't 313 00:19:07,440 --> 00:19:11,680 Speaker 1: trust him. Dude's are fed, but keep your enemies close. 314 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: That's Trade strategy. On the other hand, there's Zeb. Then 315 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:21,360 Speaker 1: I started getting concerns about it because I didn't talk 316 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,959 Speaker 1: to Trade myself, and I got to own that, you know, 317 00:19:24,160 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: and I was just too afraid of it after everything 318 00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,639 Speaker 1: I had been through. His will. Zeb doesn't know what 319 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: to think. Mickey says, Trades an informant, and maybe he's right. Besides, 320 00:19:35,160 --> 00:19:38,400 Speaker 1: Zeb's naive. He doesn't think there's any way Mickey could 321 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: be an informant. He's trying to dial up the violence, 322 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: which to zeb at the time. Doesn't seem like something 323 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,320 Speaker 1: a government agent would do. Why would you, as a 324 00:19:47,400 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: law enforcement informant, want people and push people to go 325 00:19:51,119 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: to a potentially violent protest? And once again Mickey is 326 00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: about to take things up a notch, a full on 327 00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: assault against the police station. That's after the break. So 328 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:16,639 Speaker 1: Mickey arrived on the protest scene in May twenty twenty. 329 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: By late August, he's become a legitimate leader. The snitch 330 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:25,679 Speaker 1: jacketing has played no small part as Mickey and as 331 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,280 Speaker 1: loyalists spread rumors that Trey Quinn is an informant turning 332 00:20:29,280 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 1: people against Trey, Mickey is ascendant among the protesters, and 333 00:20:33,640 --> 00:20:36,720 Speaker 1: Denver activists have even given him a nickname, the drill 334 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:44,200 Speaker 1: Sergeant can I J. S. Jackin here Yo, Mickey keeps 335 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,800 Speaker 1: telling the protesters that they need to do more, they 336 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:50,320 Speaker 1: need to get more aggressive, they need to get militant. 337 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: In late August twenty twenty, Mickey is with his two 338 00:20:54,359 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: allies on the y DSA Honor and Aiden. Honor and 339 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,800 Speaker 1: Aiden were the pair I'd mentioned before, young activists whom 340 00:21:00,800 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: Mickey had turned into soldiers. They fan out during demonstrations 341 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,000 Speaker 1: and report back to him what was happening. Acting as 342 00:21:07,040 --> 00:21:10,199 Speaker 1: a kind of surveillance network for Mickey. ZEB goes to 343 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,080 Speaker 1: meet Mickey and his two unwitting allies at an apartment. 344 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:15,880 Speaker 1: The apartment is decked out with flags for the PKK, 345 00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 1: the Kurdistan Workers Party, a socialist political party that the 346 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: U State Department has designated a foreign terrorist organization. With 347 00:21:23,840 --> 00:21:26,520 Speaker 1: his claims of fighting for the Peshmerga, Mickey had said 348 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: he was aligned with the PKK, which had given him 349 00:21:29,080 --> 00:21:33,440 Speaker 1: additional credibility. With the activists brothers and sisters and socialism 350 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,440 Speaker 1: or something. They had like a lot of that PKK 351 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,120 Speaker 1: stuff with their house. I didn't know what the fuck 352 00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:42,000 Speaker 1: that was until I met Mickey. Zeb looks over at 353 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:45,199 Speaker 1: a table in the apartment. It's covered with guns and 354 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:49,159 Speaker 1: other weapons, and holy fuck, so yeah, they had guns. 355 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,639 Speaker 1: Another activist there sees what Zeb sees, Mickey and a 356 00:21:53,680 --> 00:21:57,520 Speaker 1: table full of guns. I walk in, mix guns, weapon 357 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,119 Speaker 1: like medical supplies, literally king like they're preparing for a 358 00:22:01,160 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: genuine battle. But this activist is fearful of Mickey, so 359 00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:07,320 Speaker 1: she agrees to let me record an interview with her 360 00:22:07,680 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: as long as I agree not to use her name. 361 00:22:10,359 --> 00:22:13,159 Speaker 1: We're sitting on her front porch in Denver, and I 362 00:22:13,400 --> 00:22:17,160 Speaker 1: just it was insane. What kind of we're like handguns 363 00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:22,159 Speaker 1: rifles and everything military. Yeah, I don't even remember, like 364 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,520 Speaker 1: I can, like I have this like vague mental image 365 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,919 Speaker 1: of what that apartment looked like, but it feels like 366 00:22:29,960 --> 00:22:33,840 Speaker 1: a dream. But she reluctantly takes on a role in 367 00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,240 Speaker 1: what Mickey and the group are planning. She agrees to 368 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: tag along because she's worried about what her friends are 369 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:41,880 Speaker 1: about to do, because I was like, this is going 370 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: to go really badly, Like I don't feel comfortable with 371 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,160 Speaker 1: them doing this alone, because I was like, the fuck 372 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:49,960 Speaker 1: am I going to do? Let these like teenagers who 373 00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,720 Speaker 1: I have cared about for like multiple years, just get 374 00:22:52,760 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: into these situations and not look out for them. Okay, 375 00:22:57,560 --> 00:23:00,480 Speaker 1: So here's some context as to what's happening here. Starting 376 00:23:00,480 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: in late August twenty twenty, the Denver protesters begin to 377 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:09,199 Speaker 1: get more aggressive. According to about a dozen people I 378 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:13,359 Speaker 1: spoke to, Mickey is the one responsible for organizing and encouraging, 379 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:17,639 Speaker 1: at least in part, what morphed into coordinated attacks against 380 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:20,800 Speaker 1: Denver police stations. We are following some breaking news in 381 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,880 Speaker 1: downtown Denver right now. A protest calling for the end 382 00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:27,439 Speaker 1: of the Denver Police Department has led to violence and 383 00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: property damage, with fireworks shot at police, trees set on fire, 384 00:23:32,600 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: and a standoff with officers growing more tense by the 385 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:41,280 Speaker 1: minute before Mickey's arrival on the scene. The demonstrations in 386 00:23:41,320 --> 00:23:44,679 Speaker 1: the Denver area were mostly peaceful, organizing events like the 387 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,439 Speaker 1: violinvigil for Elijah McClean and Aurora. The police response to 388 00:23:48,480 --> 00:23:53,159 Speaker 1: the peaceful protests had been brutal, riot gear, bullhorns, pepper spray, 389 00:23:53,440 --> 00:24:01,880 Speaker 1: and lines of cops coming in like stormtroopers. The heavy 390 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,800 Speaker 1: handed police response had inspired something of an arms race. 391 00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:08,919 Speaker 1: The protesters were becoming increasingly aggressive and they were arriving 392 00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,359 Speaker 1: at events ready for violence. They were wearing makeshift body 393 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:15,359 Speaker 1: armor and holding homemade shields. And it wasn't just the 394 00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,639 Speaker 1: cops who were potential targets of aggression. Anyone seen as 395 00:24:18,680 --> 00:24:21,560 Speaker 1: part of the establishment. They appeared to be fair game. 396 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,040 Speaker 1: A dangerous mob mentality had developed. Zeb starts to see 397 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:32,320 Speaker 1: this transformation, and it concerns him. I mean, he was 398 00:24:32,359 --> 00:24:35,399 Speaker 1: having people go out there and do surveillance. He was 399 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,080 Speaker 1: talking about people getting fucked up. It's like one night 400 00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:42,159 Speaker 1: at the police station, I had to save this fucking rapport. 401 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: I think her name is Addie something I can't remember. 402 00:24:44,760 --> 00:24:48,280 Speaker 1: In downtown Denver, near the police headquarters, zeb observes a 403 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:51,800 Speaker 1: young local TV news reporter named Addie Guahardo trying to 404 00:24:51,800 --> 00:24:53,879 Speaker 1: do a live shot during a protest that demonstrators have 405 00:24:53,960 --> 00:24:57,680 Speaker 1: been calling give 'em Hell. Diverson's Addie Guahardo has been 406 00:24:57,680 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: following those protests all night. Addie, you seeing right now? 407 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,600 Speaker 1: As the TV anchor throws it to Addie, she's backing 408 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:08,680 Speaker 1: up as the camera follows her. She's visibly frightened. Her 409 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: eyes are darting around as if she's waiting for someone 410 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:16,320 Speaker 1: to attack her little bit. Right now, we're going to 411 00:25:16,400 --> 00:25:18,360 Speaker 1: try to get away from these protesters getting a little 412 00:25:18,359 --> 00:25:21,760 Speaker 1: too close for comfort, and they were going to fuck 413 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: this lady h and a few other other reporters, and 414 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:28,359 Speaker 1: I had to keep them away from her. Zeb is 415 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:31,560 Speaker 1: also on camera. He's dressed in jeans, wearing a flack 416 00:25:31,640 --> 00:25:35,119 Speaker 1: jacket and a military style helmet. He pushes back several 417 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: demonstrators who seem to be trying to intimidate the reporter 418 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,680 Speaker 1: and possibly even assaulter. They're right here on thirteenth and Cherokee. 419 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 1: There is a business owner right across the street they 420 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:49,919 Speaker 1: just started an argument with. Right now, they're right outside 421 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,000 Speaker 1: the police department where there is CPD and full of 422 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 1: riot gear. One sorry. As the reporter is doing her 423 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,760 Speaker 1: live shot, you can hear zeb yell get back, get away. 424 00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:02,359 Speaker 1: He's trying to protect her from a mob that is 425 00:26:02,359 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: growing increasingly violent and unpredictable. We're gonna, we're gonna send 426 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:08,000 Speaker 1: back to you because we don't feel comfortable right now, 427 00:26:08,119 --> 00:26:10,520 Speaker 1: Jason and Jacqueline, So we're gonna we're gonna get back 428 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,119 Speaker 1: out of this right now. Ze begins to realize that 429 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: with his rhetoric and Mickey's organizing, it's all having a 430 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:21,880 Speaker 1: real effect. Things are changing, but it's also getting out 431 00:26:21,880 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: of control. It's getting scary. Zeb wanted to move things 432 00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:29,800 Speaker 1: to the next level, that's true, but Mickey, he's beginning 433 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 1: to realize, is a blunt instrument. He's taken things too far. 434 00:26:35,400 --> 00:26:37,320 Speaker 1: It's like, you don't send the fucking line to go 435 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 1: get any one of flowers, you know, you don't send 436 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,119 Speaker 1: the serial killer and to go fucking hang out with 437 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:44,680 Speaker 1: your mom. You know, yeah, you don't do that. And 438 00:26:44,720 --> 00:26:48,800 Speaker 1: then things get really bad, and not just in Denver, 439 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:57,040 Speaker 1: the whole nation is reeling from political violence. In Kenosha, Wisconsin, 440 00:26:57,240 --> 00:27:00,560 Speaker 1: in August twenty five, twenty a demonstration over the police 441 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, results in a 442 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:06,280 Speaker 1: street brawl in which a seventeen year old white kid, 443 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,359 Speaker 1: Kyle Rittenhouse, shoots and kills two men and wounds a third. 444 00:27:11,359 --> 00:27:13,879 Speaker 1: Two people were killed during another night of Black Lives 445 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Investigators say it may have 446 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,840 Speaker 1: been a vigilante attempt carried out by a young white man. 447 00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:27,440 Speaker 1: Three days later, in Denver, demonstrators gather at a police 448 00:27:27,440 --> 00:27:31,359 Speaker 1: building in the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Mickey had helped 449 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:35,000 Speaker 1: organize and hype up the protest. He was really promoting 450 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,360 Speaker 1: the CV. This is ZEB. He was trying to say, Hey, 451 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:39,760 Speaker 1: get as many people as you can to go to 452 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: the CV, Get as many people as you can to go. 453 00:27:42,160 --> 00:27:43,960 Speaker 1: It was to get more people to go there and 454 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:48,720 Speaker 1: Kyle's having That's what I truly believe. But Mickey's event 455 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:52,840 Speaker 1: isn't a demonstration. It's an all out assault and the 456 00:27:52,880 --> 00:27:55,440 Speaker 1: fighting begins to rage before ZEB can even get there. 457 00:27:56,119 --> 00:27:58,280 Speaker 1: The DSA kids and I were supposed to go out 458 00:27:58,359 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: take photos and everything. I was going to take photos 459 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:04,280 Speaker 1: and be a medic if need be. We had just 460 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:08,760 Speaker 1: recently got a CPR certified, you know, and that's what 461 00:28:08,760 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: we're supposed to do. But we never really really really 462 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,000 Speaker 1: made it. By that police station or about the crowd. 463 00:28:19,760 --> 00:28:23,640 Speaker 1: The protesters, ducking behind homemade shields, throw rocks and shoot 464 00:28:23,680 --> 00:28:26,520 Speaker 1: fireworks at a line of police officers standing in riot gear. 465 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,040 Speaker 1: A metal fence separates the protesters from the line of cops. 466 00:28:30,640 --> 00:28:32,720 Speaker 1: A few of the protesters take hold of a dumpster 467 00:28:32,800 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: on wheels and together push it as hard as they 468 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 1: can until the police fence like a battering ram against 469 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: the castle gate. The fence bows but stays up. The 470 00:28:42,120 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: police then start firing gas canisters at the rioters. The 471 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: cops storm into the streets in riot gear and gas 472 00:28:51,240 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: masks and holding rifles that fire pepperballs. The police are aggressive, 473 00:29:08,840 --> 00:29:11,680 Speaker 1: like a riot squad unleashed. It was like they had 474 00:29:11,720 --> 00:29:14,880 Speaker 1: been preparing for this moment. A local cop had posted 475 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: a photo on social media of himself and other officers 476 00:29:18,240 --> 00:29:21,760 Speaker 1: dressed in tactical gear. Let's start a riot, he wrote. 477 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,640 Speaker 1: Dozens of protesters are injured in the police response. The 478 00:29:25,680 --> 00:29:30,160 Speaker 1: cops fire pepperballs, they break bones. Protesters are rushed to 479 00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:32,560 Speaker 1: the hospital. One man is hit in the head by 480 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: a kevlar bag filled with lead fired from a police shotgun. 481 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,080 Speaker 1: A stingball grenade explodes next to one woman that knocks 482 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:44,240 Speaker 1: out her teeth, but the violence works. The cops effectively 483 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:49,000 Speaker 1: dispersed the protesters. Mickey played a large part in the 484 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,040 Speaker 1: attack on the police building. He helped organize and promote 485 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: the event, but he wasn't a lone actor. The violence 486 00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:59,720 Speaker 1: broke out spontaneously. Dozens, if not hundreds of people were 487 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: her rocks and other objects of police officers, and it 488 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: wasn't just protesters who were injured. Denver police reported injuries 489 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: among more than seventy officers during that week of violence. 490 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:15,120 Speaker 1: Mickey wasn't responsible for the fire, but he and the 491 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:20,520 Speaker 1: FBI helped create the initial spark, and in Denver, the 492 00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 1: FBI's just getting started. Okay, so nobody can hear us. 493 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: So here I'll talk. Okay, So I talked to my dude. 494 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 1: He's on board. What he's gonna do. He's coming in tuesday. 495 00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: So what Fairwell met at nowhere like this on Tuesday. 496 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,920 Speaker 1: He'll walk to through what the game plan is that's 497 00:30:46,440 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: in the next episode. This is Trojan Hearse, Season one 498 00:30:50,520 --> 00:30:59,160 Speaker 1: of Alphabet Boys. Alphabet Boys is a production of Western 499 00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,560 Speaker 1: Sound and I Podcasts. The show is reported, written, and 500 00:31:02,600 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 1: hosted by me, Trevor Aaronson. For more information about the 501 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:09,320 Speaker 1: series or to drop us a tip, enter our website 502 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,280 Speaker 1: alphabet Boys dot xyz. You can contact me on Twitter 503 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,120 Speaker 1: and Instagram at Trevor Aaronson. We believe this story is 504 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:20,080 Speaker 1: important and could result in changes to FBI oversight and 505 00:31:20,160 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: public policy. But to have impact, people need to hear 506 00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: the story, so we need your help. First, tell your 507 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:31,880 Speaker 1: friends about the show. Personal recommendations are the best recommendations. Second, 508 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: spread the word on social media. At alphabet Boys dot xyz. 509 00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:39,640 Speaker 1: You'll find FBI undercover recordings and secret documents. You can 510 00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: share stuff the government never wanted public. Third, help us 511 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:46,720 Speaker 1: ride the algorithms by leaving a rating or review on 512 00:31:46,760 --> 00:31:50,080 Speaker 1: your favorite podcast app that helps other people find us. 513 00:31:51,000 --> 00:31:51,880 Speaker 1: And thanks for listening.