1 00:00:02,759 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Last time on SNAPOO pursuing. 2 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:06,160 Speaker 2: The executive order. 3 00:00:06,440 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 3: The Director's Selective Service is going to establish tonight a 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 3: random selection sequence or induction or nineteen. 5 00:00:15,920 --> 00:00:20,160 Speaker 2: Seventy for Bill, dissent was at the heart of democracy. 6 00:00:20,600 --> 00:00:23,919 Speaker 4: How complicated would it be to go into the office. 7 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,600 Speaker 2: If the FBI was spying on people? 8 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:32,400 Speaker 5: Records of what kinds of the surveillance or disruption? 9 00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 2: He's regarded it as a crime that needed to be solved. 10 00:00:37,280 --> 00:00:40,080 Speaker 2: He just called John and me and asked us, if 11 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 2: we want to come to a party. 12 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:50,559 Speaker 6: You got to do what you got to do. You know, 13 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:53,239 Speaker 6: you have to maintain your own personal integrity. 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: That's Keith Forsyth succinctly stating his personal philosophy. When Keith 15 00:00:59,560 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: entered cap College in Ohio in the fall of nineteen 16 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:05,800 Speaker 1: sixty nine, he says he wasn't very political. But just 17 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: a year later, when Bill Davidan invited Keith to help 18 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 1: him burglarize the FBI, Keith said, yes, So what changed? Well, 19 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: it all started with a book and it. 20 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 6: Was called Piece in Vietnam. 21 00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 1: It was a small paperback published by a pacifist Quaker organization. 22 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:28,720 Speaker 1: A guy in Keith's dorm loaned it to him, it 23 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: told the history of the Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective. 24 00:01:33,040 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 2: You know, we went. 25 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 6: In there and tried to help the French maintain a 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,080 Speaker 6: colonial ownership of the Vietnam and enslayed the people there. 27 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 6: When the French got tired, they got their ass. Kidd 28 00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:47,199 Speaker 6: of the NBN threw we picked up when they left off. 29 00:01:47,360 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 6: That book just blew me away. I mean, I can't 30 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 6: the emotional power that of the effect that had on me. 31 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 6: It was just really indescribles that was quoting. 32 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: But already knew the American government's justification for the war 33 00:02:03,440 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 1: that the Vietnamese people needed to be rescued from the 34 00:02:06,080 --> 00:02:10,800 Speaker 1: ever expanding chokehold of communism. But through extensive research, he 35 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: was learning a very different side of the story. Nothing 36 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,400 Speaker 1: he could find justified America's role in Vietnam. He even 37 00:02:18,600 --> 00:02:21,440 Speaker 1: asked the State Department to make the case for the war, 38 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,400 Speaker 1: but their response was not convincing. 39 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 6: And I still remember the phrase I was saying to myself, 40 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 6: this can't be true. This is America. I remember we were. 41 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:38,119 Speaker 7: In the newsroom of the student newspaper or something, maybe 42 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:42,519 Speaker 7: a graphic some leafless for in a Cambodian invasion protests, 43 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 7: and the news of Vatkan State came over the wire, 44 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:47,919 Speaker 7: and you know, we're. 45 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 6: Just down a road from Kent State. 46 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 1: Keith and his peers were horrified by Kent State, and 47 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: he was even more shocked by what happened just two 48 00:02:57,200 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: weeks later at Jackson State in Mississippi, where local police 49 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:04,280 Speaker 1: unleashed a barrage of gunfire on a dorm full of 50 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 1: unarmed black students, killing two young men. Heith heard the 51 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:12,360 Speaker 1: police's official story, then he heard a tape of what 52 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:13,359 Speaker 1: actually happened. 53 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 4: It was ten or. 54 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:18,120 Speaker 6: Twenty rifles and distals and shotguns all being fired, you 55 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 6: know once. 56 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:21,280 Speaker 8: Anyway, the story. 57 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 6: They circulated later that somebody shot at them and they 58 00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 6: shot back was obviously bullshit. It was just all a sudden, 59 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,160 Speaker 6: all this barrage and it sounded like a machine gun 60 00:03:29,200 --> 00:03:32,360 Speaker 6: wire And. 61 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,320 Speaker 8: That was it for me. 62 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:40,240 Speaker 6: Was already man, it was already feeling and raised and betrayed, 63 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 6: and after that it just multiplied. 64 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 1: Keith had already dropped out of school to protest the 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:47,000 Speaker 1: war full time. 66 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,840 Speaker 6: I felt that Vietnam war was a horrendous moral outrage. 67 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:53,160 Speaker 6: It's no different than if you were walking down the 68 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:56,640 Speaker 6: street and you saw somebody walk up to a stranger 69 00:03:56,680 --> 00:03:59,200 Speaker 6: and fill their brains out for no reason whatsoever. I mean, 70 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:00,840 Speaker 6: you would have a reaction to that. 71 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: Heath headed for the epicenter of America's anti war movement, Philadelphia. 72 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:09,600 Speaker 1: He got a job driving a cab, and he began 73 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:13,200 Speaker 1: spending his nights with the local anti war movement burglarizing 74 00:04:13,280 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: draft boards. He became an expert in picking locks. He 75 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: actually got certified as a locksmith as part of his 76 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: training to burglarized draft boards. So by late nineteen seventy, 77 00:04:24,640 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: when Bill Davidon decided to break into the FBI. 78 00:04:28,279 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 9: He called me and asked me if I was interested 79 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,799 Speaker 9: in going to a party, which was you know code. 80 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: It was the same called John and Bonnie Rains had received. 81 00:04:41,040 --> 00:04:44,920 Speaker 1: Bill was inviting Keith to join an action targeting the FBI, 82 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:47,920 Speaker 1: and Keith didn't need much convincing. 83 00:04:48,600 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 9: When you're twenty years old, you do a lot of 84 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,360 Speaker 9: things that you might think twice about later. I was 85 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:03,760 Speaker 9: really really really really angry and really really really frustrated, 86 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 9: and I'm like, if we can up Deannie, let's do it. 87 00:05:12,640 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: I'm Ed Helms and this is Snaffo a show about 88 00:05:16,400 --> 00:05:21,400 Speaker 1: history's greatest screw ups. This is season two Medburg, the 89 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,760 Speaker 1: story of a daring heist and the colossal FBI snaffo 90 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,839 Speaker 1: it exposed this week how to break into the FBI. 91 00:05:44,360 --> 00:05:47,839 Speaker 1: Let's check back in with our professional heist consultant, Steven 92 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: Soderberg in the sort of typical heist film. 93 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:56,400 Speaker 6: Each person has a specific skill set in a specific role, 94 00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,640 Speaker 6: and it's fun to watch them perform that. 95 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,080 Speaker 1: Keith Forsyth, who by the way, looked a little like 96 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,479 Speaker 1: John Lennon in the early seventies, brought his aptitude for 97 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:07,240 Speaker 1: lock picking. 98 00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:10,159 Speaker 9: It's really not hard and you can get through almost 99 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 9: any door twenty seconds if you, you know, are any good. 100 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: Also attending the party was Sarah Schumer, a professor and 101 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: colleague of Bill Davidan's. Sarah had been politically active since 102 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,479 Speaker 1: the early days of the civil rights movement, so she 103 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:28,720 Speaker 1: was no stranger to the inside of a jail cell. 104 00:06:28,880 --> 00:06:32,640 Speaker 10: You just assumed your phone was wiretapped, you know, if 105 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 10: you were an activist, you assumed you were followed one 106 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:37,920 Speaker 10: way or another. 107 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: Ralph Daniel was a young graduate student in psychology. He 108 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:47,960 Speaker 1: protested the war, but initially avoided anything illegal. He worried 109 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: getting arrested would interfere with his studies. Nevertheless, he apparently 110 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,040 Speaker 1: drew the ire of a Philadelphia cop named Lieutenant Fenzil. 111 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: One day, Ralph was standing around not breaking the law 112 00:07:00,040 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: while some friends illegally chained themselves to the entrance of 113 00:07:02,960 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: a draft board. 114 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,719 Speaker 11: Office, and Fencil I decided he arrested me, and he said, 115 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,120 Speaker 11: I've seen you at too many demonstrations. I'm busting you 116 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:12,680 Speaker 11: even though you're not chained. 117 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: So it's arguably Lieutenant Fenzil's fault that Ralph wound up 118 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,040 Speaker 1: accessing his more rebellious, less law abiding side. 119 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:25,840 Speaker 11: If rules seemed foolish, I typically would not follow them. 120 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 11: I was also twenty six. I still felt invincible the 121 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 11: way a lot of young people do. 122 00:07:33,680 --> 00:07:36,040 Speaker 1: And when Bill invited him to the party. 123 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,239 Speaker 11: I said, sign me on. I didn't hesitate at all. 124 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,160 Speaker 1: Next up Bob Williamson, a social worker steeped in the 125 00:07:43,200 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: non violent teachings of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Bob 126 00:07:46,880 --> 00:07:51,720 Speaker 1: quickly realized that Philadelphia law enforcement was working against Philadelphians. 127 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 12: Nobody felt good when they saw a police car driveway. 128 00:07:54,920 --> 00:07:57,480 Speaker 12: They weren't providing any kind of a service to the community. 129 00:07:57,640 --> 00:07:59,560 Speaker 12: It was like an occupying force. 130 00:07:59,800 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 1: So Bob dedicated his evenings to following cops with a camera, 131 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:07,080 Speaker 1: policing the police. Eventually he fell in with the anti 132 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 1: war crowd and added draft board raids to his resume. 133 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,960 Speaker 1: He also had a fondness for corny jokes that sort 134 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 1: of became something. 135 00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 12: I was known for having an inappropriate sense of humor. 136 00:08:20,320 --> 00:08:21,160 Speaker 12: At the worst time. 137 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: Bill recruited Bob, and Bob recruited Judy fine Gold. Judy 138 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: was a military counselor at the American Friends Service Committee, 139 00:08:30,360 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: the same Quaker organization whose book about Vietnam changed Keith's life. 140 00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,040 Speaker 10: I was basically living my truth as pure as you 141 00:08:39,080 --> 00:08:42,800 Speaker 10: can live life, and I would go to work as 142 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,600 Speaker 10: a military counselor trying to get people out of the 143 00:08:45,640 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 10: military that didn't want to be there anymore. 144 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:52,119 Speaker 1: Legally, she was just nineteen, but she'd been actively protesting 145 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:56,040 Speaker 1: the war since age twelve, literally growing up in the movement. 146 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:58,280 Speaker 10: I just felt like I was living in the heart 147 00:08:58,320 --> 00:09:00,520 Speaker 10: of the dragon and it was just my job to 148 00:09:00,600 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 10: stop the fire, and this seemed like a way to 149 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:04,200 Speaker 10: do it. 150 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: Bill approached two other people who we can't name. One 151 00:09:10,840 --> 00:09:14,200 Speaker 1: turned him down. The other said, yes, but we'll just 152 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: have to call him Burglar number nine. 153 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:20,320 Speaker 13: Beno. 154 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,920 Speaker 1: Remember that it's going to be important later, But for now, 155 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:28,960 Speaker 1: Bill had his team. Some were married with children, while 156 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,960 Speaker 1: some were practically still children themselves. Some had years of 157 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:36,679 Speaker 1: experience conducting illegal anti war actions like draft board raides. 158 00:09:37,160 --> 00:09:40,400 Speaker 1: Others were taking that step for the first time. Some 159 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: of them were immediately identifiable as hippies I'm looking at you, 160 00:09:43,960 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 1: Keith and Bob, while others were clean cut professionals. But 161 00:09:48,200 --> 00:09:52,200 Speaker 1: despite these differences, they had a lot in common. They 162 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,720 Speaker 1: hated the war, they cherished free speech. They knew they 163 00:09:55,760 --> 00:10:00,000 Speaker 1: could trust Bill Davidan, and they did not trust ja 164 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:00,600 Speaker 1: Edgar Hoover. 165 00:10:01,679 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 13: What a friend we have in whover freedom has no 166 00:10:10,640 --> 00:10:22,679 Speaker 13: true or for is your thinking left us? He will 167 00:10:22,720 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 13: get you in the. 168 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: That's folk singer Tom Paxton singing an ode to Hoover 169 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,120 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy. Obviously, he's joking about his admiration for Hoover, 170 00:10:35,280 --> 00:10:37,960 Speaker 1: but the thing about that song is most of mainstream 171 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:42,640 Speaker 1: America probably agreed with it. Unironically at the time. Hoover 172 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: spent decades cultivating his in the FBI's image, and it worked. 173 00:10:47,240 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: He was your friend. But more than that, he was 174 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: your protector. 175 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:56,040 Speaker 5: We are playing disaster if we do not soon take 176 00:10:56,120 --> 00:11:01,720 Speaker 5: some positive action against the growing maldetary nation in this land. 177 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,760 Speaker 1: It is that's Jay Edgar himself, striking a note he'd 178 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 1: play his entire career. America is on the verge of catastrophe, 179 00:11:11,320 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: and law and order conservatism is the only thing holding 180 00:11:14,480 --> 00:11:15,640 Speaker 1: us back from the brink. 181 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 14: He was a serious bureaucrat. He was a heavily anti 182 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 14: communist conservative. 183 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: That's doctor Daniel Chard, a professor of history at Western 184 00:11:25,559 --> 00:11:29,320 Speaker 1: Washington University. Hoover was born in eighteen ninety five, the 185 00:11:29,360 --> 00:11:31,479 Speaker 1: son of a government pencil pusher. 186 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,960 Speaker 15: And came of age in Jim Crow, Washington, DC and 187 00:11:35,160 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 15: of what was then just the dominant cultural values of 188 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:41,599 Speaker 15: white male authority. 189 00:11:42,760 --> 00:11:46,520 Speaker 1: It's truly impossible to overstate how much this guy loved authority, 190 00:11:47,320 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: and of course he loved America, or at least his 191 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:52,960 Speaker 1: version of it. As a kid, Hoover rewrote the classic 192 00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:56,440 Speaker 1: story of George Washington chopping down a cherry tree. You know, 193 00:11:56,640 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: I cannot tell a lie, but in Little j Edgar's version, 194 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,160 Speaker 1: Washington's cousin Ike was responsible for axing the tree. I mean, 195 00:12:04,200 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: the point of that story isn't about chopping down a tree. 196 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,080 Speaker 1: It's about being honest when it matters. But Hoover wasn't 197 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,360 Speaker 1: concerned about honesty. He preferred his own story, where the 198 00:12:13,360 --> 00:12:16,560 Speaker 1: founder of our country was simply faultless. In the first place, 199 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:17,560 Speaker 1: he didn't. 200 00:12:17,360 --> 00:12:19,280 Speaker 4: Like the Left. He held racist views. 201 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:23,720 Speaker 14: He was in a racist fraternity at George Washington University. 202 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:28,160 Speaker 1: Dan's not just tossing that word around casually. Hoover's fraternity 203 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:31,000 Speaker 1: had some very close ties to the KKK at the time, 204 00:12:31,679 --> 00:12:34,400 Speaker 1: as in a lot of guys were members of both. 205 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: Like the Klan, they were still mourning the loss of 206 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:42,760 Speaker 1: the Civil War. Its members deeply revered Confederate General Robert E. Lee, 207 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,840 Speaker 1: whom the fraternity referred to as quote the last gentle 208 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:53,880 Speaker 1: night to pay for college plus fraternity dues. A young 209 00:12:53,960 --> 00:12:56,560 Speaker 1: Jay Edgar took a job at the Library of Congress. 210 00:12:57,320 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: There he began a lifelong love affair with organization and 211 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:05,360 Speaker 1: meticulous filing systems. A racist with a passion for file keeping, 212 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: I wouldn't want to get stuck talking to that guy 213 00:13:07,679 --> 00:13:08,960 Speaker 1: at a party. 214 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 5: There is nothing mysterious about the meadow which the Federal 215 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 5: Bureau of Investigation is working formula is a simple one. 216 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,240 Speaker 1: Oh wow, cool, okay. 217 00:13:18,400 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 5: Intensive training, casually investigated, Okay, highly efficient pressure they oh okay. 218 00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 5: Plus rigid requirements in regard to conduct intelligence and integrity. 219 00:13:28,679 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: Listen, I'm just going to go. I'm going to get 220 00:13:30,200 --> 00:13:30,720 Speaker 1: a drink. 221 00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:34,400 Speaker 5: I'll be a special agents. Must be a good marksman. Yeah, 222 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 5: have the courage to shoot it out with the most 223 00:13:36,640 --> 00:13:39,920 Speaker 5: venomous of public. And you must know how to take fingerprints, 224 00:13:40,200 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 5: what to do with the math. Hey, must know that 225 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 5: no clue. 226 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:44,560 Speaker 1: Sorry, sorry to cut you off. I just have to 227 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:52,679 Speaker 1: I just have to go somewhere else now. Somehow, Hoover 228 00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: managed to graduate law school without ever taking a class 229 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: in constitutional law. That's like graduating from medical school without 230 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:06,319 Speaker 1: ever taking a class on bones. The Justice Department didn't 231 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: seem to mind. They hired him anyway. Before long, he 232 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: was rising through the ranks. 233 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,000 Speaker 4: And was involved in what were called the Palmer Raids 234 00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:14,280 Speaker 4: or the. 235 00:14:14,280 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 14: First National Red Scare, going after the radical labor movement 236 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 14: after World War One. 237 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,520 Speaker 1: Hoover was only twenty four years old, and here he 238 00:14:22,680 --> 00:14:27,520 Speaker 1: was engineering the roundups and arrests of communists, socialists, anarchists, 239 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,880 Speaker 1: black political organizers, and anyone who was suspected of being 240 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,560 Speaker 1: any of the above. They were detained without due process, 241 00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: and some were even tortured, all under Hoover's supervision. The 242 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: Palmer Raids, as they came to be known, should have 243 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:47,800 Speaker 1: earned him a reputation for excessive brutality and violating the Constitution, 244 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,480 Speaker 1: but apparently Hoover's superiors liked what they saw. Just shy 245 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:57,160 Speaker 1: of his thirtieth birthday, the Justice Department named j. Edgar 246 00:14:57,200 --> 00:15:03,680 Speaker 1: Hoover the new head of its Bureau of Instigation. In 247 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties, Hoover's g men put the gangster machine 248 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,760 Speaker 1: gun Kelly in prison for life and gunned down Public 249 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,560 Speaker 1: Enemy number one, John Dillinger. Fun fact, Hoover kept Dillinger's 250 00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:19,560 Speaker 1: glasses and death mask in a display case outside his office, 251 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,840 Speaker 1: and if that wasn't creepy enough, he invited agents in 252 00:15:22,880 --> 00:15:25,720 Speaker 1: training to come and make their own castings of the 253 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 1: death mask. Catching gangsters earned Hoover the appreciation of the 254 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:36,400 Speaker 1: public and presidents alike. He expanded the bureau's reach, modernized 255 00:15:36,400 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 1: its approach to investigations, and hired thousands of new agents. 256 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: He was also particularly keen to pluck new hires out 257 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: of the same KKK adjacent fraternity of which he'd been 258 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,400 Speaker 1: a member. Many of those men formed the foundation of 259 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: Hoover's new intelligence gathering juggernaut. 260 00:15:54,120 --> 00:15:57,800 Speaker 14: The changes the name in the thirties to the FBI 261 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 14: rather than just Bureau of Investigation. He build it up 262 00:16:00,720 --> 00:16:04,560 Speaker 14: as a very powerful organization with a lot of autonomy 263 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 14: from congressional oversight or executive oversight. 264 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,560 Speaker 1: During the Red Scare of the forties and fifties, Hoover 265 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,480 Speaker 1: did pretty much exactly what you'd expect him to do, 266 00:16:17,040 --> 00:16:20,920 Speaker 1: funneled information on suspected commies to Joe McCarthy and the 267 00:16:20,960 --> 00:16:24,520 Speaker 1: House on American Activities Committee. But even after the Red 268 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:25,960 Speaker 1: Scare died down. 269 00:16:26,480 --> 00:16:29,920 Speaker 3: Mister Hoover, some people are saying today that communism is 270 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:32,080 Speaker 3: no longer a danger to our country. 271 00:16:32,200 --> 00:16:33,720 Speaker 4: What is your opinion about that? 272 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:36,720 Speaker 3: I think the Communism is as serious amens to the 273 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:38,720 Speaker 3: United States as it ever was, if not more so, 274 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,240 Speaker 3: because today you have in charge of the Communist Party 275 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:46,160 Speaker 3: a hard core, fanatical group of members who are dedicated 276 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:48,560 Speaker 3: to the overthrow of our government by FOSSEM and violence. 277 00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:00,040 Speaker 1: As the head of a federal agency, Hoover had to 278 00:17:00,080 --> 00:17:03,120 Speaker 1: go to Congress once a year to review his department's budget, 279 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,120 Speaker 1: But unlike his peers, Hoover's hearings always happened in closed session, 280 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: no public, no press. Every year he'd give a version 281 00:17:12,080 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: of the same spiel. 282 00:17:13,920 --> 00:17:17,320 Speaker 16: You thought those rads were scary in nineteen seventy, boy, 283 00:17:17,440 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 16: let me tell you what they got planned for seventy one, and. 284 00:17:21,160 --> 00:17:25,920 Speaker 1: Every year Congress bought it, increasing the FBI's budget. Hoover 285 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:28,960 Speaker 1: had learned to game the system. No one in America's 286 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,959 Speaker 1: history held onto a high ranking position like Hoover's for 287 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 1: as long as he did. When he first got the job, 288 00:17:35,600 --> 00:17:40,040 Speaker 1: Calvin freaking Coolidge was president, and Hoover stayed in his 289 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:45,320 Speaker 1: role through eight presidencies. He watched sixteen attorneys general come 290 00:17:45,359 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: and go. They all had the authority to fire him, 291 00:17:48,520 --> 00:17:51,639 Speaker 1: and some came pretty close, but none of them did. 292 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:55,520 Speaker 1: It's probably not a coincidence that Hoover was also collecting 293 00:17:55,600 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: dirt on public officials for decades. Suffice to say, Hoover 294 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:03,280 Speaker 1: clung to his job like an angry barnacle. 295 00:18:07,480 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 4: His office had two layers. 296 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:12,959 Speaker 14: He had a full office and then an interior office 297 00:18:13,000 --> 00:18:15,080 Speaker 14: within that, and he had what was called the official 298 00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:18,359 Speaker 14: and confidential files that were so secret he kept them 299 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:22,040 Speaker 14: in there. It was known that he had intelligence files 300 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,080 Speaker 14: on different congressmen. 301 00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:26,320 Speaker 4: He knew who John F. Kennedy was sleeping with, and 302 00:18:26,320 --> 00:18:27,040 Speaker 4: stuff like that. 303 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,680 Speaker 1: On one level, this was probably pretty childish, a chance 304 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:34,679 Speaker 1: to giggle at a senator's secret sexual proclivities, but really 305 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,560 Speaker 1: showing off his collection of secrets served as a veiled threat. 306 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 1: You think that's embarrassing, well, just to imagine what I've 307 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:50,159 Speaker 1: gone on you you you you threats of blackmail. Notwithstanding, 308 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,959 Speaker 1: Hoover really should have been forced out in nineteen sixty 309 00:18:53,000 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: five when he reached what was the government's mandatory retirement 310 00:18:56,280 --> 00:19:00,960 Speaker 1: age of seventy. But despite being famously well endowed, google 311 00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,040 Speaker 1: it if you don't know what I'm talking about, Lyndon 312 00:19:03,119 --> 00:19:07,120 Speaker 1: Johnson lacked the balls to enforce that rule, so instead 313 00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: he did this. 314 00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:11,359 Speaker 8: The nation cannot afford to LUGI, and therefore I have 315 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:16,080 Speaker 8: just now signed an executive order exempting you from compulsory 316 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:19,000 Speaker 8: TIMA for an indefinite period of time. 317 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,800 Speaker 1: Hoover outlasted LBJ and was still in office when Nixon 318 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:27,240 Speaker 1: took over. By that point, his penchant for blackmail was 319 00:19:27,320 --> 00:19:31,080 Speaker 1: something of an open secret, but overall his propaganda had 320 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:34,679 Speaker 1: paid off. He was a conservative crime fighting hero, and 321 00:19:34,760 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: even if they didn't revere the guy, most Americans just 322 00:19:38,040 --> 00:19:43,399 Speaker 1: trusted him. He certainly had some strange obsessions. Here's a 323 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:46,640 Speaker 1: direct quote from a memo Hoover wrote regarding new hires. 324 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 16: I recently saw a photograph of a favorably recommended clerical applicant. 325 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:54,639 Speaker 16: This photograph reflected long sign burns and long hair in 326 00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:57,920 Speaker 16: the back, and two full on the sides. Please, when 327 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 16: interviewing applicants, be alert for long hairs, beards, mustaches, pear 328 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 16: shaped heads, truck drivers, etc. 329 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:07,160 Speaker 1: I don't even know what that means, but now I'm 330 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:13,800 Speaker 1: kind of worried. Honey, do I have a pear shaped head? Oh? 331 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:20,080 Speaker 1: Thank god? Today. Some of Hoover's idiosyncrasies just sound goofy. 332 00:20:20,359 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: But to the men of Hoover's FBI, his word was gospel, 333 00:20:24,320 --> 00:20:27,720 Speaker 1: partially because Hoover's FBI tended to hire guys like Hoover, 334 00:20:28,359 --> 00:20:32,359 Speaker 1: meaning they were all guys and they were all white. 335 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:36,640 Speaker 1: In nineteen sixty two, Attorney General Robert Kennedy publicly called 336 00:20:36,680 --> 00:20:40,720 Speaker 1: Hoover out over this. In response, Hoover promoted his black 337 00:20:40,800 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 1: chauffeur to the role of special agent. Of course, that 338 00:20:44,119 --> 00:20:46,960 Speaker 1: special agent kept driving Hoover's car. 339 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,800 Speaker 14: They're all white men exclusively. There's a lot of World 340 00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:55,200 Speaker 14: War Two veterans in the FBI. They're pretty conservative. The 341 00:20:55,280 --> 00:21:01,639 Speaker 14: FBI recruited heavily among Catholics. They saw Catholics as people 342 00:21:01,640 --> 00:21:06,720 Speaker 14: who were kind of a cultured into being part of 343 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:10,160 Speaker 14: an institution with a hierarchy that they would like listen 344 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:10,879 Speaker 14: to authority. 345 00:21:11,920 --> 00:21:14,760 Speaker 1: By nineteen seventy, the FBI could be fairly described as 346 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 1: an army of many Hoovers, straight laced, serious minded white 347 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,560 Speaker 1: men who tucked in their shirts, avoided sideburns like the plague, 348 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 1: loved God, hated communism, and had some sort of weird 349 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:31,359 Speaker 1: thing against truck drivers. Apparently, the FBI's official motto was fidelity, bravery, 350 00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:37,800 Speaker 1: and integrity. Get it. Those are wonderful words with wonderful meaning. 351 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: But as the years passed, Hoover increasingly conducted activities that 352 00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:49,040 Speaker 1: did not mesh with those ideals. Back in those days, 353 00:21:49,080 --> 00:21:52,000 Speaker 1: tapping someone's phone involved placing a physical tap on the 354 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:55,680 Speaker 1: actual phone lines. This meant if somebody was tapping your phone, 355 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,960 Speaker 1: you might hear a telltelle noise. 356 00:21:58,240 --> 00:22:01,080 Speaker 2: You got on the phoney you heard quickly, but you know, 357 00:22:01,560 --> 00:22:02,320 Speaker 2: you knew. 358 00:22:02,080 --> 00:22:02,960 Speaker 4: Something was off. 359 00:22:03,880 --> 00:22:06,440 Speaker 1: So even if they couldn't prove it, Tom Paxton and 360 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,800 Speaker 1: others just kind of knew it was their pal j 361 00:22:10,080 --> 00:22:11,280 Speaker 1: Edgar on the line. 362 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:20,480 Speaker 13: Does your telephone sound Puney, is some stranger standing by 363 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 13: standing by? Do not bother your revel. 364 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:29,000 Speaker 8: Man. 365 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,640 Speaker 5: Take it to the fv. 366 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:54,800 Speaker 1: H up in Philadelphia. Bonnie Rains, her husband John, and 367 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:58,520 Speaker 1: seven others had said yes when a quiet physicist named 368 00:22:58,520 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 1: Bill Davidon invited him to his quote unquote party. Despite 369 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:06,080 Speaker 1: the fact that most of them hadn't met before Bill's party, 370 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:10,680 Speaker 1: they quickly bonded over their shared goal to expose FBI 371 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:15,680 Speaker 1: surveillance from the outset. The nine would be burglars agreed 372 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:18,760 Speaker 1: that they would never tell another living soul what they 373 00:23:18,760 --> 00:23:22,120 Speaker 1: were about to do, and they also agreed on a name. 374 00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:26,480 Speaker 1: The citizens commissioned to investigate the FBI. 375 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,800 Speaker 2: We knew we had to identify ourselves in a particular 376 00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 2: kind of way. So it flipped the whole idea of 377 00:23:36,000 --> 00:23:39,480 Speaker 2: a commission that investigates this and a commission that investigates 378 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 2: that to our responsibility to investigate the FBI. 379 00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: It might have been a tad grandiose or sarcastic, like 380 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:50,480 Speaker 1: referring to your cat as the acting director of vomiting 381 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: on the sofa cushion, but the name also pointed to 382 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,120 Speaker 1: one of the core beliefs that all nine members shared. 383 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,520 Speaker 1: If the government wasn't going to hold itself accountable, duty 384 00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:05,920 Speaker 1: would have to fall to the citizens. Next step, pick 385 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,160 Speaker 1: the target. I know we. 386 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:12,000 Speaker 9: Discussed the possibility of doing the Philadelphia FBI office because 387 00:24:12,119 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 9: I went down and cased it in the daytime. If 388 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,119 Speaker 9: the sign in books for the building still exists, my 389 00:24:19,280 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 9: alias is in there. Probably Bill Travis, I'm guessing, was 390 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 9: probably it. 391 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 1: The Philadelphia FBI office was an impenetrable citadel smack dab 392 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: in the center of downtown Philly, a stone's throw from 393 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,560 Speaker 1: City Hall, in just a few minutes from police headquarters. 394 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:40,200 Speaker 1: This office was not an ideal target. So Bill david 395 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 1: On and his crew looked elsewhere. 396 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,439 Speaker 2: Well, he said, I opened up the phone book, and 397 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 2: there's an FBI office in Media, which is practically next 398 00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:54,240 Speaker 2: door to Haverford where he lived, a little office in Media, 399 00:24:54,800 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 2: and so maybe we could think about the feasibility of that. 400 00:25:02,680 --> 00:25:05,760 Speaker 1: As far as unthinkable heists went, the FBI office in 401 00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: the bedroom community of Media, Pennsylvania seemed less unthinkable. Here's 402 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:12,560 Speaker 1: Bob Williamson. 403 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,240 Speaker 12: It was called a resident agency and there were only 404 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:18,879 Speaker 12: three or four agents working out of that office for 405 00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:19,479 Speaker 12: the area. 406 00:25:20,200 --> 00:25:22,800 Speaker 1: Resident agency was a fancy term for when the FBI 407 00:25:22,840 --> 00:25:25,680 Speaker 1: is simply rented out office space in a civilian building. 408 00:25:26,600 --> 00:25:29,399 Speaker 1: This particular resident agency was on the second floor of 409 00:25:29,440 --> 00:25:33,359 Speaker 1: an unremarkable apartment building across from the Delaware County Courthouse. 410 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: At first glance, there wasn't much to distinguish this little 411 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,760 Speaker 1: FBI outpost from the office of say, a mid sized 412 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:46,440 Speaker 1: regional paper company. AnyWho. The burglars had their target one 413 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 1: Veteran Square, Media, Pennsylvania. For the next few months, the 414 00:25:50,359 --> 00:25:53,280 Speaker 1: crew of nine would gather at their secret hideout, John 415 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,000 Speaker 1: and Bonnie's house and work on their plan. 416 00:25:56,640 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 2: It was a big house, big old Victorian house. We 417 00:26:00,359 --> 00:26:03,159 Speaker 2: had one room on the third floor that became the 418 00:26:03,200 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 2: planning room. 419 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,439 Speaker 1: And almost perfect headquarters with a few small complications. 420 00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:11,280 Speaker 2: We had to tell our children to not to talk 421 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:13,320 Speaker 2: about the maps that were up on the wall in 422 00:26:13,359 --> 00:26:15,680 Speaker 2: the room where we were meeting. Don't talk about the. 423 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,200 Speaker 1: Maps now, sweetie, I know you used to be able 424 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,720 Speaker 1: to go into that room on the third floor. But well, 425 00:26:20,920 --> 00:26:24,639 Speaker 1: mommy and daddy have we've gotten really into maps lately, 426 00:26:24,720 --> 00:26:28,119 Speaker 1: and you know, just maps of nearby towns and stuff. 427 00:26:28,160 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 1: Nothing you'd be interested in. 428 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 2: Don't talk about the people who sometimes stay overnight. 429 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,840 Speaker 1: Sometimes mommies and daddies like to share maps with friends. 430 00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,280 Speaker 1: What what's with all the questions? Just go to bed. 431 00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:44,720 Speaker 1: Most nights, the Citizens Commission would gather at the Rains House. 432 00:26:45,040 --> 00:26:47,520 Speaker 1: The evenings began with dinner, more often than not, a 433 00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:49,879 Speaker 1: giant pot of spaghetti prepared by Bonnie. 434 00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,760 Speaker 2: John and I were kind of the grandparents of this group. 435 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: Then it was off to the scene of their planned crime, 436 00:26:56,600 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: the apartment building at one Veteran Square. Their mission was 437 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 1: to study every single detail about the office and its surroundings. 438 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:13,960 Speaker 11: We cased the place for at least two maybe three months. 439 00:27:13,960 --> 00:27:19,720 Speaker 2: So we would case in pairs, usually male and female pairs, 440 00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 2: because if there was any suspicion about us in the car, 441 00:27:25,240 --> 00:27:27,720 Speaker 2: if the police pulled up next to the car where 442 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,639 Speaker 2: we were, we could pretend to be a couple. 443 00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:34,280 Speaker 9: Are there any beat copses at all in cars? What's 444 00:27:34,320 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 9: happening with the courthouse. You know, when are the traffic 445 00:27:37,560 --> 00:27:39,480 Speaker 9: jams in media and where. 446 00:27:39,520 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 2: The schedule of the agents in the FBI office, you know, 447 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,280 Speaker 2: did they ever come in late at night back into 448 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 2: the office or not? And we learned that it was 449 00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:54,040 Speaker 2: they worked nine to five. They locked the door at 450 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:58,679 Speaker 2: five and go home. Lest we forget, it's still a 451 00:27:58,760 --> 00:27:59,560 Speaker 2: government job. 452 00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,560 Speaker 9: Who else is going in and out where the police? 453 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:08,600 Speaker 2: It was very time consuming and very tedious in some cases, 454 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 2: but important to see the patterns of. 455 00:28:13,160 --> 00:28:18,800 Speaker 1: Activity picture our perspective. Burglars paired off sitting in parked 456 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,600 Speaker 1: cars in the middle of winter, cataloging everything that happened 457 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: in this sleepy town center night after night after night. 458 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:33,960 Speaker 1: Two things were inevitable, One boredom and two. 459 00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,880 Speaker 10: Well, and Bob and I, you know, like all healthy, 460 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,760 Speaker 10: lusty people, decided this would be a great time to 461 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:44,240 Speaker 10: start an affair, you know, right in the fiery storm 462 00:28:44,280 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 10: of revolution. 463 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 12: You know, we did some kissing and necking while we 464 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,520 Speaker 12: were kazing. We were just we were just both a 465 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:54,560 Speaker 12: little horning, I guess. 466 00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:04,040 Speaker 1: Despite the judy, Bob and the others noticed one big problem. 467 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,480 Speaker 1: A security guard was on duty around the clock in 468 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,840 Speaker 1: the courthouse, monitoring the front entrance with a clear view 469 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: of the FBI office. 470 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:15,920 Speaker 2: Both the courthouse itself was well lighted and this intersection 471 00:29:16,040 --> 00:29:19,760 Speaker 2: where the building was was well lighted. We could have 472 00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 2: been observed, easily been observed going in or out of 473 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:23,360 Speaker 2: the front door. 474 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:27,080 Speaker 1: Doing anything to debilitate the guard was out of the question. 475 00:29:27,400 --> 00:29:31,440 Speaker 1: This was, after all, a group dedicated to nonviolence, attempting 476 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 1: to distract him would carry its own risks. In the 477 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,200 Speaker 1: ideal burglary, nobody would notice anything out of the ordinary 478 00:29:38,280 --> 00:29:41,720 Speaker 1: at all. They determined early on that the doors to 479 00:29:41,800 --> 00:29:45,600 Speaker 1: one veteran Square were never locked, So the Citizens Commission 480 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:48,920 Speaker 1: decided to look as ordinary as possible and bank on 481 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,120 Speaker 1: playing it so cool that the guard would think nothing 482 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,240 Speaker 1: of them. But the door to the office itself that 483 00:29:56,680 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 1: was a whole different story and would require a bit 484 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:01,040 Speaker 1: of finagling. 485 00:30:02,720 --> 00:30:04,840 Speaker 9: I went to look at the locks fairly early in 486 00:30:04,880 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 9: the process, and the main door was just a door, 487 00:30:09,040 --> 00:30:11,000 Speaker 9: like on the front door of your house, same lock, 488 00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 9: So I was like, not a problem. It's always puzzled 489 00:30:15,360 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 9: me why criminals don't learn lock picking, because it's really 490 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 9: not hard, and you can get through almost any door 491 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:24,280 Speaker 9: in twenty seconds if you you know, are any good. 492 00:30:25,040 --> 00:30:29,440 Speaker 9: When I got my certificate, that would have made it 493 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:32,080 Speaker 9: legal for me to go to a lock shop and 494 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 9: buy lock picks. But I was not that stupid. I 495 00:30:38,120 --> 00:30:41,160 Speaker 9: went to the hardware store and bought some spring steel, 496 00:30:41,200 --> 00:30:44,280 Speaker 9: and I already had a grinder and a file, and 497 00:30:44,360 --> 00:30:47,720 Speaker 9: I made my own so that they wouldn't be traceable. 498 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,520 Speaker 1: The crew installed a practice door, a door to nowhere 499 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:54,960 Speaker 1: up in the mysterious third floor room that was off 500 00:30:55,000 --> 00:30:56,640 Speaker 1: limits to John and Bonnie's children. 501 00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:01,040 Speaker 9: You can't really learn it by reading a book. It's 502 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 9: like playing a musical instrument. You know, you start very slow, 503 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:06,920 Speaker 9: and you just do it over and over and over 504 00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:10,080 Speaker 9: and over and over. Take a break, come back the 505 00:31:10,120 --> 00:31:12,040 Speaker 9: next day. You do it over and over and over 506 00:31:12,080 --> 00:31:14,200 Speaker 9: and over again, the next day, the next day, the 507 00:31:14,240 --> 00:31:19,000 Speaker 9: next day, and you know, pretty soon you're in in 508 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:20,640 Speaker 9: twenty to thirty seconds. 509 00:31:21,320 --> 00:31:24,040 Speaker 1: This went on for roughly two months. Even if you 510 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:26,640 Speaker 1: spend some of that time making out with your accomplice. 511 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: That's a lot of long, monotonous evenings. But they found 512 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: ways to keep their spirits up. 513 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:36,680 Speaker 2: Keith always made us laugh, and Bob, Bob Williamson was 514 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,920 Speaker 2: a story. He would tell these ridiculous shaggy dogs, stories 515 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 2: and terrible jokes and puns, and a couple of them 516 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:47,440 Speaker 2: were also musicians. So occasionally we take a break and 517 00:31:47,520 --> 00:31:50,040 Speaker 2: somebody bring out their guitar and we'd maybe sing a 518 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:52,200 Speaker 2: little bit together, but some. 519 00:31:52,240 --> 00:31:53,520 Speaker 1: Joni Mitchell tuns or. 520 00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:55,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, all those old tunes. 521 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:01,280 Speaker 1: The group was falling into a comfortable rhythm. 522 00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:05,160 Speaker 2: They would sleep on air mattresses sometimes in our house. 523 00:32:05,200 --> 00:32:08,600 Speaker 2: They would tell bedtime stories to our kids. So I mean, 524 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 2: we really we formed a sort of cohesion that was 525 00:32:12,120 --> 00:32:12,920 Speaker 2: pretty special. 526 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,320 Speaker 1: When she looks back, Bonnie plays it pretty cool. But 527 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:21,400 Speaker 1: imagine yourself in her and John's shoes, meticulously planning something 528 00:32:21,440 --> 00:32:24,360 Speaker 1: incredibly dangerous, unable to explain any of it to your 529 00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:28,600 Speaker 1: kids even though they're right there, and knowing the whole 530 00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: time that going through with it could mean that you'll 531 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,960 Speaker 1: spend the rest of their childhoods behind bars. 532 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 9: I remember being amazed. I guess is the best word. 533 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:44,000 Speaker 9: That you know, John and Bonnie had small children. I'm like, 534 00:32:45,000 --> 00:32:47,080 Speaker 9: this is a whole different level of commitment. 535 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 10: I mean, that woman was you know, yeah, she was 536 00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:53,680 Speaker 10: part of the action, but she was just mothering the 537 00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:57,360 Speaker 10: hell out of us. And you know, being a young revolutionary. 538 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:01,240 Speaker 10: I wasn't cooking, so her spaghetti was like a gift 539 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:02,240 Speaker 10: from heaven. 540 00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:07,200 Speaker 2: Some of the time we were meeting together in our house, 541 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:09,840 Speaker 2: I felt a little bit like a den mother because 542 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,840 Speaker 2: I was cooking spaghetti and meatballs and basically in kind 543 00:33:14,840 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 2: of a supportive role, a secondary role. I definitely felt 544 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 2: that way, and that was true in the movement generally anyway. 545 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,880 Speaker 2: It was very male dominated, and so I think I 546 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:28,760 Speaker 2: was a little resentful about that. 547 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: But Bonnie's moment was about to come, because as the 548 00:33:32,480 --> 00:33:35,680 Speaker 1: weeks passed, the team realized that staring at the office 549 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:39,120 Speaker 1: from the outside could only tell them so much. They 550 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:53,640 Speaker 1: had to get eyes on the inside. The team had 551 00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:56,400 Speaker 1: been casing the media office for months, but they were 552 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,200 Speaker 1: still missing crucial details like how many ways into the 553 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:02,080 Speaker 1: office were there, Was there an alarm system, and if so, 554 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:05,520 Speaker 1: could it be disabled? How many signed photos of JEdgar 555 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: Hoover dotted the office walls, any JEdgar Hoover bobbleheads in there? 556 00:34:10,560 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: To get answers, someone had to go inside. 557 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:21,680 Speaker 2: My role emerged at that point, and I could pose 558 00:34:21,760 --> 00:34:24,440 Speaker 2: as a college student to ask for a meeting with 559 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:26,239 Speaker 2: the head of the office. 560 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,480 Speaker 1: So Bonnie Rains called the FBI and scheduled a meeting. 561 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:31,759 Speaker 2: When I asked for the interview, I said that I 562 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,960 Speaker 2: was a student doing research on opportunities for women in 563 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:39,200 Speaker 2: the FBI. I was gratified that I finally had a 564 00:34:39,280 --> 00:34:43,400 Speaker 2: speaking part. Not just a walk in part, but a 565 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:44,279 Speaker 2: speaking part. 566 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: You're not a background actor anymore. You're in the movie. 567 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,440 Speaker 2: I had long hippie hair, so we knew that we 568 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 2: had to figure out how to make me look not 569 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:59,319 Speaker 2: anything like I looked in my regular life. It was February, 570 00:34:59,480 --> 00:35:02,560 Speaker 2: so I tucked my long hair up inside of a 571 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:07,320 Speaker 2: big winter hat, and I found this kind of nerdy 572 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 2: winter coat. I looked a little bit like a college 573 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,080 Speaker 2: student who bought her clothes at thrift stores. 574 00:35:14,239 --> 00:35:17,160 Speaker 1: This was the Citizens Commission's only chance to get a 575 00:35:17,200 --> 00:35:19,800 Speaker 1: complete picture of the office they were planning to burgle. 576 00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:26,360 Speaker 1: I love that word burgel. Every detail was important, but 577 00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: it was also the riskiest thing they'd ever done. Sitting 578 00:35:29,160 --> 00:35:32,160 Speaker 1: outside an FBI office night after night was definitely kind 579 00:35:32,160 --> 00:35:35,880 Speaker 1: of sketchy. But going right into the belly of the 580 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:40,880 Speaker 1: beast in disguise, well that's a whole different ballgame. 581 00:35:42,080 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 2: John drove me in our station wagon with our little boy, Nathan, 582 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,160 Speaker 2: who was two at the time. They dropped me off 583 00:35:49,200 --> 00:35:51,759 Speaker 2: and then they pulled around the corner to wait for 584 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:54,160 Speaker 2: me because I had to say that I had come 585 00:35:54,200 --> 00:35:55,160 Speaker 2: on the bus. 586 00:35:55,920 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: She walked into the cramped entryway of one Veteran Square 587 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 1: and up the carpeted steps to the second floor. She 588 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:03,680 Speaker 1: entered the office and her receptionist told her to wait. 589 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:07,560 Speaker 1: As she waited, she did her best to memorize every 590 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:09,120 Speaker 1: detail of her surroundings. 591 00:36:10,400 --> 00:36:13,880 Speaker 2: There were no cameras, there were no alarms over the doors. 592 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:18,480 Speaker 2: I couldn't see any security measures whatsoever. 593 00:36:20,920 --> 00:36:27,680 Speaker 1: Okay, note to self, security cameras deter robbers go on. 594 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:33,640 Speaker 2: The building manager's office was right below the FBI office, 595 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,719 Speaker 2: so I was glad to see. There was carpeting on the. 596 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:41,200 Speaker 1: Floor, carpeting, muffles, footsteps. 597 00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:43,960 Speaker 2: Lots of file cabinets. I wore glasses. I don't know 598 00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:45,920 Speaker 2: who lent them to me, but I didn't wear glasses 599 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,400 Speaker 2: at the time, but I had glasses on and I 600 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 2: couldn't see very well with those glasses on them, but 601 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:55,800 Speaker 2: that helped disguise my identity pretty well. 602 00:36:57,040 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: Never trust someone in glasses. Wait a second, I. 603 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 4: Wear glasses. 604 00:37:03,840 --> 00:37:06,800 Speaker 1: Right where were we Eventually the g man in charge 605 00:37:06,920 --> 00:37:10,360 Speaker 1: ushered this meek, little student reporter into his office. 606 00:37:11,160 --> 00:37:13,719 Speaker 2: He was even a little flirty with me, I remember that, 607 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,600 Speaker 2: and seemed to be flattered that I was really interested 608 00:37:18,719 --> 00:37:24,360 Speaker 2: in in the FBI and interested in that interview. I 609 00:37:24,520 --> 00:37:29,320 Speaker 2: was very chatty, a little bit flirty, and very grateful 610 00:37:29,400 --> 00:37:32,560 Speaker 2: for the information that he gave me, And it was 611 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,479 Speaker 2: all just very friendly, and he never asked my name. 612 00:37:38,360 --> 00:37:41,280 Speaker 1: For Christ's sake, the average dentist's office has a sign 613 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:44,520 Speaker 1: in sheet. But I guess he was flustered. These guys 614 00:37:44,520 --> 00:37:47,080 Speaker 1: spend most of their time filling out paperwork and triplicate 615 00:37:47,120 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: to please Hoover. It's not every day a girl comes 616 00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:52,160 Speaker 1: into the office and wants to know about your big 617 00:37:52,200 --> 00:37:53,000 Speaker 1: important job. 618 00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:55,919 Speaker 2: At some point in the chat, he asked me where 619 00:37:55,920 --> 00:37:59,839 Speaker 2: I was from, and I came up with I said heart. 620 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:03,680 Speaker 2: I don't know why I said Hartford, but I wasn't 621 00:38:03,680 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 2: going to say Philadelphia. I'm Hartford. 622 00:38:07,719 --> 00:38:10,720 Speaker 1: Luckily, for Bonnie, nobody really wants to chat about Hartford. 623 00:38:11,560 --> 00:38:14,400 Speaker 2: I asked if I could have an application of sample 624 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:18,120 Speaker 2: application form for employment, and he went to the file 625 00:38:18,200 --> 00:38:20,960 Speaker 2: cabinet to get it, and I could see that the 626 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,200 Speaker 2: file cabinets were not locked. 627 00:38:25,480 --> 00:38:27,960 Speaker 1: Come on, there had to be something in the FBI 628 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:32,239 Speaker 1: handbook about locking file cabinets. As Bonnie wondered how these 629 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:35,719 Speaker 1: agents could be so dumb, John waited outside by the 630 00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 1: car with an increasingly restless. 631 00:38:38,040 --> 00:38:41,840 Speaker 2: Toddler, Nathan, I'm sure was saying, where's mommy, Where's mommy? 632 00:38:41,840 --> 00:38:46,480 Speaker 2: Why is it taking so long? I think an actress 633 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:49,600 Speaker 2: mode kicked in, and that's the only way I can 634 00:38:49,600 --> 00:38:53,680 Speaker 2: describe it. I just got into the role. I wasn't 635 00:38:53,800 --> 00:38:56,480 Speaker 2: nervous at all. I had an important job to do 636 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,720 Speaker 2: and I really wanted to accomplish it, and they didn't 637 00:38:59,760 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 2: do it anything to make me feel nervous either. And 638 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:07,160 Speaker 2: then there was a third room beyond his office, and 639 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:11,800 Speaker 2: when I was getting ready to leave, I pretended to 640 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,920 Speaker 2: be confused about the way out, and so that gave 641 00:39:15,960 --> 00:39:19,520 Speaker 2: me a chance to go into the third office, thinking 642 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:22,080 Speaker 2: that that was the way that I would leave, And 643 00:39:22,120 --> 00:39:24,919 Speaker 2: that gave me the chance to see another door from 644 00:39:24,960 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 2: the hallway in that third office, and that the door 645 00:39:28,560 --> 00:39:32,480 Speaker 2: was blocked by this huge metal file cabinet. 646 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 1: Let's recap. The office consisted of two rooms, no alarm system, 647 00:39:38,080 --> 00:39:41,440 Speaker 1: no cameras, the floor was carpeted and quiet to walk on. 648 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:44,720 Speaker 1: There were two ways in and out, the main door 649 00:39:45,120 --> 00:39:47,799 Speaker 1: and a second one, which was clearly not in use, 650 00:39:47,960 --> 00:39:51,640 Speaker 1: as it was blocked by a heavy filing cabinet. Later on, 651 00:39:52,040 --> 00:39:55,840 Speaker 1: she'd be very glad she clocked that second door, but 652 00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,839 Speaker 1: for now, she dashed around the corner and got into 653 00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:00,680 Speaker 1: the car where John and Nathan and we're waiting. 654 00:40:02,080 --> 00:40:05,760 Speaker 2: I was just so elated that I was able to 655 00:40:05,800 --> 00:40:08,400 Speaker 2: determine the things that we needed to have determined about it. 656 00:40:08,440 --> 00:40:11,920 Speaker 2: I was just I felt very satisfied that this was 657 00:40:11,960 --> 00:40:16,560 Speaker 2: now probably going to enable us to move forward in 658 00:40:16,600 --> 00:40:19,920 Speaker 2: the way that we wanted to. I felt that that 659 00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:23,640 Speaker 2: was our green light. It was a green light for us, 660 00:40:24,320 --> 00:40:26,400 Speaker 2: and the only thing we had to do after that 661 00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:38,560 Speaker 2: was to establish the date for the burglary. 662 00:40:38,719 --> 00:40:41,360 Speaker 1: None of the members of the Citizens Commission to Investigate 663 00:40:41,400 --> 00:40:44,880 Speaker 1: the FBI remember precisely how they settled on the moment 664 00:40:44,960 --> 00:40:48,239 Speaker 1: to strike, but that might be because it was kind 665 00:40:48,280 --> 00:40:49,160 Speaker 1: of a no brainer. 666 00:40:49,840 --> 00:40:53,319 Speaker 9: Somebody wasn't me. Somebody suggested, what about the night of 667 00:40:53,360 --> 00:40:57,000 Speaker 9: the Ali Fraser fight, And it was like a brilliant suggestion. 668 00:40:57,840 --> 00:41:00,719 Speaker 11: We knew that's all they were going to attention to, 669 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,680 Speaker 11: and we timed it. We knew time the fight would start, 670 00:41:06,680 --> 00:41:08,600 Speaker 11: so we timed the entry for. 671 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:13,719 Speaker 1: That bingo March eighth. Months of casing, endless hours of 672 00:41:13,800 --> 00:41:17,879 Speaker 1: lock picking practice, dozens of makeout sessions, I'm guessing, and 673 00:41:18,080 --> 00:41:22,359 Speaker 1: one acting masterclass from Bonnie Rains. It was all leading 674 00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:25,560 Speaker 1: up to this one night. The team had thought of everything, 675 00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:28,759 Speaker 1: avoided all loose ends, and played their cards close to 676 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:33,720 Speaker 1: the vest. Everything was perfect, and. 677 00:41:33,280 --> 00:41:36,080 Speaker 2: Then one of the members of the group dropped out. 678 00:41:40,120 --> 00:41:43,759 Speaker 2: We just didn't see it coming because it seemed to 679 00:41:43,840 --> 00:41:46,359 Speaker 2: us that Bill had recruited the nine of us very 680 00:41:46,440 --> 00:41:49,840 Speaker 2: very carefully, and he had a history with the movement. 681 00:41:50,440 --> 00:41:54,080 Speaker 1: Less than a week before March eighth, the ninth burglar bailed. 682 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 2: Well, that was very, very very disturbing, and he really 683 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:01,960 Speaker 2: couldn't give us a reason. 684 00:42:02,719 --> 00:42:05,680 Speaker 1: Maybe his ideology shifted, or maybe he just decided he 685 00:42:05,719 --> 00:42:08,960 Speaker 1: didn't want to risk going to prison. Frankly, there are 686 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:13,120 Speaker 1: plenty of legitimate reasons not to burglarize the FBI, but 687 00:42:13,719 --> 00:42:17,880 Speaker 1: he didn't give one. Was he a plant? Had he flipped? 688 00:42:18,560 --> 00:42:21,840 Speaker 1: The possibilities were terrifying, and so was the prospect of 689 00:42:21,880 --> 00:42:25,840 Speaker 1: carrying on without him. The crew had been obsessively careful 690 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:29,440 Speaker 1: about keeping their action under wraps. They'd lied to family, 691 00:42:29,640 --> 00:42:33,040 Speaker 1: made excuses to friends, and had cover stories ready to 692 00:42:33,080 --> 00:42:36,640 Speaker 1: go if anyone noticed them casing. But now someone who 693 00:42:36,719 --> 00:42:44,000 Speaker 1: knew their plan in intimate detail was at large. If 694 00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:46,000 Speaker 1: I'd been Bonnie Rain's at that moment, I would have 695 00:42:46,040 --> 00:42:49,200 Speaker 1: just told everyone, Okay, thanks, it's been fun, but it's over. 696 00:42:49,600 --> 00:42:51,840 Speaker 1: Get out of my house, take your maps, your homemade 697 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,880 Speaker 1: lock pecks with you. But she didn't back out, and 698 00:42:55,000 --> 00:42:58,440 Speaker 1: neither did any of the others. As paranoid as they were, 699 00:42:58,640 --> 00:43:01,680 Speaker 1: or in my opinion, should have been, Bonnie says, they 700 00:43:01,800 --> 00:43:04,880 Speaker 1: just accepted it as another inevitable risk of their plan. 701 00:43:05,400 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 2: We couldn't control him really once he left the group, 702 00:43:11,080 --> 00:43:13,320 Speaker 2: but we had to hope that there was a loyalty 703 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:15,880 Speaker 2: to us, that he was not going to say anything 704 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:20,040 Speaker 2: to anyone about about his involvement in the action. We 705 00:43:20,040 --> 00:43:21,160 Speaker 2: were very worried about that. 706 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:29,440 Speaker 1: Next on SNAFU, It's go time, A'll leave versus Fraser 707 00:43:29,719 --> 00:43:33,399 Speaker 1: David versus Goliath, the greatest law enforcement agency in the 708 00:43:33,440 --> 00:43:39,960 Speaker 1: world versus nine scratch that, eight amateur burglars with everything 709 00:43:40,040 --> 00:43:40,560 Speaker 1: to lose. 710 00:43:41,800 --> 00:43:44,239 Speaker 9: I'm like, well, that was either the FBI or the 711 00:43:44,280 --> 00:43:47,680 Speaker 9: heating system, and there's only one way to find out which. 712 00:43:48,800 --> 00:43:52,840 Speaker 10: I remember thinking, I'm not breathing, but I've got to 713 00:43:52,840 --> 00:43:54,520 Speaker 10: be breathing because I'm functioning. 714 00:43:55,600 --> 00:43:56,960 Speaker 1: Security imagineers taken. 715 00:43:57,040 --> 00:43:58,680 Speaker 14: The people are coming on the ring. 716 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:01,200 Speaker 1: Supposed to have them. 717 00:44:01,520 --> 00:44:03,560 Speaker 2: There was no Plan B. I mean, there was just 718 00:44:03,640 --> 00:44:04,200 Speaker 2: no Plan B. 719 00:44:06,239 --> 00:44:09,840 Speaker 1: Snafu is a production of iHeartRadio, Film, Nation Entertainment, and 720 00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:14,279 Speaker 1: Pacific Electric Picture Company in association with Gilded Audio. This 721 00:44:14,360 --> 00:44:16,839 Speaker 1: season of Snaffoo is based on the book The Burglary, 722 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:20,399 Speaker 1: The Discovery of Jay Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI, written by 723 00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:25,279 Speaker 1: Betty Metzger. It's executive produced by me Ed Helms, Milan Papelka, 724 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:29,760 Speaker 1: Mike Valbo, Whitney Donaldson, Andy Chug, Dylan Fagan, and Betty Metzger. 725 00:44:30,400 --> 00:44:34,320 Speaker 1: Our lead producers are Sarah Joyner and Alyssa Martino. Producer 726 00:44:34,400 --> 00:44:37,719 Speaker 1: is Stephen Wood. This episode was written by Albert Chen, 727 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:40,520 Speaker 1: Sarah Joyner and Stephen Wood, with additional writing and story 728 00:44:40,600 --> 00:44:44,160 Speaker 1: editing from Alissa Martino and Ed Helms. Tory Smith is 729 00:44:44,160 --> 00:44:47,800 Speaker 1: our associate producer. Nevin Calla Poly is our production assistant. 730 00:44:48,320 --> 00:44:52,280 Speaker 1: Fact checking by Charles Richter. Our creative executive is Brett Harris. 731 00:44:52,640 --> 00:44:56,720 Speaker 1: Sensitivity console from Olowa Kemi Ala De Sui, editing, sound 732 00:44:56,719 --> 00:44:59,879 Speaker 1: design and original music by Ben Chubg, Engineering and tech 733 00:45:00,280 --> 00:45:04,240 Speaker 1: direction by Nick Dooley. Additional editing from Kelsey Albright, Olivia 734 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:08,240 Speaker 1: Canny and Jimma Castelli. Foley theme music by Dan Rosatto. 735 00:45:08,760 --> 00:45:12,240 Speaker 1: Special thanks to Alison Cohen, Daniel Welsh and Ben Rzak. 736 00:45:12,480 --> 00:45:15,520 Speaker 1: Additional thanks to director Joanna Hamilton for letting us use 737 00:45:15,520 --> 00:45:19,120 Speaker 1: some of the original interviews from her incredible documentary nineteen 738 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: seventy one. Finally, our deepest gratitude to the courageous Citizens 739 00:45:24,040 --> 00:45:28,480 Speaker 1: Commission to Investigate the FBI, Bill Davidon, Ralph Daniel, Judy 740 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:33,160 Speaker 1: fine Gold, Keith Forsyth, Bonnie Rains, John Rains, Sarah Schumer 741 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:34,839 Speaker 1: and Bob Williamson.