J. Edgar Hoover – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

J. Edgar Hoover testifies before the House on Un-American Activities Committee. Hulton Archive/Getty Images

June 24, 2020

President Trump revives J. Edgar Hoover’s tyrannical playbook

Stephen M. Underhill, Marshall University

As the US faces historic challenges to its democracy, Trump is mirroring tactics used by the former FBI director to smear his critics and consolidate power.

Actors Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits on the set of ‘NYPD Blue.’ Mitchell Gerber/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images

June 11, 2020

During Floyd protests, media industry reckons with long history of collaboration with law enforcement

Carol A. Stabile, University of Oregon

For decades, there’s been a concerted effort by law enforcement to ensure their perspectives – and not those of people being policed – dominate prime-time television.

On Aug. 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., addresses marchers during his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. AP/File

May 31, 2019

J. Edgar Hoover’s revenge: Information the FBI once hoped could destroy Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has been declassified

Trevor Griffey, University of California, Los Angeles

Publication was justified of information from the FBI that Martin Luther King Jr. witnessed and celebrated a woman’s rape, writes a historian, who warns the FBI had long wanted to destroy King.

May 25, 2018

Informants aren’t spies – they’re essential FBI tools

Douglas M. Charles, Penn State

An informant gathered information from Trump campaign staffers for the FBI’s Russia probe. An historian writes that informants are one of the most basic ways the FBI and police investigate.

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