On March 8th, 1971 antiwar activists in Pennsylvania burglarized an FBI office, ultimately revealing to the world the Bureau's long-standing campaign of disinformation, infiltration, dirty tricks and assassinations known as Cointelpro.
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
The US war on Vietnam was about a decade on
With millions of lives already gone
At home the war was on dissent
In practical form, what that meant
Was billy clubs and prison time, but beyond that
Feeling of a microphone under every hat
The sense of being watched, not knowing who to trust
Some folks in Philadelphia decided that they must
Get to the bottom of it, and to find out why
They formed the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
They were tired of the secrecy, the men who hide
In vans with headphones sitting inside
Tired of the paranoia that seemed so on the rise
Professor Davidon was intent on removing the disguise
He brought a group together, and they began
To learn the skills that would be needed to carry out a plan
To commit a burglary, see what’s in those drawers
If they liberate all the folders filed on that floor
In the the town of Media – they’d risk everything to try
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
Forsyth became a locksmith, as good as anyone
The burglars carried out their plan, as it had been spun
Joe Frazier and Mohammed Ali were having their big fight
Hundreds of millions of people were watching that night
Including anyone who might have noticed what was going down
In that sleepy little town
They made off with the files and they got away
Went off to the countryside to see what they might say
They started reading at the farm beneath the Pennsylvania sky
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
What they found was shocking, and things everyone needed to know
This was when the world first learned of Cointelpro
That the FBI had agents on every campus in the country
A system of informants so very like the Stasi
A police state on a mission to undermine and neutralize
To create fear and paranoia by spreading rumors and lies
They had a thousand files with stories of the way
The dirty tricks campaigns across the USA
The assassinations carried out by the American spy
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
The burglars uncovered a story so old
None of them were alive when it began to be told
Since the FBI was formed right up until now
The documents documented exactly how
The secret police carry out their secret deeds
With distracting and destroying their tactics and their creed
The tip of the iceberg was all they really got
Unlike the millions and millions of files which have not
Ever seen the light of day – except, by and by
By the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
Later a director would haltingly admit
If it wasn't for the burglars it would still remain a secret
What they won't acknowledge, though, is the fact
Regardless of how the spy leaders react
According to the rules of their nefarious game
All they did was change the name
And if you're wondering where the agents are in the modern day
Just log on to social media and see what they say
If someone's leading a smear campaign, we just might know why
Because of the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI
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