Civil Rights Photographer (Ernest C. Withers) Unmasked as Informant

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

That photo of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. riding one of the first desegregated buses in Montgomery, Ala.? He took it. The well-known image of black sanitation workers carrying “I Am a Man” signs in Memphis? His. He was the only photojournalist to document the entire trial in the murder of Emmett Till, and he was there in Room 306 of the Lorraine Hotel, Dr. King’s room, on the night he was assassinated.

But now an unsettling asterisk must be added to the legacy of Ernest C. Withers, one of the most celebrated photographers of the civil rights era: He was a paid F.B.I. informer.

On Sunday, The Commercial Appeal in Memphis published the results of a two-year investigation that showed Mr. Withers, who died in 2007 at age 85, had collaborated closely with two F.B.I. agents in the 1960s to keep tabs on the civil rights movement. It was an astonishing revelation about a former police officer nicknamed the Original Civil Rights Photographer, whose previous claim to fame had been the trust he engendered among high-ranking civil rights leaders, including Dr. King.

“It is an amazing betrayal,” said Athan Theoharis, a historian at Marquette University who has written books about the F.B.I. “It really speaks to the degree that the F.B.I. was able to engage individuals within the civil rights movement. This man was so well trusted.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14photographer.html?_r=2&src=twt&twt=nytimes

[mike r]

1. Full story available at

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/12/photographer-ernest-withers-fbi-informant/

[sabrina 1]

2. The article is worth reading. He seems to have had a lot of

contact with the FBI. I wonder how many others worked for the FBI? Maybe they had something on him, he does seem to have had some trouble with the law.

[H2O Man]

18. Quite a few.

Martin's genius was in getting ordinary people to step up to the plate when circumstances required an extra-ordinary stance. The leaders of the movement were gifted, though often flawed; while the second- and third-tier folks were humanly flawed, generally dedicated, and sometimes very brave. King had a deeply felt trust in people, and was prone to believing that when given the opportunity and responsibility, they would perform honorably.

Another example of an FBI informant was the fellow in charge of the group's finances. It is no coincidence that when he was placed in that position, the federal government began to harass King by focusing on those very finances.

Exactly how many informants surrounded King is hard to say. It's interesting to note that the Nation of Islam had a high-ranking officer who was, without question, an FBI agent (rather than "informant"). More, when Malcolm split, the NYC Police Department placed an intelligence agent (who was "shared staff" with a national intelligence agency) in a position in Malcolm's security squad.

[defendandprotect]

54. Rep. Gerald Ford worked with the FBI while he was on the Warren Commission ....

and while he was on the Warren Commission he also worked to move the wounds in

JFK's neck and back in the records to help substantiate the "magic bullet."


Rather, according to the official autopsy -- both wounds were examined and repeatedly

probed and NEITHER wound had an outlet.


More specifically . . .

Wound in JFK's neck was a wound of entry -- with NO OUTLET

Wound in JFK's back was in his right shoulder blade -- with NO OUTLET

Further, the shoulder wound was made at a 45 degree DOWNWARD ANGLE

In other words --

there was no "Magic Bullet" and Gerald Ford helped create that lie --

along with Arlen Specter.


Gerald Ford also was financed by the CIA among other right wing members of

Congress they worked to keep in place!

[24601]

64. Nice head fake - nothing in common with the story except "FBI" n/t

[defendandprotect]

77. Nice "head fake" by you -- try reading the post I was responding to ....

"I wonder how many others worked for the FBI?' ---

And, I responded to that question with info about Rep. Gerald Ford spying for FBI.

Try to catch up and be less disingenuous -- the "head fakes" are all yours.

[defendandprotect]

76. Agree -- especially in that he was an AA man . . .

lots of strings that could have been pulled on him, I imagine.

Trust we'll hear more about this when others get a chance to investigate more

thoroughly.

[lunatica]

16. It looks like the publication The Commercial Appeal is the investigating body

"The April 10, 1968, report, which identifies Withers only by his confidential informant number -- ME 338-R -- is among numerous reports reviewed by The Commercial Appeal that reveal a covert, previously unknown side of the beloved photographer who died in 2007 at age 85."

I must say, this leaves me speechless. They are all heroes to me. Martin Luther King Jr and his Civil Rights Activists changed the world and Withers was pivotally instrumental in that change.

J. Edgar Hoover did have a way of extorting informants, but still....

[peacetalksforall]

45. Everyone, click through from the NYT article to The Commercial Appeal

article for the meat and the history of this story. Make your own list of things to follow through on. I don't know where this Commericial Appeal comes from. On the face, it is neutrally written. It is their investigative work.

Funny, how hard impressions from the past change.

If this paper is an FBI deflector source, it would be nice to know.

Too bad that a person has to wonder if the article is a revelation or a maneuver.

FBI - destined to write history the way they want. Then rewrite it.

It's time to read this, hold it, acquire more knowledge, fit it together step by step before saying yes or no what Withers did or didn't do.

[HEyHEY]

3. Without him to defend himself, it's hard to make accusations

Who knows, maybe he did what he did for safety, so the FBI knew what was happening and didn't just come down with a heavy fist everytime. Maybe he gave them bullshit information.

Who knows!?

[Heywood J]

4. +1

We can't judge the man after the fact, without giving him the opportunity to defend his actions and given the reality of the time. Certainly, the man made a contribution to the advancement of civil rights over and above any FBI connections he may have had, enough of a contribution that Dr. King felt that way about him.

(After our last thread, I never thought I'd agree with you on anything, but here we are)

[ThomasQED]

48. Did Dr. King know he was spying on him?

Sorry, but we absolutely can and SHOULD judge.

Do you really think this was an anomaly and the FBI is looking out for activists?

[axollot]

58. Dr King was a smart man. I'm sure he knew that he had several spies - Dr King -

had nothing to hide, nothing to be afraid of - and that's what scared the government and FBI of the times. Not much has changed today - just look at the last weekend.

Cheers
Sandy

[tuckessee]

68. We judge people after the fact all the time.

It's called "history".

His contributions to the Civil Rights movement were simply as a photographer. Rest assured, had he not been around someone else would've captured iconic images of those historic times.

I doubt Dr. King would feel the same way about him had he known that his friend & comrade was a snitch who was actively engaging in selling out the movement.

[marmar]

13. And maybe he was a creep.

nt

[struggle4progress]

44. The whole picture may be complicated. Mainstream America in that era

largely trusted the government, and Withers may not have been different from most in that regard

The article says, "Many details of Mr. Withers’s relationship with the F.B.I. remain unknown"

And Withers's actual psychology probably remains unknown, too -- and it might have been very complicated

For a while in the late fifties or early sixties, the movement pushed for more federal involvement to protect civil rights workers, because they were always obviously in physical danger; Withers can scarcely have been ignorant of that, and he may have assumed that much information he passed to the FBI was likely to be helpful to the movement. There are other possibilities, of course: as a black, he might have been sympathetic to the movement and yet very nervous about then-current rightwing claims that the movement was controlled by Communists, for example. He may have regarded his own continuing interactions with the FBI as a small step forward in the struggle for acceptance of blacks by mainstream America -- and if he thought that, he might perhaps have been correct in thinking it

[Raineyb]

57. Are you for real? The FBI was NOT interested in the well being of King, they were looking for dirt

to discredit him. There is no such thing as an informant who is doing so on behalf of the person against whom they're informing.

[HEyHEY]

69. How do you know?

[No Elephants]

5. And the FBI was investigating non-violent people who wanted Constitutional rights why?

What a POS Hoover was, and what cowards all the Presidents who enabled him and his band of thugs were (on that issue, anyway).

[saigon68]

10. Hoover a POS

[lunatica]

17. J. Edgar Hoover had files on all the Presidents and leaders

His methodology was to use what he knew to gain power, more than just being enabled. People have things to hide and no one knew that better than Hoover. After he died we all found out he liked to dress in women's clothes and that he was probably gay. Before that he was very powerful just because he knew so much.

It might even be possible he had something on Withers. Maybe we'll find out. I really feel sorry for Withers' family. Evidently they didn't know.

[cstanleytech]

25. Well it could be because

there is always potential for members of any group to suddenly decide that violence is the answer, I mean ya just never can tell when someone might take it into their head to do something like deciding to use a bomb like some of the self proclaimed pro life supporters have done.

[liberation]

31. Yeah of course...

... that makes total sense, you know MLK could have gone rogue. If the government does it, there is a good reason for that... plus it is for our own good, since they know what's best.

I mean, it is not like Hoover was a degenerate and corrupt power monger. No siree bob.

[cstanleytech]

71. To be perfectly honest

yes MLK could have so yea I can see some in the government wanting to keep an eye on him back then because the fact is as the OK bombing and later 9/11 have shown we do not live in a fantasy land where everyone just wants to spread hugs and kisses around.

[U4ikLefty]

78. Using your pretext, the gov't could spy on anybody & you'd be good with it?

I'm sorry, but "potential for violence: argument is just soooo weak.

[cstanleytech]

79. Could they? Sure I suppose but

as long as its done in a manner that complies with our laws I am not going to get upset over it but feel free to get upset over it if you wish, frankly I am more worried when its stuff that doesnt comply with the law like wiretaps without warrants for example that the last administration was so fond of.

[axollot]

59. We still are - never stopped and now it's perfectly legal under the Patriot Act. *smh* n/t

[HughBeaumont]

6. Supposedly, Withers was a little past "Unwitting, unpaid dupe".

Yet, since this has the stench of J. Asshole Hoover all over it, it's really hard to pass judgement here until we learn completely what this is about.

Just as Bewsh's legacy will be the wholesale failure of HIS KIND of government on 9-11, J. Asshole's will be one of bitter paranoia, needlessly ruined lives, COINTELPRO and not reporting/ignoring the August 12th intelligence that led to over 2300 men losing their lives at Pearl Harbor in 1941.

One of them could very easily have been my Grandfather.

[boppers]

7. I have worked with the FBI, CIA, NSA, and DoD.

Just wanted to let ya'll know, in case I do anything good in my life, that way you can judge me.

[U4ikLefty]

61. It figures, since you have such a pathetic affection for authority.

When it comes to defending those in power, Boppers will be there.

I'm sure Boppers has Hoover's picture on his nightstand.

[boppers]

70. I also have done extensive work with PHP.

I don't have a picture of Hoover, though.

Nighties, well, that's another matter.

:evilgrin:

[Solly Mack]

8. k/r

[DrSteveB]

9. Exactly what Oswald was doing to the Fair Play for Cuba Committee

Infiltrating. Don't expect to learn the truth officially about Oswald for a long, long time though. That one really is a hot potato.

[defendandprotect]

53. Well . . .

Oswald was being "sheep dipped" --

and yes, JFK assassination and coup on our people's government does continue to be

a "hot potato" both as to the coup, itself -- and the cover up which continues on.

The 1992 JFK Classififed Records Act Panel was headed by John Tunnheim -- they saw

all of the classified records. They concluded that --

"OSWALD WAS EMPLOYED BY THE CIA WORKING ON HIGH LEVEL ASSIGNMENTS

AND POBABLY ALSO FOR THE FBI."

Tunnheim was evidently presenting that info to members of Congress in secret as GOP

was impeaching Clinton. Eventually, Disovery Channel did a documentary wherein these

results were included. John Tunnheim appears and states their unanimous conclusion.

And, as he speaks, the text appears below. After a few months the documentary wasn't

ever seen again.

[24601]

65. Bartender, I'll have what the paranoid is having n/t

[defendandprotect]

74. Former Gov. John Tunnheim and the panel were "paranoid" .... ???

Discovery Channel is paranoid?

Next, you'll be telling us that Watergate was a "third rate burglarly" -- !!


Shirley -- this is "conspiracy-free-America" -- !!!

[Shining Jack]

11. K&R n/t

[old mark]

12. I can't believe people are defending this pig. Hitler's dead, too...do you think that

mitigates his wrongdoing?

Hoover used every piece of dirt he could scrape up on every person he felt should have an FBI file - he used these files to blackmail government officials as well as private persons he chose to control and intimidate.

He used the FBI as a source for personal power, and this guy was a knowing participant who used his position of trust to betray those who trusted him.

mark

[Lint Head]

14. Dead or alive still vermin.

[Soylent Brice]

15. K&R

just wow.

[zipplewrath]

19. Time line is a tad strange

"From at least 1968 to 1970, Mr. Withers, who was black, provided photographs, biographical information and scheduling details to two F.B.I. agents in the bureau’s Memphis domestic surveillance program, Howell Lowe and William H. Lawrence, according to numerous reports summarizing their meetings.

I understand it says "at least". But this is actually AFTER the assasination. Something is a tad strange with such a time line. Why would he even be on a "payroll" so long after MLK's death? The information he was listing seemed rather mundane. Items like tag numbers, personal schedules, events planning, these are strangely mundane, especially this late in the movement.

[fasttense]

26. Yeah, 1968 was the year of the murder of Dr. King.

Strange.

[leveymg]

27. Perhaps, MLK wasn't the only person in the movement that Withers was reporting on.

I would assume there were many.

[EFerrari]

37. After the assassination, the FBI would need informants

to track where the leadership would land.

[leveymg]

40. There was some speculation by King's lawyer that the inner-circle had at least

one informant. There's a cryptic reference in the King assassination book to the famous "pointing photo" of King's men on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel to someone who wasn't wearing a white shirt.

[Hansel]

33. Not really.

King had been assassinated and he was really the key to the non violent approach to the civil rights movement. There were some members who did not agree with that approach. I'm sure that the paranoid degenerate puss that was J Edgar Hoover was more worried about the movement and King's followers after King's assassination then he was before.

[Blue_Tires]

73. Withers had his fingers in dozens of pies

Link to the full story: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/sep/12/photographer-ernest-withers-fbi-informant/


Preachers, business leaders, community activists, the anti-war crowd and random suspected 'communist sympathisers'...Withers had a unique position which granted him free-roaming access to all of it...

If this story is accurate and Withers was the informant listed in the reports, then there is NO defense of him, living or dead...This wasn't some grudging trickle of info the FBI already knew; Withers enthusiastically gave tidal waves of insider info about anyone tangentially connected with the movement...

Unless the FBI was holding the metaphorical gun to the head of him or his family, then I might understand just a little...

[defendandprotect]

75. Interesting ....

I didn't get a chance still to read the actual information presented --

but infiltration is always the way it goes -- and wondering if this was an AA man

all the strings that could have been pulled on him to get him to do this.

Presumably, others will be following this story and working to get at the full information.

[makemyday]

20. This was all before the Patriot Act.

Guess everyone has a right to select their vocation, their friends and who they will be loyal to. Many of those who work for government agencies must feel they are being "patriotic" when they are "used" by the agency as an "informant." Perhaps they are. Perhaps they're not. Who's to say...it's a judgment call. One thing's for certain, "infiltrators" and "informers" are not trusted friends to those around them. As you look around where you are, who are your friends? Who are the "moles"? Does it really matter?

Think of the Patriot Act: (of today, rather than back in Withers' time)
No Probable Cause"
No Habeas Corpus

...and that is just the start of it.

I'd like to think that Mr. Withers left a legacy of photographs that help define a time in history. That time may represent a wakening or a decline of civil rights of citizens of the United States of America. You decide.

[myrna minx]

21. K&R n/t

[valerief]

22. Doesn't our govt fund the FBI? So that means we fund them. So that means we

condone whatever the FBI pays for. Otherwise, we'd use our vast power to remove the FBI's power.

Oh, wait. We don't have vast power.

Never mind.

[goclark]

56. Just wondering if the FBI is spying on the Teabaggers?

Bet not so much.

[axollot]

60. They most likely do - and from the talk - with good reason. Simply protecting POTUS...! n/t

[valerief]

63. They probably hire most of the teabaggers to be disruptors. Oh, wait.

That's the CIA.

[1American]

23. And.....

Derail the Republican Hate Train!

[kjackson227]

46. I feel the very same as you. The hate that is surfacing in this country...

is very close to boiling over. The tea bagger people, and Beckkk are getting out of hand with their fear mongering, and hate rhetoric.

[Odin2005]

24. Everyone is part angel and part devil.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. And some are part rat...

[liberation]

32. Zing...

LOL.

[Capitalocracy]

29. Ah, so now we know how to make money as a photographer

:puke:

[Botany]

30. It was either the Memphis Police or the FBI that told Dr. King to move ..

... to the hotel where he was shot because they couldn't guarantee security @ the hotel he was staying at .....

The whole thing stinks on ice.

BTW How did a small time crook get a phony I.D. that matched somebody in Toronto a place he never visited?

[kjackson227]

38. Yes, it stinks to high heavens...

I always thought that James Earl Ray being the lone assassin of Dr. King was a little far-fetched. Now, I'm beginning to rethink this entire slaying. If it was indeed the FBI who "advised" Dr. King to move, then this case should be re-opened, imho.

[Botany]

39. Ray was in both Toronto and England w/ very good i.d.s that matched his ...

.... appearance to local men. He never had been in either city before too. I remember as a child
hearing J. Edger Hoover telling the press that "We will be bringing in somebody soon, boys." rough quote

Even at 10 that struck me very odd and that something was not quite right and the fix was in.

Hoover hated King and saw him as a threat to America that needed to be stopped.

[Scruffy1]

42. Hoover hated all black people

And in particular civil rights leaders. Any information that the FBI got went right to the KKK, Whether Withers did it for money or he was extorted I have no idea, but I learned in the sixties to trust no one. Since Hoover died they just got smoother at PR. Same taxi, different driver.

[kjackson227]

43. Here's an article by Probe Magazine...

that goes into detail about what happened the day before and the day of the assasination. Not sure how credible it is, but from what I can remember, this article seems legit.

http://www.ratical.org/ratville/JFK/MLKconExp.html

According to the article, someone from Dr. King's entourage told the hotel manager to change Dr. King's hotel room.

[peacetalksforall]

34. Is anyone here on DU familiar with the Memphis paper The Commercial Appeal? Right, left, middle?

[nashville_brook]

66. mainstream.

[blondeatlast]

35. Disturbing, to say the least. Link to his Google images:

http://www.google.com/images?q=Ernest+C.+Withers&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=G5yPTPjWJ4e6sQPl64yyDg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=5&ved=0CD8QsAQwBA&biw=1259&bih=596

No tin-foil hatter, I, but oddly, this doesn't shock me. hoover was a paranoid kook; I'm certain he'd do anything--kinda like Dich Cheney.

[EFerrari]

36. He did do anything. Fred Hampton. n/t

[blondeatlast]

49. Yup. nt

[Time for change]

41. It's hard to know how to evaluate this

Given that he was of great help in providing to the Civil Rights Movement the publicity that it needed to accomplish many of its goals, it seem to me that what he accomplished was probably of much more value than any harm he might have done by providing information to the FBI.

For example, "He was the only photojournalist to document the entire trial in the murder of Emmett Till". That was huge. One could make a good case that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 could not have passed without widespread publicity relating to that murder.

[EFerrari]

50. It's too bad the man can't tell his own story. n/t

[Time for change]

67. Yes, that too. I suspect that it would be quite an interesting story if it could be told.

[d_r]

47. The FBI reports

I was pretty amazed by reading the FBI reports themselves that are on the commercial appeal web site. First, the are so racist ("...the cough syrup that so many negroes like") but I know some of that is a reflection of the times. But still, it was amazing to me that FBU files could be so slanted like that. Second, the minutia. John so-and-so was driving a white car. Bob so-and-so really wants to find a job. Sam so-and-so is wearing nice clothes but doesn't have a job. It makes you wonder what kind of information they could be keeping today now that we have such access to so much info.

[alp227]

51. The truth about the '60s is coming out?

So the deaths of JFK and MLK must've been abetted by the feds weren't they? Sometimes the evidence makes the spoon-fed version of history of the lone assassins seem suspicious.

[defendandprotect]

52. Old saying: "You can only really be betrayed by those closest to you" ...

[Ozymanithrax]

55. No matter why he did it, his images are part of our history...

and document the struggle.

Let the dead rest.

The images keep the past alive.

[TK421]

62. Wonder how much he was paid? Certain amounts can work wonders on

the conscience

I find this sad, and a tad creepy....and now I'm wondering if they got to anyone else, but I'll not don the tinfoil on that

[Blue_Tires]

72. not sure, but the Memphis paper makes mention

of FBI congressional testimony describing a Civil Rights informant in Memphis at that time (may or may not have been Withers) getting $200/month

[ret5hd]

80. I believe it has elsewhere been documented as 12 pieces of silver.