FBI INFILTRATION WITHIN THE CHICAGO 8: HOW FBI INVESTIGATIONS THROUGHOUT THE 1960S LED TO THE UNWARRANTED TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 8

Abstract

The 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago contained a peaceful protest that turned into a riot – one that was unnecessary and accusatory. Eight people from different activist groups that were popular in the 1960s were arrested under the charge of crossing state lines to incite riots at the convention, a claim that was backed up with planted evidence by the FBI and police. Without this intervention, Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, David Dellinger, John Froines, Lee Weiner, and Bobby Seale would not have had reason to be arrested, nor would they have reason to go to trial. The FBI infiltrated both before the Democratic Convention and during the Chicago 8 trial itself. This paper will review FBI tactics used in attempt to incriminate the activists, which includes looking through the government website entitled the FBI Vault, where thousands of documents have been released detailing how agents went undercover to find or plant information that was meant to stop the “radical left.” Different newspaper articles that discovered how deep the FBI investigated the defendants, along with documentaries following the whole trial will also be analyzed. Along with other bits and pieces of sources and information such as evidence of police brutality, an argument will be constructed around the FBI’s involvement within student groups that led to the outcome of the trial of the Chicago 8.