Surveillance and social control: the FBI’s handling of the Black Panther Party in North Carolina

Extant research on state policing of protest tends to focus on overt and physical forms of repression, yet far less work has examined more subtle types of social control. Such mechanisms often take place behind the scenes and are carried out within large government agencies. Drawing upon previously classified documents, we analyze the targeted investigation of the Black Panther Party by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) between 1968 and 1976. Findings indicate that directives from FBI headquarters to regional offices in North Carolina had three specific goals: forewarn law enforcement agencies of planned activities, gather evidence for possible preemptive prosecutions under an anti-sedition statute, and gather evidence for possible prosecution under existing firearm statutes. We highlight how local offices in North Carolina often distorted and embellished Black Panther activities to meet national FBI directives. Findings have important implications for ongoing state investigations of social movement activity.