Martin Luther King's Photographer was an FBI Informant - NY Times

[Bullet1987]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/us/14photographer.html?_r=1">Here

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.”

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His work shows remarkable intimacy with and access to top civil rights leaders. Friends used to say he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. But while he was growing close to top civil rights leaders, Mr. Withers was also meeting regularly with the F.B.I. agents, disclosing details about plans for marches and political beliefs of the leaders, even personal information like the leaders’ car tag numbers.

Wow...just wow. That's really all I can say about this.

[MineralMan]

1. That story was pretty thoroughly discussed here in September,

when that NYT story was published. But, it's always nice to continue the discussion.

[Catherina]

2. Very sad. Thanks n/t

[a kennedy]

3. Holy crap.....

:mad: :mad: :mad: