In 1956, the FBI established its COINTELPRO program to infiltrate, surveil, and work to destroy Communist groups and others deemed threats by the political establishment, which eventually included both extremist groups like the Ku Klux Klan and civil rights groups such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It was abolished (or, depending on who you ask, merely renamed) in 1971.
COINTELPRO (1956-1971)
From Tom Head, About.com
J. Edgar Hoover served as founding director of the FBI from 1924 until his death in 1972. Though an innovative thinker and gifted administrator, Hoover is better remembered today for civil liberties abuses such as COINTELPRO program.
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