Editing Muhammad Ali (section)

===NSA and FBI monitoring of Ali's communications===
In a secret operation code-named "[[Project MINARET|Minaret]]", the [[National Security Agency]] (NSA) intercepted the communications of leading Americans, including Ali, Senators [[Frank Church]] and [[Howard Baker]], Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]], prominent U.S. journalists, and others who criticized the U.S. war in Vietnam.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/06/the-hidden-history-of-muhammad-ali/ |title=The Hidden History of Muhammad Ali |first=Dave |last=Zirin |magazine=[[Jacobin (magazine)|Jacobin]] |date=June 4, 2016 |access-date=April 17, 2017 |archive-date=February 24, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170224101145/https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/06/the-hidden-history-of-muhammad-ali/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="theguardian.com">{{cite news |first=Ed |last=Pilkington |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/nsa-surveillance-anti-vietnam-muhammad-ali-mlk |title=Declassified NSA files show agency spied on Muhammad Ali and MLK |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=September 26, 2013 |access-date=April 16, 2017 |archive-date=September 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130926154853/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/26/nsa-surveillance-anti-vietnam-muhammad-ali-mlk |url-status=live }}</ref> A review by the NSA of the Minaret program concluded that it was "disreputable if not outright illegal".<ref name="theguardian.com" />

In 1971, Ali's [[Fight of the Century]] with Frazier was used by an activist group, the [[Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI]], to pull off a burglary at an [[FBI]] office in Pennsylvania; the anticipation for the fight was unlike anything else, so they believed the security would also be focused on the fight. This raid exposed the [[COINTELPRO]] operations that included illegal spying on activists involved with the civil rights and anti-war movements. One of the COINTELPRO targets was Ali, and their activities included the FBI gaining access to his records as far back as elementary school; one such record mentioned him loving art as a child.<ref>{{cite web |last=Medsger |first=Betty |url=https://theintercept.com/2016/06/06/in-1971-muhammad-ali-helped-undermine-the-fbis-illegal-spying-on-americans/ |title=In 1971, Muhammad Ali Helped Undermine the FBI's Illegal Spying on Americans |work=[[The Intercept]] |date=June 6, 2016 |access-date=April 17, 2017 |archive-date=April 27, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427235216/https://theintercept.com/2016/06/06/in-1971-muhammad-ali-helped-undermine-the-fbis-illegal-spying-on-americans/ |url-status=live }}</ref>