Editing John Lennon (section)

==Political activism==
{{Further|Bed-in|Bagism}}
[[File:John Lennon performing Give Peace a Chance 1969.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Lennon and Ono sit in front of flowers and placards bearing the word "peace". Lennon is only partly visible, and he holds an acoustic guitar. Ono wears a white dress, and there is a hanging microphone in front of her. In the foreground of the image are three men, one of them a guitarist facing away, and a woman.|Recording "[[Give Peace a Chance]]" during the bed-in at the [[Queen Elizabeth Hotel]], Montreal]]
Lennon and Ono used their [[honeymoon]] as a bed-in at the [[Amsterdam Hilton Hotel]]; the March 1969 event attracted worldwide media ridicule.{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=337: "They were ridiculed by the world's media"}}{{sfn|Anderson|2010|p=83: "The bed-in stunt was ridiculed by the press"}} During a second bed-in three months later at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal,{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=745–748}} Lennon wrote and recorded "Give Peace a Chance". Released as a single, the song was quickly interpreted as an anti-war anthem and sung by a quarter of a million demonstrators against the [[Vietnam War]] in Washington,&nbsp;DC, on 15 November, the second [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam|Vietnam Moratorium Day]].{{sfn|Perone|2001|pp=57–58}}{{sfn|Holsinger|1999|p=389}} In December, they paid for billboards in 10 cities around the world which declared, in the national language, "War Is Over! If You Want It".<ref>"John Lennons Convey Greetings via Billboards" ''The New York Times'' 16 December 1969: 54</ref>

During the year, Lennon and Ono began to support efforts by the family of [[James Hanratty]] to prove his innocence.{{sfn|Wenner|2000|p=43}} Hanratty had been hanged in 1962. According to Lennon, those who had condemned Hanratty were "the same people who are running guns to South Africa and killing blacks in the streets&nbsp;... The same bastards are in control, the same people are running everything, it's the whole bullshit bourgeois scene."{{sfn|Clark|2002}} In London, Lennon and Ono staged a "Britain Murdered Hanratty" banner march and a "Silent Protest For James Hanratty",{{sfn|Miles|2001|p=362}} and produced a 40-minute documentary on the case. At an [[Court of Appeal (England and Wales)|appeal hearing]] more than thirty years later, Hanratty's conviction was upheld after [[DNA evidence]] was found to match, validating those who condemned him.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1980731.stm |title=Hanratty: The damning DNA |work=BBC News |date=10 May 2002 |access-date=27 September 2014 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140405134202/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/1980731.stm |archive-date=5 April 2014}}</ref>

[[File:Yoko Ono and John Lennon at John Sinclair Freedom Rally.jpg|thumb|Lennon and Ono performing at the [[John Sinclair Freedom Rally]] in December 1971]]
Lennon and Ono showed their solidarity with the [[Clydeside]] [[Upper Clyde Shipbuilders|UCS]] workers' [[work-in]] of 1971 by sending a bouquet of red roses and a cheque for £5,000.{{sfn|McGinty|2010}} On moving to New York City in August that year, they befriended two of the [[Chicago Seven]], [[Youth International Party|Yippie]] peace activists [[Jerry Rubin]] and [[Abbie Hoffman]].{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=344}} Another political activist, [[John Sinclair (poet)|John Sinclair]], poet and co-founder of the [[White Panther Party]], was serving ten years in prison for selling two [[Joint (cannabis)|joints]] of marijuana after previous convictions for possession of the drug.{{sfn|Buchanan|2009}} In December 1971 at [[Ann Arbor, Michigan]], 15,000 people attended the "[[John Sinclair Freedom Rally]]", a protest and benefit concert with contributions from Lennon, [[Stevie Wonder]], [[Bob Seger]], [[Bobby Seale]] of the [[Black Panther Party]], and others.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|pp=789–790, 812–813}} Lennon and Ono, backed by [[David Peel (musician)|David Peel]] and Jerry Rubin, performed an acoustic set of four songs from their forthcoming ''Some Time in New York City'' album including "John Sinclair", whose lyrics called for his release. The day before the rally, the [[Michigan Senate]] passed a bill that significantly reduced the penalties for possession of marijuana and four days later Sinclair was released on an appeal bond.{{sfn|Glenn|2009}} The performance was recorded and two of the tracks later appeared on ''[[John Lennon Anthology]]'' (1998).{{sfn|Calkin|2002}}

Following the [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] incident in [[Northern Ireland]] in 1972, Lennon said that given the choice between the British army and the [[Official Irish Republican Army|IRA]] he would side with the latter. Lennon and Ono wrote two songs protesting British presence and actions in Ireland for their ''Some Time in New York City'' album: "[[The Luck of the Irish (song)|The Luck of the Irish]]" and "[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (John Lennon and Yoko Ono song)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]". In 2000, [[David Shayler]], a former member of Britain's domestic security service MI5, suggested that Lennon had given money to the IRA, though this was swiftly denied by Ono.{{sfn|Bright|2000}} Biographer Bill Harry records that following Bloody Sunday, Lennon and Ono financially supported the production of the film ''The Irish Tapes'', a political documentary with an [[Irish republicanism|Irish Republican]] slant.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=403}} In February 2000 Lennon's cousin Stanley Parkes stated that the singer had given money to the IRA during the 1970s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.independent.ie/world-news/john-lennons-family-hit-the-roof-when-funds-were-donated-to-ira-26125005.html |title=John Lennon's family 'hit the roof' when funds were donated to IRA |website=independent|access-date=17 December 2022|archive-date=8 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221208202737/https://www.independent.ie/world-news/john-lennons-family-hit-the-roof-when-funds-were-donated-to-ira-26125005.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After the events of Bloody Sunday Lennon and Ono attended a protest in London while displaying a ''[[Red Mole]]'' newspaper with the headline "For the IRA, Against British Imperialism".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wiener |first1=Jon |title=Come Together John Lennon in His Time |date=1984 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=159}}</ref>

{{quote box|width=23em|Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.|align=left|source=—John Lennon<ref name=liberal>{{cite web |last1=Lennon |first1=John |title=Quote by John Lennon |website=[[The Independent]] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/john-lennon-death-anniversary-mark-david-chapman-the-beatles-yoko-ono-a6765266.html|access-date=25 June 2019 |date=8 December 2016|archive-date=24 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190624172851/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/john-lennon-death-anniversary-mark-david-chapman-the-beatles-yoko-ono-a6765266.html|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

According to FBI surveillance reports, and confirmed by [[Tariq Ali]] in 2006, Lennon was sympathetic to the [[International Marxist Group]], a [[Trotskyist]] group formed in Britain in 1968.{{sfn|Ali|2006}} However, the FBI considered Lennon to have limited effectiveness as a revolutionary, as he was "constantly under the influence of narcotics".{{sfn|Brooks|2005}}

In 1972, Lennon contributed a drawing and limerick titled "Why Make It Sad to Be Gay?" to Len Richmond and Gary Noguera's ''The Gay Liberation Book''.<ref name=GayLiberation>{{cite web |author-last=Lennon |author-first=John |editor1=Richmond, Len |editor2=Noguera, Gary |url=https://thegayliberationbook.com/john-lennon |title=The Gay Liberation Book |access-date=8 December 2021 |archive-date=8 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211208185841/https://thegayliberationbook.com/john-lennon |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=RichmondGR>{{cite book |last=Richmond |first=Len |url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5806324-the-gay-liberation-book |title=The gay liberation book by Len Richmond – Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists |date=1973 |publisher=Goodreads.com |isbn=978-0-87867-031-4 |access-date=4 May 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131205084434/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5806324-the-gay-liberation-book |archive-date=5 December 2013}}</ref> Lennon's last act of political activism was a statement in support of the striking minority sanitation workers in San Francisco on 5 December 1980. He and Ono planned to join the workers' protest on 14 December.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://crowdog89.tumblr.com/post/42004051247/john-lennons-last-public-political-statement |title=John Lennon's last public political statement. – Dynamic Tension |publisher=Crowdog89.tumblr.com |access-date=4 May 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105001018/http://crowdog89.tumblr.com/post/42004051247/john-lennons-last-public-political-statement |archive-date=5 November 2013}}</ref>

===Deportation attempt===
[[File:John Lennon en echtgenote Yoko Ono vertrekken van Schiphol naar Wenen in de vert, Bestanddeelnr 922-2494.jpg|thumb|Lennon with Ono in 1969]]<!-- Put in-line references into this article from books (with page numbers) or from web pages. -->
Following the impact of "Give Peace a Chance" and "[[Happy Xmas (War Is Over)]]" on the anti-war movement, the Nixon administration heard rumours of Lennon's involvement in a concert to be held in San Diego at the same time as the [[1972 Republican National Convention]]{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=2}} and tried to have him deported. Nixon believed that Lennon's anti-war activities could cost him his reelection;{{sfn|BBC News|2000}} Republican Senator [[Strom Thurmond]] suggested in a February 1972 memo that "deportation would be a strategic counter-measure" against Lennon.{{sfn|Wiener|1990|p=225}} The next month the United States [[Immigration and Naturalization Service]] (INS) began deportation proceedings, arguing that his 1968 misdemeanour conviction for cannabis possession in London had made him ineligible for admission to the United States. Lennon spent the next {{frac|3|1|2}} years in and out of deportation hearings until 8 October 1975, when a court of appeals barred the deportation attempt, stating "the courts will not condone selective deportation based upon secret political grounds".{{sfn|Coleman|1992|pp=576–583}}{{sfn|BBC News|2006a}} While the legal battle continued, Lennon attended rallies and made television appearances. He and Ono co-hosted ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]'' for a week in February 1972, introducing guests such as [[Jerry Rubin]] and [[Bobby Seale]] to mid-America.{{sfn|BBC News|2006c}} In 1972, [[Bob Dylan]] wrote a letter to the INS defending Lennon, stating:

<blockquote>John and Yoko add a great voice and drive to the country's so-called art institution. They inspire and transcend and stimulate and by doing so, only help others to see pure light and in doing that, put an end to this dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as Artist Art by the overpowering mass media. Hurray for John and Yoko. Let them stay and live here and breathe. The country's got plenty of room and space. Let John and Yoko stay!<ref>Wiener, Jon. [http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/155298/bob-dylans-defense-john-lennon "Bob Dylan's defense of John Lennon".] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502162859/http://www.thenation.com/print/blog/155298/bob-dylans-defense-john-lennon |date=2 May 2015}} ''[[The Nation]]'', 8 October 2010</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lennonfbifiles.com/natl_comm_john_yoko/bob_dylan.html |title=Photo Copy of Bob Dylan's 1972 Letter to the INS in Defense of John Lennon |publisher=Lennonfbifiles.com |access-date=8 December 2010 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713200731/http://lennonfbifiles.com/natl_comm_john_yoko/bob_dylan.html |url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

On 23 March 1973, Lennon was ordered to leave the US within 60 days.{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=326}} Ono, meanwhile, was granted permanent residence. In response, Lennon and Ono held a press conference on 1 April 1973 at the [[New York City Bar Association]], where they announced the formation of the state of [[Nutopia]]; a place with "no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people".{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=663}} Waving the white flag of Nutopia (two handkerchiefs), they asked for political asylum in the US. The press conference was filmed, and appeared in a 2006 documentary, ''[[The U.S. vs. John Lennon]]''.{{sfn|Urish|Bielen|2007|p=143}}{{refn|group=nb|Lennon's ''[[Mind Games (John Lennon album)|Mind Games]]'' (1973) included the track "Nutopian International Anthem", which comprised three seconds of silence.{{sfn|Harry|2000b|p=664}}}} Soon after the press conference, Nixon's involvement in a political scandal came to light, and in June the [[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] hearings began in [[Washington, D.C.]]. They led to the president's resignation 14 months later.{{sfn|Coleman|1984a|p=289}} In December 1974, when he and members of his tour entourage visited the [[White House]], Harrison asked [[Gerald Ford]], Nixon's successor, to intercede in the matter.{{sfn|Lavezzoli|2006|p=196}} Ford's administration showed little interest in continuing the battle against Lennon, and the deportation order was overturned in 1975. The following year, Lennon received his [[green card]] certifying his [[permanent residency]], and when [[Jimmy Carter]] was inaugurated as president in January 1977, Lennon and Ono attended the Inaugural Ball.{{sfn|Coleman|1984a|p=289}}

===FBI surveillance and declassified documents===
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{{Further|Jon Wiener#Wiener and the Lennon FBI files}}
[[File:Lennon FBI Files after ny19p1.jpg|thumb|alt=Document with portions of text blacked out, dated 1972.|Confidential (here declassified and censored) letter by [[J. Edgar Hoover]] about FBI surveillance of John Lennon]]
After Lennon's death, historian [[Jon Wiener]] filed a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] request for [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] files that documented the Bureau's role in the deportation attempt.{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=13}} The FBI admitted it had 281 pages of files on Lennon, but refused to release most of them on the grounds that they contained national security information. In 1983, Wiener sued the FBI with the help of the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] of [[Southern California]]. It took 14 years of litigation to force the FBI to release the withheld pages.{{sfn|Friedman|2005|p=252}} The ACLU, representing Wiener, won a favourable decision in their suit against the FBI in the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit|Ninth Circuit]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite court |litigants=Wiener v. F.B.I. |vol=943 |reporter=F.2d |opinion=972 |court=9th Cir. |date=12 July 1991 |url=https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7189886552569743506}}</ref>{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=315}} The [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] appealed the decision to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] in April 1992, but the court declined to review the case.{{sfn|Wiener|1999|pp=52–54, 76}} In 1997, respecting President [[Bill Clinton]]'s newly instigated rule that documents should be withheld only if releasing them would involve "foreseeable harm", the Justice Department settled most of the outstanding issues outside court by releasing all but 10 of the contested documents.{{sfn|Wiener|1999|pp=52–54, 76}}

Wiener published the results of his 14-year campaign in January 2000. ''Gimme Some Truth: The John Lennon FBI Files'' contained facsimiles of the documents, including "lengthy reports by confidential informants detailing the daily lives of anti-war activists, memos to the White House, transcripts of TV shows on which Lennon appeared, and a proposal that Lennon be arrested by local police on drug charges".{{sfn|Wiener|1999|p=27}} The story is told in the documentary ''The US vs. John Lennon''. The final 10 documents in Lennon's FBI file, which reported on his ties with London anti-war activists in 1971 and had been withheld as containing "national security information provided by a foreign government under an explicit promise of confidentiality", were released in December 2006. They contained no indication that the British government had regarded Lennon as a serious threat; one example of the released material was a report that two prominent British leftists had hoped Lennon would finance a left-wing bookshop and reading room.{{sfn|The Associated Press|2006}}