Editing COINTELPRO (section)

==FBI claimed intent of COINTELPRO==
The FBI claimed that the purpose behind COINTELPRO was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, or otherwise neutralize" groups that the FBI officials believed were "subversive"<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zBgDPupR_lMC&pg=PA182 |title=Surveillance and governance: crime control and beyond |last=Deflam|first=Mathieu |publisher=Emerald Publishing Group |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7623-1416-4 |page=182 |access-date=2017-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405144752/https://books.google.com/books?id=zBgDPupR_lMC&pg=PA182 |archive-date=2019-04-05 |url-status=live}}</ref> by instructing FBI field operatives to:<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zBgDPupR_lMC&pg=PA184 |title=Surveillance and governance: crime control and beyond |last=Deflam|first=Mathieu |publisher=Emerald Publishing Group |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-7623-1416-4 |pages=184–185 |access-date=2017-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405164813/https://books.google.com/books?id=zBgDPupR_lMC&pg=PA184 |archive-date=2019-04-05 |url-status=live}}</ref>
# Create a negative public image for target groups (for example through surveilling activists and then releasing negative personal information to the public)
# Break down internal organization by creating conflicts (for example, by having agents exacerbate racial tensions, or send anonymous letters to try to create conflicts)
# Create dissension between groups (for example, by spreading rumors that other groups were stealing money)
# Restrict access to public resources (for example, by pressuring non-profit organizations to cut off funding or material support)
# Restrict the ability to organize protest (for example, through agents promoting violence against police during planning and at protests)
# Restrict the ability of individuals to participate in group activities (for example, by character assassinations, false arrests, surveillance)