Mumia’s political activity did not go unnoticed by FBI

At the age of 15, Mumia [Wesley Cook] was a founding member of the Philadelphia branch of the Black Panther Party. He was identified in the FBI files as one of the top three leaders in the Philadelphia BPP.

Over 800 pages of FBI files obtained for Jamal by the PDC make it clear that the FBI and cops were to use any “dirty trick” to silence Mumia—wiretaps, informants and police spies. The government relentlessly pursued Mumia at demos, newspaper sales, political meetings and fund-raisers—even at picnics. They interrogated school officials, contacted employers, harassed Jamal’s mother.

It was Mumia’s talent as a young revolutionary journalist and propagandist that attracted so much FBI attention. An October 24, 1969 report on Mumia urged that he be placed under high-level surveillance: “In spite of the subject’s age (15 years), Philadelphia feels that …the subject should be included on the Security Index” [those deemed a “threat” to “national security”] and the Administrative Index (ADEX) of those to be rounded up and thrown into concentration camps in case of a “national emergency.”

Despite the FBI’s acknowledgement that Jamal “has not displayed a propensity for violence” and was not once found with a gun, the files regularly labeled him “Armed and Dangerous”—a license for the cops and G-men to shoot first and ask questions later.