12 More Terrible Things The FBI Has Done

12 More Terrible Things The FBI Has Done

Welcome to WatchMojo, today we’re discussing more heinous deeds committed by the FBI. For our criteria, we’re only considering completely confirmed misdeeds.

Viola Liuzzo

In the 1960s, the FBI targeted various members of the civil rights movement, including activist Viola Liuzzo, who frequently gave rides to fellow activists. In March 1965, Liuzzo and 19-year-old African American Leroy Moton were driving back from Selma towards Montgomery, Alabama. Local members of the Ku Klux Klan saw them together and shot and killed Liuzzo. Turns out, one of them was an FBI informant. This wasn’t just covered up, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover smeared her reputation, telling the press that had a substance use disorder and implying that she had a sexual relationship to Moton. There was no evidence for any of this, and FBI involvement only became public knowledge in 1978.

The Death of Ibragim Todashev

The Boston Marathon bombing of 2013 was a major tragedy - and if you’ve seen our previous FBI video, you’ll know they don’t have the best track record for handling tragedies. A month later, they interviewed Ibragim Todashev, a friend of the bombers. After being interviewed for 8 hours in his apartment, Todashev allegedly attacked them, and FBI agent Aaron McFarlane shot him dead. They subsequently delayed releasing the autopsy report, which eventually revealed he was shot seven times, none from close range. The agent responsible had already been sued twice for police brutality, and many believe it was actually a murder.

Involvement in McCarthyism

Also known as the Second Red Scare, McCarthyism - named after Senator McCarthy - was an extreme repression of left-wing ideology in America and its sphere of influence. Historian Ellen Schrecker claims “Hooverism” would be a more fitting name, after the FBI’s director. In the early 50s, they embarked upon a communist witch hunt, which led to many people losing their jobs because of largely false evidence. They also broke countless laws pursuing them, such as robberies and wiretaps. The FBI stole from the National Lawyers Guild 14 times in just four years. Additionally, they infiltrated numerous governments in and around South America, initially to monitor Nazi activity, but they quickly became focused on communism.

The Death of Filiberto Ojeda Rios

After being colonized by Spain in 1508, Puerto Rico passed into American hands in 1898. As such, Puerto Rican movements for independence have landed in the FBI’s crosshairs. One militant revolutionary, Filiberto Ojeda Ríos, became an FBI target in 1990 after a heist. In 2005, they found his home, and wandered up in broad daylight. According to the FBI, Ojeda began to shoot at the agents. Ojeda’s wife and neighbor said that the FBI opened fire first. An official report stated that an FBI agent had set off a flash bang grenade as a diversion, which could (understandably!) have been interpreted as gunfire. Ojeda died of a bullet to the lung.

Suppressing Internal Dissent

Since 1989, the Whistleblower Protection Act makes it illegal for any federal agency to retaliate against whistleblowers. However, that doesn’t mean that whistleblowers are actually safe in practice. In the early 2000s, FBI agent Jane Turner reported the agency’s mishandling of child abuse cases and theft of items from Ground Zero after 9/11. This got her fired, but thankfully she took it to court and heroically won after a years-long fight. In 2018, veteran FBI agent Terry Albury, the only Black field agent in the Minneapolis office, leaked information about racial bias and harassment. He ended up sentenced to four years in prison. And these are far from isolated cases.

Puerto Rican Independence

The FBI has a long history of interfering in Puerto Rican independence movements, particularly as part of COINTELPRO, a covert and illegal counterintelligence program that targeted political dissidents in the 1950s and 1960s. Unsurprisingly, Hoover was the driving force behind these efforts. The "Carpetas" program tracked 75,000 Puerto Ricans using FBI surveillance and informants. Pedro Albizu Campos, leader of the independence movement, had a 4,700-page file. He was jailed, and allegedly subjected to radiation experiments. This wasn’t law enforcement—it was about controlling Puerto Rico and crushing dissent.

Failing to Protect Malcolm X

In 1965, civil rights activist Malcolm X was assassinated. Three members of the religious organization Nation of Islam were convicted of the killing. But in 2021, two were exonerated. So what really happened? Some have suspected FBI involvement. What we do know is that they were surveilling Malcolm X, and received a tip from an informant about the assassination. Meanwhile, the NYPD did a poor job of securing the crime scene. At the least, the FBI could declassify their related files. In 2024, Malcolm X’s family filed a $100 million lawsuit against the FBI, CIA, and NYPD, alleging a coverup.

Wounded Knee Operation

In 1973, 200 Oglala Lakota and American Indian Movement followers occupied Wounded Knee in South Dakota for 71 days, protesting the corruption of tribal president Richard Wilson. The FBI had already been targeting the American Indian Movement through COINTELPRO. Even so, given that this was also the site of the infamous Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890, you might assume that the government would feel reluctant to exercise a heavy hand. Well, FBI agents and the United States Marshals Service laid siege to the town, and in the ensuing confrontation, two Native Americans were killed, and over a dozen other people wounded.

Murdering Black Panthers

The Black Panther Party rose to prominence in the 1960s as part of the black power movement. FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover called them “the greatest threat to the internal security of the country”. In 1969, the FBI orchestrated a raid on the Chicago apartment of 21-year-old Fred Hampton, chairman of the Illinois Black Panthers. In the early hours of December 4, Hampton, who had been drugged, was asleep with his fiancee when a police team entered his home. His fiancee, who was eight and a half months pregnant, was dragged out of the room, as police shot and killed Hampton. Police fired over 100 shots, while only one bullet came from the Panthers—triggered by a death convulsion after Hampton’s comrade was gunned down.

Larry Nassar

Between 1996 and 2014, many members of the the US women’s national gymnastics team fell victim to Larry Nassar in the largest sexual abuse scandal in American sports history. Nassar, the team doctor, exploited his position to assault more than 260 women, many of them gymnasts. Olympic gold medalist McKayla Maroney reported it to the FBI, but saud that agents ignored her claims and falsified her statements. Nassar was convicted in 2017 and sentenced to 60 years in federal prison. If he survives, he will serve two additional sentences in Michigan, both with a minimum of 40 years.

Richard Jewell

In the summer of 1996, Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia, was the site of a terrorist attack. A pipe bomb exploded, but security guard Richard Jewell had spotted the suspicious bag early and helped evacuate the area, saving lives. Despite his heroism, the FBI, struggling to find the culprit, focused on Jewell as their prime suspect. Though he was never charged, the media vilified him, destroying his reputation. Two years later, the real bomber, Eric Rudolph, was caught—but by then, the damage was done. The agents responsible faced little consequence and remained employed by the FBI.

The Waco Massacre

The Branch Davidians were a Christian cult based at the Mount Carmel compound near Waco, Texas. In 1993, the U.S. government launched a siege following a failed ATF raid, which had been compromised when the Davidians were alerted in advance. The standoff lasted 51 days, culminating in an FBI-led assault with tear gas. Shortly after, a fire consumed the compound, killing at least 76 people, including 20 to 28 children. The fire’s cause remains disputed—some believe it resulted from the tear gas's flammability and gunfire, while the government claims that the Davidians set it themselves. The FBI denies firing live rounds that day. The siege deeply influenced extremist Timothy McVeigh, who carried out the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in retaliation.


Were there any more egregious crimes we forgot to include? Leave them in the comments!