Corporation for Public Broadcasting

On March 8, 1971, a group calling itself the Citizens’ Commission to Investigate the FBI broke into an FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, and raided thousands of secret files. Mailed anonymously to some of the nation’s leading newspapers, the documents proved widespread illegal activities at the highest levels of government and shattered the wall of secrecy that had enveloped the FBI. The most infamous revelation was a program known as COINTELPRO—counterintelligence program. Despite one of the largest investigations in its history, the FBI was unable to discover who had raided the office and leaked the documents. The story of how and why a group of ordinary citizens decided to risk everything to stop FBI abuse has never been told until now. For the first time, the burglars have decided to speak out. This film tells their story, examining the consequences and implications—then and now—of this historic act of resistance.