Editing Federal Bureau of Investigation (section)

== Controversies ==
{{Main|List of FBI controversies}} 
Throughout its history, the FBI has been the subject of many controversies, both at home and abroad.

*[[List of FBI controversies#Files on Puerto Rican independence advocates|Files on Puerto Rican independence advocates]] – [[Member of Congress|Congressman]] [[Luis Gutiérrez|Luiz Gutierrez]] revealed that [[Pedro Albizu Campos]] and his [[Puerto Rican Nationalist Party|Nationalist]] political party had been watched for a decade-long period in the 1930s.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Navarro |first1=Mireya |date=February 23, 2017 |title=New Light on Old F.B.I. Fight; Decades of Surveillance of Puerto Rican Groups |newspaper=The New York Times |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/nyregion/new-light-on-old-fbi-fight-decades-of-surveillance-of-puerto-rican-groups.html |access-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223121153/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/11/28/nyregion/new-light-on-old-fbi-fight-decades-of-surveillance-of-puerto-rican-groups.html |archive-date=February 23, 2017}}</ref>
*[[Whitey Bulger|The Whitey Bulger case]] – The FBI, specifically the Boston Field Office was, and continues to be, criticized for its handling of [[Boston]] criminal Whitey Bulger. As a result of Bulger acting as an [[informant]], the agency turned a blind eye to his activities as an exchange.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last1=Barnicle |first1=Mike |date=December 18, 2013 |title=James 'Whitey' Bulger Got Away With Murder, Thanks to the FBI |url=https://ideas.time.com/2013/08/12/the-fbi-kept-whitey-bulger-free-for-decades/ |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218093737/http://ideas.time.com/2013/08/12/the-fbi-kept-whitey-bulger-free-for-decades/ |archive-date=December 18, 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=July 20, 2021}}</ref> 
*[[Latin America]] – For decades during the [[Cold War]], the FBI placed agents to monitor the governments of [[Caribbean]] and Latin American nations.<ref>{{Cite book |date=May 13, 2014 |title=Che Guevara and the FBI: U.S. Political Police Dossier on the Latin American Revolutionary by Michael Ratner — Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs, Lists |publisher=Ocean Pr |isbn=978-1-875284-76-4 |url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/473884.Che_Guevara_and_the_FBI |access-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140513014007/http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/473884.Che_Guevara_and_the_FBI |archive-date=May 13, 2014}}</ref>
*[[Surveillance|Domestic surveillance]] – In 1985, it was found that the FBI had made use of [[surveillance devices]] on numerous American citizens between 1940 and 1960.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Agur |first=Colin |date=November 2013 |title=Negotiated Order: The Fourth Amendment, Telephone Surveillance, and Social Interactions, 1878–1968 |journal=Information & Culture |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=419–447 |doi=10.7560/ic48402 |issn=2164-8034 |hdl=11299/182084 |s2cid=73533167 |hdl-access=free}}</ref>
*[[Robert Hanssen]] – In what is described by the US [[United States Department of Justice|Department of Justice (DOJ)]] as "[[Robert Hanssen|possibly the worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history]]".<ref>{{Cite web |title=A Review of FBI Security Programs |url=https://fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/websterreport.html |access-date=July 20, 2021 |website=fas.org |archive-date=November 7, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151107040304/https://fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fbi/websterreport.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Hanssen managed to evade the FBI as he simultaneously sold thousands of classified American documents to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[GRU (Soviet Union)|intelligence operatives]].
*[[Viola Liuzzo]] – [[Gary Thomas Rowe]], an FBI informant who at the time was also an active member of the [[Ku Klux Klan]], assisted in the murder of Viola Liuzzo (a civil rights activist) in 1965, and afterwards, [[Defamation|defamatory]] rumors were spread by the Bureau about the victim.<ref>{{Cite book |last=May |first=Gary |title=The Informant |date=July 3, 2005 |publisher=Yale University Press |doi=10.12987/yale/9780300106350.001.0001 |isbn=978-0-300-10635-0}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |author=Jonathan Yardley |title=THE INFORMANT: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo by Gary May (book review) |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/30/AR2005063001422_pf.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110504041637/http://www.washingtonpost.coxwp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/30/AR2005063001422_pf.html |archive-date=2011-05-04 |access-date=July 20, 2021}}</ref>
*[[Ruby Ridge]] (1992) was a shootout between the FBI and [[Randy Weaver]] over his [[failure to appear]] for weapons charges.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/randy-weaver-ruby-ridge-impact-1.6448991 |title=Randy Weaver, key figure behind bloody Ruby Ridge standoff near Canada-U.S. border, dies |publisher=CBC |access-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-date=July 5, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705100533/https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/randy-weaver-ruby-ridge-impact-1.6448991 |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Waco siege]] (1993) was a failed raid by the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|ATF]] that resulted in the death of 4 ATF agents and 6 [[Branch Davidians]]. The FBI and US military got involved with the 51 day siege that followed. The building ended up burning down killing 76 including 26 children. This is what motivated [[Timothy McVeigh]] (along with [[Ruby Ridge]]) to carry out the [[Oklahoma City bombing]] (1995).<ref>{{cite web |title=Waco Siege |date=August 21, 2018 |url=https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/waco-siege |access-date=August 11, 2022 |archive-date=September 23, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923144327/https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/waco-siege |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[Associated Press#FBI_impersonation_case|Associated Press (AP) impersonation case]] – A Bureau agent, masquerading as an AP [[journalist]], placed [[Spyware|surveillance software]] in the [[personal computer]] of a minor. This resulted in a series of conflicts between the news agency and the FBI.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 24, 2017 |title=Associated Press sues after FBI impersonates journalist in sting operation |url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-associated-press-lawsuit-20150827-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224101449/http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-associated-press-lawsuit-20150827-story.html |archive-date=December 24, 2017 |access-date=July 20, 2021 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 24, 2017 |title=AP demands FBI never again impersonate journalist |url=https://apnews.com/920b9db9559442a18dcd05037e3093c4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171224101310/https://apnews.com/920b9db9559442a18dcd05037e3093c4 |archive-date=December 24, 2017 |access-date=July 20, 2021 |publisher=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>
*[[Stoneman Douglas High School shooting]] – A statement from the FBI confirmed that it had failed to act on a tip warning of the possibility of the shooting over a month prior to its occurrence, which may have prevented the tragedy outright.<ref>{{Cite web |date=February 17, 2018 |title=FBI Statement on the Shooting in Parkland, Florida — FBI |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-the-shooting-in-parkland-florida |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180217004949/https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/fbi-statement-on-the-shooting-in-parkland-florida |archive-date=February 17, 2018 |access-date=July 20, 2021}}</ref>
*[[1993 World Trade Center bombing]] - [[Emad Salem]], an FBI informant and a key witness in the trial of [[Ramzi Yousef]], [[Abdul Hakim Murad (militant)|Abdul Hakim Murad]], and [[Wali Khan Amin Shah]], stated that the bomb itself was built under supervision from the FBI.<ref name="tampabay.com">{{cite web | url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1993/12/15/informant-says-he-built-world-trade-center-bomb/ | title=Informant says he built World Trade Center bomb }}</ref>

Specific practices include:

*Internal investigations of shootings – A professor of [[criminal justice]] at the [[University of Nebraska Omaha]] suggested that FBI internal reports found a questionably high number of [[Shooting|weapon discharges]] by its agents to be justified.<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 18, 2013 |title=The F.B.I. Deemed Agents Faultless in 150 Shootings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/us/in-150-shootings-the-fbi-deemed-agents-faultless.html |access-date=February 25, 2022 |website=[[The New York Times]] |archive-date=February 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201130225/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/19/us/in-150-shootings-the-fbi-deemed-agents-faultless.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
*Covert operations on political groups – Political groups deemed disruptive have been investigated and discredited by the FBI in the aim of "protecting [[national security]], preventing [[violence]], and maintaining the existing [[Social order|social]] and [[Political system|political order]]".<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 4, 2013 |title=U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence |url=http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/churchcommittee.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104062808/http://www.intelligence.senate.gov/churchcommittee.html |archive-date=November 4, 2013 |access-date=July 20, 2021}}</ref>
*FBI surveillance since 2010 – In the years since 2010, it has been uncovered by various [[civil liberties]] groups (such as the [[American Civil Liberties Union|American Civil Liberties Union [ACLU]]]) that the FBI earmarked disproportionate resources for the surveillance of [[Left-wing politics|left-leaning]] movements and political organizations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Still Spying on Dissent.pdf |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z-i_XCoZub8ISKEe5DzjoMh0bPS5u1Xm/view?usp=embed_facebook |access-date=July 20, 2021 |via=Google Docs |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720063600/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z-i_XCoZub8ISKEe5DzjoMh0bPS5u1Xm/view?usp=embed_facebook |url-status=live }}</ref> The FBI has also committed several breaches of the [[First Amendment to the United States Constitution|First Amendment]] in this time.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Speri |first=Alice |date=October 22, 2019 |title=The FBI's Long History of Treating Political Dissent as Terrorism |url=https://theintercept.com/2019/10/22/terrorism-fbi-political-dissent/ |access-date=July 20, 2021 |website=The Intercept|archive-date=November 5, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105151641/https://theintercept.com/2019/10/22/terrorism-fbi-political-dissent/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 26, 2020 |title=US non-profit sues FBI to learn about phone hacking capability |url=https://www.thexyz.com/blog/us-non-profit-sues-fbi-to-learn-about-phone-hacking-capability/ |access-date=July 20, 2021 |website=Thexyz Blog |archive-date=July 20, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210720063601/https://www.thexyz.com/blog/us-non-profit-sues-fbi-to-learn-about-phone-hacking-capability/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
*[[List of FBI controversies#Files on U.S. citizens|Files on U.S. citizens]] – The Bureau kept files on certain individuals for varying reasons and lengths of time, notably, [[FBI files on Elvis Presley|Elvis Presley]], [[Frank Sinatra]], [[John Denver]].
*[[Entrapment]] - The FBI has been criticized for its use of entrapment, where [[Agent provocateur|''agent provocateurs'']] attempt to incite individuals into committing illegal acts.<ref name ="Harris">{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/16/fbi-entrapment-fake-terror-plots |title=Fake terror plots, paid informants: the tactics of FBI 'entrapment' questioned |last1=Harris |first1=Paul |date=16 November 2011 |website=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=January 23, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190123223024/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/16/fbi-entrapment-fake-terror-plots |url-status=live }}</ref> Notable critics of FBI entrapment such as [[Human Rights Watch]] and the [[ACLU]] note that entrapment cases often target impoverished individuals or those with mental or emotional disabilities and that these cases have an adverse effect on marginalized groups.<ref name ="HRW">{{cite web |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/07/21/illusion-justice/human-rights-abuses-us-terrorism-prosecutions |title=Illusion of Justice: Human Rights Abuses in US Terrorism Prosecutions |last1=Human Rights Watch |date=21 July 2014 |publisher=[[Human Rights Watch]] |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216134819/https://www.hrw.org/report/2014/07/21/illusion-justice/human-rights-abuses-us-terrorism-prosecutions |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name ="ACLU">{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/other/unleashed-and-unaccountable-fbis-unchecked-abuse-authority |title=Unleashed and Unaccountable: The FBI's Unchecked Abuse of Authority |last1=American Civil Liberties Union |date=September 2013 |publisher=[[ACLU]] |access-date=16 February 2023 |archive-date=February 16, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216134829/https://www.aclu.org/other/unleashed-and-unaccountable-fbis-unchecked-abuse-authority |url-status=live }}</ref>