Media FBI Break-In Commemoration Event Planned For September

MEDIA, PA — Back in March 1971, a group of people successfully broke into an FBI office located in Media and exposed the agency's illegal domestic counterintelligence and infiltration program aimed at disrupting efforts by Martin Luther King Jr., the Black Panthers, Malcolm X, anti-war groups, and others.

Now 50 years later, those burglars are participating in a commemorative event at the former FBI building in Media after exposing the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program, better known as COINTELPRO.

On Sept. 1, activists Bonnie Raines and Keith Forsyth who broke into the building all those years ago, along with author and Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger, will participate in a book signing of "The Burglary" at the building and hold a tour of the space where more than 1,000 documents were stolen.

The building, located at 1-6 Veterans Square in Media, will also have a Pennsylvania Historical Marker unveiled to commemorate the FBI office burglary.

Later that night, a screening of the documentary "1971" will be held and featured a round table discussion afterward, led by Temple University professor and host of BNC News Marc Lamont Hill. The discussion will include Raines, Forsyth, Medsger, former FBI officer Mike German, and civil rights attorney David Kairys.

The screening will be held at the Media Theatre, 104 East State St. in Media.

Tickets for the screening and discussion cost $25 and are available online here. Tickets also include a copy of "The Burglary."

You can watch a trailer for "1971" below: