FBI Memo Regarding Special Agent James Barko
3/16/1965
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This memo identifies James M. Barko as the FBI special agent reported to have "testified that he thought state troopers acted in the public interest by breaking up the march with tear gas" in the Washington, D.C. newspaper "The Evening Star."
Barko had been assigned to observe and photograph the march of demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. The attempted march came to be known as Bloody Sunday after it was stopped by police troopers who used tear gas and violence to disperse the marchers.
The FBI received letters from the public who were outraged at the agent's remarks.
Barko had been assigned to observe and photograph the march of demonstrators from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7, 1965. The attempted march came to be known as Bloody Sunday after it was stopped by police troopers who used tear gas and violence to disperse the marchers.
The FBI received letters from the public who were outraged at the agent's remarks.
This primary source comes from the Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
National Archives Identifier: 7634471
Full Citation: FBI Memorandum Regarding Special Agent James Barko; 3/16/1965; 44-28492, Section 1 Serials 1-42, Alabama (1965) 3/7 Selma to Montgomery March, Edmund Pettus Bridge (Photos), Martin Luther King, Jr., A.D. King, Ralph Abernathy, A. Phillip Randolph, John Robert Lew; Classification 44 (Civil Rights) Headquarters Case Files, 1924 - 1978; Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Record Group 65; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/fbi-memo-barko, April 22, 2025]Activities that use this document
- The Impact of Bloody Sunday in Selma
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