COINTELPRO was exposed to the public in 1971 after activists broke into an FBI office and stole classified files.

The public had no idea this was happening until March 1971. A group of ordinary citizens decided to investigate the FBI themselves. They broke into a small FBI office in Media, Pennsylvania. They stole over one thousand secret documents and mailed copies to newspapers. The Washington Post was the only major paper brave enough to publish them. This daring break-in forced the dark truth into the light and ended the official program.