John Curtis Raines (October 27, 1933 – November 12, 2017) was an American Methodist minister, religion professor, anti-war activist, and

whistleblower Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or ...

. He was a member of the Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI, which conspired to steal documents from an FBI office in 1971 and exposed illegal activity and abuses of power, including

COINTELPRO COINTELPRO (a syllabic abbreviation derived from Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert and illegal projects conducted between 1956 and 1971 by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltr ...

Early life

Raines was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, the son of an affluent Methodist minister, and was raised by a

governess A governess is a woman employed as a private tutor, who teaches and trains a child or children in their home. A governess often lives in the same residence as the children she is teaching; depending on terms of their employment, they may or ma ...

in a house with five fireplaces and seven bathrooms. He had one brother. He graduated from

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1866, the main campus is between Northfield and the approximately Carleton ...

in 1955 with a major in English, and went on to study Christian social ethics at

Union Theological Seminary Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (shortened to UTS or Union) is a Private college, private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University since 1928. Presently, Co ...

Career

His first job after graduating was as a Methodist minister in Setauket, Long Island. He became a professor of religion at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, where he taught for over 40 years.

Political activism

In 1961 he became involved in the civil rights movement after he was invited by the

Congress of Racial Equality The Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) is an African-American civil rights organization in the United States that played a pivotal role for African Americans in the civil rights movement. Founded in 1942, its stated mission is "to bring about ...

to travel as part of the

Freedom Riders Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode interstate buses into the Racial segregation in the United States, segregated Southern United States, Southern United States in 1961 and subsequent years to challenge the non-enforcement of t ...

on an integrated bus from St. Louis to Little Rock. It was on this trip, where white mobs met the riders and he was briefly sent to jail, his eyes were opened to injustice and its intersection with his own Christian faith. Raines and his wife, Bonnie, continued to be involved in political causes and protests in the coming years, even breaking into draft board offices to disrupt records related to the draft for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. While a professor at Temple, Raines was approached by William C. Davidon, a

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

physics professor, who suggested breaking into the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

office to find proof of illegal practices. While initially skeptical, John and Bonnie eventually became convinced and began planning the break in with a group of eight co-conspirators in the attic of their home. They targeted a small FBI office outside of city limits in

Media, Pennsylvania Media is a borough (Pennsylvania), borough in and the county seat of Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located about west of Philadelphia. It is part of the Delaware Valley, also known as the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ...

which had far less security than the more prominent Philadelphia building. The group carefully researched and made extensive preparations--Bonnie went undercover as a Swarthmore student studying FBI hiring practices of women, and was allowed access to the interior of the building, where she took note of security systems and layout. They decided to break in on March 8, 1971, the night of the historic boxing match between

Joe Frazier Joseph William Frazier (January 12, 1944November 7, 2011) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1965 to 1981. Nicknamed "Smokin' Joe", he is widely regarded as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He was known for ...

and

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

, knowing that security personnel would be distracted by the fight. That evening, Raines was stationed in a getaway car parked near

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

while the others went into the office. The plan went almost without a hitch and was completed in less than an hour. In total, the group shoved more than 1,000 documents into suitcases, which they inspected in a nearby farmhouse that night, discovering that their suspicions about the FBI's activity were correct. They made copies of the documents and mailed them to three major news outlets, as well as two Democratic government officials. To preserve their safety, the group agreed never to meet again and went their separate ways. Several months later, FBI agents visited the Raineses at their house to ask if they had any information that could help them find the culprits behind the theft. Raines cited his indignation at the information from the documents published in the ''Washington Post'' and refused to offer his help. The case remained unsolved for decades until Raines revealed his involvement to investigative reporter Betty Medsger (who had initially broken the original story), long after the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

had passed.

Personal life

During a summer break, he met and married Bonnie Raines (née Muir), a waitress from Michigan State University who had also joined a political group dedicating to improving racial relations. They had four children and seven grandchildren. Raines died at his home in Philadelphia on November 12, 2017.

References

External links