FBI’s Years-Long Investigation of John Lennon Revealed in Declassified Documents
Thursday, December 8, 2022, will mark the 42nd anniversary of the tragic death of renowned Beatle icon John Lennon.
Alongside his bandmates Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, Lennon soared to musical stardom in the early 1960s.
On the night of December 8, 1980, tragedy struck as Lennon was shot and killed by Mark David Chapman while returning to his New York apartment with his wife, Yoko Ono.
At the time of his death, Lennon was just 40 years old.
Interestingly, earlier that day, Lennon had autographed a copy of his recently released album, “Double Fantasy,” for Chapman.
Chapman was subsequently sentenced to 20 years to life in prison and was last denied parole in 2020.
His next parole hearing is scheduled for August 2022.
Following Lennon’s murder, his remains were cremated, and his ashes were scattered in Central Park, New York.
In the years leading up to his untimely death, Lennon found himself under intense scrutiny due to his political and personal beliefs.
Notably, this scrutiny extended to the highest levels of the American government.
Historical records reveal that the Nixon administration targeted Lennon for deportation, as the president believed that Lennon’s actions posed a threat to his reelection campaign.
The grounds for deportation were an old marijuana charge.
Simultaneously, the FBI also had its sights on Lennon.
Under the leadership of FBI Director John Edgar Hoover, Lennon was under surveillance primarily due to his anti-war activities.
Dennis Mitchell, a lifelong Beatles fan and the producer of the weekly radio show “Breakfast with the Beatles,” criticized the FBI’s investigation, stating, “You’re talking about the J. Edgar Hoover days in the FBI.
When we look back… those days were not so favorable and did not present the agency in a positive light.
To target someone like John Lennon based on a fabricated marijuana conviction from years before is grasping at straws.”
Mitchell further emphasized the lasting impact of the FBI’s investigation on Lennon’s legacy, stating, “Looking back, it is clear that going after someone like John Lennon was not only insignificant but also a colossal waste of time and money.
If anything, it backfired tremendously.
Even today, we continue to view John as a persecuted figure due to these actions.”
For several years following Lennon’s death, the FBI kept its documents on him classified.
Notably, historian Jon Wiener embarked on a legal battle to obtain FBI files regarding the Bureau’s involvement in the deportation attempt.
Although the FBI acknowledged possessing 281 pages of files on Lennon, they refused to release the majority due to national security concerns.
In 1983, Wiener filed a lawsuit against the FBI for the documents.
After a lengthy 14-year legal process, the FBI finally released the pages.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), representing Wiener, achieved a favorable outcome in the Ninth Circuit in 1991.
However, the Justice Department appealed this decision to the Supreme Court in April 1992, resulting in a five-year wait for the case to be reviewed.
Finally, in 1997, the Justice Department released all but ten of the documents.
It took Wiener an additional nine years to secure the release of the remaining ten documents, which focused on Lennon’s connections with anti-war activists in London during 1971.
