'Somebody had to do it': Aging activists confess to being behind great FBI heist in 1971 which shed light on controversial surveillance program (and say 'hi!' to Edward Snowden)

John and Bonnie Raines were part of an 8-member anti-war group that broke into the FBI satellite office in Media, Pennsylvania on March 8, 1971

Culprits never caught despite J. Edgar Hoover putting 200 agents on case



The break-in revealed the FBI's surveillance program Cointelpro which was cancelled after public scrutiny

Five of the eight members have identified themselves in a new book

The aging activists revealed to be behind a 1971 break-in at a Pennsylvania FBI office - shedding light on a controversial surveillance program - felt compelled to take part, they said.

John Raines, 80, and his wife, Bonnie, were part of an eight-member group of anti-Vietnam War protesters that broke into the offices in Media and left with 1,000 documents that revealed details of a domestic FBI spying operation known as Cointelpro.



'We did it... because somebody had to do it,' Mr Raines, a retired professor of religion at Temple University, told NBC News.

Revealed: John and Bonnie Raines have finally come forward after 43 years to admit they were two of the burglars who stole classified documents from the FBI offices in Pennsylvania in 1971

'In this case, by breaking a law - entering, removing files - we exposed a crime that was going on. When we are denied the information we need to have to act as citizens, then we have a right to do what we did.'

His wife added: 'I was horrified that our government was lying to us about what was actually happening in Vietnam. And all the usual things we always did - picketing, marching, signing petitions - didn't make any difference whatsoever.'

The case has similarities with that of Edward Snowden, who last year leaked details of the NSA's controversial surveillance programs. Mr Raines said he had a message for Snowden.

'From one whistelblower to another whistleblower - Hi!' he said, lifting his arm to wave.



The couple and a former Philadelphia cab driver, Keith Forsyth, identified themselves in new book 'The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI' written by former Washington Post reporter Betty Medsger. Medsger was the first reporter to write a story about their findings.



Passionate: The couple, left, said they had to break-in the files because nothing else was working in their battled against the government. The FBI released this sketch of Bonnie after the break in



Satellite: The group targeted the FBI's smaller Media branch because they thought there was less risk involved

Scene: The team broke in to the office, pictured, after studying its layout for weeks before

In the book, the group also details how they pulled it off and managed to stay anonymous when J. Edgar Hoover dispatched 200 agents to find the culprits.



The sting was organized by Haverford College physics professor Bill Davidon who has since died.



Instead of breaking into the FBI's main office, they decided to aim for the less-guarded Media office at a time when no one would notice: March 8, the night Muhammed Ali fought Joe Frazier.



In the weeks leading up to the break-in, the group cased the office in their hippie van and even sent in Bonnie Raines dressed as a college student to get details on the interior layout of the office.



'I tried to disguise my appearance as much as I could,' Mrs Raines told NBC News. 'I had long, dark, hippie hair at that time and I stuffed it up inside of a winter hat.'

She pretended to interview an FBI official about job prospects for women for the school paper, and never once took off her gloves the whole time so she wouldn't leave any finger prints.



Tricks: Bonnie, left, posed as a student to check out the inside of the office and helped break in on the night of the robbery. Her husband, John, right, stayed outside in a getaway car as they broke in



Political: John and Bonnie Raines said the change the break-in caused far outweighed breaking the law

On the night of the break-in the group only ran into one roadblock. They were forced to use another entrance to the office since the main door's lock couldn't be picked.

A back door ceded easily to a crow bar however and the group of eight tore through the office's cabinets looking for incriminating papers.

THE BREAK-IN THAT CHANGED AMERICA: WHAT DID IT UNCOVER?

After the break-in at Media, Pennsylvania in 1941, the team left with more than 1,000 documents that they looked through and then filtered to the media. Their central discovery was about COINTELPRO. Short for Counter Intelligence Program, it was originally J. Edgar Hoover's solution to break-up Communist groups. It tracked the activity of domestic political groups it considered subversive. It aimed to discredit those in the group and destroy their public image.

It was later used in plans to bring down the Black Panthers, anti-Vietnam war movements and other civil rights groups. A Senate group later determined that legal restrictions had been ignored in creating the program, and asked: 'What happened to turn a law enforcement agency into a law violator?' Hoover cancelled the program in 1972 after it was exposed by the break-in.

Mr Raines was waiting outside.

'I was sitting by myself in my station wagon and I was getting very very scared,' he said.



The team took as much as they could and fled to a nearby barn where they went through the information looking for anything of interest.

Eventually they sent the documents to journalists who were able to contextualize the information and reveal one majorly controversial FBI operation called Cointelpro.

'These documents were explosive,' said Medsger, who received a batch of the files anonymously in the mail. 'The FBI was never the same.'



Short for Counter Intelligence Program, Cointelpro was originally J. Edgar Hoover's solution to break-up Communist groups.



The point of the program was to discredit those in the group and destroy their public image.



It was later used in plans to bring down the Black Panthers, anti-Vietnam war movements and other civil rights groups. Hoover cancelled the program in 1972 after it was exposed by the break-in.

'It looks like we're terribly reckless people,' Mr Raines, now 80, told the New York Times. 'But there was absolutely no one in Washington - senators, congressmen, even the president - who dared hold J. Edgar Hoover to accountability. It became pretty obvious to us, that if we didn't do it nobody will.'

His wife added to NBC that their theft uncovered 'massive illegal surveillance and intimidation'.

Keith Forsyth, another burglar to come forward, said the only way to convince people of the FBI's operations was to 'get it in their handwriting'



Discovery: The group's heist revealed the FBI's Countilpro program which J. Edgar Hoover (left) cancelled in 1972. On the right, the new book detailing the heist, written by a former Washington Post reporter



Comparisons: The couple said 'hi!' to fellow whistleblower Edward Snowden, who leaked details of an NSA surveillance program last year

After sending off the documents, the group never met together again and thus escaped being caught by the FBI.

Five of the eight have come forward in the book, and face no legal repercussions since they are outside the statue of limitations.



In the end, they believe the change the break-in caused far outweighed breaking the law - but not everyone agrees.



'I don’t believe such people have the right to take it upon themselves and make decisions about what should be made public,' former FBI agent Pat Kelly told NBC.

