CIA on Trial Project (Amherst, Mass.)

Background on CIA on Trial Project Records

During the 1980s, the CIA played an active role in the political instability of
Central America, particularly in Nicaragua, where it provided funding and arms to
the Contras, a militant right-wing group in opposition to Sandinista rule. Despite a
ban by Congress, the United States covertly continued to funnel
military and financial support into the Contras through Iran. The conflict between
the two groups was a part of the Nicaraguan Revolution, Revolución
Nicaragüense in Spanish, which began in the 1960s with rising opposition
against the Somoza dictatorship. The dictatorship originally put the Sandinistas in
power, and ended in 1990 following an election in compliance with the Tela Accord.
In 1986, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled against the United States,
and in favor of Nicaragua, stating that the United States had violated international
law in their support of the Contras. The ICJ rewarded Nicaragua reparations, which the United States chose not to pay.

Public opinion of the CIA and of the Reagan administration worsened dramatically.
Amidst this turbulent political climate, a CIA recruiter came to the University of
Massachusetts, Amherst to hold an information session and interview pre-selected
candidates. This was met with considerable backlash from students who viewed the
recruiter on campus as an act of compliancy with the CIA’s actions, and in response
several protests were organized. The information session was cancelled following
demonstrators swarming the Career Center. The next day, a group of demonstrators
occupied the Affirmative Action Office in the Whitmore Administration Building,
wanting to speak to senior university staff. Eleven students were arrested after
refusing to leave the office, and were loaded onto a bus to be taken to District
Court. Those not arrested began to throw themselves in front of the bus in an
attempt to stop it. About a week and a half later, a rally was held at the Student
Union, which then began to move towards Whitmore, which soon was closed and locked
in response. Up to 100 demonstrators instead occupied Munson Hall, the closest unlocked building, for several hours. Sixty people who refused to leave after a court order was issued were arrested for trespassing, and eight more were arrested for disorderly conduct outside of the building. Abbie Hoffman and Amy Carter were among those arrested. Protests continued without any arrests in the following week.

The trial of those arrested at Munson Hall was extremely publicized, drawing
attention for the drama of the jury selection process, the famous defendants and their defense, and the ramifications of the ruling. The defendants were acquitted of trespassing and disorderly conduct after claiming that the CIA’s crimes justified their actions, in which they effectively “put the CIA on trial.” Their acquittal was seen as a sign that “middle America doesn’t want the CIA doing what they’re doing.”