The civil rights photographer who was working for the FBI.
, directed by Phil Bertelsen, will explore Withers’ complicated legacy and ask whether the photographer was a friend of the civil rights movement; or an enemy.
Withers traveled with Marin Luther King Jr. extensively, capturing the moment he rode the first desegregated bus. He was also the only photographer who fully covered the Emmett Till trial, even sneaking a camera into the courtroom. The case brought violence against Black people in the southern states to national attention.
Withers was a stalwart of the civil rights movement and was entrusted to record its history. He was present on the night King was assassinated.. They revealed Withers had been playing his double role since at least 1968, meeting with agents and providing them with information ranging from insider details on upcoming protests to the license plate numbers of the movement’s leaders.
The reporters were unable to find out how much Withers was paid to spy on his colleagues, or how and why the FBI was able to recruit him in the first place. The amount of money he was paid by the government is also unknown, although there has been speculation that he only agreed to inform in order to help provide for his eight children.
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