ODB v FBI
The Story Behind the FBI Files
on Ol’ Dirty Bastard and the Wu-Tang Clan
Chris Stokel-Walker
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2012
Smashwords Edition, License Notes.
Thank you for purchasing and downloading this ebook. Please note, this book may not be reproduced, copied and distributed for either commercial or non-commercial purposes, either in whole or in part. To discuss excerpting sections of this book, please contact the author.
The FBI files contained in the appendix of this ebook were gained by Rich Jones of gun.io, using MuckRock as an intermediary. They are available in the public domain for free viewing via the blog post ‘I Got Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s FBI File’.
Chris Stokel-Walker is a 22-year old freelancer writer from England. He has written three books on a variety of subjects. His favourite Wu-Tang Clan song is ‘Da Mystery of Chessboxin’’.
Contents
Chapter 1: Rich Jones gets a Christmas present
Chapter 2: “There ain’t no father to his style”
Chapter 3: Mass layoffs at Brooklyn Naval Yard
Chapter 4: The mailman delivers
Chapter 5: Maati Lovell is in a car crash
Chapter 6: Conspiracy theories sometimes come true
Chapter 7: The Wu-Tang Clan comes together
Chapter 8: Redactions and indiscretions
Chapter 9: Caught crawling through a cat flap
Chapter 10: Stepping off a plane from LA
Chapter 12: Dealing out drugs and death
Chapter 13: Arrested for wearing a Kevlar vest
Chapter 15: 5:04pm, 13 November 2004
Chapter 16: It’s all J. Edgar Hoover’s fault
Chapter 1
Rich Jones gets a Christmas present
As befits the self proclaimed 'land of the free', the United States freedom of information legislation has been in place significantly longer than in most other countries - including the United Kingdom. It may not be a particularly momentous name (Public Law 89-554, 80 Stat. 383; Amended 1996, 2002, 2007), but this piece of law enshrines the ability of the average citizen to ask for - and be granted access to - information about a certain subject should they request it from the relevant bodies.
Lyndon B. Johnson put pen to paper on 4 July 1966 - a fitting day to do so - and ushered in a new era of openness in all areas of government. Files, albeit redacted so as to remove sensitive information about sources or matters of national safety, were available to anyone who cared to write to the right people.
By and large, this new Freedom of Information Act was a tool of the stalwart campaigners, seeking fair treatment for the abused and corrective action against past misjudgements by federal bodies. In the United Kingdom (which only passed its own law on the matter at the dawn of this new millennium) the ability to view government documents has forced a sea change in the way our parliamentary representatives carry out their jobs. The campaigning work of a freelance journalist called Heather Brooks led to revelations about Members of Parliament claiming for extravagances such as duck houses, candy bars and even a church donation at taxpayers' expense.
Then Rich Jones of online blog gun.io used a freedom of information campaign group, MuckRock out of Boston, MA, to get in touch with the FBI. A fan of the Wu-Tang Clan, Jones asked the Bureau for all the information it had on Russell Tyrone Jones, known to legions of rap fans as Ol' Dirty Bastard, member of that group.
His request, as any other request filed under Freedom of Information laws that can be processed without harming national security, was dutifully filed and given a reference number. It's not a particularly momentous reference number, but it's a reference number nonetheless. Case number 1179576-000 was opened.
For David M. Hardy, section leader of freedom of information requests in the FBI, it was just another in a long line of requests that he and his staff are duty bound by US law to answer. But for those interested in the Wu-Tang Clan, and its most enigmatic member, this was the first step towards uncovering a treasure trove of information that otherwise was not known or was simply recorded through a Chinese whispers chain of rumour and innuendo.
Rich Jones was a fan of the Clan. He was also someone who had petitioned the authorities for information using this legislation before.
"I mainly put in requests for political things, or cases where I suspect the government is wasting large amounts of money," he told me. "This was a just-for-fun one. I put it in because I'm a nerd and was reading Wikipedia and wanted to know more about [ODB]."
The connection that there may have been something amiss about ODB's lifestyle and behaviour was one of the triggers which turned a whimsical thought about wanting to know more about a favoured musician into actual action. Russell Jones (no relation to Rich, the petitioner) "mentions being watched by the FBI in his lyrics, and I wanted to know if that was paranoid or not. Turns out he was right."
On 21 December a staffer at the FBI freedom of information office stuffed an envelope with 93 pages of redacted official documents relating to Russell Tyrone Jones - everything the Bureau had on ODB - and a covering letter. They sealed it and sent it down a postal chute to be collected in that day's mail. Rich Jones was getting a Christmas present.