(CelebrityAccess) — Micky Dolenz, the final surviving member of the 60s pop icons The Monkees, has filed a lawsuit against the FBI seeking the release of the law enforcement’s agency’s files on Dolenz and the other members of the group.
The Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, filed in federal court on Tuesday, claims the Monkees were investigated by the FBI for anti-war activities during the 1960s.
The FBI has already released one document related to the Monkees, which Dolenz references in his suit. The document, which originated in the FBI’s Los Angeles field office following a 1967 concert during which the band flashed anti-war messages on a screen on stage during their performance, was evaluated by the bureau as part of an ongoing review of subjects in the film industry in the Hollywood area.
While the memorandum is heavily redacted, the report states that “subliminal messages were depicted on a screen which, in the opinion of [redacted] constituted left-wing innovations of a political nature.”
The report notes that the messages flashed on screen included images of “riots in Berkeley, anti-U.S. messages on the war in Vietnam, racial riots in Selma, Alabama, and similar messages which had received unfavorable response from the audience.”
The Monkees are described in the report as “four young men who dress as ‘beatnik-types'” revealing just what hep cats were manning the FBI field office in Los Angeles in 1967.
Through his suit, Dolenz is seeking an unredacted version of the 1967 memorandum, as well as a second document that was entirely redacted.
“This lawsuit is designed to obtain any records the FBI created and/or possesses on the Monkees as well as its individual members (with all records concerning the deceased members processed pursuant to FOIA and with respect to Mr. Dolenz under both PA and FOIA),” the complaint said.
