Yippies

To Whom It May Concern:

You are receiving this correspondence as a request under the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. subsection 552. I am requesting the following:

All records, documents, or communications responsive to Bureau file 100-15224, for the National Yippie Day at Disneyland. The event occurred on August 6, 1970, at Disneyland, a theme park in Anaheim, California. On the referenced date, 300+ representatives and associates of the Youth International Party (Yippies) entered the park and conducted multiple protests over the course of the day with regard to the Vietnam War. The Bureau monitored the event via informants, with at least one, Howard Berry Godfrey, turning in an informant report under a pseudonym, attached, stating that he acted as a counter-protestor, along with members of various right-wing groups in Southern California.

The National Yippie Day at Disneyland represents one of many flashpoints in the anti-war movement, and as such, it is a source of sustained public interest. Clashes between protestors, counter-protestors, and police generated national news coverage in the days and weeks following the event; the day after, for example, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story reporting on what it termed "outbursts" by the Yippies. Articles to continue appear on a near annual basis in Southern California and national newspapers with at least a dozen such examples having been published in the last three years alone. However, no reporting, past or present, indicates any Bureau presence at the event. Mr. Godfrey's informant report—released as part of Freedom of Information Act request—provides insight into surveillance methods used by the Bureau as part of a highly unusual counterintelligence program (COINTELPRO). Given that the Bureau has already released files on the Youth International Party, many of its founding members (including Abbott "Abbie" Hoffman and Jerry Rubin), and COINTELPROs targeting groups in the New Left, there is sufficient cause for public interest in the Bureau file on the National Yippie Day at Disneyland.

There is no potential for interrupting any current investigations, nor the possibility of an invasion of privacy for any of the parties involved. The event in question occurred over one day 50 years ago, thus mitigating any temporal concerns, and COINTELPRO as an overaching program was discontinued in April 1971. Many of the parties present that day, such as Mr. Hoffman (November 30, 1936 – April 12, 1989), are now deceased, rendering moot any concerns over privacy.

I am a member of the news media, and I am asking you waive any fees associated with this request. I have previously written for Covert Action Magazine, Janata Weekly, and Atlas Obscura. Please take note of the Office of Management and Budget guidelines published March 27, 1987 (52 FR 10012) that include electronic publications and other nontraditional publishers as representatives of the news media.

This request is not being made for commercial purposes. All documents will be provided to the general public without charge.

In the event that there are fees, I am willing to pay up to $100. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

I look forward to your response within 20 working days, as the statute requires. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.

If you deny any or all of this request, please cite each specific exemption you feel justifies the refusal to release the information and notify me of the appeal procedures available to me under the law.

Sincerely,

Robert Skvarla, Jr.