It is not as far fetched as it seems. Radical or “revolutionary” groups in the 1960’s and 70’s often interfaced with organized crime. When the “comrades” needed drugs, prostitutes,or guns, they more often than not dealt with organized crime who in those days controlled those markets. Organized crime always had access to information and dealt it for profit. Patty Hearst’s family paid the San Francisco mob for information about their kidnapped daughter.Suspect they came to learn more than they cared to know.
The dog who didn’t bark: That is the most amazing part of the many histories.
On my birthday, Nov 9,1963 a Seattle high school friend of mine came to my Wheaton college off campus room. He told me the commies were going to try a coup d’etat. He and his friends that trained in the mountains of Colorado and other patriots from around the country were going to Dallas to protect the USA form the commies. He opened one of his custom suitcase. It was full of gun parts that screwed together. He urged me to join him. He had enough weapons for everyone he could recruit to join him and his friends.
I had heard this guy, and others, make similar claims in the past. Being inclined to paranoia myself, I was active in both far left and far right groups to balance reality.
Nov 9-22 the left wing “student” groups, YPSL etal, were recruiting us to go to Dallas to prevent a right wing racist coup d’etat by Dixiecrats unhappy with Kennedy not sufficiently resisting progressive history. (The group in the Colorado Mountains was nowhere close to racist...just anti-commie and anti-Russian.)
So on Nov 22, 1963 Dallas was had hundreds of heavily armed people from each side who did nothing. As a dutiful citizen I contacted the FBI and offered my input. They never had no interest. Of course, it was commonly assumed that the FBI had informants and undercover agents in both left and right wing groups and already knew this.
Thi ia the dog who did not bark.