FBI File on Philip Mullins
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation ran at least two investigations on Philip Mullins. One (Jacksonville Field Office File #100-977, Title: Philip Mitchel Mullins, Character: Security Matters- Southern Student Organizing Committee) concerned his anti-war activities in Florida. The other (Jacksonville Field Office #25-5007, Title: Philip Mitchell Mullins, aka, SSN 8-49-45-130, SSA, 1948”) concerned his failed relationship with his local draft board in Pensacola. The following is a summary of the first investigation. Information that the author considers irrelevant has been omitted, some items have been re-ordered for better continuity and titles have been added. The file was obtained using the Freedom and Information Act and was heavily redacted. The names of the people the FBI used as sources were removed by the FBI Records Management Division. The following summary provides the names of those few sources that are known to the author. Otherwise the content of the investigative report is exactly as it appears in the FBI file.
Part One: Subversive Activities in the United States
John Edgar Hoover, Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
United State Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.
May 2, 1968
Director
United States Secret Service
Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir:
The information furnished herewith concerns an individual who is believed to be covered by the agreement between the FBI and the Secret Service concerning Presidential protection, and to fall within the category of subversives, ultra-rightists, racists and fascists who meet the following criteria: Prior acts (including arrests or convictions) or conduct or statements indicating a propensity for violence and antipathy toward good order and government.
Title: Philip Mitchel Mullins
Character: Security Matters – Southern Student Organizing Committee
Synopsis: Subject was born 6/6/45 at New Orleans, La. Home address, 206 Earl Court, Pensacola, Florida. He attended Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, until 12/67. He was on Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC) membership list dated in May 1967. He participated in SSOC or related activities and in February 1968 was reported to be a member of SSOC staff. He indicated in February 1968 that he intended to refuse induction into military service. He was reported as delinquent by Selective Service Local Board 49, Pensacola, Florida, for failure to report for induction. In March 1968 he was reportedly in Toronto, Canada. Other information regarding background and activities are set forth.
Details: PREDICATION
This investigation was predicated upon information received from a review of literature published by the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC). A characterization of the SSOC is set forth in the appendix hereto.
SSOC membership mailing number 8, dated May 17, 1967, listed PHIL MULLINS, 439 West College Avenue, Tallahassee, Florida as the contact for the Florida State University Chapter.
On February 8, 1968, Mrs. _____ of Florida State University Registrar’s Office, Tallahassee, Florida, advised that the file in that office on PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS showed his date of birth as June 6, 1945, at New Orleans, Louisiana, and his home address as 206 Earl Court, Pensacola, Florida. He graduated from Escambia High School in June 1963. He attended the Pensacola Junior College from 1963 to 1965. He was employed at the Pensacola Junior College from 1964 to 1965 in the Physics Department as a lab assistant. From August until September 1963 he was employed as a laborer at the Warrington Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida. MULLINS entered FSU on September 1966 and attended until December 1967. He previously attended University of Florida at Gainesville September 1965 to August 1966. His father is GEORGE MORRIS MULLINS, Jr., whose home address is the same as MULLINS and he was born in Port Arthur, Texas. His father is with the United States Coast Guard. His mother is HAZEL STRICKLAND MULLINS, same address, born in Pike County, Mississippi. Records show grades were mailed to MULLINS at his Tallahassee address of 439 West College Street in December 1966 and April 1967 and at 542 West Madison Street, Tallahassee, in December 1967.
_____ and _____, who are acquainted with some activities at FSU in Tallahassee, advised …that PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS, commonly known as PHIL MULLINS, was well known while at FSU as a student activist and “champion of liberal causes,” who during 1967 occasionally wrote letters published in the “FLAMBEAU”, the FSU campus newspaper, which strongly opposed United States participation in the war in Vietnam and Selective Service laws.
_____, the clerk in the Nashville office of the Selective Service, advised…that on February 1, 1968, subject stated that he intended to refuse induction into the military service. As of February 1, 1968, he indicated that he then resided at 1703 Portland Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee. This is the address of the national headquarters of the SSOC.
BACKGROUND: The following investigation was conducted by Special Agent _____ at Pensacola, Florida:
A review of the 1968 Pensacola City Directory revealed that GEORGE M. MULLINS, 206 Earl Court, whose wife is HAZEL, is employed as the Ground and Building Superintendent, Warrington Baptist Church. Additional entries showed that GEORGE M. MULLINS, III, a student, resides at 206 Earl Court and that PHILIP M. MULLINS, a student, resides at 206 Earl Court.
The Pensacola Telephone Directory lists a GEORGE M. MULLINS, 206 Earl Court, Edgewater Subdivision, telephone 456-6595.
_____ Pensacola Police Department, and _____, Identification Division, Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, advised their files contained no information indentifiable with GEORGE M. MULLINS or PHILIP M. MULLINS.
_____ Credit Bureau of Pensacola Incorporated advised her files contained no information identifiable with PHILIP M. MULLINS.
On March 5, 1968, Mrs. _____ of the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Tallahassee, Florida; _____ Tallahassee, Florida Police Department; and _____ Credit Bureau of Tallahassee Incorporated, advised that they could locate no records in files of their agencies identifiable with subject.
Connections with SSOC: Florida State University
_____ on February 21, 1967, advised that the “Young Liberals” student organization at Florida State University had obtained permission for University authorities to have several speakers appear on campus during the period February 23 to 26, 1967. They are participating in what is called a peace project or peace caravan sponsored by the Southern Student Organizing Committee and related organizations. The announced purpose of the visit to Tallahassee is to present an anti-war program and speeches in an attempt to bring the peace movement to Tallahassee.
_____ advised that the announcements concerning the peace caravan in the “FLAMBEAU” indicated that it was sponsored by the “Young Liberals” and a Tallahassee chapter of the SSOC. Concerning the “Young Liberals,” _____ advised that this is a small loosely organized FSU student group who are officially approved on campus as an independent group with the purpose of promoting liberal values and attitudes. He advised that one of the leaders of this organization was PHILIP MULLINS.
The February 21, 1967, edition of the “FLAMBEAU” contained an article which described PHLIP MULLINS as spokesman for the project. He is quoted as stating that workshops to be conducted during the project would be intended primarily for persons who are opposed to war on a religious basis and requested all to attend who are opposed to war in general and to the Vietnam War in particular.
_____on February 28, 1967, advised that participants in the peace project at FSU held a meeting in the Business Building on Thursday evening, February 23. PHILIP MULLINS advised the small group attending the meeting that the project was being sponsored by the Young Liberals and that the four visiting speakers had just arrived from Atlanta. Topic for the evening was United States Foreign Policy and each of the four visiting speakers gave prepared speeches on the matter. The speakers included _____, who appeared to be _____. These four are members of the staff of the SSOC. The speeches were all critical of the United States foreign policy and dealt mainly with the Vietnam War. Each of the speakers mentioned in detail the number of North Vietnamese civilians killed by United States bombings and indicated many atrocities against these people have occurred. No mention was made of South Vietnamese victims of the war and the tone of all the speeches was slanted against United States participation in the conflict. The speakers asked that everyone actively oppose the Vietnam War but no one indicated that draftees should refuse to serve. _____ indicated she_____. There was little response to the speeches from the audience.
_____ advised it was indicated at the meeting that the group would have “peace vigils” during noon hours, February 24, 25 and 26, 1967 on Landis Green on FSU campus at which literature would be passed out and questions answered. Also Friday evening, February 24, there would be an in-group seminar for project workers on the campus and topics for discussion there would be draft organizing, black power and university reform. Also any students, ministers or other interested in draft counseling would have the opportunity to discuss legal and religious aspects.
_____ on February 28, 1967 advised that a few participants in the peace project were at Landis Green at FSU at noon February 24, 25 and 26, passing out literature. He advised relatively few students appeared interested. _____ stated that he learned of no incidents occurring at FSU during the project and felt FSU students showed little interest in the project.
_____ on March 16, 1967, advised that PHILIP M. MULLINS, according to a source who has furnished reliable information in the past, claimed to have given the following speech on February 19, 1967, on Landis Green, FSU, Tallahassee, in connection with a rally regarding the war in Vietnam.
“Many of us, for various reasons, have become increasingly disturbed and sickened by the War in Vietnam and, more specifically, by our inability to influence the course of the War in any significant and positive way. We have found by bitter experience that in this Country, democracy has degenerated into a mere caricature of the ideal. We find that the most informed and respected experts on Southeast Asia and US policy there are laughed at and disregarded because they cannot muster a majority of the population to their point of view. We find that those individuals who are most concerned about and most directly affected by the War in Vietnam are ridiculed, thrown in jail and murdered because they cannot muster a majority of the population to their point of view.
We find that the minority’s dissent over the War in Vietnam is twisted by the US Government to give support to its imperialist policies. We have found that the minority’s dissent is used, not as an indication that something is seriously wrong, but as a propaganda tool to convince the world that America is indeed a democratic country.
In short, we find that it is impossible to act through the normal channels of a democracy and influence the course of the War. Peace candidates are practically non-existent and lobbying and pressure group tactics are swamped by the tremendous Government propaganda machine. The small voice of the peace movement has become less and less significant as the US Government steps up its campaign to sell the War to the American people.
Yet we have a responsibility to dissent. We have also the responsibility to make our dissent heard. If we cannot make our dissent heard through the normal channels of a democratic state then we must devise new methods, new ways to present the minority view, to dissent and to make our dissent felt.
We must cast our votes for peace whenever we are given the chance. We must cast our vote for peace with our tax dollars. If we cannot condone the War, why should we feel obligated to pay for the War? Given the conditions that the peace movement faces today, how else can we make our voices heard? Let’s refuse to pay the 60% or more of our income taxes that go for war. Let’s refuse to pay the telephone excise tax that goes to pay for the War in Vietnam. Many people are already refusing to pay income taxes for war, to pay telephone taxes for war. If this is one of the few effective means we have, then let us use it. Let’s refuse to pay taxes for war.
But it takes more than money to run a war. It also takes bodies. It takes our bodies. Why should we here who cannot condone the War feel obligated to give our bodies to the military to use as they see fit? If we are opposed to the war, let’s refuse to serve in the military. Let’s choose to build rather than burn, to make love not war. Let’s choose to say no to the War by the most effective vote that we can cast against war. Let’s refuse to serve in Vietnam. Let us remember that as citizens in a democratic America, we have the responsibility to make this democracy work. We have the responsibility to make it work despite the fact that our Government does not seem to be overly concerned with democracy. We have a responsibility to force the Government to use democratic procedures to determine the course of the war in Vietnam. Even if this involves civil disobedience, even if this involves draft or tax refusal, let us not flinch from our duty as citizens in a democratic country to make this democracy work.”
Connections with SSOC: State Traveler for Tennessee
On February 28, 1968, ___ made available a copy of the Summary of Executive Committee Meeting of the SSOC held February 3, 1968 at Nashville, Tennessee. This information appeared in a pamphlet entitled “WORKLIST MAILING” published by the SSOC on February 4, 1968.
Included as part of this summary was a Directory of Staff and Key contacts for the SSOC. Appearing on this list was the name of PHIL MULLINS, Tennessee Traveler, with address Box 6403, Nashville, Tennessee, with telephone 291-3537. The above summary also contained summaries of “Major Decisions Reached by the Executive Committee” at the meeting. One of the decisions listed in this portion was the following: “That PHIL MULLINS come on SSOC staff as our Tennessee state traveler beginning early March. Until then he will fill in for Florida staffer NIK LEVIN who is in Cuba for the month of February:”
The “New South Student”, monthly publication of the SSOC in the December 1967 issue listed ALLAN LEVIN of Gainesville, Florida, as Vice-Chairman of the SSOC. It is noted that ALLAN LEVIN is also known as NIK LEVIN. The “Florida Alligator”, campus newspaper at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, in February 1968 issue contained an article identifying LEVIN as one of twenty members of the Students for a Democratic Society who made a trip to Cuba as guests of the Cuban government.
A characterization of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) is set forth in the appendix hereto.
The February 9, 1968 issue of the “St. Petersburg Times”, a daily newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, contained an article indicating campus police at University of Florida, Gainesville, on February 9, 1968, arrested eleven persons after a sit-in was held to protest the presence of Dow Chemical Company recruiters on campus. Charges of trespassing after being warned were filed against eleven persons, one of whom was PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS. The article stated that two students groups, Students for a Democratic Society and Southern Student Organizing Committee, planned the protest against the chemical company. Those arrested were booked at the Gainesville City Jail and the group, including MULLINS, paid $50 bond each and were released.
The February 23, 1968, issue of the “St. Petersburg Times” contained an article indicating that the eleven persons, including PHILIP MULLINS, who demonstrated against Dow Chemical Company recruiting at the University of Florida had been sentenced in city court in Gainesville. The article indicated they were sentenced to three days in jail and $35 fines.
Records of the Gainesville, Florida, Police Department made available to Special Agent _____ on February 15, 1968, indicated that the subject’s arrest on February 8 by the Police Department at the University of Florida was the only arrest for him revealed in the records of the Gainesville Police Department. MULLINS was questioned by the interviewing officer regarding the use of narcotics to which questions he refused to answer.
_____ on April 15, 1968, advised that he had observed subject on several occasions in February 1968 but had heard since that subject had gone to Canada. _____is familiar with some of the activities of the SSOC.
Connections to SSOC: Letter from Toronto
On April 19, 1968, _____ made available a publication by the SSOC in Nashville, Tennessee, entitled “WORKLIST MAILING”. This publication contains a letter from PHIL MULLINS to SSOC dated March 18, 1968, bearing the address of 127 John Street, Toronto, Canada. In the letter MULLINS states that he and others were beginning to work to improve the employment service there by (1) going around to some employment agencies and asking them to keep in contact with _____ the SSOC employment person; (2) devising a system so that SSOC gets some feedback from other draft-dodgers who go to a particular place looking for a job; (3) attempting to set up a system in which each American, after he gets a job, undertakes to get one other guy a job. In the letter MULLINS also stated, “A second thing we’re doing is to organize a mass meeting of all draft-dodgers in Toronto…”. MULLINS further states, “…if the employment scene is as bas as we see it now we’d like the kids in the States to know…so they wouldn’t come up here in such numbers…keep those boys home on the farm and let them make revolution…”
MULLINS indicates in the letter that he owes the hotel where he rents $180 for last month’s rent and (another draft dodger) owes the hotel where he rents $150 for last month’s rent. MULLINS stated the Toronto Anti-Draft Programme has bailed them out in the past.
MULLINS further stated that he is trying to get his professors at FSU to give him a degree so he can teach school. He stated that if this fails, he is going to set up a co-op selling coffee and if that fails he is going to “the mines”. He stated that jobs are not available in Toronto unless one has a Bachelor’s Degree.
MULLINS concluded his letter by stating that “Some guys are up and going back to the States. Fortunately some of the guys aren’t in trouble with the law yet so this option is open…for some of us it’s either sink or swim…and I guess eventually we’ll all swim.” In regards to MULLINS the publication, “WORKLIST MAILING”, stated that MULLINS founded the SSOC chapter at FSU. He came on the SSOC staff in February 1968 and worked in Florida while Nik Levin was in Cuba. The publication states, “His draft board does not share his humanistic goals, and in March he left for Canada. There he joined or was joined by a number of SSOC members…”
MISCELLANEOUS
The name PHIL MULLINS, Florida State College, Tallahassee, Florida was set forth on a June 8, 1967 list from the organization Vietnam Summer as a local contact person who is interested in Vietnam Summer in his area.
Concerning Vietnam Summer, on April 23, 1967 civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (deceased) held a press conference at Christ Church, Cambridge, Massachusetts to announce the formation of a nationwide campaign to develop a “powerful and well-informed peace bloc.” The campaign was to be called “Vietnam Summer” and sought to recruit 10,000 volunteers to organize resistance to the war in Vietnam in 500 communities throughout the country.
On June 27, 1967 _____ advised that he has received information that a Vietnam Summer Institute would be held at Gainesville, Florida for one day on July 8, 1967. The informant advised that the leaflet listed sponsors for the Vietnam Summer Institute, including PHIL MULLINS.
On March 5, 1968 _____ advised that on October 25, 1966 several students at FSU in Tallahassee filed an application with the University for a chapter of the SDS. PHILIP M MULLINS was listed on this application as the proposed Vice President for this chapter. The source advised the application was turned down and the chapter never became active.
_____on March 4, 1968 advised that PHIL MITCHEL MULLINS has been declared a delinquent by Selective Service Local Board 49, Pensacola, Florida for failure to report for induction. The source indicated that information has been received that MULLINS had given his address in February 1968 as the Southern Student Organizing Committee, University Station, Gainesville, Florida.
APPENDIX
Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC):
On November 1, 1966 a first source advised that the Southern Student Organizing Committee (SSOC) with headquarters at 1703 Portland Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee was formed on the weekend of April 3-5, 1964 to stimulate activity of Southern student groups in the areas of civil rights, peace, academic freedom, civil liberties, capital punishment and unemployment. Originally, it was to be a white counterpart of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). It has agreed to work with similar interested groups such as SNCC and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and Southern Conference Educational Fund, Inc. (SCEF). SSOC is a fraternal affiliate of SDS.
Beginning in the Fall of 1968, SSOC became a membership organization and embarked on a campaign to form local chapters on various college campuses throughout the South. SSOC publishes, October through May each year, a publication, “New South Student”, which according to the above source has increasingly espoused and defended the pro-Communist and anti-United States position on domestic and foreign policy.
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS):
The Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), as it is known today, came into being at a founding convention held at Port Huron, Michigan, in June 1962. The SDS is an association of young people on the left and has a current program of protesting the draft, promoting a campaign for youth to develop a conscientious objector status, denouncing United States intervention in the war in Vietnam and to “radically transform” the university community and provide for its complete control by students. Gus Hall, General Secretary, Communist Party, USA when interviewed by a representative of United Press International in San Francisco, California on May 14, 1965 described the SDS as part of the “responsible left” which the Party has “going for us.” At the June 1965 SDS National Convention an anti-communist proviso was removed from the SDS constitution. In the October 7, 1966 issue of “New Left Notes”, the official publication of SDS, an SDS spokesman stated that there are some communists in SDS and they are welcomed. The national headquarters of this organization as of April 18, 1967 was located in Room 296, 1608 West Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois.
Part Two: Activities in Canadian Exile
United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Title: PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS
Date: July 5, 1968
Title: Philip Mitchel Mullins
Character: Security Matters – Southern Student Organizing Committee
Synopsis:
Subject was issued passport #2793708 on April 17, 1968 at Toronto, Canada, for indefinite residence abroad. His mother, HAZEL MULLINS of Pensacola, Florida advises that subject is still in Toronto, Canada and went there as he does not believe in fighting. There is a Federal Warrant outstanding US Marshall, Pensacola, Florida, charging violation of Selective Service Act, Title 50 App., Section 462.
Details:
The files of the Passport Office, United States Department of State, reviewed by Special Agent _____ on May 16, 1968, disclosed that the above-captioned individual was issued Passport Number Z793708 on April 17, 1968 at Toronto, Canada, for indefinite residence abroad. His permanent residence was listed as 127 John Street, Toronto.
The file further reflects that he left the United States on March 2, 1968, by Greyhound bus from Detroit, Michigan. His reason for residing in Canada was “teaching in secondary school in Canada”.
The file reflects that he also registered as an American citizen on April 11, 1968, at Toronto, this registration being valid for a period of five years.
At Pensacola, Florida, on June 25, 1968, Mrs. Hazel Mullins, the subject’s mother, indicated that PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS is in Toronto, Canada, and she indicated that he intended to remain in Canada until the Vietnam War is over. She stated that he is against the war and attempted to be a conscientious objector when he registered for the draft. She stated, that after he was turned down for this, he joined some organization while he was in college known as the Southern Student Organizing Committee, stating that by doing this he could get more attention on the wrong of the United States being involved in the Vietnam War. She stated that MULLINS is not a communist but is just against the Vietnam War. She further stated that _____.
The records of the United State’s Marshal’s Office in Pensacola reflect that a warrant is outstanding charging subject with two counts of violation of Title 50 App., Section 462, which is failure to report for induction and failure to keep Selective Service Board advised of current address. Warrant issued June 12, 1968.
Memorandum to Legal Attache, US Embassy, Ottawa, Canada, dated August 30, 1968:
It is requested that the Legal Attache determine if the captioned individual is residing at 224 McCaul, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
United States Department of Justice
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Title: PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS
Date: November 4, 1968
Title: Philip Mitchel Mullins
Character: Security Matters – Southern Student Organizing Committee
Synopsis:
Subject presently residing at 409 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Canada. The subject was indicted Federal Grand Jury, Tallahassee, Florida, on September 4, 1968, charged with failure to report for induction, violation of Title 50 App., Section 462.
Details:
At Pensacola, Florida, on August 27, 1968 and October 31, 1968, the subject’s mother, Hazel Mullins, stated that PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS is still residing in Toronto, Canada, and she has no indication when he might return to the United States.
_____, another government investigative agency, advised on August 15, 1968, as follows: MULLINS is residing at 409 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, and is employed by J. & J. Brook Ltd., 63 Yorkville Avenue, Toronto, Ontario as a messenger.
On September 30, 1968, Assistant United States Attorney C. W. Eggart, Jr., advised that PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida, on September 4, 1968, for failure to report for induction as ordered and also for failure to have registration certificate in his possession in violation of Title 50, APP, Section 462.
On September 30, 1968, Assistant US Attorney C.W. Eggart, Jr. of Pensacola, Florida, advised that he was personally writing a letter to MULLINS at his Canadian address requesting MULLINS to advise his contemplated action to the outstanding indictment against him.
Communication from Legal Attache, US Embassy, Ottawa, Canada to FBI Foreign Liaison Unit, dated November 7, 1968
Legat Ottawa advised the _____ that the subject PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS has advised the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that he has no intention of returning to the United States to face the charges pending against him.
United States Government Memorandum to Director, FBI from SAC, Jacksonville, Florida.
Subject: PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS
Security Matters – Southern Student Organizing Committee
Reference report of Special Agent _____ dated November 4, 1968 at Mobile, Alabama and Bureau letter to Legat Ottawa dated November 7, 1968.
Subject PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS is subject to Jacksonville file 25-5007, Bureau file 25-576101, entitled “PHILIP MITCHELL MULLINS, aka, SSN 8-49-45-130, SSA, 1948”.
In this Selective Service Act case, subject was indicted by the Federal Grand Jury, Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee, Florida on September 4, 1968 for failure to report for induction as ordered.
Inasmuch as MULLINS has applied for permanent residence in Canada, last known residence to be 409 Brunswick Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, stops have been placed for subject as a fugitive in Selective Service Act violations, the security case on MULLINS is being considered closed by the Jacksonville Office. Return of subject to the United States will be followed and reported in the Selective Service Act case.
The investigation PHILIP MITCHEL MULLINS,Security Matters – Southern Student Organizing Committee, is over.
