Police concerns that media-hungry terrorists would target Michael Jackson's trial as a "soft target" led to a request for federal help, according to FBI files kept on the late pop star.
Police concerns that media-hungry terrorists would target Michael Jackson's trial as a "soft target" led to a request for federal help, according to FBI files kept on the late pop star.
The documents also show that the FBI helped facilitate interviews in the Philippines by California authorities investigating Jackson over allegations that he had sexually abused boys.
The FBI monitored Jackson for more than a decade, but the files contain no major revelations about his private life and the bureau apparently never developed any solid evidence against him.
In 2004, the Santa Maria Police Department in California asked for FBI "involvement" after Jackson was arrested for child molestation.
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According to the FBI, police said they believed the court case would be a "soft target" for terrorism because of the "worldwide media coverage" the trial would attract.
The documents, dating from 1992 to 2005, were made public yesterday through a Freedom of Information Act request from the media after Jackson's death June 25, at age 50.
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