KGB DEFECTOR BLAMES '60S ACTIVISTS FOR SOVIET SUCCESS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000605880003-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: March 24, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605880003-3
REDDING RECORD-SEARCHLIGHT (CA
24 March 1986
KGB defector blames
'60s activists for Soviet success
as a hashish-smoking hippie, a mem-
ber of the same generation he now
claims is undermining American re-
solve to confront communist aggres-
sion.
Schuman, aka Moscow-born Yuri
Bezmenov, claims '60s peace activ-
ists have come of age and have
"infested" U.S. institutions with lib-
eralism - and worse, naive notions
of global brotherhood.
"Instead of thinking they are stink-
ing," he told a sparse crowd of high
school students Saturday in Redding.
"You are stuck with them. That
crazy '60s generation is now in pow-
er. They control the media, but not
you."
Balding and dressed in a conven-
tional white shirt and tie, Schuman
delivered a strident, fist-pounding 70-
minute oratory.
He took advantage of the platform
provided him at the Holiday Inn by
the north state chapter of Citizens for
America, a pro-Reagan group, to
expound his theory of a subverted
U.S. press.
Schuman blasted "traitors" like
Jane Fonda, Walter Cronkite and Ted
Koppel, and repeatedly plugged his
44-page tract, "Love Letter to Ameri-
ca."
At one point, he told the students,
"I can give you the answer for $5,
which incidentally is the price of my
book."
A few were sold, including an
autographed copy purchased by Shas-
ta County Sheriff Phil Eoff, who sat
in the audience with his family.
Schuman, a former KGB officer
assigned to propaganda duties in
India the calls it "disinformation"),
spent much of his time purporting to
demonstrate how the Soviets are
secretly infiltrating American minds.
He drew on a chalkboard a 20-year
timetable for the conversion of the
United States from a free society to
one embracing communist ideals.
A self-described super-patriot,
Schuman, 46, makes a living giving
speeches to far-right groups and
works part time as a political analyst
in Los Angeles, where he also runs a
talent agency for Russian immi-
By B'1L 'MILLEp grants.
Tomas Schuman defected from the Schuman advised his listeners not
Soviet Union 16 years ago disguised to trust the news media, particularly
Times, Time magazine and major
television networks, because "they
are as guilty as the KGB agents in
screwing up your minds."
Schuman claims liberals in the
entertainment industry are fooling us
into believing that the world, includ-
ing the Soviet Union, can be united in
peace.
"You listen to a bunch of schmucks
in L.A. singing, 'We are the world,
we are the people,' " he said, singing
the lyrics.
It's time to wake up and realize the
Soviets are slowly subverting Ameri-
cans, taking advantage of extraneous
domestic issues that only serve to
divert attention from the red menace,
he said.
"KGB doesn't infiltrate bodies into
your State Department. They infil-
trate ideas into your mind."
Schuman b-lieves Russian citizens
hate their government and are look-
ing to the West for assistance in
sparking the inevitable revolution.
"There is no such thing as govern-
ment in my country. There is no
government. There are self-imposed
dictators and they are on your pay-
roll and the payroll of your family."
How is that? Because, Schuman
said, the United States continues to
trade with the Soviets and thereby is
"aiding Soviet murderers."
In an interview, he was asked
whether he is advocating a return to
the red-baiting era of the 'S0s when
U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy rocked
the nation with his communist-be-
hind-every-bush inquisitions.
Without hesitation, Schuman re-
plied, "McCarthy was a great man."
For every life destroyed by McCar-
thy's infamous blacklist, Schuman
.maintained, thousands of lives are
threatened by Soviet subversion.
Asked how he views U.S.-backed
subversive operations conducted by
the CIA Schuman said he can con-
done C i activities as a first line of
defense for democracy and freedom.
Therefore, he said, the CIA is
promoting "true ideas," the KGB
"false ones."
Schuman softened his harsh attack
on the news media later, stating he
doesn't see a "conspiracy" at work.
"I only tell them (the audience) to be
more skeptical of what they're get-
ting."
He concluded his remarks to the
students by urging them to "read
your Constitution every day for
breakfast."
He added, "I love your system and
I don't want to defect from here."
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/08/24: CIA-RDP90-00552R000605880003-3