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. Police, according to the FBI, said they believed the court case would be a “soft target” for terrorism because of the “worldwide media coverage” the trial would attract. Back in September 1993, an investigator from the Los Angeles Police Department and another from the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Office arrived in Manila to speak to two former employees of Jackson's Neverland ranch who claimed they saw the singer fondle young boys. The files say an FBI agent accompanied the California officials to the first interview to make sure there were no problems. The documents, dating from 1992 to 2005, were made public Tuesday through a Freedom of Information Act request from The Associated Press and other media after Jackson's death June 25, at age 50. The FBI initially said it had about 600 pages in its files but released 333 pages, citing privacy rules and the desire to protect investigative techniques. In March 2004, the Santa Barbara County district attorney's office reached out to the FBI, seeking help in developing a strategy to prosecute Jackson for molesting a 13-year-old cancer survivor in the singer's home. The FBI reviewed case notes from local authorities and examined 16 computers taken from Jackson's home. Nothing notable was described as being found on the hard drives, though parts of the files are redacted. The files include death threats against Jackson, then-President George H.W. Bush and mob boss John Gotti that led to the 1993 sentencing of Frank Paul Jones, who allegedly was obsessed with Janet Jackson, Michael's sister. A letter obtained by the FBI, dated July 6, 1992, states: “I decided that because nobody is taking me serious, and I can't handle my state of mind, that I am going to Washington DC to threaten to kill the President of the United States, George Bush.” The letter also says, “Michael (Jackson) I will personally attempt to kill, if he doesn't pay me my money.” The FBI includes an interview with an unidentified “victim,” whose name is redacted but presumably Michael Jackson, who states that he was aware of the threats and took them seriously.
