visitor enters the meeting hall, where men sit on one side and women on the other. The speaker is surrounded by stern-faced, neat, young bodyguards standing at ramrod attention and facing the audience from fixed positions around the rostrum. Other FOI guards stare into the audience from side and rear positions or move soundlessly around the hall. At short intervals the guard changes. With appropriate salutes and a brief verbal exchange, those on duty are relieved.
Constant vigil is kept because Elijah and his leaders always suspect the presence of "stool pigeons" and "hypocrites." After years of cautioning the faithful to guard against "stool pigeons," Elijah now fears "hypocrites" even more than "stool pigeons." Since the cherished Malcolm X broke from Elijah, Elijah has constantly denounced him and others like him who once followed closely but later deserted.
Should a "stool pigeon" or a "hypocrite" gain entrance to a meeting or rally and be discovered, FOI guards immediately converge on him and forcibly eject him. During the 1965 Savior's Day convention, guards spotted a visitor who had formerly attended meetings and later spoken out against the NOI. Twenty or more FOI guards charged toward him and dragged him to the back of the hall. They beat him and kicked him unmercifully before he crawled out through the doorway, where police rescued him.
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