In 1999, the media revealed that Savio had been tailed by the FBI from the moment that he had climbed onto the police car in which Jack Weinberg was detained. He was followed for more than a decade "because he had emerged as the nation's most prominent student leader". There was no evidence that he was a threat or that he had any connection with the Communist Party, but the FBI decided he merited their attention because they thought he could inspire students to rebel.