FBI Seizes John Lennon's Fingerprints

The FBI has seized a set of John Lennon's fingerprints from a Manhattan memorabilia shop.

U.S. agents removed the item on Wednesday from the store, called Gotta Have It!

The New York Times says the signed fingerprint card was made at a police station on May 8, 1976. It bears the name John Winston Ono Lennon. At the time, Lennon was applying for citizenship.

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The question is, 'Why?' What use is this item to anyone, especially since it had nothing to do with law-enforcement activity and seems to have to do with Lennon's application for U.S. Citizenship at the time. Supposedly, by 1976 the FBI had dropped their interest in Lennon, which was more one of Hoover's initiatives.

It's strange, for sure. I'm more of a skeptic by nature, but there certainly has been some general weirdness surrounding much of Lennon's latter life.

reply to post by LifeInDeath


I just came to post this same story.

I don't get it, I understand that the card may well be government property but why the hell do they care about it now?
If it was stolen from Johns lawyer shouldn't it now be returned to him?

That store is next door to my apartment building. Perhaps I should stop in and ask the owner what the hell is going on.

Great store, incredible stuff.

I was just listening to some John Lennon songs on youtube then paused and clicked the open tab to ATS and my eyes immediately fell on this thread.

Strange that the FBI would take the prints....

How are they just allowed to take them for no reason? Or is it considered police property or something?

From the article

"Since last Thursday, he said, the F.B.I., the Department of Homeland Security and the United States attorney in Manhattan had asked about the card.

The department of homeland security????

Theres also a BBC news article about it here which says

An FBI official told the BBC the bureau believed the card was government property and was investigating how it landed in private hands.

reply to post by Crakeur


Please do, my curiosity is piqued as to what the owner was told.

reply to post by Ahabstar


I will. The only problem is when. I'm here at work 12-18 hours a day so, most likely, after the 15th but I will go. I stop in from time to time to check out the goodies.

It sounds to me like it wasn't the subject of the object that caused it to be seized (John Lennon is the non-sequitor in this news) but rather the fact that the object itself was evidence to another crime (most likely stolen property or a counterfeit).

So, it sounds like the FBI seized it from it's current owner because whomever they purchased or obtained it from happened to have either stolen it from another owner, or passed off counterfeit goods.

In either situation, it will remain as material evidence until a trial. That could be many years if there is not enough evidence immediately for a D.A. to ensure a conviction.

It is now in a vault deep below the ground! Like the Mona Lisa!

I am certain someone knows this is of extreme value to a collector, and no collector would allow such things to be lost knowing the time is short! I always suspected most things would be replaced with forgeries, this one because of it being finger prints had to be seized outright so it went public. I doubt another thing will be mentioned.

Might be a good time to hide the goodies before the Goodie-police come to take it all away! LOL

Poor John, he is greatly missed!

i think its more the card is federal property as such, unless it was auctioned off, still belongs to the govt, esp if its the original

reply to post by fraterormus


So are they going to be checking the fingerprint card for fingerprints?

The BBC article says

Mr Lennon's one-time immigration lawyer Leon Wildes told the New York Times some of Lennon's paperwork had been stolen from him in 1976, including a fingerprint form.

So why doesn't the lawyer now get it back? I can't believe the department of Homeland Security usually gets involved in a 30+ year old case of petty theft