Amazon Hired Pinkertons to Union Bust

<p>Founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant that went on to become the first detective in the history of Chicago, the Pinkerton Detective Agency became synonymous in American life with conspiracy theories and violent clandestine activities—and with good reason. Though Pinkerton himself was one of the Union’s first spymasters during the Civil War and <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-unsuccessful-plot-to-kill-abraham-lincoln-2013956/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">foiled an assassination plot on President Lincoln</a> in 1861, he did what every ex-intelligence community type does after wars nowadays: Uses his government skills and contacts to profit in the private sector.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>In its early years the agency, something of a precursor to the <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/a3jykg/erik-prince-says-hes-like-the-elon-musk-of-privatized-warfare" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">infamous Blackwater mercenary outfit </a>founded by Erik Prince that is linked to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/politics/blackwater-security-contractor-iraq-shooting.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">war crimes in Iraq</a>, was at one time <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/147619/pinkertons-still-never-sleep" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">bigger than the U.S. Army</a> and connected to outlandishly villainous plots that were in fact true. For example, Pinkerton agents were actually the private armies for the rich industrial titans of the Gilded Age, helping union bust and infiltrate workers groups. Even going so far as to <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/2014/04/11/100-years-ago-ludlow-miners-and-their-families-were-massacred/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">shoot striking workers </a>like a private-death-squad-for-hire in Colorado. Pinkerton agents were also alleged to have <a href="https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1993-05-30-9305300394-story.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">fireb