Police spies chosen to lead war protest

by **havanagilla** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 4:27 am

<blockquote>Quote:<hr>OAKLAND <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/28/SURVEILLANCE.TMP" target="top">Police spies chosen to lead war protest</a> Demian Bulwa, Chronicle Staff Writer Friday, July 28, 2006 Two Oakland police officers working undercover at an anti-war protest in May 2003 got themselves elected to leadership positions in an effort to influence the demonstration, documents released Thursday show. The department assigned the officers to join activists protesting the U.S. war in Iraq and the tactics that police had used at a demonstration a month earlier, a police official said last year in a sworn deposition. At the first demonstration, police fired nonlethal bullets and bean bags at demonstrators who blocked the Port of Oakland's entrance in a protest against two shipping companies they said were helping the war effort. Dozens of activists and longshoremen on their way to work suffered injuries ranging from welts to broken bones and have won nearly $2 million in legal settlements from the city. The extent of the officers' involvement in the subsequent march May 12, 2003, led by Direct Action to Stop the War and others, is unclear. But in a deposition related to a lawsuit filed by protesters, Deputy Police Chief Howard Jordan said activists had elected the undercover officers to "plan the route of the march and decide I guess where it would end up and some of the places that it would go." It was revealed later that the California Anti-Terrorism Information Center, which was established by the state attorney general's office to help local police agencies fight terrorism, had posted an alert about the April protest. Oakland police had also monitored online postings by the longshoremen's union regarding its opposition to the war. The documents showing that police subsequently tried to influence a demonstration were released Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union, as part of a report criticizing government surveillance of political activists since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The ACLU said the documents came from the lawsuit over the police use of force. Jordan, in his deposition in April 2005, said under questioning by plaintiffs' attorney Jim Chanin that undercover Officers Nobuko Biechler and Mark Turpin had been elected to be leaders in the May 12 demonstration an hour after meeting protesters that day. Asked who had ordered the officers to infiltrate the group, Jordan said, "I don't know if there is one particular person, but I think together we probably all decided it would be a good idea to have some undercover officers there." Several months after the rally, Jordan told a city police review board examining the April 2003 port clash that "our ability to gather intelligence on these groups and this type of operation needs to be improved," according to a transcript provided by the ACLU. "I don't mean same-day intelligence," Jordan told the civilian review panel. "I'm talking about long-term intelligence gathering." He noted that "two of our officers were elected leaders within an hour on May 12." The idea was "to gather the information and maybe even direct them to do something that we want them to do," Jordan said. "I call that being totalitarian," said Jack Heyman, a longshoremen's union member who took part in the May 12 march. He said he was not certain whether he had any contact with the officers that day. Jordan declined to comment when reached at his office Thursday. In his deposition, he said the Police Department no longer allows such undercover work. City Attorney John Russo said he was not familiar with the police infiltration of the protest, but said the city had made "significant changes" in its approach toward demonstrations after the port incident. Police enacted a new crowd-control policy limiting the use of nonlethal force in 2004. The ACLU said the Oakland case was one of several instances in which police agencies had spied on legitimate political activity since 2001. Mark Schlosberg, who directs the ACLU's police policy work and wrote the report released Thursday, cited previously reported instances of spying on groups in Santa Cruz and Fresno in addition to the Oakland case. He called on state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and local police to ensure that law-abiding activist groups don't come under government investigation. "It's very important that there be regulation up front to prevent these kinds of abuses from occurring," Schlosberg said at a news conference. Schlosberg said the state needs an independent inspector looking into complaints and keeping an eye on intelligence gathering at such agencies as the California National Guard and the state Department of Homeland Security. Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for Lockyer, said the attorney general had not yet read the ACLU report. But he said his boss "won't abide violations of civil liberties. There's no room in this state or anywhere in this country for monitoring the activity of groups merely because they have a political viewpoint." Following the Oakland port protest and disclosures about the monitoring of activists, Lockyer issued guidelines in 2003 stating that police must suspect that a crime has been committed before collecting intelligence on activist groups. But Schlosberg said the ACLU had surveyed 94 law enforcement agencies last year and found that just eight were aware of the guidelines. Only six had written policies restricting surveillance activities, he said. 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by **BannedfromDU** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 11:21 am

Thanks, this shit has been going on for years. (Infiltration of peace groups, environmentsal groups, etc.)

by **johnny nemo** » Fri Jul 28, 2006 5:40 pm

See also COINTELPRO.

by **Hugh Manatee Wins** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:19 pm

RI's very own Dreams End has a very funny and informative account of this infiltration tactic on his own blog. I hope he doesn't mind my posting it here because he has put some of it here in the past. <a href="http://dreamsend.blogspot.com/2003_10_05_dreamsend_archive.html#106538997697624237">dreamsend.blogspot.com/20...7697624237</a> Big Brother's M.O. <blockquote>Quote:<hr>Part One: Some Helpful Hints Oh, for those of you who may be new to activism, or veterans who have forgotten your history, a bit of warning. The government will infiltrate your groups, spy on your meetings and actively disrupt your plans. Provacateurs will try to get you to do illegal things and then get you arrested. They've been doing it for decades, though I suppose it is easier these days with the Patriot Act. Here is a brief case study from Fresno: link Some tips: 1. Assume you are being watched and infiltrated. If your activities are legal, this should present no real hardships...though that doesn't make it right, of course. 2. You may find troublesome people in your organization, always causing dissent. You may assume they are agents. You may even be right. Unless you have a paystub made out to the person from the FBI, however, it is best not to sling agent accusations. Deal with the behavior, not with your suspicions. 3. Educate your group about the abuses of the past. You can begin here: link Let them know that these things do happen, but that a principled response and calm thinking will minimize the damage. 4. And hey, if all the agent is doing is spying on open meetings and causing no harm...put them to work! Often, agents are the hardest working so they can gain acceptance. 5. However, despite #4, be very careful in choosing the folks who: handle money, handle mailing lists and handle the computer tasks. I've seen police agents do a real number by gaining access to these positions. (To the credit of those agents, they practically bragged of their relationship to the police. Politically unsophisticated group leaders were the real problem. Maybe I'll write more about these days in a later post. It's instructive AND amusing.) 6. With electronic gadgetry these days, there are very few ways to insure privacy of computer, phone and even in-person communications. If something is important to keep from law enforcement, about the only real way to do it is in person with loud background noise, such as a radio. I know this sounds paranoid, and they probably aren't spying on YOUR group...this is just something to keep in mind as you make plans if, for example, the element of surprise is important in a protest or something. 7. Have trained security/peace keeper people at demonstrations. These are just folks who've role-played a few scenarios to deal with provacateurs from within and without the organization. Try to develop a relationship with a progressive legal organization to get legal observers at these events. 8. You should also be aware that the government uses private organizations and front groups to spy and disrupt. You may not always be sure who they are, but there are groups that just ALWAYS seem to be causing trouble within coalitions. Often, they have a cult sensibility to them. Sometimes they will assume various incarnations to mimic legitimate organizations. For example, a "leftist" organization called the New Alliance Party used to infiltrate legitimate third parties in attempts to take them over (such as the Peace and Freedom Party in California). They even put the word "rainbow" into some of their front groups to be associated with Jesse Jackson. Finally, they settled on the Reform Party, and have done a real number on it. You may have seen footage from the convention they had here in Nashville in 2000. Meeting detiorated into a shouting match. Classic work. Do I know for sure the NAP is working for the government? No. It doesn't matter. They have the same effect. 9. And once again, learn your history. Things are getting worse in this regard, not better. <hr></blockquote> DE puts much more detail on how he learned the hard way that incompetent hostile jerks just might be saboteurs here- <a href="http://dreamsend.blogspot.com/2003_10_08_dreamsend_archive.html#10656642971700401">dreamsend.blogspot.com/20...2971700401</a> <a href="http://dreamsend.blogspot.com/2003_10_15_dreamsend_archive.html#106625583638704340">dreamsend.blogspot.com/20...3638704340</a> Some broader history- <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000818070348/mediafilter.org/CAQ/caq61/caq61spylocal.html">web.archive.org/web/20000...local.html</a> Here are actual disruption tactics archived by Laura Knight Jadczyk but don't bother to get into whether she herself is for or against "our side," or is anti-semitic or a cointelpro target or whatever. Not relevent. This was the only site that came up when I searched this info up to post this. The logic of disruption, diversion, and demoralization in 'How to Spot a Spy'- <a href="http://laura-knight-jadczyk.blogspot.com/2006/01/how-to-spot-cointelpro-agents.html">laura-knight-jadczyk.blog...gents.html</a> <blockquote>Quote:<hr> "How to Spot a Spy," which was put together back during the days of the "Global Movement for Justice and Eco-Peace," when COINTELPRO was running rampant and some of those groups learned the hard way. It was sent to me by a member of QFG (thanks DS) I've been thinking about updating it and making it available to 9/11 researchers. Here is what it says, mainly, synopsized and skipping some repetitive stuff: How To Spot a Spy One way to neutralize a potential activist is to get them to be in a group that does all the wrong things. Why? 1) The message doesn't get out. 2) A lot of time is wasted 3) The activist is frustrated and discouraged 4) Nothing good is accomplished. FBI and Police Informers and Infiltrators will infest any group and they have phoney activist organizations established. Their purpose is to prevent any real movement for justice or eco-peace from developing in this country. Agents come in small, medium or large. They can be of any ethnic background. They can be male or female. The actual size of the group or movement being infiltrated is irrelevant. It is the potential the movement has for becoming large which brings on the spies and saboteurs. This booklet lists tactics agents use to slow things down, foul things up, destroy the movement and keep tabs on activists. It is the agent's job to keep the activist from quitting such a group, thus keeping him/her under control. In some situations, to get control, the agent will tell the activist: "You're dividing the movement." [Here, I have added the psychological reasons as to WHY this maneuver works to control people] This invites guilty feelings. Many people can be controlled by guilt. The agents begin relationships with activists behind a well-developed mask of "dedication to the cause." Because of their often declared dedication, (and actions designed to prove this), when they criticize the activist, he or she - being truly dedicated to the movement - becomes convinced that somehow, any issues are THEIR fault. This is because a truly dedicated person tends to believe that everyone has a conscience and that nobody would dissimulate and lie like that "on purpose." It's amazing how far agents can go in manipulating an activist because the activist will constantly make excuses for the agent who regularly declares their dedication to the cause. Even if they do, occasionally, suspect the agent, they will pull the wool over their own eyes by rationalizing: "they did that unconsciously... they didn't really mean it... I can help them by being forgiving and accepting " and so on and so forth. The agent will tell the activist: "You're a leader!" This is designed to enhance the activist's self-esteem. His or her narcissistic admiration of his/her own activist/altruistic intentions increase as he or she identifies with and consciously admires the altruistic declarations of the agent which are deliberately set up to mirror those of the activist. This is "malignant pseudoidentification." It is the process by which the agent consciously imitates or simulates a certain behavior to foster the activist's identification with him/her, thus increasing the activist's vulnerability to exploitation. The agent will simulate the more subtle self-concepts of the activist. Activists and those who have altruistic self-concepts are most vulnerable to malignant pseudoidentification especially during work with the agent when the interaction includes matter relating to their competency, autonomy, or knowledge. The goal of the agent is to increase the activist's general empathy for the agent through pseudo-identification with the activist's self-concepts. The most common example of this is the agent who will compliment the activist for his competency or knowledge or value to the movement. On a more subtle level, the agent will simulate affects and mannerisms of the activist which promotes identification via mirroring and feelings of "twinship". It is not unheard of for activists, enamored by the perceived helpfulness and competence of a good agent, to find themselves considering ethical violations and perhaps, even illegal behavior, in the service of their agent/handler. The activist's "felt quality of perfection" [self-concept] is enhanced, and a strong empathic bond is developed with the agent through his/her imitation and simulation of the victim's own narcissistic investments. [self-concepts] That is, if the activist knows, deep inside, their own dedication to the cause, they will project that onto the agent who is "mirroring" them. The activist will be deluded into thinking that the agent shares this feeling of identification and bonding. In an activist/social movement setting, the adversarial roles that activists naturally play vis a vis the establishment/government, fosters ongoing processes of intrapsychic splitting so that "twinship alliances" between activist and agent may render whole sectors or reality testing unavailable to the activist. They literally "lose touch with reality." Activists who deny their own narcissistic investments [do not have a good idea of their own self-concepts and that they ARE concepts] and consciously perceive themselves (accurately, as it were) to be "helpers" endowed with a special amount of altruism are exceedingly vulnerable to the affective (emotional) simulation of the accomplished agent. Empathy is fostered in the activist through the expression of quite visible affects. The presentation of tearfulness, sadness, longing, fear, remorse, and guilt, may induce in the helper-oriented activist a strong sense of compassion, while unconsciously enhancing the activist's narcissistic investment in self as the embodiment of goodness. The agent's expresssion of such simulated affects may be quite compelling to the observer and difficult to distinguish from deep emotion. It can usually be identified by two events, however: First, the activist who has analyzed his/her own narcissistic roots and is aware of his/her own potential for being "emotionally hooked," will be able to remain cool and unaffected by such emotional outpourings by the agent. As a result of this unaffected, cool, attitude, the Second event will occur: The agent will recompensate much too quickly following such an affective expression leaving the activist with the impression that "the play has ended, the curtain has fallen," and the imposture, for the moment, has finished. The agent will then move quickly to another activist/victim. The fact is, the movement doesn't need leaders, it needs MOVERS. "Follow the leader" is a waste of time. A good agent will want to meet as often as possible. He or she will talk a lot and say little. One can expect an onslaught of long, unresolved discussions. Some agents take on a pushy, arrogant, or defensive manner: 1) To disrupt the agenda 2) To side-track the discussion 3) To interrupt repeatedly 4) To feign ignorance 5) To make an unfounded accusation against a person. Calling someone a racist, for example. This tactic is used to discredit a person in the eyes of all other group members. Saboteurs Some saboteurs pretend to be activists. She or he will .... 1) Write encyclopedic flyers (in the present day, websites) 2) Print flyers in English only. 3) Have demonstrations in places where no one cares. 4) Solicit funding from rich people instead of grass roots support 5) Display banners with too many words that are confusing. 6) Confuse issues. 7) Make the wrong demands. 8) Compromise the goal. 9) Have endless discussions that waste everyone's time. The agent may accompany the endless discussions with drinking, pot smoking or other amusement to slow down the activist's work. Provocateurs 1) Want to establish "leaders" to set them up for a fall in order to stop the movement. 2) Suggest doing foolish, illegal things to get the activists in trouble. 3) Encourage militancy. 4) Want to taunt the authorities. 5) Attempt to make the activist compromise their values. 6) Attempt to instigate violence. Activisim ought to always be non-violent. 7) Attempt to provoke revolt among people who are ill-prepared to deal with the reaction of the authorities to such violence. Informants 1) Want everyone to sign up and sing in and sign everything. 2) Ask a lot of questions (gathering data). 3) Want to know what events the activist is planning to attend. 4) Attempt to make the activist defend him or herself to identify his or her beliefs, goals, and level of committment. Recruiting Legitimate activists do not subject people to hours of persuasive dialog. Their actions, beliefs, and goals speak for themselves. Groups that DO recruit are missionaries, military, and fake political parties or movements set up by agents. Surveillance ALWAYS assume that you are under surveillance. At this point, if you are NOT under surveillance, you are not a very good activist! Scare Tactics They use them. Such tactics include slander, defamation, threats, getting close to disaffected or minimally committed fellow activists to persuade them (via psychological tactics described above) to turn against the movement and give false testimony against their former compatriots. They will plant illegal substances on the activist and set up an arrest; they will plant false information and set up "exposure," they will send incriminating letters [emails] in the name of the activist; and more; they will do whatever society will allow. This booklet in no way covers all the ways agents use to sabotage the lives of sincere an dedicated activists. If an agent is "exposed," he or she will be transferred or replaced. COINTELPRO is still in operation today under a different code name. It is no longer placed on paper where it can be discovered through the freedom of information act. The FBI counterintelligence program's stated purpose: To expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, and otherwise neutralize individuals who the FBI categorize as opposed to the National Interests. "National Security" means the FBI's security from the people ever finding out the vicious things it does in violation of people's civil liberties. A slight breach in orthodoxy is sufficient to terrify authoritarian ideologues who see in it the collapse of the system of thought control that has been so effctive in depoliticizing American Society. Noam Chomsky. And that's about it for the booklet: How To Spot a Spy!<hr></blockquote>

Police spies chosen to lead war protest

Police spies chosen to lead war protest

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