Infiltrators seek information on most radical groups. The return of mass
mobilizations and radical actions in anti-globalization, anti-poverty,
anti-racism and anti-police brutality demonstrations, as well as
declarations to continue struggling in the streets and underground has
drawn attention from the state's secret police. More infiltrators will
be sent into our ranks to try to bribe, entice or manipulate
individuals. The extent to which they are able to infiltrate our groups
depends on our seriousness and responsibility in learning about,
promoting, and working within a security culture.
Radical movements can learn to better identify covert enemies in our
projects. Once identified, appropriate action is needed to undo,
contain, or remove the danger.
This section is intended to arm you with information on how to spot
and
deal with informers, infiltrators, and provocateurs in our ranks.
WHO IS AN INFORMER?
There are actually two kinds of informers. The deliberate informer is
an
undercover agent on the payroll of government or industry. The second
type is the activist-turned-informer. Both kinds try to infiltrate our
ranks and are equally dangerous to our movements.
Let's discuss the deliberate informers first. They are often
difficult
to identify. Informers can be of any age and any profile, but they do
have a few discernible methods or operation, or 'modus
operandi'. These are:
The "hang around" type: they are persons who regularly show at
meetings
and actions but generally don't get involved. They collect documents,
listen to conversations and note who's who. This observation role is
relatively inactive.
The "sleeper" type: is similar to the "hang around" modus operandi,
except that their absorption of information is used to activate their
role at a later date.
The "novice" type: presents a somewhat more active role, but confines
themselves to less prominent work. They don't take initiative, but the
work they do is valued. This helps them build trust and credibility.
The "super activist" type: they come out of nowhere and all of a
sudden,
they are everywhere. Whether it's a meeting, protest, or an action, this
person will be right in the thick of it. Keep in mind however that this
can also be the mark of a new activist, whose enthusiasm and commitment
is so strong that she/he wants to fight the power every minute of the
day.
It should be said that with several of these modus operandi, the
behaviour is hard to distinguish from a sincere new person's
involvement. How do we tell them apart? Well, a planted infiltrator will
ask a lot of questions about the direct action groups, individuals and
illegal activities. She/he may suggest targets and volunteer to do
reconnaissance as well as take part in the action. Infiltrators also try
to build profiles on individuals, their beliefs, habits, friends, and
weaknesses. At the same time, infiltrators will shield their true selves
from other activists.
Anyone who asks a lot of questions about direct actions isn't
necessarily an infiltrator, but they ARE someone you should be careful
with. At the very least, they need to be informed about security issues.
New activists should understand that direct action tactics can be risky
(though some risks are worth taking!) and that asking a lot of questions
endangers people. If the person persists in asking questions, there is a
problem and appropriate measures must be taken. Activists who can't
understand the need for security should be kept away situations in which
they might incriminate others.
Some types of infiltrators stay in the background and offer material
support, other informants may have nothing to do with the group or
action, but initially heard certain plans and tipped off the police.
Among the more active types of infiltrators can be a gregarious person
that quickly wins group trust. Some infiltrators will attempt to gain
key forms of control, such as of communications/ secretarial, or
finances. Other informants can use charm and sex to get intimate with
activists, to better spy or potentially destabilize group dynamics.
Active infiltrators can also be provocateurs specializing in
disruptive
tactics such as sowing disorder and demoralizing meetings or demos,
heightening conflicts whether they are interpersonal or about action or
theory, or pushing things further with bravado and violent proposals.
Infiltrators often need to build credibility; they may do this by
claiming to have participated in past actions.
Also, infiltrators will try to exploit activist sensibilities
regarding
oppression and diversity. Intelligence organizations will send in
someone who will pose as a person experiencing the common oppression of
the particular activist group. For example, in the 1960's, the Weather
Underground ("Weathermen" - a white anti-imperialist armed struggle in
the US) was infiltrated by an "ordinary Joe" informant with a working
class image. Black war veterans were used to infiltrate the Black
Panther Party.
A fresh example of police infiltration and manipulation tactics is
that
of Germinal, a group targeted for arrest two days prior to the April
2001 anti-FTAA demonstrations in Quebec City. Five months prior, the
police set up a false transport company and specifically postered
opportunities for employment in the vicinity of a Germinal member
seeking employment. The trap worked. Tipped off by an initial informant,
two undercover cops worked for four months in the group. This operation
resulted in the media-hyped "dismantlement" of the group on the eve of
the summit. Seven Germinal members were arrested, 5 of whom spent 41
days in preventive custody, only to be released under draconian bail
conditions.
The police's covert action was in part about dismantling the group,
but
it was also about creating a media/propaganda campaign to justify the
police-state security for the summit.
What are some ways of looking into the possibility that someone is an
informer? Firstly, unless you have concrete reasons or evidence that
someone is an infiltrator, spreading rumours will damage the movement.
Rumours that you do hear of should be questioned and traced back. A
person's background can be looked into, especially activism they claimed
to have participated in, in other places. Do your contacts in those
places know of the person, their involvement? Did problems ever come up?
One important advantage of having links with far away places is that it
makes it more difficult for informers to fabricate claims about their
activities.
What are a person's means of living? Who are her or his friends? What
sorts of contradictions exist between their professed ideals and how
they live? One of our strengths as activists is our ideas and values,
our counterculture, our attitudes towards the dominant society. Our
sincerity in discussing these things is also a way of learning about
each other.
When planning for new actions, care must be taken concerning who is
approached. As little as possible should be said about the actual action
plan until a person's political philosophy, ideas about strategy,
and levels of risk they are willing to engage in have been discussed on
an abstract basis. If there is a strong basis for believing this person
might be interested in the action, then the general idea of an action
can be run by them. Only when they have agreed to participate, do they
come to the group to discuss action details.
During the trials of activists, police often reveal the kinds of
information that they have gathered concerning our groups and
activities. Note what revelations come out of these trials. What are the
possible and likely sources of the information? Speak to persons that
have been arrested and interrogated to see what they may have said to
the police, or discussed in their jail cell.
Placing infiltrators in social justice and revolutionary movements is
an
established practice. It was done to the Black Panthers, AIM, the Front
du Liberation du Quebec (FLQ), and the peace/
anti-war/and
anti-nuclear movements on a large scale. Small groups, such as affinity
groups, or working groups of larger more open organizations, need to be
especially careful with new members. Direct action organizing is ideally
done with longstanding, trusted members of the activist community.
This doesn't mean that no one else should ever be allowed into these
groups. On the contrary, if our movement is to continue to grow, new
people should be welcome and recruited; we just need to keep security in
mind and exercise caution at all times.
But possibly an even greater threat to our movements is the
activist-turned-informer, either unwittingly or through coercion.
The unwitting informer is the activist who can't keep his/her mouth
shut. If someone brags to you about what they've done, make sure
this person never has any knowledge that can incriminate you, because
sooner or later, the wrong person will hear of it. These activists don't
mean to do harm, but their bragging can be very damaging. It is your
responsibility to instruct these people on the importance of security
culture.
The other type of activist-informer is the person who cracks under
pressure and starts talking to save his or her own skin. Many activists
get drawn into situations they are not able to handle, and some are so
caught up in the "excitement" that they either don't realize what the
consequences can be, or they just don't think they'll ever have to face
them.
Keep in mind that the categories of "planted informer" and
"activist-turned-informer" can, and have been blurred. In 1970, during
the height of the FLQ's activities, Carole de Vault - a young Parti
Quebecois (PQ) activist was drawn to the FLQ, but then became a paid
police agent. Her "activism" was with the PQ; she disagreed with the
heavier FLQ actions since it threatened the "legitimate" work of the PQ.
Her involvement with the FLQ was as a planted police informer.
KNOW YOUR OWN LIMITS
We have to know the possible consequences of every action we take and
be
prepared to deal with them. There is no shame in not being able to do an
action because of responsibilities or circumstances that make it
impossible for you to do jail time at this point in your life. As long
as capitalism and all of its evils exist, there will be resistance. In
other words, there will be plenty of great actions for you to
participate in when your life circumstances are more favourable.
If others are dependent on you for support, you aren't willing to
lose
your job, or drop out of school or ruin your future career, DON'T DO THE
ACTION. If you are addicted to an illicit drug and/or have a lengthy
criminal record, the cops will use this to pressure you for information.
If you don't feel capable of detoxing under interrogation and
brutality, or doing a hell of a lot more time than your comrades,
DON'T DO THE ACTION.
Make certain that you talk with others in your affinity group about
situations that make you uncertain whether you should be involved in
particular actions, especially those that are at a high risk of being
criminalized.
Remember - there is no excuse for turning in comrades to the police -
and those activists that do effectively excommunicate themselves from
our movements. We must offer no legal or jail support to those activists
who turn in others for their impact on our movement is far-reaching and
can have devastating effects.
COVERT ACTION OTHER THAN INFILTRATION
Covert (or "Special") Action from police and secret service is also
done
outside of the group, with or without infiltration. These efforts
include: intimidation and harassment, blackmail and manipulation,
propaganda, informing employers and security checks, as well as physical
sabotage like theft and arson.
Intimidation and harassment can include visits from secret service
agents, calling you or your partner by their first name on the street,
thefts where obvious clues are left. Police will try to blackmail people
if they want to recruit or neutralize them.
Police use propaganda in an attempt to poison the atmosphere and
manipulate media and public opinion. In December 1971, when the FLQ was
near its end and heavily infiltrated, the RCMP issued a false FLQ
communique in the name of the "Minerve" cell. The communique adopted a
hard-line position, denouncing the abandonment of terrorist action by a
well-known activist, Pierre Vallieres, and urging the continuation of
armed struggle.
A recent example of police manipulation through the media involved
the
arrest of a young Montreal man in April 2000. He was accused of
threatening to blow up a police station. The article was well placed in
the newspaper, and opened by identifying the accused as an activist with
COBP, the Collective Opposed to Police Brutality. This information,
which was completely false, originated from the police. Meanwhile, the
accused man was being held in jail and could not be reached. COBP, with
the help of a lawyer, pressured the newspaper to write a retraction. But
the police insisted that the accused claimed he was with COBP and so the
media, instead, focussed on this 'controversy'. The accused,
when finally reached, denied having claimed such a thing. And according
to his lawyer, the prosecutor didn't raise the issue.
In Genoa, Italy, police played an active covert role in trying to
discredit black bloc anarchists during the July 2001 meeting of the G8.
Several reports reveal that Italian police masked as black bloc members
attacked demonstrators and small shops. With a lack of public
information, the police help manipulate public discourse along the lines
of "how do legitimate demonstrators isolate activist thugs?"
Slanderous propaganda can take the form of anonymous letters, or
rumours
aimed at the activist milieu. There are also examples where police will
make uncorroborated, casual accusations to journalists that, to use two
examples, a person is a drug dealer, or that at a demonstration, a
person aimed a handgun at an officer. It is often for slanderous reasons
that police charge activists with "weapons possession" for having a
penknife, or charges of violence like "assault."
The growth of the anti-globalization movement has been accompanied by
renewed anarchist-scare propaganda on the part of authorities.
Politicians and police attempt to massage public opinion, preparing
people for a crack down, in order to legitimate the use of heavier
methods of social control, exclusion and repression.
Manipulative disinformation spread through the media needs to be
denounced as lies. There are activist-friendly lawyers who can help us
demand retractions and corrections. Speak to the journalists involved,
call them on their sloppy, dishonest work, expose their hypocrisy, and
complain to the journalists' ethics body. We can not rely on capitalist,
private-media for any kind of fairness.
It is valuable for us to learn more about the covert actions of the
police. There exists a long and documented history. Factual information
about police covert activities also comes out as evidence presented in
court. An important, too often neglected part of our strength is our
knowledge of, and our protection from, police action against us.
Also read Police Undercover Operations
for more information on spotting and derailing informants and
provocateurs.
Bugs, Taps and Infiltrators: What to
do about Political Spying
Snitch:
How informants have become a key part of prosectuorial strategy in the
drug war -
snitching and
drug
laws in the US - not an activist aimed site but certainly an interesting
look at how snitches are used by law enforcement to incarcerate people.
