Suspicion of Infiltrator Confirmed
In a recent affidavit written by Inspector Tony Samec of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, frequent references to 2 Confidential Reliable Informants (CRI) and an Undercover Investigator are made — a man known as Andy/Panda has been identified as one of the Confidential Reliable Informants. Grounds for this claim — among others — are as follows:
* Andy called a member of the Welcoming Committee and begged this person to stay on the line for "a little longer", during the course of the cell phone call, this WC member was arrested.
* Andy requested via phone that a member of the Welcoming Committee meet him at a specific location, andy then "hugged" them and this WC member was immediately arrested. It is of note that Andy was NOT arrested at this point.
* Andy claimed to have been arrested on the Monday the 1st, and released 4 hours later.
* Observed freely passing through police lines and chatting with officers.
In addition to these suspicious activities, "Andy's" known history matches the actions taken by the person referred to as the second Confidential Reliable Informant in the Ramsey County Sheriff's affidavit.
A brief history:
Andy entered the anarchist community in Winona MN for the 2006 CrimethInc. Convergence, and introduced himself as an Urban Exploration fanatic. Suspicions of his intent and behavior circulated as rumors during the convergence. Andy was obviously a cultural outsider.
Andy attempted to organize a second CrimethInc. Convergence in Winona with people he had met. This convergence never happened.
Andy attended pReNC August 31–September 3, 2007.
on May 3rd, Andy attended the second pReNC in the Twin Cities.
In early July 2008, Andy attended the CrimethInc. Convergence in Milwaukee WI.
Andy was also at the Action Camp in preparation for the RNC.
Andy spent a lot of time bragging about Urban Exploration feats, taught people how to tie harnesses and repelling knots. Andy also invited people from across the country to the Twin Cities for "Mouser Week" in January 2007 to join him in Urban Exploration. He drove a 1987 Toyota. He used the email address "reg.entity@gmail.com"
Please circulate this information widely. If anyone has other pictures of "andy", please circulate those as well. Remember that there are at least two other informants that claim to have been members of the RNC Welcoming Committee — for the safety of everyone, it would be wise to observe tight — TIGHT! — security culture (i.e. do not discuss incriminating events of the RNC with anyone, including people you trust) from now until forever.
Clearly Andy's persona preyed on our communities eagerness to accept people without working knowledge of anti-authoritarian cultural customs. Andy was a suspicious person, who tested the tolerance of the larger community; if we can learn anything from this persona, it is that our tolerance of cultural outsiders cannot be synonymous with tolerance for a lack of respectful security culture.
Making a list and checking it twice.
Ho Ho Ho.
— Santa's Little Helpers.
Comments
I think it is important to
I think it is important to note that for every one of these fuckers, there are probably 50 solid people we can trust. We can't let paranoia and suspicion destroy our ability to trust each other and act together- that is our strength and they want to destroy it by planting doubts in our minds. Be careful, but don't give in completely. We're stronger because we have each other's backs.
Suspicion of Infiltrator Confirmed
This is one of those challenges. I like the point about for every one of the infiltrators there are 50 newbies who are legit. I happen to be one of those newbies. I've spent many years reading about it and studying events and practices but when I was on my way to St. Paul I was nervous as I obviously look like an outsider. I was worried that I would be flagged as one the the infiltrators or spies. When I arrived I just tried to respect others privacy and didn't try to inject myself too much. I enjoyed some workshops and had a great time. It's an interesting experience trying to make new friends in a tight-nit community and one that has a lot of justifiable suspicion. I also learned that showing up solo wasn't the best idea as it's good to have at least one partner along.
How to Incorporate Newbies
I hope there is thought given to that. This week has confirmed my desire to work for the new way that's being built...radicalized my disgust with the same-old. But I'm a newbie, don't fit the 'demographic' in a number of ways, & stick out like a sore thumb. What to do with people like me?
hey newbies- ORGANIZE! get
hey newbies-
ORGANIZE! get yourself together a group of folks from your town or city and go to the next protest with other people, so you already have a group capable and willing to take action and watch each others backs.
and when you organize folks to come from where you live, you can build on that momentum when you get back home. it is also nice to organize people because you have time beforehand to talk about what level of involvement/risk/arrestability each of you is comfortable with so you can know what you all will be getting yourselves into or avoiding on the streets.
get organized!
Duh!
No one likes undercovers or rats.
AND I think we have to admit that if people had done quality direct action training, team building and taken a few basic security measures, these rats would have been found out and abandoned. Maybe people wouldn't have known they were rats, but it would have been clear that they were "off" or "sketchy" or "made people nervous" and they would have ended up in affinity groups with the other sketchy people who were unreliable and unknown, and wouldn't have gotten much done or got much info.
It was pretty clear from a long time ago that this whole operation was sloppy, poorly thought out and would be infiltrated and attract a huge amount of police investigation and violence, hey, sure enough it happened!
Sad to see so many young, passionate people fall into this crappy organizing. Sorry the people who've already been around the block let you down. Sorry so many people got set up for failure. Hope people learn something from this.
....
Well, yes, I'd tend to agree. There was a certain amount of set-up for a big clusterfuck. Especially when radicals for some reason or another absolutely refuse to adapt to changes in police tactics. "We" should really take a page or two from the decentralized network approach. "We" need to learn from the RNC and prepare more creative actions for the future. Why weren't the skyways utilized? Why weren't there plainclothes "sleeper" groups in the hotels who could be called on when the lockdown happened? Why didn't people bring their own gas masks or tear gas/smoke grenades for that matter? Why wasn't there an effort to look for soft spots (hotels, bars, bus routes) away from the RNC proper?
That said, I think everyone should be congratulated for their passion and dedication. Protests were kept on the front page of major media for most of the convention. Despite the half-assed police infiltration, much was accomplished and the police were forced to make several embarrassing moves the results of which will linger for many years if people keep up the pressure. The fact that Code Pink got into the convention should be a point of great pride for protestors and resisters. That was a major victory.
Another point of pride should be the level of tech and communication that went on during the events. The FBI and others didn't seem to be savvy to this, even though its something they say they are on top of. Tincan, Twitter, Coldsnap were awesome 21st century tools which I wish we had in "my day"
In some ways I'd like to say this is the end of the RNC confrontation, but, for better or worse this is really only the beginning.
Sincerely,
Waking Up Again in Minneapolis
This snitch
was also in attendance at the first bashback! convergence. they expressed interest in anti-i-69 organizing and offered to give climb trainings. may have been using a different email address. will post it if i can find it.
My two cents..
In this age of hyper information, people can easily be background checked. If someone is at a meeting and you are sketched out tell them you need to know some info about them. Call a private investigation company, these guys are not police and a lot of them are "outlaws" by nature. Tell them you have some employees that you are wanting to verify some information on. You can get this stuff done cheaply. If a new person balks at giving you the info, explain whats up and let them know that security culture demands it. If you are letting these people in on plans for the future I would no doubt do some countersurveillance. I can give you a good one in Chicago that are down with the home team. They check outstanding warrants on friends and let me know if anyone has been in trouble if I have not seen or talked to them for awhile.
culture
Yes- in most cases where an informer was discovered, there were retrospective red flags that people could have noticed.
However, remember that our society has all sorts of different cultural streams. It is essential that basic progressive institutions need to be open to people who come from these backgrounds, or we'll end up with a few small groups of narrow age, ethnicity, and geographical background.
If you want to plan a specific action of some sort, keep it separate from the official movement organization. Especially if there is a public invitation to join an umbrella group like Unconventional Action or NoRNC, do not even risk getting drunk and getting into a hypothetical discussion about disruptive tactics.
from what I've seen over the years...
An infiltrator will do some or all of the following things:
1. Suggest acts in furtherance of a conspiracy - these acts could be misdemeanors, or even non-criminal acts which could be represented to a jury as having criminal intent, such as amateur fireworks production which with criminal intent becomes "backyard bomb making".
2. Repeatedly do #1 until the act occurs - "You guys don't do anything - you're all just talk and no action..."
3. Suggest that acts in furtherance of a conspiracy as in #1 be done in the presence of other witnesses, in a public place where they may be observed and recorded, or both.
4. Provide the instrumentality - the illegal substance, weapon, device or whatever - is required to carry out the acts in futherance of the conspiracy. In the 1960s the infiltrators always were the ones supplying the automatic weapons and the bombs, the sexy evidence which could send people away to prison for long sentences and destroy a group, if not a movement,
The most successful infiltrators will be those who look like the other people in the group, and may be people who have been arrested and be out on probation, or who have a prior record and unprosecuted crimes for which the SOL has not run out, or who have made an agreement with a prosecutor to infiltrate in exchange for no prosecution or a lesser sentence. It's pretty common for Federal prosecutors to "roll up" a group: find people who are weak and somewhat isolated, pop them on some charge, threaten them with big jail time, and then use them to go after higher profile targets. These people are already familiar with people in the group and some basis for trust has been established, they wear the clothes and speak the language and fit in socially. They don't make people nervous. In the case of the RNC 8, infiltrators formed close friendships with at least two of the parties named in the affidavit. This would not be possible if the infiltrators did not come from the same social milieu. The anarchist culture from which street protestors and black bloc people come from is extraordinarily cliquish, which is not surprising, given that the majority of participants are either in or a couple of years out of high school. It would be valuable to have a close look at the factual allegations presented in the affidavit filed in support of the warrant for arrest.
And Scared Panda, be weary . . .
In the past, pandas were thought to be rare and noble creatures . . . sleep soundly, know what will come.
Andy / Panda aka Warchyld
He was also infiltrating local explorers communities under the name "Warchyld."
shit, Andrew "Warchyld"
shit, Andrew "Warchyld" Darst RAN the most active local Urban Explorers forum website! (which is now suddenly closed down ...)
where was anna
where was anna? were their any fbi street medics in town for the show! it looks like you guys had an other miami ftta up their. wish i could have come.
Panda = Killswitch
panda,warchyld, whatever is also known as "killswitch" in hacking/security circles. i hear he worked on lots of peoples comps. if this rat got to your stuff you might want to check your shit.
Lockbox: An Anarchist Tale
While at the RNC last month, my co-producer and I outed an undercover cop at Mears Park. We're releasing that footage next week, but in the meantime check out our piece about the day 1 actions at the RNC:
http://current.com/items/89375810_lockbox_an_anarchist_tale#
support, updates, articles,
support, updates, articles, informant issues:
http://www.freethetexas2.com/
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