AP have released raw footage from Saturday which appears to show a black bloc member inside a bank shouting "I'm a cop undercover" at onrushing police, who don't arrest him.
It's at around the 1 minute mark. See what you think.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_1pIBLp9lY&feature=player_embedded
Comments
Does anyone know what black
Does anyone know what black blocker said that? Or could it have been one of the 'journalists'? The guy with the light blue top encourages the black blockers to run inside the bank, but he could be entirely innocent.
He was joking surely?
He was joking surely?
Yorkie Bar wrote: He was
Yorkie Bar
Who knows, what type of accent was that anyway? Why would you joke about that.... Odd.
would an undercover cop blow
would an undercover cop blow their cover this quickly?
no1 wrote: would an
no1
Don't know maybe if it was a cop, he thought he was in for a hiding.
To be honest i'm not even
To be honest i'm not even convinced we can say for sure that he did say "i'm a cop", black bloc could be shouting all kinds of things mentioning cops in a situation like that.
Ellar wrote: To be honest i'm
Ellar
It does sound like 'i'm a cop undercover' though. I've listened to it like ten times. I don't understand why you are not convinced.
gypsy wrote: Yorkie Bar
gypsy
Dunno, I've heard a few people jokingly suggest shouting that at the cops en masse on demos.
Well since you've watched it
Well since you've watched it ten times I'll go with what your saying GYPSY.
Personally I think this video is more convincing when it comes to the idea of undercovers:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKTgxCArp9M
Ellar wrote: Well since
Ellar
are you taking the piss? p.s- I think I know who you are IRL, and i've met you before and you are sound, so I will let you off with that ;)
Ellar wrote: Personally I
Ellar
Could it have been the same guy?
i thought it said 'the cops
i thought it said 'the cops are coming'. are there any cops in earshot at the time he shouts it? Why would the cops just accept that if there's no codeword or pre-agreed marker on his clothing?
Watched them both a few
Watched them both a few times. They've both got white shoes and a standard black hoody. To me it looks like the guy in the one Django posted is wearing black or very dark jeans, whereas the guy who passes through the line is wearing lighter stonewash jeans.
a cop wouldn't call themselves a 'cop' in a situation like that would they?
Not taking the piss gypsy,
Not taking the piss gypsy, just bowing to your superior video watching skillz ;) do you know me? Glad to know I made a good impression.
If the guy did say he was a undercover he could have just been winging it, in a hope that the cops would take the bait. Like others have said simply shouting "i'm a cop, undercover" seems a bit of a silly way of identifying yourself if you are a cop.
Ellar wrote: Not taking the
Ellar
To be fair to you I am doubting that he said that now! Will Pm you later to reveal who I am. We go bk a wee while. ;)
Joseph Kay wrote: i thought
Joseph Kay
Yeah, I thought it was unlikely, plus he was probably as likely to be in earshot of other protesters as the cops.
Still, I think its a given that there were undercover police on the day.
well there were defintiely
well there were defintiely undercovers deployed. i'd have thought they'd have a more covert way of identifying themselves though. maybe we're over-estimating them, but if we can think up these things i'm sure they can, considering sometimes undercover work (not so much at protests) could be life or death.
Ellar wrote: Well since
Ellar
And yet, I've just watched this on Facebook and been told that the guy in question is diabetic and was getting out of the way to take his meds. Ah, now, who to believe?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/home.php?sk=group_172069419509334¬if_t=group_activity
EDIT: there's an awful lot of shit comments on these youtube threads, I mean, anyone who knows anything about protests in Britain knows all (OK maybe not every single one) black blockers and a lot of those of us who aren't wear German Army boots... 'errr, he's got Police boots on, he must be undercover!'
And maybe my favourite - 'since when did anarchists protest about smaller government?' - fuck yeah, all anarchists love a Tory, that's totally well known that is.
"fuck off with the camera"
"fuck off with the camera"
Jenre wrote: "fuck off with
Jenre
Could be that.
someone i know had to wait in
someone i know had to wait in the police station waiting room on march 26th, and they said they saw loads of various people coming in -and actually going into the station where the public weren't allowed- and out frequently, and were dressed in all styles (black bloc, normal protesters, hot girl protesters). perhaps we should deploy our own undercovers to police waiting rooms in the future to monitor this sort of thing 8-)
It didn't sound clear to me
It didn't sound clear to me and it didn't seem to show any better police treatment either. Beckoning people into a place happens all the time, no one wants to be the only one in there if police show up.
There were definitely undercover there, at our local anti-cuts protest, supposed members of the crowd suddenly whipped out walkie talkies when the police started going for people. (they might have been undercover TUC though :) )
Slothjabber's right about the boots, I wear army boots to demos, they slow you down a little but they keep your feet warm and protected.