Undercover police within the social movements

Police Spies Out of Lives graphic

A brief look at the infiltration into political groups by the Special Demonstration Squad (SDS), an undercover unit of the British police's Special Branch. The SDS used relationships with women activists to help give credibility to their false identities which were often created with use of dead children's names.

Submitted by rat on July 4, 2016

The first indications of how deeply undercover police had infiltrated various groups in the broad movement came with the identification of Mark Kennedy as an infiltrator. Police Constable Mark Kennedy, posing as Mark Stone, infiltrated environmental and leftist networks for approximately eight years (2001-2009) in the Nottingham area, sometimes working with another undercover spy, a women, who posed as an environmental activist. He hosted meetings with activists in up to 23 countries including the USA, and took part in blockades, site occupations and sabotage, sometimes playing key logistical roles such as transport. He worked as a provocateur, encouraging activists to engage in acts of violence. He was paid £50,000 a year, plus an additional £200,000 for bribes, drink, transport and travel abroad to meet other activists.” In this period he kept up a four-year relationship with a female activist. After Kennedy’s real identity was revealed she stated that “If somebody was being paid to have sex with me, that gives me a sense of having been violated.”
As well as that relationship, Kennedy had sex with a second female activist, and it seems that he also had sex with others as well. The second female activist revealed his true identity after she discovered his passport in July 2010. Meanwhile he maintained a parallel life with a wife and two children.

International activists have confirmed his attendance at least 68 different events, some over a number of years. After his exposure, and his leaving the police, he used his inside knowledge for personal gain, establishing a series of companies thought to be private consulting firms. The Guardian reported that he used the privileged access he gained in police infiltration campaigns to act as a “corporate spy” while still maintaining his Mark Stone alter ego. Not long after, Kennedy was working for a second spy firm in the US, Densus Group, targeting anti-capitalist demonstrators.

Kennedy claimed that his police superiors gave him the green light to have sex with activists. The president of the shady ACPO, Sir Hugh Orde denied this. Kennedy maintains that he was one of 15 police spies who had infiltrated environmental movements; at least four of these spies remain within British protest movements. While the UK’s police infiltration efforts targeting social movements date back to at least to anti-war campaigners in 1968, the strategy of undercover cops having sexual relationships with activists seems to have been a relatively new strategy.

In the wake of the exposure of Mark Kennedy, other police infiltrators into the various movements were uncovered. One of these was Detective Constable Jim Boyling, under the false names of Pete James Sutton or Jim Sutton who infiltrated Reclaim the Streets for five years between 1995 and 2000 in addition he undertook surveillance of environmental and hunt saboteur groups. Like Kennedy, Boyling had sexual relations with activists. He married one activist and had two children with her before a divorce. He apparently kept this secret from his superiors, only informing one in 2005. In addition in his time undercover he had another long-term relationship with an activist.

Boyling maintained his undercover identity whilst being prosecuted with other activists for the occupation of a government office. He thus perjured himself in court. In addition he was present during meetings between defendants and their lawyers. This was in line with instructions from the controllers of the undercover cops that they maintain their secret identities during prosecutions for “offences arising out of their deployment”.
Another undercover cop subsequently exposed was Mark Jacobs posing as Marco Jacobs, who “infiltrated anarchist, anti-globalization, animal rights, and other social justice networks for five years (2004-2009) in the Cardiff area” according to the Guardian. He volunteered for key roles within the Cardiff Anarchist Network (CAN) that allowed him to infiltrate the Dissent! planning committees that were mobilising against the G8. During 2008, Jacobs maintained a sexual relationship with a female activist, and encouraged drinking, personal recriminations and backstabbing within CAN. This led to the collapse of the group and Jacobs’ subsequent departure.

Other undercover cops who have come to light include Sergeant Jim Dines who infiltrated the environmental group London Greenpeace under the alias of John Barker between 1987 and 1992. In 1990 Dines began a relationship with the activist Helen Steel. Using the ruse of a mental breakdown he left her and disappeared in 1992. Helen steel discovered that he had taken on the identity of Philip John Barker who had died as a child years before. As the Guardian noted: “The Dines/Barker case is said to be one of at least 80 similar occurrences organised by Scotland Yard over a 30 year period wherein police adopted the names of dead children in order to produce false identities and documents with verifiable back stories”. In addition, steel discovered that he had been married since 1977.

Mark Jenner posing as Mark Cassidy infiltrated UK protest groups from 1994 to 2000 as an officer in the Metropolitan Police’s Special Demonstration Squad under the direction of Bob Lambert. Like Dines, Jenner was already married but maintained a five-year relationship with a female activist between 1995 and 2000, actually living with her in a flat. After his sudden disappearance from her life, she also began to investigate.
Other undercover cops included Rod Richardson and Simon Wellings, although it is unclear if they had sexual relations with activists. Wellings infiltrated the group Globalise Resistance between 2001 and 2005. Another undercover cop we are aware of was the policeman who operated under the name of Andy Bryant within first the Anarchist Communist Federation (precursor of the Anarchist Federation) and subsequently Class War in the late 1980s-early 1990s. Like other undercover cops he disappeared suddenly, citing his family who had moved to Spain. Like Jacobs, “Bryant” encouraged recrimination and backstabbing within the ACF, and on at least two separate occasions encouraged militants to engage in provocative situations. In addition he served as Treasurer of both organisations, thus obtaining personal information. He did not engage in sexual relations with activists.

But perhaps the most pernicious of all these undercover cops was Bob Lambert, under the disguise of Bob Robinson, who infiltrated left and animal rights movements. He operated inside London Greenpeace before being replaced by Dines and he targeted the Animal Liberation Front. Between May 1987-November 1988, he engaged in a sexual relationship with a 24-year-old female, not a political activist, whom he met at a party He maintained this relationship for 18 months in order to create the appearance of a personal life, and he even arranged for a raid on the flat the couple shared to indicate that he was an activist. He was operating within the Special Branch and within its specialized unit the Special Demonstration Squad for 28 years. At times he supervised the work of both Jenner and Boyling.

Lambert had a sexual relationship a year or so before with a female activist with whom he had a child and Lambert now admits to having had sexual relations with four women whilst undercover. Throughout all of his undercover work, he was already married.
Lambert also acted as a provocateur. According to Green Party MP Caroline Lucas, Lambert was responsible for an incendiary device in the Harrow branch of Debenhams department in protest at its selling of fur in 1987. As a result two people were convicted. Lambert still denies that he was the third participant in this attack though he is said to have admitted his involvement to a female activist. He also helped pen the anti-McDonalds leaflet which led to the longest civil trial in British history, the McLibel case.

The revelations about the undercover cops eventually forced the authorities to initiate the Pitchford Enquiry, after the Metropolitan police had dragged their heels and been doggedly obstructive for many months, in particular with their “Neither Confirm Nor deny” statements. At the preliminary hearing in March 2016 Helen Steel stated that: “The McLibel Support Campaign supports the core participants’ call for all the cover names to be released so that the truth can be heard. We have not called for all the real names of officers to be released, although I think that there may be individual circumstances where that is appropriate, especially where those officers went on to become supervisors or line managers or are now in positions of responsibility, but I’m assuming that that would be done on a more individualised basis. However, I do believe that all of the cover names should be disclosed so that the truth can be achieved.
I also believe that to ensure the Inquiry is as comprehensive as possible, the police need to release a full list of all the organisations that were targeted. There is no reason for secrecy on this. Various groups were named in True Spies, so why is it that they can’t be named now?
The reason for wanting maximum transparency and disclosure is a political one. Without the names of undercover officers who targeted each group, it is impossible to start to assess the whole impact of their surveillance or the extent of the abuses committed. Without full disclosure, we won’t get to the full truth and we can’t ensure that preventative measures are put in place to stop these abuses happening again.
These were very, very serious human rights abuses committed by this unit, including article 3 abuses [“no one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment”]. We want to stop them happening again. That is our purpose in taking part in this Inquiry and that is the real public interest that requires that there must be openness and transparency.”

She and the other women who have been sorely mistreated by these undercover cops want an apology but more than that they want answers. They want to know who authorised these strategies of sexual infiltration and they want to know the aliases of all those undercover cops involved so that anyone involved in a relationship with an undercover cop can finally know the truth.

Sources:
6 Ways Police Have Used Sex To Infiltrate And Disrupt Protest Groups

Helen Steel Demolishes "Neither Confirm Nor Deny" - Campaign Opposing Police Surveillance

Met to investigate claims undercover officer set fire to Debenhams store | UK news | The Guardian

Comments

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on July 28, 2016

You're clearly not passing the Turing test this time, SRQ.

SRQ

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by SRQ on July 28, 2016

so what? you talking nonsense to me, why you quite stubid thing like that is your work to suspress people or are u just stubid? like you dont have brains at all

thise are impertant thing peole get shot others to mental hospitals, noboy writes about them, we cant speck openly becouse alltime threat fom cops or hospitals. dignose is best possilble solution from state to make people silence forever, then pills what block brains and you are just body to use ... how they like. Whose side you are???there is cleary persons who are IN ans same tmie doing work to somebody who is counted as enemy. are we anrchis or building some state / kingdom here....? So it understandable that people from abroad dont like states like these

SRQ

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by SRQ on July 28, 2016

anarchy -communist dont need state to anything!! fuck you all, it is fuking same do tehy tell us nothg or not

SRQ

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by SRQ on July 28, 2016

are you cop?

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on July 28, 2016

I simply could not understand your post. It was a glib comment.

SRQ

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by SRQ on July 29, 2016

Youd id wrong really wrong, by saying so, do not do this kind of you are me comment to anybody. Stop yourself! Try to behave, so nobody who you like gets angry to you.You not use cat as your own image, start from there. Draw cat is another thing, then it not any specific cat and doesn't suffer from persecution, photographing, objectifying animals is not good, only if it's has some uni importance, but not for fun. Cat's are totally innocent that they have been taken as pets thousand and thousands years ago. If you talk about me but you mean yourself, it is twist in your head and you have to fix it, criminals them who o crimes against hunarihgts think like that they see themselves on others, it is psychic symptom, you not il but you dont understand what you are saying. do not try to repress people in general you are inhuman/unhuman, that is not point in anarchism but in fascism.
I write here beacouse I want to people to know how is when west style cellist comes to your life. It is inhuman situation, when you notice that someone has been your friend, and is official or pro-officer/state attitude, in hes own life and you have openly talk to him/her it devastating, you loose friends and years of your life you see differently as abused for their payments, paid to be your friend, horrible, for money and politics what you do not want to be involve in anyway. Finnish soluttautuja = infiltrator is cellist in English, you do need intelligence to understand that. funking stupid words thy, officials want us to use about themselves. If my speed writing is disturbing, i am not here to fix it, other vice if you are smart you dont need me to correct every mistake you understand it without correction, i am all but not correct : )

radicalgraffiti

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by radicalgraffiti on July 29, 2016

if your writing makes no sense to anyone but you then you really should consider fixing it, unless you like being miss understood.

SRQ

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by SRQ on July 29, 2016

btw SRQ is my real nickname nothing to do whit IQ, it is shorten for internet, my band TOT was like this: jrq and srq couple in TOT, maybe it it makes reference to IQ but i dont never think it like that is stupid nickname given me when i was 10 years old playing basketball you cant yell there at field sarianna, it too long, takes too long time to write here to internet or to team member to yeall to field that sarianna thou ball away .... SRQ is also S.Coffin in English in donald duck world if you translate it to english. Have to higlight I was 10 when i get my nickname i not give it to myself, like so many other give names to themselfs, stubi thy are, i was child, SRQ came in year 999, when it was shorten for the band.

jesuithitsquad

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on July 29, 2016

The important thing here is that we now know--what many have long suspected--that khawaga is persecuting and objectifying cats. A cat cop, if you will. Take all necessary precautions.

SRQ-- I am sorry for your experience with the infiltrator. It seems like it was a painful experience for you.

However, I do feel an obligation to point out that I don't think it is helpful to question the intelligence of others if they don't immediately understand that 'west style cellist' really means infiltrator.

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on July 29, 2016

I am so confused. Now, even the most rabid animal rights folks I know do actually take photos of their pets. They even distribute them. Apparently they were all just cat and dog cops.

rat

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by rat on July 29, 2016

Am I missing something here? All I can see on this thread is the article about the Special Demonstration Squad — and then a load of utter, incomprehensible nonsense.

What's going on?

jesuithitsquad

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on July 30, 2016

That's a pretty accurate synopsis, rat.

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on July 30, 2016

What happened to SRQ's first comment? I sure did respond to something.

Auld-bod

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Auld-bod on July 30, 2016

Very informative post.

Unfortunately the comments remind me of someone’s description of quantum mechanics – imagine a recording of a snooker game with invisible cues played backwards.

jef costello

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on July 31, 2016

I started reporting SRQ as spam as it looked machine-produced, responses are incoherent and often tangentially connected to the posts that it's responding to, I looked back at the posting history and the profile and it's connected to some finnish artist, so it could just be an awful grasp of English (and logic) or it's some kind of robot.

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on July 31, 2016

Hence my Turing test comment. But after his/her reply, I guess SRQ passes as a human being.

jesuithitsquad

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jesuithitsquad on August 1, 2016

Khawaga

What happened to SRQ's first comment? I sure did respond to something.

you're not seeing things. it was there when i first read the article.

jef costello

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by jef costello on August 1, 2016

Khawaga

Hence my Turing test comment. But after his/her reply, I guess SRQ passes as a human being.

I'm not convinced.

Khawaga

7 years 8 months ago

In reply to by libcom.org

Submitted by Khawaga on August 1, 2016

If SRQ is a bot that's supposed to be Turing compatible, the artist must be getting some good stuff for his/her project.