Undercover policing enquiry

[Dystopiary]

Today's session featured evidence from spycop 'Vince Miller'. Pretty grim stuff.

Police spy admits women would not have agreed to sex if they knew his identity

Undercover officer tells public inquiry his deception was ‘morally questionable and inappropriate’

www.theguardian.com

Thanks for posting Dave, and thanks for the "grim" warning. It really is. It's properly hard to read some of this stuff but it's so important that it's out there. Can't find anything about it on the BBC.

 

[Dystopiary]

“If I go down I’ll take as many people as possible with me, SDS in particular” -Mike Chitty, model example of failed undercover #spycops officer gone rogue, quoted in previously secret police report, now online via UK Undercover Policing Inquiry

ETA Apols. This is the correct tweet:

 

[Dystopiary]

Report from the last #SpyCopsInquiry hearings until next year. 'Phil Cooper' infiltrated the Right to Work Campaign & became its national treasurer. He was later sacked by the police for assault but got reinstated when he threatened to expose the spycops

 

[hitmouse]

Another podcast:

Listen: Bristol Unpacked on undercover police spying on activists with anarchist and investigator Chris Brian - The Bristol Cable

Chris Brian was a anarchist activist in Bristol and south Wales in the 90s and early 2000s. Unknown to him and fellow activists, deep undercover in in their groups were police officers.

thebristolcable.org

 

[Dystopiary]

In 1977 #spycops officer HN 13 "Geoff Wallace" filled this report on a theatrical and musical performance by members of his target group from two weeks previously. This was a social event with no organising, he recorded the details of everyone present

 

[Dystopiary]

Met police ‘tried to recruit ex-officer to spy on climate change activists’

A former police officer who is now a prominent climate crisis campaigner has accused the Metropolitan police of attempting to recruit him to spy on Extinction Rebellion.

...

“He asked if I wanted to come on the books – to become a covert human intelligence source [Chis],” Stephens said. “But I turned him down straight away. I joined XR to make those in power do something about climate change, not to spy on peaceful people doing their bit for the planet.”

The Met said it could “neither confirm nor deny any Chis activity in relation to Extinction Rebellion”.

 

[Chilli.s]

A complete waste of public money when they are unable to even police a cup final

 

[Dystopiary]

She's won!

"Police have been been severely criticised by judges who ruled that they grossly violated the human rights of a woman who was deceived into a long-term intimate relationship by an undercover officer.

The judges ruled overwhelmingly in favour of Kate Wilson, an environmental and social justice activist, who has pursued a decade-long campaign to uncover the truth."

Judges criticise Met police after woman wins spy cop case

Brilliant news!

BUT this should never have happened.



thread:

 

[Dogsauce]

Nobody will get sacked or lose their pension. Guilt does not equal accountability for these cunts.

 

[teqniq]

Interview with Tom Fowler, core participant in the inquiry and formerly of South Wales Anarchist group:

“We Don't Have Democracy In This Country, SpyCops Proves That” - Tom Fowler Interview -

Reading Time: 11 minutesIn March 2010, Tom Fowler and his fellow activists had their suspicions confirmed about a figure who had been part of their anarchist group for over five years. Marco Jacobs – an undercover cop – had recently left South Wales Anarchists, but not before working his way...

www.voice.wales

 

[teqniq]

Complete travesty:

Victims Condemn Secret Hearings in Spycops Public Inquiry

 

[ska invita]

On a parallel note

BP paid ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on green campaigners

Exclusive: Oil giant also shared intelligence on environmentalists with British Museum and Warwick University in ‘shocking’ web of surveillance

www.opendemocracy.net

Is this kind of private spying legal?

 

[Chilli.s]

Is this kind of private spying legal?

Good question, I suppose it is stalking, but only if the victim knows its happening. I'd welcome any more legally informed opinion on this

 

[equationgirl]

On a parallel note

BP paid ex-MI6 spy firm to snoop on green campaigners

Exclusive: Oil giant also shared intelligence on environmentalists with British Museum and Warwick University in ‘shocking’ web of surveillance

www.opendemocracy.net

Is this kind of private spying legal?

I would argue that it could be in breach of the UK GDPR, and the Data Protection Act 2018, as Welund appears to be accessing CCTV sources potentially in breach of the purpose for which that information is collected. Furthermore, there could be a breach of the individual's right to privacy.

 

[hitmouse]

Also in the news:

Recording reveals police efforts to recruit BLM activist as informant

Swansea activist Lowri Davies recorded call from officer in ‘frightening and distressing’ attempted recruitment

www.theguardian.com

 

[nogojones]

Also in the news:

Recording reveals police efforts to recruit BLM activist as informant

Swansea activist Lowri Davies recorded call from officer in ‘frightening and distressing’ attempted recruitment

www.theguardian.com

The police down here really don't like the BLM protests. They've been raiding homes, and targeting activists with trumped up charges, this really doesn't surprise me.

 

[bmd]

The police down here really don't like the BLM protests. They've been raiding homes, and targeting activists with trumped up charges, this really doesn't surprise me.

Popped in to see if this was posted. Great work by this woman.

Incredible really that the police 'keep us safe' by trampling over our rights. Mindst you, they'll soon be gone once the Tories get rid of the Human Rights Act.

 

[Dystopiary]

Black Lives Matter activist Lowri Davies exposed the police's attempt to recruit her as an informant by secretly recording the approach.

 

[two sheds]

“The only thing I would ask is for you not to tell anybody about this phone call, just to avoid any potential compromise or threat of physical harm to yourself.”

No need to ask who the threat of physical harm was from

brave woman

 

[teqniq]

Last paragraph in the article:

“Protest organisers have an obligation to liaise with police forces, and South Wales police has a proven track record in working with organisers to facilitate lawful protest while minimising disruption to the wider public.”

Why is it then that they have a proven track record of harassing people involved in the protests over the the death of Mohamud Hassan?

South Wales Police Accused of Intimidation Against Mohamud Hassan Protesters -

Reading Time: 5 minutesPhoto: Cops try to get Justice for Mohamud Hassan protesters off the road, Saturday 20th February. South Wales Police have been accused of aggression towards protesters seeking justice for Mohamud Hassan, the young Black man from Cardiff who died last month after...

www.voice.wales

Mother Sees Her Two Children Targeted By Cops After BLM Protest, With One Facing Jail -

Reading Time: 7 minutesA woman has described how her two children have been targeted by police after they all attended a Black Lives Matter protest in Cardiff earlier this year, with one of them summoned to court and facing possible jail time. Image: Mohamud Hassan protest outside Cardiff Bay...

www.voice.wales

 

[GarveyLives]

Black Lives Matter activist Lowri Davies exposed the police's attempt to recruit her as an informant by secretly recording the approach.

As alluded to by others, there is more for the Inquiry to consider here:

1 June 2020: Black Lives Matter protest held in Swansea calling for justice over the death of George Floyd

26 October 2021: Black Lives Matter activist recorded covert police trying to 'recruit' her as an informant

15 February 2022: Swansea Black Lives Matter group closes down after police infiltration attempt

It would be good to hear from South Wales Police as to why they consider such activities a policing priority.

 

[hitmouse]

Coming up in Bristol:

The Spycops scandal from 1968 to present - Bristol Radical History Group

Our panel of speakers will address the scandal of the Spycops, the hitherto secret operations of undercover cops spying inside labour and social movements since 1968.

www.brh.org.uk

 

[Sasaferrato]

As alluded to by others, there is more for the Inquiry to consider here:

1 June 2020: Black Lives Matter protest held in Swansea calling for justice over the death of George Floyd

26 October 2021: Black Lives Matter activist recorded covert police trying to 'recruit' her as an informant

15 February 2022: Swansea Black Lives Matter group closes down after police infiltration attempt

It would be good to hear from South Wales Police as to why they consider such activities a policing priority.

I would have thought that infiltrating any group likely to cause mayhem in the streets was just common sense.

Very likely NA, BNP etc have also been infiltrated. (Or an attempt has been made.).

 

[Pickman's model]

I would have thought that infiltrating any group likely to cause mayhem in the streets was just common sense.

define 'mayhem'.

 

[ddraig]

I would have thought that infiltrating any group likely to cause mayhem in the streets was just common sense.

Very likely NA, BNP etc have also been infiltrated. (Or an attempt has been made.).

What "mayhem in the streets" were BLM Swansea going to cause?

 

[Pickman's model]

I would have thought that infiltrating any group likely to cause mayhem in the streets was just common sense.

Very likely NA, BNP etc have also been infiltrated. (Or an attempt has been made.).

like the uda, uvf, uff were infiltrated you mean? gangs and counter-gangs and so on?

 

[Sasaferrato]

like the uda, uvf, uff were infiltrated you mean? gangs and counter-gangs and so on?

Yep. For all that good that did.

 

[DaveCinzano]

And back:

UCPI Daily Report, 9 May 2022

The first day of the 2022 Undercover Policing Inquiry hearings, examining spycop managers 1968-82, raised fundamental questions about spycops

campaignopposingpolicesurveillance.com

Lots to interest readers - police/spycop lawyers panicking that they will be left holding the parcel when the music stops; big efforts by the Inquiry to pin responsibility for violence in political activists; evidence that police violence at the Southall demo at which SPG murdered Blair Peach was premeditated.

 

[teqniq]

Why am I not surprised?

MI5 asked police to spy on political activities of children, inquiry hears

Schoolchildren as young as 14 targeted in 1975 for links to ‘subversive’ anti-fascist and socialist organisations

www.theguardian.com

Kids like this:



(youtube link is in the above link posted by DaveCinzano)

 

[Sue]

I know I shouldn't laugh but...

'The undercover police compiled a 171-page report on one of the SWP’s annual conferences, recording how the party discussed its political progress. A report on a later conference ran to 140 pages. The conferences were openly organised by the party.'

Scale of police spying on UK leftist party was ‘Orwellian’, inquiry hears

Dozens of officers infiltrated Socialist Workers party for decades, recording personal details of members

www.theguardian.com