Informants

by MJ Essex, reposted from New Orleans Indymedia: In post-Katrina New Orleans, anarchist truths found fertile, if toxic grounds to take root and grow. New paths were walked on. Antiauthoritarian principles emerged as important guides for both reconstruction and the struggle against disaster capitalism. A million or more equally important stories can now be told about mutual aid, cooperation, subversion of authority, disruption of state and capitalist plans. And yet Brandon Darby's morality tale has become a media darling, due in no small part to his perfect and full adoption of his role as a state agent, regardless of whether it was official in 2006, or whether the FBI is still cutting him paychecks. We owe it to ourselves to tell these other stories of New Orleans, St. Paul and beyond.

Related: Months After RNC, 3 More Protesters Charged | Support the Texas 2 | CityPages: Meet Bob Fletcher

reposted from http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2009/06/24/towards-a-collective-security-...

from The Rag Blog: http://theragblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/james-retherford-brandon-darby-te...

Breaking news from the Hennepin County Courthouse: Andrew "Panda" Darst, also known as CRI2 on various RNC-related court filings, waived his right to a trial last week, after he assaulted various people in mid-January 2009, and picked up several charges. [CORRECTION 4:30PM: Darst did not assault his wife - though this kind of idea was going around earlier]

Originally printed in Revolution Newspaper:
http://revcom.us/a/158online/RNC-pt-2-en.html

Read Part 1 here

Part 2: Informants and Undercover Agents: The Government’s Strategy To Disrupt, Set Up and Attack Opposition To The Republican National Convention

by Leslie Rose

Tonight, Twin Cities activists entered Landmark Center in St. Paul at 7:00 PM to attend an open to the public event celebrating the swearing in of six new deputies for the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. Two of these shining stars were known informants of the RNC Welcoming Committee, Chris Dugger and Rachel Neiting. The one and only Bobby Fletcher awarded the new tools of the state, asserting how proud he was of their "outstanding" work in successfully infiltrating the known "Criminal Anarchist Enterprise" during the RNC.

UPDATE 1/8: Bradley Crowder has apparently taken a plea agreement.

The exposure of Brandon Darby as an FBI Informant has sparked outrage and sadness amongst communities both in Minnesota and Texas. The Austin Informant Working Group released a second statement on Darby yesterday, titled "Darby is Provocateur, Not Hero," in response to often pro-FBI (or, following historical precedent of informant cases, FBI-handled) portrayals of Darby in the media. Also yesterday, Democracy Now! featured the story and interviewed Common Ground co-founder Malik Rahim, who said, "I couldn't read the whole letter [from Darby] ... every time I do, it breaks me down into tears."

The "Texas 2" trial of Bradley Crowder and David McKay on weapons charges is set to begin at the federal courthouse in Minneapolis on Monday, January 26th. Many who have spoken with the accused believe McKay is cooperating with the government while Crowder is not. Both are inexperienced activists whom FBI documents show were pressured by Darby to escalate their actions, according to the Austin working group. Also on the 26th, the RNC 8 will be in court for a motion hearing and the trial of Darryl Robinson, beaten unconscious by police while copwatching last July and later charged with assault himself, is set to begin.

Writes Michelle Gross of CUAPB, "Through his actions, Darby helped to create a narrative by police that activists/protesters are dangerous. That narrative allowed police to justify obscene expenditures on weaponry, touched off pre-emptive raids and detentions of people who had committed no crimes, and unleashed vicious assaults on people attempting to exercise our First Amendment rights during the RNC." (commentary continued below)

Support Info for Jan 26 TX2 trial | Darby is Provocateur, Not Hero (2nd statement from Austin) | Democracy Now! Interview | New York Times article | Sometimes You Wake Up and It's Different (1st statement from Austin) | BrandonDarby.com (anti-snitch website cataloging Darby | Letter from Darby | Snitch culture: historical examples and current proposals | Betrayed! FBI Provocateur Sets-Up Anti-RNC Activists by Tom Burghardt

"Mr. Darby would not provide details about his undercover activities, but said he had also worked as an informant in cases not involving the convention."
...
"He wore recording devices at times, including a transmitter embedded in his belt during the convention."

January 5, 2009
Activist Unmasks Himself as Federal Informant in G.O.P. Convention Case
By COLIN MOYNIHAN
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/us/05informant.html