If you are follow the uprisings across America, you have probably encountered both right- and left-wing commentators speculating that piles of bricks at the sites of the protests were “staged” - either by “antifa” or by right-wing accelerationists or agents provocateurs.
The White House released a supercut of bricks at protest sites, claiming evidence that “antifa” provocateurs were hoping to create vandalism and violence, but they were forced to retract it after it was debunked (but not before it had 1m+ views).
The White House removed the video, but The Intercept saved a copy. You can watch it here:
And though the incidents in the video were thoroughly debunked, it does raise the question, “Why are there so many piles of bricks at these protest sites?”
The answer’s pretty mundane: cities have a lot of routine construction, which requires piles of bricks. Protests are happening all over cities. Some of those protests will be near piles of bricks (it would be weird if no protest ever happened near piles of bricks).
You could produce a supercut of protesters near ANY urban commonplace: Starbucks, park benches, tall buildings, liquor stores, churches, McDonald’s restaurants… Anything that is widespread in a city will overlap with protests in that city.
What’s more, it’s not outlandish to assume that cops or far-right extremists (including/especially the “Boogaloo” accelerationists) are infiltrating protests and hoping to incite violence.
American law enforcement has used agents provocateurs against protests for as long as there have been protests:
https://theintercept.com/2020/06/02/history-united-states-government-infiltration-protests/
And white nationalists have been caught posing as Black Lives Matter activists on Twitter in order to incite violence.
https://www.dw.com/en/twitter-suspends-fake-antifa-account-run-by-white-supremacists/a-53656003
Infiltration is a devastating tactic, because it derails every conversation into a “Are you a bot/provocateur/cop?” arguments and sows mistrust among people whose only hope of effecting change is their social cohesion.
Putin’s brilliant and terrible media strategist Vladislav Surkov (purged from the administration earlier this year) made a point of boasting that he funded SOME of the opposition groups, without ever saying which.
The brilliant (terrible) thing about this tactic is that it works just as well if he lies as if he’s telling the truth - any time two opposition groups would contemplate acting in concert, each would be unable to shake their suspicion that the other was patsies or worse.
And anyone who thinks about joining an opposition group will always have a lingering doubt about the group’s authenticity, and whether they are being duped into serving as a useful idiot.
Within groups, vulnerable people who act in unusual ways - because they have anxiety or depression, or because they are neuroatypical - get isolated because their behavior is interpreted as evidence that they are plants.
So it’s not weird to imagine that there are inauthentic members of your group, because it’s not weird to imagine that powerful people would use such an effective, low-cost countermeasure against you.
Nor is it hard to understand why the White House would promulgate unfounded theories about provocateurs - even if they have to walk them back later. Consciously or unconsciously, Trump and his people know that instilling doubt serves their purpose for a long time to come.
It is possible to maintain an activist culture that is vulnerable to these sort of countermeasures, or one that is resilient to it. This involved thing like:
- Unlearn your ableism and learn the real tell-tales of actual infiltration. Read zines like ‘Was my friend a spycop?’ http://undercoverresearch.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/wasmyfriend.vl3_.pdf
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Don’t gossip. If you think someone is infiltrating, do your research quietly until you have hard evidence, do not gossip.
- If someone behaves recklessly or unreliable and you don’t want them at your actions again, be transparent about that and about why. Don’t quietly stop inviting people, don’t ghost, don’t isolate people behind their back. Those are bully tactics and normalizing them is only going to end up harming the most vulnerable and marginalized in your community.
- If the cops try to recruit you as an informant, it’s not enough to just turn them down. You have to inform your community. Make sure people know that this is happening. There is no shame in being targeted by recruiters, there is shame in withholding that information from others.
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Don’t be naive, don’t be paranoid. These things are equally harmful.
Recognize patterns of distrust forming in your community and come
together to address them.
- Question conspiracy theories and don’t believe things just because it is a bad thing about a politician/group/organization you hate. If someone on your own side points out the flaws in a theory, do not accuse them of ‘defending’ the politician/group/organization you hate but actually listen.
- Understand that some mental health conditions make people more vulnerable to paranoia and conspiracy theories. Don’t kick people out over that, create a supportive environment in which they can share their ideas with supportive buddies who won’t shame them but will help them process them.