Evidence of agents provocateurs on demonstrations

An anonymous police commenter on this blog has questioned whether agents provocateurs are used.

So I have searched for instances on the web.

The black bloc anarchist assault on the Royal Bank of Scotland building yesterday certainly had an air of being stage-managed. The target was announced in advance, the authorities knew that the building was a prime target, and yet it was the only one in the street not boarded up. A cafe across the street was boarded up and yet the RBS building was left completely vulnerable to attack. (this link contains a review of more instances)

Liberal Democrat Tom Brake says he saw what he believed to be two plain-clothes police officers go through a police cordon after presenting their ID cards. (This is a common theme that also goes back to Geneva. Demonstrators should look for, and record, this phenomenon)

Here is footage of 3 oddballs in the USA. Version of same incident here.
Saturday September 26 2009: Three undercover officers attempt to infiltrate a March Against Police Brutality at the University of Pittsburgh, but fail miserably due to their horrendous disguise attempts I am including foreign examples, because the nature of globalisation to standardise policing. If Anonymous argues that British policing is not as extreme, it is nevertheless necessary for us to know what it will look like if it comes.

Three masked men, one carrying a rock on a union demo in Quebec. Strong evidence.

Genoa G8 summit 2001. Black Bloc "Anarchists"seen coming through police lines again (see above). Eyewitness account - just one of many, too many for denialists to deal with.

My own personal experience is of being heckled at Aldermaston while doing a satirical performance dressed as Major General Frankley-Madde, ranting against the CND and Feinds of the Earth. The crowd (bored, waiting for hours for the police to let us board our buses) were attentive. Two guys with flat caps and badges placed dead centre were heckling. This hat-badge is described elsewhere as a mark of an AP, so that the police do not hit them. Infiltrators are also known as "hairies" in "intelligence" circles. So be suspicious of anyone with a hat and a beard. Not all, but some may be working for the other side...

I also saw the Sparts (Spartacist League) marching up to join an anti-Iraq war rally in Hyde Park with a huge, professionally made banner, reading VICTORY TO SADDAM. Billy Bragg was speaking at the time, and expressed our feeling "Here come the CIA". A group of us went to meet them, chanted "What about Halabja" until they took their banner down and slunk off home.

By the nature of the beast, it is difficult to prove infiltration and agents provocateurs, but "proof" comes from evidence. The anonymous police commentators on this blog have one view, and will continue to deny. It is our job to be on the qui vive for agents on demonstrations, and to extrude them out of the crowd back into police lines where they belong.