Infiltrators in Santa Cruz

Three people recently entered some radical spaces in Santa Cruz and behaved in ways that led many people who encountered them to conclude that they were police agents. What follows is a description of these individuals and a summary of the sequence of events that led people to draw these conclusions. Although it may seem at first glance that they might just be some stupid naive kids eager to impress, read the whole story first because it does look really bad. In fact, the best thing that could be said of them is that they're dangerously stupid and would therefore also be very unsafe people for that reason. Unfortunately no pictures were obtained.

THE CHARACTERS
Identifying themselves as "anarchist travelers", all of these people look like they're around 18-20, white, average height and size, wear alternative/"punk"-looking but strangely very clean clothes, and are very clean overall.
- "Kao" is male, cleanshaven, shoulder-length brown hair (often in a camo headband), "conventionally attractive" features, anarchy-sign "tattoo" (?) on the side of his neck. Claims to be from Louisiana.
- "Carrie", "Casey" or possibly "Cammie": female, with braces, blond "fauxhawk" with sides shaves and some kind of rat tail or dread in the back, juggles a little, carries a ukulele around with her. From Laguna Beach, supposedly.
- Another male who didn't really say anything to anyone, no one seems to have caught his name, bearded, wearing a plaid shirt and carhartts.

THE STORY
The trio arrived late in the evening to the occupied Grad Student Commons at UCSC (see http://occupycalifornia.wordpress.com). They were mistakenly let in even though the informal policy was to only let in people who were known and trusted by someone inside. They were really vague about how they wound up there, where they were coming from or how they had heard about the occupation, but were interested very specifically in checking out the space and inquiring about future plans. Kao, who has a very macho "militant" demeanor, seemed to be in charge and doing most of the talking. They immediately wanted to inspect the barricades, "to see if they could be put together better"; Kao said he had military training and wanted to know about future plans such as other buildings to occupy. Kao was talking about organizing the takeover of another building himself and asked questions like "Do you have blueprints?" After making everyone extremely uncomfortable within about 5 minutes, and after a conversation in which Kao gave a lot of really vague and weird answers about what they were doing there, they were asked politely to leave on the grounds that they weren't known or trusted by anyone inside and people were going to sleep soon. During this conversation Kao also said that if anyone thought he was an informant, they should check out the anarchy sign tattoo on his neck.

Carrie came back the next day. Without asking anyone if it was ok, without anyone telling them they'd be allowed in the space again, she had left her phone plugged in in the main room, on and open. She asked for it back; it was returned to her (some people feel this was also a mistake). She was not allowed inside and a friend of ours had a long conversation with her. She expressed eagerness to do anything possible to support the occupation and reiterated that she and Kao were ready and willing to assume major roles in any future occupation or escalation of tactics, mentioning some buildings downtown and on campus that she thought could be taken over and/or destroyed. This is where it gets really fucked: She said that last night, after they were asked to leave, they got a ride downtown with a cop - as if in case we had followed them and watched them get into a cop car (no one actually saw where they went). She said the cop was really chill and they talked about the occupation. She said the cop told him they weren't "scared" of the occupiers and they should do something more intense and dramatic (like occupying a store downtown or blowing up a science building on campus). It is apparent to us that anyone who gets into a police car and chats about illegal activities is as good as a snitch whether that is actually their job or not.

Kao and Carrie also showed up at Sub Rosa infoshop and Chavez co-op and were asked to leave both places because people were uncomfortable with their behavior in those spaces, and because of what people had heard about them. They told people they were headed to Portland next.

STAY SAFE, FUCK THE POLICE
in solidarity,
your friends in santa cruz

thanks for the info, friends

thanks for the info, friends in s.c.

and everyone remember that the obvious ones are merely distractions from the covert ones.

although these people sound

although these people sound suspicious and are most probably police i would like to point out that just because someone has clean clothes it doest make them a cop . you can be clean and an anarchist !!!=)

"Identifying themselves as

"Identifying themselves as 'anarchist travelers'..."

heh. sounds pretty sketchy to me... "hey y'all, i'm like, an anarchist traveler, man."

it is lame when you have to

it is lame when you have to worry about what your comrades might think about your new boots or clean clothes.

like cops aren't smart enough to crust up a bit before trying some shit like this?

sometimes i think we're ostracizing potential comrades and allies due to things like clean clothes while the real infiltrators smirk at us from beneath their grunge and ass-flaps.

I see a lot of alienation

I see a lot of alienation going on because people are not wearing the "outfit" and it's ridiculous. It's funny that a lot of people like to pretend they are all-inclusive and accepting but if you are not wearing the "right" clothes or not into lemming crust punk you are made to feel like you are not welcome.

But yes, these people seem like informants. Especially with the wanting to do something really extreme because the cops are not expecting it.

Has anyone maybe asked anyone they know in the places they said they were from to see if anyone knows of them?

hey when you're at a protest

hey when you're at a protest how do you know who the anarchists are?

they're the ones all wearing the same uniform!

lolz!

The point seems to be that

The point seems to be that they tried to wear and act the part, but did it poorly, not that it was necessarily a problem that they had clean clothes. It's that they said they were these traveler kids, but appearances did not match this.

i don't care what you're

i don't care what you're wearing, if you start talking about doing militant shit in the first ten minutes of me meeting you, i'm not going to trust you.

exactly, cops or not, that

exactly, cops or not, that kind of serious breaching of security culture should not be tolerated

word to that- i'm wearing a

word to that- i'm wearing a button down plaid shirt, khaki pants (with a belt!), dark socks, and brown boots. All of which are clean.

Aside from that, my favorite part from this story was the fellow who pointed to his anarchist tattoo to prove that he was legit. Heeeeeelarious.

Wearing a bankers suit and

Wearing a bankers suit and tie may be a way of not getting arrested or hassled.The old chameleon trick.

Suit Bloc. i've heard rumors

Suit Bloc.

i've heard rumors of it.
backroom whispers.
a conspiracy of epic proportions.
invisible.

see all those people in suits?
yesir, they're part of it.
shhhhh

Hi from bayou country- Never

Hi from bayou country-
Never heard of an anarchist named Kao from Louisiana.
they sound like cops to me.
you should expose them to the media since they were trying to provoke people into doing things that were seriously illegal.

where i live there is no anarchist uniform. thank god. everyone has their own styles. the crusty punks who all look the same don't do anything here but drink, so we don't have to worry about them.

It has been my personal

It has been my personal experience that an infiltrator that was used against us in the past was worthless because although he had facial tattoos and such, the police were not aware that one of us had previously known the guy and were quite aware he had no interest in politics, radical or not, but then one day he showed up asking about armed revolution and such.
I'm proud to announce the usually the cops pick very bad infiltrators, folks.

Oh, but what I was getting at is, that usually they are not actual cops, but people who have committed crimes, like rape, or drug dealing and will be let off if they infiltrate groups such as ours.

Yep, you heard that right, the cops will let rapists run free as long as they snitch on some radicals.

i think the problem with

i think the problem with stories like these is that they take one (or a couple) of examples of cop/fed tactics, while ignoring others that are more subtle.
cops/fed/etc have all kinds of ways of trying to get information on and from us, and them looking stupid in some cases can be distracting (watch some good con movies. learn a thing or two).
the question of infiltration is frequently a lot more nuanced than the OP or than the above acknowledge.
the green scare reality is a perfect case in point. obvious infiltrators are fun (to make fun of), but the person who has vulnerabilities (like drug habits, kids in foster care, criminal record of whatever kind, or just bullshit pacifist-cloaking like darby) is usually harder to spot and/or predict.
the point isn't to be paranoid of everyone, it's to pay attention to all the ways that we get snookered by cops as well as by our own expectations.

first and foremost, thanks

first and foremost, thanks for the info sc.

be vigilant everybody, and use this info toward that end.

more or less like the above comment, the feds have succeeded on the level of informants--anna--and on the level of snitches-jake the snake. in the first case it can be prevented, at least largely, by very tight affinity groups. these assholes in sc were spotted precisely because they started talking about shit that would only be talked about in the closest circle. in the case of ferguson, he brought up past actions with people while wearing a wire, and they confirmed it. when an action is over it never happened, and whoever brings it up again is a snitch or a total fucking fool.

Hey do you have any leads on

Hey do you have any leads on info I could use to investigate the statement about rapists getting deals like this? Location, documentation that i might be able to look up, anecdotes even (as reputable as possible), anyone else that might know some more about it, anything to get my foot in the door on digging up stuff about it? nothing that could compromise the situation of anyone cool of course. thanks.

it isn't actually about what

it isn't actually about what they were or were not wearing. it is about the interactions that they had with people.

it doesn't really matter if someone is an "infiltrator" or not, if they are being disruptive, endangering projects/individuals or trying to hinder projects, they have the same effects whether they are paid by the government or not. we can never really know if these kids were snitches or just incredibly, incredibly stupid, but we need to address their behavior either way.
these people were asked to leave subrosa and it was a difficult and emotional decision for those who confronted them. but it needed to be done, because their presence was creating an atmosphere of paralysis and fear, and they were asking inappropriate questions of people in the space, not anything super serious, just things that were private and none of their business. when they were confronted they did not acknowledge having been asked to leave the occupation, and seemed insincere in their response to people's concerns.

plus, you should never trust anyone who thinks its ok to get in a cop car and talk about projects. and cops don't even give rides, do they?

No, cops most definitely do

No, cops most definitely do not give out fucking rides! What the fuck? Since when do cops help out "anarchist travelers"? Never, unless they're being helped out themselves, of course. And what the fuck, the cop OFFERED SUGGESTIONS!? And the phone was left open? Jesus.

Writing from Laguna Beach.

Writing from Laguna Beach. I've had a few (very minimal) interactions with Cammie. She and I have a mutual friend, that's how we met initially. She's spent a fair amount of time in my town and worked at a vegan restaurant next to my house. I never made any effort in talking to her because she made me uncomfortable from the get go. A little too over eager to "make connections", I guess. Conveniently, after she and I were introduced, she turned up at a lot of the places I was at. Getting groceries, there she was. Taking the bus, there she was. I'm a part of a feminist collective in Orange County, and eventually we noticed her hanging out at the coffee shop we meet at sometimes at the same times we were there. She was always engaging in loud conversation around us, as if trying to get our attention. I can't say much for her personality or demeanor due to our limited interactions (other than being at the same place at the same time), but I wanted to vouch that she is indeed from Laguna Beach and indeed pretty goddamned sketchy.

its important to realize

its important to realize that there is no proof for this, and so its pretty irresponsible. If someone is an idiot, annoying or dangerous in other security ways, that can be addressed with many of the same outcomes. spreading a story about infiltrators without proof is bad practice.

spreading a story about

spreading a story about infiltrators without proof is bad practice.

given that all online information is suspect, i disagree with you. the OP and laguna beach are giving us information. i agree that there is no particular need to call cammie et al infiltrators, since pointing out their behavior could be enough, but...

if anything, we're erring on the side of informing the feds how they should not behave next time.

I also know of Cammie from

I also know of Cammie from contact with her in Laguna, and stories of friends. Although I thought nothing of it before, after reading the report there are some characteristics that could indicate her as a snitch: she has a background w/ drugs and was going to a rehab center in Laguna Beach (possibly leading to charges she can erase through doing the pigs' dirty work), as far as I was aware she never showed much interest in political issues (apart from working in a vegan restaurant and reading Evasion) and hung around with what could be called "misfit party kids" (or the punks, druggies, and social outcasts of Laguna Beach).

I do know that she was traveling and had been in San Francisco w/ another acquaintance of mine from Laguna Beach (I'm assuming before Santa Cruz?).

That said, the possibility remains that she could be an extremely naive, idiotic "anarchist traveler" (although from my knowledge of her, albeit little, she has been through a lot and seemed to have some street smarts, the least of which would have been completely incompatible with her actions in Santa Cruz). In either case (snitch or fool) she, along with her traveling friends, should obviously be avoided and ostracized by anyone involved in activism.

I may be able to find a picture of her, if that would amount to any use.

That phone she left was

That phone she left was probaby bugged.

all cell phones can function

all cell phones can function as bugs, because they can have a program installed without your knowledge (like how you download a ringtone) on them to make them turn on and call an FBI number without the screen changing at all.

that is why people take batteries out of phones or leave them in another room when they don't want to be bugged.

FYI.

this link is a picture of

this link is a picture of "cammie" that i feel looks most like her in real life. it may be a coincidence that the sketchy person in santa cruz and the girl from laguna beach both have the same general charactoristics, but far more likly this is her. this is a cammie from laguna beach and i think for the best no one should pass this photo around as the santa cruz cammie until someone who directly saw her in santa cruz confirms it.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=6151041&albumID=2881083&imageID=63455806

i fucked up. i was thinking

i fucked up.
i was thinking of someone else.
that picture is of the wrong person.
i'll look for cammie's picture...

That is NOT Cammie from

That is NOT Cammie from Laguna, but another girl, who has provided no reason to be thought of as a snitch. Again, you are mistaken, the picture is not of Cammie: DO NOT CIRCULATE THE ABOVE PHOTO AS A SNITCH!

THIS is Cammie from Laguna, and if identified by those in Santa Cruz is one of the self-described "anarchist travelers"/ possible snitches.

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewTaggedPhoto&friendID=6151041&imageUserID=148919297&imageID=44085423

^Cammie is the farthest back in the green shirt. *Note that this is a somewhat old picture and doesn't show her new haircut or even a good shot of her face. It's the best I could find for now, but I will keep looking.

Do not circulate until confirmed by those in Santa Cruz.

did they look anything like

did they look anything like these three? haha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrJ7aU-n1L8

Looks like a lot of paranoid

Looks like a lot of paranoid people acting as bad as the cops, doing background checks, digging up old photos, suggesting they spread the word that "Cammie" is a snitch. The point is, if you give someone you don't know something to snitch on you for, then you're an idiot. leave Cammie alone if you don't feel comfortable with her and quit acting like paranoid gestapo gossip mongers. The time you spend worrying about the Cammies of the world could be used to quietly carry out some direct action.

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