Police infiltrating protest groups
By Daryl Khan AND Rocco Parascandola,
STAFF WRITERS, NY Newsday.

August 11, 2004


The Police Department has been watching protest groups that have used unlawful tactics in the past in hopes of controlling disruptive activities at the Republican National Convention, police sources say.

Officers masquerading as corporate-bashing Bush haters have been attending rallies and meetings to learn the groups' tactics and plans for the upcoming convention, which begins Aug. 30, the sources say.

"Our guys got in there without them knowing it," one source said. "It helps us keep track of what they're doing."

Police have, in the past, kept an eye on groups known to break the law during protests, as well as those that have publicly announced their intentions to do so.

Some protest groups have suggested they will block streets and Madison Square Garden to prevent delegates from entering the convention.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg have said any protesters breaking the law will face arrest. Bloomberg stressed that people who gather in Central Park in groups of 20 or more will be arrested. Despite the repeated warnings, protesters have been organizing a march to the park, through e-mails and word of mouth.

Police officers also are being taught about special holds and sensitive pressure points in the body, in an effort to make moving unruly and stubborn activists easier and safer, a police source said.

The department also has produced videos specializing in First Amendment rights.

Police sources would not say which groups the department has successfully monitored, nor would they reveal the number of officers involved. But they did say the initiative has allowed police brass to get a handle on what to expect.

The department also made extensive preparations for processing large numbers of arrests they anticipate.

"Just to go out and express your politics these days in a permitted march or rally or some other constitutionally protected activity in this city is to take on some degree of risk of arrest," said Bill Dobbs, a spokesman for United for Peace and Justice and a longtime AIDS activist in the city.

Bruce Bentley, a lawyer with the National Lawyers Guild, said there will be hundreds of observers equipped with still and video cameras to document arrests and possible misconduct by police.

"Part of our role is to educate," Bentley said. "By informing people of their rights, we can remove the uncertainties and people will feel more confident in their ability to express themselves, and to do so importantly as part of a group."

Dobbs said he has been frustrated with the level of discourse and worries average New Yorkers may be scared off from protesting, for fear of violence. However, he said change doesn't come from avoiding confrontation.

"You can't cower in fear," he said. "But you have to deal with the possibility that it's always there. I'm not trying to scare anybody. I'm trying to be realistic."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.