One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Source: Undercover Cops Infiltrated Occupy L.A. in Weeks Before the Raid
Photo by Jennifer Gaillard via the LAist Featured Photos pool
In the weeks before the Los Angeles Police Department cracked down on Occupy L.A., nearly a dozen undercover detectives infiltrated the movement to learn about protesters' plans to resist eviction.
An anonymous source spoke about the plan with City News Service (and the Los Angeles Times confirmed this).
What were these undercover agents able to figure out? The anonymous source told City News Service that some intelligence suggested that protesters were preparing bamboo spears and other potentially dangerous weapons when the raid started. That didn't end up happening. The officers who began going undercover about two weeks ago also gathered specific information on demonstrators who they thought posed a threat.
Occupy L.A. protester Mario Brito said the operation "smacks of politically motivated policing." He added: "What was the crime here other than violating a curfew ordinance? You don't need undercovers to police that."
The raid's point man LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith wouldn't give any comment on the use of undercover detectives, saying that it was against department policy to discuss undercover operations. But he said it is important for the department to understand the protesters before the raid. He says that even intelligence isn't enough to help predict how something like the pre-dawn raid would go: "There's always a question mark. It could be that suddenly there's counter-demonstrators causing problems in an otherwise peaceful crowd."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
