=====Regarding July 4 in Long Beach: congratulations to all of the
organizers who worked so hard and produced a terrific event...Elbop is
right: the press coverage was extensive. [The L.A. Times, which had a
reporter on the scene for hours, was HORRENDOUS! They need to hear from
us!!!]============================
+++++++++++A serious security/police issue which everyone should know
about:+++++
We had a lot of police undercover infiltration, in addition to the huge
number of uniformed and "civilian-clad" officers who openly admitted they
were filming for LBPD and marched in the parade openly as "police
observers." But one incident goes beyond even those scenarios of sometimes
inappropriate police conduct.
Two "demonstrators" were marching along with us as we left the power
plant, both attempting, with little success, to appear to be protesters.
Most of us thought they were police undercover. What was especially
disturbing is that one of them, an African-American officer about
30-years-old, was dressed in "black bloc" attire, almost entirely in black
clothing with a black stocking cap and partial face mask.
I asked a videographer to accompany me while I did a quick, polite,
non-threatening interview with them. It is on tape. I simply came up next
to them and commented, "There is a rumor you guys are undercover LBPD
officers marching along with us. Is that true?" The officer dressed as
"black bloc" said, "That's ridiculous! I'm a waiter at Denny's and I'm
getting my degree from Long Beach City College." The other officer said "I'm
also a waiter; we're just here demonstrating with you." His image was
not-too-persuasive 60's hippie. (I was there and this was a poor imitation!
d.w.)
Before we reached the park, a Long Beach Police Department SUV-type van
pulled up and the two of them left the march and entered the van. I (Don
White) rushed over to the van and spoke into the passenger-side open window.
"Are you giving these guys a ride to their jobs at Denny's?" I asked. The
two undercover cops and the rest of the police inside the van simply smiled
or laughed.
THE ISSUE: To actually put an undercover officer, dressed as "black bloc,"
(and I apologize to any companer@s of the youth movement who might think I
am speaking in stereotypical language; I am just trying to convey the image
of this cop in our midst)...to put such an undercover officer in our parade
seems totally unacceptable and needs to be addressed. Why have an officer
with that image? If that officer had engaged in disruptive behavior, would
the others officers "pin" disruptions on the bloc? What additional "cover"
did that image give the officer making that clothing necessary? If the Long
Beach Police are on a campaign to demonize "anarchists" and bloc people,
what was their thinking in actually having an officer mingle in the crowd
with that image?
The entire program was videotaped by LBPD--we visited their camera site
and talked with the four officers who were filming and they admitted they
were LBPD and their assignment was to film the program---so we were aware
that there was heavy police surveillance. It is quite an escalation,
however, to have these two officers march with us, maintaining that they are
"with us," and yet having at least one of them dressed in the same image as
a group, some members of which they have attacked, beaten, falsely
arrested, falsely demonized and are targeting in other ways.
=======just a few thoughts from Don White===I will pass them on to Carol
Sobel, Jim Lafferty and others, just to get their input.======[ I need to
reconnect with the videographer who accompanied me to the interview!]
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