If Left to Their Own Devices: Police Provocation & Terrorists' Tendency to Fail

If a mischievous teenager provides matches, gasoline and bags of old newspaper to a pyromaniac-prone child, and that child goes on to set alight some structure, do we blame the child or does one immediately displace responsibility towards the facilitator; the entity that provided the means, opportunity and provocation?  Without being shown how to soak kindling in accelerant, would the child have known how to set such a fire?  Without the teenager’s ability to access matches and fuel, would the child have ever been able to access these resources, or would their potential danger serve to prevent their acquisition?  This fictional vignette is meant to bluntly drive home the focus of this short exploration.  The following will explore contemporary tactics in policing, specifically the post-9/11, militarized, counter-terrorism framed style of policing that has become so common in Fortress America.

The (Not so Fine) Line Between Informant and Provocateur

Since the rise of FBI counterterrorism operations in the post-9/11 environment targeting Arab and Muslim communities, it is no surprise that these communities found themselves the target of consistent infiltration by State informants.  In one such example, an ex-convict and paid FBI informant Craig Monteilh infiltrated Muslim communities in southern California (termed Operation Flex by the FBI), and has reported being given explicit permission to have sex with Muslim women (Bartosiewicz 2012; Harris 2012) and “record their pillow talk.”  During Monteilh‘s 15-month tenure, he was paid $177,000 (Daily Mail UK 2010) and was responsible for collecting massive surveillance including audio, video and photographic records.

Concerning his use of sexual inroads, as Monteilh so bluntly told the Guardian, “[The FBI] said, if it would enhance the intelligence, go ahead and have sex. So I did” (Harris 2012).  In his role within the southern California Muslim community, Monteilh acted as a confidential informant for the FBI, “carry[ing] out or plot[ing] fake terrorist ‘attacks’” (Harris 2012).  Monteilh presented himself as French-Syrian Muslim convert Farouk Aziz, and recorded a wealth of conversation between himself and mosque attendees in Orange County.  According to Monteilh and a subsequent lawsuit (United States District Court Central District of California 2011), the FBI’s goal is not only to unearth those individuals with potential for violence, but also to collect evidence of impropriety such as adultery, financial distress, drug use and homosexuality, that the FBI could leverage in order to generate additional informants from within the target community.  According to court documents:

“[FBI] agents Armstrong and Allen talked repeatedly with Monteilh about obtaining new informants within the Muslim community, primarily by getting information on potential informants that could be used against them if they refused to inform—such as immigration issues, sexual activity, business problems, or crimes like drug use.  Agents…instructed Monteilh to pay attention to people’s problems, to talk about and record them…Agents…on several occasions talked about different individuals that they believed might be susceptible to rumors about their sexual orientation, so that they could be persuaded to become informants through the threat of such rumors being started.” (United States District Court Central District of California 2011, 34)

Such instructions from the FBI mirror counter-insurgency strategies such as that of the Israeli intelligence services in their development of Palestinian collaborators (Rudoren 2012; Oliver and Steinberg 2006).  In the Israeli, counter-insurgency context, small moral improprieties are recorded or fabricated with the intention of using such leverage to convince Palestinians to act against their national interests.  In a similar fashion, the FBI sought to identify potential embarrassment in the hopes that such secrets could be exploited and used to convince Muslim community members with no other motivation to act as government informant.  The Monteilh case highlights another problematic feature of State infiltration campaigns, namely the informants’ tendency to act as a provocateur, urging targets to carryout acts of violence in excess of that which they would have come to on their own accord.  In Monteilh’s case, his militant urgings were so heavy handed that mosque attendees reported him to the FBI and filed for a restraining order, not wanting an Islamic extremist in their presence.  When viewed in a larger context, Monteilh’s actions as a provocateur are not uncommon.

Far removed from the mosques of California, activists in Texas recently began fighting their own legal battles, as individuals affiliated with Occupy Austin discovered that police provocateurs were responsible for creating the material conditions for their arrest.  According to longtime journalist Amy Goodman, host of “Democracy Now” radio:

“On December 12^th [2011], members of Occupy Austin joined protesters from around the region to block a street entrance to the Port of Houston.  Seven of the protesters in Houston locked their arms together using locks hidden inside [polyvinyl chloride] PVC pipes…While most of the demonstrators were charged with misdemeanors, those using the lockboxes were charged with felony use of a, quote, “criminal instrument.”  Well, evidence in the case now reveals that an undercover detective with the Austin Police Department not only bought the equipment to make the devices, he also designed them, put them together and dropped them off for the group to use.” (Garza and Gladden 2012)

What one observes from these cases, a shared characteristic between the Austin Occupiers and would-be jihadis, is that without State provocation, those charged with more serious offences may have taken divergent paths.  Without FBI agents delivering PVC lockboxes to activists, or advanced military weapons to jihadis (Corera 2011), would these individuals seek the usage of such means?  Certainly in some cases a motivated attacker would find the means, yet in a growing number of cases it appears that without State-led, cajoling efforts, such actions may never have come to fruition.

This is the history of what are known as agent provocateurs, entities employed by the State, acting covertly to entice and provoke others to carryout illegal acts while simultaneously creating an atmosphere to implicate others.  Such tactics have become commonplace in modern policing, and are used domestically, such as when police masquerade as protesting activists and are often reported to be more aggressive than demonstrators (Cardona 2013; Dwyer 2005), to incidents where special agents of the Israeli intelligence service have been found to have thrown stones at Israeli army soldiers (Levinson 2013).  In this manner police are regularly observed at demonstrations masquerading as militant protestors (Carroll et al. 2001) and even being arrested by unknowing officers (Preklet 2013).  While the actions of provocateurs have vaulted a host of ‘plots’ from fantasy to prosecutable reality, one must ask the burning, nascent question: If left alone (un-provoked, un-supplied, un-facilitated), would these terrorist plots emerge as actualized realities or fall flat on their faces due to inability and declining motivation?

If Left To Their Own Devices…

The vast majority of Muslims, Arabs and Asians arrested in post-9/11 ‘terrorist plots’, have epitomized a pie-in-the-sky style of attack plans where perpetrators fail to demonstrate the wherewithal or ability to carryout their plans.  Often these attacks are made possible via the knowledge and logistical skills of federal informants.  In a 2012 study analyzing 50 cases of so-called ‘jihadi’ terrorism planned in the US following 9/11 (study ranges September 2002-March 2012), the authors note that in the vast majority of cases, FBI facilitation of the crime was essential, as without it, potential attacks would have been called off due their own impossibility.  In describing the perpetuators of the fifty attacks and attack plots:

“With remarkably few exceptions,[analysts] describe their [terrorist] subjects with such words as incompetent, ineffective, unintelligent, idiotic, ignorant, inadequate, unorganized, misguided, muddled, amateurish, dopey, unrealistic, moronic, irrational, and foolish.  And in nearly all of the cases where an operative from the police or from the Federal Bureau of Investigation was at work (almost half of the total), the most appropriate descriptor would be ‘gullible’ “ (Mueller and Stewart 2012, 88)

Other noted security professionals and critics (see for example Schneier 2007; Byman and Fair 2010; Dalmia 2011) have mimicked these sentiments, challenging the notion that without interference from security forces, these attacks would have actualized their destructive intents and killed Americans and damaged property.  Based on the study of 50 attacks mentioned above, the authors developed a four point case typology and explain that nearly all attacks can be described as:

1.) An Islamist extremist conspiracy or connection that, in the view of the authorities, might have eventually developed into a plot to commit violence in the United States

2.) An Islamist extremist terrorist plot to commit violence in the United States, no matter how embryonic, that was disrupted

3.) An Islamist extremist plot to commit violence in the United States that was essentially created or facilitated in a major way by the authorities and then rolled up with arrests when enough evidence was accumulated

4.) An Islamist extremist terrorist or terrorist group that actually reached the stage of committing, or trying to commit, violence in the United States. (Mueller and Stewart 2012, 87)

While such a framework can aid in conceptualizing a threat, one quickly observes that nearly all of the plots post-9/11 qualify as number three, wherein security forces, most often the FBI, ‘create or facilitate’ the attack.  For example, in describing attempts by Russel Defreitas to blow up segments of JFK airport in 2007, security analyst Bruce Schneier (2007) states that not only was the would-be attacker’s plans unrealistic and unlikely to succeed, but that without resources provided by a FBI facilitator, he would have been unable to obtain necessary plot components such as building infrastructure maps and explosives.  Despite the likelihood that such attacks would fail on their own ineptitude, Republican Senator Arlen Specter (as quoted in Schneier 2007) called Defreitas’s plot, “the potential to be another 9/11” demonstrating once again the persistent memory of trauma the 2001 attacks are meant to mobilize.

When Did Protest Become Terrorism?

The distinction between where policing ends and provocation and facilitation begins is at the heart of formulating a judgmental ruling on the ethical nature of such State strategies.  To conclude, one can examine two additional cases occurring in the American Midwest in the Summer of 2012.  Both cases exhibit the State drawing provocative lines of relations between revolutionary social movements and a newly criminalized dissent.

Between May 20-21, 2012, in Chicago, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its summit in the US for the first time.  As a result, a sizable number of protestors assembled in the city to show their dissent.  Several days before the summit was set to begin, local police, in conjunction with the FBI and Secret Service (Main, Konkol, and Lansu 2012), preemptively arrested Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Vincent Betterly and charged them with an Illinois anti-terrorism statute that had never before been used.  In the 19 May 2012 court papers (2012a), the defendants are charged with three felonies: 1.) Material Support for Terrorism, 2.) Conspiracy to Commit Terrorism, and 3.) Possession of Explosives or Explosive or Incendiary Devices, amounting to 17-85 years in prison.  The evidence gained through “covert investigation” (2012a, 2) claims that the defendants conspired to attack police facilities with Molotov cocktails, and to use the police’s distracted response to target further sites.  The report details their preparations, ensuring to present the defendants as highly organized, well-armed domestic insurgents.  Despite recurrent descriptions of “destructive devices” and “improvised explosive-incendiary devices,” (2012a, 2) when it comes to a descriptive account of these preparations, the court papers describe the “devices” as “empty beer bottles that were filled with gasoline and fitted with fusing.” (2012a, 2)  The “fusing” described is later said to be a bandana cut into pieces. (2012a, 2)

Beyond the description of their actionable offenses, the court papers describe the defendants as “self-proclaimed anarchists, and members of the ‘Black Bloc’ group, who traveled together…in preparation for committing terrorist acts of violence and destruction directed against different targets in protest of to the NATO Summit.” (State of Illinois County of Cook 2012a)  While the four defendants certainly planned disruptive and violent actions, is it accurate to label the construction of four accelerant-filled beer bottles as conspiring to commit terrorism?  The subsequent grand jury indictment (2012b) lists eleven counts for which the three have been indicted.  These charges include the previous charges, as well as conspiracy to commit arson, solicitation to commit arson, attempt arson, and unlawful use of a weapon.  Such a judicial strategy is plain to interpret as the overcharging of dependents is done to:

“Give prosecutors more leverage in negotiating a plea deal later or in boosting their chances of securing at least some convictions if the case does eventually go to trial…prosecutors frequently use additional charges in an indictment as bargaining chips in later stages of the case, sometimes offering to drop the most serious charges if a defendant pleads guilty to lesser crimes.” (Tarm 2012)

The public framing of three activists—aged 22-27—within a language of conspiracy and terrorism has a political target.  The fear-inducing language serves to detract media coverage (Potter 2012) from the anti-NATO protests, delegitimize the political motivations of the defendants, and rhetorically link those opposing the summit to those seeking to undermine democratic means through violence.  The State was able to frame the urgency of their police actions, and the threat of the attackers because of the preparatory steps taken towards violent ends.  Yet despite these preparations, in reality the defendants posed little risk to life or property as the subjects were under police surveillance constantly.  Undercover police were present during the construction of the Molotov cocktails, and according to the defendants’ legal council, other undercover agents had “befriended” the defendants and “egged [them] on” (Main, Konkol, and Lansu 2012).

In the second Midwest case, five defendants were arrested in Cleveland, Ohio and indicted for conspiracy to destroy a bridge via explosives.  The defendants were arrested when they attempted to detonate readymade, yet inert explosive devices they believed to be active, having purchased them from an undercover federal agent.  Despite the FBI’s assertion that the public was never in danger due to the defendants’ constant surveillance, US attorney Steven Dettelbach stating, “These defendants were found to have engaged on terrorist activities and will spend nearly a decade in prison” (Rockwell 2012).  After their arrest, it was reveled that the police investigation was built around information provided by a confidential informant, Shaquille Azir, a convicted felon paid by police.  Azir was arrested twice for passing bad checks while under FBI direction during the Cleveland case! (The Smoking Gun 2012)  According to the indictment, Azir, as the “confidential human source,” began working for the FBI 20 July 2011 (2012, 2), and was first arrested 25 July 2011, and then again 22 December 2011 according to documents released by the court.  Azir also has previous convictions for possession of cocaine, robbery, possession of stolen property, grand theft, and four additional counts of passing bad checks. (The Smoking Gun 2012)  Having been arrested himself during his cooperation with police, Azir had a clear motivation in providing his cooperation to the FBI.

In the end after negotiating a non-cooperative plea deal, for their role in the bridge conspiracy, Douglas Wright and Anthony Hayne received 11.5 years, Brandon Baxter received nine years and nine months, and Connor Stevens received eight years and one month.  Joshua Stafford took his case to trial, lost, and was sentenced to ten years despite playing the smallest role in the ‘conspiracy.’  In the end, District Court Judge David Dowd concludes that since the men’s actions were designed to “intimidate the United States government” (Rozboril 2012) they were thus planned as acts of terrorism.  Additionally, while the FBI press release (2012) quotes Attorney Dettelbach as stating that the “defendants were found to have engaged in terrorist activities,” none were convicted of terroristic crimes.

Such cases are increasingly common, and are reminiscent of the prosecution of eight organizers (known as the “RNC 8”) who organized opposition to the 2008 Republican National Convention and were charged with “conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism.”  Social movement journalist Will Potter writes that the NATO, Cleveland and RNC 8 cases all share three key elements in the State’s criminalization of dissent:

1.) FBI infiltration, and reliance on government informants to manufacture the ‘plot’
2.) Terrorism charges
3.) Labeling the defendants ‘self-proclaimed anarchists’…
4.) Unveiling the ‘domestic terrorism’ arrests days before key protests (Potter 2012)

Certainly being labeled a “terrorist” in the public sphere has disciplinary functions.  Wright, one of the Cleveland defendants and said to the group’s leader, expressed concerns about the bridge as a potential target.  According to a summary of the recorded conversation between Wright, a second defendant (Brandon Baxter), and a police informant (Shaquille Azir):

“BAXTER and WRIGHT stated they don’t want people to think they are terrorists, so they would want to blow up the bridge at night or possibly pretend to be a construction crew and drop orange cones off at each end of the bridge to stop traffic before blowing up the bridge, thus limiting the number of casualties and the potential for killing possible supporters.” (2012, 8)

Such calculations by activists seeking to avoid a terrorist labeling are a key component of the post-9/11 reframing of social movement activism.  As Colin Salter points out in his discussion of the Green Scare, “The threat of being labeled in such a way, directly or through association, continues to have an impact on self-censorship” (2011, 219).

Additionally, claims of entrapment abound as activists are led to increasingly destructive tactics with the aid of knowledgeable and resource-rich undercover agents.  According to one description of the case’s interaction with informant Azir:

“Azir molded the [Cleveland] five’s childish bravado and drunken fantasies into terrorism.  He played father figure to the lost men, providing them with jobs, housing, beer and drugs.  Every time the scheme threatened to collapse into gutterpunk chaos, he kept it on track.  FBI tapes reveal Azir led the brainstorming of targets, showed them bridges to case out, pushed them to buy C-4 military-grade explosives, provided the contact for weapons, gave them money for the explosives and demanded they develop a plan because ‘we on the hook’ for the weapons.” (Gupta 2012)

Such accusations of entrapment have become a regular part of cases of this type as according to another account of the case, “Their arrests that night marked the latest case in which FBI agents planned fake terrorism plots alongside targeted suspects, an indication it continues to be a top strategy for the government in preventing terrorism.” (Franko and Sheeran 2012)

Conclusion: Newspeak to Explain a New World

One of the beautiful aspects of the American judicial system is the notion that defendants are ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ that it is the responsibility of the State to prove guilt, not the accused to prove innocence.  This places the burden of proof on the one doing the jailing and not the other way around.  Now while such a judicially-intentional design is often perverted through methods such as the Grand Jury indictments of social movement participants, for the majority of everyday criminals, one enters the court room with the presumption of innocence.  While it is thus the responsibility of the accused to solely prevent the demonstration of their guilt, when in the criminal planning stage, with provocateurs and clandestine agents afoot, it becomes the responsibility of underground conspirators to not only prevent the State from demonstrating their guilt, but also one must prevent the police from forcing their hand.  The lesson here is simple, while you can prevent self-incrimination in a court of law, in the court of dissenting, revolutionary street politics, you DO NOT have the right to avoid self-incrimination, and in fact, great powers may have mobilized against your self-interest to prove just that.

In a sense the justice system has lowered the burden of demonstrable proof.  Whereas in the past a court would have to prove you were guilty of committing a crime, now it simply has to demonstrate that if someone supplied the knowhow and weaponry, would you press the button?  It would seem that this corrupts the intention of incident-based policing.  While the historic role of the police is to investigate crime that has already occurred, this appears to be the State’s attempt to enter the “crimethink/thoughtcrime/precrime” arena and begin a new era where crime is stopped at conception, before the pin is pulled. [1]  Can American justice sustain in this newly found era of terrorist-tinged, criminalized dissent?  Maybe it’s simply a corruption of labeling, a question of poorly-appropriated languages?

Maybe all we need is a bit of a newspeak rewriting?

“As we have already seen in the case of the word free, words which had once borne a heretical meaning were sometimes retained for the sake of convenience, but only with the undesirable meanings purged out of them. Countless other words such as honour, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science, and religion had simply ceased to exist.” – “The Principles of Newspeak”, 1948

Notes:

[1] For additional exploration see George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty Four and/or Philip K. Dick’s “The Minority Report”.

References:

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