From: lcs Mixmaster Remailer <mix@anon.lcs.mit.edu>
Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 21:41:56 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: How to Spot a Government Infiltrator
Message-ID: <19981226132002.19035.qmail@nym.alias.net>
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How to Spot a Government Infiltrator 

                              by Mike Johnson

Those who have been studying the stories released to the media these days about the arrests of
various different people within the militia movement will doubtlessly have noted that government
infiltrators are usually involved. This should make people nervous. 

And rightly so. Our normal view of government is that the only people who should have to worry
about what the government is up to are people who are breaking the law. As the vast majority of
constitutional militia units are composed of people who are of good character and don't go around
breaking the law to begin with, they might feel that they should have little to worry about from the
government. 

Unfortunately that does not seem to be the case. The government appears to be going all out to
discredit the constitutional militia movement in this country. This effort on the part of the government
does include the use of government agents to infiltrate militia units and cause as many problems, hate
and discontent as they possibly can. In many instances, these government agents may not be readily
apparent as to who and what they are. Some of these people may have had extensive experience in
working undercover operations and may not make some of the more stupid mistakes. 

There are a variety of different roles that such government operatives may play. The first is that they
may simply act as a mole. They will do everything anybody else in the unit does, and do nothing at all
to call undue attention to themselves. However, they will relay everything that goes on within the unit
to their handlers. About the only indication a unit may have that they have been infiltrated by a mole
may be that they can't seem to be able to keep anything a secret. This type of role is the most difficult
for a unit to detect and deal with. Which is also possibly why most of the spy novels that get written
deal with various different ways to smoke out moles. While I wouldn't suggest that anybody try a
technique for which the only source of documentation is a work of fiction, it is an indication of just
how obnoxious this type of agent could be to deal with. 

Another role that a government agent might play may be that of a dissipator. A dissipator is one who
tries to redirect the course and energy of a unit in ways which will cause it to accomplish nothing of
any importance. They may also act so as to break a unit up by emphasizing differences,
disagreements and personality clashes between unit members. Given that the people who are
attracted to the constitutionalist militia movement usually tend to be strong willed and opinionated
people to begin with, such an agent may find that his task is somewhat easier than it might be if he
were working with other groups. Unit members should simply be encouraged not to take things
personally, be aware that there will be honest differences of opinion between the members of the unit,
and to be wary of somebody who does try to take everything personally, or set up cliques within the
unit. 

The final role which will be discussed is that of the agent provocateur. Such an agent infiltrates a unit
and tries to get the members of the unit to actually commit crimes, or make it look like they are
actually planning to commit crimes. One should also bear in mind that a government agent is not going
to be confined to operating within any one of the roles that have been discussed, and may likely mix
and match as they feel best. However, the role that has received the highest profile in government
operations these days is that of the agent provocateur. That is largely because the results of an
operation conducted by an agent provocateur or two make for good propaganda when the media
gets hold of it. The resultant publicity given to the arrests and the charges gets used to brand
everybody in the entire movement as a criminal. The fact that the entire thing was set up by someone
in the employ of the government isn't going to be mentioned at all by the mainstream media. 

For those who haven't caught on by now, your antenna should start to quiver in the presence of any
one, or especially a combination of the following behaviors/patterns demonstrated by a unit member: 

     (1) Wants to make bombs.
     (2) Wants to get everybody else to make bombs.
     (3) Wants people to buy/store large quantities of substances which could be used for
     explosives manufacture.
     (4) Fanatic about obtaining fully automatic weapons, without benefit of Class III
     license.
     (5) No obvious means of support, especially if they have lots of money to throw
     around.
     (6) Auto license tag changed on an irregular basis.
     (7) Encourages people to plan/do stupid things (raid armories, blow up office buildings,
     etc.)
     (8) Some groups can get auto tags run. They should be especially suspicious of
     anybody whose auto tag turns up a complete blank when run. (9) In our case, the guy
     was absolutely paranoid about his car being out of either his sight or his "wife's" sight for
     even a trivial amount of time.
     (10) Person claims to have a military background that they do not have. One individual
     claimed to be former Special Forces, but was found to be ignorant of some of the things
     that he should have known when quizzed by people who were former Special Forces.
     Depending on the level of trust that the members of your group have with each other, it
     might be a good idea to request to see the DD-214s of anybody claiming to have a
     military background.
     (11) One of your members has taken effective action to expose or block activities of
     the police or government preventing the expansion of or preservation of government
     power to control people and/or invade the privacy of the people.
     (12) One of your members (a) has an FFL; or (b) is involved in selling at gun shows; or
     (c) Is involved in promoting gun shows. 

Arguably the best way to deal with people who meet criteria 1-10 is simply to invite them to leave
the unit. As Starr and McCranie found out, trying to turn them in will do no good at all, so the next
best bet is to try to get them to leave. Failing that, disband unit, start again from scratch with people
you can trust after sufficient elapsed time. Given the way things are going right now, those who have
not joined up with public units may want to consider forming small closed units with just a small group
of people that they have known for a long time and that they trust. 

For persons in 11, and 12: Do your best to be sure the goons cannot find a pretext as that is what
they often work from. 

(*) Bill Albert of the Michigan Militia contributed to the list of items to look for and the discussion
which follows it.