Heathrow Protesters Uncover Spy Plot
UK Indymedia Features | 09.04.2008 12:41 | Climate Chaos
It has come to light that Oxford-educated Toby Kendall, 24, an employee of aerospace security consultants C2i International, infiltrated and spied on Heathrow campaign groups across London for a year. According to people from Plane Stupid, he was "suspected" and following an investigation he was confronted and exposed. Heathrow owner BAA has now admitted to the Times newspaper that it has been in contact with C2i, having previously claimed it had no involvement in the spying operation.
C2i International states on its website that its team is "hand-picked from Special Operations at New Scotland Yard". It is run by self-proclaimed Special Forces Veteran Justin King and says it "delivers tailored advice and solutions to companies in a wide range of industries including Aerospace."
On the Newswire: Plane Stupid foils infiltration attempt | International espionage agency targeted Heathrow protesters
Links: Plane Stupid | C2i International | Camp For Climate Action | Climate Chaos Topic Page
Piecing together evidence including photographs, reports from fellow students at Oxford and website profiles, Plane Stupid discovered the agent who was going by the name of 'Ken Tobias' is in fact 'Toby Kendall' who was captain of the athletics team at Wadham College, Oxford. Kendall went undercover in London Plane Stupid following last year's Climate Camp at Heathrow. According to Plane Stupid he made "elementary errors" as his career as a secret agent faltered at the first hurdle: "Due to his poorly constructed back-story and appalling acting skills. When Plane Stupid fed Kendall false information it was just 48 hours before sources in the aviation industry confirmed that the plans had been reported back to them".
The day after he was confronted, Kendall emailed Plane Stupid saying he "came into the group with a pure heart wanting to make a difference. I still of course hold my principles." Tamsin Omond, 23, a Church of England parish administrator, said today: "The aviation industry brought its special brand of bumbling incompetence to the task of spying on us. Their secret agent was more Austin Powers than James Bond though the question still remains, who paid the espionage agency?"
Plane Stupid is publishing a full dossier of evidence, including web links, photographs and more at www.planestupid.com
Other Spies
This isn't the first case of a spy being uncovered by activists in the recent past. The Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) was infiltrated by Martin Hogbin. See the enemy within from CAAT and BAe Spy Martin Hogbin and Mark Thomas by Mark Thomas and the 2005 CAAT Steering Committee statement on spying.
In the run-up to the 2005 G8 summit in Scotland, an American woman, known as Anna, contacted anti-G8 medics and various IMC's claiming she wanted to get involved with the protests. She was later identified in the set-up of the Auburn Three trial and turned out to be an FBI informant/agent. According to the FBI's own affidavit, "Anna" had been involved in gathering information on 12 separate cases in the anarchist movement.
Other cases of spies being caught include the case of the Oakland Police Infiltrators taking control of an anti-war group and the case of the Terrorism Task Force operative infiltrating a peace group in Fresno (see the IndyBay article: What Have Peace Fresno Members Learned Since the Infiltration)
.Ward Churchill, author of The COINTELPRO Papers, 'Documents From the FBI's Secret Wars Against Dissent in the United States' has documented the history of state infiltration of activists movements in the 1960's and 1970's and several of his talks on this matter are available online: [1] | [2] | [3].
Private spy contractors are a very big business. According to the Christian Science Monitor, the US spent over $43 billion on spy services in 2007. "The bulk of money was spent on private contractors" and the figure does not include "billions of dollars spent by military services on intelligence".
For more background information, see this feature article: Indymedia and British Intelligence Services.
UK Indymedia Features
Additions
Corporate / Mainstream Media Coverage
09.04.2008 13:34
Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent
April 8, 2008
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Pandora: Walk the plank, ye scurvy dog!
By Oliver Duff
Wednesday, 9 April 2008
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Mystery over who hired mole to dig dirt on Plane Stupid's environment activists
· Spy exposed after leaving easy-to-follow trail
· BAA refused involvement in 'James Bond' tactics
John Vidal and Dan Milmo
Wednesday April 9 2008
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Plane Stupid and the spy who got thrown out into the cold
Graham Thompson
Wednesday April 9 2008
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Mole exposed by anti-aviation group
Tue, 08 Apr 2008 14:06:02
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Bumbling 'spy' caught out by protest group
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
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Aviation critics out alleged spy
Published: April 8, 2008 at 5:30 PM
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IMC'er
Earlier Infiltration of CAAT and Liverpool Catholic Worker community
10.04.2008 07:24
In the '90's, the private intelligence group ran 6 spies in the more moderate Campaign Against the Arms Trade and a spy in the extended community of the Liverpool Catholic Worker for five years. At one LCW "Faith and Resistance" retreat, of the 35 present four were spies. The privatisation of spying is a serious issue - as is the privatisation of the military see Blackwater et al. Arms corporations Raytheon are about to take over surveillance of wo enters and exits the UK and Lockheed Martin are tendering for the census.
To create work and money for themselves these spooks inflate and lie about activists to make their services relevant to their customers. They can create suspicion and paranoia in th movement. The movement needs to develop ways of dealing with such suspicions and Plane Stupid seem to have done well here. See the article on Plane Stupid dealing with the issue in today's Guardian
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Our community in Liverpool comprised of Catholic Workers and exiled East Timorese - some who had been tortured jailed orphaned by the Indonesian dictatorship BAe were keen to do business.
BAe were rocked by the Seeds of Hope Ploughshhares nonviolent disarmament action at their Lancashire facility in January '96 and further rocked by the acquittal of the four women in Liverpool in July 96
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and the consequent formation of the Liverpool CW focussed on nonviolent resistance to BAe arms supply of the Indonesian dictatorship occupation of East Timor.
Mark Thomas Guardian article, my reflections on the Liverpool experience and a website dealing with these agencies on the lnk below
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Scroll down this link for a photo of our spy "Alan Fossey" at the retreat where 3 other spies were present
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Ciaron
Homepage:
http://www.londoncatholicworker.org
Plane Stupid spy also infiltrated anti-war group
11.04.2008 20:24
* PIRATE PHOTOS AND FOOTAGE AVAILABLE *
London Hands Off Iraqi Oil [1] congratulates fellow campaign group Plane Stupid on their exposé of corporate mole Toby Kendall this week, and reveals that Kendall has also targeted their meetings over the past six months.
Security consultants C2i International [2] employee Toby Kendall, 24, also known as ‘Ken Tobias’, infiltrated direct action groups Plane Stupid and London Hands Off Iraqi Oil in the capital.
Kendall attended the open meetings of climate change and anti-war organisations over the past year.
C2i International state on their website that their team is “hand-picked from Special Operations at New Scotland Yard.” [3] They list their “key services” as “Counter Espionage & Debugging” and “Executive Profiling and Investigation.” [4]
As soon as London Hands Off began its open meetings in December 2007 ‘Ken’ began to attend, sensing possible direct action against companies in London seeking access to Iraq ’s oil, including BP and Shell. [5]
Activists immediately suspected Kendall , in part due to his militaristic punctuality in attending and departing meetings, and his absurdly suspect email alias: ‘Meneleus’ – the Greek King who hid in the Trojan Horse sent to conquer Troy . [6]
After swapping notes with fellow activists in Plane Stupid, it became clear that ‘Ken’ was widely suspected as an infiltrator.
Kendall asked for demonstration route plans, and commandeered the role of a pirate captain on the Hands Off Iraqi Oil ‘piratical action tour’ of corporate occupiers in February [7]. He also helped target a Chatham House conference attended by Iraqi oil minister Hussein al-Shahristani and UK Energy minister Malcolm Wicks.
Ewa Jasiewicz of London Hands Off Iraqi Oil said: ‘We knew Plane Stupid were planning to expose ‘Meneleus’ so we put him to work writing our minutes and dressed him up as a pirate.’ She continued:
‘C2i’s choice of spy really put the ‘Ass’ back into Asset. However on a serious note, it is no surprise that campaigners who are monitoring Shell and BP’s every move on Iraq and are directly supporting anti-oil privatisation campaigners inside occupied Iraq should be of interest to corporate spies’.
Activists within London Hands Off Iraqi Oil have spent time in occupied Iraq working with anti-oil privatisation trade unions and experts.
Next month, the national Hands Off Iraqi Oil coalition is organising a fundraiser with award-winning journalist Naomi Klein for the Iraqi Federation of Oil Unions – a 26,000 strong independent union campaigning against the privatisation of Iraq ’s reserves.
Jonathan Stevenson, also of London Hands Off Iraqi Oil said: ‘The issue of oil privatisation through occupation in Iraq has been treated as a ‘conspiracy theory’ by some. However this incident suggests that groups challenging the undemocratic and destructive agendas of companies like Shell, BP and BAA are being taken seriously’.
‘We will be taking our message of corporate scrutiny and resource sovereignty for Iraq to BP’s AGM in London next week. ‘Ken’ had promised to bring a bathtub to the protest which we could convert into as a pirate ship. If he turns up we will make him walk the plank.’
London Hands Off Iraqi Oil successfully prevented Toby Kendall and C2i from accessing any sensitive information or participating in any direct action planning.
[1] London Hands Off Iraqi Oil is one of several groups around the country campaigning against the privatisation of Iraq ’s resources and against the economic as well as military occupation of Iraq . It supports the national Hands Off Iraqi Oil Campaign, see www.handsoffiraqioil.org
[2]
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[3]
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[4]
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[5]
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[6] Kendall ’s email identity was ‘Meneleus Gorecki’,
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[7]
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UK-wide there were 26 protests targeting Shell and BP petrol stations, plus four in the USA and one in Amsterdam . The London ‘corporate plunderers’ tour targeted Shell, BP, Erinys private military security company, The International Tax and Investment Centre and the National Portrait Gallery – for their sponsorship relationship deal with BP.
Danny (reposted)
Homepage:
http://www.handsoffiraqioil.org
Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups
12.04.2008 17:37
By James Ridgeway
Additional reporting by David Corn, Jennifer Wedekind, Daniel Schulman, and Nick Baumann
April 11, 2008
A private security company organized and managed by former Secret Service officers spied on Greenpeace and other environmental organizations from the late 1990s through at least 2000, pilfering documents from trash bins, attempting to plant undercover operatives within groups, casing offices, collecting phone records of activists, and penetrating confidential meetings. According to company documents provided to Mother Jones by a former investor in the firm, this security outfit collected confidential internal records—donor lists, detailed financial statements, the Social Security numbers of staff members, strategy memos—from these organizations and produced intelligence reports for public relations firms and major corporations involved in environmental controversies.
In addition to focusing on environmentalists, the firm, Beckett Brown International (later called S2i), provided a range of services to a host of clients. According to its billing records, BBI engaged in "intelligence collection" for Allied Waste; it conducted background checks and performed due diligence for the Carlyle Group, the Washington-based investment firm; it provided "protective services" for the National Rifle Association; it handled "crisis management" for the Gallo wine company and for Pirelli; it made sure that the Louis Dreyfus Group, the commodities firm, was not being bugged; it engaged in "information collection" for Wal-Mart; it conducted background checks for Patricia Duff, a Democratic Party fundraiser then involved in a divorce with billionaire Ronald Perelman; and for Mary Kay, BBI mounted "surveillance," and vetted Gayle Gaston, a top executive at the cosmetics company (and mother of actress Robin Wright Penn), retaining an expert to conduct a psychological assessment of her. Also listed as clients in BBI records: Halliburton and Monsanto.
Read the whole article on one page:
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Mother Jones
Homepage:
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/04/firm-spied-on-environmental-groups.html
Comments
Hide the following 9 comments
Reality Cheque
10.04.2008 11:48
Ciaron
Homepage:
http://www.londoncatholicworker.org
Who were they?
10.04.2008 15:31
Jules
Brilliant work by P.S.
10.04.2008 17:59
Cheers for the excellent publicity Toby you fucking mug! Couldn't ask for better.
Bill Posters
How to Investigate & Expose a Grass
10.04.2008 19:39
Well done to PS for doing this and even better burning Ken to the point he'll not be able to do this again, but it could easily have backfired the way you did it.
Oh, and I cringed at the Guardian article - sort of exposed too much of how you work internally. Next time they will not be so easily caught out.
Best of luck...
FTP
the twat was at the climate camp as well... remember him well
10.04.2008 22:20
unnecessary
Response to Jules
11.04.2008 11:56
Ciaron
Homepage:
http://www.londoncatholicworker.org
Get real
11.04.2008 14:59
Paul
Free Walter Mitty !
11.04.2008 16:33
It is unlikely the same company put multiple agents in the one group, although the decoy idea was worth mentioning. It is more likely that other companies have tried to place agents in the same group, and given the incompetence of this cunt, more successfully. I seem to remember one Greenpeace group that consisted solely of infiltrators from differing organisations, none of whom knew the others were also agents. Keystone cops reporting on each other.
"It seems that although this individual was a bit of a pain in the neck he was also clearly not in any way a professional infiltrator"
He was paid, that makes it his profession. He was crap, 'unprofessional' in his lack of trade craft but he was paid. I could find this guy in a week, I'm sure Plane Stupid could find him tonight. My question is, what do you do to them once they've been exposed. They seem to get shamed and then forgotten. That is hardly a deterrent to earning loads of money playing at James Bond.
"It looks like this bloke was a bit of a Walter Mitty sado"
Most of them are saddos ( not sado - that implies something else). And drop the Walter Mitty smears, Walter Mitty was a genuinely nice guy who would never have betrayed anyone deliberately.
This is becoming ubiquitious. FTP already explained how to try to expose spies in groups, but the people most likely to have read his reference are the spies themselves. I don't think that is enough anymore. I think we need to develop new ways of creating direct action without any groups that can and will be infiltrated. Instead of Web 2.0 , Activism 2.0 . We have 'flash-mobs' nowadays - why not 'flash-actions' or 'flash-riots' if you prefer ?
Danny
look at this positively
11.04.2008 19:05
"C2i's Technical Team was hand-picked from Special Operations at New Scotland Yard and were responsible for writing the accepted guidelines now used for all counter-measure examinations by governments worldwide. C2i's team is discrete, highly experienced, and can be deployed at very short notice.
They are multi-lingual, have operated all around the world for diverse clients, and can be deployed at very short notice 24 hours a day. No outside contractors are used guaranteeing confidentiality, experience and integrity.
Given C2i’s wider security expertise, our threat assessments take into account the full spectrum of security, ensuring appropriate and effective action is taken to counter all aspects of industrial espionage."
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if an organisation that proclaims the depth of its' expertise that loudly and unequivocally can hire someone who's as much of a complete muppet as Kendall is....They really are no threat to Plane Stupid.
i'd say "well done" for fingering him...but really, Inspector Clouseau could have rumbled him. As could have 'Benny' from 'Crossroads'.
DaanSaaf