Call me paranoid (many already have), but the hype about anarchists and the Royal Wedding is ratherdisturbing. Open the scene for the Royal Wedding, a beautiful union between two wonderful twits. With M26 still fresh in the minds of the press and coppers alike, the hype has been blown up to a full security scare about anarchists attacking the royal entourage and embarrassing Britain in front of the world – shock, horror. And it’s everywhere - Daily Hate, Torygraph, Evil Standard, Sun, CNN. According to some news sources, anarchist forums are “buzzing” with plans to disrupt the wedding – um, well, no, not really. So, why the hype? Maybe:

1] Police want to justify their massive (public) budget for the Wedding by claiming that there will be wide-spread disruption.
2] Slow press day, so Murdoch’s apes-with-type-writers come up with a little story to scare middle-Britain about dangerous anarchists, as another means to discredit the movement/ tendency.
3] Because a few of our “leaders” (say Chris Knight, and Alpha One with his bag of tricks – see  http://london.indymedia.org/articles/8679) have gone to the press with the carefully-laid plans of the attack – very covert. Also, who the hell is Charles Veitch of the “Love Police Academy”, another of our official spokespersons, who also claims to be responsible for the Charles-Camilla paintbombing during the student demo (see CNN article)?

4] Engineering a Spectacle….my own “paranoid” theory (….only time will tell):

Firstly, let’s be clear what there will and won’t be at the Royal Wedding day in central London:

Who won’t be there:
1] Black Bloc, or any direct action anarchists: if anyone has been reading any of the posts on Indymedia will know that BB, and others will not be attending. Unlike M26, where the numbers and atmosphere was “ripe” for action, the Royal Wedding is not. It will be crawling with cops, tourists and royalists – hardly the people one would expect solidarity from. If you are thinking of heading down for some “action”, please consider the counter-strategy below.

Who will be there:
1] [Fact] Republican March: this seems to be popular with a mainstream, anti-monarchist bunch, especially in the context of the cuts and royal tax-breaks, etc. About 1,000 people on their facebook site intend on coming. It will be a small, pleasant gathering making a peaceful statement.

2] [Fact] Police, MI5, MI6, Army: Lots of them, with powers that strip away most civil liberties.

3] [Theory]: Pig Block

Ok, what is Pig Block? Over the last few major demonstrations in London (from G20 two years ago to M26 a few weeks ago), there is mounting evidence of police infiltrators, agent provocateurs and rather camera-savvy “anarchist”-look-alikes, who are involved in entrapment, starting flashpoints and providing the pictures the press crave to a ring of photographers (ie hooded figure boots window, flare in background….looks like Armageddon). I must clarify that Pig Block are a small, limited group, that are nothing to do with the actions or principles of Black Bloc. Just two examples from the recent M26:
1] Auntie BBC’s footage from above:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjysDusaYv0
2] Another here, with regards the HSBC bank attack, with an interesting in-depth discussion on Reddit (50:50 on whether it is or isn’t AP, but its rather creepy the way the guy in the blue shirt enthusiastically tries to usher people in; luckily most people weren’t stupid enough to fall for it)
 http://www.reddit.com/comments/gd0ar/im_a_cop_undercover_shouts_the_black_bloc_agent/

So here’s the crunch: How to Engineer a Spectacle?

1] Hype it: “If you book them, they will come” – Wayne’s World. Splash it in the press, make them mad, get them excited. Why would the press hype it if they didn’t want it to happen? Two twits getting married is not a story. They want Spectacular, and if anarchists won’t, then Pig Block can.

2] Send out false information: only this morning a post on Indymedia; obviously some sort of plant: the writer calls themselves: “Black Block (sic) anarchist” and instead of a good rousing call-out, they link to the Evening Standard article and some Youtube footage…wtf?
 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/04/477726.html

3] On the day: here is how I think the events will pan out on the day. A contingent of Pig Block, dressed like Black Bloc, will appear on the day, with a strong contingent of TSG surrounding them (to protect them from the rabid Royalists and EDL, and at the same time allowing them to move freely), probably as part of the Republican March. They will let off fire-crackers, throw some smoke-bombs, and generally rampage (safely away from the Royal route). They will break some windows for the press, and try and drag sympathetic demonstrators into their action (after which these unsuspecting dupes will be dispatched safely into a police van for charging). The police may even use these actions as a reason to go in hard on the Republican demonstrators, for a little kettling (oh, sorry, “containment”) and data mining.

4] The day after: Press, after saying how amazing the wedding was, blah, blah, blah, will report that anarchists tried to attack the wedding, were contained by the police and several arrested. The police will whinge that they didn’t have enough powers for real containment, masks need to be banned, anarchists hunted down, a water-cannon for public order situations must be purchased immediately, blah, blah, blah. So an event where no real anarchist action happened will be used to further the cause of the rabid media, police and the State, to curtail civil liberties. That’s how you Engineer a Spectacle.

Thus, I suggest the following counter-strategy (which I think should ONLY be used at THIS particular event, and only because Black Bloc (or similar) will NOT be there):

1] Masked up demonstrators, that seem to be wandering around aggressively, and closely “protected” by a police contingent, should be singled out and prevented from entering the main Republican March. Surround them and get pictures; even more risky, unmask them and get full facial pictures.

2] Follow Pig Block around and film their activities throughout; footage should show that the police hold back and let this group march around regardless.

3] Show solidarity with those arrested. Those who have been arrested from entrapment will need our support, while those in Pig Block will “disappear” without any record of arrest (even though there may be a “show of strength” by the police to arrest them all).

4] Eye-witness reports, with pics and vids (edited, so as not to incriminate innocents) posted on Indymedia. More pertinent info: consult with anarchist federations, or non-mainstream legal (eg Green and Black Cross)

Why suggest such a counter-strategy (I repeat, ONLY for this event, and not for other marches/ demonstrations):

1] To gather evidence on Pig Block; like all black-ops by the State, any mention of agent provocateurs is shouted down with “conspiracy theory!”. To unmask the State, in all its insidious techniques is an important blow against the police, the press and the State, as citizens realize that the State is involved in the dark arts. Additionally, to be able to identify and root out Pig Block from the movement.

2] In memory of the death of Ian Tomlinson, murdered by the police at the G20, is a result of the actions of the State, including the use of agent provocateurs, which were used as a justification to hit peaceful protesters. Uncovering the use of Pig Block demonstrates that the police are culpable for his homicide, because they used these illegal elements to justify their crackdown.

I know that many will consider my suggestions reckless, and I repeat: this is a SUGGESTED action, for THIS events ONLY and not a general counter-strategy. The ferocity with which the media is hyping the upcoming action suggests motives beyond the obvious; we need to expose this, especially if politicians will then use it to justify further infractions on our civil liberties. The anarchist tendency is flexible in its tactics and strategies, and I don’t believe that those involved in violent direct action will be there; thus I believe that this counter-strategy should NOT endanger the liberties of those who take part in such actions.

Be safe on the streets, and good luck to those attending this beautiful union in the West End.