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Police agent Mark Kennedy was active throughout Europe

Julie Hyland | 03.02.2011 10:02 | History | Repression | Sheffield | World

Mark Kennedy, the police agent who worked undercover in the environmental movement for eight years, was active in his undercover guise as Mark Stone throughout Europe.

Kennedy’s real identity came to light in January, when the trial of six environmental campaigners at Nottingham Crown Court, England, collapsed. The case failed because Kennedy had offered to give evidence on behalf of the six.

Kennedy is just one of an unknown number of undercover police officers attached to the shadowy National Public Order Intelligence Unit that have infiltrated protest movements for years at a time. He has admitted that, under his Mark Stone alias, he played a leading role in organising, financing and directing campaigns and protests. But his activities were not limited to Britain.

On January 28, Der Spiegel revealed that a secret sitting of the Internal Affairs Committee had been held at the Bundestag (German parliament) over Kennedy’s activities in the country. At the sitting, Jörg Ziercke, chief of Germany’s federal police (the BKA), told parliamentarians that Kennedy had infiltrated the anti-fascist movement at the request of the German authorities.

Between 2004 and 2009, Ziercke said, Kennedy had spent long periods in Germany where he had infiltrated the “black bloc” anarchist movement. During that time, he had worked for three German states—Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Baden-Württemberg and Berlin.

According to Der Spiegel, Ziercke revealed that in the lead up to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, near Rostock, the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern had entered into a contract with Kennedy, having requested his assistance undercover. He had a similar contractual agreement with Baden-Württemberg, and was active in Berlin, where the BKA had informed city officials of his presence.

The newspaper reported that Ziercke had admitted that Kennedy had been involved in at least two crimes while in the country. The first was his involvement in a blockade during the protests around the G8 summit and arson during a demonstration in Berlin. The first case was not pursued, and the second was considered by officials to be “too minor” to pursue. Still, Der Spiegel commented, “it raises questions as to whether police exerted pressure on the judiciary to drop the charges.”

Der Spiegel reported, “Ziercke’s internal statements go far beyond what the German government has said about the case so far. The German Interior Ministry has largely declined to comment, pleading ‘operational concerns’.”

Ziercke also admitted that Kennedy had a lover in Berlin, in violation of regulations covering the activities of undercover agents. It is just one of a number of lovers Kennedy was known to have taken up with during his spying activities.

The BKA chief’s admission underscores Kennedy’s role as an agent provocateur. The G8 summit was subject to a massive police operation, involving German army units and an air force squadron. The protest demonstration on June 2 had been largely peaceful for hours, when there was a sudden outbreak of violence. Demonstrators reported that it appeared to have been instigated by some members of the “black bloc” who appeared to be in contact with the police. The World Socialist Web Site asked at the time, “Who benefited from the riots?“  http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jun2007/rost-j07.shtml

Kennedy was involved in organising protests and mounting a string of provocations across Europe. The Guardian reported that he had “entered 22 different countries across Europe using a fake passport,” including Spain, France, Italy, Ireland and Iceland.

As Mark Stone, he travelled to Ireland on at least five occasions between 2004 and 2006. He was amongst a small number of demonstrators who clashed with riot police in Dublin on May Day 2004, during a protest outside a meeting of the European Union heads of state.

The newspaper reported that Irish anarchists had stated that Kennedy was “in the vanguard of militant anti-capitalist protesters who attacked Irish police officers” at the time. And that he had “made visits to Dublin to help train protesters and encouraged other activists to attack the police.” He also paid for activists to go to Ireland and Germany to discuss protests.

In Iceland, Kennedy played a leading role in helping to develop the country’s fledgling environmental movement. “Saving Iceland” was formed by Olafur Pall Sigurdsson in 2005 to protest against the building of the Kárahnjúkar dam. It was during a European tour of fellow enviromentalists that Sigurdsson met Kennedy, who was only too keen to help the new movement.

Kennedy went to Iceland early that year where his extensive knowledge, experience and contacts were regarded with enthusiasm. The Guardian cited one Icelandic activist stating that Kennedy “was instrumental in forming activism in Iceland. He made himself indispensable. He was one of the key people in the early years. He helped nurture what was an embryonic movement and helped it evolve. He played a big role in furthering the movement.”

Kennedy pushed the movement into extending their direct action, showing them how to “lock down”—attach themselves to immoveable objects—and how to obstruct roads with scaffolding.

The newspaper also reports, “But the Guardian has seen private emails suggesting Kennedy was at the same time trying to drive a wedge between the group’s members. In one email, he suggested a prominent member of Saving Iceland had become a liability.

“ ’[A prominent member of Saving Iceland] was once again annoying,’ he emailed. ‘I was left with a feeling that the tour group was fragmenting…[he] seems extremely tired and I think he does not cope well with the way that groups like ours like to do things. Despite our best efforts he will not let go of the reins’.”

The political establishments in Ireland and Iceland have been tight-lipped as regards Kennedy’s activities in these countries. Demands by some politicians for the British authorities to explain the presence of one of its agents have fallen on deaf ears.

The latest revelations from Germany suggest that a primary factor in this silence is that Kennedy’s presence and activities were known about by officials. Indeed, if Ziercke’s answers are anything to go by, it cannot be ruled out that Kennedy’s presence was actually requested by the Irish and Icelandic authorities. Just how many similar operatives are at work?

Moreover, it cannot be the case that the traffic was solely in one direction—from Britain across Europe. Kennedy’s activities indicate a high degree of coordination between the various states in Europe as regards the undercover penetration and subverting of protest movements across the continent.

Julie Hyland
- Homepage: http://wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/kenn-f03.shtml

Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

The Employment Status of Mark Kennedy

03.02.2011 11:30

The NPIU was an operation run by ACPO - a private company. Did they employ him? If they did, should they have been allowing him to carry out the activities he carried out? I presume ACPO were his employers and so have to accept liability on their public liability insurance? So my question is, should protestors petition for the wind up of ACPO and all its operations because of this?

Interested


Rubbish

03.02.2011 12:57

This lazy piece of writing reads like a corporate repost, parroting much of the rubbish written by other lazy journalists who couldn't be bothered to do any original research. No matter how many times these idiots trot out the nonsense about the Ratcliffe 'trial' collapsing because Kennedy offered to help the defence, for example, it will not make it true. Likewise the claim Kennedy was instrumental in setting up the Icelandic environmental movement. This is lazy trash journalism, of which the author should be ashamed, and which Indymedia should discourage.

Anarchist


Facts wrong

03.02.2011 12:57

Two facts wrong in the first two lines! After that, I didn't have much confidence in anything which followed, though some of it may be accurate.

Kennedy was uncovered and exposed in OCTOBER, 2010. See postings here to establish that.

The collapse of the second Ratcliffe trial had nothing at all to do with any offer from him to help the defence. He resiled from that almost as soon as he'd said it and probably never meant it.

The reason the trial collapsed was because the defence sought disclosure of various information including the covert recordings Kennedy had made (allegedly using a specially adapted watch) of the big day-long meeting prior to the action. The prosecution refused to disclose that material so the defence were going to apply to the court for disclosure. That application would almost certainly have succeeded, due to its relevance to the defence. Faced with that, the prosecution preferred to pull the plug.

Most people here know all this, of course. I post it for the information of the lazy author of the article who has been foolish enough to believe the disinformation and bullshit in the mainstream media. It is bullshit which happens to be very useful to the secret state in misrepresenting many aspects of this nasty affair.

It would be good if those who know could identify from this article what is known to be true, what might be true and what is complete crap, like the opening paragraph.

Stroppyoldgit


utter cack

03.02.2011 13:42

The Iceland bits aren't even paraphrased from the guardian, they're virtually cut and pasted. Factually they are largely wrong, anyone with even a cursory knowledge of direct action tactics and terminology would question a source that refered to 'lock-down' instead of lock-ons. Its clear that the guardian's source knew fuck all and also clear that this poster cannot read critically and perhap cannot even type. Ctrl V.

on anon anon


Thanks anyway Julie unless your stalinist, dont mind our stroppy anarchists they

03.02.2011 15:48

dont get fed much.
I have as much a right if not more to be more annoyed than anyone else commenting on this as Marky Mark my initial name for him in my phonebook strangely enough often unsuccessfully tried to get myself & others involved in violence& even threatened me with his thai boxing bless him. He even started the only reported fight on site at the G8 horizone camp I heard of, there are other witnesses if necessary.
.
It is vv annoying though that even the "trustworthy" BBC& gaurdian parrot the rubbish that he offered to help the defence, they uncoverd him themselves & one asked him for help, he replied initially then declined to help. The case was won by the defence team
.
No doubt his information whilst he was involved in at the camp in wood house,sherwood helped the bailiffs& police evict quickly & destroy the wood there,
thankx Mark, your kids must be proud,

James


The Guardian lies about Mark Kennedy's involvement in Saving Iceland

03.02.2011 18:42

The recent spate of articles about the police spy Mark Kennedy that have appeared in the Guardian greatly distort the role of the police spy Mark Kennedy in the Icelandic environmentalist movement.

This may serve the Guardians' immediate purpose in dramatizing the Kennedy saga but is both damaging and falsifies history.

The Saving Iceland Collective have sent detailed clarifications to the Guardian regarding the numerous inaccuracies published in the paper in recent weeks. Appart from a one sentence disclaimer in Amelia Hill’s article ‘Mark Kennedy 'played key role in forming green movement in Iceland' stating that “Saving Iceland disputes the involvement of MK in the movement” the Guardian has done nothing to correct their twists of the truth.

A statement from Saving Iceland detailing these fabrications of the Guardian and its unreliable sources will be published in the next few days.

Saving Iceland Collective
mail e-mail: savingiceland@riseup.net
- Homepage: http://www.savingiceland.org


Rampart, London autononous centreanarchist bookfair after party, 2007

05.02.2011 14:53

The **** (kennady) was definitly there...I recall a discussion about folks taking LSD in a convoy setting...the geezer left the room with the red haired female. I did wonder actually where the convoy posse was at this suppossedly anarchist event!...weird. Thats the crew you need to test out the babylon...trust me, I used to be part of it...and they, the babylon, know that convoy reality in occult terms means nightmare for them. If any more kennedys are sussed out by the way, take visit to the local convoy site to discuss the issue..I sure the guys there could assist in turning the undercover individual over to be helpful...posssibly even to go double agent and thus be EXTREMELY useful.

ENDGAME BABYLON

Bles

Jim


The Real Facts

11.02.2011 21:38

The Real Facts Regarding Mark Kennedy’s Infiltration of Iceland’s Environmental Movement
 http://www.savingiceland.org/2011/02/the-real-facts-regarding-mark-kennedys-infiltration-of-iceland%E2%80%99s-environmental-movement/

Saving Iceland
- Homepage: http://www.savingiceland.org


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