# Did an undercover cop help organise the J18 riot?



## editor (Feb 4, 2014)

This comes as no surprise to me at all. 


> Bad enough? You haven't heard the half of it. Last week, the activist John Jordan was told his conviction (for occupying the offices of London Transport) would be overturned. The Crown Prosecution Service refuses to reveal why, but it doubtless has something to do with the fact that one of Jordan's co-defendants turns out to have been Jim Boyling, a secret policeman working for the Met, who allegedly used his false identity in court.
> 
> Jordan has now made a further claim. He alleges that the same man helped organise a street party that went wrong and turned into the worst riot in London since the poll tax demonstrations. The J18 Carnival Against Global Capitalism on 18 June 1999 went well beyond non-violent protest. According to the police, 42 people were injured and over £1m of damage was done. One building was singled out: the London International Financial Futures Exchange (Liffe), where derivatives were traded. Though protesters entered the building at 1.40pm, the police did not arrive until 4.15pm.
> 
> ...


More: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/03/undercover-officer-major-riot-john-jordan


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## free spirit (Feb 4, 2014)

hmm... is that all it is now even here? a riot?

yes he would have been one among many many people involved in various ways, but from what I remember on the day the original attack on LIFFE wasn't anything really to do with RTS where the original plan had been to wall them in, it was only a few people involved inside, and had settled down anyway long before the police actually got involved.

My memory of it was that it didn't turn ugly until word spread of a lass being run over by a reversing riot van, and about 50 riot coppers making an ill advised attack right into the middle of the action, then getting themselves surrounded and cut off and fighting their way back out.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 4, 2014)

I've only recently finished reading Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret - Paul Lewis and Rob Evans. It exposes Jim Boyling, Bob Lambert et al for the toads they are. 

Jim Boyling's undercover name was Peter James Sutton. With regards to the occupation of the London Transport offices; he played a full part in the demonstration and subsequent occupation of the offices. He was arrested under that false name, gave evidence under that false name. His signature on official court documents was a forgery. He went through the entire prosecution process from arrest to acquittal under this false identity. This was when he was working for the SDS (Special Demonstration Squad)


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## free spirit (Feb 4, 2014)

It's a bit odd seeing an article about this now tbh, I guess John Jordon needed to use it as a hook to get some interest in his case, or it just came up as part of the conversation with Monbiot or something, but this has been known about for years now. Shows how little contact monbiot really has within the activist community these days if this is actually news to him, though fair play if he's just using it to keep the pressure up.

IIRC he was also heavily involved in the next years mayday guerilla gardening, and probably responsible for the van with lots of gardening kit in it being stopped and arrested before the action.

I'm sure all of this is in the long thread on Kennedy and other undercovers started on here in 2010.

FWIW, I remember someone from RTS London coming up north to do a talk in 98, and saying then that they knew they'd been infiltrated, though I've no idea if they actually had identified who it was.


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## free spirit (Feb 4, 2014)

Just to expand on my first post, for those who weren't there or involved and have only seen the media version of events.

J18 wasn't organised as a riot, it was a core part of a huge international day of protest against neoliberalist globalisation via the World Bank, IMF, WTO etc that saw at least hundreds of thousands, probably over a million protesting in well over a hundred cities in dozens of countries around the world on the same day to coincide with a G8 meeting, in cluding massive protests in India, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria as well as cities across Europe, North America and Australia.

As part of this, thousands of copies of Evading Standards, a spoof newspaper printed for the day were distributed to commuters in the morning to give background to the action to come, and Corporate Watch produced 'squaring up to the square mile'.









activists groups from around the country spent the morning taking part in autonomous actions across London, with a huge critical mass bike protest winding its way around london....

... and then 10-20,000 of us met at Liverpool Street Station prior to being led down to the main protest site





From here the protest split into 4 groups following different coloured flags through the city...









...before converging on the area outside the LIFFE building, where we were met with sound systems, banners being rigged up,









and a fire hydrant fountain was set off...






and for several hours several blocks of the city were reclaimed and partied while the city traders looked on a bit bemused.

As the day wore on, and the police began moving in, things started to turn more agro, particularly after rumours of a girl being run over by a police van started circulating...






... but that wasn't the point of the day, it was the aftermath of the main event, and focusing just on that enables them to reclaim the memory of the day from us.

Undercover cop or no undercover cop, we took over and held much of London's financial district for several hours at the same time as a million or so protestors targeted their financial districts around the world in protest at the Neoliberalist agenda that was sweeping the world with the City of London as a major force in pushing the agenda and associated casino finance system that's caused rapidly increasing inequality since, and eventually led to the 2008 economic crash. 

It was a protest that set the scene for the huge Seattle protests against the WTO later that year, effectively killing off a round of supposed trade liberalisation agreements that have still not been passed (though the EU / US trade agreement now being discussed will re-enact a lot of it if it gets passed), and via the global nature of the protests was part of the partly indigenous based grass roots left resurgence across much of South America resulting in a turn away from US domination of the region.

J18 was no mere riot.

ps Despite coming from google, most of these photos are actually from Urban, which has great coverage of the day here and here, and I know that the thread title was unintentional, and Urban's coverage of J18 itself is about the best that's still up on the net. I've just been getting a bit sick of the press coverage of this police undercover stuff ending up without any real coverage of what the protests actually involved, or what we were protesting about. 

The undercovers seem to have become the bigger story than either the protests, or the massive inequalities and corruption that's increasingly ingrained in our economic and political system. Not that it's not important, but we definitely seem to be losing badly these days, and these undercovers were no doubt a significant part in that with their betrayal undermining the bonds of trust that need to exist within a protest movement, and increasing the risks for all involved. 

Meanwhile the US & EU are on the verge of signing away our few remaining democratic rights to the corporations with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership that will provide the finishing touches to the legal framework to allowing the corporations to legally enforce the global race to the bottom on environmental and social standards.


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## butchersapron (Feb 4, 2014)

General point: Jordan was warned and a warning was put out to others at the time that he was talking to dodgy people and playing a silly dangerous game. All seemed to be forgotten when he went off/back to clown school.


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## DrRingDing (Feb 4, 2014)

free spirit said:


> Just to expand on my first post, for those who weren't there or involved and have only seen the media version of events.
> 
> J18 wasn't organised as a riot, it was a core part of a huge international day of protest against neoliberalist globalisation via the World Bank, IMF, WTO etc that saw at least hundreds of thousands, probably over a million protesting in well over a hundred cities in dozens of countries around the world on the same day to coincide with a G8 meeting, in cluding massive protests in India, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria as well as cities across Europe, North America and Australia.
> 
> ...



What's your opinion on why you had shit loads of folk turn up to a street protest then but now, well, it's sadly lacking.


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## smokedout (Feb 4, 2014)

free spirit said:


> ... but that wasn't the point of the day, it was the aftermath of the main event, and focusing just on that enables them to reclaim the memory of the day from us.



to be fair the riot was the best bit.


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## TopCat (Feb 4, 2014)

smokedout said:


> to be fair the riot was the best bit.


Fucking A.


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## free spirit (Feb 5, 2014)

smokedout said:


> to be fair the riot was the best bit.


We'd been up at 6 to dish out a few thousand evading standards to commuters at Kings Cross, then doing stuff all morning, so didn't stick around too long after it was really kicking off.

I'd been off holding a junction at the far edge of things with a few people where it was still pretty fluffy. Worked out it was probably time to retreat after I had a group of bikers riding straight at me (sat in the road) then each swerving round me at the last minute.

ps I wasn't saying the riot wasn't a significant part of the day, just that there was a hell of a lot more to it than just a riot, and Monbiot has prior form on this with RTS.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

free spirit said:


> I guess John Jordon needed to use it as a hook to get some interest in his case, or it just came up as part of the conversation with Monbiot or something



It was from a statement sent by Jordan to Monbiot - see the footnotes to the version on Stowe Boy's website (n22): http://www.monbiot.com/2014/02/03/bring-it-on/


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

butchersapron said:


> All seemed to be forgotten...



Did it?


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## free spirit (Feb 5, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> It was from a statement sent by Jordan to Monbiot - see the footnotes to the version on Stowe Boy's website (n22): http://www.monbiot.com/2014/02/03/bring-it-on/


yeah I'd spotted that, think someone pointed it out on the other thread.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

Dexter Deadwood said:


> I've only recently finished reading Undercover: The True Story of Britain's Secret - Paul Lewis and Rob Evans. It exposes Jim Boyling, Bob Lambert et al for the toads they are.



To be fair, all bar one undercover police officer* named in the book were exposed by activists, or (in the case of Peter Francis AKA ‘Peter Daley’/‘Pete Black’/‘Officer A’) had come forward to tell his story before the whole Mark Kennedy shitstorm even swelled.

* Mike Chitty AKA ‘Mike Blake’


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## free spirit (Feb 5, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> What's your opinion on why you had shit loads of folk turn up to a street protest then but now, well, it's sadly lacking.


this generation put in a valiant effort with the Occupy protests, but that's never going to end up as a mass participation thing over a UK winter, and I'll bet most involved in that will be properly burned out and demoralised afterwards.

I could write a really long post on this point, but in large part I suspect it boils down to a generation of activists in the late 90s feeling optimistic that they could actually change the situation and face down the neoliberalist agenda vs now when the relentless march of neoliberalist economic policies, plus state surveillance, increased police powers, and ever tighter dole rules, the shite job situation etc. makes the task a hell of a lot more daunting.

For the generation of protestors from the 90s, most are probably focused on kids and keeping a roof over their heads and don't have the time or energy to put in, with a lot more at stake if they did get nicked.

I've also been discussing this for a while with an old lecturer of mine, but this generation of students coming through seem to in general to be a lot more compliant, less willing to question authority etc. than we were, which we reckon is probably a delayed result of all the intensive testing at schools, and teaching to the test rather than being taught to give them the tools to think for themselves... plus stuff like the check 21 crap in pubs, asbos, stop and search etc. Obviously that's a sweeping generalisation, and there are some decent signs of dissent on some campuses (being clamped down on hard mind).

Also back then it was a follow on from the new age travellers, peace convoy, rave, free party, festival, roads protest, squat scene, with more scope to actually survive on benefits plus whatever else you picked up and spend most of your time organising / protesting. I'm not in anything like that situation now, so don't know the sketch, but it seems like that's become a hell of a lot harder, and most of the rave crews have packed it in, squatting's been made illegal in houses, travellers are constantly hounded etc.

so loads of stuff really, but that's not to say that it couldn't come again, the anger's certainly there, but the background situation makes it that much harder for any significant number of people to all dedicate that level of time and energy to organising on that sort of scale... even if the belief was there that we could actually make a difference.

I do feel though that with the right spark, and credible seeming organisation, with involvement from lots of different crews / protest groups, and approaches to the old networks that a hell of a lot of people could be brought onto the streets for the right target done in the right way. It does all take money as well though, which was one other thing that RTS had some access to by J18, not sure where that would come from now unless there's some still kicking around. You can see from the reaction to some of the Annonymous pronouncements etc that there are a lot of people gagging for someone to take the lead and organise something they can get involve in, but nobody's really stepping up to make it happen on that scale.

just my two penneth, 5/10 years ago I'd have been in a position to do something about it myself, not really in a position to do that these days.


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## Dexter Deadwood (Feb 5, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:


> To be fair, all bar one undercover police officer* named in the book were exposed by activists, or (in the case of Peter Francis AKA ‘Peter Daley’/‘Pete Black’/‘Officer A’) had come forward to tell his story before the whole Mark Kennedy shitstorm even swelled.
> 
> * Mike Chitty AKA ‘Mike Blake’



Yep. Regarding the occupation of London Transport offices; I mention Jim Boyling as he had the same solicitor Bindmans as the other defendants, would have been privy to confidential information and would have passed that confidential information back to his controllers. Therefore the one conviction in this case is unsafe, the CPS know this.


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## DrRingDing (Feb 5, 2014)

free spirit said:


> I could write a really long post on this point, but in large part I suspect it boils down to a generation of activists in the late 90s feeling optimistic that they could actually change the situation and face down the neoliberalist agenda vs now when the relentless march of neoliberalist economic policies, plus state surveillance, increased police powers, and ever tighter dole rules, the shite job situation etc. makes the task a hell of a lot more daunting.



Cheers for the reply......and cheers for mucking in with J18. Growing up in a deeply conservative backwater it was that day that made me aware that there's other people out there that felt the same anger as me.

If you've got more to say it'd be useful to hear it.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> Cheers for the reply......and cheers for mucking in with J18. Growing up in a deeply conservative backwater it was that day that made me aware that there's other people out there that felt the same anger as me.
> 
> If you've got more to say it'd be useful to hear it.


You may be interested in the _Reflections On J18_ book, or the various responses to it.

Eg:



http://www.infoshop.org/library/j18-reflections-rts - not working for some reason
http://www.afed.org.uk/online/j18/reflec1.html

http://libcom.org/library/review-reflections-j18-undercurrent
http://www.worldsocialism.org/spgb/...1149-may-2000/reflections-reflections-june-18
Bristol Anarchist Bookfair website helpfully points towards a collection of materials related to the ‘global days of action’ of the late 90s/early 00s:

http://www.bristolanarchistbookfair...tegies-10-years-on-from-j18-and-seattle-1999/
I believe there were also similar booklets on N30 and the London May Day 2000/M2K

And this slightly nutty but still interesting proto-baitvan/pre-vancop tale from Euston N30:

http://conceptual-reflections.w43w.com/953/n30-the-euston-deceit/


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## free spirit (Feb 5, 2014)

DrRingDing said:


> Cheers for the reply......and cheers for mucking in with J18. Growing up in a deeply conservative backwater it was that day that made me aware that there's other people out there that felt the same anger as me.
> 
> If you've got more to say it'd be useful to hear it.


tbf I only had a minor bit part in J18, sure there are others on here who did a lot more, we were just part of the cavalry that came down at the weekend to bolster the those who'd been working there arses off for weeks.

had our own RTS up north the weekend before that was a little eventful, and I can remember we did some sort of week of actions in the run up to it, but tbh I can't actually remember what they were now.


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## Citizen66 (Feb 5, 2014)

DaveCinzano said:
			
		

> You may be interested in the Reflections On J18 book, or the various responses to it.
> 
> Eg:
> 
> [*]http://www.infoshop.org/library/j18-reflections-rts



Page not found errors in the content.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

Citizen66 said:


> Page not found errors in the content.


Curious - try this version then:

http://www.afed.org.uk/online/j18/reflec1.html


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## smokedout (Feb 5, 2014)

> Pete, tucked away out of view watched as these six coppers went straight to that antique van whilst at the same time the main police lines pushed forward from the east. These six coppers then seized the opportunity created by the diversion to turn the van over and set in on fire. Surprisingly though not all the N30 demonstrators were caught in the main push and a couple of them clocked the coppers and used some bottled water to dowse it out!
> 
> According to Pete The coppers were fucking furious, after all it ain’t easy to set a van alight, but on account of their size, big lads he reckoned, the second time they got it right.. the van and its flammable contents went up, the sprinklers came on and the TV got great pictures of Euston burning..



This isn't true, at all.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 5, 2014)

smokedout said:


> This isn't true, at all.


Well, I did provide a warning!


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## TopCat (Feb 6, 2014)

The day for me was a re run (revenge style) for the last Stop the City when they nicked everyone.


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## DaveCinzano (Feb 6, 2014)

For anyone interested in finding out more about J18, N30, A16, S26 and the other ‘global days of action’ of the late 1990s and early 2000s, you may find this index thread of interest:

http://www.urban75.net/forums/threa...political-actions-an-index-of-threads.320332/


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## friedaweed (Feb 10, 2014)

jazzzz


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