There was some surprising news in the UK this week when undercover police officer Mark Kennedy, who spied on environmental groups and even organized national protests and direct action campaigns as “Mark Stone,” offered to cooperate with activists against the police.

The Guardian has had some excellent reporting on this story, and notes that Kennedy visited at least 22 countries over 7 years to gather information on political activists, and in some cases urge them to take illegal action. Kennedy’s spying was undertaken as part of a national police operation against so-called “domestic extremists,” including animal rights activists, environmentalists, and anarchists.

Kennedy has told his (former) friends he had a change of heart, and realized the importance of environmental work (and how he has betrayed people who he says became his friends). He was not alone in his work, though: Kennedy acknowledged the existence of at least one other undercover cop in the UK environmental movement.

I was on The Alyona Show last night talking about how this fits into the bigger picture of labeling activists as “eco-terrorists,” and the history of law enforcement informants and provocateurs sabotaging progressive social movements.

For instance, I recently wrote about an animal rights informant and FBI agent who discussed spreading rumors to discredit activists.

Let me know what you think of the video!

There has been a slew of incredible, and disturbing, reporting by the UK Guardian recently on how police have rebranded activism as “domestic extremism” and “domestic terrorism.” Environmental activists, antiwar activists, animal rights activists and many more groups have been targeted. Specifically, police have gathered personal information on thousands of activists who simply attend protests or political meetings, and created massive national databases.

For instance, this “spotter card” was distributed to police officers in preparation for protests at Britain’s largest arms fair. According to the Guardian:

These so-called “spotter cards” are issued by police to identify individuals they consider to be potential troublemakers because they have appeared at a number of demonstrations.

One of the individuals featured at ‘H’ is Mark Thomas, a comedian and political activist. He has no criminal record. In a column, he noted how this scaremongering reflects truly misplaced priorities:

While being wanted outside the arms fair, I was legitimately inside researching a book on the subject, and uncovered four companies illegally promoting “banned” torture equipment.

Perhaps the most important bit of information, I think, is buried a bit in the story. According to this investigative piece by the Guardian:

Acpo’s national infrastructure for dealing with domestic extremism was set up with the backing of the Home Office in an attempt to combat animal rights activists who were committing serious crimes. Senior officers concede the criminal activity associated with these groups has receded, but the units dealing with domestic extremism have expanded their remit to incorporate campaign groups across the political spectrum, including anti-war and environmental groups that have only ever engaged in peaceful direct action.

If you’re familiar with this site and the Green Scare, you know that one of the key points I try to hit home, repeatedly, is that environmental and animal rights activists may be among the first targets in these political crackdowns, but they will not be the last. By the admission of some government officials in the UK, this has clearly been the case.

Whether or not that has been the official policy in the United States, the same dynamic is at play. If we do not stop the terrorism rhetoric, legislation, court cases and scare-mongering in its tracks, no activist and no social movement will remain untouched.

Of course, you could always just continue listening to the soundbites of police and government officials, like this one from Anton Setchell, who is in charges of the “domestic extremism” unit in the UK. People who find themselves on the databases, he says, “should not worry at all.”

As both the US and UK governments (and many others) are cracking down on animal rights and environmental activists, labeling them as terrorists and hitting them with outrageous prison sentences, supporters say it is for a few reasons. First, they say that these activists are national security threats. Second, they say that this boot-on-the-throat approach will deter future illegal activity by underground, “eco-terrorist” groups like the Animal Liberation Front.

But here’s a recent example of how this “Green Scare” plays out in real life.

A UK activist named Sara Whitehead was just sentenced to 2 years in prison for rescuing a beagle from an abusive home. That’s right, two years. Neighbors had filed complaints with the police and the RSPCA, to no avail. When Whitehead rescued the dog, cops pounced surprisingly quickly: it turns out Whitehead, like many activists, was already under police surveillance.

So has this use of police resources, to crack down on a woman rescuing an abused dog, deterred illegal activity by “eco-terrorist” groups like the Animal Liberation Front?

Far from it.

Bite Back Magazine has published an anonymous communiqué that says:

“Animal liberation volunteers are claiming responsibility for the direct intervention in the animal farming industry, as an act of solidarity with Sarah Whitehead who is currently behind bars for doing the right thing. While Sarah remains locked in her cell for freeing animals from pain and misery, volunteers successfully liberated 50 Turkeys from an Eastern factory farm.

This action means these sentient beings were spared from constant suffering, their lives destined to be cut short with the blade of slaughterhouse machinery. No longer will their existence be to fill the mouths of a salivating and greedy nation. They now exist as valued individuals, remaining happy and free.

Love and liberation for Sarah and all other captive individuals!
Animal Liberation Front”

This isn’t a new phenomenon. After a US court convicted the SHAC 7 on “animal enterprise terrorism” charges for running a controversial website, underground activists retaliated. And after lawmakers passed the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act, underground activists retaliated.

The outrageous prison sentences, the scare-mongering legislation, the spying: it’s not deterring underground activists. It’s only giving them one more reason to fight.

But lets stop for a moment so we can truly appreciate the absurdity of this situation. This is what the global “War on Terrorism” has become: an “animal rights terrorist” sentenced to two years in prison for rescuing a dog, and the method of retaliation chosen by the “terrorists” is… saving more lives.

There’s a heated campaign going on in England to block the construction of a controversial animal testing facility at Oxford University. I’ve written a bit about the heavy-handed protest bans at the building site, to silence dissent.

Now, in the name of protecting against “animal rights extremists” and “eco-terrorists,” animal rights activists have been banned from demonstrating in the village where the construction workers are staying. It’s an outgrowth of the Green Scare mentality, using scare mongering to outlaw even the most legal, public actions because of politics.

From The Telegraph:

The activists will be allowed to hold a lawful demonstration outside the college only on a Wednesday afternoon, provided there are fewer than 50 people. Speak, the organisation leading the campaign against the building, which will house animals for testing, said it would appeal.

It’s likely only a matter of time before these bans gain momentum in the United States. They essentially create a free speech bubble to protect corporate interests. Activism isn’t outlawed, but lawful activists can’t get anywhere near the entity their protests target, or with any numbers. In other words, these laws don’t ban protest, but they ban meaningful protest.