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An agent provocateur (French for 'inciting agent') is a person who commits, or who acts to entice another person to commit, a wrongdoing or falsely implicates them in partaking in such an act, so as to ruin the reputation of, or entice legal action against, the target, or a group they belong to or are perceived to belong to. They may target any group, such as a protest or demonstration, a militia, a political party or a company.

In jurisdictions in which conspiracy is a serious crime in itself, it can be sufficient for the agent provocateur to entrap the target into discussing and planning an illegal act. It is not necessary for the illegal act to be carried out or even prepared.

Prevention of infiltration by agents provocateurs is part of the duty of demonstration marshals, also called stewards, deployed by organizers of large or controversial assemblies.^[1]^[2]^[3]

History and etymology

While the practice was worldwide in antiquity, modern undercover operations were scaled up in France by Eugène François Vidocq in the early 19th century, and included the use of unlawful tactics against opponents. Later in the same century, police targets included union activists who came to fear plain-clothed policemen (agent de police in French). The French term agent provocateur was then borrowed as-is into English and German. In accordance with French grammar, the correct plural form of the term is agents provocateurs.

Common usage

An agent provocateur may be a police officer or a secret agent of police who encourages suspects to carry out a crime under conditions where evidence can be obtained; or who suggests the commission of a crime to another, in hopes they will go along with the suggestion and be convicted of the crime.

A political organization or government may use agents provocateurs against political opponents. The provocateurs try to incite the opponent to do counter-productive or ineffective acts to foster public disdain or provide a pretext for the final assault against the opponent.

Historically, labor spies, hired to infiltrate, monitor, disrupt, or subvert union activities, have used agent provocateur tactics.

Agent provocateur activities raise ethical and legal issues. In common law jurisdictions, the legal concept of entrapment may apply if the main impetus for the crime was the provocateur.

By region

Canada

On August 20, 2007, during meetings of the Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America in Montebello, three police officers were revealed among the protesters by Dave Coles, president of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, and alleged to be provocateurs. The police posing as protestors wore masks and all black clothes; one was notably armed with a large rock. They were asked to leave by protest organizers.

After the three officers had been revealed, their fellow officers in riot gear handcuffed and removed them. The evidence that revealed these three men as "police provocateurs" was initially circumstantial-they were imposing in stature, similarly dressed, and wearing police boots.^[4]^[5] According to veteran activist Harsha Walia, it was other participants in the black bloc who identified and exposed the undercover police.^[6]

After the protest, the police force initially denied, then later admitted that three of their officers disguised themselves as demonstrators; they then denied that the officers were provoking the crowd and instigating violence.^[7] The police released a news release in French where they stated "At no time did the police of the Sûreté du Québec act as instigators or commit criminal acts" and "At all times, they responded within their mandate to keep order and security."^[8]

During the 2010 G20 Toronto summit, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) arrested five people, two of whom were members of the Toronto Police Service.^[9] City and provincial police, including the TPS, went on to arrest 900 people in the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.^[10] The RCMP watchdog commission saw no indication that RCMP undercover agents or event monitors acted inappropriately.^{[dubious – discuss]}

Europe

In February 1817, after the Prince Regent was attacked, the British government employed agents provocateurs to obtain evidence against the agitators.^[11]

Sir John Retcliffe was an agent provocateur for the Prussian secret police.

Francesco Cossiga, former head of secret services and Head of state of Italy, advised the 2008 minister in charge of the police, on how to deal with the protests from teachers and students:^[12]

He should do what I did when I was Minister of the Interior. [...] infiltrate the movement with agents provocateurs inclined to do anything [...] And after that, with the momentum gained from acquired popular consent, [...] beat them for blood and beat for blood also those teachers that incite them. Especially the teachers. Not the elderly, of course, but the girl teachers, yes.

Another example occurred in France in 2010 where police disguised as members of the CGT (a leftist trade union) interacted with people during a demonstration.^[13]

Russia

The activities of agents provocateurs against revolutionaries in Imperial Russia were notorious. Jacob Zhitomirsky, Yevno Azef, Roman Malinovsky, and Dmitry Bogrov, all members of Okhrana, were notable provocateurs.

In the "Trust Operation" (1921–1926), the Soviet State Political Directorate (OGPU) set up a fake anti-Bolshevik underground organization, "Monarchist Union of Central Russia". The main success of this operation was luring Boris Savinkov and Sidney Reilly into the Soviet Union, where they were arrested and executed.

United States

In the United States, the COINTELPRO program of the Federal Bureau of Investigation included FBI agents posing as political activists to disrupt the activities of political groups in the U.S., such as the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the American Indian Movement, and the Ku Klux Klan.^[14]

The American Civil Liberties Union requested an investigation of Denver police at the 2008 Democratic National Convention where undercover officers allegedly staged a struggle with uniformed police to be removed from the crowd of protestors, which prompted another uniformed officer to use pepper spray.^[15]^{[better source needed]}

A New York City police officer undercover in a 2013 motorcycle rally was sentenced to two years in prison in 2015 for second-degree assault, coercion, riot and criminal mischief for their participation in the gang assault of a man driving an SUV with his family, which had hit a motorcyclist and continued driving.^[16]

Internet

The internet has been utilized for information warfare, with many internet trolls acting as agents provocateurs by disseminating certain propaganda. Such tactics are used to further the interests of countries,^[17]^[18]^[19] corporations,^[20]^[21]^[22]^[23] and political movements.^[24]^[25]^[26]

References

^ Stratfor (2004)
^ Belyaeva et al. (2007), § 7–8, 156–162
^ Bryan, Dominic "The Anthropology of Ritual: Monitoring and Stewarding Demonstrations in Northern Ireland", Anthropology in Action, Volume 13, Numbers 1–2, January 2006, pp. 22–31 (10).
^ "Police accused of using provocateurs at summit". The Star. Toronto. August 21, 2007. Retrieved April 23, 2010.
^ "Canadian Agent Provocateurs caught in the act! SPP protest". Toronto. June 3, 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-07-03. Retrieved June 20, 2013.
^ "A Diversity of Tactics - A Diversity of Opinions". rabble.ca. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^ Bryden, Joan (August 22, 2007). "Police deny using 'provocateurs' at summit". The Star. Toronto. Retrieved December 15, 2010.
^ "Quebec police admit they went undercover at Montebello protest". CBC News. August 23, 2007.
^ "G20 report clears RCMP but raises questions over 'kettling'". 14 May 2012. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^ "G20-related mass arrests unique in Canadian history". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^ R. R. Palmer. A History of the Modern World. p. 460.
^ Francesco Cossiga interviewed by Andrea Cangini, Quotidiano Nazionale, 23/10/2008 Italian quote:
"Maroni dovrebbe fare quel che feci io quand'ero ministro dell'Interno. In primo luogo, lasciare perdere gli studenti dei licei, perché pensi a cosa succederebbe se un ragazzino di dodici anni rimanesse ucciso o gravemente ferito. Gli universitari invece lasciarli fare. Ritirare le forze di polizia dalle strade e dalle università, infiltrare il movimento con agenti provocatori pronti a tutto, e lasciare che per una decina di giorni i manifestanti devastino i negozi, diano fuoco alle macchine e mettano a ferro e fuoco le città. Dopo di che, forti del consenso popolare, il suono delle sirene delle ambulanze dovrà sovrastare quello delle auto di polizia e carabinieri. Nel senso che le forze dell'ordine dovrebbero massacrare i manifestanti senza pietà e mandarli tutti in ospedale. Non arrestarli, che tanto poi i magistrati li rimetterebbero subito in libertà, ma picchiarli a sangue e picchiare a sangue anche quei docenti che li fomentano. Soprattutto i docenti. Non quelli anziani, certo, ma le maestre ragazzine sì."
^ YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-11. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
^ Melgar Adalid, Mario (2012-01-01). "Enemies, A History of the FBI. Tim Weiner, Nueva York, Random House, 2012, 537 pp". Cuestiones Constitucionales: Revista Mexicana de Derecho Constitucional. 1 (27). doi:10.22201/iij.24484881e.2012.27.6013. ISSN 2448-4881.
^ Cardona, Felisa (November 7, 2008). "ACLU wants probe into police-staged DNC protest". The Denver Post. p. A1. Retrieved 2008-11-07.
^ Gainer, Alice (August 5, 2015). "NYPD Undercover Detective Gets 2 Years In 2013 Motorcycle Melee Case". WCBS-TV. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
^ Barrett, Devlin; Horwitz, Sari; Helderman, Rosalind S. "Russian troll farm, 13 suspects indicted in 2016 election interference". Washington Post.
^ Fielding, Nick; Cobain, Ian (March 17, 2011). "Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media". The Guardian – via www.theguardian.com.
^ "China Uses an Army of Sockpuppets to Control Public Opinion - and the US Will Too". November 28, 2013.
^ "Monsanto Caught Paying Internet 'Trolls' to Attack Activists". Natural Society. April 20, 2015.
^ Turner, Adam (March 27, 2012). "Astroturfing corporate trolls are the new spam". The Sydney Morning Herald.
^ Charman-Anderson, Suw. "Fake Reviews: Amazon's Rotten Core". Forbes.
^ Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Timberg, Craig. "How merchants use Facebook to flood Amazon with fake reviews". Washington Post.
^ "Internet Trolling as a hybrid warfare tool: the case of Latvia | StratCom". www.stratcomcoe.org.
^ Benner, Katie; Mazzetti, Mark; Hubbard, Ben; Isaac, Mike (October 20, 2018). "Saudis' Image Makers: A Troll Army and a Twitter Insider". The New York Times.
^ King, Gary; Pan, Jennifer; Roberts, Margaret E. (June 2, 2016). "How the Chinese Government Fabricates Social Media Posts for Strategic Distraction" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 2, 2016.