[Ppnews] Austin Activist Admits He Infiltrated RNC Protest Groups as FBI Informant

[Political Prisoner News]

<http://www.democracynow.org/>January 06, 2009

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/1/6/prominent_austin_activist_admits_he_infiltrated


Prominent Austin Activist Admits He Infiltrated 
RNC Protest Groups as FBI Informant

Darbyweb



An Austin-based activist named Brandon Darby has 
revealed he worked as an FBI informant in the 
eighteen months leading up to the Republican 
National Convention. Darby has admitted to 
wearing recording devices at planning meetings 
and wearing a transmitter embedded in his belt 
during the convention. He is expected to testify 
on behalf of the government later this month in 
the trial of two Texas activists who were 
arrested at the RNC on charges of making and possessing Molotov cocktails.

We turn now to a story out of Austin, Texas that 
has shocked social justice activists nationwide. 
A prominent Austin-based activist named Brandon 
Darby has revealed he worked as an FBI informant 
in the eighteen months leading up to the 
Republican National Convention. Darby has 
admitted to wearing recording devices at planning 
meetings and wearing a transmitter embedded in 
his belt during the convention. He is expected to 
testify on behalf of the government later this 
month in the trial of two Texas activists who 
were arrested at the RNC on charges of making and possessing Molotov cocktails.

In a statement, a group of Austin-based activists 
called the Austin Informant Working Group 
condemned Darby. The group says: “[T]he emerging 
truth about Darby’s malicious involvement in our 
communities is heart-breaking and utterly 
ground-shattering to those of us who were closest 
to him.” The statement goes on to raise 
suspicions Darby may have gone beyond spying on 
the accused activists but in fact encouraged and 
provoked them into breaking the law.

But in an open letter to the activist community, 
Darby maintained he only acted to prevent violent 
actions by a small group that, he says, would 
have undermined the cause of social justice. 
Darby writes: “I strongly stand behind my choices 
in this matter
 [W]hen people act out of anger 
and hatred, and then claim that their actions 
were part of a movement or somehow tied into the 
struggle for social justice only after being 
caught, it’s damaging to the efforts of those who 
do give of themselves to better this world. The 
majority of the activists who went to St. Paul 
did so with pure intentions and simply wanted to 
express their disagreements with the Republican 
Party. It’s unfortunate that some used the group 
as cover for intentions that the rest of the 
group did not agree with or knew nothing about
 I 
made the choice to have my identity revealed and 
was well aware of the consequences for doing so. 
I know that the temptation to silence or ignore 
the voice of someone who you strongly disagree 
with can be overwhelming in matters such as this 
one
 I have confidence that there will be a few 
people interested in discussion and in better 
understanding views different from their own, 
especially from one of their own. My sincere hope 
is that the entire matter results in better understanding for everyone.”

Darby has been involved in several activist 
groups. He is best known as a founder of the New 
Orleans-based group Common Ground Relief, which 
he helped start after Hurricane Katrina.

Lisa Fithian, Austin Informant Working Group. She 
is a longtime organizer and activist based in Austin.

Carly Dickson, Member of the Austin People’s Legal Collective.

Joe England, Family friend of Brandon Darby


Listen at link above

*************************************************************
statement from texas anarchists

http://www.indymedia.org/en/2008/12/918526.shtml

carly lnu 01.Jan.2009 09:30

Dear friends and allies,

Below is a statement by a group of Austin-based 
community organizers that documents
that a local activist, Brandon Michael Darby of Austin, is a government
informant/provocateur.

Brandon now publicaly acknowledgies hat he is 
working with the FBI and has been for
some time.


Sometimes You Wake Up and It's Different: 
Statement on Brandon Darby, the 'Unnamed'
Informant/Provocateur in the "Texas 2" Case from Austin, Texas

As part of the wave of government repression 
against activists protesting at the
Republican National Convention in St. Paul, 
Minnesota in September, 2008, the FBI
arrested two men from Texas, Bradley Crowder (22) and David McKay (23), and
indicted them for allegedly possessing molotov 
cocktails. Crowder and McKay have
been in jail since the RNC. They have not been 
granted bail and their trial has
been postponed indefinitely. They are facing 7 to 10 years in federal prison.

As outlined in the affidavit against Crowder and McKay (found here:
[]
  <http://media.houston.indymedia.org/uploads/2008/09/090808_mckay_affidavit.pdf>http://media.houston.indymedia.org/uploads/2008/09/090808_mckay_affidavit.pdf), 
the
case was built almost entirely on the statements 
of two informants covertly working
with the FBI, identified in the affidavit as 
"Confidential Human Sources" or just
"CHS".


One of these informants was working in the 
Minneapolis/St. Paul area ("CHS 2" in the
affidavit) and has been previously identified as 
Andy/Panda by people familiar with
the situation and the informant. This statement 
ends speculation and anticipation
concern about the identity of the other informant 
who was operating in Texas and
Minnesota.

Using FBI documents previously unknown to us, but 
recently provided by one of the
defendant's defense teams, we have positively 
confirmed the identity of the unnamed
informant ("CHS 1" in the affidavit) as Brandon 
Michael Darby of Austin, Texas,
based on the following evidence:

1) The FBI documents detail private conversations between Darby and several
individuals named in the documents, including 
scott crow and Lisa Fithian, who have
closely reviewed the documents and confirmed that 
they had the conversations in
question with only Darby. In addition they can 
confirm his participation in events
reported in the documents.

2) In verbatim reports from the informant to the 
FBI, the language, personality,
skills, and interests of Darby are readily apparent to those who know him.

3) Cross-referencing the time line provided by 
the FBI in the documents with people
familiar with the situation and course of events 
shows that Darby was in a position
to have the incriminating conversations with 
McKay referenced in the affidavit.

4) In all of the documents Brandon Darby's name 
is conspicuously absent from any and
all meetings and events which he attended and was 
involved in. In fact Darby's name
only appears at the end of all the documents in a 
confession made by David McKay
upon his arrest in Minnesota.

Numerous people familiar with both Brandon Darby 
and the legal situation of Crowder
and McKay have verified this information.

Over the years Brandon Darby has established 
strong ties with individuals in many
different radical communities across the United 
States. While it is not yet clear
how long or to what extent Darby has been acting 
as an informant, the emerging truth
about Darby's malicious involvement in our 
communities is heart-breaking and utterly
ground-shattering to those of us who were closest to him.

Darby operated in and around the Austin community 
for about 6 years, and this is the
same Brandon Darby who participated in the Common 
Ground Collective in New Orleans
during 2005-2006. Based on the evidence we have, 
Brandon has been giving the state
information since at least November 2007, but there is also information that
suggests his informant activities may go back 
further, at least to 2006 or earlier.
In the documents, Darby makes numerous remarks that are inflammatory and often
untrue or grossly taken out of context. There is 
also compelling evidence to suggest
that Darby, more than just reporting on Crowder 
and McKay's activities, was actively
encouraging, enabling, and provoking the two men to take illegal action.

We recognize that suspicions and accusations of 
Darby have been circulating for some
time now, including one corporate media article 
by David Hanners in the St. Paul
Pioneer Press on October 29, 2008. Our aim in 
releasing this information is to clear
the confusion that has circulated in the last few months.

We want to point out that while the conclusions 
of these suspicions and accusations
turned out to be correct, these conclusions were 
not based on any verifiable facts,
and thus, their public airing was inappropriate and irresponsible. When these
accusations surfaced, we did what we could to 
quash them, trusting what we believed
to be true about people in the absence of any 
compelling evidence to the contrary.
Having been presented with new evidence, we are acting on it promptly and
deliberately.

Through the history of our struggles for a better 
world, infiltrators and informants
have acted as tools for the forces of misery in disrupting and derailing our
movements. However, even more dangerous to our 
communities than setting people up,
turning them in, or gathering information, 
informants sow seeds of fear, paranoia,
and distrust that fester and grow in paralyzing 
and destructive ways. We must be
forever vigilante against deceptive, malicious 
and manipulative actors, while we
defend the trust and openness that give our communities cohesion and power.



Now we must get on with the work of supporting 
the “Texas 2”. In light of these
revelations and what we know about Brandon Darby, 
we believe they were set up and
that the charges should be dropped. We urge you 
to join us in a campaign to “Free
the Texas 2”

In solidarity,
The Austin Informant Working Group




Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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