The Occupy 5: Pawns or Masterminds? Flip a COIN (TELPRO)

The Faces of Occupy?

MARCH 24th 2012 was the 32nd anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero and Occupy was there...

A short handsome 40 something Brazilian only known as Franco presented the movie "Romero" at St. Alban Episcopal church.   Franco brought with him Conner Stevens,  and Joshua "Skelly" Stafford, two of the five alleged route 82 bridge bomb planners.  These two were not involved in the actual hands-on bridge bombing attempt set up by the FBI.

 The five men arrested in an FBI  plot/sting ostensibly to blow up the route 82 bridge in Brecksville are all associated with Occupy Cleveland.  At least one of the five has a criminal record. 
They have been charged with conspiracy and attempted use of explosive materials to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce. 

Of course  Occupy Cleveland representatives have tried to distance the "organization", but in the words of Tony Soprano, fahgeddaboutit.  Occupy can not distance itself from the people it draws, puts to work and even puts into leadership/spokeperson positions, especially when powerful organizations like say, the FBI or whoever they are working for want to make the association clear.  Brandon Baxter was quoted representing Occupy Cleveland on more than one occasion and was one of the last standing to occupy the tent on Frankfurter downtown.

Conner Stevens Photo by CIOFaithwalker

Joshua "Skelly" Stafford Photo by CIOFaithwalker

I had all but written off Occupy Cleveland  until this incident.  The reason I am going to give Occupy a second look is because I can say that the two I met were not capable of conceiving, planning and executing a bridge bombing.  Forgive me for being so jaded but this really smells of the "good ole days" as some of you can reminisce  over the domestic landscape when COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) watered the grass and took out the trash until busted in the early 70's. However just like when SOA (School Of the Americas) was "busted" in 2000, 2001 or so COINTELPRO probably just changed their name or just decentralized leadership a bit and kept on trucking.  Who know they may even work out of the impenetrable Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly School of the Americas? So it is not beyond the ken of mortal probability for this to be a set-up to discredit Occupy Cleveland and indeed this may be happening to the Occupy movement across the U.S., if I am correct.


If I were going to do anything I didn't want leading back to me, covert, and  dangerous in which I needed a couple of savvy, sharp, go to cats, it would not be these two.  If I wanted some fall guys I would need neither references or resumes from them, fellas you're hired.

 One of the two I met was much more immature than he should have been for his age and seemed to be the kind of kid who could easily be brought into something like this or planning a rave, your choice, it wouldn't matter to him.

Occupier or Infiltrator? photo by Kimihiro Hoshiro AFP/Getty images

In interviews since the bridge bombing revelation Occupy leaders claim to be nonviolent and say they don't accept that ilk into Occupy Cleveland. However sans violence nothing could seem further from the truth, there is little to indicate this nonviolence stance at the Occupy website  and nothing to indicate they are selective about  whom they accept.  As cool and egalitarian as this democratic come all hither approach seems, one big issue with this approach is that many of the people Occupy needs to engage and proselytize who sympathize with or share in the plight of the 99% are discriminating and selective about with whom they deal.  There are many people watching the 6:00 news thinking, no knowing they dodged a bullet when they had second thoughts about linking arms with an organization whose leadership seems to be made up of long-haired, young, White males with nose rings and ear gauges/plugs.  Before you try to play the prejudice card understand that except for the "young White ear gauges/plugs" part I fit this description.  You can not blame anyone concerned with financial security and safety for shying away from folks on the fringe that haven't kissed the conservative ring or received some blessing from the establishment.

In fact, not much is indicated at the Occupy site period, except lots of street parties and asking for support for more street parties. If they get a bit more organized I smell a cottage industry poster child, like SOAW aka School Of the Americas Watch, another organization that has fun protests. At the Occupy site there is a mission statement of sorts but absolutely, no list of goals, demands and more importantly no objectives to get there, that is to the mission statement.  There is no approach pronged or otherwise.  There is no structure that is evident that is a call to action away from or outside of the protests.  At least with the SOAW they are involved in areas where power is and they know where change needs to be made in the hallways of congress and the Senate and there is a lot going on in community to work toward political leveraging not only in the American political ring  but in at least the first three rows..  

Occupy could learn a lesson or two from the WHINSEC website.  They know that just because they are all about destabilizing democracies in the Americas and are responsible for their fair share of human rights atrocities, one can still look one's best.  Freshen up Occupy, at least get it down in writing.

COINTELPRO (ARTICLE SITE)

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal,^[2] projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

The FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception; however, covert operations under the official COINTELPRO label took place between 1956 and 1971.^[3] COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination.^[4][5][6] The FBI's stated motivation was "protecting national security, preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order."^[7]

FBI records show that 85% of COINTELPRO resources targeted groups and individuals that the FBI deemed "subversive,"^[8] including communist and socialist organizations; organizations and individuals associated with the civil rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr. and others associated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the Congress of Racial Equality and other civil rights organizations; black nationalist groups; the American Indian Movement; a broad range of organizations labeled "New Left", including Students for a Democratic Society and the Weathermen; almost all groups protesting the Vietnam War, as well as individual student demonstrators with no group affiliation; the National Lawyers Guild; organizations and individuals associated with the women's rights movement; nationalist groups such as those seeking independence for Puerto Rico, United Ireland, and Cuban exile movements including Orlando Bosch's Cuban Power and the Cuban Nationalist Movement; and additional notable Americans—even Albert Einstein, who was a member of several civil rights groups, came under FBI surveillance during the years just prior to COINTELPRO's official inauguration.^[9] The remaining 15% of COINTELPRO resources were expended to marginalize and subvert "white hate groups," including the Ku Klux Klan and the National States' Rights Party.^[10]

FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover issued directives governing COINTELPRO, ordering FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" the activities of these movements and their leaders.^[11][12]