NYPD Spied on Republican Convention protesters

Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein at 7:42 AM on March 26, 2007.

Surprise, surprise. The NYPD infiltrated non-violent groups like the Billionaires For Bush and the Men (and Women) in Black Bloc during the Republican National Convention.

I've read various media reports about spying before the RNC, but the idea that the Johnny Cash demo was infiltrated by undercover police officers cracks me up. Our tax dollars at work, eh? My previous blog photograph, the one with the slick-backed hair and the curled lip, was taken just before I left for the Man in Black protest at Sotheby's.

Ironically, one of the best things about that particular protest was that that the rank-and-file uniformed cops that I met were Johnny Cash fans.

We protesters were in this sort of metal livestock pen. It was shaped like a long peninsula parallel to the main auction building. I was up at the front. Since the enclosure was narrow at the tip, I was basically standing as close to the cops as I was to most of the other protesters. Granted, I was fenced in, and they were free, with their plastic handcuffs dangling conspicuously from their belts and helicopters flying overhead. Still, the uniformed cops I met seemed to actually be enjoying the music that Man In Black protesters were supplying. They were trying to keep that police officer impassive expression going, but I could tell they were suppressing grins. So, I started chatting with them. Turned out, the guys on the other side of the fence were big fans. I wonder if they knew that the NYPD had undercover operatives monitoring us.

Here's another picture from RNCweeps-week. This one was taken before the Billionaires for Bush croquet party on the Great Lawn of Central Park.

Tagged as: nypd, spying, rnc

Lindsay Beyerstein a New York writer blogging at Majikthise.