So the local Food Not Bombs meeting went well!
It was the first meeting. We all introduced each other and got a feel for skills and experience.
I pegged one person as being an undercover cop.
(They had a very open disdain for police - insisting on saying ACAB when the conversation had nothing to do with police, etc. They used outdated terms or caricatures and stereotypes of how people who aren't leftist see leftists. They had no connections to the community or other similar projects and appeared to have "just materialized" into this movement. They tried real hard to ingrain themselves as likable without contributing much. Basically a try hard.)
(Edit to add based on responses: They were not socially awkward or a newbie or neurodivergent - We had plenty of those folks too and they were welcomed. The above behaviors are distinct to undercover cops - and distinctly different from your run of of the mill awkwardness or sociability issues or just being new to a group or movement)
Quick aside on this... Undercover cops join mutual aid groups generally just to monitor them. Generally after a while, they get bored and move on only to check in on time to time. Cool.
IF they decide to disrupt the group, they'll do it in one of two ways (or both):
1) They'll befriend, gain trust, and get people to commit illegal acts. They then arrest those that committed the acts and use those acts to smear the group as a whole.
2) They get people WORRIED about undercover cops and get everyone to become paranoid of each other, using the resultant attempts to lock down security to stifle action. After a while the entire group just breaks apart.
So, how to deal with this?
First, is to assume "compromise". Just accept that there's a couple undercover folks there. Neat. A fact of life.
Second, don't do anything grossly illegal with public groups. Misdemeanors will happen. Look at Food Not Bombs Houston when they were (are) targeted by the city and get little fines every time they serve homeless folks. Also INTENTIONAL civil disobedience is a thing - but the entire group (undercover cops and all) will openly acknowledge it, understand and prepare for the consequences, and you'll know what you're getting into. (See sit ins and other direct action protests). But don't go off and commit illegal acts. ESPECIALLY if someone asked you to do it.
Third, call out anyone publicly and openly who advocates illegal acts (even and especially if they approached you privately). Use it as a way to gentle-parent correct the undercover cop (or misguided sincere colleague) on what proper action is.
Lastly, get the suspected undercover cop to engage in your goals. Get them to feed people! Watch for sabotage and check their work a bit more closely of course, but hey! the more hands the better! 😂
Edit also to add: DON'T TRY TO DETECT OR ROOT OUT UNDERCOVER COPS! - Like... I have a suspicion on this guy... but I really don't care. If you try to find the myriad of bad, you'll start to think everyone is bad. Instead... just treat everyone the same - regardless of whether you suspect them or not. If someone wants you to do something illegal... don't do it. Even if you think they're a normal person. - See my entire section on how paranoia can also destroy a group.
(Okay, not a quick aside. I'll just conclude here, lol)
