Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Austin police who infiltrated 'Occupy' movement outed in open court

Two more Austin PD undercover officers assigned to infiltrate the "Occupy" movement were outed last week in open court in Houston, the Austin Chronicle's Jordan Smith reported, including this charming fellow, posing with what appears to be one of the "lockboxes" constructed by APD detectives which caused the protesters to face felony rather than misdemeanor charges:


Smith's story opened:
The saga of the Austin Police Department's infiltration of the Occupy Austin movement continued in Harris County court last week when the real names of two undercover detectives assigned to keep an eye on the OA activities were finally revealed.

According to a transcript of the pretrial hearing, APD officers Rick Reza and Deke Moore – known to Occupiers as "Rick" and "Dirk," respectively – worked alongside already-outted investigator Shannon Dowell, a.k.a. "Butch," in keeping tabs on the OA movement throughout the fall and into the winter of 2011. Reza and Moore's names were included in documents turned over by the APD to lawyers representing OA member Ronnie Garza and six other protesters now facing felony charges for using a so-called "lockbox" to obstruct a roadway at the Port of Houston during a protest there in December 2011. The issue yet to be resolved is whether Reza, Moore, and Dowell actually induced Garza and the others to use the device, which ratcheted up the obstruction of a road charge from a misdemeanor offense to a felony punishable by up to two years in a state jail.

According to Garza and other Occupiers, they hadn't considered using a lockbox – a sleeve made of PVC pipe into which protesters can slide their arms and lock themselves together with carabiners and bolts – until the undercover officers suggested it. Moreover, they say that the cops, posing as Occupiers, actually purchased the materials and assembled the devices, delivering them to the protesters for use. Indeed, among the items turned over to the defense during the Oct. 31 hearing in Judge Joan Campbell's Harris County courtroom were a series of photos depicting Dowell and Reza assembling, and goofing around with, the device in a garage. (Ed note: see above)
This was quite an undercover operation, don't you think? Perhaps at one of the hearings scheduled early next year the judge can delve further into who made the decision not to disclose the existence of APD undercovers to prosecutors pursuing felony charges against the Occupy protesters. Grits has argued before that the alleged Brady violations are "a bigger deal, even than the alleged entrapment."

See prior, related Grits posts:

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

If we were dealing with terrorists, I might somehow justify planting undercover agents in the ranks of the occupy group. Without any indicators that these people were or planned to be engaged in criminal activity, this is a dangerous stretch for the APD and reflects the increased "para-military" mindset that is so common in law enforcement agencies, post 9-11. At least the courts are not turning a blind eye.

rodsmith said...

Well based on the photo all i can say is the outing couldn't have happened to a couple of nicer fucktard govt stooges.

Now of course the gangbangers of the city can have some fun.

Just not sure these 3 fucktards will enjoy it.

Anonymous said...

Undercover cops whos names were released? Won't be long until their address will be found.

BarkGrowlBite said...

Another post to satisfy the cop-hating creeps that worship you, Grits. There was nothing wrong with APD infiltrating the Occupy movement which has consistently interfered with the access non-participants have to public and private places and some of whose members have vandalized business places.

Of course Garza is going to claim that the cops got him to do it. But it's not entrapment unless the cops got Garza to do something unlawful that he would not have done otherwise. And you can bet that's not the case here.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

"Worship" me, BGB? Are you nuts? At most there are people like you, most of whom I've never met, that read nearly every day. Do you "worship" me? You visit here more than most.

Ironically, as I've said before, I'm generally unsympathetic to Occupiers engaging in civil disobedience, so I don't really have a dog in the fight except for the opportunity to examine the seldom-seen underbelly of local police surveillance of political activists, in this case including alleged provocateur behavior. Seldom when it comes to political surveillance do we get a peak at the man behind the curtain, and neither I nor anyone could have known that in this case that man was making penis gestures with state's evidence on camera. Yet somehow in your fantasy world I'm to blame? Okay. Got it.

rodsmith said...

hmm

"Another post to satisfy the cop-hating creeps that worship you, Grits. There was nothing wrong with APD infiltrating the Occupy movement"

Bark are you NUTS?

Sorry but your so wrong it's not funny.

Sorry but this is a TEXT BOOK example of entrapement.

The police bought the material
The POLICE assembled the materials into the devices.

The POLICE gave them to the individuals to use.

Then talk shit and arrest them for using what the POLICE PROVIDED.

Sorry but wake up and get a clue

If they had stopped at infitration and listening and learning details. All would have been good. Once the fucktards started suppling the materials ...they were done LEGALLY.

Anonymous said...

A thug by any other name is still a thug!!
Stop the cover up! Stop the lies, APD! Please! You cannot continue to ‘break the law to enforce the law’.
Police officers are ‘employees’ of the citizens of Austin. As ‘employees’, you are paid very well to do a job. On the list of duties of your job one of the most important is: Public servant. You’ve forgotten that most important tenant. You were hired to ‘serve the public’. Not to be a hotdog behind the wheel of a car, not to bully people, not to shoot unarmed black kids, not to shoot citizen’s pets, not to cover up your bad and illegal deeds, and not to lie in court.
Besides being a ‘public servant’, you are to LEGALLY enforce the laws of this country, this state, and this city, and to be a good public servant. Period. In fact, you took an oath to do just that, but you violate that oath every day when you entice persons into entrapment, and you especially violate the oath when you lie in court!
According to the Chronicle, ‘APD officer Dowell was subpoenaed to attend a pretrial hearing, and ordered to bring with him all written and electronic records – police reports, text messages, emails, pictures, and notes – related to his Occupy assignment. But Dowell showed up empty-handed to the pretrial. He had photos on a thumb drive of the boxes and the woman he delivered them to, he testified, but he somehow lost that drive on the way to court; he had emails on a work computer (and, it seems, on a personal computer as well) and phone messages, but said he had deleted them.
[He lost the ‘drive’? Really? He lost evidence that was pertinent to a pretrial hearing? And we give him a gun??? Judge Campbell would have been correct in holding him for contempt of court. [. . .Individuals may be cited for contempt when they disobey an order, fail to comply with a request, tamper with documents, withhold evidence, interrupt proceedings through their actions or words, or otherwise defy a public authority or hold it up to ridicule and disrespect. . .]
As far as the deleted emails, I know Dowell is heartsick about the emails he deleted, but he will be relieved to discover that all he need do is surrender his work and personal computer to a forensic computer person, [please not one at APD] and they will be glad to uncover all of his emails!] See how lucky you are, Mr. Dowell?
Dowell brought with him only "a little note (to court) that he made here regarding [an Occupy] meeting," Dowell said. There are no written police reports, Dowell said; since there was no criminal investigation ongoing, there was no reason to write an official report for the APD system, he testified’.
[And there were no police reports? Really? What’s APD running? Or perhaps the better question is: who’s in charge at APD?? There is always a paper/computer trail of police officer activities. There must be a record of Dowell’s activities. After all, he receives a pay check, doesn’t he? He’s on the city payroll, isn’t he? Do we just allow city employees to just wander around unaccounted for? Do they just come and go as they please, and/or assign themselves to events as they please? Did Dowell just ‘assign’ himself to monitor the Occupy issue? Come on! Somebody’s got to be in charge!!! There is ALWAYS a paper trail. ]

Former Dallas Police Officer
Former TCLEOSE instructor

Anonymous said...

Sorry about that everyone. The nursing home staff here in S. Florida has revoked his computer room privies (again).

His real name is Sue but goes by BGB on these blog thingamigs due to advanced stages of... Please don't reply to him or he'll just sneak over to the cafe and it'll never end. If he sends photos of himself wearing ladies garments please just delete them. He's really not that bad until he forgets to take his meds.

Thomas R. Griffith said...

Hey Grits, I'm a (bad-cop) hater with a dab of creep on the side. Or is that a mole?

But in all honesty, I could never see myself on bended knee before my keyboard awaitng your Post(s). Love ya an all but just not in love with ya. Thanks for spanking the elderly with the nice stick.

Re: the Post, anyone have any idea how much the taxpayers' paid to enlist three officers, their supervisors, inlcuding - supplies / accessories? Thanks.

Note: this case is listed under code name - "The 3 Stooges"

Anonymous said...

Many psychologists concur that those who choose careers as law enforcement usually suffer from a form of Penis Envy, as the photo would seem to suggest...

Anonymous said...

Folks, take time to comment if you wish but consider reading the comment left by the former Dallas Police Officer above. It's an eye opener and from one of the Good cops. Thanks.

rodsmith said...

i agree 1:43.

I also know that if i'd been the judge in that court this fucktard who claimed to lose it all...would now be getting an upclose an personal look at the nearest federal prison. I'd have the fed's walk his ass out in chains and tose him in thier lockup on contempt of court and destruction of govt documents at a minimum.

BarkGrowlBite said...

'Do you "worship" me? You visit here more than most.' Grits, you're the one that's nuts. How can you conclude that I visit you more often than most when the vast majority of the comments are made by anons? And those cop haters must worship you because you bring them out in groves whenever you publish a post on the police.

Rodsmith, go get a real textbook on the law and learn what actually constitutes entrapment. Your list of what the cops did does NOT constitute entrapment.

And Anon 1:18, I try to avoid saying this, but in your case: Fuck you!

rodsmith said...

Sorry Bark but WHY would i get a lawbook. Most of the lawyers today and their advanced verions...Politicians have rigged the law and the whole system.

I'm using the COMMON SENSE definition of ENTRAPMENT.

YOU caused someone to do something they would NOT have done absent YOU action.

THAT is the original LEGAL def of entrapment.

Not the current mealy mouthed lawyer verion.

ChingaLosPuercos said...

Does it even bother anyone that Art's "Good-Old-Boys Club" can get away with behavior like this, but female detectives can get fired simply for asking to have their shift adjusted by one hour, as a reasonable accommodation for a medical condition?

Anonymous said...

Hey bark, growl and bite, you were the one who was doubting our contention that more police officers are convicted of child sex crimes than all other professions, right? Well, the quarterly magazine written by and for police officers has itself confirmed this to be fact. In their August 2012 issue of The Journal of Law Enforcement, they admit it's true and that we were right all along: http://www.jghcs.info/index.php/l/article/download/149/144

Join with us and help save the children: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall

Anonymous said...

Austin PD undercover officers must be exposed.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

So said the judge, 8:33, so said the judge.