This 'encyclopedia' is not a activists guide, such a guide might be considered
as 'incitement' in some countries. This 'encyclopedia' covers progressive direct
action groups, their campaigns and some of the many tactics that have been or
could be, used by these groups. The information here is given in the spirit of
free speech and is not intended to incite individuals or groups to commit any
acts of physical violence against any living being.
Direct Action is not new, however it is a developing area and as such new
groups, campaigns and tactics are evolving all the time. The 'encyclopedia' is a
'living document', growing and expanding all the time. It is created by no
specific person and takes contributions from anyone who has something of worth
to add.
The editor wishes to thank those whom have contributed their time and knowledge
to improving the 'encyclopedia' at this early stage - they know who they are.
Further contributions are welcome, if you have somthing to add, please do.
At this time, there is no easy way by which contributions can be made without
possible danger to the contributor or the editor. However, a PGP public key is
now available at the end of this document and soon from public key servers.
Using the key, contributors will be able to safely submit additions to the
'encyclopedia'. Full details will be anounced in the next issue.
CONTENTS
Tactics
1.0 - Demonstrations & Protests
1.1 - Blockades and Occupations
How not to be moved
Action in the water coming soon..!
1.2 - Contamination and 'Vandalism'
Tree Spiking
Pelt Painting
Product Contamination
1.3 - Windows and glass
Blow Torch
Masking tape etc.
Catapults
Glass etching fluids
Stickers and posters
Spring loaded center punches
1.4 - Privacy and Keeping Secrets
Tapped phones and spoken codes
Intercepted mail and written cyphers
Computer encryption
Public key cryptology
Pretty Good Privacy
Under construction...
?.? - Breaking and Entering
Further reading -
Guide to Lock Picking
Locksmiths FAQ
?.? - Anti-Blood Sports
Further reading -
Hunt Sabs
?.? - Ethical Shoplifting
Further reading -
CRISP actions
?.? - Economic Sabotage
Damage to vehicles Further reading -
The Terrorist Handbook
'Underground' magazines
?.? - Bomb scares and other hoaxes
see also 'Profuct contaminations'
?.? - Dealing with the Police
Further reading -
Don't talk to coppers
?.? - Publicity and publicity stunts
Roof-top demos
?.? - Watch your backs
Further reading -
How to kill a citizens movement
Infiltration
Informers
INDEX
DISCLAIMER
Direct Action Campaigns, Organizations, Grass-roots groups
Sea Shepherd
Green Peace
Earth First
No M11 link road
Animal Liberation
Campaigns against Live Export
Hunt Sabs
Campaigns against Criminal Injustice Act
1.0 - DEMONSTRATIONS & PROTESTS
1.1 - Blockades and Occupations
How not to be moved.
Why would you want to prevent yourself from being moved? Not moving is a
major tactic for direct action. Not moving can is a method used successfully
to prevent things from happening; missiles entering a base by road, live
animals being loaded onto ships for export, trees being cut down, buildings
being demolished, etc.
It is practically impossible to prevent yourself from being moved, however
some methods have been used with varying success as a means to delay the
inevitable. Delays can cost the opposition considerable sums of money and can
result in victory.
Sit downs / sit in's
Sitting down is often used as a method to prevent a demonstration being moved
on. It can work but it seems increasingly ineffective in most cases. It is
naive to think that being in a sitting position will make it significantly
difficult for you to be forcibly moved. However, it does require a lot of
people to move a large crowd of people sitting down. It also takes a long
time. During the time it takes to move people out of the area, people who
have already been moved off have the opportunity to move back in and sit down
again, unless there are great numbers of police or security etc. to prevent
this from happening. Sitting down can work, but if the opposition really want
you moved they will do so, it just takes time and a lot of people.
Linking arms
Linking arms with other protesters (or objects) can also make removing
protesters more difficult. Doing this means that greater effort is required
to move each protester, it may also requires more people and will certainly
mean it takes a longer time to clear the protesters. However it also invites
more violence and a greater chance of injury to the protesters. This can be
used to advantage when there are a lot of reporters and cameras around,
violence to non-violent protests makes good publicity.
Chains and handcuffs
People don't like pain. This is used by the opposition when trying to
detached protesters from things they are clinging too (whether other
protesters or objects like railings). Bending back thumbs and fingers etc.
will usually result in the grip being loosed or given up voluntarily to stop
the pain.
To prevent this from occurring, protesters sometimes chain or handcuff
themselves to things. This method is not particularly effective since it is
usually only done by small numbers of protesters. When the unchained
protesters have finally been removed, the opposition is free to use bolt
cutters or a hacksaw to remove the chained protesters. It is perhaps the cost
of the hardware that prevents the technique from being used in large numbers.
Even if a large crowd of protesters did all handcuff themselves to each other
and around lamp posts etc. eventually all the cuffs would be cut off. A very
expensive delaying tactics from the point of view of the protesters.
Hi-bred systems
Used to great effect by groups such as the 'No M11 link road campaign',
hi-bred systems are very successfully in delay the removal of protesters. The
basic principle in most of these systems is to place protesters in a way that
only they can choice to leave, efforts to force them to leave will be very
dangerous either to the protester or better still, to the opposition and the
protester.
One such method is to use the handcuffing tactic but to do it in such a way
as to make it virtually impossible to get to the 'handcuff' in order to
remove them. Take a plastic pipe of large enough diameter to place your
entire arm inside. Drive a metal rod or pipe through the plastic pipe so that
it passes though at right angles. Place this object into something large and
cumbersome then cement it in so that at least one end on the pipe is free to
place your arm down. Now take a careabena hook (as used in rock climbing,
sailing etc.) and fix this to your wrist with strong but comfortable binds of
rope. You can now place you arm down the pipe and hock onto the metal bar.
Only you can unhook yourself, if anyone else wishes to move you, they most
either move both you and the object at the same time, or they must take apart
the object until then can unhook you, or carry you away attached to a smaller
part of the object.
Another method used by the 'No M11 link road campaign' was an impressive
scaffold tower built onto of the roof of a house which they were trying to
protect from being demolished. The tower was so tall that the 'cherry picker'
cranes that the opposition usually used to remove protesters who were
occupying pile driver etc., could not reach the protesters on the tower. It
proved to be to dangerous to send normal police officers up the tower to
remove the protesters. In the end it was the cold weather and lack of food
and water that made the final protester come down voluntarily after an
incredible 5 day eviction attempt.
1.2 - Contamination and 'Vandalism'
Many methods have been used in the past and no doubt others will be used in
the future. When used as a form of direct action these methods are an
effective means of economic sabotage. Some of the methods discussed here have
also been used for immoral ends and personal gain.
Tree Spiking
Tree spiking involves hammering big nails into trees, in a ring around the
stem where you would expect it to be cut. The tactic is pointless and very
dangerous if used without warning the workers and the company that the trees
have been spiked. If a saw hits one of those nails or spikes, the people in
the imeadiate area may be injured by flying fragments.
In the one celebrated case, a mill worker was injured and he actually ended
up sueing the loggin company for negligence. It has been said that a
lumberjack in the US was killed when trying to cut a spiked tree. However,
the incident is apparently an urban myth encouraged by the establishment.
The aim of tree spiking is not to harm the logger. It is to create the
potential of damage to expensive saws and blades in the mill (some of which
cost upwards of $10,000). Presenting a logging company with a potential loss
of money may encourage them to leave the spiked section of forest alone.
Pelt Painting
Used as economic sabotage, this form of direct action attracted great media
attention and public support during the early eighties. The culling of seal
pubs was made economically less viable when activists from groups like Sea
Shepherd, used indelible dies and paints of the fur of the baby seals.
Although the coloring may have wrecked the baby seals camouflage, it also
wrecked the economic value of the pelts.
Product Contamination
A tactic used occasionally by groups in the animal liberation movement, it is
also used by greedy individuals in an attempt to make a quick buck from
blackmail.
A product sold by the opposition is contaminated in some way, rendering it
unsellable. With consumable products such as food or drink, the claimed
contamination could be anything from mercury, rat poison etc. to razor blades
or broken glass. Animal liberation activists prefer substances like salt
which produce an unpleasant taste but produce no ill effects should someone
actually consume it.
Often a claim is made that a product has been contaminated when really
nothing has been done at all. These hoaxes are often as effective for
economic sabotage as the real thing. Such hoaxes may be quite elaborate; with
real contaminated products being sent to media to aid the illusion.
1.3 - Windows and glass
Plate glass windows found on shops etc. are not cheap. Destroying them is an
effective method of economic sabotage. The same is true for vehicle windows
which are also expensive to replace.
Windows are also possible means of entry into buildings and vehicles.
Burglars and activists involved in Animal Liberation are quite adept at
breaking windows in a numbers of ways, each with advantages and
disadvantages.
Blow Torch
As used by burglars. A blow torch is used to heat a windows glass before a
cold water is applied, for example, with a damp cloth. The cold water causes
the hot glass to crack and it does so much more quietly than using a brick!
Masking tape and sticky paper
During the blitz in the second world war, people put masking tape on their
windows. They did this to prevent the glass from shattering everywhere if a
bomb blast should occur nearby. Today, masking tape, sticky paper etc. is
used by activists to prevent broken glass from making lots of noise when it
falls and also to help prevent the mess of broken glass causing injury to
themselves when they enter the building.
Catapults
Catapults and hard, heavy objects such as marbles, ball bearings or stones
are used as a means to break windows as a distance for the purpose of
economic sabotage. A catapult can be purchased easily (or shop lifted) from
fishing tackle shops.
Glass etching fluids
Used by activists in the animal liberation movement, glass etching fluid a
quiet method of economic sabotage. Usually used on butchers windows or car
windscreens belonging to companies or individuals involved with animal abuse.
Stickers, posters and graffiti
Stickers are available that use adhesive that is very difficult to remove
from glass. Such stickers are used in some areas on windows of cars that park
in no-parking areas.
Posters or graffiti can usually be removed from windows without much effort
and fairly quickly. One method of slowing down the removal of the slogan or
poster and also necessitating the need to replace the glass, is to glue a
sheet of glass over the poster or slogan directly onto the windows glass.
This is probably not a very popular action since it may be difficult to
achieve and also time consuming.
Spring loaded center punches
A spring loaded center punch is a tool used to make a dent in metal before
using a drill to make a hole. Unlike a normal center punch, it does not need
to be hit with a hammer since it is spring loaded and requires very little
effort. These tools are used by car stereo thieves and also adopted by ALF
activists like Keith Mann. They break windows easily and quickly and can be
bought from any decent hardware store.
Privacy & Keeping Secrets
In this the age of; national computer databases, video surveillance cameras,
DNA finger-printing, eroding civil rights and ever increasing police powers,
the privacy of the individual is seriously at risk. However some of the very
technology that helps to deprive people of privacy, may now help them to
regain it.
When a citizens movement questions authority or challenges the status quo,
there is a possibility that the interests threatened will attempt to monitor
their actions. This may be done in order to; ascertain the danger posed,
identify the individuals involved, discover ways to reduce the effectiveness
of the movement or, if possible, destroy it. It is the communications between
the members of the movement that are perhaps the most useful to the
opposition and it should come as no surprise that phone taping and
intercepting mail are amongst the methods commonly used against citizen
movements.
Thankfully there are methods that can be used to help minimize the problem,
but most traditional methods are far from fool proof and hardly convenient,
so inconvenient in fact that it is doubtful that they are used by many to any
great degree.
Tapped phones and spoken codes
When making phone calls, some form of code could be implemented, substituting
incriminating words with 'innocent' ones and also disguising sensitive
information like times, dates and places. Producing an effective and flexible
code is very difficult, rather like trying to invent a new language. All the
people who are meant to understand the code must have been taught how to use
it and the information about the workings of the code must be passed in
private and must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands at any time
since all messages; past, previous and future, would be compromised. Most
codes are also cumbersome in use, restrictive and easy to crack unless the
code is changed frequently.
Intercepted mail and written cyphers
Slightly harder to crack and less restrictive would be the use of written
messages that have been manualy encrypted and then sent through the post. A
safe method of passing the 'key' is still necessary and manual encryption can
be very cumbersome to use. The drawbacks may make this method impractical to
use routinely and so when used, it could appear highly suspicious. Even if
the opposition could not imeadiately understand the message, they might have
their interest raised sufficiently to step-up surveillance, while putting
resourses into cracking the code.
Computer encryption
So what's left? With a computer, military standard encryption algorithms may
be used, that are virtually impossible to crack. They are flexible, fast and
easy to use and since they are so easy to use they can be used routinely so
there would be no additional suspicion raised, regardless of the importance
of the actual message.
While encryption offers a solution to the problems of phone tapping or mail
interception, conventional methods have their own problems. To de-cipher a
message requires the recipient to have the same key as that used by the
sender to encrypt it. If the sender and recipient get the opportunity to meet
face to face then the key can be exchanged, however there are situations when
no safe channel is available.
Public key cryptology
Public key cryptology provides the solution. Each person using the system has
two related keys; one secret, one public. The public key can be distributed
freely, it doesn't mater if it falls into the hands of the opposition.
Possessing the public key does not enable anyone to deduce the corresponding
secret key. The secret key must be kept secure, however in case it should it
fall into the wrong hands, the best systems add further protection by
requiring a 'pass-phrase', known only by the owner, whenever the key is used.
Before sending a message, the sender encrypt its using the public key
belonging to the intended recipient. The resulting encrypted file can then be
sent by Electronic Mail (or by disk in the standard post). The encrypted
message can not be read by anyone (even with the public key), only by the
person with the matching secret key and its 'pass-phrase'.
The system also provides message authentication. The sender's own secret key
can be used to encrypt a message, thereby 'signing' it. This creates a
digital signature of a message, which anyone can check by using the sender's
public key to decrypt it. This proves that the sender was the true originator
of the message, and that the message has not been subsequently altered by
anyone else. Forgery is not feasible, and the sender cannot later disown his
signature. Both privacy and authentication can be provided by first signing a
message then encrypting it with the recipient's public key. The recipient
reverses these steps by first decrypting the message with their own secret
key, then checking the enclosed signature with the senders public key.
The advanced algorithms used by Public Key Cryptology and conventional
single-key cryptology may be practically uncrackable and potentially helps to
solve the problems of phone tapping and mail interception. However no system
can free us from the threat of infiltration or stupidity! Even if the
intended recipient of an encrypted message is the only person who can read
them, if that person is careless or, not as trustworthy as hoped, all the
senders efforts will have been wasted.
Pretty Good Privacy
Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), is a high security cryptographic software
application based on "public key" cryptography (described elsewhere). PGP
allows people to exchange files or messages with privacy, authentication, and
convenience.
PGP is available for most major computers and operating systems, including ;
IBM PC, Apple, Amiga, Atari and UNIX systems. It is `free-ware' which means
it costs nothing and is easy to obtain from any decent shareware library,
computer bulletin board or anonymous FTP site.
INDEX
(Does the encyclopedia actualy need an index? After all, an index is usualy
only needed in book as a means to find specific things withing the book. On
the computer, a 'search' or 'find' tool is usualy available. What do you
think?)
Blow Torches
Catapults
Fur
Glass
Glass etching fluids
Graffiti
Green Peace
Hunt Sabotage
Locks
Logging
Masking tape etc.
Pelt painting
PGP
Privacy
Product Contamination
Road Protesters
Stickers and posters
Spring loaded center punches
Sit downs & sit in's
Sea Shepherd
Seal culling
Tree spiking
Windows
APPENDIX
DISCLAIMER
Once again. This document is not a guide for activists! It is a document for
academic interest and reference. It is hoped that a better understanding of
the tactics used by direct action activists will come from reading this
document.
