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Embedded in the meetings in Kingston, Peterborough, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo and Toronto were two undercover police officers — Bindo Showan and Brenda Carey — whose allegations formed the basis of the prosecution’s case against the accused.

The identity of the OPP officers had been protected by a publication ban, but that ban has now been lifted.

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Carey worked her way into their circles after attending an info-session at the University of Guelph for people interested in getting involved with the Guelph Union for Tenants and Supporters (GUTS).

Soon, she was cooking at anarchist-punk houses and attending anti-authoritarian/anarchist public events, according to the blog.

By the spring of 2010, she was living in Guelph in a house with activists.

For the police task force, this was a major coup, since it sidestepped the paperwork and legal challenge involved in getting a judge’s authorization to plant listening devices in activists’ residences.

Most of the time, she apparently operated without wearing listening devices, the blog said.

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She listened up-close despite the fact they were extremely security-conscious.

Activists refused to discuss actions on the Internet, turned off cellphones and removed their batteries during meetings. They used a vouching system to screen participants. 

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This story should prompt insurrectionary anarchists to reconsider the utility and concepts of security culture and affinity groups.