Undercover cop infiltrated Extinction Rebellion chat groups: report

An undercover police officer posed as an environmental activist, infiltrated two private Extinction Rebellion chat groups, and followed along with the messages posted there for weeks. Trouw, De Groene Amsterdammer, and Investico discovered this in the criminal files against eight climate activists.

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) suspects the eight Extinction Rebellion (XR) activists of sedition by calling on people to block the A12 highway in The Hague. Two are also accused of vandalism. The OM implemented restraining orders on all of them, banning them from the A12 ahead of a demonstration on January 28. The activists will appear in court on Wednesday for a preliminary hearing.

Using the name “Inge,” the police officer posed as an activist and gained access to two private XR chat groups on the Signal messaging service. From November, the undercover cop collected messages from the groups and mapped the administrators. In December, the police also received a tip from an informant who shared the names of several protest organizers. The police used all this information and public Twitter posts in its investigation into the eight activists.

“Until now, this combination of investigative methods has mainly been used against groups suspected of terrorism,” lawyer Tamara Buruma of Prakken d’Oliveira, which specializes in sedition, said to Trouw. “It is striking that the police are now using them against a legal, peaceful movement. Sedition is a serious crime, and heavy means can be used. But these methods were not developed for protesters.”

The OM told the newspaper that it wasn’t involved in infiltrating the chat groups because that is a method used by the police primarily to maintain public order. However, the OM can use the information in its criminal investigations.

Willem Jebbink, the lawyer representing the XR activists, wants the court to decide whether this was legal. “I have never encountered working with informants and virtual detectives in the 15 years that I have represented activists,” he told the newspaper.