Extinction Rebellion uses arrest as a tactic to try to achieve its goals.

this is simply too idiotic to be real, and i want to interject my own experience, here - one of the best ways that you can identify the cops is by looking at who gets arrested.

somebody else might say something about race, but that's just a distraction, really. there's a far more pressing concern, here. let's think this through.

what happens when you get arrested for something like this?

- you get processed, including fingerprinted. you might apply to have things destroyed, but it's not easy to get the cops to actually do this. i'm probably going to need to sue, myself - we'll see how that goes.
- they know your real name, your address, etc.
- you're put in a list.
- you're put under surveillance.

so, if you're using arrest as a tactic, you're playing right into their hands, and you're retarded. more likely - this is truly occam's razor - is that the whole thing's a sting operation, to try and capture data on the next generation of activists.

if you fell for it, there's not much you can do, at this point, but you probably want to stay away from any groups that you think are actually legit; otherwise, you're bringing the cops there, and potentially bringing a mic in, at that.

i keep telling you that if orwell was actually right then you wouldn't know it...

i got myself arrested last year, it is true, but it was for a different purpose - i was building a civil case against the cops. so, i got arrested in order to sue. i'm not currently involved in any kind of organizing, and don't expect to be.....pretty much ever again. i moved 800 km away from where i used to organize, as well. so, i'm not putting anybody at risk, and the use of spying on me like this is essentially nil. if that wasn't true, i'd be putting comrades at risk, which is a big problem.

so, what do i think about this? it sounds like a sting. if you're going to go down and look for activists and/or hang out, don't get arrested. that's the set-up!

that said, not everybody there is going to be a cop, and if my own experience is any guide then you may find some value in using it as a networking tool - just be extremely careful  about infiltration, and get away from any more legit organizing immediately once you think they've "got" you..

i'm, personally, in no position to do this kind of thing.

would mass arrests accomplish anything in the long run? of course not.

the liberals are supposed to do better than this