Entrapment: The Logical End of Infiltration
If you're already in this phase, you're screwed.
Infiltration always has a goal. While most people assume that infiltration is always done by an undercover agent, that’s not the case. Infiltrators often have nothing to do with that, and have other goals that are just as dangerous. That’s why, in fact, the “we aren’t doing anything wrong” defense is pointless in an infiltration setting.
I said in the last issue that the disruption phase was the last place you could get out of the group safely. Today we’ll talk about why that is, and why the entrapment phase is far too late.
What is Entrapment?
Entrapment is another term that is often misunderstood. Political activists always think it involves an undercover agent trying to get them to do something illegal so they can be arrested. While that can and does happen, the concept actually involves far more scenarios than just that.
Entrapment is any situation where an activist is ‘locked in’ to a negative outcome. When it happens, one can always look back a few moves on the chess board and see where the activist could have avoided it, and yet inexplicably didn’t.
Let’s look at a few examples.
An activist gets doxxed on the internet, resulting in harassing phone calls or emails, death threats, or even people showing up outside their home.
Their families are targeted, kids harassed outside (or at) school, or spouses approached and harassed while out in the community.
The activist’s job is notified of their activities or beliefs, leading to them being fired.
Arrest, assault, imprisonment, or even death.
You might be thinking that there’s no way you can see these things coming in advance. You might even think, as several people have told me over the years, that it’s “part of the package” when you decide to be an activist—an unfortunate byproduct that can’t be avoided and is even a badge of honor. All of these things are incorrect. You CAN avoid them and still be effective—and ignoring indicators while charging headfirst into a negative outcome isn’t a badge of honor. It’s rash stupidity.
Moving From Disruption to Entrapment
Once an infiltrator has started disruption operations, they’re that much closer to the entrapment phase, in which their target—you and your group—are locked into that imminent negative outcome. You can still get out during disruption, if you recognize the signs, and avoid what’s coming.
The problem is that many activists choose to stay and try to fix the group, mitigate the damage, or even ignore the threat, rationalizing it with the belief that it will all work out eventually. It’s almost a variation on the idea that it’s okay to stay in a toxic relationship because if you just love the other person enough, they’ll come around. Reasons for that rationale are many, and often look something like this:
We can’t accomplish our goals without the group.
The group name is recognizable and necessary.
Our leader is the face of the movement; we can’t get rid of him.
Our elected officials won’t listen to us if we don’t have the numbers.
Even if we are being infiltrated, we aren’t doing anything illegal so there’s nothing to worry about.
One person can’t really do that much damage.
All of these statements reflect a misunderstanding of how the process works, and will ensure that you’re left without a chair when the music stops.
Why It’s Too Late to Get Out During Entrapment
Let’s look at why you’re screwed if you wait until the entrapment phase to leave your compromised group.
Scenario 1
Your group let in someone who has a serious anger problem and wants far more aggressive action than your group is willing to engage in. He’s made some problems, but it’s all been rationalized because “he means well and has a good heart for the cause.” The member keeps ramping up and causing disruption, but nothing is done about him.
One day he gets on a livestream while taking the kind of action you secretly were a little worried about but never thought he would actually do. He makes sure to mention his membership in your group by name, and the media is all over it. You are irrevocably linked to him, his action, and the public backlash from it—and there is nothing you can do about that now. No amount of “but we aren’t like him” will matter. Public support for your group—and your cause—is severely decreased or destroyed. It doesn’t matter what you say because you did nothing about it.
This could have been avoided if your group either a) used a robust vetting process to identify his potential for bad action and bar his entry or b) were willing to remove him when it became obvious that he was a problem.
Scenario 2
Your leader came up with an idea that is so beyond the pale that no sane person would engage in it. It’s pointless, dangerous, and could get a lot of members in hot water. The few people who raised concerns about it were either removed or left of their own accord. You know there are others against it, but they’re just keeping their mouths shut hoping the idea doesn’t gain traction. The leader, however, is all about moving forward with it.
Once he does take action in the group’s name, the entire group is liable for it, and suddenly there are raids by law enforcement, arrests, and jail time. You’re separated from your family, looking at astronomical cost to defend yourself, and unable to provide for your children. It doesn’t matter that you didn’t agree with the action and didn’t actively assist in it. It doesn’t even matter if you tried to talk the leader and his echo chamber out of it. All that matters is that you knew the action was being taken and you stayed in the group and allowed it to happen. Now you’re locked in.
It could have been avoided if you would have simply recognized it was time to get out. Now, however, no amount of distancing can help you.
Scenario 3
You have a lot of drama in your group. In fact, most of your free time isn’t spent engaging in activism with the group, it’s spent dealing with the internal problems that seem to hang on like a parasite. You’ve managed to figure out where the core problems lie (and with whom) but there’s nothing you can do. You’re not leadership, you’re just a member trying to do good in the name of your cause. Leadership isn’t handling the issues, and the drama just keeps building.
Now you find that the group is imploding. Everyone is angry, no one is engaging in any worthwhile action for the cause, and you find yourself mentally and emotionally drained. Your group’s dirty laundry spills out into the public arena on the internet, and suddenly you’re not a valued and effective member of the respected group you had hoped for; you’re a laughingstock with a hashtag—or worse, your group ends up being everything your detractors were accusing you of.
All of these scenarios—and a thousand more like them—can be avoided. Being an effective activist doesn’t mean you have to allow yourself to be locked into a negative outcome you can’t escape. In fact, being effective means recognizing it before it happens—and taking the necessary steps to avoid it.
So What Are We Supposed to Do?
Not all risk is bad. The actions taken by your group don’t have to always be small and un-scary. There is a time and place for civil disobedience or nonviolent resistance, for bold and decisive action.
The way to do that, however, involves a systematic evaluation process, some of which we’ve talked about in previous articles.
Does the action push forward the cause in a real, focused, smart way? Or is it simply rash and poorly thought out?
Have you gamed out the 2nd, 3rd, and even 4th order effects of the action on your group and your cause?
What’s your group’s motivation, collectively and individually, for wanting to engage in that action?
Do you have a plan if it fails, or for being arrested/jailed?
Is everyone involved truly on board? Have you heard out any concerns or questions?
If you can’t answer those questions with a definitive yes, and outline the plan, then you’re about to be in entrapment phase. Get out.
In the next issue we’ll dive into some actual infiltrations and why they worked so well. Subscribe now and make sure you get it!