Dealing with Police

Over the last few months anti-lockdown, anti-vaccine and anti-government protesters and activists have been facing increased pressure and intimidation at the hands of the New Zealand police and legal system. Unsolicited police visits for social media posts, trespass notices and fines for stickering, fines for attending rallies, and most recently peaceful protesters at the ongoing protests at parliament are being dragged off one by one by the police. These recent events may shock a lot of newcomers to the dissident scene who still believe that the police are their friends and allies, but nothing could be further from the truth. Police are the violent enforcers of the global-liberal system who do not care one iota for public wellbeing, but only for their own paycheck and— fairly often— a lust for violence and petty power.

Nationalists have known this for years. If an individual got caught putting up a “White Lives Matter” poster,  distributing flyers critical of mass migration, buying “naughty” books online,  or discussing our demographic replacement on social media; they would soon earn an intimidation visit (or worse) by the New Zealand police. Now in recent months, large swaths of the general public are on the receiving end of the same repression that Nationalists have faced for decades, and we hope to impart some knowledge and experience onto the somewhat burgeoning but naïve group of anti-lockdown and anti-government protesters.

Rule 1: Don’t talk to the police

As mentioned above the police are not your friend,  and in fact should be treated with extreme caution. Whether being accosted by them at a rally or having an officer show up at the front door, the same rule always applies: Don’t talk to the police. If there is one thing you take away from this article, then make sure it’s that. This is especially true if you are not under arrest. When a police officer shows up at your door without a warrant or any charges being pressed, they are only there for one reason: information gathering. If they had the evidence to charge you with a crime then they already would have. The only evidence they can gather at that point is information you willingly give them. Forget politeness, and don’t try to debate or reason with them; just tell them to leave. If you are under arrest then the same rule applies: don’t talk to any police or detectives. Get a lawyer as soon as possible. Don’t say anything to the police in the police car or at the station. Wait for an appointed lawyer and talk to them, then let the lawyer deal with any police or detectives. In both these cases any information you give can only be used against you, so stay absolutely silent at all times.

Rule 2: Information Gathering

If you do receive an intimation or information gathering visit from the police then this can fortunately be used to your— and the Movement’s— advantage to gather information on the opposition. Gather as much information as you can: take photos of the police officers IDs, faces and their unmarked vehicle’s number plates. This information can be shared with the Movement’s communication circles so that these individuals will be less effective in their goals of intimating the general public. This is especially true if the individuals sent to intimidate are SIS spooks.

Rule 3: Avoidance

The best way to avoid police intimation and investigation is to never have them know about you at all. This can be done in a number of ways, starting with online. Not posting with your real identity online in dissident groups and discussions. Use burner numbers, phones and email addresses when signing up for social media accounts and use VPNs when posting anonymously. Also use some common sense and opsec. Don’t go posting about how you are going to overthrow the government and then post pictures of yourself publicly on the same account. Also lock up your security settings for your accounts- make sure your phone number, real name and email are not viewable by the public.

Offline there are a number of ways that you can keep yourself safe. When partaking in real life activities such as flyering, stickering, postering or attending rallies make sure you conceal your identity. Wear sunglasses, hats, masks and clothing to cover any identifying markings. While yes, part of our current grievances are against the useless mask mandates, please use some nuance. Being forced to wear an ineffective medical mask for 8 hours at work and wearing a mask to conceal your identity as a dissident against a system that wants you compliant (or worse) are two different things. Another important step is to not drive your personal vehicle to the location of the activity. Bus, train, taxi or walk to the location. Your registration number will be used by the authorities to identify you. 

Wrap Up

Follow these steps and you could potentially save yourself from charges pressed by the police, or having your face plastered all over the media to ruin your reputation. Nationalist dissidents have faced the same police and system intimation and repression for decades, and as a result have developed ways to counter it. The anti-lockdown movement needs to start adopting these same practices to protect their members, supporters and the movement as a whole. Best of luck.