Discrediting the left
The new admissions from Italian police that they attempted to frame activists in order to justify their own violence are very significant, but there was other, earlier evidence of misconduct that reporters could have followed up.
Much of this evidence was documented by Rory Carroll, a reporter for the London Guardian newspaper. He reported as early as July 24, 2001 that "an interior ministry source" had admitted that "the raid had turned into a revenge attack by police." In the same story, Carroll reported a claim from the Genoa Social Forum that "the homemade bombs were probably planted."
Another story by Carroll (Guardian, 7/23/01) focused on allegations that segments of the supposedly anarchist "black block" in Genoa - the group most often held up as proof that globalization activists are violent - were in fact provocateurs from European security forces. Groups of black-clad people "burned buildings, ransacked shops and attacked banks with crowbars and scaffolding" during the protests, reported Carroll. Some attacked journalists, "smashing their equipment and tearing up their notebooks." Yet "few, if any" of these people were arrested, and local activists seemed not to know the people involved.
The new admissions from Italian police that they attempted to frame activists in order to justify their own violence are very significant, but there was other, earlier evidence of misconduct that reporters could have followed up.
Much of this evidence was documented by Rory Carroll, a reporter for the London Guardian newspaper. He reported as early as July 24, 2001 that "an interior ministry source" had admitted that "the raid had turned into a revenge attack by police." In the same story, Carroll reported a claim from the Genoa Social Forum that "the homemade bombs were probably planted."
Another story by Carroll (Guardian, 7/23/01) focused on allegations that segments of the supposedly anarchist "black block" in Genoa - the group most often held up as proof that globalization activists are violent - were in fact provocateurs from European security forces. Groups of black-clad people "burned buildings, ransacked shops and attacked banks with crowbars and scaffolding" during the protests, reported Carroll. Some attacked journalists, "smashing their equipment and tearing up their notebooks." Yet "few, if any" of these people were arrested, and local activists seemed not to know the people involved.