Liberate

After seeing the photos from ANZCCART 2008 and reading the posts on Indymedia the issue of masking up seemed quite important. The discussion on Indy centered primarily around the usefulness of masking up rather than how to do it. Here I have outlined things I think are important to consider when masking up, if hiding your identity is the point.

Hiding your identity on any action can be useful in reducing the ability of Police and Security to profile us and enabling naughty things to take place while reducing the possibility of getting caught. However this only works if a large group of people all dress exactly the same. This means if everyone is dressed in black then everything is black; no labels, no patches, no coloured gloves and no coloured trim on hoodies.

The other thing is to remain masked up; before, during and after the demo. Taking your mask off during a demo because its hot or because you are going to be leaving soon defeats the purpose of masking up in the first place. As you can see in the Group Image the person with the megaphone as well masked up however not long after she can be seen (see Person One above) with her mask down. The same can be said of Person Two below. The image of Person Two could also be improved with a black (rather than green) hat, glasses and gloves. Also at the bottom of the photo you can sort off see white laces and white and black converse style shoes.

Remaining masked up even applies to demos on the same day if you are going to be wearing the same clothes. Otherwise change your entire outfit; this includes shoes, hats, sunglasses, belts and gloves.

Essentially it is all in the detail. Overseas at large gathering like the G20 in Australia activists who were masked up were picked out by small items that were different to other peoples; these were things such as shoes, belts, gloves, trim on hoodies, small patches, rips in clothing, hair poking out the side of masks, sunglasses, eyes, tattoos that came through when clothing was lifted and piercings.

Even here in Aotearoa similar details are important. If you read the Police affidavit for gaining the warrant in the October 15th case Police describe how there was a small label on the arm of a black jacket when the person was not covered up in public. They then remark later on about seeing that same label on the same item of clothing on a masked person later on during their surveillance. The Police are attempting to use this to prove the identity of the masked person.

A few years ago during an anti vivisection demo in the South Island activists stormed a Council building covered up and left without anyone getting arrested. The same people then went to a demo the next day in the same clothing. Unfortunately the Police had security camera footage and were able to pick people off by their distinguishable clothing. This is also a good
reason not to simply swap clothes with a mate.

Things to think about:
- are all your clothes solidly black (this means COMPLETELY BLACK shoes, hat, glasses, hoodie, pants, belt, gloves, scarf etc…)
- are all your clothes in a good state of repair with no noticable rips
- do you have a change of clothes for afterwards
- are your sunglasses different to the ones you usually wear
- do you have gloves (finger prints are also bad)
- is your hair all tied back
- have you removed all your patches?
- have you removed your jewellery?
If you have tattoos think about where they are and see how you could cover them. If you have a tattoo on your wrist your hoodie could cover it but if you lift your arm up the sleeve will come down and reveal your tattoo. There are ways around these things if you are creative.

Some suggestions for tattoos are:

For wrist tattoos – long fingered gloves that come up to your elbows

For lower back tattoos – I hate to say it but those eighties body suits will cover that if you happen to reach up or your pants come down

Basically you need to think about anywhere that your clothes can come apart. This is also worth thinking about for any noticeable scars or birth marks that could be used to identify you.

Obviously the point is to hide your identity and while the black bloc style seems to be the most popular among some activist this can also be achieved through other means. These can include everyone being dressed in the same costume, or all in dark blue jeans, all in converse shoes (well the No Sweat equivalent), all in purple hats etc…. the point really is that EVERYONE needs to be the same.