Union Violence - False Flag Operations

False Flag Operations

False flag operations are efforts to turn public opinion against an adversary, while pretending to be in the camp of that adversary. Historian J. Bernard Hogg, who studied agencies hired by companies to undermine unions, and who wrote "Public Reaction to Pinkertonism and the Labor Question," observed:

A detective will join the ranks of the strikers and at once become an ardent champion of their cause. He is next found committing an aggravated assault upon some man or woman who has remained at work, thereby bringing down upon the heads of the officers and members of the assembly or union directly interested, the condemnation of all honest people, and aiding very materially to demoralize the organization and break their ranks. He is always on hand in the strikers' meeting to introduce some extremely radical measure to burn the mill or wreck a train, and when the meeting has adjourned he is ever ready to furnish the Associated Press with a full account of the proposed action, and the country is told that a "prominent and highly respected member" of the strikers' organization has just revealed a most daring plot to destroy life and property, but dare not become known in connection with the exposure for fear of his life!

Some labor spy agencies advertised their false flag operations; for example, Corporations Auxiliary Company, a labor spy agency which boasted 499 corporate clients in the early 1930s, told prospective clients,

"In turns extremely radical. He asks for unreasonable things and keeps the union embroiled in trouble. If a strike comes, he will be the loudest man in the bunch, and will counsel violence and get somebody in trouble. The result will be that the union will be broken up."

While such practices may seem outdated, some apparently still subscribe to just such tactics. For example, Deputy Prosecutor in Indiana's Johnson County, Carlos Lam, suggested in an email that Wisconsin's Governor Walker should mount a "false flag" operation to undermine pro-union protesters involved in the 2011 Wisconsin protests, which would make it appear as if the union was committing violence. After initially claiming that his email account was hacked, Lam admitted to sending the suggestion and resigned. Governor Walker's office disclaimed support for the proposal.