Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

You can say no at any time to anyone about anything. Don't answer any questions you don't want to?not just with police officers, but also with other activists and even close friends: if there's something you don't feel safe sharing, don't. This also means being comfortable with others doing the same with you: if there's a conversation they want to keep to themselves, or they ask you not to be part of a meeting or project, you shouldn't take this personally?it's for everyone's good that they're free to do so. For that matter, don't participate in any projects you don't feel good about, or collaborate with anyone you feel ill at ease with, or ignore your gut feeling in any situation; if something goes wrong and you get into trouble, you don't want to have any regrets. You're responsible for not letting anyone (not even yourself!) talk you into taking risks you're not ready for.

Don't ever turn yourjHends over to your enemies. If captured, never, ever give up any information that could endanger anyone else. Some recommend an explicit oath be sworn by all participants in a direct action group: that way, in a worst-case scenario, when pressure

might make it hard to distinguish between giving up a few harmless details and totally selling out, everyone wUl know exactly what commitments they made to each other.

Don't make it too easy for your enemies to figure out what you're up to. Don't be too predictable in the methods you employ, or the targets you choose, or the times and places you meet to discuss things. Don't be too visible in the pubhc aspects of the struggle in which you do your most serious direct action: keep your name oflF mailing lists and out of the media, perhaps avoid association with aboveground organizations and campaigns entirely. If you're involved in really serious clandestine activities with a few comrades, you may want to limit your interactions in public, if not avoid each other altogether. Federal agents can easily get access to the phone numbers dialed from your phone, and will use such lists to establish connections between individuals; the same goes for your email, and for that matter the books you check out from Ubraries. Don't leave a trail: credit card use, gas cards, cell phone calls all leave a record of your motions, purchases, contacts. Have a cover story, supported by verifiable facts. Be careful about what your trash could reveal about you?dropouts aren't the only ones who go dumpstering! Keep track of every written document and incriminating photocopy?^keep them aU in one place, so you can't accidentally forget one?and destroy them as soon as possible. The fewer there are in the first place, the better?get used to using your memory. Make sure there aren't any ghosts of such writing left behind in impressions on the surfaces you were writing on, whether these be wooden desks or pads of paper. Assume that every use of computers leaves a track, too.

You can send communiques regarding clandestine actions from one-use-only ennail accounts on public computers, bearing in mind that most libraries have camera surveillance that monitors who comes in and out, or to a trusted but unconnected representative who will circulate them for you.

Don't throw any direct action ideas around in public that you think you might want to try

at some point. Wait to propose an idea until you can gather a group of individuals that security Culture

When anonymously submitting a

hard-copy press release to the media,

print out your announcement at a

library or cyber-cafe, and handle it

and the envelope with latex gloves;

if you must disguise the use of latex

gloves, you can wear one of those

sweaters with long sleeves that hang

down past your hands?you'll look

more cute than dangerous.

whom you brainstorm and hash out details in advance?safely outside your home and away from mixed company, of course. Don't propose your idea until you think the time is right for it to be tried, to minimize the length of the vulnerable period during which the idea is out there without being put into action. Invite only those you are pretty certain will want to join in?everyone you invite who doesn't end up participating is a needless security risk, and this can be doubly problematic if it turns out they feel your proposed activity is laughably dumb or morally wrong. Only invite people who can keep secrets?this is critical whether or not they decide to participate.