Occupy London: Protesters Fear Undercover Police as Eviction Looms

Occupy London fears it may have been infiltrated by undercover police as eviction day nears over the St Paul's Cathedral camp eviction.

The protest group is calling for a peaceful daytime eviction if it loses its appeal on 13 February, after a high court ruling to have the camp removed from the area on 18 January.

There has been a protest camp outside the cathedral, by the London Stock Exchange, since 15 October.

"Chances are that we have been infiltrated by the police. That is one of the tactics police use to undermine and to corrupt a movement, because basically they have corporate interests at heart," Venus CuMara, an Occupy activist living at the camp, told International Business Times UK.

"I find it very sad that these people who are corrupting a movement who are undercover cops, or the people who are paid to do this, cannot see why we are here.

"My concern is that the police do not see how important it is to support us, because we are supporting them."

She added that Occupy does not want police pay cuts and wants them to be "treated fairly".

Black Bloc 'Not Involved in Occupy London'

There are also fears that the anarchist group Black Bloc could turn up and cause unrest in the event of an eviction, as happened at Occupy Oakland in California.

Occupy Oakland protesters were caught up in clashes between police and Black Bloc supporters, who had gone to the camp's eviction with the intention of causing violence.

"To the best of my knowledge, Black Bloc has not been involved in the Occupy movement in the UK," CuMara said, adding that she has seen police officers impersonate members of Black Bloc to make a movement appear aggressive.

Bank of Ideas Eviction

Occupy London protesters were evicted from their "Bank of Ideas" squat in an abandoned office block owned by Swiss banking giant UBS on 30 January.

They allege bailiffs were violent towards them as they struck in the early hours of the morning.

Footage emerged of one man, thought to be a bailiff, driving through a crowd of protesters as they tried to stop the vehicle.

A 45-year-old man was arrested by Metropolitan Police in relation to the eviction and is on bail until the end of February.