In a misguided effort to encourage protesters to disperse during the racial justice protests in 2020, Seattle Police officers transmitted fake radio traffic detailing the movements and motives of a non-existent mob of Proud Boys, but the tactic backfired when protesters armed themselves and fortified their positions, the Seattle Times reports.
In what appeared to be a scripted interchange, police officers broadcasted reports that a group of Proud Boys had formed at one of the areas around the protest. Later they reported the members of the far-right terrorist group were armed, and in another report, that they were considering pathways to attack the protestors.
People monitoring police radio traffic posted warnings about the transmissions on social media, alerting the racial justice protesters. Instead of scaring protesters to leave the area, the reporters strengthened the resolve of the protesters, who picked up makeshift weapons to defend themselves and reinforced defenses in the future Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP, Zone.