Behind the Badge: The SDS Unveiled

This is a special supplemental episode this week featuring friend of the show and investigative journalist Samantha Asumadu (@SamanthaAsumadu)

In part 1 of this interview series, Sam speaks with activist and reporter Tom Fowler, who's been documenting the Spycops inquiries in the UK—and who was himself part of a group infiltrated by Spycops in the 2000s. Tom is the host of the Spycops Info Podcast, which is available here: https://spycops.info/

Spycops may not be a familiar story to American listeners, but the summarized version is: the British state has recently admitted to using secret deep-cover police to infiltrate activist groups for over 30 years, using stolen identities and encouraging officers to enter into relationships with activists (to include fathering children) only to abandon them once their mission ended.

As Tom's interview reveals, the details are even more unsettling than what's summarized above.

Part 2 will be out next week!

Check out Tom's work and social media posts here: https://x.com/tombfowler

Check out Sam's bio and newsletter here: https://samanthaasumadu.substack.com/about

For more of Sam's investigative work, check out the following links:

https://www.thecanary.co/opinion/2024/06/27/labour-forde-report/

https://www.thecanary.co/uk/analysis/2024/07/30/priti-patel-conservative/

https://samanthaasumadu.substack.com/p/this-is-unusual

https://www.thecanary.co/long-read/2024/08/09/axis-of-evil-new/