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Outspoken and controversial Oakland figure Mandingo Hayes was initially outed as an OPD informant by members of the Prisoners of Conscience Committee during the 2009 Oscar Grant movement. His questionable background as a former pimp who served time in prison for pistol whipping his girlfriend conflicted with the way he portrayed himself as the leader of the newest incarnation of the black panthers in Oakland. An Oakland Tribune article from 2003 reposted here Mandingo Hayes Outed As Informant explains his role as a police informant in a prostitution bust 8 years ago.
Since he was outed in 2009, Mandingo has rarely been seen in public. During the riots that ensued after the verdict in the Johannes Mehserle trial in July of 2010, he appeared in the middle of an intersection instructing people to cause mayhem while he kept his hands relatively clean. A few minutes later he walked up to a demonstrator and punched him from behind with no provocation. When another demonstrator attempted to break up the altercation, he was grabbed by police while Mandingo was left free to walk away.
He resurfaced on Tuesday during the confrontations with the police. As he has done in the past, he attempted to convince someone to perform highly illegal actions while he himself did nothing but shout. He was present again last night during the confrontation with the BART police. He must not be allowed to infiltrate the Occupy Oakland movement.
It is important to note that the only time he appears in any political situation is during a confrontation with police and that he is always alone and always encouraging others to commit criminal actions. It is also of note that OPD officers have addressed him by name in the streets several times in the past few years, the most recent instance being Tuesday.
An Oakland Tribune Article released yesterday states that "Mandingo Hayes–a man accused of being a police informant during the Oscar Grant movement–emerged, attempting to lead protesters down San Pablo towards police saying, "I don't care if its police there."
It is imperative that we stay safe and keep our eyes out for people who are known to have worked as police informants. Below are images of Mandingo.
This is a video of him being interviewed at an Oscar Grant Rally back in 2009 Oscar Grant Rally at Fruitvale BART
Mandingo, seated center, during the January 7, 2009 Oscar Grant protest
This is an image of Mandingo attempting to direct a group of demonstrators on Tuesday, October 25
No one active in local protests has seen Evan in years. He does not do organizing work but pops up at convenient times when it appears large protests are about to occur in Oakland or San Francisco. He often tries to take charge of the direction of marches. He has been strongly suspected of collaboration with police based on reliable information.
He's the guy who told the San Francisco Chronicle that he cried the night of January 7th, 2009. He started the whole anarchist outside agitator meme.
http://articles.sfgate.com/2009-01-09/news/17197337_1_bart-police-police-protest-organized The man who organized Wednesday's BART police protest said he broke down in tears when he saw his peaceful march turn violent as some participants began throwing bottles, spitting on police cars and setting small fires. Evan Shamar said he left the demonstration and watched on television as the situation got worse. "I was devastated by it," said Shamar, 24, a photographer who lives in Oakland. "I worked diligently for the past 72 hours, and for it to be destroyed by a group of anarchists was extremely upsetting. I felt like my integrity had been compromised."
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2010/07/02/us/02bctrial2-inline/02bctrial-2-articleInline.jpg Photo of Evan Shamar
Sometimes you can see him post photos to this website.
I think that someone helping police friends could be equally likely to be a frequent or infrequent meeting participant. If they really were paying someone off to be an informant, the first thing they would do is attend all the meetings and learn activists' names, so attending meetings doesn't suggest that you're *not* an informant.
but it is entirely reasonable that police would send friends only to major events (or the few events they hear about). They would either be asking this as a favor, or intimidating people who had previous drug arrests (or similar) to help out in order to stay on in their favor
Everyone knows Mandingo was an informant nearly a decade ago. He had long admitted this himself, yet the problem with the issue during the 2009 Oscar Grant demos is that POCC was engaging in problematic male-territorial issues ("Who is this guy claiming to be the legacy of the Panthers? We are the legacy of the Panthers.") and made it seem like they 'discovered' new info on him in February when many of us involved in the OG-Movement organizing knew this from day one. Worst still was the fact the newspaper article that points to him testifying was actually about the case against the Oakland Riders in which Mandingo played a part in bringing down corrupt-ass cops... Just because he was an informant in 2002 did not make him one in 2009 or 2011, yet POCC's territorial beef with him led to them making it seem like if Mandingo admitted to being an informant in 2009. As with all things: be cautious, but don't be pathetic, don't spread unsubstantiated rumors.... Let his actions speak for themselves and don't pre-judge AGAIN based on male-territorial bullshit....
and the funniest part of it all is that Evan would even come up in the same post... give me a break... we all know he was with ANSWER... a well-intentioned good young kid, but inexperienced (in 2009), so he did not know how to handle a few fires... do undercover cops cry? come on, big deal... it was part of his learning curve. It was actually some of the non-profits that first pushed the 'outside agitator' line even before OPD got in on it.... Evan actually left then (for a bit) and then came back and put in a lot of time and good work...
Ultimately, stop with the accusations!!!! Exercise caution and discretion. If you are doing something 'illegal' then be smart and don't get caught, and don't go around sharing info with folks u don't know (or trust, even if that is Mandingo) but cut the accusations already...
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