EXCLUSIVE PICTURE: The moment biker-gang cop was 'arrested' while undercover with Occupy protestors and the day his double life was shaken when he was confronted with being a rat
- Wojciech Braszczok inveigled his way into protesters' hearts and won their trust reads like the plot of countless movies
- Cover blown when he was accused of taking part in brutal biker gang attack on Alexian Lien
- Occupy protesters have revealed their 'betrayal' and exactly how he inveigled his way into their movement
- Was once arrested at Grand Central station, was willing to empty toilets to win trust and 'encouraged' violence at protests
- One protester said he even confronted him about being a cop but he nervously laughed off the suggestion
- Pretended to be homeless but would return to his $400,000 condo, go to flashy nightclubs and drove expensive cars and motorcycles
By Daniel Bates
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The double life of the undercover cop who has been charged over the New York bike gang beating while he infiltrated the Occupy movement can be revealed today.
The way in which Wojciech Braszczok inveigled his way into protesters' hearts and won their trust reads like the plot of a movie.
He proved his commitment by doing months of ‘grunt work’ like cleaning the toilets; he encouraged them to break the law to prove his passion; he was even pictured being 'arrested' and there is even the moment he was challenged about being a cop by a suspicious activist.
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Keeping up the cover: Braszczok was even pictured being 'arrested' by his co-workers in NYPD during a protest at Grand Central station as part of maintaining the protester pretense
Role play: Braszczok fooled those he was sent to spy on even if some had their suspicions
Two faced: The detective shaved his head in a mowhawk to look the part and was willing to clean toilets and buy beers for everyone within Occupy to win their hearts and minds
Braszczok even spun them the lie that he was homeless but he was really going home every night to his $400,000 condo in Queens, New York with his wife and two children he paid for on his policeman’s salary.
MailOnline has spoken with members of Occupy New York who are horrified over the ‘betrayal’ that Braszczok pulled on them for the two years he was among them.
They also claim it was a waste of taxpayer money - most of their planning is online anyway - and allege he may have been a provocateur sent to inflame their peaceful protests.
Braszczok, 32, is charged with gang assault in the first degree, assault in the first degree and criminal mischief in the third degree over his alleged role in the biker gang attack on an SUV.
He appeared in court yesterday and a judge was told he smashed the rear window of Alexian Lien’s black Range Rover whilst his wife and two-year-old daughter were still inside.
Police claim to have video evidence of him during the attack and MailOnline has fund footage of a biker matching his description on the day very near the SUV moments before the brutal assault.
He also allegedly failed to call 911 and did not tell his bosses he was even there until three days later.
He denies the allegations.
Revealed: Occupy protesters have since posted pictures of the cop at demonstrations since they discovered his 'betrayal'
In the frame: Braszczok has been identified in this picture from a protest on Wall Street in April last year
What has emerged since is that Braszczok is, according to his lawyer, involved with the NYPD intelligence division which deals with 'infiltrating various organizations'.
He is a 10-year veteran of the force and for the last five has been undercover.
Now that cover has been blown, MailOnline can reveal just how he won the trust of Occupy - by going to every action he could right back to Occupy Wall St in Zuccotti Park.
Occupy Wall St started in New York in September 2011 with the occupation of Zuccotti Park the city’s financial district, though it has since flowered into a more established movement.
While it was largely peaceful, the NYPD was concerned and sent in undercover cops was because other groups linked to the Occupy movement have been violent such as in Oakland, California, and Seattle.
The most serious flare-up in New York was when more than 700 people were arrested as they walked across Brooklyn Bridge in the traffic lanes, bringing cars to a standstill.
Lie: He told activists that he was homeless, but returned every night to his $400,000 condo, went to the flashiest nightclubs and drove an expensive Mitsubishi Evolution car that he showed off online
The occupation of Zuccotti Park ended on November 15 when around 200 activists were arrested during a nighttime raid that demolished the tent city that had sprung up.
Activists told MailOnline how Braszczok was a ‘foot soldier’ who enthusiastically scrubbed the bathrooms at the New York HQ, attended birthdays and bought fellow activists pitchers of beer during 4am drinking sessions.
When he was promoted to an organizing committee he told his comrades to storm the streets and block traffic - but refrained from saying: ‘F*** the police!’ when everyone else shouted abuse.
Occupy members said in interviews that it was a classic case of ‘it’s always the quiet ones’.
Braszczok was reserved but not so reticent that it was suspicious and hung around long enough that people thought he was ‘cool’.
His web of lies fooled many - he adopted the name ‘Al’ and told people his name was Albert Brazok.
He always took the subway when around activists then went home to drive his Mitsubishi Evolution sports car and expensive motorcycle.
After wearing hoodies and sneakers during the daytime to fit in with his grungy new pals he changed into smart shirts or all white clothes to go and party at expensive nightclubs.
Casper Gersh, an Occupy organiser in New York, told MailOnline that his suspicions were aroused when Braszczok started asking people’s names and ages soon after he met them.
He also tried to latch onto ‘it people’, meaning those with intelligence about Occupy protests or links to outside groups like Anonymous.
He said: ‘He was a foot soldier and he did grunt work - I got him to clean the toilets and feed people at Zuccotti.
‘I made him do a lot of horrible things.
Pictured: A bike rider matching Braszczok's description has been identified on YouTube video of the brutal biker gang attack that led to his arrest and charging... and his cover being blown
Alongside: The detective has been accused of smashing the rear windscreen of the SUV and 'terrorizing' the driver's wife and 2-year-old daughter
‘I remember asking him at our office: ‘Will you clean the bathrooms?’ He said: ‘Sure!’ He was trying to get our trust by doing all these things.’
Casper however ‘felt uncomfortable whenever I was around him’ and was put off in part by Braszczok’s thick Eastern European accent.
He said: ‘I felt there was something untrustworthy about his character. He didn’t feel genuine ever.
‘It seemed like there was a side of him that was always mysterious.
‘It’s a betrayal. It’s dishonourable. I didn’t like him but when people are saying he’s cool you’re not going to be the animal and punch him.
‘I actually challenged him once on being a cop. I asked him what are you here for? I think I might have said are you a cop?
‘He laughed it off in a nervous way which tipped me off that something is wrong with him.’
Shay Horse, 20, a photographer and Occupy activist, went to his first Occupy event in May last year where he met Braszczok.
They struck up casual conversation and eventually became so close that only last month he attended Shay’s 20th birthday party at a bar and bought him a pitcher of beer, which he thought was odd as he didn’t know him that well.
Hiding: Braszczok, pictured leaving court yesterday, has been undercover for five years, two years with Occupy, and the police and his lawyer say his life is in jeopardy if his face is revealed
Shay said: ‘He never went into detail about himself but nobody ever asked.
‘I’ll give him that - he was good at his job.’
Shay said that looking back he was struck how on demonstrations Braszczok never acted aggressively towards the police.
While everyone else was shouting: ‘F*** the police!’ he would never say it himself and would just nod his head in agreement.
Shay said that ahead of the one year anniversary of the Zuccotti Park protests Braszczok was part of the organizing committee and that he ‘suggested we should be out on the streets blocking traffic’.
Shay said: ‘That’s what the plan of the day was. He was agreeing with the idea that we should break the law.’
On another occasion on June last year on a solidarity march Shay remembered Braszczok hanging around him and some other organizers on a march from Washington Square Park to the High Line in New York when they were discussing the route.
Looking back he thinks that Braszczok must have informed his superiors as they were met with a surprisingly brutal police response which left half a dozen activists battered and bruised.
Shay said: ‘There were guys we suspected of being cops. You didn’t expect the guy who is quiet and is around all the the time to be the cop.’
Braszczok's ‘arrest’ happened on August 17 last year at Grand Central station during a protest against a pro-business Supreme Court decision known as ‘Citizens United’.
He and two other protesters released some balloons and were handcuffed and led away, spending a few nights in a cell.
Laid bare: Despite his work, Braszczok has an extensive online presence. Some of it to back up his cover - but in other postings, such as this selfie, he appears to be being himself
MailOnline understands that Braszczok was central to the protest and helped make the balloons and even came up with a way to make them float better.
The other two who were arrested brought a civil lawsuit against the MTA - New York’s transit authority - but Braszczok said he just wanted to take his punishment, which raised eyebrows among some.
Another Occupy activist called Nicholas said that Braszczok went to his birthday as well.
He said: ‘We always expect police to infiltrate this movement but the fact he was there at my birthday brings it to a new low.
‘We are all very frightened by this. There's many questions I would like answers to, you know? Like why would the NYPD send an undercover to a bar with us.
‘Interacting with us on a personal level. Buying us drinks. I guess it's just shocking to us.’
MailOnline has established that Braszczok attended both big and small events including Occupy Goldman Sachs and the occupation at Trinity Hall in Manhattan.
During the latter he took part in night watch duty to ensure the cops did not try and throw the protesters out in the middle of the night.
In March 2012 he took part in protests to mark the six month anniversary of the end of the occupation of Zuccotti park, which ended in violent clashes and 73 arrests.
And on April 6 last year he took part in the ‘Spring Training’ demonstration at Wall St and Tweeted: ‘Come join us in spring training by occupying the stock exchange today at 2:30pm.’
Last year he was seen at another march in June and was present at an incident in the summer in Times Square where he helped to move activist with a broken collarbone who got into an altercation with police.
In a picture posted on Facebook from October 13 last year, he can be seen protesting on a ‘Day of Noise’ march in New York.
On November 30 he Tweeted: ‘Hey is the *SANDY SPECIAL PART 3* REBUILDING OCCUPY TO CONNECT, MOBILIZE AND CO-CREATE WITH, assembly Happening at 60 wall today’
In April this year he Tweeted that he was at a Wikileaks demonstration in Manhattan and that ‘we need more ppl. So come by’.
Unlike some activists who, inspired by the solidarity of the movement, started relationships with others, Braszczok apparently did not get romantically involved with anyone.
His lawyer claimed in court that he is married and has two children though pictures posted on social media suggest he lived a playboy lifestyle with a string of glamorous women.
Curiously for an undercover detective he was also quite careless.
Three years ago he posted a comment on one website admitting he was a cop using the same username that he did for his ‘official’ Twitter account in which he talked about his Occupy activities, making it easy to identify him.
Despite that, as far as many in Occupy were concerned, he was every inch the committed activist.
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Comments (39)
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.
Do a few min of research and look at the average salary of an NYPD officer after a few years on the job. It is ridiculous. Look at the pension that an NYPD officer receives after retiring. It is even more ridiculous. Wonder why NYPD will do pretty much anything to stay on the force? See above.
If anyone should be prosecuted it should be the driver of the SUV for attempted murder on that motorcyclist - drove straight into to him and almost killed him, understand the poor man is now paralysed.
there are so many disgusting cops in america that are tarnishing the image of some real heros of policemen and woman across the country.
Inveigled - my mum used to use this word all the time and I though she had made it up!!!
Don't go after organized criminals, no, go after the Occupy Movement instead. Waste of taxpayer dollars. This person's real allegiance is to the status quo of the elite rather than society and fighting crime.
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Edward, Los Angeles, 22 hours ago
Why don't the cops infiltrate the real criminals, the Banksters themselves? Oh that's right, that is who they ultimately work for.