I found the whole idea that Demmerle was both a provocvateur and informant to be quite troubling. It shows an ethical pathology that is often inherent to social structures that would benefit most from challenge.
I was a 14 year old runaway from Brooklyn in 1968. I crashed at the bass player for David Peel and the Lower East Side’s tenement on East 11th and hung out at the Cooper Square free store, in later years involved with spin-offs of Yip. I know of at least one well-known Yippie! who moved to JDL ‘activism’ after the 60s (Lee Penn)… One of Abbie’s closest ‘friends’ in New York, and knew the informant (George Demmerle) who blew his cover to bust Sam Melville and friends for the planned armory raid.
He WAS a provocateur. I remember he insisted on carrying his protest signs attached to a wooden pole, illegal in New York at the time (albeit the carpet roll tubes commonly used probably could inflict more hurt…)
He got on my bad side at Woodstock when, on the first (rainy) night, he damn near knocked the cabin tent I and a few others were staying in when, while we were smoking some hash, he started bashing on the tent with his fists yelling: “It’s the police! You’re under arrest!!”. I never did trust him after that.
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In that group, whom one can search from the info above, at least 3 more of the core members of the group turned out to be various kinds of infiltrators, John Birch Society affiliated informers etc. Even the fellow who ran the local radical news agency, Lou Salzberg was a regular… and FBI informant. http://www.utwatch.org/archives/cjr_dissidentpress.html
Hey thanks for the memories. There were so many informers. It was such a wild time I think it did get the “establishment” super worried that they threw everything they had at us. Hope all is well with you now.
for all of you who “think” you knew him….your only kidding yourself. I am his neice & he served his country honorably. Being a Gov operative is no easy task. He did his duty as he was ordered to do…without question. When it crossed a certain line, he resigned. With honors. I will say no more other then he was a loving talented and gracious man to the end. & he was never murdered….he lived a very long and exemplary life, passing only about 2 years ago. A world renowned artist & entrepreneur & loving husband. He is missed & adored by his family & friends all over the world who knew EXACTLY who he was. The man who gave “J Edgar” the finger!
George also gave so many of us in the movement the finger. Of course we never knew the real George Demerlee–he was always pretending to be a supporter of our cause. He attempted to convince me to do illegal acts. He entrapped Sam Melville which led to Sam’s death. At the convention in Chicago, he was always the last one back to our house, always creating trouble. At Woodstock, he led the looting of vendors and the list goes on. Murdered or not, he is not a loss to us.
Because I was in the group Sam Melville was in (Crazies) when Demmerle recruited he and Robin Palmer. He was at Woodstock with us. I was 16. I figured him for a cop because of an asinine thing he did, but adults are stupid.
July 22, 2010 at 7:30 pm
I found the whole idea that Demmerle was both a provocvateur and informant to be quite troubling. It shows an ethical pathology that is often inherent to social structures that would benefit most from challenge.
July 8, 2011 at 3:26 am
I was a 14 year old runaway from Brooklyn in 1968. I crashed at the bass player for David Peel and the Lower East Side’s tenement on East 11th and hung out at the Cooper Square free store, in later years involved with spin-offs of Yip. I know of at least one well-known Yippie! who moved to JDL ‘activism’ after the 60s (Lee Penn)… One of Abbie’s closest ‘friends’ in New York, and knew the informant (George Demmerle) who blew his cover to bust Sam Melville and friends for the planned armory raid.
He WAS a provocateur. I remember he insisted on carrying his protest signs attached to a wooden pole, illegal in New York at the time (albeit the carpet roll tubes commonly used probably could inflict more hurt…)
He got on my bad side at Woodstock when, on the first (rainy) night, he damn near knocked the cabin tent I and a few others were staying in when, while we were smoking some hash, he started bashing on the tent with his fists yelling: “It’s the police! You’re under arrest!!”. I never did trust him after that.
`
In that group, whom one can search from the info above, at least 3 more of the core members of the group turned out to be various kinds of infiltrators, John Birch Society affiliated informers etc. Even the fellow who ran the local radical news agency, Lou Salzberg was a regular… and FBI informant. http://www.utwatch.org/archives/cjr_dissidentpress.html
July 17, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Hey thanks for the memories. There were so many informers. It was such a wild time I think it did get the “establishment” super worried that they threw everything they had at us. Hope all is well with you now.
December 31, 2013 at 7:02 pm
for all of you who “think” you knew him….your only kidding yourself. I am his neice & he served his country honorably. Being a Gov operative is no easy task. He did his duty as he was ordered to do…without question. When it crossed a certain line, he resigned. With honors. I will say no more other then he was a loving talented and gracious man to the end. & he was never murdered….he lived a very long and exemplary life, passing only about 2 years ago. A world renowned artist & entrepreneur & loving husband. He is missed & adored by his family & friends all over the world who knew EXACTLY who he was. The man who gave “J Edgar” the finger!
June 6, 2016 at 1:13 am
George also gave so many of us in the movement the finger. Of course we never knew the real George Demerlee–he was always pretending to be a supporter of our cause. He attempted to convince me to do illegal acts. He entrapped Sam Melville which led to Sam’s death. At the convention in Chicago, he was always the last one back to our house, always creating trouble. At Woodstock, he led the looting of vendors and the list goes on. Murdered or not, he is not a loss to us.
November 6, 2016 at 6:26 pm
Because I was in the group Sam Melville was in (Crazies) when Demmerle recruited he and Robin Palmer. He was at Woodstock with us. I was 16. I figured him for a cop because of an asinine thing he did, but adults are stupid.