agent provocateur
Undercover trouble starter
An agent provocateur is someone who infiltrates a group to incite its members toward illegal or discrediting actions.
Governments use agents provocateurs to justify crackdowns on protest movements; the agent joins the group, encourages violence or lawbreaking, then authorities arrest participants.
The term is French, meaning "provocative agent." Police suspected the man urging them to throw rocks was an agent provocateur.
One who provokes action
- agitatorOne who foments discord
- rabble-rouserOne who stirs dissent
- firebrandAgitator or burning stick
- fomenterOne who incites trouble
catalyst · troublemaker · stirrer · pot-stirrer · inflammatory · sedition · destabilize · radicalize
One who enters covertly
- moleSubterranean insectivore
- operativeCovert field agent
- sleeperOne at rest
- undercoverSecretly engaged in espionage
handler · asset · counterintelligence · tradecraft · surveillance · dead-drop · clandestine · covert
One feigning another's identity
- infiltratorOne who enters covertly
- plantBotanical organism
- decoyFalse target for misdirection
- entrapmentDefense against induced criminality
false-flag · disinformation · manipulation · saboteur · conspirator · masquerade · disguise · pretender
Covert federal disruption operations
- subversionUndermining established authority
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- anarchistOne opposing all governance
activist · protest · demonstration · crackdown · repression · movement · cell · underground
instigator
One who provokes action
- agitatorOne who foments discord
- rabble-rouserOne who stirs dissent
- firebrandAgitator or burning stick
fomenter · catalyst · troublemaker · stirrer · pot-stirrer · inflammatory · sedition · destabilize · radicalize · inflame
infiltrator
One who enters covertly
undercover · handler · asset · counterintelligence · tradecraft · surveillance · dead-drop · clandestine · covert · intelligence
impostor
One feigning another's identity
- infiltratorOne who enters covertly
- plantBotanical organism
- decoyFalse target for misdirection
entrapment · false-flag · disinformation · manipulation · saboteur · conspirator · masquerade · disguise · pretender · schemer
COINTELPRO
Covert federal disruption operations
- subversionUndermining established authority
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
anarchist · activist · protest · demonstration · crackdown · repression · movement · cell · underground · resistance
- deceiversliar, liars, deceiver, fraud, fake
- spiesJames Bond, spy, Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt, Austin Powers
- secret operativesspy, infiltrator, covert operative, mole, operative
- propagandistspropagandist, Joseph Goebbels, Tokyo Rose, mouthpiece, shill
- schemersschemer, manipulator, conniver, plotter, intriguer
agent provocateurbystander
One who observes nearby
neutral observer · fly on the wall · innocent bystander · spectator · onlooker
agent provocateurtrue believer
Completely committed adherent
honest broker · grassroots organizer · double agent · whistleblower
agent provocateurpeacemaker
Conflict resolution agent
mediator · conciliator · pacifist · voice of reason · pacifier
agent, agency, agenda, provoke, agents, provocative, agencies, provocateur, provocation