Undercover Cop Outed Herself On Twitter, Found Spying On Sweatshop Protesters

An undercover cop was outed on Twitter recently, by herself no less. The cop, who regularly attended DC protests against sweatshops, had her cover blown after she tweeted about being a cop. Whether this story is more alarming or amusing, it is difficult to say. Either way, a lawsuit has been filed against the DC Metropolitan Police Department because DC protesters are not at all pleased.

The story begins with two lawyers who work with United Students Against Sweatshops, Jeffery Light and Sean Canavan. They both attended many of the protests held in Washington DC in protest of sweatshop labor, like that used in Bangladesh. Rumors had existed for years that DC police were working local protests undercover, but it was never proven until now.

Lawyers Light and Canavan have since compiled evidence that a DC cop named Nicole Rizzi has been posing as a protester to spy on peaceful demonstrators, as In These Times reports in detail. Piecing together bits and pieces of information from Rizzi’s online activity, it became clear she was an undercover cop.

Posting under the Twitter account name @snufftastic (since deleted, of course), the outed undercover cop may have put the final nail in the coffin for herself. The tweet?

“They used to call me No Sweat Nico because no matter how hot it was at the academy, I never sweat. This is no longer true. #old”

That’s right — in less than 140 characters this undercover cop not only confirmed that she had attended (police) academy, but publicly shared her name as well. Light and Canavan, after seeing this tweet, searched a database of DC police officers for anyone named Nicole. There were only two.

Looking at their Facebook accounts, the lawyers saw pictures from @snufftastic’s account also on Nicole Rizzi’s page. It was clear they had found their fabled undercover cop.

This was not Rizzi’s first slip up though. On her since deleted Tumblr account, she responded to a question about her dress code as an officer. Rizzi responded, explaining how she wore everyday clothes. This was useful for the type of police work she does, Rizzi said.

While it is alarming that DC police are spying on peaceful protesters, it might be comforting to know that social media is making it easier for undercover cops to be outed, by themselves at least. Right?

[Images via In These Times / Twitter]