As part of an interview series we are doing with infamous and/or notable people associated with  the occupy movement specifically in Melbourne.

We are going to ask questions of the notable characters. One of the more Infamous was Anders Tucker, who apparently hijacked a Facebook group associated with Occupy Melbourne.

We managed to get in contact over a chat server with Anders tucker, It turns out Anders Tucker was one of several people using the Facebook handle, here’s what we got.

Artists impression of AT1, one of the people responsible for Anders Tucker

[We edited for spelling mistakes and context]

So Anders is that your real name?

No, most people on Facebook uses fake names, I’m just being like everybody else.

Did you ever occupy at city square, the gardens or the church?

That’s an interesting question, many people felt they had the right to be involved in OM at decision making/bureaucratic/media contact level without the need to sleep in a park, or without the need to ask permission for their actions. So it’s not really relevant.

There are many claims you removed the admin rights away from an entire Facebook group and left yourself as sole administrator. Is this true, and if so why did you do it?

Well look at my previous answer, the interesting thing was people would accept a dictatorship [the other Facebook groups] if it was already in place, but not one that was thrust upon them.

It was interesting to watch peoples reactions to it, some brown nosed the new ‘dictator’, some claimed they would never return but did anyway when it became briefly popular. Some begged, some threatened, the funny thing was in the end they appealed to another dictator, Facebook itself, to remove Anders Tucker all together. The strangest thing was they complained of censorship which did not happen, and after Anders Tucker was removed they had uncensored free speech and they refused to use it basically. What it made me think was, these people are full of shit. They claim ideals [free speech, freedom from censorship] but can’t see it staring them in the face.

So what did you learn from the experience?

A lot of people who claimed to be activists really had other agendas for being part of OM, to get laid, to show off, to use people, to push their own unrelated political agenda, or because they were paid to be there in their work for the government as cops and/or spies. It’s pretty easy to pretend to be something you are not on Facebook and it’s really easy to derail a conversation on Facebook too. Most people were politically naive, which made they easy picking for the tactics of the trolls.

So who are you?

I am one of several living people, as we know any good hijack requires a team, and the team hijack idea is worth thinking about, there were teams of provocateurs in OM at the occupations and on Facebook, has anybody really thought about that fact? I am guessing not really.

Should I really talk to one of the others about their thoughts?

Probably, refer to me as AT1 <laughs>. It would be interesting to see what they thought about it. I found it sad and funny at the same time, how easy it was to do , the fact other people had already tried and failed, and the fact OM was hijacked before it even started on 15th October 2011, and was nothing more that a series of hijack attempts.

Sort of like a car stolen and then repeatedly stolen again and again by a different person all the while the same kids are in the back seat barely seeming to notice the latest car thief, or the fact the car has been stolen, all they are seeing is the back of a drivers head. Then finally someone says, “I’m stealing the car” and all the kids freak out.

So you could say it was like a protest inside a protest?

Yes, and a lesson to people about being true to what they claim to stand for, and finally an education in politics for the clueless.

What would you say to people still angry about the incident?

I hope you learned your lesson and woke up.

Are you sorry for doing it?

No, I’m just sad it had to happen. I’m sad about the people who really did pay a high price for their involvement.

Did you delete any posts in the Facebook group?

No, though one person deleted their own post and accused Anders Tucker.

Did you troll?

It’s Facebook, it’s internet, it’s about politics, what do you expect? I can’t comment about everyone actions, the collective was quite busy in that time period, we believe we may have been hacked towards the end.

Will you ever reveal your identity?

Maybe one day, but who I am is not as important as the message I have, I think I’ll leave you with that idea.

Can we get in contact with the other Anders Tuckers?

I’ll let them know, you have questions.