Operation Pleasant Green

**Operation Pleasant Green** was a nuisance campaign that took place in the village of Pleasant Green in 2007. It was devised by retired Major John Grant and carried out by Grant and an accomplice, Kelly Ryan.

## Inception

In 2007, John Grant had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and was given a life expectancy of no more than half a year. This appears to have prompted the retired royal marine major to look around his home village and notice that its sense of community had eroded. It had become more gentrified and more of the London elite were moving into the area with the contradictory goals of embracing the countryside life while, at the same time, prioritising privacy and safety.

Having lived in the village since he was a boy and knowing he had limited time left, Grant sought to shake his neighbours out of their malaise and disrupt lifestyles that had become full of “predictable, empty day[s]”.

## Surveillance

Grant’s philosophy was that people’s sense of safety was in fact a bad thing and that, to get the community to come together again, that feeling of safety had to be threatened. To this end, he spent his savings on audio equipment and planted hidden microphones around the village, in people’s houses, at the doctor’s surgery, at the local gym, and everywhere. This gave him the ability to eavesdrop on everyone and learn their secrets and their worries.

This audio equipment also gave Grant the opportunity to record himself giving monologues that served as a manifesto of sorts.

## Action

Having gotten to know his neighbours better through his clandestine reconnaissance, Grant then started to act. He posted pamphlets throughout the village with the simple message “You are not safe.” This was misinterpreted as viral marketing by many of the villagers and while it bothered some, like the Ryan family and Mrs. Wilson, the impact of the pamphlets was relatively slight.

## Escalation

Grant’s next step was to use a low-frequency emitter to set off the burglar alarms of cars and houses on various streets in the middle of the night. At this point, on the night of 31st July, he was spotted by Kelly Ryan and she later confronted Grant about his activities but, instead of reporting him to the police, she and Grant started to work together as Ryan quickly bought into Grant’s manifesto and overall goal of disruption.

By August 2nd, metal tacks had been distributed amongst driveways and were responsible for disabling at least five cars. By August 4th, graffiti was reported on the wall of the golf club and the paint machine was used on the cricket pitch to write the same message: “You are not safe.” The following night, cars along Rose Lane were smashed into and white paint was poured into their interiors and, that same night, the hedges on Middle Lane were set alight.

This escalation also led to Grant revealing his own voice in a number of broadcasts that hijacked public announcement systems, including one at the local gym. Kelly Ryan also built on this campaign by revealing her father’s infidelities to her mother through the delivery of incriminating photos.

## Conclusion

By September 15th, John Grant brought his operation to an end through his suicide by gunshot. He and Ryan had initially planned that she would be framed for his death and charged with murder as yet another way of shocking the locals out of their apathy and perceived safety. However, Grant had a change of heart and recorded a confession before his suicide that exonerated Kelly Ryan of his death. This was ultimately to no avail as Ryan anticipated this change of heart and found his confession before the police arrived.

Ryan served 18 months for manslaughter due to diminished capacity and was then relocated and provided a new identity. A recording she made after being released from prison indicates that she remained a firm believer in the goals of Operation Pleasant Green and had no regrets about any of her actions up to that point.

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 "Fragments"