Wrexham, Wales: Reclaim the Fields – Towards a world without prisons

From Contra Info:

From the 28th August to the 2nd September 2015, the Reclaim the Fields International Action Camp drew over 130 people to Wrexham, North Wales, to resist the ‘North Wales Prison Project,’ the construction of Europe’s second largest prison. Held at Borras Community Protection Camp, a site camp established to oppose fracking in the area, the gathering sought to link land struggles with resistance to the prison industrial complex (1) and ongoing mechanisms of state violence and dispossession.

Connecting the dots

From Saturday to Monday, a comprehensive programme of workshops, discussions and practical activities took place. People connected the dots between struggles around the prison system, food sovereignty, borders, and other aspects of the world post-enclosures. Several workshops explored the brutality of the prison system, introducing the P.I.C., ongoing struggles around IPP prisoners, nonhuman prisons and how prisons relate to gender and queer struggles, and over the course of the weekend a permaculture design was developed for the camp and people began work on a herb garden, biochar system and solar panels for the site.

Never alone, Never forgotten

Throughout the camp several actions took place. In the evenings, folk took sound systems, megaphones, and other noise making instruments to local prisons determined to show prisoners they are not forgotten and not alone. HMP Stoke Heath, HMP Drake Hall and HMP Altcourse were all visited, with many prisoners shouting back and banging their doors. Chants like “If you hate the screws, clap your hands” rang out under a full moon.
As part of the International Week of Solidarity for Anarchist Prisoners, children at the camp made a banner for UK anarchist prisoner, Emma Sheppard. Letters were written and prisoner stories shared. Banners were also made for comrades on tag and repressive bail conditions who couldn’t make the physical gathering.

In the Streets

There were also highstreet actions, with folk leafleting Wrexham about the prison and how they can get involved in fighting it. On Monday a protest was staged at P&A Landscaping. They are the prison’s landscapers and have supplied several fences and materials to the jail. In response their public garden centre was visited and customers were informed about their role in prison expansion.

Day-long Blockade of the Prison

On Tuesday 1st September, around 20 people blockaded the three access gates to the Wrexham Mega-Prison’s construction site. This simple action was easy to co-ordinate, and with confused and unprepared police and site staff, had a big effect with very little effort. A queue of trucks were prevented from entering and exiting the site, including a huge cement delivery which had to be turned away before it spoiled. Simon Caron, Project Director for Lend Lease, begged protesters to let it in saying, “We’ve been reasonable letting you protest, please just allow this one to get through”. No one budged and vehicles delivering materials failed to enter. […]

Suppliers targeted regionally

As camp participants networked and bonded, regional groups formed to take actions against local targets in their own areas. One group visited the Gloucestershire offices of Precast Erections Ltd, the company supplying concrete blocks used to build the prison. More actions are planned. Contact your local group to find out how you can get involved in Community Action on Prison Expansion.

Solidarity Protest at the Court

On Wednesday 2nd, people from Reclaim the Fields supported a local woman, Vanda Gillett who had been charged with assault during the Barton Moss Community Blockade. Following a guilty verdict, anger erupted in her defence. The court was occupied and ‘scuffles’ with the police took place outside. Four people were arrested and people moved to demonstrate at the police stations where they were being held. […]

Due to the arrests and priority of station support, further actions in Manchester were postponed, however local people motivated by the anti-prison struggle are keen to continue to target local companies and delay the construction of this super prison.

Reclaiming the Fields, Reclaiming our Lives

Reclaim the Fields is a constellation of people and collective projects willing to go back to the land and reassume the control over food production. We are determined to create alternatives to capitalism through cooperative, collective, autonomous, real needs oriented small scale production and initiatives, putting theory into practice and linking local practical action with global political struggles.

This camp is one part of our story (read the UK history here). We are not a ‘campaign’ or ‘coalition’ or a ‘mass movement’. We are diverse people, projects and struggles converging and diverging all over Europe. The manifold of ways in which capitalist economics comes to dominate the land (whether that be through the construction of prisons, drilling for gas or the exploitation of industrial agriculture) implicates and connects us all. While gatherings and action camps can be politically limited, they are not the be-all or end-all of our work. They are points of encounter, a chance for comrades to meet and critically reflect on how these struggles shape our lives. […]

The gathering came alive through the work of an incredible group of people working collectively and horizontally. Numerous ex-prisoners and people who have supported loved ones through jail were present and moved by the experience. The passion and the hate for the prison system was very present and very visible. As was the desire for something more, for growing food, reclaiming land and living differently.

We will continue our work to reclaim our lives from the state, from our capitalist economic system and oppressive prison society. Until All Are Free!

– Reclaim the Fields, September 2015

(1)  Defined here as the overlapping interests of government and industry that use surveillance, policing and imprisonment as solutions to economic, social and political problems.

Athens, Greece: Incendiary solidarity with Evi Statiri and Athena Tsakalou

From Insurrection News:

At dawn on September 2, 2015 we torched:

– 2 National Bank ATMs in the neighborhood of Galatsi
– 1 ATM of Alpha Bank in Patisia district
– 1 Piraeus Bank ATM in the suburb of Peristeria
– as well as smashing a Piraeus Bank ATM in the district of Galatsi

Our only motivation was our desire to attack. Attacking a prison-society that tries to mold, discriminate and classify our needs, desires and relationships and adapt them to serve it’s objectives: the perpetuation of a system of repression and the strategic manipulation of subjectivity and diversity.

The commitment we have to succeed as anarchists is the following one: ensuring that we impose the flow of our world that runs on the rhythms that determine our anarchistic wills away from the lights of the machines of Power; against the social reality of economic, scientific and ideological domination, the morality of commerce and of a world that is classified and commodified to produce questions with ready-made answers.

Against this framework of domination we choose to continue insurrectionist action in the here and now. It is clear that the apparatus of power will do all that it can to repress anything that is opposed to the economizing of life. This has the consequence of it being socially acceptable for power to be applied to the greatest extent in prisons. In the dungeons of democracy there are those who choose to act on the basis of their desires for freedom instead of accepting servitude and nonexistence. The anarchist prisoners are our comrades in the war against the existent and we are not going to abandon them to their fates between the jaws of the judicial complex of shit. We must not forget our imprisoned comrades but we do not have to idolize them. We would like to make it clear that we do not fear the consequences of our actions nor any questions or doubts about their value.

The prisoner’s positions have remained consistent and unaltered despite the conditions of their confinement. This is why the authorities uses the dirtiest methods to try and break them. The organs of Power with their characteristic vendetta do not hesitate to criminalize solidarity as well as family and personal relationships making it’s vindictive mania even more obvious – as in the case of Athena Tsakalou, mother of Gerasimos and Christos Tsakalos and of the life partner of Gerasimos, Evi Statiri.

This first wave of attacks is a response to the vindictive blows of the State, as well as a signal of solidarity with anarchist prisoners worldwide.

FREEDOM FOR THOSE WHO ARE IN THE CELLS

IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF EVI STATIRI

LIFT THE RESTRICTIVE MEASURES AGAINST ATHENA TSAKALOU

– Burning Horizons

(via Contra Info, translated into English by Insurrection News)

“Beyond right and wrong” by the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – FAI/IRF (Greece)

From 325:

Inter Arma received and translated:

I don’t believe in the right. Life, which is all a manifestation of incoherent forces, unknown and unknowable, rejects the human artificiality of the right. Right was born when life was taken away from us. Indeed, originally, humanity had no right. It lived and that was everything. Today, instead, there are thousands of rights; one could accurately say that everything which we have lost we call right. I know that I live and that I desire to live. It is most difficult to put this desire into action. I am surrounded by a humanity that wants what everyone else wants. My isolated affirmation is a most serious crime. Laws and morals, in competition, intimidate and persuade me. The “blonde rabbi” [I.e., Christ or Christian values.-translator] has triumphed. One prays, one implores, one curses, but one does not dare. Cowardice, caressed by Christianity, creates morality, and this justifies baseness and begets renunciation. […] “Society, on the other hand, modest and clean in appearance, but horribly infected with gangrene throughout its body, makes me vomit, fills me with horror and loathing, kills me.” How I envy the great Bonnot! “Il me faut vivre ma vie!” (“It is necessary that I live my life” — from the known “defense” of the French illegalist Jules Bonnot)
Bruno Filippi

(Italian anarcho-nihilist who was charged with several armed attacks and was killed by a bomb he carried, on September 7th, 1919, when trying to place it to the “Nobles Club”, headquarters of the wealthiest Italian businessmen)

Beyond the right and the wrong…

For Anarchy
The most important and nicest things are spoken in the simplest way. Today, though, the reality of our lives is far from simple. So, we often note that the most complicated (and boring, at the same time) words the political delivery “specialists” and the “revolutionary” rhetoric alchemists use, the most uninvited their oversimplifications are. The theorists “rebels” construe the world through the tyranny of their “obvious truths”. Their whole rhetorical calcification and their wooden words, that lulls to sleep through their undeviating dogmatism, comes to transfer “social revolution” to a oversimplified version of the eternal fight between the “good” people and the “bad” state, between the “right” and the “wrong” fairytale.

But if things were that simple, why hasn’t this fairytale, for centuries, come to an end, with the triumph of the “good” and for all of us to “live happily ever after”?

Especially today, when power is not centralist and abstracted to the king’s throne, however, it is spread inside the transparent social factory, both our anarchist words and our actions ought to deepen more and tear the “religious” missals and the aphorisms of the “good” and “bad” and “right” and “wrong” lack of depth.

Power is not just unfair, bad and malicious, that the most we denounce, even violently, will draw back for the rebels’ right to come off.

Power is a social relation, a social hierarchical organization model, a way of life management.

In addition to its directorates and its officials, it owes its own preachers, its mentors, its advisers, its jesters, its armed defendants of course, its loyal followers, even its inside objectors – usurpers…

It’s not just a bad oligarchic elite∙ it is an intricate system of relations that defines our everyday lives.

We know, of course, that if you cut the snake’s head, the rest of the body, after a few convulsions, stops… Power, however, has proven to be more like Hydra.

This is why, while our armed targeting gathers its firepower on the heads of the managers of power and their uniformed mercenaries, our words seeks to blow up the social relations that give rise to power. Let’s keep in mind that the phrase “no one is indispensable” goes for the power, as well. If we don’t hit both the heart of the beast (armed attacks against the officials of the power) and the veins of the social machine (criticism and rejection of the submission mindset), then, maybe, soon, after every attack of ours, we will hear “the king is dead, long live the new king”. Because unless slaves, even when they revolt, deeply renounce the mindset of submission, they will soon wish to crown their new king, next to the corpse of the former.

This is why the Conspiracy of Cells of Fire, FAI/IRF and the “political” groups in affinity, that form the stripe of black anarchy, both in the proclamations following our attacks, and in our texts, use heretic – provocative words, that do not comply with the traditions of the revolutionary automatism of the dipole “good – bad”, “fair – unfair”… We always have the sledgehammer of rudeness available, in order to shatter the window of the good and innocent society and highlight its guilty silence and frustrating passivity.

Of course, through our criticism we do not aim to build the crystal tower of the “revolutionary” self-admiration. This is why we detest the conceit and the arrogance that we sometimes find in our circles, by people who are alternative artists of nothing, not anarchists of praxis.

Our aim is to disassemble the stereotypes and the prevailing morality that poison our lives, through the small and the large informal power representations (family, school, work, relationships).

Our way is challenge and not a political politeness that caresses the ears of the repressed ones audience, most of whom don’t even bother to read a proclamation. An inconvenient truth is more inelegant but it is also more liberating than a pleasant lie…

So, it’s not enough to talk about the “right” of the repressed ones, the proletarians, the people’s…

First of all, the “fair” and the “unfair” is a moral subjectivity of the reality impression. There’s no such thing as an objectivity scale that defines what’s right and what’s wrong.

Power and the capitalistic management of it, along with the armed enforcement of their truth, they have their own think tanks, their own arguments, their own culture, their own civilization, their own suggestion of a way of life. Power does not dominate only supported by the power of its arms’ barrels, but also (supported) by its persuasion and its propaganda.

This is why anyone who makes the mistake to talk about the “right” of the many, will have to be careful because the interpretation of the “right” as a quantitative measurement unit, will not… prove them right. The right of the many is often the right of the viewers, the consumers, the voters’… The anarchist struggle is not about counting participation, nor does it have to do with the majority’s right. It is something much bigger than the conflict between the “right” and the “wrong”… It is a constant war between different values, a war that bisects society in two parts. The one part is the world of anarchy and the other part is the world of power and organized tedium. In this conflict, several people, who are excluded from the privileges of power, poor and oppressed, stands shoulder to shoulder with their elite rulers’ interests. The mass is usually fond of the mediocre, the immobility of habit, the rigidity of prudence and afraid of the new, the radical, the unknown of insurrection.

The bureaucratic tense inside the official anarchism and its communist components use the rhetoric of the “common good” and the “just of the oppressed ones”, thinking there is a conscious proletarian class, which will turn into the basic ingredient of “social revolution”, as long as it has its ears caressed.

We, on our part, want to set the conditions for the creation of a confrontational anarchist affinity between groups, cells and individuals, which are will transfer the experience of rupture with the existent immediately, here and now.

This way, a dangerous enemy in the heart of the beast can be formed, aiming to the diffusion of anarchy.

For this to happen, we have to make the conflict with authority permanent, to create a short circuit in the neurons of the system, to exploit and expand the contradictions of society, to provoke social peace, to qualitatively deepen anarchist thought and aggressively upgrade anarchist action, to challenge law and order. to overcome the moral denunciation of the injustices of authority and to prepare the war against it by promoting the new anarchist urban guerrilla.

Here follows the strategic matter between the moral impeachment of system and the continuous attack. The biggest part of the anarchist milieu in Greece is usually navigating through the maelstrom of events resulting from short circuits of authority. Occasional demonstrations and sometimes conflicts in an anti-war demonstration, student marches, strikes. The recent three-year “drought” of social mobilizations caused the “drought” of violent clashes in the streets of the metropolis.

The people didn’t take the streets and anarchists were insufficient in creating their own autonomous collective violent actions. This is the result of a conscious and subconscious (because of a habit) strategy, which presents anarchists as the violent reflex of “the sense of justice” of the masses. There is, namely, a certain timidity for the anarchist attack to be organized and expressed autonomously without moral coverage from the masses. In fact, of course, there is no moral cover in large social protests either, as the mass of protesters is a diverse crowd, from which, some believe in peaceful protest, others are professional walkers and members of unions and parties, others are angry and want to clash, others operate as internal repression, others are not members of some group… The issue is that the strategy of social counter-violence as a moral justification – response of the oppressed, is not defined by us at a time when authority can set alternative questions and the answers of the masses can come, not as a rupture, but as consent to them.

So, by waiting for the next social explosion, the next rally, the next big march, we abandon our ideas and actions in luck. But even when the social tension takes place, in order for us to get lost in the riots, we look like stowaways who jump in the last car of the train, a train that others drive on different tracks from ours. Even if we derail the train it will soon return on its rails.

Obviously, in no case do we advocate our absence from the field of metropolitan riots whose context we do not define (student rallies, anti-war mobilizations, large marches), in the name of a supposed anarchist purity. Within these mobilizations we can organize attacks against cops, burn banks, destroy cameras, expropriate shops, break the peace in the metropolis.

All these are intense and pleasant moments that, however, when not accompanied by a wider anarchist plan, end up staying isolated moments and beautiful memories, that just wait for the next march to be repeated. They lose the overall perspective and the potential to sharpen the attack and to make the tension in our lives permanent. This is the result of not only the lack of operational planning, but mainly of overall perception.

The notion of moral vindication of social counter-violence solely in response to systemic anomalies (violence of cops, racist attitudes, employers’ “arbitrariness”, harsh laws) incorporates the denouncement of system (even with violent form) and prevents the passage from the defensive counter-violence, to the aggressive continuous challenge of anarchist urban guerrilla.

We, on our part, want to articulate and organize a proposal of continuous attack, a complete anarchist plan, an insurrection that does not stop when the masses withdraw from their protests, but continues to feed from its fires,to grow big and to be diffused …

We feel like the hands of our clock have stopped in the moment of attack. We do not now need neither a cause, nor the moral justification. We know that the ugliness of this world is only repealed when one acts.

Our proposal is to create an informal network of anarchist cells that will promote the continuous attack against authority and  society.

Many anarchists fear the word “organization” in the way Christians fear the devil.

Others misunderstand and confuse the meaning of organization with bureaucratic fossils of Marxist centralized organizations, central committees, hierarchies, simple members, constipated rules, obligatory moral guidelines, statutes and enlightened vanguardism… Others prefer the alternative ways, sureness, adventurism and safety of an anarchist lifestyle, rather than an organized anarchy and a dangerous internal enemy that attacks without looking for pretexts as the causes are more than enough …

Some will hastily become indignant, saying that organization kills spontaneity, individuality and desires…

Let’s say, however, what we mean by “anarchist organization”… Anarchist organization is the living mental and physical coordination of a group of comrades, in order to carry out a certain plan. The more complete that plan is, the more comprehensive is the relationship of group’s comrades while the commitment and consistency have as a measure, the power of desires to achieve the plan and not the discipline of a military duty. Each comrade is unique and independent within the group and through the collective life and action of the cell, discovers and releases more of himself. There is no membership card, but only the individual desire to take part in something genuinely collective.

Of course, organization is not an end in itself, it is the means to get where we want. This means that an anarchist organization, an anarchist cell, must keep its procedure under constant review, to develop its relations, to upgrade its actions, to sharpen its theory, so that it comes closer to the purpose of its formation.

It is only logic that within an anarchist group come up tensions, contradictions, anger and even potential departures. This is because every human relationship is confrontational, sometimes at the level of evolution and sometimes at the level of rupture.

The sure thing is that the existence of informal anarchist organizations and direct action cells fuel anarchist violence against authority.

Every anarchist group is a living war outbreak against the system. Through discussion, friction and composition within a group of comrades, anarchist action evolves, the threat of an organized internal enemy becomes permanent, the means of attack are upgraded, thought gets sharpened and the plan of the destruction of authority and the social machine is promoted.

We know no team can develop those associations of strength in order to decapitate the beast of authority and its products by itself. Nevertheless, even so, the comrades of the group, through their action, free themselves from the conventions of a world that wants us to be spectators of our lives. But if we want to maximize our action, satisfying more and more our desires, we can try to create informal coordination of individuals, groups and affinity cells which promote the anarchist urban guerrilla. The creation of such coordination is not subject, in any case, of the crucible of the quantitative centralism, which crushes the autonomy of each one of us. We are not interested in creating a central super-structure which will cause the creation of central committees and informal hierarchies. We are simply talking about coordinating groups and people looking towards the same direction. We are talking about the coordination of desires that become more dangerous when they are communicated and shared by accomplices.

The basic agreement within such an organization is the desire not to be a moment of truce with the enemy. Without, therefore, waiting for a favorable wind of social change to act, we decide to arm ourselves and turn our lives into a confrontational reality now. So we do not limit ourselves to the anniversary symbolism (this does not mean that we are absent from the days of wrath and vengeance in memory of our dead), we do not expect fixed appointments, waiting the state to get out of line causing the people to demonstrate, nor are we satisfied by opportunistic street fights with cops, in order to pretend that we’ve executed our “duty” to the struggle.

This does not make us arrogant to devalue everything from the balcony of an ideological purity. On the contrary, it makes us more prepared to throw ourselves in those battles that we will choose, even in intermediate social struggles, which we think are of interest (i.e. student occupations) without being disoriented by the circumstances.

The compass of organized expression points steadily towards the the intensification of the attack and the diffusion of our theory. The words “anarcho-nihilism”, “black anarchy”, “anarchist terrorism” are truly dangerous, when tested in the heat of battle.

The constant challenging of the enemy through autonomous guerrilla strikes (using the fan of the diversity of means, but with the constant desire of upgrading to armed guerrilla) and organized aggressive intervention to intermediate social struggles are part of the anarchist war. We say again, that the effectiveness of the strategy will not be measured by the figures of participation.

We want to create the possibilities of acting with people who feel stifled in the social cages imposed on them by authority and want to rebel… Our joy is great in any such new meeting with new comrades who bear the sign of complicity. No matter their numbers … What is important is that the effort is worth it…

“I am not led by the will of the masses. Nor do I mourn for the sorrows of the people. I never accepted the fate of the slave that was prepared for me, I didn’t speak their language, nor imitated their look. I refused to be with the many. My demons never sleep… I always long for the unsatisfied. And when they set fire to the foundations of society, they don’t daydream on the ashes. They are seeking wildly for the next scarecrow of authority to surrender it to the stake. They do not get comfortable, nor do they rest, they want war with everything that haunts our lives.

They say that whoever loves debris, also loves and statues. My demons live in the debris because nobody can hide there. The material of which each of us is made, is revealed there. You will find me among them, where the battle is raging”…

Conspiracy of Cell of Fire – FAI/IRF

August 2015

Against the Charges. Against the Cops. Against the Nazis: Update from the struggle in Olympia, WA

From IT’S GOING DOWN:

Sunday, August 30th:

In anticipation of the coming week, the city is covered in anti-police graffiti and posters, most prevalent is the statement: No Cops, No Charges.

Wednesday, September 2nd:

At a 2pm press conference, Thurston County Prosecutor/Pig Fucker Jon Tunheim announces that the state will stand behind their little piglet Officer Ryan Donald, who in the early morning of May 21st shot two unarmed black men. The men, Andre and Bryson Chaplin allegedly tried to defend themselves with skateboards after fleeing from an attempted shoplifting. The pigs, their masters and their cheerleaders decry these young men as “criminal thugs” in a thinly veiled racism. To add insult to injury (multiple gunshot wounds to be specific) not only is the state NOT charging the cop, but prosecutors announced they in fact will be charging Andre and Bryson for assaulting the Officer. At the end of the news conference protesters chant “Fire Officer Donald!”

The reason for this outrageous yet predictable decision is clear to us. The state is more interested in protecting property than it is in our very lives and in the lives of black people in particular.

In this light, we believe it becomes easier to understand why a lone pig would have plenty of incentive to attempt to murder two young black men to protect a case of beer. That case of beer can be interpreted as a representation of the property relations upon which this entire society is built. The shooting is just an extension of the racist violence which is integral to its maintenance. And in the words of scumbag Tunheim, “A police officer really can not afford to lose that fight, to just put it bluntly.”

Whether these men are guilty or not is irrelevant to us because we don’t accept the law. The law upholds structural white supremacy and capitalist exploitation. Therefore the police, who are so willing to murder us in the interest of defending this social order and enforcing this law, must be fought. The racist system which values a case of beer more than two young lives needs to be destroyed, by any means necessary. Fuck the law.

Thursday, September 3rd:

Hundreds rally at a speak out to protest the state’s decision and demand justice for Andre and Bryson. During rush hour a small group barricades a main intersection with caution tape and chain link fencing, taken from a new condo development being built downtown. The group then marches chanting “Black Lives Matter/Blue Lives Murder” and proceeds to block off another major intersection downtown for several hours while, nearby, black participants speak to the larger rally, sharing experiences of racism and police violence at the speak out.

Later in the evening, an old Ford truck recognized as a vehicle used by Neo-Nazis (often flying a Confederate flag), is sighted as it slowly and menacingly drives past a group of anti-racists gathering downtown. The group reacts quickly to the truck’s presence, and a rowdy, mostly masked group takes to the streets, pursuing the vehicle with pipes and bats in hand, chasing the truck off. As the group is pursuing the vehicle into the industrial areas near downtown, an OPD SUV speeds up to drive between the group and the fascists. The chant, “OPD, ON THE ATTACK, WHILE THE NAZIS HAVE THEIR BACK” cuts both ways, clearly. The group then continues marching through downtown Olympia, blocking traffic with debris, lighting off fireworks and tagging a cop car and the police station with “ACAB” (all cops are bastards) as well as writing “No Cops No Charges ACAB” on a statue in front of City Hall.

It is believed that the Nazis identified in the Ford truck, later smash the windshield of a comrades car. Support funds are being gathered here.

Throughout the day, flyers are distributed promoting a Saturday march demanding “No charges against Andre and Bryson. No cops on our streets.”

Friday, September 4th:

Word circulates that Neo-Nazis are planning another rally in defense of the police the following evening. Either as a response to Saturday’s planned anti-police march or by coincidence, they proclaim their racist and paranoid intentions to “DEFEND THE NORTHWEST AGAINST THE LEFTIST SCUM AND THEIR JEWISH MANAGMENT”. Online they tellingly claim the states decision to not prosecute Donald as a “small victory” for white-supremacists. The call is posted on a fascist internet forum by known bonehead Jascha Manny. This is the same Nazi who led the rally on May 30th, when he and about ten of his racist friends were beaten down and chased out of town by a mob of armed anti-fascists.

This time Jascha promises he’s “EXPECTING A TURNOUT OF AT LEAST 100!!!” but after their prior humiliating defeat it is doubtful that anyone will heed the call. Still anti-fascists rally to once again defend Olympia from the threat of a Nazi convergence.

Saturday, September 5th:

By nightfall 50-60 anarchists and antifascists are assembled to drive the fascists out of our city once again. The group takes the street chanting “Nazis out of Oly/Fuck the police” and shoots off fire crackers. Rounds are made through downtown but if any Nazis showed up, they are careful to stay hidden. One man in a white truck tries to drive through the crowd and when asked if he likes the Nazis, responds “Yeah, I love Nazis!” and has his window broken.

They’re walking down 4th in #olympia and saying “nazis out of oly, f*** the police” pic.twitter.com/hwsCwitcCP

— Amelia Dickson (@Amelia_Oly) September 6, 2015

A man on a motorcycle with a confederate flag is stopped as people try to remove the flag from the bike. He pulls out a baton and a fight ensues. At the end of the scuffle the flag is burned in the street and the man is taken away in an ambulance. If the June 17th mass-shooting in Charleston, SC didn’t make it clear once and for all, the confederate flag is a symbol of hate and should not be tolerated. Although white entitlement may not want to give up this emblem of “The good ol’ days” (which most associate with the pain of segregation, slavery and white terrorism), anyone who flies the confederate flag should expect to be confronted as a racist. This particular “rebel” learns this the hard way. Two American flags hanging from light posts are also taken down and destroyed.

As some suspected, the fascists don’t show for their promised rematch. Their call to arms ended with a desperate attempt to guilt other white supremacists in the region to show. It whimpered “Because if you’re not there this time, you might as well hang up your boots now…” Well, time to hang up those boots. Your hateful ideology has no place on these streets.

As the night progresses it seems that the lines between the anti-fascist rally and the scheduled anti-police march are blurry if they exist at all. One seems to meld into the other. Perhaps it is common knowledge among participants that white supremacy must be fought on all fronts. The group is heard chanting “Cops and Klan/Hand in hand” and “We want revenge” before attacking City Hall and the Police Station with bats, rocks and paint bombs, leaving its plate-glass windows splattered with red paint and spider-webbed with broken glass.

The police use pepper spray and shoot pepper balls in an attempt to disperse the crowd. The march stays together for another few blocks, where people disperse safely. No arrests are made.

Olympia Police later report on social media “We try to stay pretty positive with our Instagram posts however we wanted to share with you what OPD is dealing with regarding the protests. Last night approximately 50 protesters marched the streets of downtown Olympia masked up and dressed in all black carrying weapons ranging from baseball bats to sticks to socks with rocks in them… At one point the protesters turned towards a patrol vehicle that was blocking traffic and started swinging bats while approaching it. Later, we received word that the protesters assaulted a man on a motorcycle and was (sic) beating him with a bat. While we responded to the victim the protesters continued on to City Hall and proceeded to use their weapons to break multiple windows and vandalize the building and patrol vehicles.”

Sunday, September 6th:

A hundred people march through Olympia in what is called a “March for Mothers” to show solidarity with the many families that have suffered at the hands of police violence and racism. They leave flowers behind the caution tape outside of the recently trashed city hall and place a sign reading “Justice must be served” in front of the boarded up entrance.

Tuesday, September 8th:

15-20 people occupy Thurston County Prosecutor Jon Tunheim’s office, disrupting the mornings proceedings of business as usual. Protesters tape signs up in the office declaring “Black lives matter” and “Drop the charges” and chant “Justice for Andre and Bryson”. The office employees and police are hands off in handling the disruption, perhaps in recognition of the volatility surrounding its recent decision and in an effort to avoiding escalation.

Conclusion:

There has been a powerful community reaction to this shooting and a broad diversity of tactics in how we have responded together. We see all of these gestures of support and solidarity as valuable in the fight against systemic racism and brutality. We seek to foster the mutual respect and collaboration necessary to become a real threat to those in power. We embrace all those who are active in this movement, not to advance their careers, and not to power monger for political legitimacy and control, but to do whatever is necessary to make sure that this doesn’t happen again.

A flyer distributed this week titled “Freedom Everywhere! Police Nowhere!” articulates our feelings well when it says “It must be made politically impossible for the city to prosecute Andre and Bryson.” This is a goal we can only achieve together. It continues “Our rage and rebellion is our weapon against this hellworld. Fuck the police, here and everywhere. The city council will never make this a safe place for any of us to live. There is no safety in a world with police.

As the state continues to prove it was never there for us, we seek to recover ways of supporting each other. The economy continues to keep us chained to varying levels of misery. The city does nothing to protect any of us from white supremacists, and in fact often hires them to its police force. Events of the last few months in Olympia have shown us that we can care for one another better than the state ever could. Who has supported the Chaplin family? Who ran Nazi bigots out of town? Who continues to keep our spirits up while every day new names of those killed by cops cross our Facebook and Twitter feeds? No candidate or institution will ever provide for us what we provide for each other.”

You can send financial support to Andre and Bryson here.

Fuck the Police forever.

-Some Olympia anarchists

HPG: 43 soldiers and 6 police killed in actions by guerrillas (Kurdistan, Turkey)

From 325:

Guerrillas affiliated to HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) continue their actions in response to the ongoing attacks and operations by Turkish military forces.

Thursday, September 3, 2015 at 5:00 PM
BEHDINAN – ANF

Guerrillas affiliated to HPG (People’s Defense Forces) and YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) continue their actions in response to the ongoing attacks and operations by Turkish military forces.

HPG Press Office reported that a total of 43 soldiers and 6 police were killed in actions by guerrillas.

According to the statement, guerrillas hold the road between Hakkari’s Yüksekova district and Geliyê Doskî area and the one between Mergê Zerê- Şıtaza and Oremar guard post since August 10.

Turkish army airdropped soldiers in Çelareşkê area at 10:00 on September 2 and started an operation in the area.

Responding to the military activity of Turkish troops, guerrillas hit from five sides the soldiers that attempted to enter Geliyê Doskî from Çelareşkê in three groups.

The action by guerrillas killed 10 soldiers in the first group, 5 in the second group and three in the third group.

Guerrillas hindered the Turkish troops that attempted to enter the area to remove the casualties after the action. While clashes in the area continued till 19:00 in the evening, Turkish army shelled Geliyê Doski area from guard posts in surrounding areas.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against soldiers at Şemzinan Brigade at 16:00 on September 1st.

On September 2, Turkish troops from Garê and Şemzinan Brigade guard posts launched an operation in Katûna, Helena and Garê triangle area in Hakkari’s Şemzinan (Şemdinli) district, the control of which had been taken by guerrillas on August 28.

Guerrillas hit the Cobra type helicopters that flew over the area at 07:00, and forced them to retreat.

A group of soldiers participating in the operation entered the area of guerrillas, upon which a short-lasting clash erupted.

Simultaneously with the operation, Turkish forces shelled the Helena-Katûna-Garê triangle, as well as Hill Geniş and Hill Konserve, in response to which guerrillas hit the Gare guard post. The Turkish operation in the area continues.

Guerrillas sabotaged and destroyed the Qaportê bridge between Yüksekova – Şemzinan districts of Hakkari at 00:00 on September 3rd.

In another action targeting hills held by Oremar guard post, guerrillas damaged one tank and one emplacement at 14:50 on August 2nd.

BASE STATION DESTROYED

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Albayrak village in Van’s Başkale district at 21:00 on September 2nd.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against Kısımlı guard post in Başkale at 05:45 on September 2nd. One other soldier was killed as guerrillas also hit the soldiers that came to the scene in the wake of the action.

Guerrillas hit a military armored vehicle in Miks (Bahçesaray) district of Van on September 1st. The vehicle retreated from the area following a short-lasting clash.

A vehicle carrying supplies to Bêgendê guard post in Siirt’s Kurtalan district was burnt down at 13:30 on September 2nd.

19 SOLDIERS KILLED IN BESTA

A guerrilla unit was ambushed by Turkish soldiers in Çiyayê Fıllah area of Besta region on September 1st, upon which a clash erupted, lasting till 19:00 in the evening.

Intervening the scene with Cobra type helicopters at 16:00, Turkish troops at Gundıkê Mellê and Çelê Nımêja guard posts in Şırnak bombarded the area with howitzers and mortars. 15 soldiers were verified killed as guerrillas responded to the attacks. Details of the clashes will be announced later.

Martyr Kamuran team conducted an action against the soldiers guarding the security hill of Şırnak Brigade at 10:35 on September 2nd. Four soldiers were killed in the action which was carried out in memory of the four guerrillas fallen in Besta.

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Şevasor village of Şırnak’s Silopi district at 22:00 on September 1st.

One soldier was killed in an assassination action conducted by guerrillas against Korxê guard post in Amed’s Lice district at 12:00 on September 2nd. Guerrillas also hit a container and tower in the post, but the casualties couldn’t be verified.

Turkish army airdropped soldiers onto Hill Zerga in Karas-Lice-Hani triangle area in Amed from 07:00 to 08:30 on September 2nd.

Guerrillas destroyed a base station in Yayla area in Bingöl’s Genç district at 21:30 on August 30.

ACTION IN MEMORY OF MARTYR DERSİM

Guerrillas conducted another action against Kanakder guard post in Bitlis in memory of Martry Dersim at 10:00 on September 2nd. Two soldiers were killed and one other was wounded in the action in which the entrance gate of the post was also hit.

Cobra type helicopters intensely shelled the scene at noon, while Sikorsky helicopters removed the casualties from the area.

SIX POLICE KILLED IN ELAZIĞ

As part of the ongoing actions in Martyr Rojhat Batman Initiative, Martyr Destan and Martyr Fırat Revenge teams conducted an action against police station in Kovancılar area of Elazığ at 20:15 on September 2nd. Six police were killed and many others were wounded as guerrillas hit the police group outside the station and the sentry boxes with rockets. The action was conducted in memory of Martyr Fırat, Martyr Destan, Martyr Cihand and Martyr Ekin Van.

On August 27, a team affiliated to HPG forces killed İsmet Tatar and his son who played a role in the murder of four guerrillas and many patriotic civilians in Şırnak’s Silopi district.

International anarchist prisoner week: London Solidarity

From London ABC:

To mark International Anarchist prisoner week last Saturday London ABC & friends visited two prisons in north London Holloway & Pentonville.

Pentonville.

Holloway.

“Our Day Will Come” : In solidarity with Evi Statiri and CCF – Imprisoned Members Cell (Book)

From 325:

Attending to the solidarity call to Evi Statiri we share with you a book which speaks about what was triggered after the arrest of the fugitive Christos Xiros, the discovery of an escape plan by Conspiracy of Cells of Fire – Imprisoned Members Cell; the subsequent manhunt against comrade Aggeliki Spyropoulo and her detention with relatives and friends of CCF comrades, and finally, the hunger strike for over 30 days in which they put their lives at risk.

This book also contains a prologue by CCF- Imprisoned Members Cell.

We are interested that the experiences of CCF`s escape attempt and subsequent hunger strike could be transmitted as an expression of anarchic ability to build our offense in an autonomous way, as a part of
our defense and dissemination of every indomitable and antagonist attitude against Power.

The most of the text were taken from the related anarchic webs.
Also, this book has a Spanish version, with translations made by us and other comrades.

Comrades interested in the edition of this book on their own territories, could write to our e-mail.

Without another word, we share this book with you.

Our Day Will Come_title page

Our Day Will Come_book

Sin Banderas Ni Fronteras, núcleo de agitación antiautoritaria.
sinbanderas.nifronteras@riseup.net

Chile/ Septiembre 2015.

Attack against Turkish general consulate in Zurich (Switzerland)

From 325:

In the night of the 25.8. to the 26.8.2015, we attacked a car on the terrain of the Turkish general consulate at the Weinbergstrasse 65 in Zurich with an explosive device after the Turkish state launched a massive attack against progressive forces in the region with cover from the USA, NATO and the Barzani clan in Iraq in the past weeks. We are in solidarity with the struggle for a free Rojava and the struggle of the revolutionary movement in Turkey!

After a long period of a strategy of tension and the massacre in Suruc on July 20th (where more than 30 comrades from different political tendencies died and dozens were injured), the Turkish state has launched an open attack against the progressive movement. On the one hand, this represents continuity in the collaboration of the AKP with the “Islamic State” and in the struggle of the AKP against progressive forces. Since the city of Kobane on the Syrian-Turkish border was massively attacked by the “IS” in the fall of last year and the military contention around Kobane and the liberation of the city became international focal points for the revolutionary process, it has been shown time and time again how the Turkish state aids the gangs of “IS” while those fighting with the YPG/J are hindered. This was shown exemplary in the treatment of the wounded from Syria. While those supporting “IS” could be transported to Turkey withouth hindrance and didn’t have much to fear, fighters of the YPG/J had to be smuggled across the border and had to fear being arrested while in the hospital bed. Recently, six YPG/J fighters were even extradited to the Al-Nusra-Front by Turkey! Other examples are the refusal of a humanitarian corridor to Kobane for medicine or food, the documented shipments of weapons by the Turkish secret service MIT to the “IS” or the obvious acceptance of recruitment centres of the “IS” in Turkey. In this sense, the attack in Suruc on July 20th (while Kobane was attacked in parallel with car bombs) which was only possible with the support of the MIT and other security institutions of the Turkish state in this city was only the consistent continuation of AKP-politics against the movement.

On the other hand, this attack was of course also an escalation, a qualitative change in the attack against the revolutionary movement in the region. It wasn’t the first attack by “IS” against progressive forces in Turkey within the context of a strategy of tension (for example the bombs against events of the legal HDP or the sneaky attack against Kobane on June 25th from Turkish soil), but in it’s quality and goals targeting the solidarity explicitly, this attack was different to previous ones. This is also shown in the subsequent actions of the AKP government after this attack. The massacre of Suruc was the kick-off to a broad attack of the Turkish state against all revolutionary forces (prior to this attack, the state attacked the movement via “IS”, now it attacks openly).

This broad attack is presumably driven by (at least) two motivations. On the one hand, Erdogans speculates that in a climate of war and fear the AKP will gain the votes necessary to introduce a presidential system of their liking. On the other hand, it is certainly also the case that a chance was seen to try to halt the revolutionary process in the region. Beside the geo-strategisch importance of the region as it is, where it is in the interest of imperialist forces to have forces in power that favor them (like the Barzani clan in northern Iraq), the struggle for Kobane and then Rojava has reached a political dimension which must be a pain for those in power. Because the struggle there shows that a perspective is possible which stands outside of capitalist or imperial logic. It is important to not neglect this dimension when trying to evaluate the current situation.

In this sense, it is only consistent when the USA and the NATO approves of the airstrikes by Turkey against Qandil or the attacks by the police and military against cities and neighborhoods with a strong presence of revolutionary forces. Not only because they were allowed the use of the airfield Incirlik in Turkey, but also because it would fit their agenda if Rojava were governed by forces like the Barzani clan, who have proven in their history to be loyal to imperialist forces.

Despite or maybe even because of the growing complexity of the conflict in the region, the fundamentals shall not be forgotten. The movement in Rojava is an emancipatory moment with an incredible power, it is not the time to stand aside but to support this path in solidarity. The same is valid for the revolutionary forces in Turkey whose strengthening has been helped by the experiences in the struggle around Gezi-Park and now by the inspiration from Rojava. Confronted with the attacks against them by the Turkish state which also consist of executing militants, we must of course support them.

International solidarity is practical and not dependent on seasonal fluctuation but driven by the necessity of actions because of political reference points and principals. We don’t stand here today and there tomorrow, but at the side of the revolutionary forces fighting for a society with socialist elements. There exist different forms of international solidarity, one was the support of the defense of Kobane through massive pressure from the streets of Europe, others are the support of the military struggle (as in the context of the International Freedom Brigade) or in the reconstruction of the destroyed cities (as was the campaign targeted on July 20th in Suruc, carried by the federation of socialist youth groups and bringing together different forces). Finally it can be a contribution to push forward the revolutionary process here and connect it to the revolutionary process there to advance together.

Solidarity and power to all fighters for a free Rojava!
Solidarity and power to all fighting for a revolutionary perspective!

For a revolutionary perspective

Massive Right to Water Protest in Dublin as Political Policing of Activists Continues

From Revolution News:

Over 100,000 Irish Water protesters turned up on Saturday for another massive show of opposition towards the unfair second tax on the nation’s water supply. The high numbers were a definite message to the unpopular Fine Gael and Labour government. The movement which is made up of many parts, will not be going anywhere until they end their plan to continue with a tax that is one too many under the austerity policy.

Today just one day after the latest national protest against the corrupt Semi-State quango Irish Water, yet another peaceful protester has been arrested and held for 6 hours. This follows the arrest of 23 other peaceful protesters just weeks ago after direct action in Jobstown Tallaght where the (Deputy Prime Minister) Tánaiste Joan Bruton had to sit in her car for two hours surrounded by Irish Water activists.

Protesters were made aware of their impending charges via a leak to the Irish Media from one of two possible sources, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution or the Gardaí. An investigation is now ongoing into the source of the leak. Charges are said to range from Public Order offences to False Imprisonment.

Video recap of Saturday’s massive Irish Water action.

This message was posted on Tallaght Says No to Water Metering’s Facebook Page just hours ago:

“A heads up to anyone who was involved in the Burton protest back in November – we have got word that there has been a fresh arrest today and the person was held for 6 hours…
We cannot give any more details at the moment – but as soon as we can and we find out more – we will let you know…
This could be a single case – but if not, keep your phones by your side and call someone, in case you get that early morning visit…

It was also reported this week that Gardaí have been spying on a large number of Irish Water Protesters under an operation named Operation Mizen. They track the social media usage and where abouts of a large number of people they claim to be the leaders of the movement. In yet another twist it came to light that the senior Garda over Operation Mizen is Detective Superintendent Jim McGowan the husband of Garda Commissioner Noirin O’Sullivan who has come under fire for the rough behaviour of Gardaí towards protesters.

During one encounter at a pro-Palestinian peaceful sit it outside the American Embassy a protester moving off the road in compliance with orders given by Gardaí, was grabbed by the legs and dragged across a road. His face and shoulder were badly injured in the incident. The protester involved then suffered an epileptic fit while Gardaí knelt on his back. He eventually ended up in a cardiac ward for ten days, some of which were in a medically induced coma. John Rooney, the protester involved, was then brought to court, only to have charges against him thrown out.

Detective Superintendent Jim McGowan has also been assigned by his wife to investigate leaks from Gardaí to members of the press. The new wave of political policing is said to be a reaction to the growing support for the Anti-Irish Water Movement. One of the reasons for the growth is the massively successful nationwide boycott of Irish Water. The number of people who refused to pay their first water bill was 57% and the number expected to refuse to pay their second bill is now in the 90% range.

Another reason the movement has developed and has grown so quickly was the decision made by Eurostat to declare Irish Water a state-controlled body after it failed to stand up to testing by the group. In its report Eurostat said:
“In conclusion, and on the basis of the available information, Eurostat considers that Irish Water is a non-market entity controlled by government and should therefore be classified within the government sector.”

In one day the government’s goal to gain access to funding off the state books was pushed further off into the distance. Multiple reasons contributed to the Eurostat decision, including the €100 conservation grant that would be paid to households who register with the utility not only to house holds who pay their bills. Another major reason was state involvement in the appointment of jobs in Irish Water and the propping up of the dying company with money due to spent on much needed public services.

The Irish government were outraged by the findings.

Meanwhile with the general election looming next year and a budget day quickly approaching in October, the failing Fine Gael and Labour government are expected to try to win back confidence with some slight eases in the austerity measures. What they don’t seem to realise is that increasing numbers of protesters are not only fed up with Fine Gael and Labour but are quickly becoming disillusioned by the political structure that seems to be working separately from the will of the people.

Interviews from Saturday’s Irish Water protest in Dublin.

 

Political Prisoner Birthday Poster For September 2015 Is Now Available

From Prison Books Collective:

Hello Friends and Comrades,

1) Here is the political prisoner birthday poster for September. As always, please post this poster publicly and/or use it to start a card writing night of your own.

2) We’ve put the text online of our new zine How To Start A Prison Books Collective. We hope that this humble contribution will help other prison books groups get started and expand the important work of sending political, legal, and self-educational resources to prisoners. You can find the text here.

3) The Prison Ecology Project has extended its online fundraiser. They are creating tools to dismantle toxic prisons. So far, they are the only group focused on the intersection of environment and mass incarceration. Currently they are building a database of the five thousand prisons and jails around the country, finding the weak points in the environmental realm, and providing tools to organize locally. You can donate here.

4) Michael Kimble is up for parole in December and we are trying to get people to write letters to the parole board on his account.

Michael is a gay, black anarchist imprisoned in Alabama since 1986 for murdering a racist homophobe. He has been active for much of that time in prison organizing and rebellion. In recent years, he has been involved in hunger and work strikes in Alabama, working with the Free Alabama Movement. Michael has suffered severe consequences for his uncompromising attitude, including numerous stints in solitary (where he currently is held). Despite this, he remains committed to struggle against prison and the state.

Please, if you can, write the parole board and help get Michael free. Also, please spread this information using whatever media have available to you. Here’s a link to Michael‘s website, with a write-up on how to support his parole.

5) On Wednesday, August 12th, long term political prisoner, Hugo “Yogi Bear” Pinell was murdered. The context for his murder remains unclear, save for the fact that it happened in the midst of a prison riot.

In the early 1970s, while imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison, Hugo Pinell made contact with revolutionary prisoners such as George Jackson, one of the Soledad Brothers, and W.L. Nolen. On August 21, 1971, there was a prisoner uprising in Pinell’s housing unit at San Quentin, led by George Jackson. On that date, Jackson used a pistol to take over his tier in the Adjustment Center. At the end of the roughly 30 minute rebellion, guards had killed George Jackson, and two other prisoners and three guards were dead. Of the remaining prisoners in the unit, six of them, including Pinell, were put on trial for murder and conspiracy. Together, they were known as The San Quentin Six. Three of them were acquitted of all charges, and three were found guilty of various charges. Pinell was convicted of assault on a guard. For more on Hugo Pinell’s life and death see this excellent article from the San Francisco Bay View.

6) Be sure to check out the latest Political Prisoner/Prisoner Of War every-other week update by the  NYC-Anarchist Black Cross. There are lots of important updates on many political prisoners. This one includes updates on Jeremy Hammond, Barrett Brown, Memorials for Hugo Pinell, poetry and more.

Until Every Cage Is Empty,

The Prison Books Collective