Industrial Workers of the World - General Defense Committee

Milwaukee, WI: General Defense Committee Rallies Against Islamophobes

IWW.org Editor — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 23:02:14 +0000

By The Milwaukee Industrial Workers of the World General Defense Committee Local 19 - It's Going Down, September 11, 2017

When the Milwaukee IWW General Defense Committee heard that Act for America was scheduled to have a rally in Milwaukee we immediately began organizing to oppose it with the goal of shutting it down completely. ACT for America is an organization that stokes fear and hatred of immigrants and Muslims to lobby for heightened national security. We spoke with Twin Cities General Defense Committee members who had opposed ACT for America in the streets previously. They told us that ACT for America drew Islamophobes and Trump supporters, with some Alt Right fascists thrown in the mix at a rally in St. Paul.

We knew we couldn’t let this organization take the streets of our city, so we organized logistics, started doing turn out and made a plan. ACT for America had scheduled their rally for 8 a.m. at the Federal Courthouse in downtown Milwaukee, so that’s where we would go. In the past several weeks debates on antifascism have erupted all over the country. Some suggest we ignore them, some suggest we hold rallies on the other side of town, but we believe that we must go where they go. We must always confront them with the goal of allowing no platform for racism and fascism. Shortly after masses of people in Boston smashed a fascist march, ACT for America canceled their rallies all over the country. Some questioned if we should bother turning out at all, but we felt we had to make good on our commitments and send a message to the far right that they would be opposed at every turn. We also knew there was a possibility that some rightists would turn out anyway.

We set two rendezvous points, one in front of the courthouse and the other two blocks away, so we could engineer a coordinated confrontation with the right if needed.But the right didn’t really show. As we gathered and began to march, a few right wing goons heckled us, but then quickly scuttled away. They must have turned up to assessthe scene. Across from the courthouse approximatelysixty people gathered as we heard from speakers on the importance of solidarity, the struggle living as an immigrant in America and the vile racism of our society. Speakers called for unity with oppressed groups and the importance of working class organization. A General Defense Committee member said, “ACT for America has tremendous influence not only over the average person where they can play on fears, but over the State as well. But appealing to representatives is a dead end; a fruitless act. We have to use collective action in our communities to build the power we need to stop this threat.”

As we build our organization we navigate a difficult path. We know that there must be mass opposition to fascism and racism in order for it to be combated, but we have to do what is necessary to no platform the far right. It’s a path worth navigating in order to build a mass organization that can utilize direct action.

Every day on the shop floor, in the school, and in the neighborhood, we must build working class self-organization. We have to have conversations about who is really responsible for the outsourced jobs at huge old Milwaukee plants like Allis Chalmers and Tower Automotive and who is responsible for the cuts to education, public service, food share, and transportation. The rich are the ones who suck the blood of our class. If we don’t have those conversations the right wing will.

The Anti-Capitalist Politics of Antifa

IWW.org Editor — Tue, 12 Sep 2017 22:44:31 +0000

By Stephanie Basile - CounterPunch, September 6, 2017

As antifa has burst into the mainstream in recent weeks, suddenly the efficacy of confronting Nazis in the streets is being debated on the national stage. Antifa is not one particular group, but a term used to describe anti-fascists committed to stamping out fascism before it can rise to power. The debate around antifa tends to stay narrowly focused on the use of physical self-defense in public spaces. What’s received less attention is the anti-capitalist politics of antifa, and how some anti-fascists and are putting these politics into practice through workplace organizing.

When workers at the New York City feminist sex toy shop Babeland participated in a workplace action this past spring, it was the first time that every single NYC Babeland worker unanimously agreed on something: the company needed more diversity in its hiring practices. The Babeland workers, who in 2016 unionized with the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), had negotiated language into their contract requiring their employer to seek diverse candidates when filling positions. When it became clear the company was violating this, the workers at Babeland all signed onto a letter called on the company to hire more workers of color and more trans workers. “To me, the most significant thing about that was that we had every single New York City employee sign,” says Phoenix V., a Babeland worker and Shop Steward.

When Tiffany S. started working at the Takoma Park Silver Spring Food Co-op in Takoma Park, MD, she encountered disrespectful management and no way to address it. Tiffany recalls feeling disempowered at the time: “You couldn’t do anything because you might get fired.” The co-op board eventually terminated the manager, but workers were left feeling like they had little voice in that process. “Workers still don’t know if they’re safe,” says fellow co-op worker Kenny Y. “If the next general manager comes and does the same thing, they don’t know if it would be any better.” Tiffany, Kenny, and the rest of their coworkers voted to unionize with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) in August, and are preparing to enter into contract negotiations with the co-op.

Phoenix, Tiffany, and Kenny all identify as anti-capitalists and anti-fascists. They see combating fascism, racism, sexism, and capitalism as inextricably linked. “They’re inseparable, they are the pillars of white supremacy,” says Phoenix. “They can’t exist without each other.” Tiffany frames the connection between capitalism and other forms of oppression as being rooted in our material reality. “When I think about the connections between capital and white supremacy, I think- who owns what, and how did they come to own it? Slaves were working the land, producing cotton, or tobacco, or sugar. Where did that money go, and what does that mean?” For Tiffany, using concrete material conditions of workers’ lives as a starting point is the easiest way of making connections between systems of capitalism and white supremacy.

Building Mass Antifascism in Milwaukee

IWW.org Editor — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 00:35:50 +0000

By Milwaukee IWW - It's Going Down, August 21, 2017

On Saturday August 12th, white nationalists converged on the city of Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee and the renaming of Lee Park to Emancipation Park. The fascists were outnumbered by antifascists and were driven from the park, but not without great cost, as we all know. On that day a fascist drove his car at high speed into the antifascist demonstration, injuring over 20 people and killing one, a 32 year old paralegal named Heather Heyer.

In Milwaukee we had been communicating with people in Charlottesville since Friday night. A friend said he worried someone from our side would be killed. To our horror this came to be true. The event gripped the country, and people were called to the streets to condemn the rising tide of fascism and racism, and in remembrance of the brave antifascist Heather Heyer.

As news of Heather’s death spread on Saturday afternoon, we called for an emergency meeting that night in a park in the Riverwest neighborhood. Around 30 people came together to discuss how to respond to the attack in Charlottesville and move forward. The assembly agreed to call for a vigil the next day at 7:00 PM in the same park, rather than downtown.

Mass demonstrations against Trump and other targets are typically held in Milwaukee’s downtown area in the evenings. We decided that since few people live downtown, and that the downtown area is not a working class neighborhood, we should instead hold the vigil where we stood, in the heart of Riverwest. There was some consideration of stepping outside of the comfort zone of a friendly neighborhood, but ultimately the group determined that for this demonstration, we should organize where we have a base. It was this decision which helped ensure a large turnout of working class people.

We went about doing the work to make the vigil happen. We gathered literature for tabling, collected our megaphones, banners, and flags. Artists provided sign making materials for people to make their own signs as the vigil was getting underway. We edited our General Defense Committee outreach flier to announce a follow up meeting, and quickly found space to host it. Organizers put together a speakers list and made sure to raise the voices of our comrades of color and women members. Members even put together a screen printing table in the park with a “Good Night Far Right” image. Allied organizations turned out their members and provided support. We made sure to have marshals wearing identifiable vests who knew how to handle themselves in the street. The marshals were tasked with managing traffic and ensuring the march proceeded slowly so everyone could stay together as a group. An experienced member crafted a media advisory and called all the major media outlets in town.

On Sunday night as 7:00 neared, people poured into the small park. Speakers opened with a moment of silence for Heather Heyer and emphasized the importance of the broader struggle. We spoke of the need to support the fights against deportations, the police, racism, and white supremacy, and the importance of organizing the working class. The crowd had swelled to around 400 people by the time the last speaker finished.

After the speeches, people then flooded into the streets to march through the neighborhood. Chants of “No Nazis, No KKK, No Fascist USA” reverberated off the polish flats and duplexes of Riverwest. We headed down a side street and people came out of their houses to join in and cheer us on. Families waved and cheered from their porches, joining us in the chants even if they didn’t join the march. A sea of people waved red and black flags, IWW flags, and antifascist flags. The march was led by two black IWW banners, one reading “Direct Action Gets the Goods” and another for the General Defense Committee that reads “Defend the Union, the Community, the Working Class.”

The march rounded the corner onto a major through street and paused in front of a popular local coffee shop to allow the march to tighten up, but it still filled an entire city block. The strength and power of our community was undeniable. The police looked on from a distance, a police liaison approached. They simply gave thumbs up and didn’t even attempt to control the demonstration. We turned another corner and marched back up another side street chanting “Say it Loud, Say it Clear, Refugees are Welcome Here.” As we rounded the final block and poured back into the park our numbers had grown to over 500 people.

After the demonstration we stuck around to clean up the park and retired to our favorite bar to hang out, decompress, debrief and plan next steps. We also set about planning our next General Defense Committee meeting which was looking like it was going to be well attended. The next day we spoke with Wisconsin Public Radio about the mass demonstrations taking place all over the country and the rise of the alt right. We shared our vision of a mass anti-fascist and anti-racist working class movement with a statewide radio network that reaches millions of listeners.

In the lead up to the Wednesday GDC meeting we made sure to have a tight well-organized program and spent two hours making an agenda the night before. Wednesday rolled around and the librarians at the branch we decided to host our meeting at seemed a bit on edge. We reassured them that we are on the side of justice, and ultimately they were supportive. Nearly 100 people showed up to the meeting, most of them folks who were new to the IWW and GDC. It was a challenge to make sure each person’s voice was heard, but everyone who wanted to speak had a chance. Here is a rough outline of the agenda.

Seattle, WA: August 13th Solidarity Against Hate Reportback

IWW.org Editor — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 00:24:51 +0000

By the IWW Greater Seattle General Defense Committee Local 24 - It's Going Down, August 18, 2017

The IWW Greater Seattle General Defense Committee (GDC) put a wide-reaching public call-out to amass a significant contingent of individuals and organizations to confront yet another hateful “Freedom” rally by Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer scheduled for August 13th. Sure enough, the rally was attended by white supremacist groups like Cascade Legion, the self-proclaimed “Western-chauvinist” Proud Boys, Anthony Parish the homophobic street preacher, and many other far-right bigots marching in the name of “free speech”.

This was the third time this year that Joey’s crew descended upon our city to espouse their reactionary prejudices and ethno-nationalist, extreme-right fascist politics in our public space. This is the same crew that rallied with the likes of Jeremy Christian; he is the one who, this May, stabbed three people on a Portland MAX train (murdering two) for standing up against his Islamophobic tirade against two young women.

For this counter-protest, we intended to meet their rally in Westlake Park and confront them where they stood, stop their march, shame them, and disrupt their event. We assigned marshal roles to a small coalition of the GDC and other chosen leftist organizations in order to keep our march safe from outside threats and ensure smooth coordination throughout. Our marshals were specifically trained and practiced for this role.

We didn’t know what our numbers would be, which made it difficult to prepare in advance. We set several tactical goals, planning for numbers as high as 200, but we made fallback plans for fewer. The terrorist attack in Charlottesville on Saturday changed everything, and overnight, the number of attendees for our Sunday march grew exponentially. We suddenly found ourselves side by side with hundreds of people who didn’t necessarily share our objectives and who had a very different understanding of what confronting fascism means.

We marched, because that seemed like the right thing to do. As we got within a two block radius of Westlake Park, The Seattle Police Department, along with Bellevue PD, Tukwila PD, and Renton PD, flanked us and barred our path at every turn towards the direction of the rally. The bloc and other various brave attendees made a break down an alley to cut through, but were met by SPD at the other end – who relentlessly hosed the charge down with pepper spray and stole their banners. The SPD would later re-tweet photos of a seized banner and picket sign handles, calling them “weapons”. One was arrested.

Treated by medics and reconsolidated with the main contingent of the march, we continued together again. Road by road, riot police wielding batons, pepper spray, and grenade launchers lined every intersection’s only entry towards Westlake. We eventually stopped. We waited and amassed before the police. SPD, seemingly threatened after being covered in harmless silly string, responded with pepper spray and even launched blast balls directly into the center of the densely crowded intersection. Another marcher was arrested. One person with a head wound had to be evacuated to Harborview hospital, and many others were treated by medics on the spot. Despite this, SPD officially claimed to the press that there were no injuries.

A call went out that the Westlake rally was over, and that we had won. This call was a miscommunication on our end that ultimately resulted from faulty intelligence that indicated a dispersal order was given at Westlake – and before it could be confirmed, the word eventually morphed down the chain into a story that the fascists left the park early. Nonetheless, the call was given and acted upon. We were turned back to Denny Park. Smaller groups of the bloc attempted to divert down other roads towards Westlake again, only to be stopped. Another arrest was made. Meanwhile, many gleeful activists returned to Denny Park to call it a victory. We do not feel that there was a victory.

While Gibson cancelled the Patriot Prayer march, we weren’t able to confront the fascists at their rally. We were turned away from the only objective we had left. We achieved a goal of not letting them march, but at the cost of the safety of our people. The trust of the committed antifascists who were there that day was betrayed. We were glad to hear that many folks nonetheless managed to make it into Westlake for a confrontation, but only by doing so separately from the larger group. We commend all of their initiative and dedication.

The action attracted people who had no interest in confronting fascism, or any concept of what it means. They wanted a parade. They wanted a parade that obeyed police direction and showed off their 200-foot-long constitution banner. They believed that this was antifascist. It’s almost funny. Fascists love parades, the constitution, and cops.

We failed to plan for the numbers that showed up on Sunday. We chose a tactic that was ineffective. We put people in danger by failing to create a separation between the parade group and the actual antifascist action. We didn’t even understand what was happening until it was too late. We worked with groups that didn’t share the same objectives. We worked with groups that could never possibly share our objectives. We will be much more mindful about this in the future.

Our primary goal was not met. Our people were put in harm’s way. Our marshals were spread thin – straddling two masses at times, doing our very best to ensure that the perimeter was covered adequately. Our marshals and medics were continually distracted from their duties by the loud demands of paraders to police and suppress the antifascists for whom the march was organized. Not only did this compromise the safety of everyone, it created needless conflict between committed antifascists and those who were in over their heads. The actions of those who came for a parade sabotaged the goals of the antifascists and enabled the likes of Patriot Prayer.

We fucked up. It won’t be the last time, but we learned a lot from our mistakes. Over the next few weeks and months we’ll be thinking a lot about what happened and working on ways to improve our strategies.

Milwaukee GDC Joins 6k Run in Remembrance of Temple Shooting

IWW.org Editor — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 00:14:36 +0000

By Milwaukee IWW, General Defense Committee (GDC) - It's Going Down, August 15, 2017

On August 5^th a 6k run was held in remembrance of the attack on the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin in Oak Creek. Six victims were killed on August 5^th 2012, Paramjit Kaur, Satwant Singh Kaleka, Prakash Singh, Sita Singh, Ranjit Singh, and Suveg Singh. The shooter was a neo-Nazi named Wade Michael Page living in Cudahy, south of Milwaukee. He was a member of the Hammerskins, a notorious Neo-Nazi Skinhead Gang.

Every August 5^th the community remembers those lost. The event focused on a spirit of resilience in the face of tragedy. A dozen members of the IWW joined our fellow worker Jesse, who worships at the temple, to promote the General Defense Committee (GDC) and stand in solidarity with the Sikh community. We participated in the run, tabled with literature, and handed out around 250 fliers.

Text from Outreach Flyer by Jesse:

On the Morning of August 5, 2012, I was getting ready for work like I did every other Sunday. For some strange reason, I decided to channel surf until I was stopped by breaking news about a shooting at a temple. When I learned it was my own temple, I started to cry hysterically – for the victims, for my community, and in terror of thinking it could have been me if I wasn’t working that day. The following weeks were spent in fear of going into public places and full of hate for anyone that looked like Wade Michael Page, the shooter. I became physically exhausted and I finally had to surrender.

Eventually time has healed. Things have returned to normal but I still live in the shadow of that day especially when it comes to verbal abuse by the public. Instead of swelling up with fear or hatred I decided to become an educator about my religion to dispel ignorance. But since the election we have seen a new trend in violence against racial and religious minorities and the LGBT community. The things that I thought I was working to eradicate have seemingly exploded across the country and it will only get worse with further impending economic crisis. I learned that Facebook posts about working on my inner dealings and educating people isn’t enough to fight this growing problem we see before us.

The only solution is a working relationship with a community of self-defense and working-class power. It’s clear we can’t look towards politicians to solve society’s woes. It is imperative to get active and build the society we wish to see and it starts with organizing the workplace and for community self-defense. We have to learn to see ourselves in others who are targeted by discrimination and injustice because an injury to one is an injury to all.

Other Side Of Flyer on GDC:

The General Defense Committee (GDC) is the community self-defense arm of our grassroots labor union, the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).

The IWW is a democratically run union for all workers that believes we can use collective action to improve our working conditions and our lives. The General Defense Committee takes these principles and applies them to organizing in defense of our communities, especially in support of targeted groups such as immigrants, racial and religious minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community.

The General Defense Committee believes we must not only reject and condemn hate speech, but that we must unite and put forward a vision of equality, solidarity, and collective action.

Since our formation the General Defense Committee has acted in solidarity with victims of police violence, staged positive counter-demonstrations when hate groups have threatened to march in our communities, provided marshals for rallies in support of immigrant justice and trained our members in physical self-defense. We work to educate, support, and defend our community.

We hope to continue this type of work and invite all who share our values to join us.

It is important for us anarchists, socialists, and antifascists to offer our solidarity to a broad range of people. We have to step outside of our comfort zones in radical scenes, in subcultures, and activist circles. We must go to our class, the working class and stand with groups baring the brunt of racism and hate.

J20 Defense Campaign Goes Global/July 20-27 Week of Solidarity!

IWW.org Editor — Wed, 26 Jul 2017 00:22:45 +0000

By the members of the Mid Atlantic General Defense Committee, July 20, 2017

This past week, our J20 campaign not only received endorsements from more unions and organizations across the country, but from multiple European unions as well. As we approach the J20 Week of Solidarity July 20-27 organized by Defend J20 Resistance, we're happy to have this boost of energy and support!

Endorsement Update

This past week or so, we received endorsements from multiple IWW branches such as those in Baltimore, Maryland and Tampa, Florida. In addition, we received endorsements from the Washington, D.C. branch of the Socialist Party, USA, and the Seattle Solidarity Network, commonly known as SeaSol. SeaSol has long been an inspiration for many of us in forming the GDC, so we wanted to give a particular shout out to them.

If you haven't encountered SeaSol before, you should do yourself a favor and check them out--they're a "volunteer network of working people who defend each other through collective action," who have amassed an impressive list of victories fighting for tenants' and workers' rights in Seattle over the past decade. Their amazing successes have led to similar groups elsewhere, and has shown a working, democratic model of how working people can take action to fight against abusive bosses and landlords. We're really thrilled that they've endorsed our letter!

Letter from J20 Defense Campaign from Mid-Atlantic GDC

IWW.org Editor — Thu, 29 Jun 2017 00:38:35 +0000

By Mid Atlantic General Defense Committee - It's Going Down, June 27, 2017

PDF Version Here

Looking for a solidarity statement that you can take to your union, local organization, or faith based group to sign and build a base of support for J20 arrestees facing repression? The Mid-Atlantic General Defense Committee of the IWW has created one along with a petition for individuals to sign here.

On January 20, 2017, thousands took to the streets of Washington, D.C., to protest the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. During one of the many marches held on Inauguration Day, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department showed the world how it planned to treat dissent moving forward: Shortly after the protest began, hundreds of protesters were attacked with pepper spray, rubber bullets, and batons. Police confined over 200 people within a “kettle” for hours before arresting them. Every protester’s cell phone was confiscated as evidence and rooted through. Upon being released, they were handed a riot charge. Months later, US attorneys piled on 8 additional felony charges, including “Conspiracy to Riot”. Protesters now face up to 75 years in prison – all for attending a demonstration.

Among the people arrested were over two dozen members of our union, the Industrial Workers of the World, and its affiliated legal defense and community organizing body, the IWW General Defense Committee (GDC). Within the IWW and GDC, we don’t shy away from our members’ politics, and support our members’ rights to express their politics through protests and marches, a tradition that goes back within our union to battles over free speech in the early 20th century.

Since the arrests, D.C. prosecutors and police have shown a disturbing pattern of repression as well as specific targeting of IWW and GDC members. Our members had their union cards and buttons confiscated and held as evidence. Months after the protest, three individuals (including two prominent members of the DC IWW local branch) were served with warrants for their arrest on charges of conspiracy to riot. Prior to their warrants being issued, the prosecutor’s office revealed that they had created separate trial groupings, including one grouping where nearly all defendants were IWW or GDC members. While they will not say as much in public, it has become clear that the city attorneys for Washington, D.C. are treating membership in our union as evidence of a criminal act.

This is not the first time the IWW has been targeted for repression, and it is unlikely to be the last. The crackdown on protesters in D.C. is part of a larger effort to criminalize and silence dissent in working-class and marginalized communities. D.C. is just one of more than a dozen states that are attempting to quell dissent through legislation or harsh legal penalties. This is not a coincidence. People in power want activists and organizations to be afraid to protest Trump’s agenda.

The labor movement cannot succeed if union members are treated as criminals when protesting anti-union and anti-worker politicians and their policies. No social movement can operate in repressive conditions like that. We have always stood by the principle that “an injury to one is an injury to all.” In this spirit, we are calling on our friends and allies in the labor movement, as well as in allied progressive or left groups, to share this letter and pass the following motion within your union local or organization:

We are deeply concerned about the severe repression against all protesters facing charges for exercising their First Amendment rights on January 20, 2017 in Washington, D.C. We assert our support of the demand to drop the charges against all protesters. We further commit to:

Contacting [email protected] to add our organization’s name to those endorsing this letter, to be found at www.midatlanticGDC.com/letter

Requesting the appropriate individual post to our organization’s social media accounts that we support this letter

Requesting the appropriate officer or individual send an expression of our support for the above demand to the United States Attorney’s Office, ATTN: Channing Phillips, 555 4th Street NW, Washington, DC 20530

Encouraging our members to get involved in the effort to support all defendants at www.defendj20resistance.org and www.midatlanticGDC.com.

Utica, NY: IWW and Community Groups Mobilize to Halt Deportation

x344543 — Sun, 18 Jun 2017 21:42:12 +0000

By anonymous - It's Going Down, June 8, 2017

A father, soccer coach, and Utica resident Ricky Morgan was separated from his family on June 5th during a routine check-in with ICE and will now be deported to Jamaica. Family members, community members and local activists are struggling to come to terms with this sudden, grim reality.

Over the last few months, a broad coalition of organizations, including ICE-Free Capital District, the labor union Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Troy Sanctuary Movement and the Unitarian Universalist Society of Saratoga Springs have come to Ricky’s aid and accompanied him for monthly check-ins with ICE. Ricky was inspired by a previous rally activists held for a mother and immigrant from Hudson, NY who was facing deportation. He hoped that similar support from the community would help him in the future. For a while, Ricky was only checking in with ICE once a year until he was told after the election of Trump that he became a priority for deportation and had to check in with ICE monthly.

Ricky moved to the US in the 1990s on a work visa and is still permitted to work in the US. He was targeted in the past by ICE during the Obama administration and was separated from his family by ICE for six months while he was kept in Batavia’s ICE Detention Center, one of countless jails in the US that exist to house immigrants. He will now be sent back to Batavia before his deportation.

Joe Paparone, an organizer with ICE-Free Capital District stated: “We need to start telling the truth. Immigration enforcement has nothing to do with criminality, and it’s regular people like Ricky – people with families, communities, workplaces, neighbors, that are having their lives torn apart, for no reason other than the racist scapegoating of a pathological liar. Those of us who care about our communities are going to keep fighting this racist deportation regime, and keep standing up for vulnerable members of our communities.”

Sign Onto Statement of Solidarity With J20 Defendants

x344543 — Sat, 29 Apr 2017 04:14:42 +0000

By anonymous - It's Going Down, April 26, 2017

The following statement was drafted by supporters of those arrested at Inauguration protests in DC on January 20th, with the intent of providing a public platform for organizations around North America to express their collective opposition to these charges. The list of signees will be posted and continually updated at defendJ20resistance.org and several other sites. To have your group or crew sign on, send an email to [email protected]" rel="nofollow">[email protected].

Statement of Solidarity with #DisruptJ20 Defendants

On January 20, 2017, tens of thousands of people converged in Washington, D.C. for the #disruptJ20 protests to oppose the inauguration of Donald Trump. A combination of blockades, marches, and festive demonstrations shattered the spectacle of a peaceful transition of power, and made it clear around the world that people do not recognize Trump’s authority. What could have been a day signaling resignation and defeat became a moment of defiance and resistance. As such, the protests on J20 set a tone and precedent for the events that unfolded shortly after, including the notably successful, mass direct actions at airports against Trump’s Muslim ban, as well as ongoing resistance to deportations. While Trump and his alt-right foot soldiers have encountered few meaningful obstacles from liberal politicians in the halls of power, grassroots resistance has continued to prove a substantial force.

Unfortunately, however, with resistance comes repression. In addition to shooting pepper spray and concussion grenades indiscriminately at protesters, including children, the elderly, and people with disabilities, DC police cordoned off an entire block and mass arrested more than 230 people in an attempt to stop an anti-capitalist and anti-fascist march. While mass arrests are not unheard of, in this case arrestees are each being charged with felony riot, a charge that potentially carries ten years in prison.

With these heightened charges the state is trying to set a precedent for harsh crackdowns of disruptive protest in the future, so that Trump can proceed with his agenda unimpeded by anything but symbolic hand-wringing. This strategy corresponds with a broader wave of repression and reaction, from the arrests and grand jury investigations of Indigenous water protectors at #StandingRock to backlash against #BlackLivesMatter and black-led uprisings against police. The arrests at J20 also inform local strategies for repression, including anti-protest laws that have been proposed in 18 different state legislatures, which further criminalize commonly used tactics like highway takeovers and in some cases make it legal for drivers to knowingly hit protesters marching in roadways.

The charges against J20 defendants are an experiment. If the courts are able to successfully prosecute those arrested at J20, this will send a green light to the forces of repression seeking to contain, control, and eliminate social movements around the country. Just as all of our struggles are connected, we understand these arrests to represent a real threat to all efforts towards true freedom, dignity, and autonomy. We call for the immediate dropping of all charges, and express our sincere solidarity with and support for those arrested, and encourage others to do so as well.

Signed,

Militant Tactics in Anti-Fascist Organizing--Interview Transcript

x344543 — Fri, 28 Apr 2017 22:23:20 +0000

By Matthew N Lyons - Three Way Fight, April 26, 2017

This interview with longtime anti-fascist activist Kieran (who was one of the founders of Three Way Fight thirteen years ago) covers a wide range of topics: from the work of Anti-Racist Action in the 1980s and 90s to the IWW’s General Defense Committee today, from the politics of wearing masks to the dangers of relying on the state for protection, and from engaging organized labor to building community-based self-defense against the far right.

The interview was conducted for KPFA Radio’s Against the Grain by the program’s co-producer Sasha Lilley and was broadcast on February 14, 2017. The audio recording is available for download or online listening here. The following transcription, by Clarissa Rogers, appears with the permission of Against the Grain and the participants.

Kieran was one of the founders of Anti-Racist Action, a youth-based direct action movement that organized against Nazi skinheads, the Ku Klux Klan, and the white power music scene from the 1980s to the 2000s. He’s now chief steward in a local union of telecom workers and is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World’s General Defense Committee, which has taken on anti-fascist work in a number of cities. In late January, a member of the General Defense Committee of the IWW was shot at a Milo Yiannopoulos event in Seattle. Against the Grain, a program of radical ideas originating from KPFA Radio, spoke with him after demonstrators closed down Yiannapoulous’ event at UC Berkeley on February 1st.

ATG: Kieran, many liberals and leftists believe that the right of free speech is paramount. As you know, protestors using militant tactics shut down a Milo Yiannopoulos event at UC Berkeley, which is the home of the Free Speech Movement. Why don’t you think that the right of free speech should be extended to fascists and the far right?

Kieran: There are a couple points to this. I think there’s both a question of strategy and tactics. I think that all of this is with the understanding that what we’re opposing is not the free speech of fascists, or the speeches of fascists. What we’re doing is opposing the organizing of the fascists. So, for instance, in my workplace, I work with workers with a whole range of opinions on all different kinds of questions. And occasionally you’re going to run into people who are influenced by far right politics. In those circumstances it doesn’t make sense for me to start a fight, a physical fight with a coworker since they raised some perspective that comes from that background.

But that’s totally different than a situation where you have an organization or a personality who’s using the framework of a public speech or an event, a forum, in order to advance political goals. And so the way we look at it is the way we would look at any kind of organizing done by that group with those aims.

In the case at UC Berkeley, this outright celebrity and provocateur, Milo Yiannopoulos, very clearly is trying to advance a certain kind of politics and more and more is trying to shape it into a movement. Our understanding is that he was planning to out undocumented students at Berkeley for the sole purpose of putting them under attack by Trump’s immigration forces. And, so, in that circumstance, we can’t let that attack go unchallenged. And I think that when you look at it from that perspective, it makes sense to try and oppose it.

If we just wait until they’ve created the groundswell, or created the base of support for these aggressive actions to take place, it can be too late. And so the way we approach fascist organizing or right wing organizing is not really focused on the question of free speech but is focused on whether or not we’re going to let them organize to implement their program. And our perspective is that we’re not. We’re going to challenge it. We’re going to try to stop it. We’re going to try to stop them.