From Belarus to the USA: fighting state repression

The 1st to the 9th of April was the week in solidarity with those facing state repression in the USA. At the same time, we have just seen mass arrests in Belarus, after the biggest protests since 2010. What do we mean by state repression? How can these two governments, one “democratic” and one “dictatorial”, have such similar responses to citizen discontent? And what parallels can we draw with our own island? Ask these questions and more at Cafe Kino next week!

UW-Seattle Shooting Victim Was Anti-Racist Organiser

SEATTLE, USA — The victim of the shooting at University of Washington’s Seattle Campus (UW-Seattle) on Friday, January 20, 2017, is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the IWW’s General Defense Committee (GDC), an anti-racist and anti-fascist organization. He was present at the protests against Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos on Friday night to oppose Milo’s hateful speech, which encourages violence towards minority groups, and has resulted in actual violence in the past. The victim spent the period prior to being shot de-escalating conflicts between protesters and counter-protesters.

The shooter is unknown to the public at this point. Despite using a firearm against another unarmed citizen in a place where firearms are prohibited, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) released the shooter shortly after he turned himself in. It is unclear to us that this is standard SPD practice. We do not yet know the real motivations behind the actions of the shooter at Friday’s protest. We do know that he brought a loaded weapon on the UW’s campus, into a protest situation. We understand that this is already a violation of law. We do know that he claimed self-defense against a person who was explicitly there to de-escalate violence, and that the shooter appears to have a considerable amount of confusion as to whom he shot, since he claims to have thought the victim was himself a white supremacist. The shooter displayed a serious lack of responsibility when he brought a loaded firearm onto UW’s campus in a protest situation, and even more when he used it. We do not understand the rationale for releasing this man.

The victim is a 34-year-old man from Seattle who has been a long-time anti-racist and anti-fascist activist. The shooter has apparently claimed that he shot the victim in ‘self-defense.’ The victim was unarmed and attempting to de-escalate conflict at the protest. We request that the press not identify the victim by name. The so-called ‘alt-right’ is notorious for creating virtual mobs to harass those with whom they disagree. The press should resist unintentional collaboration with these tactics. We recognize the pressure for the media to get stories out early and first. We request that the media engage with the victim directly, when he is recovered sufficiently to do so. In the meantime, please refrain from repeating the shooter’s claim that the victim was a white supremacist, without qualifying it with our statement.

The greatest needs for our member are of course personal, physical, and emotional. But the financial needs will be great. Supportive members of the public can donate to the shooting victim’s recovery fund at the internet address below.

We are deeply saddened by the attack on our friend. We are saddened but not surprised that the police released the attacker so swiftly.

To donate to the victim’s medical funds, please visit: https://www.crowdrise.com/medical-fundraiser-for-iww-and-gdc-member-shot-in-seattle

Week of Actions in Solidarity with the Prison Strike and Beyond

So the week of action in solidarity with US struggles against prison slavery has just ended, and on a morning walk around Troopers Hill Park one of our collective spotted this banner, which had been hung on the old mine tower!

In case you can’t see the picture very well, it says “solidarity with incarcerated workers and all prisoners in struggle” This tower overlooks much of southeast Bristol, bringing the ongoing strike and prison struggles to the attention of 1000s of residents (as well as the many dog walkers that pass through the park every day).

 

 

Originally published to It’s Going Down

On September 9th, people all over the world answered the call for a strike against prison slavery. Prisoners all over the U.S. began hunger and work strikes, while on the outside supporters took action to express their solidarity. However, despite outside support quieting down significantly after the first weekend, prisoners continue to struggle fiercely against their conditions.

Three weeks into the strike, a call was published for renewed actions in solidarity with the prison strike. While it emphasized the arbitrary nature of any particular day or week of action, for simplicity’s sake the authors suggested October 15th-22nd as the week to concentrate actions.

This page will collect actions in solidarity with the prison strike that took place around this time frame, regardless of whether they were inspired by this particular call or not. You can view a list of events planned for the week here, and remember you can submit communiques anonymously to It’s Going Down here.

October 8th

Lucasville, OH: Graffiti painted. Communique with photo here.

October 13th

Lansing, MI: Rally in solidarity with queer & trans prisoners. Report with photos here.

Lansing, MI

October 15th

Berlin, Germany: Banner dropped, flyers scattered. Communique with photos here.

Melbourne, Australia: Posters wheatpasted on corporations that profit from prison labor. Report with photos here.

Merced, CA: Noise demonstration outside the county jail, site of an ongoing hunger strike. Report back with video here.

Merced, CA

Minneapolis, MN: Posters wheatpasted. Communique with photos here.

October 16th

Mexico City, Mexico: Incendiary attack. Communique in spanish here.

October 17th

Jena, Germany: Banner dropped during spontaneous housing occupation. Report on the occupation in german here.

Jena, Germany

October 18th

Philadelphia, PA: Graffiti spotted in solidarity with the strike. Photo here.

October 19th

Heraklion, Greece: Radio station occupied. Communique in greek here.

Philadelphia, PA: UPS lockers vandalized with paint. Communique here.

Rome, Italy: Graffiti painted. Communique with more photos here.

October 21st

Bern, Switzerland: Courthouse paint bombed. Communique with a photo here.

Bern, Switzerland

Jena, Germany: Rally outside McDonalds. Report back here.

October 22nd

Minneapolis, MN: Noise demonstration outside youth jail. Report back here.

Madras, OR: Noise demonstration outside Deer Ridge prison. Report back with photos here.

October 23rd

Austria: Poster published. Download it here.

October 24th

Denver, CO: Posters wheatpasted, McDonald’s ads and Trump lawn signs vandalized. Communique here.

Denver, CO: Starbucks vandalized. Communique here.

Denver, CO

9th of September condensed news reports

Send information about the recent US prison strike to folks inside! Here are some files of information that has been gathered about the strike formatted to fit on A4 sheets of paper per file so they can be printed and mailed in to prisoners (where prisons are not too aggressive with censorship, that is).

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

Update on the US national prison strike

On Friday, the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising, the largest prison strike in US history was organised. Solidarity actions were planned in at least 50 US cities, and inside organisers like Siddique Hasan were put in solitary for their roles in agitating for the strike.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the 7th, hundreds of prisoners rioted in anticipation of the strike in a Florida prison; riots lasted into the early hours of the morning and almost every dorm was damaged.

On the 9th of September itself, all inmates in Holman prison, Alabama, refused to report to their jobs without incident. Two Florida prisons were on lockdown for the day after work stoppages, with smaller revolts reported in prisons across the state. There was a riot in a South Carolina prison, with many more prisoners across the state refusing to go to work. On the 0th of September, hundreds of people rioted in Kinross Correctional Facility. For news of the many more revolts and resistances that happened in prisons across the US, as well as support actions from across the world, visit itsgoingdown.org.

Meanwhile in collaboration with IWOC in Bristol, we held a fundraiser and infonight in solidarity with the prison strike, raised a bit of cash for the strike fund in the US and watched this video about prison slavery from submedia TV

The Untold Story – queer riots in Holman prison

Posted from Anarchy Live

The web has been abuzz with information about the recent riots here in Alabama at Holman prison – the stabbing of a warden and correctional officer, the fires that were set, the overcrowding, etc. – but what has been left out of this narrative is that the catalyst for the riots was a fight between two queer prisoners about queer relations. After quelling their beef, a pig and the warden attempted to intervene and was stabbed.

No one wants to mention that out of the six prisoners who were charged with the stabbings of the warden and correctional officer, four are queer. Historically, attempts have been made to write queer resistance out of history. But, despite all the attempts, queer folk have refused to allow these stories to go unknown.

What I think most people refuse to acknowledge is that prisons are extensions of patriarchal control. Male prisons are hyper-macho environments with very hierarchical structures and class divisions. In the prisons, queer prisoners have taken on a submissive and passive persona, because they themselves are not immune to all the psychological bullshit that society teaches about gender, sex, and class, and how that gender should be lived – you know, ‘females are weak and only to use, and control.’ The queer prisoner is on the bottom of the social ladder, just above snitches. The life of the queer prisoner is one of gross disrespect, violence, and oppression, from prisoners and pigs alike. Most prisoners look at being queer as an abomination, as something nasty and weak.

But on March 11, 2016, that narrative was shattered after queer prisoners went on the offensive against the pigs.

One queer prisoner went from dorm to dorm inviting, exhorting, and encouraging prisoners to come out of their cells and join in tearing the prison down. One dorm refused and placed a lock and chain on their dorm’s cell door, successfully locking themselves in and everyone else out. The queer prisoner started calling these guys on this and called them pigs, Uncle Tom, etc. all while brandishing a knife.

And this is not the only instance of queer resistance against the pigs:

– In 2012, a stabbing of a guard in the segregation unit at Holman was taking place while showers were being done, and Fredricka, a queer prisoner’s, cell door hadn’t closed and she ran out the cell, down the stairs and into the control unit. She kicked the pig down who was in the control unit, handcuffed him and opened some of the segregation cell doors, allowing other prisoners to come out their cell and attack the police.

– Also in 2012 at Holman prison, queer prisoners formed the “Gay Militia” as a prison gang for the protection of themselves against homophobes.

– At Donaldson prison in Alabama, queer prisoners form F.A.G. as a self-defense organization.

– In 2015 at Holman prison, a queer prisoner set fire to a guard in the segregation unit.

The history of queer resistance is long and beautiful. It didn’t start with Stonewall.

In Solidarity,
Queer Resistance

Eric King’s Sentencing Statement

From supportericking.org

We have received the transcript from Eric’s sentencing. We want to share both Eric’s statement to the court and the transcript in entirety.

“THE DEFENDANT: First I’d like to congratulate the Court on such a stellar job. Another graffiti homeless person is off the street. So I’m sure the FBI and Patrick are very proud of themselves. This is a good picture for the United States and they needed this. This is a solid win. You do an amazing job up there

This is supposed to be a chance for me to speak. I didn’t speak this entire time. You’ve held sentencing and punishment over me, and even now no matter what I say you can still hold that against me, not let me do things, not recommend things. That’s such a farce. This whole court’s a farce.

I stated what I did. I’m happy I did it. The government in this country is disgusting. The way they treat poor people, the way they treat brown people, the way they treat everyone that’s not in the class of white and male is disgusting, patriarchal, filthy racist.

You’re all a part of this. From the man over there who works the same corporation company that ran Prime Health Pro (ph) to you that takes away freedom and tears apart the community. You do that thinking that this is justice. This is no justice in ripping people from their homes. For what? Breaking a window? Ten years for breaking a window? And the cop that killed Freddie Gray got zero? The people that killed Trayvon Martin got zero? It’s so horrendous.

And I’m not sorry for what I did. I’m sorry that I got caught before I could do more things. I would have loved to attack more government buildings and make sure that bubble of safety that prosecutors and FBI agents and judges feel got shattered so that they stay in their safe pockets knowing they can’t touch me even though there are consequences to my actions. Same way we have consequences for our actions. If I throw a hammer out a window, I get ten years in jail. If you sentence a first-time offender to life in prison if he sold meth, you get a clap on the back from the President and a job for life. And if that’s justice, then you’re use of justice is so skewed and just horrendously immoral.

Further, this isn’t a victory for the State. This isn’t a win for any of you, any of you on this other side of the table. It’s done nothing but affirm my views, affirm my beliefs that the government is just disgusting. Even when I walk in I can’t tell my wife I love her. I can’t look at her and smile because, what, I broke a window? That’s justice? That’s fair? That’s not justice. There’s no rehabilitation in that. There’s no freedom in that. There’s no constitutional rights in that. It’s just bullying. It’s just the upper class saying we’re going to keep people who did not agree to our rules and then decide not to live by them, we’re going to keep those people shackled up so we can live comfortably in our own little bubbles and we never have to look outside of those bubbles to realize what’s really happening, which this class is set up to keep people down, and when people step out of that class system, they get punished horrendously, more than any other country, any other country on earth, the land of the free. It’s despicable.

This sentence has brought me closer to the community I really serve. That’s the radical view, the poor community. It’s shown me what solidarity means. It’s shown me what friendship means. It’s shown me what love means. It’s shown me what being a real human means, not standing by people when they’re knocked down, not further knocking them down, not going after poor people if they want to provide for their families and not do it the way that the white society thinks is appropriate. You’re disgusting.”

below is the transcript in entirety

6.28.16KingSNT

Dinner and infonight in solidarity with US national prison strike

On the 8th of September we are having a fundraising dinner and infonight in solidairty with striking workers who are fighting against the slavery of the United States prison industrial complex.

Come to Kebele Community Centre, 14 Roberstson Road, BS5 6JY, at 6.30 pm on Thursday the 8th of September for food and to find out more about their struggle. There will be a discussion with the importance of prisoner solidarity and the need for prisoners’ unions with Bristol ABC and members of the  Incarcerated Workers’ Organising Committee, who are involved in assisting with the prison strike from the outside in the US.

In the words of prisoners involved in the strike:

Slavery is alive and well in the prison system, but by the end of this year, it won’t be anymore. This is a call to end slavery in America. This call goes directly to the slaves themselves. We are not making demands or requests of our captors, we are calling ourselves to action. To every prisoner in every state and federal institution across this land, we call on you to stop being a slave, to let the crops rot in the plantation fields, to go on strike and cease reproducing the institutions of your confinement.

This is a call for a nation-wide prisoner work stoppage to end prison slavery, starting on September 9^th, 2016. They cannot run these facilities without us.

For the rest of the callout and for more information about the strike, visit iwoc.noblogs.org and itsgoingdown.org

 

Call for solidarity with USA prison strike on the 9th of September

On September 9th, 2016 prisoners across the United States will be conducting work stoppages, hunger strikes and other forms of action in a call to end prison slavery. The call was originated by organizers from the Free Alabama Movement. A national coalition of community groups associated with the IWW’s Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, Anarchist Black Cross chapters and others throughout the country have come together to build a national support network to push for a final end to prison slavery.

To achieve this goal, we need support from the international community. We hope that prisoner support groups in the across the globe will hold solidarity demos and inform prisoners they are in contact with about the September 9th day of action. This spring and summer will be seasons of organizing, spreading the word, building networks of solidarity and showing that we’re serious and what we’re capable of. We ask that you organize some sort of solidarity action and help spread the word to prisoners in your area. We hope that the fires of prison rebellion spread from the United States to prisons across the globe! With one unified voice of rebellion we can send a strong message to captors across the globe that the iron bars of their cage cannot contain our thirst for freedom!

Over the next month members from the Anarchist Black Cross in the United States will be traveling Europe and available to do presentations or talk with your collective if you have the time/if our itinerary has us come through your area. It would also be most helpful if folks could help us get in contact with other groups throughout Europe to spread the word and who might be interested in meeting with us while we are in their area.

Dare to Struggle
Dare to Win

Portland ABC
pdxabc.org

More info on the Sept. 9th Day of action.
supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org/s…/
FreeAlabamaMovement.com
iwoc.noblogs.org
unityandstruggle.org/2016/05/05/incarce…/

If you or your collective are interested in meeting with us we will be in the following European cities on the following dates. We would love to do a presentation or share about the national prisoner strike with your group. If you have connections to prisoner support groups in any of the following cities it would be greatly appreciated if you could connect us!

July 6-10th: Berlin
July 10th-15: Barcelona
July 15-20th: Naples
July 20th-24: London
July 24-29th: Paris
July 29-August 6: Athens

Freedom for political prisoners fundraising calendar 2012

The USA remains not just one of the most unequal countries in terms of wealth distribution, but also one of the most oppressive.

Artwork - May 2012

Recent figures (end of 2010) indicate that it locks up some 2.4million people in its various prisons, an adult incarceration rate of about 0.8%, or just under 1 adult in every 100. In addition, over seven million more are under ‘correctional supervision’, and over 13 million pass through U.S. prisons and jails annually. America’s prison population has risen by some 1000% in 30 years. Unsurprisingly, two thirds are either unemployed or were surviving on an income of less than $5000 a year. At least 40% of women prisoners have young children. The USA imprisons more people than any other country in the world, and accounts for over 25% of the worlds prison population. Welcome to the land of the free. Not. With the US clamping down on its growing ‘Occupy’ movement with brutal robocops and chemical weapons (see Oakland – general strike 2 Nov & police repression;  Denver; Wall St), we can be sure the number of prisoners will increase.

Artwork - December 2012

Bristol ABC is pleased once again this year to be distributing the Certain Days ‘Freedom for political prisoners calendar 2012’. This is a long term fundraising, info & campaign project by Canadian activists & 3 long-term US political prisoners, who have collectively spent over 100 years inside prison. The 3 are all being held in maximum-security prisons in New York State, they are Robert Seth Hayes, Herman Bell & David Gilbert.