Professional Documents
Culture Documents
TO THE
PRISONS
Issue 6//Summer 09
An Insurrectionary Quarterly
*WE ALL WANT
SATISFACTION
“If I win, I’m gonna buy a huge and strive so painfully to live that
house and let all my friends live we compromise every moment
in it.” to the future satisfaction money
promises us one day. Images of
“If I win, I’ll travel the world.” happiness surround us, our fami-
lies and friends and destroy our
“If I win, I’ll never have to work capability to dream. Is oppor-
again.” tunity and ambition something
*
that can only be determined and
You probably won’t win the lottery. granted by money? Is the rotting
O ur understanding of oppor-
tunity is limited to the amount
but subtle disappointment we
feel in our hourly wage or wrong
lotto numbers worth the patience
of money we have. Going from
we have with the “opportunities”
making $8-10 an hour, being the
we are forced to accept? Some
only person in a dry town with
people rob banks, some people
weed for sale, the ten seconds
sell drugs, some people sell their
between the first and last number
bodies to evade a few of the hours
called for the 90 million dollar
they need for money. Money
lottery: these are moments for
steals from our lives, but money
which we feel closer to satisfac-
is still the origin of these fore-
tion. We feel closer to comfort,
seen opportunities. Still money
stability, more possibilities in
determines the potentiality of
life, more freedom. So we ig-
dreams becoming reality. What if
nore our frustrations temporarily
we never get a salary? What if we
and return to the ever deceiving
never lose a rich relative? What if
faith we are taught to have in
we neverwin the lottery?
the economy and in the success
and ambition we are forcefully
Will we forever accept our lives
taught to appreciate in this soci-
in poverty?
ety. We work so hard to survive
*
The state wants us to play poli-
tics, the economy wants us to
play the game of survival; our
lives are not games, we need to
stop playing now.
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-We All Want-7
GREETINGS
* A brief message from the editors.
pro-confronta-
tion, pro-disrup-
tion, and pro-
conflict. These are the
things we want to be associated
with in this publication. No banner
could capture all the possibilities
of our resistance. But a common
knowledge of how others act to
certain things we feel can help to
strengthen forc-
es of resistance
in society, thus fur-
ther help de-stabi-
lize the forces of power
in society that prevent us from
being a fully existing
us
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-Greetings-9
Table of
Discontent
-It’s impossible for people to run their own lives; that are why they don’t
have the power to do so. People are powerless because they have neither
the ability nor the desire to control and decide about the material and social
conditions in which they live.
-People only want power and privileges over each other. It would be
-It would be just as impossible for workers to want to -Even if they did unite, it would obviously be impos-
run their factories, to want to decide about their produc- sible for them to destroy the State and the police and
tion. All that workers are interested in is wages: they military potential of a powerful industrial society like
just want more wages then others have, so as to buy the United States.
bigger houses, more cars and longer trips.
The Events
-Even if students, workers, and farmers wanted some-
thing different, they’re obviously satisfied with what Millions of students all over the world-in Tokyo,
they’re doing, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing it. Turn, Belgrade, Berkeley, Berlin, Rome, Rio, Warsaw,
New York, Paris—are fighting for the power to control
-In any case, those who aren’t satisfied can freely ex- and decide the social and material conditions of which
press their dissatisfaction by buying and voting: they they live. They are not stopped either by the lack of
don’t have to buy the things they don’t like, and they desire or lack of ability; they are stopped by the cops.
don’t have to vote for the candidates they don’t like. Perhaps they’re inspired by other fighters who held on
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-Anything Can Happen-12
against cops: the Cubans or Viet- stuffed with intermediaries, that began to accept the students’ invi-
namese… Students in Turin and poorly paid people are satisfied, that tation to come to the University of
Paris, for example, occupied their ‘managers’ are proud of their privi- Paris auditoriums (at the Sorbonne,
universities and formed general as- leges..” Some electronic workers Censier, Halle-aux-vins, Beaux
semblies in which all the students distributed equipment to demonstra- Arts, etc.) to talk about abolishing
made all the decisions. In other tors protecting themselves from the money relations and turning the
words, the students started running police; some farmers delivered free factories into social services run
their own universities. Not in order food to striking workers; and some by those who make and those who
to get better grades: they did away armaments workers talked about use the products. Workers began to
with tests. Not in order to get high distributing weapons to all workers, express themselves. That is when
paying jobs or more privileges: they so that the workers could protect the owners and their administrators
started to discuss the abolition of themselves from the national army threatened civil war, and an enor-
privileges and high paying jobs; and police. mous police and military machine
they started to discuss putting an In spite of a lifetime of business was deployed to make the threat
end to society in which they had to propaganda about how “satisfied” more realistic. With this crass dis-
sell themselves. And at that point, workers are with the cars, houses play of the forces of “law and or-
sometimes for the first time in their and other objects they receive in der”, the king stood monetarily na-
lives, they started learning. exchange for their living energy, ked: the repressive dictatorship of
In Paris young workers, inspired workers expressed their “satisfac- the capitalist class was visible to all.
by the example of the students, oc- tion” through a general strike which Whatever illusions people might
cupied an aircraft factory and locked paralyzed all French industry for have had about their own “consum-
up the director. The examples mul- a month. After being trained for a er sovereignty” or “voting power”,
tiplied. Other workers began to oc- lifetime to “respect law and order”, whatever fantasies they may have
cupy their factories. Despite the workers broke all the laws by oc- had about transforming capitalist so-
fact that all life long they had de- cupying factories to see to it that ciety by buying or voting, they lost
pended on someone to make their the factories continued to “belong” them. They knew that their “buying
decisions for them, some workers because as they quickly learned, power” and “voting power” simply
set up committees to discuss run- the cops are there to see to it that meant servility and acquiescence in
ning the strike on their own terms, the factories “belong” to capitalist the face of enormous violence. The
letting all workers decide, and not owners. The workers learned that student revolt and the general strike
just on the union’s terms—and “law and order” is what keeps them in France (like the black revolt in the
some workers set up commissions from running their own productive U.S., or the anti-imperialist struggle
to discuss running the factories activity, and that “law and order” is on three continents) had merely
themselves. An idea which is point- what they’d have to destroy in order forced the ever-present violence to
less to think about in normal times, to rule their own society. The cops expose itself: this made it possible
because it’s absurd, it’s impossible, came out as soon workers acted on for people to size up the enemy.
had suddenly become possible, and their own dissatisfaction. Perhaps In the face of the violence of
it became interesting, challenging, the workers had known all along the capitalist state, students, French
fascinating. Workers even began to about the cops in the background; workers, foreign workers, peasants,
talk about producing goods merely perhaps that’s why the workers had the well paid and the poorly paid,
because people needed them. These seemed so “satisfied”. With a gun learned whose interests they had
workers knew that it was “false to pointing at his back, any intelligent served by policing each other, by
think that the population is against person would be “satisfied” to hold fearing and hating each other. In
free public services, that farmers his hands up. the face of the naked violence of the
are in favor of a commercial circuit Workers in Paris and elsewhere common oppressor, the divisions
white, “native” workers from “home” workers, colo- that they could not destroy the power of the capitalist
nized peasants from the whole “metropolitan” popula- class unless all workers took over their factories and
tion. defended them by destroying the state and its repressive
power, yet they occupied the factories. This too was
The struggle in France did not destroy the politi- an exemplary action, but these workers did not succeed
cal and military power of capitalist society. But the in communicating the example to the rest of the work-
struggle did show that this was possible: ers: the government, the press, and the unions told the
rest of the population that the occupying workers were
--Students at a demonstration in Paris knew they could merely having a traditional strike to get higher wages
not defend themselves from a police charge, but some and better working conditions from the state and the
students didn’t run from the police; they started build- factory owners.
ing a barricade. This was what the March 22 Move-
ment called an “exemplary action”: a large number of Impossible? All this happened in a two-week period at
students took courage, didn’t run from the cops and be- the end of May in 1968. The examples were extremely
gan building barricades. contagious. Is anyone really sure that those who pro-
duce weapons, namely workers, or even the cops and
--Students knew that they could not, by themselves, soldiers, who are also workers, are immune?
A “social scientist” is someone who is paid swallow it; a handful of people create and the
to defend this society’s myths. His/her defense rest are passive; a handful of people perform
mechanism, in its simplest formulation, runs and the rest are spectators. In short, a handful
approximately as follows. s/he begins assum- of people have all the power over a specific ac-
ing that the society of his time and place is the tivity, and the rest of the people have no power
only possible form of society; s/he then con- over it even when they are learning what to do
cludes that some other form of society is im- with it until they have it. From this the “sci-
possible. Unfortunately, the “social scientist” entist” concludes that people have neither the
rarely admits his/her assumptions and usually ability nor the desire to have such power, name-
claims that s/he doesn’t make any assumptions. ly to control and decide about the social and
It can’t be said that the social scientist is lying material conditions in which they live. More
outright: s/he usually takes his/her assump- straightforwardly, the argument states: people
tions so much for granted that s/he doesn’t do not have such power in this society, and this
even know he’s making them. society is the only form of society; therefore it
The “social scientist” takes for granted a so- is impossible for people to have such power.
ciety in which there’s a highly developed “di- In still simpler terms: People can’t have such
vision of labor”, which includes both a separa- power because they don’t have it.
tion of tasks and a separation (“specialization”) Logic is not taught much in American schools
of people. The tasks include socially useful and the argument looks impressive when it is
things as producing food, clothing and houses, accompanied by an enormous statistical appa-
and also such socially useless things as brain- ratus and extremely complicated geometrical
washing, manipulation and killing people. To designs. If a critic insists on calling the argu-
begin with, the “scientist” defines all of these ment simplistic and circular, s/he is turned out
activities as useful, because society could not as soon as the “scientist’ starts “communicat-
run without them. Next, the scientist assumed ing” in a completely esoteric language which
that these tasks can only be performed if a giv- has all the logical fallacies built-in, but which is
en person is attached to a given task for life, comprehensible only to “specific colleagues”.
in other words if the specialized tasks are per- Mythological conclusions based on mytho-
formed by specialized people. S/He does not logical assumptions are “proved” by means of
assume this about everything. For example, the statistics and the charts; much of “supplied
eating and sleeping are necessary activities; social science” consists of teaching young
society would break down if these things were people what kind of “data” to gather in order
not performed. Yet even the “social scientist” to make the conclusions come out, and much
does not think that a handful of people should of “applied social science” consists of teaching
do all the eating while the rest don’t eat, or that young people what kind of “data” to gather in
a handful of people should do all the sleeping order to make the conclusions comes out, and
while the rest don’t sleep at all. It is assumed much of “theory” consists of fitting this data
that the need for specialization exists only for to the pre-established formulas. By means of
those activities which are specialized in his/her numerous techniques, for example, it can be
particular society. In the corporate-military so- “proved” that workers would rather have high
ciety, a few people have all the political power, paying jobs, that people “like” what they hear
the rest have none; a handful of people decide on the radio or see on television, that people
what to produce, the rest consume it; a handful are “members” of one or another Judeo-Chris-
of people decide what kind of houses to build, tian cult, that almost anyone votes either Dem-
and the rest live in them; a handful of people ocrats of Republicans.
decide what to teach in classrooms and the rest
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-Anything Can Happen-15
Students are taught one set of methods for gath- The interviews, polls, and statistical demon-
ering the data, a second for arranging them, a strations about people’s religious affiliations,
third set for presenting them, and “theories” electoral behavior, job [preferences], reduce
for interpreting them. The apologetic content people to monotonous data. In the context
of the “data” is covered up by its statistical of this “science”, people are things, they are
sophistication. In a society where eating de- objects with innumerable qualities-and sur-
pends on getting pain, and thus where doing prisingly enough, each one of these qualities
“meaningful work” may mean one doesn’t get happens to be serve by one or another institu-
paid, a worker’s preference for high paying tion of the corporate-military society. It just
meaning jobs merely means s/he would rather so happens that people’s “material tastes” are
eat than not eat. In a society where people do “satisfied” by corporations, and their “physi-
not create and control what they hear on the cal urges: are “satisfied” by “spiritual tenden-
radio or see on television they have no choice cies” are “satisfied” by the cults, and that their
but to “like” what they hear and see, or else “political preferences” are “satisfied” either by
to turn the damn thing off. People who know the Republican or Democratic party. In other
their friends would look at them funny if they words everything about American corporate-
were atheists prefer to go to one or another militarism fits people just perfectly.
church, and almost anyone who knows s/he is Everything is tabulated except the fact that
in a society where friend or job loss would oc- a working person serves as a tool, that s/he
cur if s/he were a socialist or an anarchist ob- sells his/her living time and creative ability in
viously prefers to be a Democrat or a Repub- exchange for objects, that s/he doesn’t decide
lican. Yet such “data” serves as the basis for what to make, nor for whom, nor why.
the “social scientists” conception of people’s
The “social scientist” claims to be em-
possibilities and impossibilities, and even of
pirical and objective; s/he claims to make
their “human nature”.
no value judgments. Yet by reducing the
person to the bundle of tastes, desires and
preferences to which they are restricted
in capitalist society, the “objective sci-
entist” makes the bizarre claim that this
bundle is what the worker is; and makes
the fantastic value judgment that the
worker cannot be other than what he is in
capitalist society. According to the “laws
of human behavior” of this “science”, the
solidarity of students with workers, the
occupation of factories by workers, the
desire of workers to run their own pro-
duction, distribution and coordination,
are all impossible. Why? Because these
things are impossible in capitalist society,
and for these “scientists” who make no
value judgments, existing societies are
the only possible societies, and the cor-
porate-military society is the best of all
possible societies.
IS
just in case people did unite tem defends itself. But what
against the capitalist system. does the system defend itself
against: human nature? If it
Because sometimes the has to fight against human
whole structure cracks. nature to survive, then by ex-
pert’s own language, the sys-
tem is extremely unnatural.
POSSIBLE
Thus while some experts define the rebellion of France
as impossible because it is “unnatural”, their expert col-
leagues design the incapacitating gases with which cops
can suppress such impossible rebellions.
On the night of May first a down town building in Asheville North Carolina was oc-
cupied for a dance party in honor of May Day. A banner hung from the roof read “Re-
claiming space to reclaim our lives. Occupy everything!” and by the time the police ar-
rived there was about 150-200 people doing just that. As pre-determined nobody fought
for the space but instead took the party to the street.
Once the police realized their mistake they seized the sound system but it was too late.
Masks were on and the chants began. “Wu-tang Clan ain’t nothing to fuck with!”, “May
Day is our day. Can’t forget peoples history!”, “Swine-Flu! Swine-Flu!” and A... Anti...
Anti-Capitalista!”. The crowd took to the streets; breaking windows, neglecting police
demands, and setting a precedent of no compromise before the normalcy of typical pro-
test on this day. Below is a written account of the events on this day:
Milwaukee//May 1st:
A group of 20 or 30
vandals; said to have
looked like ninjas; at-
tacked corporate busi-
nesses in the night.
Many cash machines also had the card slots glued so bank cards could not
be introduced. Two days later, during the morning of April 27, a branch
THE office of the temp agency Adecco in the neighborhood of St. Gervasi was
*
attacked with paint and stones, causing damages in the entrance of the of-
WAR
fice. On the night of the 29th, an office of Manpower, a bank of La Caixa,
and a Social Security office in Gracia encountered the same fate. That
day, in the neighborhood of Clot, during the morning unknown persons
GOES attacked a Tecnocasa real estate office with paint bombs. In a communique
they remarked that their daytime action was “to reaffirm the legitimacy
of our means of action against gentrification and capitalism.” In Sants,
*
But other students said the large gathering had borhood,” Garcia
more to do with the two keg parties at houses said.
The University of Min- along Seventh Street.
nesota is calling Saturday Sophomore Abe Gross, who lives a block About an hour and
night’s Dinkytown riot away, said one party was underway as early a half later, more than
“an unac- 8:30 a.m. and had already spilled into the street.
By 5 p.m., the street was nearly impassible for
50 officers —- wear-
ing helmets and gas
ceptable motorists because of “rowdy students drinking masks and carrying
beer and yelling,” he said. battalions — tried to
display of Officers who arrived about 8 p.m. after a report quell the crowd with
lawless of a large party were greeted with flying beer
bottles, rocks and other debris, Garcia said.
smoke grenades and
chemical irritants.
behavior.” “At one point, someone threw a 12-pack of beer The foam bullets were
at an officer,” he said. “There was a lot of defi- used to “identify the
ance there.” main agitators”
The initial responding officers were forced to
retreat and call for backup. In the meantime,
Garcia said, the crowd swelled to an estimated
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-”All I Do Is Party”-27
PANDA! PANDA! PANDA! PANDA! PANDA!
O ur comradery will
be challenged by the
state repeatedly. When
we must respond to re-
pression, when riot is
a
solidarity
of no option, when only
the active would be con-
of
cerned: we must remain
visible in the night.
attack
Communique found
blogspot.com:
on
socialrupture. unwilling to accept such actions by the State.
To express our deepest solidarity with those
arrested, we attacked four condominiums in
On Friday the State of Indiana arrested two Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. We
people in connection with resistance to the smashed windows and glued locks. In par-
construction of Interstate 69. We are entirely ticular, we targeted “green” condo
April 19. Early morning, af- Secwepmec and other First Nations protecting
ter the workers went home. Five windows their ancestors’ lands and bones, to
smashed with rocks at McDonald’s on Ocean anarchist rebels smashing windows and light-
St. An act of insurrection against work, capital, ing fires, and to saboteurs everywhere destroy-
and the colonization of daily life. ing industrial infrastructure. We are part of this
McDonald’s was mentioned recently in insurgent momentum that crosses borders and
the local news for blatantly exploiting hun- distances like wildfire.
dreds of workers over the span of years, forc- McDonald’s is almost embarassing in
ing them to work overtime without pay when how much it symbolizes both the mainstay and
they were already working minimum wage and the excess of capitalism. We are not those who
denying them access to the records proving denounce, protest, appeal to them to change
this situation. The workers have resorted to the their behavior. Their sponsorship of the 2010
bourgeois legal arena with a class-action law- Olympics and their obvious exploitation of
suit, but McDonald’s is profiting off the class undocumented workers, are not “issues” for
war every day with the cops and ICE at their which we seek reform, they merely mean that
back. McDonald’s is the first to be destroyed in our
McDonald’s is also a sponsor of the nocturnal attacks or in the coming riots.
2010 Winter Olympics that are set to take From Alaska to Argentina, warriors
place on unceded indigenous land in “British unite! Don’t wait for 2010, riot now!
Columbia” this upcoming February. The ac-
companying land grab and development frenzy Attack and destroy slavery and coloni-
have been resisted by native warriors and anar- zation everywhere!
chists alike with an uncompromising ferocity
and revolutionary spirit. Solidarity to the
visit:
www.no2010.com
This past week has left us feeling inspired. The bus stops
ads, corporations supporting the bid, flags everywhere,
buses themselves, the Olympic spirit has gripped the
city. Never have we felt such a sense of pride in our
greater community. We owe it all to these fine people,
T he upcoming 2010 Olym-
pics in Canada have sparked
who have been kind enough to grace us with their pres-
ence for the week. Word got out about the soiree they
were having last night, and we felt the need to do some-
resistance by native and radical
thing to show them how the city feels, much more than
communities across Canada.
dinner and drinks ever could. We couldn’t hide our pas-
For the Olympics to happen,
sionate pride for one more day.
native land and people must be
plundered. Either by exploi-
April Fools you fucking idiots!
tation or liquidation, western
Canada will be made less com-
Last night we paint bombed two billboard monstrosi-
fortable for the poor and the
ties overlooking the Kennedy expressway. They were
horrid celebration of National-
Olympic advertisements, just like the ones you see ev-
ism that is the Olympics will
ery time you turn your head. Except bigger. We kindly
be tolerated. Please visit the
suggest fellow citizens to find friends, some eggs, or
site above to learn more about
paint and bombard the advertisements that are trying
projects of resistance coming
to sell
out of this anti-Olympic senti-
gentrification, police oppression, profits for the rich,
ment.
and annoying tourists.
We Won’t Pay!
“WE LOOK
OUT FOR
OURS”
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-A Solidarity of Attack-32
confronting
fear ...and recognizing the implications of being in struggle.
Confronting my fears has always been hard, I know the battle becomes harder when we
but to confront fear is to struggle and strug- read of new arrests and absurd sentences. I
gle is defined by a task that is not easy. When know the battle becomes harder when we
we challenge fear, we lose control. The forc- hear of new informants, new surveillance
es that govern are only material at this point technology, new police funding, or new laws
because the only way for them to be existing against us. But the only excuses are excuses
beyond the physical is through our accep- because if we are to declare war against the
tance of them. The conversation I’m trying world as we know it, we are responsible for
to have here is something I know we all have accepting the position of being in a war. We
with ourselves. are responsible for working through the hard-
ship and never accepting an easy way out.
the public.”
*
and situation, but “radical”
political groups were do- Claimed by an unknowable cell of Bash Back!
ing their best to distance
The following is a communiqué written in correspondence with a banner drop
themselves from Lovelle
that was conducted in solidarity with Lovelle’s death; and with a recognition
by blocking posts on news
of the social tension between people and police in the Bay Area that may have
websites, demonizing any
provoked his behavior. The banner was hung from the University of Wiscon-
attempt to create a dialogue
sin-Milwaukee’s Union building on March 26th. The banner read “we love
regarding his death, or flat
Lovelle Mixon!”. Communique begins now:
out siding with the main-
stream without any consid- On March 21st, Lovelle Mixon shot five police officers, killing
eration for the circumstances four before dying in the gunfire. In Oakland we see the fabric of
of his death and the media’s capitalist normalcy being ripped to shreds. Daily instances of rac-
capabilities of manipulating ist police violence are transformed into rupture and thrown back
its audience’s perspective in the faces of our oppressors. In January, days of rioting fol-
when it serves to. We com- lowed the police-murder of Oscar Grant.
piled a few articles that have
come out since the conflict. This week, people danced in the streets as cops were shot. At the
We hope this contributes to a hospital, others snuck into the emergency room to chant that the
perspective that recognizes shooting was vengeance made actual upon the police. People ral-
the importance of this type lied to honor the memory of Oakland’s newest folk-hero. Oak-
of tension: one leading to 4 land, reterritorialized as a terrain of war against the social order.
cops dead over a traffic stop
or one cop going from a cop In 1959, we fought the street-battles with the police as they ha-
to a sitting duck in Modesto rassed queers at a donut shop in Los Angeles. In 1966, police bru-
or all out rioting across the tality against street queens in the Tenderloin mutated into queens
city. If it is politics you are beating cops with their purses. In 1969, a seemingly-ordinary
interested in, Lovelle does police raid on a queer bar in new york, erupted into four days of
not represent political ac- sustained rioting. In 1979 we burnt cop cars in the streets of San
tion. If it is a sincere and Francisco. We meet queerbashers with bricks, mace and batons.
commonly felt frustration
with everyday life you look To bash back, is to reverse the flows of power and violence; to
to for comfort, then Lovelle explode the hyper-normal into situations of previously-unthink-
is an opportunity for dia- able revolt. We thus find the deepest affinity with all who fight
logue and inspiration. back against the affective poverty and oppression of this world.
rage .”
SOCIAL
familiar faces at each site of conflict.
For estranged enemies of capitalism,
this is a welcome comfort. Our project
has been to break with our own hier-
archical socializations, and so we find
ourselves adrift, gravitating towards
WAR
the nearest sign of hope, to those few
and far between like-minded individu-
als among whom we can feel a little
less alienated.
The individual: the core unit of capi-
talism. We searched for one another as
individuals, as ourselves, estranged by
modernity—embodying our personal
ideas, thoughts, appearances, histo-
ries… our identity. And it follows that
we encountered one another as indi-
viduals, and assumed that you were
not as potent an ally if you didn’t look,
speak, or act like us. The logic of in-
dividuality determined that we could
only meet on the basis of our collec-
tive alienation. Therein contained was
the usual judgment, gossip, mistrust,
and social maneuvering we had hoped
to escape.
We thought we could free ourselves
first, gather outside of the dreadful
conditions we knew, and return to at-
tack. We forgot that without context
we are powerless. Our context, our
A War of Position
position, has become the subculture.
W
In practice: five hundred anarchists
here do we stand? Obviously opposed to the social order. Obvi- converge on a city for a confronta-
ously hating our jobs. Obviously disgusted by class relations. Decrying tional action—property is destroyed,
the empty individualistic greed of consumerism, the despicable mani- resistance demonstrated, police out-
festations of authority in our daily lives, the insidious oppressions so- smarted or repression meted out…and
cialized into our behavior. We know all of the isms. the metropolis continues as if the in-
So some of us avoid shopping. Some drop out, live collectively, terlude was planned all along, or as if
eat trash, steal, avoid work. We travel, or wear dirty black clothes, or the interlude was part of the metrop-
strike out against the behemoth in the ways we know how. Our current olis. With the subculture as our only
positions are infoshops, demonstrations, convergences, affinity groups, position we find ourselves scrambling
reading groups, discussion groups. for footing.
The blind subservients of the main
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-Pursuing Strategic Social War-50
stream media stumbled upon a truth when they called than likely the infoshop will disappear within a few
us the “traveling anarchist circus.” Not because we are years, like any other presence that is unessential to the
strange or introduce mayhem, but because we set up local dynamics. The anarchist localities in the US that
camp, put on a show, and move on—leaving the land- continue to exist do so for a reason: relevance beyond
scape essentially unchanged. Perhaps even worse, our the local subculture, or being birthed from one that has
more stable manifestations can operate as local curios- transcended its boundaries as such.
ity shops and private clubs. A yuppie couple walks by It is our task, then, to define a position that exists out-
a storefront covered in anarchist posters: “Oh honey, side of individuality and outside of the non-location of
how interesting, an infoshop!” Inside, a group of most- subculture. We must place ourselves—simultaneously
ly white youth is watching Breaking the Spell. More digging-in and preparing for our next offensive.
sion must be
scribed thousands of people besieging the po-
lice detachment: “the protesters, most of whom
seemed to be migrant labourers, were so dis-
contented and indignant that they hurled almost
Forty-three Lepchas were ar- held a peaceful rally at the dam hydro projects will displace sev-
rested last week in connection site on Feb. 7 to mark day 600 of eral villages, devastate the fragile
to an ‘agitation’ carried out on their ongoing relay hunger strike ecology of the Khangchendzonga
the controversial Panan hydel against hydro development in the Biosphere Reserve, and destroy a
power project in the Dzongu re- region. sacred site that the Lepcha believe
gion of Sikkim, India. The Af- ACT, along with the entire Lep- to be the birthplace of humanity.
fected Citizens of Teetsa (ACT) cha population, maintain that the All of this, coupled with a
Members of the Attawapiskat First Nation in northern Ontario are holding a winter * March 13, 2009
Rumieh, Lebanon
road block near the DeBeers Victor Mine, in protest of the Impact Benefit Agreement
(IBA) that the First Nation signed with De Beers, a massive diamond multinational
company based in South Africa.
The members have maintained a 24-hour presence at the blockade since it first went Over a hundred in-
up on February 6. mates rioted in Beirut’s
“We feel that the people of Attawapiskat are not fully benefiting from the DeBeers op- largest prison, “burn-
erations in our territory. We are committed to ensuring that our people benefit directly. ing mattresses and oth-
We are poor and we need to get out of the poverty we are in. DeBeers can help us in er items to press their
improving our community living conditions,” states Greg Shisheesh, a spokesman for demands for reduced
the protesters. The protesters want the terms of the current IBA to be revisited, so it can sentences”.
address a number of pressing issues for Attawapiskat, including racism and discrimi- The same prison was
nation, pay equity, a desperately-needed school and new housing. They also want the the scene of a mutiny
the ratification process of the IBA to be reviewed. in April last year in
“We want to ensure the membership fully understands how the IBA was ratified which seven warders
and we are asking for full disclosure of its contents to the people,” says Shisheesh. were held hostage. A
Shortly after the protest began, the Attawapiskat chief and council announced a series riot also broke out at
of “emergency measures to encourage the resolution of the latest protest of some of its the Qubbah prison in
members.” the northern Lebanon
“Those measures include an immediate distribution of the IBA to more than 300 city of Tripoli in Janu-
homes, earmarking the profits from Attawapiskat-owned businesses and joint ventures ary with inmates hold-
toward legal fees (up to $100,000) school and education war chest and high-level meet- ing two wardens hos-
ings have been confirmed with De Beers executives and representatives of the member tage.
protesters with a mediator, to name a few,” notes the Daily Press.
“De Beers is a rich company with millions of dollars,” states Louttit. “The company
and the province are benefiting, but the community is benefiting only a little. We’re
still in poverty, we’re still overcrowded and we don’t even have a school.”
Hundreds of students clashed In a coordinated effort with According to eye witnesses, the
with police outside the U.S. em- “civilian aggressors”, as many police, who were armed with
bassy and Filipino Supreme as 260 police officers tried to pepper spray and riot shields,
Court, demanding the immediate evict 500 Mayan families from cordoned off the area while
withdrawal of U.S. forces and ex- a 6-acre lot of land they occu- the civilians began to raid and
pressing rage at the Filipino Gov- pied last month, near the town set fire to the Mayans’ homes.
ernment as well. The U.S. military of San Cristobal de las Casas, The civilians were themselves
has maintained a presence in the in Chiapas, Mexico. armed with gasoline, sticks and
Philippines since 1898. The eviction ultimately failed, Machetes. “They said nothing.
but not before twelve Mayans They began to hit us and de-
and fifteen police were injured stroy things,” said one Woman.
5,000 villagers clash with police the coal mine. 5,000 villagers clash
Otaraua Hapu occupation of
in China, laying siege to coal mine with police in eastern China. Ear-
mine reaches 17 days The Ta-
- About 5,000 villagers clashed lier this month, some 5,000 villag-
ranaki hapu of Otaraua have been
with police in eastern China after ers clashed with police in eastern
holding their ground near Waitara
laying siege to a coal mine blamed China after laying siege to a coal
for 17 days now while the Grey-
for damaging local farmlands, a hu- mine, which they blame for damag-
mouth Petroleum Co still refuses
man rights group said. The villag- ing their farmlands. According to
to meet with them on site. Produc-
ers had “surrounded and attacked” Hong Kong’s Center for
tion has been completely stopped
in the meantime.
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-Conflict With Capital’s Global Conquest-58
(April 8th; Beijing; continued)
*
Human Rights and Democracy,
April 17, 2009
on April 7, the villagers “sur-
Kenya
rounded and attacked” the Gubei
coal mine in in Anhui province
and demanded an end to its op-
eration. Villagers say the mine is For more than three weeks now, the Kenyan government has been en-
causing land subsidence over an gaged in a brutal campaign of violence against the indigenous Samburu
8,000-hectare region, which is af- people in north central Kenya. According to Cultural Survival (CS), the
fecting as many as 50,000 people. government, who claims to be chasing after “cattle bandits”, has “strafed
The human rights group goes on to the unarmed villagers with machine guns” from the air and “used clubs to
say that more than 1000 paramili- beat them on the ground.” Further reports indicate that at least nine bombs
tary police were sent to the protest, have been dropped on Samburu villages, and a yet-to-be-identified caustic
and that the villagers confronted chemical was sprayed on group of children who were seeking refuge in
the police, smashed at least one the bush. The government has also confiscated all of the Samburu’s cattle,
of their vehicles, and injured vice leaving them without any access to food.
chief Ma Shiping from Fengtai A Kenyan military officer has released documents “showing that these
County. An unnamed police offi- attacks were planned months in advance, and there is explicit mention of
cer from Fengtai, confirmed that a the intention to ‘bring these people into the modern era.’” “Without milk
protest was held, however he said from their cattle, the community members will die,” Dan Letoiya, Director
that no more than 1,000 villagers of West Gate Wildlife Conservancy stated. “We are experiencing another
attended the protest. severe drought and this is their only source of protein and liquid. The milk
from their livestock makes up 90 percent of their dietary intake.”
The Latest on the Love Park 4 State to appeal Judge Neifeld’s order, stating that the
District Attorney was unable to meet the threshold test
On Tuesday May 12, the remaining LOVE Park 4 de- for the appeal. This test measures whether or not the
fendants - Jason Robbins, Tom Keenan and Jared Schul- prosecution would be hindered if Judge Neifeld’s order
tz - appeared in court yet again. This hearing thankfully was upheld. The defense argued that in no way would
moved in forward direction, instead of resulting in an- the prosecution’s case be hindered, but the omission of
other continuance in a long line of delays dating back the identities of these officers does indeed hinder the
almost two years. defense. They argued further that police officers - spe-
Judge Frank Palumbo heard the State’s appeal of Judge cifically narcotics officers - regularly testify in open
Marsha Neifeld’s decision from December’s court date. court. Referring to Lieutenant McConnell’s testimony
She ordered the District Attorney to reveal the identities from December, they also pointed that these specific of-
of two undercover Philadelphia narcotics officers who ficers in question have time and again testified in open
had posed as neo-Nazis in LOVE Park on July 23rd, court. In response to the Assistant District Attorney’s
2007 - the day of the mysterious Ku Klux Klan rally statement that these officers would not be able to go
that never actually happened. The prosecution argued back undercover with KSS if the investigation was to
that revealing the undercover narcotics officers’ identi- be reopened, Paul Hetznecker reminded the judge that
ties would both endanger the officers personally as well not only has it been almost two years since the begin-
as prohibit them from participating in any future under- ning of this case, but the police department itself has
cover investigation into the white power organization said the case against KSS was inactive 6 months prior
Keystone State Skinheads (KSS). Supposedly, accord- to that date. The point here: the District Attorney’s of-
ing to testimony given at December’s hearing by these fice is attempting to use a separate - not to mention
officers’ superior Lieutenant McConnell that is why his closed - case to further impede the proceedings of the
officers were present in Love Park - as part of an ongo- LOVE Park 4 case.
ing narcotics probe into KSS. The only other argument the Assistant District Attorney
Defense lawyers Larry Krasner and Paul Hetznecker presented for his case being hindered was that if Judge
responded by arguing that there was no basis for the Neifeld’s order is upheld, the District Attorney’s office
Update on Eric Mcdavid From Sacramento Prisoner As you know, Eric is in the process of appealing both
Support Below his conviction and sentence. We were hoping to be able
to post the appeal with this alert, but are awaiting word
There are a few things we would like to share with from the court. Eric’s lawyer filed the appeal on May 6,
you in this update. Below you will find information on but also had to file a motion to file a brief that is twice
Eric’s current situation, the tour in June, site updates, the length of a normal appeal. If the court accepts this
and the status of the appeal. Eric sends his hellos to motion, then the appeal will officially be filed and we
you all. Thanks so much for your continued support. can post it for you all to read. This is nowhere near
We hope to see many of you soon! the end of the process, however. The government will
have a month to respond to the brief once it is filed, and
The Mail Situation then Eric’s lawyer will have another two weeks for his
final response. We fully expect more delays (the brief
Eric would like for us to let you all know that he is cur- was originally due last September). We will keep you
rently unable to respond to snail mail. Victorville has posted as things develop. Eric has been in jail or prison
recently implemented a new, illegal mail policy that re- for 3 1/2 years now. His strength and courage continue
quires prisoners to submit a list of people to whom they to remind us all of what it means to stay true to our-
would like to send mail. This list is kept on file in the selves and the things we hold dear. Our sincerest thanks
prison’s Trulincs system, which was originally setup as to all of you who have helped make this journey more
an email system for prisoners. The BOP has since ex- endurable.
panded it’s use of the system as a way to keep track of
prisoner phone lists, mail lists, and as a log-in system Eric Mcdavid is currently facing 19 years and 7 months
for prisoner access to the legal library. The use of the in federal prisons for not only a crime he didn’t commit.
system for these purposes has numerous legality issues, but a crime that never happened. Eric is one of the
and Eric and a couple of other prisoners are attempting many facing the wrath of this new state trend known as
to fight the new rules from the inside. In the meantime, “conspiracy charges”. Eric was arrested in Auburn, CA
Eric will not be using the mail-labeling system set up on January 13, 2006 as part of the government’s ongo-
by Trulincs, which means he is unable to send any writ- ing Green Scare campaign. He was convicted guilty of
ten correspondence. This does NOT mean that he can- “conspiracy to destroy property by means of fire or ex-
not receive mail - so plosives”, and was sentenced to 19 years and 7 months,
please keep those letters coming. for a crime that was never committed. The conviction
was established based on the testimony of an FBI in-
More dates are in the works. formant named “Anna”, and his 2 co-defendants, who
chose to co-operate at his expense. Prior to his convic-
We are in the process of some major additions to Er- tion he was denied bailed for 2 ½ years. During that
ic’s website. Soon you will have access to all of the time he was in solitary confinement at the Sacramento
transcripts from Eric’s trial, sentencing, the plea agree- County Jail. During that time he also suffered immense
ments from his co-defendants, and more. We are also health issues due to the Jail ignoring Eric’s dietary
adding a section for writings from Eric to make them restrictions. Eric deserves the utmost stoic and consis-
more accessible. Check out www.supporteric.org soon tent support from our communities.
to get the latest.
Visit the link below to stay up with his case:
Appeal Status www.supporteric.org
BJ Viehl and Alex Hall: Arrested for Utah Mink Libera- expires on June 30. If the Grand Jury is extended, Jor-
tions dan can be held longer.
William “BJ” Viehl and Alex Hall were arrested Thurs- Send letters of support to:
day March 5th after they were indicted by a grand jury Cache County Jail, Jordan Halliday, Inmate # 24836,
for “suspicion” of a raid at a South Jordan, Utah mink 1225 West Valley View Highway Suite 100, Logan,
farm. On August 18th 2008, 300+ mink were released Utah 84321
from the McMullin Mink Farm and all their breeding
records were destroyed. Spray painted slogans found Please consult Cache County Jail’s website to ensure
on the scene included “No More Mink, No More Mur- that you comply with the policies for inmate mail:
der” and “ALF: We Are Watching.” The action cost an http://www.cachesheriff.com/Jail/jail.htm
estimated $10,000 in damages. They are also accused
of “suspicion” of an attempted raid at a second Hyrum, Please speak out for Jordan and stay tuned to his sup-
Utah mink farm in October. They were both released port site for ways you can help Jordan and other up-
after their March 10th bail hearing with the usual cur- dates. You can also financially support Jordan to ensure
few and electronic monitoring. Interestingly enough, he has proper legal representation. Jordan’s lawyer is a
they are also not allowed to have contact with anyone fellow animal activist who is representing Jordan free
affiliated with “Straight Edge” or “ALF.” Their trial of charge. But so far he has spent nearly $3,000 in his
dates are set for June 27th, 28th and 29th. own out-of-pocket expenses. Just the last appeal alone
Jordan Halliday, was arrested for contempt of court on cost him over $1,000 in filing, copying, court costs, and
March 13. The United States Attorneys office subpoe- traveling expenses. We must be able to pay him his own
naed him to testify in front of a Federal Grand Jury, and expenses for him to continue fighting for the rights of
provide information involving the mink liberation’s in Jordan. Any donations, no matter how small, will be
Utah. He refused to cooperate, because the questions greatly appreciated and help tremendously.
asked where not related to the investigation. He was
only asked personal questions about his friend and as- Please send checks or money orders to:
sociations. Karen Halliday, PO Box 25581, SLC, UT 84125
Grand juries are fishing expeditions that have been
used throughout U.S. history to disrupt and destroy To donate via mail to their support team; send a check
social movements. They take away rights to force an- made payable to SLAAM to the adress below:
swers to questions, without being able to have a law- SLAAM, PO box 2555, Salt Lake City, UT 84110
yer present. Jordan was well aware of the exploitation
and abuse of these tactics and resisted the proceedings To stay up to date with their case or donate via paypal
which resorting in him being arrested. The judge or- please visit:
dered that Jordan will remain in custody of the Federal www.supportbjandalex.com
Marshal’s until he agrees to cooperate or the grand jury
2 Arrested For UCLA Campaign participation in campaigns against alledged petty theft and sentenced
primate research at UCLA and ani- to 6 months in jail; the circumstanc-
Lindy Greene and Kevin Olliff mal tests by the Pom juice company. es of his arrest and treatment were
were arrested on April 16th on a 10 Kevin was arrested last year as well obviously politically motviated by
count indictment for their alleged on trumped up charges related to the state. His release was also men-
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-In Trouble-65
tioned in our last issue. Their charges are: two counts Kevin appreciates the support at his court dates, but
of Threat to employee of public educational institution recognizes that July 14 will be rather uneventful and
71, three counts of Stalking 646.9(a) and five counts of would prefer if everyone went to the dates in the future,
Conspiracy to commit a crime 182(a)(1). They are also after the demurrer has been introduced.
charged with the Criminal Street Gang 186.22(b)(1)(a) Don’t forget to write Kevin! He is requesting pictures
enhancement. of the outside along with letters, for not having a win-
Lindy was able to post bail and is now released on dow has left him with a complete lack of visual stim-
house arrest. Unfortunately, Kevin was denied bail be- ulation. So get to sending! If you would like to visit
cause he was on parole. As for the details of the last Kevin, please coordinate through either the myspace
court date, May 20th, the date was set to discuss the de- (myspace.com/supportlaural) or send a message for a
murrer. The demurrer challenges whether a legal cause phone number to contact a coordinator.
of action exists for the facts, as stated by the complain-
ing party, based on face value of said charges. The next You can write him at this address:
court date is Tuesday, July 14th, and the schedule for Kevin Olliff #1300931, TTCF 161 D-Pod, 450 Bauchet
the demurrer will be announced. The next date will be St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
all about the demurrer, with more motions being heard.
Four Arrested Under Animal Enter- that would be considered sadistical- present for the protest is based on
prise Terrorism ly cruel were they not conducted in DNA evidence off bandanas seized
the name of science.” from a car that was alleged to have
Joseph Buddenberg, Maryam Kha- In the news release and associat- been used for the protest.
javi, Nathan Pope, and Adriana ed criminal complaint the FBI lays • Two of the defendants were ob-
Stumpo were arrested by the FBI out the basis for the arrests and the served via video surveillance foot-
February 19 and 20 on trumped-up case against the defendants, alleg- age looking up public information
terrorism charges under the Animal ing that: on vivisectors at UC Santa Cruz.
Enterprise Terrorism Act. Each fac- • Two of the defendants were ob-
es ten years in prison if convicted. • Three of the defendants attended served via video surveillance foot-
The alleged crime? Attending pro- protests at the homes of vivisectors age standing near the location where
tests in the Bay Area in 2007 and working at UC Berkeley where, a stack of flyers was later found at
2008 against animal experimenta- “…extremists dressed generally in a café in Santa Cruz. The flyer was
tion at the University of California all black clothing and wearing ban- entitled “Murderers and torturers
and allegedly publishing the names danas to hide their faces marched, alive & well in Santa Cruz,” which
and addresses of UC researchers chanted, and chalked defamatory the FBI alleged in their news release
who experiment on living animals, comments on the public sidewalks listed the names, addresses, and
known as vivisectors. in front of the residences.” telephone numbers of several Uni-
According to In Defense of Ani- • Three of the defendants attended versity of California researchers.
mals, “Every year, tens of millions a protest at the home of a UC San-
of animals are dissected, infected, ta Cruz vivisector whose husband The way the FBI has turned a
injected, gassed, burned and blind- came outside to confront the ac- case that wouldn’t even warrant a
ed in hidden laboratories on col- tivists and allegedly engaged in a misdemeanor arrest into a Federal
lege campuses and research facili- “struggle” with one or more of the felony case is by charging Mary-
ties throughout the U.S. Still more protestors. Of special interest in am, Joseph, Adriana, and Nathan
animals are used to test the safety of this charge are the facts that (1) the with conspiring to interfere with
cosmetics, household cleansers and husband appears to have initiated an animal enterprise. More specifi-
other consumer products. These in- any sort of confrontation that took cally, the four now face two federal
nocent primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, place, (2) the defendants are not al- charges – Conspiracy and violating
rodents and other animals are used leged to have engaged in any sort of the Animal Enterprise Terrorism
against their will as research sub- struggle themselves, and (3) the ba- Act (AETA), each count carrying a
jects in experiments and procedures sis for the claim that they were even maximum sentence of five years.
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-In Trouble-66
These arrests mark the first batch of prosecutions un- in doors, subpoena people to grand juries, and seek to
der the newly expanded AETA. The modified version eliminate dissent wherever it threatens corporate inter-
of the law was introduced in 2006 at the urging of ani- ests. Instead we must stand tall -- continuing to speak
mal industry groups and snuck through congress while out, protest, and resist government repression.
only a handful of Representatives and Senators were While these four young people (known as the AETA4)
present. face the full force of the US Justice Department, they
The AETA makes it illegal to “interfere” with an ani- have the truth on their side and a skilled team of attor-
mal enterprise, in an overly vague and extremely sub- neys to fight for their freedom. But with the deep pock-
jective way. As a result this law not only endangers ets of the US Attorney’s Office opposing them, they
these four defendants charged with violating the AETA need tens of thousands of dollars to finance their de-
themselves, but also has the potential to have a chilling fense. If you can offer any assistance, whether large or
effect on free speech and protest. In fact, the FBI news small, please consider donating to their defense fund.
release announcing the arrests indicated the charges
were designed to “send a message” by making an ex- Donations can be sent to:
ample of the defendants. The AETA Defense Fund, PO Box 99162, Emeryville,
We too can send a message – whether we are animal CA 94662.
liberationists, civil liberties advocates, anti-authoritar-
ians, or human beings of any sort. We will not stand For updates on the case or to donate online visit:
idly by while federal agents begin witch-hunts, kick www.AETA4.org
In what appears to be the culmination of a several year long case the state has been building against I-69 re-
sistance, two Indiana residents, Tiga and Hugh, were arrested April 24th. Although the charges against the two
include individual acts, for the majority they are trumped up charges of conspiracy - fairly explicitly; conspiracy
to collectively organize, to challenge environmental and social devastation perpetrated by the state and capital
- leveled against any (not easily recuperative) movement against I-69. Although it appears that no other warrants
have been issued, that for now no other individuals will be facing the severe penalties these charges carry, it must
be noted that this brash move by the state is a most blatant affront to any initiative towards social organization.
Tiga, a long time Indiana resident, was arrested again as she appeared in Gibson County court on charges stem-
ming from anti-I-69 actions this past summer. The arrest was made by the Indiana State Police, including Officer
Brad Chandler, a particularly slimy scumbag whose full time job is to harass environmental activists. Tiga was
being held on $10,000 cash bond by the state police on five charge: 2 counts of intimidation, 2 counts of conver-
sion (all misdemeanors) and 1 count of corrupt business influence (a class C felony). A couple hours after Tiga
was accosted at the courthouse, Hugh was arrested in northern Indiana by a US marshal driving an unmarked
vehicle. Rather than pulling over the vehicle Hugh was traveling in, the cop trailed the car for some unknown du-
ration waiting for it to stop, then arrested Hugh outside of a gas station. He was then taken to join Tiga in the Pike
County jail, where he was being held on $20,000 cash bond. His charges are the same as Tiga’s, though many of
the details of their warrants differ.
Both Hugh and Tiga are released now; Hugh was bailed out April 28th and Tiga was May 4th. However, money
is still needed for legal fees and to start paying back bail money.
These arrests are an obvious continuance and escalation of the harassment of anti-I-69 activities in southern In-
diana. People in both Evansville and Bloomington have been systematically targeted by a myriad of law enforce-
ment agencies from throughout the state as well as by federal agencies. Nearly 20 folks are still held captive by
the court system, facing both criminal and civil legal pressures stemming from last summer. As the state tries to
squash its opposition by ensnaring individuals in isolating court cases, by monitoring and threatening individuals
to try to pinpoint ‘leaders’ or groups responsible, it is important to recognize that every such instance of individual
repression is easily and effectively repression of all resistance. To counter such repression with honest reflection
on its functioning and on how action might challenge rather than support this repression, is to stand in solidarity
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-In Trouble-67
with Tiga and Hugh, with the best things they or we For info on who to make out money orders, email:
might fight for. freetigaandhugh@mostlyeverything.net
You can send a check or money order to: To stay up to date with their case or donate via paypal
The Future, PO Box 3133, Bloomington, IN, 47402. please visit:
(Please leave checks blank!) www.mostlyeverything.net
Under nighttime’s lovely coat; Soli- natan) that attacks by the state wont crush
darity with swedish green anarchist On the night between the 20th and our ideas and break us. It just gives
Jonatan the 21st if April 2008 ELF claimed us more rage and strength! But sol-
responsibility for three actions in idarity is not just mutual aid!
On the 14th of October 2008 the Almhult/Sweden. A communica-
swedish secret police SAPO raided tion tower connected to the depart- Solidarity is a way to be a part-
3 houses in different places in Swe- ment of defense infrastructure was ner in struggle and crime, a way of
den. They arrested the green an- sabotaged with a firebomb, a build- showing your happiness about an
archist Jonatan and took different ing crane in a urban-sprawl-project action and deep affinity with a hos-
tools, political pamphlets, his com- was sabotaged and a logging truck tage of the state. Its not just about
puter and other personal stuff with got its security ropes and hydraulic giving a comrade infrastructural
them. After two months in custody cables disabled. help. Its about showing the incar-
he had his trial and was sentenced Nearly the same time another ELF- cerated that she/he is not alone and
to about 15 Months in Prison, but cell has claimed responsibility for that her/his struggle was just the
he appealed against the sentence. destroying a new luxury villa under beginning and will be continued on
He is accused of three ELF-Actions construction in the forest by arson. the outside. Build up Revolutionary
against Urban Sprawl. This action Jonatan was accused of, Solidarity!
too. But the case was dropped.
“Urban Sprawl is the destruction of Especially when comrades take ac- Let us make the time in prison for
the natural world in order to expand tion on their own, without a group Jonatan and all the others as short
the cities according to the ever-in- or community around them and are as possible and fight for the free-
creasing mode of development and faced with repression its more im- dom of all and against every kind
progress. Middle class villas, luxury portant then ever to show them that of oppression!
mansions and industry are threat- they are not alone!
ening wildlife and endangered spe- In this and other cases, for ex- For social war, anarchy and total
cies (name one who is not?) and as ample in the case of Mikel Sykes, freedom!
this is present on a global scale, a 17 year old north american green
in every mayor or minor city, it..s anarchist comrade sentenced for To find out more about how to sup-
a threat to the continuation of life different ELF actions against urban port Jonatan please contact:
in this planet. It must be therefore sprawl to up to 10 years in prison, Freejonatan@yahoo.se
be met with no-compromising resis- we have to be there, not just wait- Abc-orkan@riseup.net
tance! It must be destroyed!” (Jo- ing on the outside. We have to show
Native Youth Movement Warrior Arrest He is currently being held for ransom in the Kamloops
Regional Correctional Center (KRCC), facing charg-
On Thursday May 21st, a Warrior from the Native es stemming from protecting Secwepemc mountains,
Youth Movement Warrior Society was arrested and de- Skwelkwek’welt. These Sacred Mountains are being
tained in Halkomelem Territory (near so-called hope, destroyed by Japanese company, Sun Peaks Resort Cor-
british columbia, canada). Shark is a 27 year old Father poration. The governments of “British Columbia and
of 5 Secwepemc children, from the Ohlone & Chumash Canada” are illegally selling Native Land to foreign in-
Nations. vaders, and companies. These companies develop mass
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-In Trouble-68
destruction to the land water, in turn Movement and Skwelkwek’welt FREE SHARK! FREE PELTIER!
killing the original, natural habitat FREE JOHN GRAHAM! FREE MA-
Defenders. Many have been arrested
of these mountains, including the PUCHE WARRIORS! FREE WAR-
in connection with Taking Back The
Secwepemc People. Land at Skwelkwekwelt. RIORS OF ATENCO & OAXACA!
Since 2000, Secwepemc people FREE JACABO & GLORIA! FREE
We are asking all those who sup-
have been taking direct action to MUMIA! DROP ALL CHARGES
port the struggle for the Land and
stop Sun Peaks from destroying Indigenous Autonomy to make a ON POCC MOI JR. VALARY! NO
Skwelkwekwelt, their Hunting, Ber- OLYMPICS ON NATIVE LAND!
donation & spread the word to Free
ry Picking & Medicine Mountains. Shark. Those who put themselves NO MINING! DOWN WITH SUN
The People left the Indian Reserve PEAKS! NO SKI RESORT IN MEL-
between the Invader and the People
to take back their traditional terri- must be protected. A Warrior is aVIN CREEK! DOWN WITH THE
tory and stop Sun Peaks expansion. TAR SANDS! NO INDEPENDENT
special person who understands that
In 2001, the Secwepemc formed a POWER PROJECTS (DAMS). NO
their willingness to protect women,
chapter of the Native Youth Move- RAILWAY & HIGHWAY EXPAN-
children, land & water, may result
ment. They called other Native War- SION! IN SOLIDARITY WITH
in incarceration, injury or death,
riors to help Defend the Land for the THE MAYAN ZAPATISTA, THE
but they do it anyway knowing that
Future generations. Shark was one Truth & Mother Earth are on theirMAPUCHE, THE KUNA AND ALL
of those who responded to the call. side. THE MILLIONS OF WARRIORZ
From May to December 2001 FIGHTING THE ENEMIES OF
there were over 50 arrests made Send donations ASAP to help Free THE EARTH WORLDWIDE. IT’S
of Secwepemc People & their Al- Shark at: NOT OVER UNTIL WE WIN! TAKE
lies, among them were 74 and 78 Miranda Dick: Royal Bank, Shus- BACK THE LAND!
year-old women. Since then, there wap Ave., Chase, BC, Transit #
has been targeting of Native Youth 00880, Account # 5055447 -Native Youth Movement;
Statement to the People
May 24th , 2009
WE ARE EVERYWHERE!
16 January - Gainesville, Georgia - An inmate walked 21 January - Butte, Montana - Two inmates escaped the
off of trash detail at the Hall County Jail and has not Montana State Hospital but were caught three hours
been seen since. later hitch hiking on Interstate 90.
16 January - Madison, Indiana - A Jefferson County Jail 23 January 2009 - Matamoros, Tamaulipas - A fight be-
inmate is caught trying to climb into the ceiling of his tween five or six inmates at the Centro de Readaptacion
cell using a homemade rope. Socieal de Matamoros spread to other wings of the fa-
cility. It took authorities from over 50 local, state and
16 January 2009 - Jamestown, California - A fight be- national agencies an hour and a half to contain the dis-
tween 60 inmates at the Sierra Conservation Center turbance, which grew to include more than 80 inmates.
continued even after code 2 responders intervened.
23 January 2009 - Topeka, Kansas - A Shawnee County
17 January - Hagerstown, Maryland - While being Jail corrections officer fell 20 feet onto a stairwell when
moved from the dining hall of the Maryland Correc- he was shoved over a second floor railing. The screw
tional Institution, an inmate escaped by climbing over suffered a fractured skull, facial fractures, a blood clot
the two razor wired perimeter fence. He was caught five on his brain, substantial bruising to the face, cracked
days later. and bruised ribs, and seven staples to close a wound in
the back of his head.
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-A Chronology of Prisoner Resistance-70
25 January 2009 - Orlando, Florida 1 February 2009 - Upper Marlboro, 14 February - Waynesburg, Penn-
- A “large scale” fight broke out at Maryland - At least eight inmates sylvania - A shackled and deter-
the Coleman Federal Correctional at the Prince George’s County Jail mined Greene County Jail inmate
Complex until the screws opened forced their way out of their jail cells attempts to escape during an emer-
fire. Eight inmates were injured. and attacked guards when the facil- gency room visit but it caught after
ity went on lockdown and they were a foot chase.
26 January 2009 - Talipan, Mexico unable to watch the Super Bowl.
- A fight between rival gangs at the 15 February - Eastman, Georgia -
San Fernando youth prison escalat- 4 February - US Eastern Seaboard Two inmates at the Dodge County
ed when inmates set fire to clothing - Somewhere between Florida and Jail escaped by tearing the wire cov-
and bedding and climbed to the roof Pennsylvania, a cuffed and shack- ering off an air vent, ripping out an
with a banner reading “No more led inmate escaped from the van of iron bar and crawling through a 10”
beatings.” a private prison transportation com- by 10” opening but were caught a
pany. The Nashville based Prisoner few hours later in an adjacent coun-
29 January 2009 - North Vernon, Transportation Services of America, ty.
Indiana - When inmates at the Jen- LLC is the largest US firm extradi-
nings County Jail were ordered to tion company, transporting over 15 February - Arcadia, Florida - A
return to their cells, instead they 100,000 inmates each year. DeSoto County Jail inmate escaped
jammed the cell block door shut during the confusion of an evacu-
and destroyed surveillance cam- 6 February - Pelzer, South Caro- ation due to a kitchen fire. Video
eras while setting fire to books and lina - An inmate on work detail at showed two inmates hold open a
clothing. The cell block was evacu- the Perry Correctional Institution loose part of a gate while anoth-
ated and two screws were treated jumped into the passenger seat of a er slipped underneath a door. He
for smoke inhalation as a result. pickup truck and sped away. Unfor- was caught a day later after being
tunately, he was caught less than 24 stopped in a stolen truck.
31 January 2009 - Pecos, Texas - A hours later.
riot broke out at the Reeves County 20 February - Cedar City, Utah
Detention Center for the second time 6 February - Laredo, Texas - A Webb - Two inmates walked away from
in two months. As many as 2,080 County Jail inmate escaped custody a drug treatment center and were
rioted after an inmate who needed but was only free for 12 hours. found almost four days later in Ari-
medical attention was sent to soli- zona.
tary confinement instead. Prisoners 7 February - Pueblo, Colorado - A
took over the guards’ radio commu- Colorado Mental Health Institute 28 February - Fairview Township,
nication equipment and the guards inmate escaped from the hospital Pennsylvania - While being trans-
retreated from direct confrontation. but was caught over a month later in ported for preliminary hearing, a
Fires heavily damaged buildings I North Carolina. York County Prison inmate over-
and II. It took over 12 hours to re- powered a constable and stole his
gain control of the facility. This is 12 February - Lloyd, New York - SUV to make his getaway. The car
the second riot over medical atten- Three teens managed to escape the was found a day later with leg shack-
tion in two months. Highland Residential Center and les and a handcuff restraint belt on
The RCDC is privately run by the steal a car to make their getaway. the driver’s seat but the inmate was
Florida based GEO Group, which Unfortunately, they were caught nowhere to be found. Three days
operates 59 facilities on four conti- later that day after a brief chase by later he was recaptured after a high
nents. state troopers. speed chase with police.
5 March - Bellingham,
Washington - Two What-
com County Jail inmates
are accused are of trying to
escape by trying to scrape
out the concrete around
their cell windows by us-
ing broken sink spouts as
tools.
Fire to the Prisons-Issue 6-A Chronology of Prisoner Resistance-72
11 March - Carlisle, Indiana - An 22 March - Tell City, Indiana - Three 6 April - Toledo, Ohio - An inmate
inmate at the Wabash Valley Cor- Branchville Correctional Facil- stabbed four correctional officers at
rectional Facility walked out of the ity assaulted a maintenance worker the Toledo Corrections Center.
prison and almost 100 miles to In- who was supervising them and stole
dianapolis. He surrendered himself his tools, using the wire cutters to 8 April - Dartmouth, Nova Sco-
a day later. cut through the exterior fence. They tia - Nearly 60 inmates went on a
were caught four days later in Alli- rampage after refusing return to
13 March - Greensburg, Louisiana ance, Nebraska after leading author- their cells at the Central Nova Sco-
- An inmate escaped from the St. ities on a 64 mile chase. tia Correctional Facility setting fire
Helena Parish prison when deputies to garbage cans and bookshelves,
sent him on an errand to throw trash 24 March - Weatherford, Texas - A smashing windows, using shards
into a trash bin near the front gate. detainee escaped while being trans- of glass against the guards and ulti-
He has yet to be found. ported to the Haskell County jail. mately causing more than $300,000
He was handcuffed to another in- in damages.
18 March - Delano, California - A mate but managed to free himself
fight involving 38 inmates in the ex- and fled from the van as it stopped 9 April - Lancaster, Ohio - An in-
ercise yard of facility B of the Kern for fuel. He surrendered himself two mate was able to escape from the
Valley State Prison was quashed by days later. Fairfield County Jail by making his
guards firing teargas, rubber bullets way to a room with a window and
and 14 shots from a mini-14 rifle. 27 March - Lewisburg, Pennsylva- jumping the 10 feet. He was appre-
One inmate died of stabbed wounds nia - A woman escaped the Buffalo hended after a short foot chase.
and up to 16 were injured, four Valley treatment center after serv-
from gunfire. Kern Valley, one of ing only two days of her 30 day sen- 9 April - Madison, Wisconsin - A
two state prisons in Delano, houses tence. She was caught over a week Dane County Jail inmate ran out the
more than 4,700 prisoners, which is later. fire escape door. He has yet to be
nearly twice its designed capacity of found.
2,448. 28 March - Thorold, Ontario - About
17 masked inmates took control of a 11 April - Laurinburg, North Caro-
21 March - Dubois, Pennsylvania - small part of the Niagara Detention lina - Two correctional officers were
A Jefferson County Jail inmate dis- Centre for five hours causing about cut by an inmate with a razor, one in
appeared from the medical center he $2,000 in damages. Demands were the face and one in the arm, at the
was taken to to treat a leg infection. made and a negotiator was sent in Scotland County Correctional Fa-
He was caught a week later. but not details are available. cility.
21 March - Columbus, Ohio - With 29 March - Ukiah, California - In- 15 April - Palatka, Florida - Two
the help of a resident, a 12 year old
mates in the “B tank,” the most se- inmates from the Putnam County
serial arsonist scaled the fence of a
cure area of the Mendocino County Jail escaped with the help of a bot-
juvenile detention facility. He has Jail, set a small fire after destroying tle jack they took from a transport
been accused of several arsons in security cameras, fluorescent light van. They used the tool to jack up
Columbus since his escape. bulbs and a television. The distur- the sink/toilet combination from
bance was triggered by increased the wall of their cell, popping out
21 March - Durango City, Duran- restrictions imposed due to a rise the bolts which held it to the wall,
go - A riot broke out at Prison No. in the number of contraband in the opening a hole to where the pipes
1 where the prison warden and his facility. run, which was obstructed by metal
bodyguard were injured and another bars. The jack was used to pry the
bodyguard was killed. 31 March - Brownsville, Texas bars open far enough to “shimmy
- Eight Cameron County inmates through into a small maintenance
clog toilets and flood floors. corridor called a ‘chase.’” After
*Indigenous Solidarity
Confrontation Blog: Social Conflict in Canada Eberhardt Press
www.confrontation.wordpress.com www.eberhardtpress.org
325 Blog Non Fides (French and English)
www.325collective.com www.non-fides.fr Intercontinental Cry
Break the Chains Halifax Anarchist Distro www.intercontinentalcry.org
www.breakthechains.info www.myspace.com/dissenthalifax Survival International;
Center for Strategic Anarchiy Institute for Experimental Freedom The Movement for Tribal People’s
www.anarchiststrategy.com www.it-est-futurum.blogspot.com www.survival-international.org
Klinamen (En Espanol) 4 Struggle Magazine NO 2010; Olympics on Stolen Land!
www.klinamen.org www.4strugglemag.org www.no2010.com
Direct Action in Germany Fires Never Extinguished Six Nations Reclamation
www.directactionde.blogspot.com www.firesneverextinguished.blogspot.com www.reclamationinfo.com
Social War in Greece Longing for Collapse Press Black Mesa Indigenous Support
www.greeceriots.blogspot.com www.myspace.com/alongingforcollapsepress www.blackmesais.org
www.redwiremag.com P.O. Box 230182, Boston, MA 02123-0182 USA Shot out to peops in Dirty
Support Sutikalh! Central Georgia ABC
www.sutikalh.resist.ca Po Box 610, Roberta, GA 31078 Jerz and Chi-Town for your
Indigenous Action Media Houston Anarchist Black Cross grammer!
www.indigenousaction.org/ P.O. Box 667614, Houston, TX 77266-7614 USA Love to comrades in home-
Whenua Fenua Enua Vanua East Bay Prisoner Support town for your patience!
http://uriohau.blogspot.com/ 3124 shattuck ave., Berkeley, California 94705 Big up to the Cali encour-
Wiinimkiikaa New York City Anarchist Black Cross
www.wiinimkiikaa.wordpress.com nycabc@riseup.net, NYC ABC. P.O Box 110034, agement!
Brooklyn, NY 11211 Props to Queens for your
*Prisoner Support
North American Earth Liberation Prisoner Sup- graphic advice!
port Shot out to peops in Exar-
www.ecoprisoners.org chia for your words!
Earth Liberation Prisoner Support (UK)
Anarchist Black Cross Network www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk
www.anarchistblackcross.org Special thanks to all those
Prison Activist Resource Center anonymous who helped to
www.prisonactivist.org
Writing Prisoners: How To
http://anti-politics.net/distro/download/
*Legal Sources produce the content for
this magazine. Keep writ-
writingprisonersflyer.pdf ing with your actions.
NYC Jericho Movement Security, Privacy, & Anonymity
www.thejerichomovement.com www.security.resist.ca Yours.
Green Scare Midnight Special Law Collective For the long run.
www.greenscare.org www.midnightspecial.net
Brighton Anarchist Black Cross Civil Liberties Defense Center
www.brightonabc.org.uk www.cldc.org -Fire to the Prisons
BEGIN
“Here is the ultimatum of our
camp; what can be smashed
should be smashed; what will
stand the blow is good; what
will fly into smithereens is rub-
bish; at any rate, hit out right
and left - there will, and can be
no harm from it.”
www.firetotheprisons.com - Pisarev