Anonymous Submission

From Pittsburgh to Washington DC:
DROP THE CHARGES

Anarchist banner dropped in solidarity with the ACJ noise demo arrestees and Dane Powell. (circle A pictured on the left side of the banner)

Today in Pittsburgh, the 11 comrades arrested for allegedly demonstrating in solidarity with striking inmates at the Allegheny County Jail are scheduled to waste a perfectly good Friday in court. We dropped this banner in hopes that a few of yinz might see it on your way downtown. We sincerely love you, even if we don’t know you. Stay strong! The bastards aren’t invincible, no matter how many cops they can get to lie under oath. Who knows, maybe you’ll even catch a glimpse of justice, like the one we celebrated just last week when former ACJ inmate Andre Jacobs won an abuse settlement against the jail for nearly $300,000. Fire the warden, fire to the prisons!

**UPDATE** Charges dropped to summaries for at least 9 defendants!

Today, Dane Powell is far from his home in Florida. As preliminary hearings take place here in Pittsburgh, Dane will be in another courtroom in Washington DC, receiving his sentence after having plead down to felony riot and felony assault on a police officer. Dane faced the choice between a plea deal and the possibility of never seeing his kids again. On January 20th, 2017 – Day One of the Trump Regime – Dane (allegedly) joined one of the largest black blocs in US history to directly confront the hetero-patriarchal, white supremacist, capitalist Empire on its home turf. He is one of over 200 comrades charged with multiple felonies for (allegedly) choosing to fight that day. While it may be too late to drop the charges, this banner is also for him. “We love you, stay strong, the revolution lives on!”

Solidarity with the rebel inmates at ACJ and everyone arrested at L&12 on J20. 

*disclaimer* there is a circle A on the other side of the banner! we promise!

In the video below, you can see Dane carry a child through the crowd in search of a street medic after police indiscriminately attacked with chemical weapons. Other black bloc comrades can also be seen defending and shielding protestors from police violence. Click HERE to watch a mini-documentary / video montage that includes footage from both the ACJ noise demonstration and the J20 riots.

These judicial proceedings are an expression of the war that the authorities are waging on the bond between thought and action, which is the foundation of anarchism’s dangerousness. […] active solidarity is a fundamental element of our anarchist acting and relations of complicity aimed at the destruction of dominion. This form of solidarity goes beyond repression’s attacks, and is capable of not letting itself be suffocated by the specificity of the trajectories of struggle when we recognize ourselves in a common tension of attack. In particular, active solidarity is an essential instrument to respond to state violence and not take its blows passively but maintain a stance of attack, so as not to develop attitudes of victimization, which is what repression wants. Thinking in terms of offensive, of permanent and internationalist conflictuality beyond each one’s path, the risk of isolation can be reduced and one of the enemy’s most important goals can be made ineffective.

– Call for a Dangerous June

The insurrectionist’s response to state repression is to release the tension you feel, to find the frontline that weighs heaviest on your mind and attack. The frontlines are all around us: from the fucked up shit that the system pulls on us, to the fucked up shit that we pull on each other. Find a reason to get out of bed that offers something more than the day’s routine of work, school, court, addiction, or whatever other obligations we millennials face. Participation trophies all around. 

An excerpt from the call for an International Week of Solidarity with J20 Defendants:

We are calling for a Week of Solidarity with the J20 defendants from July 20 to 27, 2017. July 20 marks six months from the initial actions and arrests during Donald Trump’s inauguration, and on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court. The case has finally begun to receive the media attention it warrants; with this court date approaching and the cases underway, this is a crucial time for a second Week of Solidarity.

On January 20, 2017, thousands of people came to Washington, DC to protest the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump. In the early morning, blockades shut down security checkpoints and discouraged people from attending the inauguration itself, while impromptu marches and direct actions occurred throughout the day. There was a spirit of defiance in the air.

Iconic images circulated almost immediately, from the punching of white supremacist Richard Spencer to pictures of a limousine on fire. These were only the most spectacular images, however, of a day that was characterized by generalized disruption.

Midmorning, an “anticapitalist and antifascist” march of several hundred people made clear its opposition not just to Trump but also the system that made Trump possible. Led by banners reading “MAKE RACISTS AFRAID AGAIN” and “TOTAL LIBERATION FROM DOMINATION,” the disruptive march took the streets of DC to the sound of fireworks and anticapitalist chants. After about half an hour, the march was brutally attacked by police, who used chemical and crowd control weapons along with physical force, then boxed in (“kettled”) and mass-arrested people. Everyone on an entire city block was arrested and given the same charge of felony rioting. Approximately 214 arrestees now face a total of eight felony charges, including conspiracy and destruction of property. All of the J20 defendants are now facing up to 75 years in prison.

A great deal has happened in the six months since the inauguration. Confrontational protests have taken place across the continent, challenging the political landscape shaped by Trump’s election. Participants have stood up to emboldened white supremacists, disrupted airports in the face of anti-Muslim bans, blockaded proposed pipeline routes, set up sanctuary spaces and rapid response networks against ICE deportations, and much more. In turn, states are passing legislation aimed at further criminalizing protest and limiting resistance.

The J20 case fits into this wave of repression. The police seized and hacked phones in an attempt to strengthen the government’s case, and subpoenaed social media accounts. They raided an organizer’s home in DC. Arrestees had their personal information leaked online. The prosecution filed additional charges, essentially accusing the entire group of breaking the same handful of windows. All this has disrupted the lives of the defendants in the J20 case, who have lost jobs, incurred legal expenses, and been forced to make repeated trips to DC. The majority of cases are now headed to trial, with a handful of trials set for November and December 2017 and the rest scattered throughout 2018. Despite the fact that the state forced a large number of strangers into this situation at random, the majority of defendants are working together, responding to the charges in a collective way.

In order to continue to build our capacity to counter state repression and strengthen our interconnected struggles, we are calling for a Week of Solidarity from July 20 to 27, 2017, to make support for the J20 defendants widely visible. July 20 marks six months since the initial actions and arrests; on July 27, a motion to dismiss the charges will be argued in court.

DONATE HERE to support and welcome back our friends Maxx and Shea.
Click HERE or HERE to read the report-backs from the action and subsequent arrests.

DONATE HERE to support the ACJ 10.

DONATE HERE to support Pittsburghers arrested on J20 at the intersection of L&12th streets. 

DONATE HERE to support Victoria and Phil, two comrades arrested during an action at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Originally published by Torchlight: Anarchist News from Pittsburgh

The Tilted Scales Collective is coming to The Big Idea Bookstore on July 19 at 7pm for community discussions based on their new book, A Tilted Guide to Being a Defendant.

With increasing confrontations with the far right, cops, FBI, ICE, capitalism, the Trump administration, and the systems of oppression that seek to keep us down, the importance of resistance is crystal clear.

And so too are the costs and risks of our resistance. Since the inauguration, there have been hundreds of new felony charges filed against us across Turtle Island. Our book aspires to be a resource for radical left struggle to help us all figure out ways to deal with serious criminal charges so we can strengthen our organizing and fight for liberation more strategically.

The defendant’s guide presents a goal-setting framework to help us be clear on our needs, priorities, and vulnerabilities as we figure out how to combat state repression and come out stronger as a result. This framework is based on two guiding principles: criminal charges are part of revolutionary struggle and we need to treat them as such; and we can handle our charges in ways that don’t help the State lock people in cages.

In these discussions, we’ll talk about how setting legal, personal, and political goals for criminal charges can help us deal with them in ways that benefit our movements; offer case studies about defendants from years and decades past who handled their cases in beneficial ways; and foster security-conscious conversations about being in solidarity with targets of state repression locally and nationally.

Tilted Scales Collective is a small collective of legal support organizers who have spent years supporting and fighting for defendants and prisoners across Turtle Island. The defendant‘s guide draws on the wisdom of dozens of people who have weathered the challenges of trials and incarceration, including many former and current political prisoners/prisoners of war.

In the spirit of solidarity and mutual aid, a portion of proceeds from our book will benefit Prison Activist Resource Center (PARC), a prison abolitionist collective that produces a free resource directory that is mailed to prisoners nationwide upon request.

DONATE HERE to support and welcome back our friends Maxx and Shea.
Click HERE or HERE to read the report-backs from the action and subsequent arrests.

DONATE HERE to support the ACJ 10.

DONATE HERE to support Pittsburghers arrested on J20 at the intersection of L&12th streets. 

DONATE HERE to support Victoria and Phil, two comrades arrested during an action at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Anonymous Submission

Banner hung at the foot-bridge of Duquesne, the private university that overlooks the county jail. It reads ABOLISH PRISONS. FUCK ACJ.

ALLEGHENY COUNTY JAIL IS A DEATH TRAP.

Since April of 2017, three inmates have died at the hands of Warden Harper due to abuse, neglect, and horrible health conditions. ACJ is Pittsburgh’s segment of the modern day slave plantation, murdering people while profiting the state.

In March, 80 inmates participated in a sit-down strike to protest the conditions inside the jail. On the outside, noise demos were organized in solidarity with the strikers which led to 11 arrests. Protesters are still facing charges.
You can donate to the legal funds for the arrestees here:
https://www.fundedjustice.com/71Dss1?ref=sh_b6YOs8

Although not affiliated, we stand in full solidarity with The ACJ Health Justice project, a local campaign fighting the conditions of the jail.

FIRE WARDEN HARPER.
ABOLISH ALL JAILS. ABOLISH ALL PRISONS.
THE FIGHT CONTINUES UNTIL EVERYONE IS FREE.

Originally posted to It’s Going Down

Pittsburgh anarchists held a march in solidarity with anarchist prisoners on June 11th, 2017. Full marching band in tow, the group disrupted traffic patterns and whatever the fuck else gross yuppie shit goes down on Butler Street, Pittsburgh’s “hipster” strip. Banners in solidarity with Eric King, Marius Mason, and Fernando Bárcenas were on display, along with other anti-prison banners.

After the march, a picnic and info fair was held near by, where t-shirts and buttons were traded in exchange for commissary funds for Joseph Buddenberg, Nicole Kissane, Eric King, and Marius Mason.

Until Every Cage Is Empty

 

Originally posted to It’s Going Down

MF1, Daniel Montano, pictured on the right, has passed away at 30.

Possibly Pittsburgh’s most well known graffiti writer and a life long anarchist, MF1 had an absolutely unique and thoughtful style that even many who dislike graffiti had trouble not being inspired by. While he could certainly look intimidating, you’d be hard pressed to find anybody who knew Daniel who doesn’t describe him as warm, caring and joyful.

In 2008 Daniel went to prison for committing over $713,000 in 79 instances of property damage stemming largely from a graffiti campaign targeting the rapidly gentrifying East Liberty neighborhood where he lived. He and his friend HERT were made examples by the city and were both sentenced to multiple years in prison, during which Pittsburgh ABC helped them release the zine Now Serving Felonies in which Daniel tells us:

“When I was 12 years old I decided to become an anarchist… Graffiti, for me, was one of the ways to reshape the world. It was my voice to stand up as an individual for my own individual freedom, to express my own personal idea of freedom, and to stand in direct and deliberate opposition to the existing social norms/the state. What I did was about human and world development. To me, it placed importance on the spirit that exists in all of us over the material world and possessions. It was like putting what was inside of me on the outside and saying “People matter! Fuck property!!!” It is a shame that my friend Ian (HERT) was put in prison for cosmetic property damage when there is real suffering going on in the world! Walls do not have feelings, walls do not suffer, walls do not starve, and paint does not kill people. I would like to see a society free of money, capitalism, material property. A society that is free to govern itself, built on the principles of non-violence and equality. The crimes for which I am currently serving my sentence were in no way violent. To me these actions are a symbol of what true freedom means to me and they represent even the slightest possibility of something different than what currently exists. Simply, they represent change. In the state system there are hundreds of thousands who are imprisoned solely for their beliefs and their own personal ideas of morality. I am proud to say that I was imprisoned for being one who stood up against the state, and for making it clear that I will not abide by a rule I do not believe in. I remain a voice that identifies itself with liberation, equality, pacifism, truth, justice, and above all else love.

Free the creative hands and minds suppressed by prisons. Freedom for all people.

-Daniel Joseph Montano”

Daniel would unfortunately get caught up in the all too common cycle of parole violations and spend the next 9 years in and out of jail and prison. In his most recent trip back, he was also charged with 40 more counts of graffiti because he was an unfuckwithable bad-ass. In a city that literally always succeeds at scaring writers into taking deals with menacing 30-65 count indictments, Daniel decided to fight all the charges. They were dropped and he walked free earlier this month. Our city has lost somebody truly special.

Filler – June 2017

“US QUEERS AIN’T FREE TIL THE PRISON WALLS BURN DOWN”
~ photo: banner from an Illegal Queers PGH benefit dance party ~

Every year on June 11th, anarchists and anti-authoritarians from around the world send some love and rage to our comrades who are serving lengthy prison terms. We write letters, we organize poetry readings and movie screenings, we throw parties and benefit shows, we ditch work and school to paint our comrades’ names all across town, we attack state and corporate infrastructure as much for the thrill of it as for the political and strategic implications. On J11, we remember the prisoners of war. With their names on our minds, we face the anxiety and misery of the everyday with just a little more strength, a little more passion… because, like, holy shit, prisons are fucking evil, and maybe our thoughts and actions might just sneak a few rays of light through the bars and help our comrades face another day too. 

On that note, a couple of us queer-as-fuck Filler kids want to remind our friends here in Pittsburgh that J11 would never have become the insurgent holiday that it is today without the courage of long-term anarchist prisoner, Marius Mason. Marius is an eco-warrior whose daily life is one of struggle against a state that seeks to control his body on every level, from his incarceration to the undermining of his gender identity. This year, we hope that Pittsburgh will prove that we have not forgotten his struggle.

This year, we hope that Pittsburgh will affirm our complicity in not only Marius’s struggle, but also in the struggles of all who come into conflict with the state and capital. So in the spirit of J11, let’s support our neighbors who are challenging the co-optation of Pittsburgh Pride, organizing to support incarcerated people at the Allegheny County Jail while working towards the jail’s abolition, and rallying to defend their communities against the nationalist reaction. Most importantly, we sincerely hope you remember to indulge your private wars. Do what you need to do to reconnect to life: attack the things you hate, embrace the people and hobbies you love, call in sick and stay at home all day to write letters to the folks on the inside while you binge-watch netflix (or Sub.Media!) – take whatever it is that you love, nurture it, and make it dangerous. 

Anyways, below is an (in)complete rundown of some cool shit to do this week. 

Welcome home Maxx and Shea. Much love to Top Squat. Shoutout to Torchlight.

Fire to ALL prisons!

Friday, June 9th

Emergency Protest – No More Jails, No More Deaths!

Anti-Repression Picnic!

Radicals in Pittsburgh are facing an unprecedented wave of repression: hundreds of felony charges, several eviction threats, etc. etc. etc….so some folks decided it’d be fun to get together and celebrate our struggles over some vegan food! We’re in this together, so let’s soak up some sun together (weather depending). 

If you or your comrades and accomplices are feeling the heat, ask around or hit us up for the time and location!

Click HERE to donate to various legal defense funds.

Saturday, June 10th

GREY OUT Rainbow Capitalism

People are asking if they should be boycotting CERTAIN Pittsburgh Pride events, which we feel would be ineffective since –

1. Most non-profit orgs spent time and energy raising money to participate in what should be a free event, and have the right to get value for that cost (since obviously no refunds will be given).

2. It’s counterproductive to miss out on the opportunity to reach out to the community non-profit orgs are trying to serve.

3. The presence of a few individuals or a small organization might not be missed, but showing UP will show strength in numbers, which also sends the larger message of how many LGBTQ+ individuals, supporters, and allies there are in Pittsburgh (which is one of the actual reasons to have Pride events in the first place).

4. It’s not fair to every single person who worked hard and waited all year to come together with their community only to feel guilty or bad for participating. Instead we are going to show SIGNS OF RESISTANCE. We invite everyone to “GREY OUT RAINBOW CAPITALISM” and show solidarity, strength and unity by wearing GREY tshirts, armbands, hats, bandanas, suits, socks- whatever. WEAR YOUR GREY and spread the message that although you might be in the parade, or at the event, YOU ARE NOT IN LINE with the organizers of the EQT-sponsored march. We will be showing up for what PRIDE means to YOU and not we are being told it should mean. GRAB SOME GREY AND SPREAD THE WORD.

Our Pride should not be about who can pay the highest price.
Pride is political. Pride should be for everyone. Pride needs to be inclusive, intersectional and wholly accessible to all. Pride should be free (for non-profits to participate specifically, not necessarily food, drinks/specialty events). Pride should be a celebration of how far we have come from the time we were forced to live in a closet. Pride should be a reflection of our history as well as an effort to move forward. It is up to us as a community to make the change.

Be proud, come on out and join your community at (mostly) free, local, independent Pride events:

Veil of Remembrance– Steel City Sisters
Roots Pride: Final Edition with Junglepussy & Co.
Freedom! Renaissance City Choir Pride Concert
Express Yourself: A Resistance Workshop with Hello Mr.
Smoke and Mirrors OUT Loud Kick-Off: Reflections Meal
Smoke and Mirrors-Penn OUT Loud Art Crawl
Queer Craft Market
Free Pride Shorts
Peoples Pride March 2k17

[ https://www.facebook.com/events/111478759443101 ]

No Bars to Healthcare-Documentary Screening

Sunday, June 11th

JUNE 11TH MARCH & PICNIC

UNTIL EVERYONE’S FREE BENEFIT

Wednesday, June 14th

History of Social Movements in Pittsburgh

Mijente in Pittsburgh: Community Dinner + Discussion

[ https://www.facebook.com/events/289897328087978 ]

Don’t Criminalize Transit Riders!

THIS SUMMER, Port Authority plans to have ARMED police Officers checking fare payment on the T…..

We demand that the Port Authority delay implementation of this policy until we have a PUBLIC process, a commitment NOT to work with ICE, and a commitment of NO arrests or criminal charges for “fare evasion.”

Join Pittsburghers for Public Transit, Casa San Jose, the Alliance for Police Accountability and the Thomas Merton Center to find out how to get involved to stop the criminalization of transit riders.

4th River Music Fest 2017

Statement from the Pittsburgh Anarchist Black Cross
Received 5.18.2017

Today we are happy to report our friends Maxx and Shea were released early from the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh. Far from being an example of goodwill and magnanimity from Judge Mariani, their initial 3-12 month sentence from him (when the D.A. only asked for a weekend) was the real show of his great benevolence. We are excited to have our friends out to enjoy the beginning of the summer.

While two of our accomplices now transition into probation, we have handfuls of Pittsburgh comrades still going back and forth to court appearances with stacks of felonies held above their heads, in what is the new normal for anarchists and anti-authoritarians in this country. While we predict these large and exaggerated cases will get increasingly common for us in Pittsburgh and around the U.S., we want to be ready to support our friends and ourselves in what should be looked at as the inevitability of, in the least, wasted cash in courts; in the most, long prison sentences. Tabling information, talking to lawyers, conference calls, getting legit, putting on shows and letter writings, crowd funding, meetings and late night talks, hanging outside of that stupid jail, and Signal upon Signal loops—we got this, in a sense. But what can we do beyond responding to the crisis of individual repressions? How can we create a culture of defiance and rejection to police, jails, prisons and snitching on a local level beyond reaction and into action? As we move forward with supporting our friends locally, and reach out to folks across the country, we aspire to move towards actively promoting an anarchist total rejection of the court and policing systems, and to respond to their tactics of fear head first, horns down.

Pittsburgh Anarchist Black Cross
PGHABC [at] riseup [dot] net
PO Box 9021
Pittsburgh, PA
15224

DONATE HERE to support and welcome back our friends Maxx and Shea.
Click HERE or HERE to read the report-backs from the action and subsequent arrests.

DONATE HERE to support the ACJ 10.

DONATE HERE to support Pittsburghers arrested on J20 at the intersection of L&12th streets. 

DONATE HERE to support Victoria and Phil, two comrades arrested during an action at the University of Pittsburgh. 

Torchlight, a new anarchist counter-info site based here in Pittsburgh, released this response to an anonymous submission we published several weeks ago. (Pretty cool to see a dialogue starting, although it looks like they think we wrote “Solidarity in the Streets,” which we didn’t. We just used to be the only counterinfo game in town, but now we’re not!)

Pittsburgh activism has long and sordid history of cooptation by the police. Liberal organizers invariably honor a tacit agreement in which they guarantee that their “actions” generate minimal material disruption of the prevailing order, in exchange for the cops’ allowing them to proceed unimpeded. The police, notoriously lazy in Pittsburgh, benefit from protest organizers doing most of their work for them, plus they don’t have to tarnish their image by pepper spraying and arresting protesters. Organizers in turn get to boost turnout by offering a risk-free, conscience salving experience, while claiming success based on nothing more than seamless logistics, regardless of the lack of movement toward their claimed goals.

On the ground the result will be familiar to anyone who has attended a protest in Pittsburgh in this century. Dozens of marshals, police liaisons, and PR flacks, few to no legal observers or medics; inspiring speeches by carefully chosen “leaders”, zero opportunity for spontaneous action; occasionally unpermitted, but always pacified.

Sometimes though, an action breaks this mold and the police end up having to do some work, which brings us to a recent article by the Filler Collective. The piece is a criticism of a pair of noise demos at Allegheny County Jail at which some windows were broken, the most recent of which took place on March 20. Eleven people were arrested and are currently being charged with multiple felony counts. The other noise demo happened on New Years Eve 2011 and resulted in dozens of protesters being detained, but no arrests. The author focuses their criticism on the 2011 demo, claiming that they weren’t at the more recent one and do not wish to risk jeopardizing the cases of the arrestees. However the timing of the piece, and in fact the very inclusion of the recent demo, make a joke of this posture. If Filler really doesn’t want to criticize the March action why mention it at all?

Instead, the author uses the 2011 noise demo as a proxy, in an attack that is misguided as well as displaced. Their thesis is that since the organizers didn’t intend or prepare for windows to be broken, the window breakers are responsible for the detentions that followed. More generally, they believe that all protests should have a pre-planned and communicated level of risk so that participants can make informed decisions about whether and how to involve themselves.

That’d be nice wouldn’t it? If you could know ahead of time exactly how risky an action was going to be, if everyone who showed up could be counted on to follow the same script, if there was never any uncertainty about how the cops would respond to a particular tactic? The only problem is it’s impossible. There is no way to reliably predict what will happen at a protest without going full liberal and extinguishing any possibility of militancy before it can begin – the usual approach in this town.

That doesn’t mean organizers haven’t tried, and Filler cites a couple of very selective examples from recent history. One is the mobilization against the 2009 G20 summit meetings in Pittsburgh, which featured the Pittsburgh Principles, a framework designed to let activist groups with different politics work together effectively throughout the demo. (Ignore for now the vast difference between a multi-day mass mobilization and a half hour jail noise demo.) While the Pittsburgh Principles were reasonably successful in their purpose, they didn’t prevent the cops from brutally attacking a completely non-confrontational protest against police brutality on the Pitt campus in the final hours of the event, not because any windows got broken, but just because they wanted to. The author of the Filler piece conveniently fails to mention this.

Filler’s other example is the J20 mobilization in DC against Trump’s inauguration, where a wide variety of tactics were used by a broad coalition of groups, all of which were clearly announced ahead of time, supposedly allowing participants to gauge the risk involved. While the various blockades, rallies and permitted marches were left comparatively unmolested (by G20 standards at least), J20 was hardly a testament to the predictability of police repression at mass mobilizations. The 200-plus felony arrests at the black bloc march were an unprecedented departure from past police practice in DC, even to the point of violating court orders.

A broader look at the history of big demos (not to mention small ones) reveals similar patterns. The practice of designating red, yellow, and green zones during the global justice movement never worked. In fact arrests were probably more frequent in green zones because protesters there weren’t expecting them. The Miami Model of protest policing involves cracking down on protesters of all stripes, peaceful or otherwise, actually protesting or not. Witness the raids against the puppet warehouse at the 2000 RNC in Philadelphia, and the convergence center and legal support office at the 2008 RNC in St. Paul, where no one was even protesting anything, let alone breaking windows.

Hell, the cops don’t always manage to honor their own designated safe areas. At the 2010 G20 summit in Toronto police pepper sprayed and beat people in the free speech zone. And let’s not forget the 2001 FTAA meetings in Quebec City, where the cops used so much tear gas it got into the ventilation ducts of the building where the delegates were meeting.

In short, the idea that we can predict what the cops will do in the face of any meaningful protest is ridiculous. It might look like we can in Pittsburgh, where protest theater too often takes the place of militant action in the streets. But that’s just policing ourselves to save the cops the trouble. So instead of blaming arrests, detentions, beatings and other repression on our own comrades, let’s pin the blame where it belongs – on the cops. Instead of relying on our enemies to restrain themselves if we don’t provoke them, let’s rely on ourselves. It’s time to build the support structures necessary to resist police action as it happens, to propagate a culture of tactical awareness, instead of expecting followers to show up and blindly follow the orders of few self appointed organizers.

Determining what this might look like in practice is left as an exercise for the reader, but in the Trump era it is one well worth undertaking. Just don’t forget to tell Torchlight about it…

Filler issue #6, “For a University Against Itself,” is out now! Physical copies are available for sale – all proceeds will go to our comrades’ legal defense funds here in Pittsburgh. The print-ready pdf and an online reading version will be released next week. In the meantime, if you can’t get ahold of us for a physical copy, enjoy this promotional video 🙂

Anonymous Submission

Solidarity and Broken Windows

On March 18, around 80 inmates at Allegheny County Jail participated in a one-day sit-in strike demanding access to adequate medical care. Healthcare at the jail is reported to be among the worst in the country. The same day, a community organization that had formed to address healthcare issues at the jail, the ACJ Healthcare Justice Project organized a rally outside the jail in support of striking inmates. In the announcement for the rally organizers wrote, “This rally is to publicly acknowledge the demands of those on the inside, to let them know that they have support on the outside, we will make noise, we will speak truth, we will let Allegheny County know that jail is not justice.”

The following day a group of local activists who are not affiliated with the ACJ Healthcare Justice Project organized a “noise demonstration” outside of the jail. The demonstration went smoothly and was well received by prisoners, so the idea for another noise demonstration was spread via word of mouth for the following day. While the ACJ Healthcare Justice Project didn’t organize either of the noise demonstrations it promoted both on its Facebook page.

At some point during the second noise demonstration someone (or several people) apparently broke several windows at the jail and smashed out the windows of some of the police cars in a parking lot. Police rounded up and arrested 11 random people and told reporters that others had gotten away. While windows certainly appear to be broken it is unclear whether any of the people who were arrested were responsible for—or even had prior knowledge of—the property damage.

This incident is likely to ignite a kneejerk (and probably intellectually hollow) discussion over the efficacy of property destruction and the way that social movements in Pittsburgh use different types of tactics. I wasn’t at any of the rallies and all of the information that I have about the events comes from corporate news reports and a press release from the Pittsburgh Police Department so I can’t speak with any level of authority on what happened on March 18^th, 19^th or 20^th. Further, I would never offer critical commentary on an action while people were facing serious charges and state repression.

Hearing about this incident did, however, give me an opportunity to reflect on another demonstration that I participated in a little more than five years ago. The statute of limitations for that action has long passed so I feel comfortable bluntly sharing my perspective.

New Year’s Eve 2012 Global Noise Demo

In 2011, during the waning days of Occupy Pittsburgh, national and global prison abolition organizations issued a call for noise demonstrations outside of prisons and jails around the world on New Year’s Eve.

“Noise demos outside of prisons in some countries are a continuing tradition. A way of expressing solidarity for people imprisoned during the New Year, remembering those held captive by the state. A noise demo breaks the isolation and alienation of the cells our enemies create, but it does not have to stop at that. Prison has a long history within capital, being one of the most archaic forms of prolonged torture and punishment. It has been used to kill some slowly and torture those unwanted – delinquents to the reigning order – who have no need of fitting within the predetermined mold of society.”

Occupy Pittsburgh answered the call. We organized a noise demonstration outside of Allegheny County Jail (which was just a few blocks from the Occupy camp) and about 100 people showed up with pots and pans, flashlights, and even a PA system blasting dubstep. We marched up the bike path behind the jail blaring our music, flickering our flashlights and banging on our pots and pans. Inside the jail, prisoners responded by flashing the lights in their cells and banging on the windows. It was a powerful moment.

At the same time, on the other side of the building, someone smashed several of the big plate-glass windows lining the arraignment court. Our noise demonstration was so loud that none of us heard the breaking glass.

At the end of the demonstration we marched back up the bike path to leave and end saw a single police car with its lights on. Most of us assumed that the officer was just going to tell us to leave (which we intended to do anyway) so we just kept walking. But as we got closer we realized that he had his gun drawn. More and more officers rushed in, also with their guns drawn and ordered us all up against a wall.

Apparently, when the windows on jail broke a court employee thought that someone was shooting a gun at the jail and called 911 to report an active shooter situation.

We were held up against that wall for hours while police reviewed everyone’s identification, ran our information through the system to check for warrants (one person was taken into custody for an outstanding warrant for disorderly conduct), and reviewed security camera footage. By around 1:30 am, police determined that none of us were the ones who broke the windows and let us all go.

No one was ever charged in connection with that incident and, to this day I don’t know who broke the windows. But the situation left me feeling taken advantage of.

I don’t have a political or strategic objection to property destruction. At the time of the New Year’s Eve protest, I had been to plenty of actions where I knew there was a high likelihood of property damage including the G20 actions in Pittsburgh a few years earlier and numerous IMF-World Bank protests in Washington DC. But in those cases, I went into the action knowing what to expect and I chose to participate. On New Year’s Eve in 2012 I didn’t make that choice.

There was no indication in any of the promotional materials for the Global Noise Demonstration in Pittsburgh that property destruction or any other illegal activity was likely to occur, no reference to embracing a diversity of tactics, and no warning to anyone about the risk level. Whoever broke those windows transformed a very low risk demonstration to a much higher risk action without the knowledge or consent of the other 100 people participating.

Informed Consent

If I had known the risks I honestly don’t know whether or not I would have gone to the protest at the jail that night. But if I had, taking the risk associated with participating in that action would have been my choice. If I had known the risk I also probably wouldn’t have downed a half-dozen beers before heading out (remember, it was late on New Year’s Eve).

I want to be absolutely clear that I am not asserting that there are any parallels or similarities between the protest at Allegheny County Jail earlier this month or the New Year’s Eve Global Noise Demo in 2012 (other than that they both obviously occurred in roughly the same place and that during both actions some windows were apparently broken). But in the current political moment the lessons from New Years Eve in 2012 seem important to share.

Solidarity in the Streets

With Trump in the White House and the rise of the fascist “alt-right” the stakes couldn’t be higher. We need to be working together, we need to be taking bold action and we need to be taking meaningful risks. But we also need to respect each other enough to recognize each other’s autonomy and agency in making serious political decisions and choosing what level of risk we are comfortable with.

During the J20 inauguration protests in Washington, DC, organizers did a very good job of communicating about the risk levels of various actions. There were very low-risk permitted marches, medium risk checkpoint blockades, and a higher risk anti-fascist march. People didn’t veer away from the risk; over 1,000 people chose to participate in the high risk anti-fascist march.

We have experience with this in Pittsburgh as well. In the lead up to the G-20 summit, the anarchist G-20 Resistance Project and the liberal Anti-War Committee of the Thomas Merton Center negotiated the Pittsburgh Principles affirming our commitment to solidarity in the streets and ensuring that everyone is afforded the opportunity to chose what type of actions they are willing to participate in by committing to respect each others’ organizing space.

• Our solidarity will be based on respect for a political diversity within the struggle for social justice. As individuals and groups, we may choose to engage in a diversity of tactics and plans of action but are committed to treating each other with respect.
• We realize that debates and honest criticisms are necessary for political clarification and growth in our movements. But we also realize that our detractors will work to divide by inflaming and magnifying our tactical, strategic, personal, and political disagreements. For the purposes of political clarity, and mutual respect we will speak to our own political motivations and tactical choices and allow other groups and individuals to speak on their own behalf. We reject all forms of red-baiting, violence-baiting, and fear-mongering; and efforts to foster unnecessary divisions among our movements.
• As we plan our actions and tactics, we will take care to maintain appropriate separations of time and space between divergent tactics. We will commit to respecting each other’s organizing space and the tone and tactics they wish to utilize in that space.
• We oppose any state repression of dissent, including surveillance, infiltration, disruption and violence. We agree not to assist law enforcement actions against activists and others. We oppose proposals designed to cage protests into high-restricted “free speech zones.”
• We will work to promote a sense of respect for our shared community, our neighbors, and particularly poor and working class people in our community and their personal property.

After all of the hand wringing of liberals who worried that direct action might alienate people, in the end more people participated in the un-permitted G-20 Resistance Project march than turned out for the permitted, explicitly non-violent Thomas Merton Center march.

This is the time to throw down and it is the time to take risks, but I can’t feel comfortable joining actions if I can’t predict how my comrades might escalate the risk level. I certainly can’t feel comfortable mobilizing other people to participate in actions if I can’t predict the risk level.

This isn’t about holding back or appeasing hand wringing liberals. We’ve seen again and again that if people trust their comrades, they’re willing to take risks. If we’re going to be serious about escalating resistance we need to be serious about a real process for building solidarity in the streets. Let’s respect each other, let’s take our work seriously and let’s work together to build the bold and uncompromising social movements that this challenging political moment requires.