Category Archives: Anarchist

Anarchist, crimethInc, Czech Republic, Operation Fenix, panel discussion, repression, Slovenia

Sascha + Ramona of To Change Everything Tour on anarchism, struggle and solidarity

To Change Everything Tour

http://www.crimethinc.com/blog/2015/09/08/to-change-everything-us-tour-dates/
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The Final Straw radio is still soliciting artwork to put onto t-shirts, stickers, and more things. If you have an idea or an image, send a link to our email. Also, our show is free to stream and download. If there’s a pirate broadcast or community radio station in your area that you’d like to hear us playing on, shoot us an email at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and we can look into helping to get us on your local airwaves.

This week, we are happy to share an interview contributed by an audio militant associated with The Final Straw. This conversation took place after one of the presentations of the Crimethinc tour associated with the publishing and distribution of To Change Everything zine, a recent and widely translated introduction and invitation to anarchy. This interview was conducted shortly after one of the 3 panel discussions that took place last month in the Bay Area and includes two members of the tour. Sascha is an anarchist from Prague in the Czech Republic and Ramona is an anarchist from Slovenia.

The Crimethinc To Change Everything tour will be hitting up Firestorm Books and Coffee in Asheville, North Carolina on Wednesday, November 11th at 5pm. If you like the insights you hear in this conversation and want to engage these guests plus more, show up to this free event.

Next week we’ll be bringing an interview between our own William Goodenuff and members of the No New Animal Labs initiative attempting to organize against the planned building of an expanded, public-private animal testing facility on the University of Washington campus. William and the guest will talk about their recent nation-wide tour and the wider scope of the No New Animal Lab project in creating a more robust animal rights movement on Turtle Island.

If you appreciate community radio here in Asheville and/or this show, please consider contributing to our week-long on-air fundrive. Any amount helps, a dollar or $100. If you do choose to tax deductible donate, mention The Final Straw and we will get fame and power and feel good about ourselves. http://www.ashevillefm.org/support

But first a couple of announcements…:
. … . ..

From the youcaring.com fundraising page for our friend, Steph:

“On October 19, while attempting to help a man whose dog had been hit by a car, Stephanie Wilson was run over by an SUV. The accident left her with life threatening injuries and claimed the life of the dog she was attempting to help (the man she was with was also injured, though
less severely). For anyone who knows Steph, they know that her being injured while attempting to help others is an emblematic example of her unceasing willingness to put the lives of others before herself. Over the years, Steph has rescued countless animals, often traveling to disaster areas to volunteer as a relief worker, and has never hesitated to help someone in need. Just last week she was rescuing animals from the flooding in South Carolina. But now this ceaseless champion of others needs your help.”

Continuing from the youcaring.com site:

“as Steph spends her life doing animal rescue (which as anyone involved knows is a passion project more than a stable career), she is without insurance. What is more, the individual driving the SUV that hit her was driving an uninsured vehicle on a suspended license. Therefore
it is expected that the medical costs for a sustained hospital stay are likely to be astronomically high and likely will fall all on Steph herself. This is where you come in.”

According to the updates on her youcaring.com page, Steph’s condition has improved since the accident, but she’s still not out of the woods. Her brain swelling has not increased, and there’s hope that soon she’ll be stable and swelling will decrease to the point that doctors can begin to operate on the blood clot that’s been found.

Again from the fundraising page:

“We are asking you to help her manage this unexpected burden. Please consider donating to help get Steph back on her feet and support the animals currently under her care. If you can’t personally afford to donate, please pass this campaign along to your friends. All money raised will go towards Steph’s long-term recovery, rehabilitation and immediate costs of animal care for the animals currently in her rescue.”

To find out more and to contribute to fundraising for Steph Wilson’s medical costs, visit: https://www.youcaring.com/stephanie-wilson-454345
. … . ..

Unstoppable is specifically by and for incarcerated folks who identify as women, gender-variant, and/or trans. This anti-authoritarian publication seeks to blend radical political analyses with personal experiences and observations. We want to elevate the voices on the inside that are often excluded from political dialogues, while also asking people on the outside to convey their social and political realities to people on the inside. Unstoppable aims to build bridges across prison walls and beyond them by facilitating dialogue and engagement between those who are incarcerated and those who are not.

Unstoppable is asking for contributions in the form of artwork, poetry, writings, social commentaries, field notes from the prison yard or the streets, critical views of power structures and more. Unstoppable is particularly interested in focusing on gendered issues and systems of social control in the U.S. context, but we invite a wide array of topics. Such topics might include: organizing against police terror; personal triumphs in overcoming past or ongoing trauma; community-based responses to gendered violence and abuse; self-care in high stress environments; the consequences of deprivation in the U.S. prison system; environmental liberation; forms of resistance in women’s prisons; do-it-yourself ethics; astrology and planetary transits; etcetera!

Please email unstoppablepublication(at)gmail(dot)com if you wish to be involved with this project in any way or if you have a contribution to share.

Or you can write us at unstoppable, po box 11032, pueblo, co 81001 to contribute or to get a free subscription if you are currently incarcerated! Please spread the word to folks on the inside and out; we want this distributed broadly!
. … . ..
From the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee, or IWOC’s website, the group that we interviewed in June of this year about the drugging of prisoners in Missouri:
Imprisoned social justice activist Kenneth Bell is being targeted by the administration at Potosi Prison in Missouri. From a letter dated 10-24-15… “Until a couple of days ago I was the prison law clerk, “Jailhouse Lawyer”, but I was fired for filing grievances and for assisting others who are incapable of doing it themselves. . . . Please form a network of people who will call and confront officials about my firing. If I am to continue to help them here in PCC I need to be back in my position. . . . By firing me, prison officials hope to intimidate other prisoners and thereby discourage anyone who would be inclined to complain about conditions here, or who would try to help another prisoner do so.”

Many of you may remember the horrendous conditions that we described at Potosi last winter and the torture endured by prisoners who went on hunger strike after being retaliated against for complaining then.

For a list of phone numbers to call, scripts, instructions and updates, check out http://iwoc.noblogs.org
. … . ..
Due to time constraints, we were unable to announce Khmer playing at the Odditorium on Friday the 6th of November on our regular broadcast, but do so in the podcast version of the show along with a track from that band. That version also features a tiny bit more dialogue and a track from Gattaca, a sludgy hardcore band from Prague that Sascha from the interview requested.

Playlist

activism, Anarchist, CounterInsurgency, Environment, Eric McDavid, General, Grand Jury, History, Jerry Koch, panel discussion, Political Prisoner, Prisons, repression

GE Trees update + pt 2 of former prisoner panel from NAABC conference, 2015

GE Trees + Former Political Prisoners

http://denverabc.wordpress.com
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This episode has two parts.

In the first segment of the episode, William spoke with Anne Peterman of the Global Justice Ecology Project, following up on the GE Trees Action Camp which took place in late September outside of Asheville. To hear the previous interview you can go to http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org and search GE Trees, and to learn more about GJEP and to donate to Anne and Ruddy’s legal defense, you can go to http://nogetrees.org

The bulk of the hour we’ll hear the second half of the Former Prisoner Panel proceeding the North American Anarchist Black Cross conference in Denver, 2015.

On the panel you’ll hear from:

  • Jerry Koch, an anarchist who was incarcerated over 9 months for refusing to testify before a grand jury (for a second time) in New York, as he talks about his incarceration and his release.
  • Eric McDavid is a green anarchist who served 10 years of a 20 year sentence before release in January of 2015.
  • Lynne Stewart is a movement who served 2.5 years of a 10 year sentence, released due on compassionate grounds due to terminal cancer.
  • Kazi Toure is a formerly incarcerated member of the marxist guerrilla group United Freedom Fighters/Ohio 7.
  • Jihad Abdulmumit is national chairperson for the Jericho Movement and spent 23 years in prison for involvement in the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army.
  • Mark Cook was a social prisoner who founded a Panther Chapter in prison and became involved in the George Jackson Brigade.

The first half of the panel discussion can be found here: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2015/10/14/former-political-prisoner-panel-in-denver-2015-pt-1/

In this presentation, the panelists speak about experiences of re-entry, trauma of incarceration, support they’ve received, experiences behind the bars and critiques of how prisoners are supported. This event was hosted by Denver Anarchist Black Cross (http://denverabc.wordpress.com)

We lacked time to announce this benefit for Stephanie Wilson, a dear friend who was struck by a car while attempting to render care to a dog who’d been previously hit by another vehicle. The benefit is to raise medical funds for Stephanie. More info here: https://www.youcaring.com/stephanie-wilson-454345

Playlist

Anarchist, Author, General, Marxism

Lawrence Jarach on Anarchy (A Journal of Desire Armed) & critiques of tactics of debate

Lawrence Jarach

http://anarchymag.org
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This week, Bursts speaks with Lawrence Jarach. Lawrence is a co-editor of Anarchy: A Journal of Desire Armed. You’ll hear about that project, some of it’s history, Post-Left anarchy, individualism, mass society and more.

We also speak about conflict and resolution processes featured in the main article of this latest issue of AJODA (#76). The title of the article is “Against Identity Politics” and attempts to discuss methods of engagement or disengagement around issues of Identity and argues that some of the methods employed (call-outs, denunciation, crit-self-crit, accountability processes) developed out of Maoist practice with the desire to actually eschew and silence rather than open up room for debate and discourse. More on the project and article can be found at http://anarchymag.org

Alabama, Anarchist, Bomani Shakur, Eric McDavid, General, Hunger Strike, Jerry Koch, Marxism, panel discussion, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Racism, repression

Former Political Prisoner Panel in Denver, 2015 (pt 1)

Former Political Prisoner Panel

denverabc.wordpress.com
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This week The Final Straw is airing some audio from the recent Anarchist Black Cross Conference which took place outside of Denver. This is a panel discussion which was hosted by the Denver ABC and includes a number of folks who had been formerly incarcerated and were speaking on the importance of supporting prisoners, among other topics. The panelists we’ll be hearing this week include: Lynne Stewart, Jihad Abdulmumit, Kazi Toure, Eric McDavid & Mark Cook.

  • Lynne Stewart was a movement lawyer involved in anti-capitalist and liberation prisoners since the 1960’s who was incarcerated this in 2010 to a decade in prison for passing a public statement on from her client, Abdel-Rahman, convicted in the first World Trade Center bombing. She was got out of prison in 2013 on Compassionate Release as she was dealing with Terminal Breast Cancer.
  • Jihad Abdulmumit is the national chairperson for the Jericho Movement and spent 23 years in prison for his involvement with the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army and and is on the Majlis Ash-Shura of Muslim Alliance in North America, or MANA. He is also a community activist, motivational speaker, author and playwright.
  • Kazi Toure is a former Black Panther and was a member of the United Freedom Front, an American Marxist guerrilla group active through the 1970’s and 80’s and carried out at least 20 bombings of government and corporate targets and 9 bank robberies. The UFF is also known as the Sam Melville / Jonathan Jackson Unit, as well as the Ohio 7.
  • Mark Cook became active in a growing leftist paramilitary underground in Seattle in 1967, which perpetrated a series of high profile bombings and robberies. He was co-founder of the Black Panther Party chapter in the Walla Walla State Penitentiary and served as its Lieutenant of Information for many years. In 2000, he was released after serving 24 years in prison for his participation in a bank robbery and jail break associated with the George Jackson Brigade in Seattle. The GJB was a leftist urban guerrilla group in the Pacific Northwest that carried out bombings, bank robberies and other actions to overthrow the U.S. government.
  • Eric McDavid, a green Anarchist who served a 9 years of a 20 year sentence and was released this January after a Habeaus Plea led the Government to release him. Eric was railroaded, along with two other young eco-anarchists, by the FBI and convicted of conspiracy to damage property, including planning to blow up dams in the U.S. Eric McDavid’s case is exemplary among Green Scare cases in it’s employment of an infiltrator and informant for the FBI who went by the name Anna.

In the next installment in coming weeks we’ll hear statements from Jerry Koch who was incarcerated for 9 months in a New York maximum security prison for refusing to give informaton to a grand jury, and was released on a Grumbles motion in January of last year. This’ll be followed by audience questions. For the full video stream of the event, check out http://DenverABC.wordpress.com. Thanks to Unicorn Riot for the recording.

Next week, tune in to hear Bursts conversation with Lawrence Jarach, a main editor of Anarchy: Journal of Desire Armed.

We’ve been listening to the first half of the former prisoner panel prior to the North American Anarchist Black Cross event held in Denver, Colorado this year. In an upcoming episode, we’ll hear the voices of Jerry Koch and Eric McDavid from the panel. The full video of this event can be found at http://DenverABC.wordpress.com or on http://unicornriot.ninja

Announcements

FAM Hunger strike

A founder of the Free Alabama movement is currently on hunger strike and in his 620th day of Solitary Confinement at Holman in Alabama. Robert Earl Council is on day 5 of hungerstrike for being denied adequate medical care. There is a request that folks call in to Holman and the DOC of Alabama to inform them that folks on the outside care about Robert Earl Council. You can call Walter Myers, Warden at Holman Correctional at 251-368-8173 or Commissioner Dunn at 334-353-3883

Bomani Shakur Events

On October 8th, several U.S. cities will be hosting events around the case of Bomani Shakur, also known as Keith Lamar. Bomani is facing threat of execution this year by the state of Ohio for alleged participation in deaths that took place during the Lucasville Prison Uprising of 1993, a charge which Bomani has always denied, claiming that he stayed in his prison wing to defend his cell. To find out more about his case, check out http://keithlamar.com

activism, Anarchist, Antifa, Autonomia, Capitalism, European Union, Feminism, gender, General, Hunger Strike, Immigration, Italy, Music, Prisons, Sweden

“Feminism in the Crisis” at Connecting European Struggles Conference; Julnel of Ü on anti-fascist Black Metal and social organizing

Feminism In The Crisis + Antifa Black Metal

http://connectingeuropeanstruggles.tumblr.com/
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This week we feature two segments concerning struggles in Europe:

Firstly, we speak with Linus. Linus is a member of an autonomous socialist group based in Malmö, Sweden, and is an organizer of the upcoming Connecting European Struggles conference in Malmö. The theme of the CES conference this year is “Gender and Crisis” and invites anti-state & anti-capitalist individuals and groups from around and beyond Europe to attend from September 18-25th to have discussions, watch films, attend presentations and engage towards a more integrated system of autonomous action and ideas. Bursts and Linus discuss the conference, the prior year’s, Crisis Politics, feminism, anti-capitalism, reaction and more. More on the conference can be found at http://connectingeuropeanstruggles.tumblr.com

Next, Bursts chats with Julnel, a member of Ü, an anarchist black metal band from Potenza, in Basilicata, southern Italy. Julnel is a founder of the The Black Metal Alliance anti-hate metal and punk collective, as well as a founder of Dark Skies Above Us Collective and Ü has contributed music to benefit compilations for both of those collectives as well as Crust or Die distro.

Recipients of the benefit funds, earned by selling albums of donated songs by similarly anti-nationalist, anti-racist, feminist, pro-LGBT (and so on) metal and punk projects and include: http://caravana43.com; Emilio (anti-fa resistor beaten by a crowd of fascists) and Dordoni Social Center in Cremona which was attacked in January of 2015 by hooligans from CasaPound; Eric McDavid; http://www.womenonwaves.org providing info, contraceptives, safe and legal abortions and more by sailing ships into intl waters around coastal countries where abortion access is prohibited; and 350.org.

These collectives (DSAU/BMA/CoD) include bands from Europe, North America, Australasia and South America. We spend about 20 minutes talking about uses of subcultures like punk and metal to engage politically by both revolutionary (for instance, RABM) and reactionary ideologies (in particular RAC & NSBM).

There is no Sean Swain segment for this week, but stay tuned for our next episode which will feature a conversation on the No New Animal Labs tour and initiative out of Washington State to stop the building of an animal testing lab at UW and fight against animal testing. We’ll also be speaking with a supporter of Jessica Burlew, an 18 year old girl diagnosed as schizoeffective and autistic, who has been held in isolation in Estrella Jail in Phoenix, Arizona, since January, 2014. She is being charged with 2nd degree murder for the accidental death of Jason Ash, a 43 year old man who was sexually exploiting her as a 16 year old. http://freejessieb.org/

Announcements

The following is an update on the Resist 450 event in St. Augustine Florida, which was written on Tuesday September 8th and posted to the EarthFirst! Newswire at http://earthfirstjournal.org/newswire. It should be stated that all who were arrested are now free, but the bail fund website is still active and accepting donations.

From EarthFirst!: Six people were arrested today for demonstrating against the celebration of the 450th anniversary of the Spanish invasion of so-called Saint Augustine, Florida. Arrestees are being held at the St Johns County Jail with misdemeanor charges. So far, three have been released. The support team does not have enough support to bond out all arrestees. Donations to the legal/bail fund can be sent to https://www.everribbon.com/ribbon/donate/22383

Tribal elders and the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples called for resistance demonstrations months ago. The Council asked Saint Augustine city officials not to glorify the rape, torture, displacement, enslavement, and genocide that accompanied European colonization but they were repeatedly ignored.

“Acts of genocide and crimes against humanity conducted on our ancestors by Spain is nothing to honor, glorify, commemorate or celebrate,” said clan and spiritual leader Bobby C. Billie. Billie led tradition prayers in defiance of a reenactment of a colonial landing this morning.

Other protesters took to the water. To the chagrin of haughty actors dressed in shiny hats and other aristocratic regalia, protesters held signs and chanted from kayaks, canoes, and pool floaties in the water surrounding the rowboat and forcing the boat back several times and finally reaching land with reenactors only under heavy police boat escort. More picketers disrupted the opening countdown ceremonies. They delivered messages like “celebrating 450 is celebrating genocide,” “heal the past,” “no honor no pride” and “conquest is not discovery.”

Police officers singled out and arrested four canoers participating in the water protest. On land, officers arrested two other people who interrupted a procession of dignitaries and escorted away others who called attention to the grotesque nature of the festivities.

Protester Libelula commented

“Today’s demonstrations seek to unmask St Augustine’s romanticized version of conquest as a vile glorification of the horrific and heinous acts committed against the original people’s of this territory by the Spanish Conquistadors. I’m from an indigenous background and celebrations like this one are not only offensive but also attempt to erase indigenous people’s suffering. This makes our demands for emancipation and dignity invisible. This is a blatant celebration the murder, rape, and torture of the original peoples of Turtle Island. It’s important to not let this go unchallenged.”

From Denver Anarchist Black Cross

Anarchists across the US have been taking part in events to raise funds for the Anarchist Black Cross in cities from Denver, New York, and LA. The events, called ‘Running Down the Walls’ raise funds for the ABC Warchest, which goes to help ABC Chapters send money and literature to political prisoners across the US. The runs are conducted in US cities and inside prison walls, building solidarity between incarcerated prisoners and those on the outside. Bill Dune, anti-authoritarian political prisoner imprisoned for an attempted 1979 prison break from the King County Jail in Seattle,Washington wrote on the occasion:

“Running Down The Walls has become a fine and honored tradition on our side of the barricade. I could run like the wind in past RDTWs even where I ran alone because the sense of solidarity took away the pain of physical exertion and of distance from my community – from you all. This year, unfortunately, I will be unable to physically run with you. I’ve been relegated to FCI Herlong’s dungeon because in the agency of repression’s mythology, an anonymous note purports that I’m planning to run from them. It was most likely written by a person of the porcine persuasion actually worried I might be planning more litigation. But so it goes in life with big brother! I will be with you this day nevertheless, if not in person, in mind, in heart, in solidarity as you – as we – run, walk, roll, move however we can down the road to revolution. See you closer to the finish line!”

To write to Bill Dunne, address letters to:

Bill Dunne #10916-086
FCI Herlong
Federal Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 800
Herlong, CA 96113

To donate to Running Down the Walls, go to http://www.youcaring.com/u-s-political-prisoners-406831

Ashker v. Governor of California

The Final Straw sees fit to mention a court decision – which we wouldn’t normally do, this being a somewhat anti-state anarchist radio show – but this little number highlights a few things which interest us and relates back to the interviews we conducted in 2011 & 2013 around the hunger strikes that spread up from California prisons to include prisoners in other states and even Canada in solidarity against solitary confinement. The case in question is called Ashker v. Governor of California, and it is a federal class action lawsuit on behalf of prisoners held in the Security Housing Unit, or SHU, at California’s Pelican Bay State Prison who have spent a decade or more in solitary confinement. The case was settled by the Governor’s office on September 1st, 2015.

From The Center For Constitutional Rights at https://ccrjustice.org:

“The case charges that prolonged solitary confinement violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment, and that the absence of meaningful review for SHU placement violates the prisoners’ rights to due process. The legal action is part of a larger movement to reform conditions in SHUs in Calfornia’s prisons that was sparked by hunger strikes by thousands of SHU prisoners in 2011 and 2013; the named plaintiffs in Ashker include several leaders and participants from the hunger strikes. The case is part of the Center for Constitutional Rights broader efforts to challenge mass incarceration, discrimination, and abusive prison policies.”

From https://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com

“This settlement represents a monumental victory for prisoners and an important step toward our goal of ending solitary confinement in California, and across the country. California’s agreement to abandon indeterminate SHU confinement based on gang affiliation demonstrates the power of unity and collective action. This victory was achieved by the efforts of people in prison, their families and loved ones, lawyers, and outside supporters.”

This case represents to us a huge and interesting step in our United States, which happens to be the country with the most percentage of incarcerated citizens in the world. Prison visibility in the media is at unprecedented levels, from the prison themed TV show “Orange is the New Black” to NPR coverage of prison strikes and the deleterious effects that incarceration and solitary confinement has on people. Since this particular case could not have occurred so successfully in a more apathetic social environment – support from families and on social media have been instrumental to any steam its gained – it yet again highlights to us the importance of sticking to your guns, to having strong solidarity with your comrades, friends, family, and neighbors, wherever and whenever it makes sense. So listeners, keep on talking to each other. It could lead in some great directions.

A-Radio Berlin, Anarchist, Music, Political Prisoner, Prisons, Radio, repression

A-Radio on Week of Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners plus new METAL traxx!

http://tillallarefree.noblogs.org
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This week on The Final Straw we feature a short interview by our komrades at Anarchistisches Radio Berlin with anonymized organizers of the International Week in Solidarity with Anarchist Prisoners, which is called for August 23rd-30th of 2015. More info on that can be found at http://tillallarefree.noblogs.org

After that we’ll be playing some recent metal and punk tracks from around the world. Much of this was gleaned from R-A-B-M, a site featuring global perspectives and music from across the Loud spectrum. Red & Anarchist Black Metal, as a site, hosts political commentaries and musical projects of anti-capitalist, ecological, anti-state, feminist and other common sense pursuasions… or at least projects that’re good and reject NSBM & RAC trajectories. More can be found at http://R-A-B-M.blogspot.com

But first in news:

Earlier this week Sean was unexpectedly transferred to Warren Correctional. It seems he wasn’t given enough notice to send word out to supporters, so we’re not sure what’s up with this. Warren is a primarily level 3 institution, so Sean also likely had his security level reduced.

It is located near Cincinnati, so anyone there, in Bloomington, or in Columbus are now closer than they used to be. Sean loves visitors (and is more down to earth in person than his writings would suggest) so if you’d like to hang out in a big room with uncomfortable chairs, lots of sad people who are happy to see each other and vending machines that provide the best food half the people in that room can get, fill out some visitation forms and write Sean a letter letting him know you’d like to come.

His new address is:
Sean Swain
243-205
Warren CI
P.O. Box 120
5787 State Route 63
Lebanon, Ohio 45036

Chelsae Manning, who is currently serving a 35 year sentence at the maximum security US Disciplinary Barracks in Ft Leavenworth after disclosing to WikiLeaks nearly three-quarters of a million classified or unclassified but sensitive military and diplomatic documents while she was in the military, is facing indefinite solitary confinement. The charges that have been brought up against Chelsae are very clearly the product of institutional intimidation, and they include: having literature pertaining to trans issues (Manning is a transgender woman), spilling food onto the floor, and being in the possession of an expired tube of toothpaste.

From her support page: “This is a disturbing attempt to silence Chelsea’s voice. Chelsea has been very active while in prison, speaking out through her twitter account about issues of government transparency, transgender rights, and the prison system. She’s been writing a regular column for The Guardian, and even wrote a bill to reform the Espionage Act and protect journalism.These absurd charges against Chelsea, and the outrageous threat of indefinite solitary confinement, are clearly an attempt to silence Chelsea’s important voice and cut her off from the outside world.We have to make sure this attempt to silence Chelsea not only fails, but backfires”. And we here at The Final Straw agree!!

To sign the petition created by Fight for the Future, you can go to: https://www.freechelsea.com/

And to read Chelsae’s regular column at The Guardian you can visit: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/chelsea-manning

To write to Chelsae, you can address letters to:
CHELSEA E. MANNING 89289
1300 NORTH WAREHOUSE ROAD
FORT LEAVENWORTH, KANSAS 66027-2304

And to donate funds, read updates on her case, and to see guidelines for sending her mail, you can visit the very comprehensive website http://www.chelseamanning.org

Columbia, SC native, Eddien Patterson was arrested during the July 18 anti-KKK demonstration in South Carolina (which we at The Final Straw reported here: http://thefinalstrawradio.noblogs.org/post/2015/08/03/they-ran-the-kkk-out-of-town-in-fact-exclamation-point/). He was initially charged with 2nd degree felony assault and battery by a mob as well as 3rd misdemeanor assault and battery. Eddien was on probation at the time of arrest and now is serving ten months for violating the probation. He is currently being held at the Richland County jail.

On July 29 Eddien was given the additional charge of Breach of Peace of a High and Aggravated Nature for allegedly breaking the windows of a KKK members pick up truck. Currently we are trying to find a lawyer for Eddien, but he has requested that money be added to his books and desires to receive letters.

To send money, either send donations to free.eddien@gmail.com on PayPal or go to https://richland.mcdanielsupply.co/deposit/index
his Department of Corrections # is 591561, which you’ll need to either send him funds or mail.

To write to Eddien, address letters to:
Eddien Andre Patterson #591561
E Dorm
Alvin S Glenn Detention Center
201 John Mark Dial Dr
Columbia, SC 29209

For updates on his case, you can visit https://freeeddien.wordpress.com/

EXTREME HEAT IN TX PRISONS by Malik Washington:
The next audio was a lengthy letter dated July 20th from Keith “Malik” Washington. Keith ‘Malik’ Washington is living in the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota, Texas. He reports on human rights abuses in the Texas prison system. Known to his friends as Comrade Malik, his life mission is to serve the people and create conditions in the United States in which all humyn beings have access to freedom, justice and equality! More on his observations, his case and the contents of the letter on Extreme Heat conditions at Wallace Pack Unit (and the retaliation for complaint against 3 inmates there) at http://comrademalik.com

UNICORN RIOT:
And finally, we’d like to suggest another source for what’s called “alternative media” aka media for all you trouble makers out there. The website http://www.unicornriot.ninja/ boasts a bunch of awesome looking videos and articles about current events which would be of interest to anarchist leaning folx.

From the website:

“Unicorn Riot is your commercial-free not-for-profit media alternative. We operate independent of government/corporate funding and are currently accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

The purpose of Unicorn Riot is to amplify the voices and images of marginalized people and further the understanding of dynamic social struggles in communities around the world. We produce media in order to educate and expose the root causes of social conflict in today’s globalized world.

Unicorn Riot is comprised of independent journalists and multimedia artists working together from around the world who are committed to providing uncensored alternative media supported by the viewers themselves.”

MUSIC TRACKS:

This track is “a gospel of the flesh” by SEEDS IN BARREN FIELDS from Gothenburg, Sweden, which formed in 2007. They focus on themes of anarchism and environmentalism and are out on Lundr Records. This track is off their July 19th, 2015 release Let The Earth Be Silent After Ye.

AMESTIGON is from Lower Austria, and they formed in 1995 and are still going strong. They focus on Satanism and the Occult among other themes and are out on the lable World Terror Committee. Right now we’re hearing the track, 358 which is off the band’s full length album “Thier”, which was released in May of this year.

PALE CHALICE from San Francisco, formed in 2008 and out on the label Gilead Media. We’re hearing Shaking Nerves & Vacuous Spheres from their June 16th, 2015 release, Negate The Infinite & Miraculous.

A-Radio Berlin, activism, Anarchist, Colonization, conspiracy, Environment, Florida, Food Sovereignty, General, History, Indigenous, Prisons, Racism, repression, Spain, Wales

Resist450 in St. Augustine this Sept + ARadio on #ReclaimTheFields (for Food Sovereignty & Prison Abolition)

http://resist450.org
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This week we spoke with Bobby C. Billie and Shannon Larsen of the Resist 450 Coalition. This coalition is set up to protest the so called “450th Commemoration” Celebration to be held in St Augustine FL at the beginning of September, which will mark the 450th anniversary of the settling of that city by Juan Ponce de Leon and Pedro Menendez, colonizers from Spain. In this interview we talk about indigenous struggle in St Augustine, the Doctrine of Discovery, the Action Camp which will occur on September 5th thru 8th, and more! To get involved with the Action Camp, or to donate to this cause, you can see all the information you’ll need at http://resist450.org

Additionally this week also we have audio from our comrades at ARadio Berlin! Anarchist Radio Berlin, which can be found at http://aradio.blogsport.de, did this interview with a UK-based organizer from the Reclaim the fields initiative, and they talk about the planned international camp in North-Wales, the relationship of food sovereignty and the prison system, and the topic of prison abolition as such.

You can send these folks feedback and comments at: aradio-berlin(at)riseup(dot)net Thanks to these comrades for sharing this audio! Stay tuned for more from ARadio Berlin next week.

In a bit of news, the trial of the Tarnac 10 is set to begin soon, minus the charges of “Terrorist Association.” The Tarnac case stems back to 2009 in Tarnac, France, the site of a farm commune on which 9 folks were arrested and accused of attempting sabotage on a high speed rail line. The case allegedly also linked the arrested, including Julian Coupat and Yildune Lévy, to the publishing group, The Invisible Commitee. The Invisible Commitee, which recently published “To Our Friends” is in the lineage of Tiqqun magazine, of which Coupat was a founder. http://www.anarchistnews.org/content/tarnac-eight-sent-trial-without-designation-terrorist-organization

A Virginian Anarchist by the name of Stephen Loughman was arrested a week after attending the anti-KKK rally in Columbia, SC, on July 18th. Stephen’s cellphone was dropped and he was arrested when he attempted to pick it up from the department of Sheriff Leon Lott. Stephen Loughman’s being accused attempting to incite hatred against the KKK, yelling profanity at the white supremacists and being in traffic. He’s being smeared in local media and by the Sheriff of being a career troublemaker who was attempting to incite the crowd to riot. He sounds like a pretty stand-up guy to us. You can find out more and support Stephen by visiting http://gofundme.com/e6b3tukuc . More at https://itsgoingdown.org/virginia-anarchist-arrested-week-sc-anti-klan-rally-support-needed/

Sean Swain speaks his piece on the recent drug delivery via drone, which occurred on July 29 at the Mansfield Correctional Institution some 65 miles southwest of Cleveland, OH. It contained almost a quarter of an ounce of heroin, over 2 ounces of marijuana and more than 5 ounces of tobacco. Sean speculates as to what other uses drones might have, and leaves us with words to ponder.

Playlist

Anarchist, Asheville, Durham, General, Klan, Luke O'Donovan, Police, Prisons, Racism, repression, South Carolina

Luke O’Donovan on State Repression + pt 2 of “Running the Klan out of Columbia”

http://durhamantirepression.net
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This week we continue our conversation with John, an anti-racist anarchist living in the U.S. South about thoughts and memories concerning the July 18th 2015 counter-demonstration to the KKK in Columbia, South Carolina. John also talks a bit about what he knows of the 1997 KKK march in Asheville, North Carolina and their subsequent patookis whoopin by the general population of Asheville.

But before we get there, we’ll hear some announcements, an important announcement by Anarchist Prisoner Sean Swain. After those portions, we’ll hear an interview conducted by a member of the Durham Anti-Repression committee of anarchist prisoner Luke O’Donovan. Luke is in the middle of a 2 year sentence for defending himself against 5 homophobic attackers at a New Years Eve party in Atlanta at the opening of 2013. More on his case at http://letlukego.wordpress.com

For farther flung listeners, if you’d like to hear this show on a station in your area, you can simply email us for requests at thefinalstrawradio@riseup.net and we can get a conversation started about making it happen.

On a separate note, for years the Iron Rail Book Collective has been one of the most socially transformative projects in New Orleans and has been part of a vibrant and growing anarchist culture in the city. Some of you may be familiar with it from the NASSN conference in New Orleans or the New Orleans Anarchist Bookfair. When the police closed the Iron Rail down through selective enforcement of code violations and forced it out of its long-time site several years ago this seriously set back liberatory politics in the city. There is a fundraising campaign going on to get a house in the Upper 9th Ward as a new home for the Iron Rail. A mere $4000 will secure the site and help start renovations. We would appreciate any help possible to get this important anarchist project reestablished. Please go to http://crowdrise.com/ironrail for information on the Iron Rail and the fundraising campaign.

A new insturrectional anarchist audio site has been launched called Resonance Audio Distro. On it you can find links to anarchist news sources in English, as well as a growing pool of recorded essays and zines. You’ll find such titles as “3 Positions against Prison” by August O’Clairre, “On The Continuing Appeal of Nationalism” by Fredy Perlman, “Revolutionary Solidarity: A Critical Reader for Accomplices” and more. Check it out at:
https://resonanceaudiodistro.wordpress.com/

Also, the political prisoner birthday calendar for august 2015 is out! If you or someone you know would like to write political prisoners on their birthdays, you can view and download the pdf of this document at prisonbooks.info. These lovely rabble rousers would also like to announce that their comprehensive zine entitled How To Start a Prison Books Collective has been updated and is available for download and distro at that same address, http://prisonbooks.info.

If you’d like to learn more about the situation in Syria and the continuing repression by ISIS, you can give a listen to #’s 36 and 39 of the Ex Worker podcasts put out by CrimethInc. These give specific information on and interviews with participants of the Rojava Revolution. You can listen to all their podcasts at http://crimethinc.com/podcast and some more updates on the situation of PYD/PKK/International Brigade fighters can be found about repression in Turkey and Iraq.

Stay tuned next week on The Final Straw, same time same place, for an interview with organizers of the Resist 450 event to take place in St Augustine Florida in September of this year. The city of St Augustine – one of the oldest cities as we know them in the US – is slated to commemorate the 450th anniversary of colonization by Pedro Menendez and Juan Ponce de Leon. We’ll speak with Bobby C. Billie and Shannon Larsen of the Resist 450 Coalition about the history of this event and indigenous struggles in St. Augustine. More at http://resist450.wordpress.com

From SeanSwain.org
In Sean’s words…

“I signed my transfer notice yesterday. I wrote everybody and gave them the Trumbull address. I got packed up today. Then the warden notified me that Central Office Anonymous Coward cancelled my transfer. Now I missed commissary and commissary won’t let me shop. I don’t even have soap.

Please let everyone know I’m not at Trumbull…”

We already sorted out the commissary issue, what we need now, is to get at the root of this, and so many other problems with SOCF. That means we need a concerted effort to address that Central Office Anonymous Coward: Trainwreck Trevor Clark.

Wanna help ruin Trevor Clark’s career? We hope so.

Here’s the deal: ODRC Counsel Trevor Matthew Clark is a sociopath who runs the ODRC torture program with his FBI buddies on speed dial, and he recently used his sock-puppet co-workers to harass Ben Turk and Ihsan purging them from Sean’s visiting list because Trevor Clark doesn’t like online postings. He also cancelled Sean’s transfer to lower security at the last minute. He wants to pull the plug on seanswain.org and turn Sean into his personal cat toy to swat around whenever feels like it. F this Ahole. It’s time for him to get disbarred, lose his job, and spend the rest of his miserable existence sleeping in his car. We can make that happen. It’s OUR world, and this creep is just mismanaging it.

THE PLAN
We gotta swamp the right hierarchs with a million phone calls and letters. The more calls the better. Is that reformist? Well, yeah. But the direct action alternative doesn’t seem to be happening, so let’s do what’s do-able.
Trainwreck is an attorney, so if he loses his license, he loses his job and loses his power to mess with people. He ends up at a job asking you if you want fries with that.” So the right people to contact are:

Columbus Bar Association
175 South Third Street, Suite 1100
Columbus, Ohio 43215
(614) 221-0754

For suggestions on talking points, more updates as they come and more of Sean’s writings, check out http://seanswain.org

Anarchist, Antifa, Asheville

They ran the KKK out of town, in fact (exclamation point)


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A reminder to listeners with graphic skills. We here at The Final Straw have gotten some great submissions for sticker, poster and merch designs for the show but would love to see what else y’all could throw our way. If you have an idea or an image that could include the: show name, ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw and some kind of thematically related title (like, A Weekly Anarchist Radio Show) or imagery. You can email designs to bursts@ashevillefm.org or mailed to:
The Final Straw c/o AshevilleFM
864 Haywood Rd
Asheville, NC 28806

If you’re in the Asheville area, consider volunteering at AshevilleFM, WSFM-LP. It’s a great chance to learn skills, share skills, make friends and more. Whether you want to end up behind the mic or behind a table, drop us a line at volunteer@ashevillefm.org or, better, fill out the application at visiting http://www.ashevillefm.org/volunteer.

This week we spoke with John, an anti-racist insurrectional anarchist who grew up in the U.S. South. John discusses the anti-klan rally that happened on July 18th in Columbia, SC, what he saw, implications, who was there and why. Next week’s episode we’ll discuss media representations of the rally, such as positing it as a showdown between the KKK and the “Black Panther Party” (meaning in actuality the New Black Panther Party, an organization unconnected to the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense around during the 60’s and 70’s). We’ll also talk about violent opposition to racists and the concept of the New South. If you CAN’T wait to hear that, check out our podcast file version of this episode, which will bring you one and a half hours of the conversation plus our regular announcements, Sean Swain segment and some dirty south jams.

OR, here’s a youtube video that friends made for the audio. For those in the radio audience, the second portion of our conversation with John will be aired next week along with other material.

Please note that John wished us to inform y’all that he’s the kinda guy who doesn’t do interviews normally and was nervous, so his laughter during serious points is not a sign of levity or lack of seriousness, but more of a sign of discomfort.

In relation to today’s episode, those with internet access may choose to visit the new anarchist news site, http://itsgoingdown.org, to check out a story entitled “all the news you didn’t even know was going down.” That story describes and links to examples across Canada and the U.S. of events over the recent past of people defacing confederate monuments, protesting the cops in response to deaths in detention, the shortcomings of labor unions and the fight for $15, Recent arrests in Oakland of 2 folks accused by the FBI and charged under the Animal Enterprise and Terrorism Act for freeing Minks and so much more.

From http://anarchistnews.org we get this headline:
“Turkish-based anarchist group Anarşi İnisiyatifi (Anarchy Initiative) are calling on the global anarchist community to hold worldwide demonstrations outside Turkish consulates on July 26, 2015 at 7PM in response to the government of Turkey’s complicity in the Suruç, Massacre. 32 young people were murdered in the suicide bombing committed by the so-called Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL/Daesh) including 2 anarchist comrades: Alper Sapan from Anarşi İnisiyatifi Eskişehir and Evrim Deniz Erol. The 32 comrades from various socialist, communist and anarchist youth groups were planning to cross the border from Turkey / North Kurdistan into Kobane in Rojava to deliver gifts for the war-affected children of the city and to participate in the reconstruction of war-ravaged Kobane.” Short notice, but there ya go. http://www.anarchistnews.org/content/anarchy-initiative-call-worldwide-solidarity-demonstrations-against-turkish-state-july-26

On a separate tip, the main topic of our conversation on the last episode, anarchist prisoner Eric King of Kansas city, will be having a birthday on August 2nd. Drop him a line, share some of your own poetry, make friends… whatever.
You can write Eric at:
Eric King
#27090045
CCA Leavenworth
100 Highway Terrace
Leavenworth, KS 66048

Also, he has an amazon wishlist where you can buy books online and get them shipped to this voracious reader. Details on that or direct deposits into his commissary can be found at http://supportericking.wordpress.com”

Michael Kimble is a self described black, gay anarchist who is currently serving a life sentence in a maximum security facility in Alabama for the self defense killing of a “white, homophobic, racist bigot”. Mr. Kimble is a writer and is part of the Free Alabama Movement, which is a group that organizes against prison work conditions by putting together work strikes and work stoppages around the state of Alabama. More about them at http://freealabamamovement.wordpress.com

Michael Kimble has a parole date set for December of this year, and it’s been a long time in coming! Stay tuned for any support that he needs, as well at to read his writings, at http://anarchylive.noblogs.org

Receiving mail while incarcerated has been shown to be very important, firstly to help combat the brutal isolation which prison forces people to undergo and secondly to demonstrate to prison officials that people’s cases do not go unnoticed. To write Michael Kimble, address your letters to:

Michael Kimble
#138017
3700 Holman Unit
Atmore, AL 36503

On Wednesday, July 22, Tyler Lang plead guilty (in a non-cooperating plea agreement) to a single count of conspiring to travel in interstate commerce with the purpose of damaging an animal enterprise. Specifically, Tyler’s charges stem from the mink release and vandalism of a fur farm carried out by him and Kevin Olliff (aka Kevin Johnson) in August of 2013.

Tyler, like Kevin, faces a maximum of 5 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. He also faces the possibility of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and restitution. Tyler is currently not in custody, though his sentencing has been set for November 9th, 2015 at the Federal Courthouse in Chicago, IL. Please stay tuned for info on court support at that time! A show of community support for Tyler in the courtroom on that day would help lift his spirits and keep him strong. You can see updates and information about his and Kevin’s case at http://supportkevinandtyler.com

August 8th 2015 marks 37 years of unjust imprisonment for the MOVE 9, who are part of the MOVE organization founded by John Africa. The MOVE organization is a multi faceted group whose tenants include: anti slavery, anti racism, anti industry, anti colonialsm, and pro-revolutionary-ism among many others. The MOVE 9 are a group of men and women who have been in prison since August 8, 1978, following a massive police attack on them at their home in the residential neighborhood of Powelton Village in Philadelphia. The government and Philadelphia police dropped a bomb on their house, killing 11 people, including 5 children. One officer died in this attack, and it’s since been proven that none of the MOVE 9 were responsible. Despite this evidence they are still held captive by the state.

On Saturday August 1st there is a call for support at a community town hall meeting to demand the Justice Dept take action to investigate the case and wrongful imprisonment of the MOVE 9. This meeting will take place in Philadelphia, PA from noon to 4PM the African American Museum located on 701 Arch Street Downtown Philadelphia. Topics to be covered will include: the destruction of the house, the beating of Delbert Africa, the trial of the MOVE 9, and the illegal practices of the Pa Parole Board.

For more information about this organization and about the MOVE 9’s case, people can go to http://www.onamove.com

To hear our past episodes on the case of the MOVE 9 click here.

As a final little heads up to folks in the listening audience, I’d suggest you check out the July 9th 2015 episode of the blogtalk Free Alabama Movement podcast. The show is produced by prisoners within the Alabama and Mississippi prison system and connects them with the folks on the outside and folks incarcerated across the U.S. This episode features a convo between members of FAMM, Imam Siddique Abdullah Hasan of the Lucasville Death Row prisoners currently held at OCF Youngstown, as well as Alex, of Prison Legal News newsletter. You can find links to this episode and tons of other interviews and resources up on the site http://supportprisonerresistance.noblogs.org.

Anarchist, Antifa, Eric King, General, Klan, Missouri, Prisons, Racism, repression, South Carolina

Anarchist prisoner Eric King; NAABC Conference; Trouncing KKK in Columbia, SC

supportericking.wordpress.com
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This week we spoke with a supporter of Eric King. Eric is a 28 year old vegan anarchist in Kansas City, Missouri, who’s facing possibly life plus 20 years in federal prison for allegedly attempting to molotov a Senator’s office. No one was inside the building or in danger of direct injury. He has been held in Solitary confinement at CCA Leavenworth in Kansas for 6 months as a July 14th due to his potential life sentence. Eric’s trial has been pushed back to October 26th,

2015. More on Eric’s case can be found at http://supportericking.wordpress.com . We also speak about the upcoming North American Anarchist Black Cross conference which is currently in it’s fundraising phase. The NAABC conference brings together advocates of political prisoners, prison abolitionists and other troublemakers once a year in order to better share skills and network. More on fundraising for this event can be found at http://www.youcaring.com/north-american-political-prisoners-366217

Click here for a firsthand account of anti-KKK actions that occurred Saturday, July 18th in Columbia, South Carolina that we received and wanted to share.

Interesting video and pictures from this event can be found at It’s Going Down, a new anarchist news site focusing mostly on North American struggles.

Now, an update from the Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee about the complaints of forced medicalization and medication of concerned prisoners at SECC outside of Charleston, Missouri. Sadly, time constraints made it so we couldn’t announce this in the episode, but here it is anyway:

“Update 7-15-15 ~ FINALLY!! A month and a half after receiving the first letter of complaint about psychological and medical torture, we received a letter from one of the people involved saying that things are getting better and they are working their way off the forced medication now. Many, many thanks to everyone who has participated in this calling campaign. This would not be getting better without all of your help. Please continue to stay in touch with us by liking the IWOC fakebook page here https://www.facebook.com/incarceratedworkers “

Also from IWOC:

“You may be familiar with Ricky Kidd’s case of innocence and his request to have DNA from the crime scene tested is being considered in Jackson County Courts. To find out about his case you can go to http://freerickykidd.com

In the meantime, Ricky is fighting another battle with the MO Department of Corrections that could lead to losing a leg or even his death. Ricky is a diabetic and has a soft tissue sore that has gotten into the bone of his leg and created a condition that is potentially life threatening. He was diagnosed with Osteomyelitis about four months ago, a condition that if it had been properly treated at the time would have healed by now. The proper treatment is a 6 week course of very strong antibiotics administered via an IV. The DOC has been giving Ricky an Oral antibiotic every other week and now the infection has moved from the tissue to the bone and is putting him at risk of losing his leg. The medical personnel have told him his situation is dire and must be properly addressed immediately as there is not only the risk of amputation but a risk of death if this infection migrated to his bloodstream.

Please call the Missouri Department of Corrections at 573-751-2389 and request to speak to Adrian Hardy in the Medical Division. You must reference Ricky Kidd # 528343, he is housed at Crossroads Correctional Center. They probably will not transfer you and will tell you that Harriett Clark is the contact person for this case. Register your concern and then call again the next day. We cannot allow this innocent man to be maimed or killed by the DOC by neglect or malfeasance.

Please forward this to your friends, associates and State Representatives, as well as post to FB where you can. We need a flood of calls to help get Ricky proper treatment.

Find out more about Osteomyelitis at this link – Osteomyelitis: Symptoms, Causes, and Treatment at http://www.webmd.com/pain-management/osteomyeltis-treatment-diagnosis-symptoms“

Playlist

Here is that account of the KKK getting trounced in South Carolina on July 18th:

“Yesterday in Columbia SC the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan assembled in order to protest the removal of the Confederate flag from the state house. I’m told that their permit was originally set to accomodate 100-200 people. However, this pathetic organization has dwindled in numbers since its heyday in the 1920s, and there were fewer than 75 klan present at any given time. This event happened on the same day as an anti-colonial and antiracist event was held in Tuscon to protest an islamophobic and white supremacist group, and is happening in the wake of a resurgence of white supremacist rhetoric and actions in this country. People came out in droves and showed the racists that they are not welcome in Columbia, or anywhere!

Despite the almost 100 degree weather and at least the 100 cops, paramilitary, and state troopers swarming the grounds, I’d say that there were at least 2,000 anti racists, anti-fascists, and community members present ranging from concerned clergy to the much maligned out of town anarchists of all races. I was in a group of caucasian folks and non black people of color, and it felt vibrantly good to show our faces in the midst of this crowd, which I’d say consisted primarily of black people of all ages and the remaining third were folks of other races. The solidarity in the crowd was palpable, with people starting conversations with strangers, helping others out with water, and looking out for each other in the face of police violence.

When I rolled up to the event, the anti conf flag counter rally on the other side of the state house was starting to wrap up. This seemed to be mostly made up of New Black Panther Party and Nation of Islam members. The KKK harrassed these people with racial slurs when they themselves paraded up minutes later through a funnel of their cop protectors, brandishing confederate flags and Nazi swastikas and screaming “white power”.

They were instantly met with jeers and heckling from their numerous enemies, which reached such a pitch that it made one of the racists burst into tears. At one point, one racist got separated from his group and was surrounded by the crowd, which screamed at him to go the fuck home and things like that. One man got arrested at this point and carted off to the crowd yelling “let him go”.

The KKK then stood in the baking sun on the steps of the state house for about an hour. They roasted in the heat and waved their flags behind a phalanx of their pig handlers, all the while making pitiful attempts to engage the antiracist crowd, which had them outnumbered almost 27 to one. Some of their sympathizers who were dressed in confederate flag apparel were chased off the premesis during this time, including one homophobic preacher and one Nazi peace police who was attempting to verbally shame people into leaving the racists alone. Several of the klan passed out from heatstroke during this time, including one old racist who had to be carried away by the cops wrapped up in a confederate flag.

The police cut their flag waving rally short by an hour due to the numbers of antiracists, which were growing steadily. The real fun began when the klan began to move out to the parking garage where their vehicles were being guarded by even more police. The cops attempted to hoodwink the crowd into focusing on one exit of the garage, while the klan was exiting out of another around the back. When the crowd got wind of this, we took to the streets and ran around the building to confront the klan as they drove out of town. They mostly had their windows up, staring forward and looking beaten. One klansdude however became so enraged at the verbal attacks he was recieving that he drove his SUV into a pole, crushing the front end of the car which leaked radiator fluid all over the pavement. The cops were unprepared for this, and the car was surrounded by antiracists who pounded on the windows and hurled rocks at the damaged vehicle. The cops then forceably surrounded the car and drove the antiracists back. Several people got detained briefly by the police and then violently unarrested by their comrades at this point. After about half an hour of tussling between cops and antiracists, a perimeter was established around the car and it drove away amid more heckling.

After this time the crowd marched back up to the state house, where the few remaining klan supporters were confronted and driven out of Columbia. I’m not sure how many people got arrested, but I think it was at least 5 people, for disorderly conduct and assaulting an officer. I’d urge people to keep up with that news, and help with people’s bail however they can. Since this happened on a Saurday, I think people should be out by Monday.

Throughout all of this, it seemed very clear that the crowd had pinpointed their real enemies as being the police. While people were mad about the klan they were even angrier at the cops for protecting these Nazi racist scum. The weak attemts by cop sympathizers on the AR side to focus the crowd’s anger at solely the KKK were entirely unsuccessful. I think that this event will be one in a series of many active and vibrant displays of anti racist and anti white supremacist actions in this country. I hope that people are staying safe and keeping their friends close.

Toward a world without racism, without police, without jail cells, and without the klan.
Solidarity from a comrade in Columbia, South Carolina.”