Category Archives: Police

activism, Anarchist, Cleveland 4, May Day, Police, Prisons, repression, Security Culture

Gail Stevens, mother of Connor, Cleveland 4 defendant

2012/09/30 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features a conversation with Gail Stevens. Gail is the mother of imprisoned activist and anarchist, Connor Stevens, who is one of the four anarchists that the FBI is accusing of attempting to blow up a bridge outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Connor and two other defendants, Brandon Baxter and Doug Wright, have taken a non-cooperating plea deal in the case and face their sentencing hearing on November 5th & 6th of 2012. Joshua Stafford is currently undergoing psychiatric testing to see if he can stand trial. Anthony Hayne took a cooperating plea.

During the interview Gail talks about her son, Connor, and offers a different story than what the FBI and even Rolling Stone Magazine have proposed as to what happened leading up to the arrest of the 5 on April 30th of this year. Gail also rips into the poor journalism involved in “The Plot Against Occupy” and tells us what Sabrina R. Erdely got wrong.

For more info on the case, check out http://cleveland4solidarity.org

For a news excerpt with video of Connor at Occupy, check out:
http://youtu.be/DEpQwuTMALA

activism, ALKQN, Anarchist, Author, communization, conspiracy, CounterInsurgency, Earth & Animal Liberation, General, Grand Jury, History, Immigration, Occupy, PNW, Police, Prisons, repression, Security Culture

Life During Wartime: Counterinsurgency in the U.S.

2012/08/19 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features a conversation with William Munger, co-editor and contributor to the upcoming AK Press book, Life During Wartime (2013). We talk about the application of Counterinsurgency praxis by law enforcement domestically in the U.S. and what that looks like in it’s varying forms.

What is COIN (Counterinsurgency)? How is it being applied to movements and communities in the United States? How do we resist it? These are among the topics covered during the conversation.

Among other things, Will’s research has focused on the case study of the relationship and dialogue developed between law enforcement in Salinas, California and the Monterey, California-based Naval Postgraduate School. This relationship has allowed NPS to conduct the beginnings of a proxy-war on the local Latino populations with a focus on eradicating gang networks. Will’s essay, “Social War in the Salad Bowl” won a grant from the Institute for Anarchist Studies this last year.

U.S. Army Field Manual 3-24: Counterinsurgency Warfare
NPS: Gangs and Guerrillas

The playlist for this show can be found at AshevilleFM

activism, Anarchist, communization, General, Police, Prisons, Quebec, repression, Student

STUDENT STRIKE! POPULAR STRUGGLE! / GRÃVE ÃTUDIANTE! LUTTE POPULAIRE!

2012/07/29 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features a conversation with Maria, an American-born anarchist and former University student living in Montreal, Quebec. Maria shares with us the context of the student and social strikes of earlier this year in this conversation.

Some more resources on the subject include:
Greve Montreal
Montreal Counter-Info
Bloquons la Hausse
Call Out to block the next semester
a good piece on the student movement
The blog of one of the neighborhood assemblies
Sketchy Thoughts

activism, Anarchist, Asheville, gender, General, History, Immigration, Music, Police, Prisons, Queer, repression

What if we could swish AND fight? (2012 Redux of Stonewall show)

2012/06/24 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show is a conversation with Parks (a member of Tranzmission Prison Project) about Stonewall, the cooptation of it’s rememberance in the form of Pride marches, the split of the liberation movement into the pride movement and continued radical struggles.

The playlist for the show can be found here

activism, Anarchist, Author, gender, General, NATO 5, Police, Prisons, Queer, Racism, repression

Dean Spade on Critical Trans Politics; Freedom For Chris French

2012/05/27 The Final Straw Radio

This week features a conversation with attorney, educator and trans activist, Dean Spade about his new book, “Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics and the limits of law”, just out from South End Press. Normal Life is a finalist for the 2012 Lambda Literary Awards. Follow Mr. Spade’s writing at http://www.deanspade.net/

Before hearing from Dean Spade, though, we hear from Bailey, who’s doing support for Christopher French, an Atlanta Anarchist who’s facing multiple felony charges and has to raise $25,000 to be bonded out in relation to the recent anti-NATO demonstrations in Chicago. More information about Christopher’s case can be found at:
http://freedomforchris.wordpress.com

activism, Anarchist, Author, Cleveland 4, conspiracy, Earth & Animal Liberation, Eric McDavid, General, Grand Jury, Ian Coldwater, June 11, Marius Mason, Occupy, Pax, Police, Prisons, repression, Security Culture, Will Potter

Cleveland Anarchists, Pax and Support for Long Term Anarchist Prisoners: Conversations with Will Potter & Ian Coldwater

2012/05/13 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features two conversations around the fbi, prisons and Anarchists.

The first is with Will Potter, author of Green is the New Red and blogger at greenisthenewred.com . Will is an award winning, independent journalist based out of Washington, D.C. Our conversation revolves mostly around the recent case of Anarchists in Cleveland entrapped into plotting destruction of infrastructure by the FBI and an informant.

The second conversation is with Ian This show is also in preparation for the upcoming June 11th International Day of Solidarity with Long-Term Anarchist Prisoners. Ian updates us on Marius Mason and Eric McDavid, two of the main focuses of his recent tour of the U.S. called Never Alone, in run-up for June 11th. Ian also speaks about security culture, revolutionary solidarity and growing cultures of resistance, as well as updates us on the cases of Pax in Portland (accused of property destruction) and the Grand Jury in the S.F. Bay Area.

http://www.june11.org
http://www.greenisthenewred.com
http://www.supportmariusmason.org/
http://www.supporteric.org/
http://freepax.org/
http://waronsociety.noblogs.org/

General, Immigration, Police, Prisons, Racism, repression

Immigration over Coffee: a conversation with Loida (June 17, 2011)

2012/04/08 The Final Straw Radio

This weeks show was a conversation my friend Loida. Loida lives in the Asheville area, works here, was up until recently a student here. Loida is undocumented. We spend the hour talking about some of the laws recently passed around the U.S. and NC (and on their way to passage) that target folks without documentation, we discuss racism, we explore belonging and exclusion and identity.

Anarchist, conspiracy, Earth & Animal Liberation, Eric McDavid, General, History, Ian Coldwater, Marius Mason, Police, Prisons, repression, RNC8

Conspiracy Trials, Grand Juries and Security Culture

2012/02/12 The Final Straw Radio

This week’s show features a conversation with Ian Coldwater, a co-founder of the Coldsnap Legal Collective, about Conspiracy Trials, Grand Juries, Security Culture and technology. We discuss some of the trials that have come up against Anarchists, Animal and Earth defenders and other radicals over the last 8 years in the U.S. and Canada with an eye towards what we can learn in order to increase our safety as activists and radicals.

For more info, check out the following links:

Keep an eye open for local events by the Never Alone Tour in your area.

activism, Asheville, General, harm reduction, Police

Needle Exchange: Harm Reduction and Disease Prevention in WNC

2012/01/15 The Final Straw Radio

from http://www.ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw/01/2012/needle-exchange-harm-reduction-and-disease-prevention-in-wnc :

This weeks show is an interview with Michael Harney, the coordinator of the NEPA (Needle Exchange Program of Asheville) and, in a different capacity, works with WNCAP (Western North Carolina Aids Project). He’s done this work and gained notoriety and helped many to help themselves since 1994. During the hour, Michael informs Bursts about the history of these two groups, where they stand today, harm reduction in general, and the attacks and withdrawals of government at it’s many levels in illegal-izing the exchange of dirty needles (for disposal) with clean ones as politicians change.

Michael Harney, Coordinator, Needle Exchange Program of Asheville (NEPA), 828-274-8397
also works with Western North Carolina AIDS Project (WNCAP) www.wncap.org 828-252-7489 ext. 311

1-800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) www.cdc.gov Centers for Disease Control and Prevention â info about HIV/AIDS services, testing, condoms, needle exchange programs, STDs, and Hepatitis

www.harmreduction.org Harm Reduction Coalition
www.nasen.org North American Syringe Exchange Network
www.nchrc.org North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition

Anarchist, conspiracy, General, Greensboro, Police, Prisons, Racism, repression

FBI raids of Almighty Latin Kings + Queens Nation of NC (12/11/2011)

2011/12/11 The Final Straw Radio

from http://www.ashevillefm.org/the-final-straw/12/2011/fbi-raids-of-almighty-latin-kings-queens-nation-of-nc

This weeks interview is with Sara Lee of the Greensboro support group for Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation in North Carolina. During the hour, Sara Lee talks about the history of the ALKQ Nation and it’s development in North Carolina, including being fundamental to the drawing together of Crips, Bloods, MS13 and community and faith groups in Greensboro in 2008 to draft a gang truce and common statement of the necessity for organizations of all stripes to focus on community enrichment and safety. On Tuesday of last week (December 6th) at 8AM, an elite FBI SWAT team, the ATF & the Greensboro-FBI committed synchronized and violent raids on houses and families allegedly aligned with the ALKQ Nation here in NC, rounding up 13 people and harassing their families for 3 to 4 hours.

Anarchists, like Sara Lee, are calling for support for the ALKQN defendants who they’ve worked with on anti-prison struggles here in state.

The defense network is made up of family, friends, allies and anarchist comrades. The arrested current and former members of the ALKQN organization in state are being indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on Racketeering and RICO charges.

More information on the case (as well as a link for donations for legal costs) can be found at http://alkqnsupport.com/

There will be a Noise Protest at the Detention hearings in support of the defendants on Tuesday, December 13th @ 10AM & 2:30PM outside of the L. Preyer Federal Courthouse at 324 West Market St in downtown Greensboro.

The Final Straw Radio Podcast