ATTACKING PRISONS AT THE POINT OF
PRODUCTION: A BRIEF LOOK AT
MILITANT ACTIONS AGAINST THE
PRISON-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

o e o
“The

prisoners of
democracy are
not only
contesting the
prison policies
of one
government,
but are openly
challenging
the principle
of detention §
itself.”

e

“The demand for
life itself has
become a

revolutionary
programme . . .
ATTACKING PRISONS AT THE POINT OF
PRODUCTION: A BRIEF LOOK AT MILITANT
ACTIONS AGAINST THE PRISON-
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX

Companions, let’s destroy all the prisons,

those walls which lock away our desires’

That money may burn in the fire of passion,

Let’s change everything so that we exchange nothing.
~-Raoul Vaneigem

115 o big secret that anarchism long ago declared iself 10 be at war with socicty's
prisons. Not just with the brick and sicel bastiles, but with all the instruments -
physical, psychological and emotional - tha serve to demoraize and imprison peopl
bodies and munds. Despie this uncompromising. historical stand, however, most
pracuicing (aciive) anarchists have managed 1o suppress any_idgas they might be
entertaining as 1o how to proceed aow with this s asie sk of out revolytion. The
classical anarchist waters, from Kiopotkin to Beckman, selentiessly exposed the rolc.
of prisons in temorizing the poor and disenfranchised i w<lass-plagued, authoritanan
society. And modem anarchist theoriss have cooked up a feast of altemative recipes
for dealing with “crime and criminals” - everything from wilage sireet parols to seif-
managed “therapeutic heafing centers” for antr-social offenders.

But n the absence of some concrete and practical notions on how to destry the walls
that e currently in place - notions that are uniquely anarchist - there 1 litle 1o
distinguish these streamss from most others in the vast fide of utopian rumblings. Afler
al, any auhortarian Marxist can provide an overview of why prisons n & capialist
society are oppressive. And any liberal social worker is bound to jump at the
opportunity of helping “criminals” rchabilitste themsclves in more humane
sumoundings, But prisons - the States main instrument of social control - won't
disappear until the entire decadent carcass of authoritarian society is SWep away.

So anarchists, i they are o transform the anii-prison movement nto part of th larger
revolutianary process, need to start hammering away at the prisons themselves. Every
prison in cuistence needs to be destroyed, on principle, and in preparation for Day One
of the social revolution, when, as they say, the prison gales will fly open and the
dragon willly out. The purpose o this pamphlet is to take a brief but detaled look at
individuals and groups who have targeted the prison-industral comlex at the point of
production, in the hopes of giving contenmporary anaschists some ideas about how we
ould poteatially be lending m ot more support o our sisters and brothers behind bars

A Wing hatevey wrking cass g o vy s o krow i i he class
usce s ony e rame ofusic, but s o justo at 3, wih th dice aing oaded
o e st Thecadsa Wicked, and o revlbonary facing e assvsie'of e
capaltsystom has ot chane n a milion o bong founc o uly by i cur, o
even of receninga her senence. I ol van nacescay o pay forwyors bacauss

1£ we sack the banks, it's because we have
recognized money as the central cause of all our
unhappiness. If we smash the windows it's not
because life is dear, but because commoditi
prevent us from living at all costs. If we break
the machines it is not because of a wish to protect
work, but to attack the slavery of salary. If wa
attack the police bastards it's mot to get them out
of our neighborhoods, but to get them out of our
lives.

The Spectacle wished to make us appear dreadful.
We intend to be much worse.

--0s Cangaceiros, Paris May 1980

0s Cangaceiros was a gzoup of working class anarchists who
energed from the background of the May 1363 revolution in
France, a rebellicn fired by the allenation inherent in modern
conditions and progress and the reduction of human life to a
function of & vicious production process. Coming togecher in
Nice, France; Os Cangaceiros - or the “Gravediggers” (of the old
Worid), as.thegiwers wltornatively known--were characteristic of
Al the new antagohistic social movements that began their
prosent phase of struggle in the wave of riots and occupations
of May 1968 and that desanded nothing less than the End Of
Politics. Described in the newapapers of the time as “hooligans”
and *juvenile delinquents®, they had no formal structure but
formed a collective of individual desires which found expression
togather. Their oaly program being “Never Work, Ever”, they set
sbout creating the circunstances which would make this
immediately possible. To this end they collectivized their
resources and their talents for czine which sat easily with
their desire for adventure.

They moved. throughout the south of France making friends and
initiating actions autonomously, most often sgainst the police,
union bureaucracy, politicians and social managers of every
sort. They lived nomadically and sought to identify those places
whore dissatisfaction was reaching a peak and to pass through
there to exacerbate it within the limits of their resources.
Particalarly they - highlighted the role played by liderals,
social democrats and leftists to manipulate or recuperate those
in revolt to their own ends, taking the struggles determination
out of the hands of a generalized radicality that had its own
dynanic.

“Let's stress once and for all that we, Os
Cangaceiros, don’t come from leftism: there isn’t a
single ex-leftist among us. And none of us has ever
been mixed up with any kind of political racket in
any way. We have only one form of relation with
political groups and organizations: war. They're
211 our enemies, there's no exception.”

- 0s Cangaceiros, 1985

-t

In the late 19706 they traveled extensively in Italy wnare
Autonomia was reaching its first peak and the revoiutiomary
Rovement spun the factories and youth out of the contiel of the
Communist Party and the Unions. There they came
Comontismo who cailed for “Criminal Struggle Agal
04 witnessed firsthand the violent

the Ttalian uncontzollables. As their methods of oparstion led
then fraquently into illegality and sometises jail, they
understood the significance of this and would turn theif
attention later more tangibly on the system of crime and
punishneat .

"Lets not give free rein to our jailers, strike the
tigezs heart every day, in every way, according to
our differences, against the sadness and solitude
of cells of confinement” --Os Cangaceiros

Throughout the 1080s, 0s Cangacairas followed trouble across the
COuRCEY and Continent, spreading subversion and foraing netvorks
of support in Paris, Lyon, Belgium, Foland, Brixton snd Toxteth:
The attraction drauing then to these places variacs in Lyen iy
was the thrill of Joyriding snd its’ Tuin hobby of ambushing
puzsuing police ‘stanes. in Poland

and occupations sgainst the communist
Government. In Brixton and Toxteth it was the explosion of the

Innes city youth against boredom and police reprassion..In each
Place they Wouid carry out theit oun Actions as ¥ Contribution
%o''tho strugule without attempting to manipulate the iocal
Pazticipants in any way. In Cheir Journal at the tie, Which ves
Bot s polllical paper but s susary of theif activities asd

Zefraceions upon ¢, they duelt on Such questions a3 the nesd

Zor Invisthility (and the consequent fejection of the palitical
Rlliau Which powitively invites police attantion for its owm
Vanity) and strategies for undermining the old. world of

Capitalisn and its noveltias and lies. In 1384, 0o Cangaceiros
weit o England to throw their stones with the Giners and atayed

Ehec for & YeAE in soveral Yorkanire towns: this was to be the

last stand of the traditional working class movesent in Britain,

the country lest to follow Eha bucopean Rodel; After this, they

Coturned to Paris { with sevecsl miners chey had becons friends
Witk and began Lo squat houses,

While Other squatiers sttempted to use conservationist and
architectural arguments to Justify the occupation of abandoned,
disintegrating buildings, Os Cangaceiros decided to seize the
best bujidings they Could find---they saw squatting s & Girect
expropriation of the material luxury we are all entitlad to, a3
Gach Of us i3 tantalized lifelong by the illusion of material
Vaalth and they wished to realize and exnaust che iie. To this
©ad, they moved Lt a newly constructed spartment block and
drove out the yupple inhabitants who complained. The seized
building was then fortified against police attack and they set
ahout craating a no-go zone for the police in their district.
Wnen the police finally Arrived to vict thes, it took them
thres hours €0 get through the stesl plating on the door, during
Wnich Cine their network of supporters were alerted by phore and
Countarattacked the police fron behind.

In the late 1980s, Os Cangaceiros emtered a new trajectory and
bogan Lo difect thelr efforts sgainst the Prison -Industriai
Complex. In the following three years they carried out multiple
Gers of sabotage against prisen Construckion sites, stole the
Srchitectirar plans for naw prisons, beat up some of the

architects who were designing the new Gulags and drew attention
to the resistance gathering pace inside the walls as well. The
scale and effectiveness of their actions against the Prison-
Industrial Complex forced Os Cangaceiros to disband their
journal and go underground entirely, as they were mow being
heavily pursued by police. One of their last acts ( before
dissolving into the informal criminal networks they had spent
nearly two decades creating) was to publish a book on the 16th-
contury Movement of the Free Spirit, a proto-anarchist curre:
that they strongly identified with,

At the dawn of Industrialism, factories ware
modaled after prisons; In its twilight, prisons are
now modeled after factor:

- 0s Cangaceiros, 1989

In 1990, 2 voluninous dossier began to circulate in France. The
dossier, sent by Os Cangaceiros, included stolen prison plans
and documents and a chronology outlining 03 Cangaceiros’s
campaign of sabotage against the 13,000 project*, which
pertained to the French States plans to create new maximum
security penitentiaries with room for 13,000 prisoners, as well
as reproductions of communiques sent to those who were targeted.
Interestingly, the police and companies which wers atiacked
tried to remain very discreet about this campaign, apparently
wishing to give it as little publicity as possible. The authors
of this pamphlet, on the other hand, want people to start
thinking about the various ways we can be undermining the
Prison-Industrial Complex and for that reason are reprinting a
partial chronology of some of the main actions Os Cangaceifos
took against the prison industry

| Letter to an Architect
SubkctAmbsh
Are your wounds well besied, ittt Did you
et why? 5
‘Shameiessty, withnodiscresionf s ki, commcze.
by Conamete: you have concved ekt ages i which
ven the handicapped wil e ek . s el
which you have desgood, ndividias who are worh
more ihan o will o besen upan egulrbese 15

) 004 that you Save received +n spputizer of wbat

Thousands of prisoners will have s €ndar 10 e ih
degree.

To b sure, architct, i i st you company' st
Intamy. Consdering what you bt 0 house normal
iliens, one can sy your competece 1 thu vy
linquents Gve moves el rom the owe Hock of
80 Ttk arondisernen (4naes o o] b prison il

Scum, ook tyout mug, we wer bl o noterom
your tired face Row deply yeu iveve youresmpour
prjects

Belors you were bilding wallsroe you's: going o

| nock themdown.
OsCangacis
Lyon 3775
French Radicals Sabotage Prison Project

The sabolage operation under- faken against different
companies Involved in the construction of the new prisons
began at the end of April 1989. Whoever accepled fo
participate in this conshuction project found them-seives, as a
result, exposed fo a number of our reprisals. ..

From the end of April until the end of June, we enter difierent sitas (Aixles-Milles,
Tarascon, Vileneuve-les Magusionne, Pontoise, Maubeuge, Bapaume), where wo
sabotage the coment Intended for the sites using a procedure which is childishly simple.
Sugar mixed with cement. in effect, in a proportion of one o one thousand (in ather
wards, one kilo per ton), prevents the cement from hardening....

On May 1, n Tulle, we tur our attention to the case of BRUGEAUD. This pudlic works
company sngaged in the construction of the Neuvic-sur-Isle and Uzerche prisons is kind
enougn to farnish us with a portion of the plans (measured in meters) znd 2 sizeable
Bookkesping cossier concerning the o Uzerche ste. After this break.n, the premises, fles
and offices are per-fumed with amimona.

On May 14, the Saint-Gely-cu-Fase branch of GTM s ricely vancaiized...As well, we carry
off precious booty from this expedition: detailad information about the participants in
this venturs, the plans of the Vills-neuve-les Maguelonne prison, along with technical
‘documents congerning prison securiy....

On November 25, we take an Interest in SCBTP of Pontoise, whoss offense is performing
a subcontracting job, doing the cieanup of the GOsny prison for the Spie Batignolles
company. Their builcing for pickup trucks and trucks goes Up in smoke.

On January 25, 1990, wo Inflct irremediable damage on the electronic console of th
‘camant factory i salon de-Provence. The BETON E FRANCE Company furnishes cement
10 the sites in the southen rogion. As well, acid is used to oty two cement mixers.

In & Bordeaux suburb, during the night of February 11 and the morning of the 12th, it is
the FORCLUM Company’s furn to be set ablaze and seriously damaged. This company. it
should be noted, is in charge of furishing ant-breakout devices for all of the wesiem
reglon, for which it provices prisons with alarms and video cameras and takes care of
installing PCls.

On February 23, in Paris, the architect Christian Demonchy is amoushed on the route he
usually takes 1o gat to work. Two of S give him a drubbing while passersby ook on.
Already responsible, among other projects, for a Club Med In Morocco and, in the
framework of the Bacinter program, for the Mauzac prison, ths faceless individual is
working in the offce Janet Demanchy on planning prisans in the northern region vithin
the framework of the Chalandon program, Shortly afterwards, by mail, we inform the
other peopl in charge of planning the project of the prico they might have to pay for such
activity, so that it can o longar be pretended that they are unaware of it.

On February 21, in Vincennes, we sprinklo concentratad tear gas in the offcas of the
ASTRON Compary, causing activty 1o come to a temporary hait. This company, which
Carrles out resoareh, takes care of sverything concarning prison workshops. In mid-Apeil
o Laon, a5 the ORSA cement mixers are going back and forth continuously to defiver
Cament to the site, I is the electronic console of the ORSA cement factory’s turn o be
destroyed.

Resignation is death. Revolt is life.

-Libertad.
French Radicals Sabotage Prison Projects 1989-1993

“For the first time in rotten country, a movement of
practical solidarity with prisoners in revolt has appearad
outside the prisons. This was a blow which none of the reformers
or moaners ever expected--all those who allow the suffering of
prisoners to justify their own cowardliness, their own Lnterest
in helping to maintain the status quo. Above all, it was a blow
for the State. We’ze not like those who specialire in writing or
3peaking about prison. The risk of ending up in ail--and. the
fact that many of us have been there before--largely conditi
our lives. Let's point out that those Of us who have be
convicted and detained in the past have always been oriminals:
we have no affinity with Prisoners” whatsoever. We
use the action of any pro: sabotage and vandalism, We
don’t carry out symbolic actions, we create disorder like
workers in struggle are currently doing, blocking road and
railuay lines, stopping TV ctransmitters, etc. The principal
characteristic of 2t we carried out in solidarity
with prisoners from mid-May to mid-June was simplic:

The Brussels TEE was stopped by a very simple procedure which
changed a signal light to red. 15 people were eneoush to stop
this important train, spray-paint the demands of the May prison
rioters, break the ‘windows to throw the tracts inside, The
system of signals of the high speed TGV was sabotaged by a mere
hammec; on various rail lines, elactrical boxes were burnt with
a bit of petrol. Straw burns well in summer, as a Toulouse chair
maker who used to make his profits from the sweat of prisoners
found out: “bandoleros” reduced his workshop and his business to
Fuins. At Nantes, the printing press which handles the nationai
Press for the wastern regions was sabotaged when sand, gravel
nd nails were shoved into the compressors ch ed the
PELAting cylinders. In Paris, two metro lines were shut down by
the simplest of technique owing worksite material on the
tracks.”

e

- Os Cangaceiros

ET My PEOPLE GO!I!
‘ & R By

German Prison Bombed - Destroyed Before It Can Destroy!

Many people had good reason to celebrate on the last weekend in March. Early on
Saturday March 27 (1983), a series of explosions destroyed most of a newly completed.
high-ech prison that was to be put fo abuse in May 1993, The prison in Weiderstadt,
cose to Frankfurt, ook eight years to build and Cost 250 million Marks (155 mllon
American dollar). It was 10 hold 500 prisoners and was 10 be & multiuse prison,
including units for deportees, a high-security prison for women, and for prisoners
awaiting trial. The German state has made much ado about Weiderstadts “humane.
conitons” - model for a new corrections policy. The late s true, Weiderstadt would
have embodied the latet in high-tech incarceration. In Weiderstadt the priscners were
1o be placed in so-called “living groups” of 10 to 20 prisoners, in single cells with &
common room and a smal kitchen. The cells were to be monitored with video cameras
and microphane/ speakers.

“The “living groups” were to be put together by social workers, psychotherapiss, etc,
and were to operate by a system of “punishment-reward”, The prisoner, on his or her
amival, would be assessed according to his or her wil o resist or adapt. Depending on
the evaluation by the psychologist, the prisoner would be sent t0 a “living-group”;
which vary from totally conforming to “on-adapiation’. Far from being “collective”,
these “living-groups” would instil competition between the prisoners which would
undermine solidarity among the prisoners.

By a “work-therapy” (i forced labor) and other psychologial messures, the prisaners
would come to seo themselves s criminals or as insane, But by adopting the “social
values" of the therapists and other prison workers - the values of the prison system, the
state and their corporate bosses - they would rise in the hierarchy among the prisoners,
Le. gain privileges and benefits that they could be lost i they did ot behave as desired.
There can be 1o system of rewards without a corresponding set of punishment. Total
isolaton in the high security wing would be the uitimate penalty.

However,there is not much let o the detention center now, The explosions destroyed
the adminstration bulding, much of the highiech security system, as well as four
“resdental” buildings. Damage has been estimated at 100 million Marks (€2 millon
American dolla’s) - sixty milion Marks fo recorstruction, and 40 million for the alarm
System that was not on during the night of the ataci. Furthermore, it i predicted that
Corrections planing would be st back foutyears as a result o the boinbing.

‘The commando Katharina Hammerschmidt of the Red Army Fraction (RAF) released a
communique a few days after the action that demanded the release of the remaining
RAF prisoners along with other prison-related demands. But the mass media only
printed part of the communique and, interestingly enough, the media did not print one:
of the demands calling for the release of all HIV+ prisoners.

‘The commando Katharina Hammerschaiidt took extreme care to avoid injuries to 11
guards who were captured at about 130, bound and gagged and driven to & nearby
field where they were left n van. The buidings were seatched before detonation and
the commando even put up warning posters on the outside walls of the prison. The
commando was named for a close firend of Ulrike Meinhof who was a supporter of the
'RAF and who spent three years in prison before dying of breast tumor due to medical
‘neglectin Novembet 1973

The RAF recently announced a decision to stop targeting representatives of the state
and captal in an attempt to negotate the release of RAF prisoners. (Thoogh, as the
communique makes ciear, this is a change in tactcs and not a refreat from armed
struggle) ExJustice Ministr Kinkel had signaled 2 willingnes to release some of the
‘most scriously il risoners. Only a few, however, have come out, and ofhers have been
hit with new charges and increased sentences, The RAF s response- “They all must be
released.”

‘The following is the RAF communique:

Nothing has chariged about the step we too in our istory, step which we need and wan, but
we are nvolved in a processof developing a sacial counter-power from below, from which a new
proposal for a process o revolutionary change can be deceloped, This, now as ever, s the highest.
priority for us, but stll, the conditions for this must be struggled for. Last August, we wrote
that we could not be held responsible for tis,

The Weidersaeer Priso is exemplary o how the Sist i dealing with pen . inensified
contradictions: more and more people re Jfaced with prison, prison, prison - and.it's &
deportaton prison, part of the Stie' acistasylum poicie, With it echnologcal pefecion of
{solating and diffrentisting imprisoned persos, it 5 & model fo th ret of Europe.

Freedom For At Political Prisoners '

For A Sacety Wilhout Prisons

The Path To Liberation s Traveled As A Part Of A Process Of Social Learning, Which Is Part
Of A New international Strugle For Change!

Fight The Racism Of The State And The Nazis!
Remove The Racist Consciousness In Society In The Socal Struggle Among People -Even For

This We Need A Mas-Movement From Below, Which Is Oriented Towards Solidarity, Justce,
And The Struggle Against Poverty, Socil solaton, And A Lack Of Perspective!

e Gret All Those Strugging For Ticie Human Dignity In.The Prisons In Preungsleim,

Santa Fu, Ploetaensee, Rheinbach, Stammbcim, Stravbing.

Solidarity Wit The International Prisoners Struggle!

March 27, 1993 Katharina Hammerschmid Commando Y%

- Red Army Faction
If's important that anarchists recognize and take action against the various
forms that prisons assume in this society, from mental prisons ( or
“asylums”) to immigration detention centers. Recently in Australis, there
have been repeated actions at immigration centers in Derby and Woomera,
including mass escapos and detention center riots involving both
prisoners and their allies on the outside. Reprinted below is a short article
on the German group K.0.M.LT.E.E, who from 1995-1997 carried out a
serios of militant, clandestine actions against deportation conters in Berlin
and othor parts of Germany. Actions such as these are going to become
more important in the years to come as the racist “war on terrorism”
intensifies. :

K. 0.M.LT. E. E Attack Foiled In Berlin ( 1995)
On April 10/35, police folled an attempted attack by four militants against a newly
constructed deportation prison in the Grunau section of Berlin. A total of 120kg of
explosives had been disguised as fire extinguishers and were designed to destroy
the new prison before it could be opened. However, ever since the spectacuar RAF
‘commando attack which completely destroyed a new high-tech prison in Welterstadt.
in March of 1993, German authorities have greatly increasd their surveillance of
prison constructon sites. Although police folled the attack, allfour persons were
able to flee. Since then, however, One woman (Beate) was arrested, but three men
(Bernhard, Thomas, and Peter) are stil o the run. All three were active n the
autonomist scene in the Kreuzberg section of Berfin, according to police. During the
folled attack, poiice also claim to have found the communique for the action, signed
by a group called "Das K. 0. M. I, T. . E. ", This group had previously carried out
an attack os ail abandoned army. barracks in Bad Freienwalde In East Germany in
November of 1994, This action, which caused 200,000 DM in damage, was done in
Solidarity with the Kurdish national iberation struggle and to protest German arms
sales to Turkey. Below is the communique from an action against the company
responsible for buiking the deportation prison in Berlin-Grullau.

Terrorists Are Those People Who Build Deportation Prisons,
Not Those That Blow Them Up! Stop The German State's
Racist Asylum And Deportation Policies!

On the night of Wednesday/ Thursday, June 7/8, 1995, we detonated several
containers fullof flammable mixtures under three vehicles belonging to the
ALLROUND construction firm, because they are involved in the construction of the
deportation prison in Grunau and therefore are partly responsible for the deportation
of countless refugees and immigrants to regions of vir, criss, and poverty. THis
company eams money by constructing a place where peope will be caged up for
weeks, just for exercising thei right to demand their foi share of the word's weath.
For refixgees, deportation doesn' just mean poverty and sormow, but also torture,
prison, and death. On Monday, 22.5.95, a Kurdish woman named Havva Koc. was
deportad from Berlin-Schonefeld o Istanbu, where she was immediately arrested by
Plaincothes polce. Her present whereatouts are unknown. As of June 12, the
moratorium on the deportation of Kurds will be lifted. In Kurdistan, the Turkish
miltary has been waging war for years, not just against armed ERNK units of the

XK, but als0 against the Kurdish Givilan poputation and i those who strve for
independence. According to the 1994 annual report of the Turkish Human Rights
Association (IHD), more than 2,000 vilages have been destroyed, writers and

Journaliss were sentenced to a totai of some 9 years in prison, more than 100
‘unlons, parties, associations, and arganizations were banned, and more than 100
Ppublications were confiscated or forced to close down Through Its weapons sales to
NATO partrer Turkey, Germany is a party in this dity war: first send in weapons to
fight against the Kurds, eams lots of money in the process, and then send back ail
those who flee from this war. The German state s responsibi for this cycle of
death! “Today, some two years after the right to asylum as practically abolished,
Polticians celebrating the S0th anniversary of the defeat of fascism speak of peace
and reconcillation. But such words are meaningless, as Roma peoples are being.
deported to Rumania where today they still face persecution, discrimination, and
pogroms. They speak of peace, as people stil being shipped back (o the former
Yugosiavi, through their decision to avoid miltary service, are actively resisting the
war, r2ped women, elderly people, sick and mistreated chiren. (. ..) Threatened
‘expansion and tightening of laws regulating asyum seekers, overowing deportation
prisons, the accompaniment of so- called securty personnel from the refugee’s
‘home country to assist in the deportation process, and the pianned “chip cardt’;
which would record an asylum seeker's every move -ail of this shows that the
interior ministers'racist repertoire s stil replete. * We demand that il efugees and
immigrants be given the right to stay here. Not anly because Germany, through ifs
imperiaist peicis in the Three Continents (the so~called Third Worid), has created
the root causes of fight (poverty, war, etc.), but also because we envision a society
where it doesn't matter in the least whether someone is green, biack, white, or
purple, whether they have a passport from this or that country, whether they speak
one language of the other. We don' give a shit about any of these things! Everyone
‘has the right to ive here. Period! This prison in Buren, which holds 600 people, s
exemplary of the legal state practice of German racism. Today, o one can claim
that they weren't aware of things. The divison of labor i dlear, Some people pass
racist lows, others transport refugees like freight, and stillothers buid deportation
prisons- ke the ALLROUND firm! The prison in Grunau, when / ' finished, wil hold
400 pecple. Unfortunately, the planned attack by K. 0. M. 1. T. E. E. was folled by
the cops at the last minute, When right becomes wrong, resistance is a must! And
wihen words go unheard, the language of violence must be spoken!

Solidarity with the Kurdish liberation struggle! We wish Bernhard,
Thomas, and Peter lots of fun, strength, and love as they run from the
cops! You can live and struggle anywhere! For the immediate release
of Beate K.I And of course, for Mumia Abu-Jamall Greetings of
solidarity to Das K. 0. M. L T. E. E. | Bye for now. until the next time"
DasK. 0. L L. E K. T. L V. Berlin, June 7/8, 1995

Our-Project: Das K.0.M.1.T.E.E

Since the end of the 1980s anu sre o in the 19v..
vadical-loft lost more and wore of its social relevance from you.
to year, as the praxis and content becane increasingly distant from

radical positions. As long as thare was u comson strength, at the
militant level as well, we dido’ t think it was necessary to always
appear on the scene under the same nase.
As the left began to retreat and the continuity of discussions
* began to Tapse, and as the foundations of comson action which had
been worked out began to collupse, we decided it was necessary to
constitute ourselves as a group in the context of having continuity
and openly-stated politics.

We assuned that contributions and interventions by groups
whose name has becowe associated with a certain praxis and
political orientation were given greater attention within the left,
their statements are read and studied more, more so than groups
with 1o obvious continuity. We hoped over the course of tiwe to
have a positive influence within the leftist scene and to help
wstablish certain poiuts of oriwitation.

Why Militant Politics

Considering the status of discussion within the radical left,
the silence and refusal to take a stand, we think it's necessary
for us to explain why we decided upon militant politics in a period
of relatively little movement. -

Effective militant praxis is not enough to break through the
left’s external lack of credibility and internal adaptation and
Inck of courage. Radical critiques of the present conditions of
hierarchy, oppression, and exploitation which do not seek out,
utilize, und discover all forms of resistance will sooner or later
lose faith in theuselves. To stick with our example: A left which,
correctly, states that it is a crise to construct and operate
deportation prisons, but which does not seek out all possible ways
of stopping such construction and operation, loses its perspective
and has defeat in its own wind right from the beginning. Our
uethod, if it had buen successful, would not have been the only
gestura and certainly wouldn’ t have been the best, but it would
liave been a lot better than all the coplaints about the
ispossibility of lefuist politics in an increasingly right-wing
society.

We doi’ L think that the left will develop a comprehensive
verspective out of feelings of helplessness-and the loss of its
wethods of struggle, rather it should try to draw strength From
ying to close the gap betweon thoughts and deeds, even in bad
times. With Sur nawe and our praxis, we wanted to make propaganda
for the possibilities of direct intervention and attack,
possibiliLies which are open to everyone who is not satisfied with
injustice and oppression.

Wo aren’ t saying militant politics is the only way to go in
today's society, but we definitely think it was wrong to put all
praxis on ice until we could look for the exactly right strategy.
We think furthor developsent can only take place in the context of
a process of reflection and action. Learning by doing. And soneday
when the conditions are better, when fundasental critiques of the
systen are in a broader social acceptance, then it will be damn
important to be able to look back on a history where we didn' ¢ give
up the fight, even during times of adaptation to fundamental
aninstrean posi tions.

September 12, m

England: New Prison Site
Under Construction Trashed By Pixies

‘Ashford, England: During the nighta group
of “Pixies” visitd 3 prison consiruction sie in
‘Sustey which has been carmskedforarev, privaicly
run women's' prison. With e planning, i
“Pixies” descended on the site compourd axd
welland traly trashed two lories and a number
of diggers, leaving behind the spray-painted
message: “No Prison Stte.” The Pixies said It
was un and casy give it 3

le Gaul!

The daring and audacious publCity- weiss orestest Pison Excapes ho. 5 Jacuses M

hungry bank robber and kidnapper
lacques Mesrine has to be one of the
alltime greatest prison escapees. In
the 60s and 70s he became a folk hero
in his native France, known as ‘the
Robin Hood of the Paris streets' for his
daredevil raids and for the Inabliity of
the ontire French police force to catch
or hold on to him. He Kidnapped and
tobbed the rich and powerful and even

gave away some of the wealth he stole
to the homeless.

e was g0od looking and charting, with a
gentiamanly, courteous and kind, even to those
Was robbing or Kcnapping. He ked high Iving,
1 [00d and wine, the best estaurants and the
best clothes—often (oboing barks dressed i the
combined this with a passion for met

planring and milary precision. He wes o
of s, often weoring two O three Wigs on
of one another for swift changas of sppearance.
Mesrine was constantly protesting over prison
‘exploling his notority 10 hghligt

rsonal hatred of

the issue. And he put tis
ncarceration into practice by esceping fom prisor
in both France and Canada 1o less than four

Umes, inciuding both the highest seculy pisons

on the 171 August 1069, Mesriaa and his:
goiiend Joanno Scheidr both escaped from
Porct prison in Quebee, Canada. They were nside
o attompting o Kidnap Canadian grocery and
xtie milionaire Gearges Desiaurers after he
‘sacked them both o8 domestic servant.
esrine know ho had 1o escape fom ths e

Joca pison before e was transferred 10 @ bigger
ane. He fipad the handle off an skminium MU
nd sharpand 1 by rubbing It oginst the coment
‘ol f his el Using this as & weapon ho.
Captured o prson warder, stealing N keys ond
Jockig him n the cel Jeanne had done the same
ing withthe werder of the women's wing and
opping ony to i the kichens and il a bog.
it fous they led ko the woods surrounding the
prson.
e was quicdy recaptured by the Canadian
ssthorties and sentenced 1o a tota o sleven

Sears n the rescape-proof maimm securty W
of the Sant Vncert de Paut prison n Laval,

‘vt Montreal The prison was brend now and
ubpose to be the most secure prison n the.

Zountry. But on the 215t August 1972, Mosrine led
e others In an cscape.

“The plan was outrageously simple. Whilo havng
thee morning exercise n the prison yord, they used
o pai of plirs stolen from the metal workshop to
st through the e fances surtounding the
‘exercise yard,crawing along the ground betwesn
‘oach of the fonces. Tho ascapees then stopped
two motorists on the nearest hghwoy.
Commandoering tei cars and then ater durping.
them.

However, fesling that |t was unfle that he
<houkd e ree whis othors remained incarcerated,
Masrine decided t retum to the prison and free
the remalning 55 prsoners in the maximun
ity wing. He immediately sarted robbing
‘anks to raise the money he would need for the
‘escape plan and a mere two weeks afer he had
‘escaped he retumed to break out the others.

Along with some friends, he had rented several
it in Montreal under false names, Stocking them

vith anough food fo several men 0 be abe to
i there, e had also g0t en0ugh §uns for there
10 be oo weagon betweon avery two oscapees. Al
2:20 i the ateroon on the 3rd September,
Mesiine and his frend JoanPaul Merclr drove up
o the prison armed with sawnal sholguns. They
lanned 10 thiow pairs of wie <utting shears and
The guns over two wo fonces o the axercise
yord. Thoy also had another two gotaway Gars Wit
wers parked t Inervals up the oad.

The escape attempt nover worked ut, As they
o up o the prison thy discovered that since
inex sacape two weeks earer secuy had boen
{ghtancd and there were now cops end armed.
prson guarcs everywhoro. Afer 8 shootout Wi
he cops and prisan guards Mesrine ond Mercier

i to maka 3 swif etway and abancon ther
breakout pen.

‘Back i France n 1973, ing on the run.
Mesrine was aware that eventually he wouk be
Caught, 5 ho arranged is escape fom prison i
vanco. H knew when he was captured e woud
o ted frst at the Palas do Justce in Compidgne,
on the outskits of Pais. So ho expored the
Dulding and drove around the surounding area,
dowing 8 map, Ho arranged on 050ape pan Wit
s fiends, showing them where (o park he et
oway car ond demonstrating the QuIkEstr0uLo out
of town. He alsa ok them into the Palis de
ustin and snowed them where guns coud be.
iadon.

"on the 8t March 1573 Mesiine was evantually
cavght b the French poice. A8 ho was beini
e 0 eison in an armoured van, e ted 1o
one of the cops escorting hm and S “Wnat do
Yo bet ma 1 be out in tes months?” The cop
Yniled: he knew Mesrioe was being 1360 o the
Dighest sacurty al in France—he La Santé in
i, rom which 1o ore hiad ever escaped.

o the 6th June, esine was taken or tial ot
the Potais de Justi in Compgne. Al day he had
een complaiing of dysantery and demondie 0 £0
o the ovstory o rogularntervals, Wi being
‘onsfered rom one venice to anothe, he Saw s
Bccomplce who throw his cigarett t the ground:
the agroed sgnel that sveryDing was reacy 10 §0
‘aheod 25 planad, At the cout house ho ogan
omanded 1o o 1o the tolet When there was 10
paper i th tolets for e use of deferants he was.
lowes 1 use the lawyers’ lavatores. Which of
Course wos where the gun wos hidden behind &
‘ltern. Sufing the gun uader isbet, e retuned
Lo he via. As he went p before he Bench to
‘anwer the chargos made against him, he sprang
forwards and grabied e udge, holGeg him

. gunpeont 2nd hen using 141 a5 2 human SN0

manceunre his way outof the cour, He then ron
hrough a halof guefie or the getaway carthat

Was waling and sped o long mina roxds by s
Irearranged got away route. Twety miles anay they
Stol & new carond dumped the ofd one, making o
@ pro airangd hide ut where Mosrine cracked 09en

promise snd oscaped within three monts.
"On the 281 September the poiice hed him
agan; an sccomplice arested during 3 bank
Tobbery had frussed him up o reduce his oW
entence. ARhough his recopture was o disaster
Tor Mesrine, h typcally made the best of a bad
Job by negototing i the cops sert 10 arést i
‘and using the time tis BOUgN to burn i s
Dapers, arrange his arsenal of guns snd
mmaniton nealy on the bed, wash, dress, shive
iy his Mt 5o that when he Snal fun open
e oo, immauistly ressed and pufing on 3
big cigar, ho was abie to waicome his archeneTy
‘Commissaire Broussard with a gass of
champagne. offering him s congratuations on
having “won his round”

‘Mesdne brow b was oither fcing the gulote
or e i prson. He was sent back 1 Lo Santé
‘where he tied Unsuccessluly o gat hmsellsent
6 count quickly n ordr 1 escape from the
courthouse. Insiead he anded up awaiing Vil
i for the whole o 1974 and 1975,

From nsida La Sant in Paris, Mosri was
Secrety commuricating with is ok accompice
JoanPaul Marcie, back In the Saint Vncen do
Paul pison near Monteal, guring out plans or
i to ascape o, r0b banks, get 3 load of monen
come o France and sping Mesrine (fom jai.
Mercier and 4 othars escoped again from Sant
Vincent do Paul on 22nd October 1974 but Mercer
Was Kiled n @ shootout wth the polce while
fobbing 3 bark i Monleal 3 mere elght days afer
the escape.

Wi awsiing tral njai, a5 well as frequently
wiing 1 the press protesting over prison
condiions and ghing an extensive Interview o
pars Matcn, Mesrino aiso wiote » ich
xaggerated autobiograohy caled L'nstict de
Mort (The Kiling Instint) n which he boaste3 of
{argo rumbers of murdars be had never commite.
The book was smuggled out of prison aad
publshed thioe monihs bofore s cose inay
came to it In ay 1977. Afer 2 typically stow-
slopping and totally unrepontant perlormance in
court he was eventualy sentenced to what under
he cicumstances must bo togarded 8 o very
et 20 year sretch.

It lettrs ha wiote o fends from prison
Nesrine taked openiy o oscaping. S0 the prison
‘uthorties ot Lo Sants, aody the hghast
securty prison In France, but a spacial new
masimum secutty win 1o put him in. And then 00
3 May 1978, th governor o the prisn recsived
a.all o nis diectln, Uoping 1 of that
Mesrine was goingto y a0 escapo I two days
M0 0 the 5t o May. No one to3k I very
sarousy. A Indeod Mesrive i not escape on
he SH L aiing on the Sth of My 5o the
escape Wik pastganed Unt the ..

Ao intensive study of the arcitecture and
unctoning of the piscn and metculous plnning.
Mesine perfected is escape from Lo Santé. AL
10,008m on the 8ih May, Mesrine and o olhor
pisoners oscapes by using secret cache of
weapons that hag bean sUgEld into the prison
for them by 8 corrupt prison warder, They heid vp
el guards, stoaing el unforms and locking
them in the calt. Then they accostad o group of
‘orkmen ling new bars on the windows of the
cols and ordered them 1o movo el ledder to the
outide wall of the prison. Using 3 ope and
roping ron that had aso been smugged In or
hem, te escapess cimbes over the wall and lot

themseis doun the otner side, siopoing 8
pessing ca to make ther getoway. By 10.256m
Mesrine and his accomsice Francois Besse had
become th frst twa men ever 0 escape fom La
Same.

A mere oight doys ot the ascape Mesrie and
Besse got back to work, rovbing o Parls gunsiiths

Ten oy latr e e ronbed 8 casing.

Mesine planned a series o revenge

Who hag gven vicenca against i o N il and
forcad e o open the bank vaults fo i thn,
n 8 one man campaign sgainst mairmu secully
pisons, e atiemted t ignap the ucse who had
‘sentanced b 10 20 years, demaraing that M.
Petit would ony be released f all o securlty
wings InFrench priscrs ware closed. He sald that
unless they were closed he would begi to
assassinate magisuates. The kidnapping of he
Judge went wron but Mesive monagod o escope
oy running downstaks svaight past the cops.
coming to got him and snouting “Quick! Mastne's
p therel s i sped past them. As they alraces
I the iner arecton he muce 8004 his escope.
The one cop who dd recagnise hm he disarmed
‘ond hanceutied t o dranpipe. This onely piod
Wwas onlydiscovered lter by s coleagues when
they had unsurpisingly faiod o find Mesrine
wpstais.

At another kidnapsing of weathy banr
03 industiats, Mesrine bogan pianring s seres.
of evon mre high protle Kicnappings of major
poltcal and media igures. It wos whle he viss
‘engages n this task tht the poice ho had
outsmarted for 80 long tnally CaUght up with him.
Thi time they weren't going 1o have him escaping
again. On 7nd November 1975, 0s ho was valtng
ot some traftc ght, s car was smoushed and
sumounded by armed polce. Mesrna was shot
over 20 times in an executionstye Kilng. He had
become an embarrassment o the Freneh
governmant at the hghest level—French Prosdant
Gscord d'Estaing had 190 the respansiie minister
only days ealer, “wd rolly have o finish Mesrine
ot A

‘Souroe: Mowrine—Tho Lite and Death of 3
Suparerook by Carey Sehofed (Penguir, 1980)

And Now... acques Mestine the videol 90 min
‘colour vidoo n Franch. For & copy send £7.50
Inclucing postage (chagues payabe to Chronos
Publcations) to: BM Chronos, London WCIN

30 UK.

The Boston Anarchist Black Cross functions as the defensive arm of
ocal anarchist strugeles. We work to forge an organized support network
for local activists in nced and for folks behind bars. We scek the total
abolition of prisons and work on projects in supportof his cause.

Boston ABC
PO Box 230182
Boston, MA 02123
‘bostonabe@riseup.net

‘myspace.com/abchosion