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| Floyd Uprising Reader Vol.1 Insurgency and Beyond


‘Thanks for pening tise. ‘A troup of anarchists and autoncmists in the Bay Ares/occupied ‘Ohlone land have collected these wetings animated by the 2020 upesings ‘which gited the so-called United States after the police murder of George Floyd. Our invention that this reader inaptes poople everywhere 0 ‘nage in deeper conversitions about al aspects ofthe uprising including ite significance and context to the US Blick Liberation stugale. We [blew these discussions are vital to shaping ongoing and fare stole improving tatcs, and rendering ineffective the insidious nares that smo crush ou cllecive power We have organized these selected writings nto two volumes Volume 1: Insurgency and Beyond shares on-he-ground accounts feom various sites of struggle the challenges faced, vitorcs won, analysis sharpened, and lesons leaned. Each writing, specific toe physical and Cultural landscape, firme the necessity of insurrection while grappling ‘with ts impermanene nator and the questions of how we move forward toxesher from such eruptions Volume 2: Belligerent Identities in the Face of Counter- Insurgency examines identity polities, Black anarchists role in the uprisings, the racalized nature of “looting”, among other dynamics, The concept of Beligerent lentes stake from te Latin Bellu Gere which translater ae"towage war ater for guerilla soldiers wed by the tte. Ifa Ipeligeren identity is that of the enemy combatant then we ack to reclaim and wesponize this erm. The writing inthis volume peak to how the f- ‘cht, pole, tate, media, and thera use everything for live armnition totired thetoi to douse the ames of rbellon and diffuse the potentials cof solar. ‘As non-Blck anarchists and autonomists gathering and framing ‘wrcings about an uprising that is centered around Black liberation, out Tositiomalty lends elf to 2 possiblity of missing important cements and perspectives. However we hope that yu find this reader thought provoking. Through erica analysis and Gere practice, may the Sree our ‘heats burn brighter as we love stronger and ight smarter in our eoletive serugae for lberation.
‘TABLE OF CONTENTS Volume insurgency and Beyond uu» Minneapolis: Now This Fight Has Two Sides Riots Mean for ehe COVID.19 Era What the owt the Wendy's: Armed Struggle at the End of the World Fighting Smarter Strategy & Analysis in Olympia vo Tools and Tastes from Portland Protest | INSURGENCY AND BEYOND Some questions to frame your reading ‘What are the lessons ofthe rebellions in defense of Black lives and against ‘white supremacy that occured in 2020? How do we reinforce he strengths tha emerged and lear from our callectve shortcomings? Whar is che balance between supporting and feeding the justifiable fires of sage and preparing for, building and defending a liberator future? Hw do we carr the spn of insurrection inc further ations, relationships ‘aa practice after the looting, burning, and destruction fas ended”?
Asis ling wd srthe Mincapl oe Dpaomen sn ‘alae Td May oo tpn othe baling of Gg Pld ¢ MPD “cat: lar)
MINNEAPOLIS: 5/28)2020 crimethincicom NOW THIS FIGHT HAS TWO SIDES WHAT THE RIOTS MEAN FOR THE COVIO-19 ERA, The sosensins os vo Minneapolis mark historic watershed in the COVIDL9 era As we argued in March, there are some things that are worth risking death for Perpetuating capitalism i not one of them. But some of us face threats even tone deadly than OVID. leis worth risking our lives fight, foraworldin which no one willbe murdered the wo thae Geonge Floyd was-and what is hap Pening in Minneapolis shows that people are ready ven before the pandemic hit, the United Stars was powder keg, with rapily ecalat- Ing inequalities polarising the popaation. Since March, we have experienced historically ue precedented “unemployment alongside lethal Fiske chat ave been deerinutd throwshout the population along che same ines of race and class
asthe preexisting disparities. The government has invested bills of dollars to pour into the pockes of executives, while leaving ordinary people high and dys corporations are forcing those who all have job 0 rik ther ives day, whilenerodcing new surveillance technologies sodsecking to hasten the pace of automation In shor, we are being treated as surplus popula tion tobe contrlled by sae violence and culled bythe vius. Politicians across the political specerum are compliciin this. Some ae eying more on brute forceto sabilizethe situation others mare ‘on more rational management, but no one hel ing power has tel plan for how eo address the sytem actors that yor usher inthe st place. ‘Atbeat they borrow ehetorie and talking points from campaigns that we stare, showing jus 25 the firing ofthe police in Minneapolis did—ehat the nly way we will ee social change i if we take grassroots action to bring itabour by force Yee until May 26, the chief faut line in the United State appeared to be between Tromp supporters who wane to pretend that there Is fo pandemic taking place and Democrats who ‘wanteabe seenasthe cations responsible ones without addessng the factors chat force us to pur ourselves a risk. The spectade of clashes Eeoween an astoturf farright movement de ‘manding to “re-open” the economy and uns ally retrained police offers defending state shutdown measures served 0 limit polite iscourse to fools choice between the kind of “feed” championed by capitalists and white supremacists on one side and the kind of safe. (9 chartotalearian tates always promise 0 p10- ide on dhe other “The courageous resistance to polis conta in Minneapolis on May 26 and 27 in response to the brutal murder of Oconge Foy shows hat 3 large nomber of peopl ae ready to oppose the government and the police even at great rk £0 themselves, We are hearing the voies of a pat ‘ofthe population that was sl chese past ewo ‘months—those who are neither wealthy liberals ‘or booticking conservatives and itgurs out that together, we are powerful enoush to inte. rupethe sas qe “The events in Minneapolis wil expand the collective imagination of what i possible, which hhad contacted painfully ver the past several years. They will change the dscourse about how Secial change happens. Ir has become clear that entreating those who hold power through elec oral means isa dead end, Arempring to make change by main force isa gamble, but i isthe ‘only realistic option let. Tris signicant that the mobil took us sero this hreahold was a reponse co anti-Blck police violence, stated by those on the receiving end of white supremacy and all the other vectors of oppression. As we noted at the «end of ot, the uprisings gains police violence that took place around che country fom Ferg son to Baltimore and Beyond vival ceased eer the election of Donald Tromp The reason ‘why this happen is unclear but they certainly Aid noe cease because police violence dim {shed in any way. The upaising ie Minneapolis brings all the unseted debes ofthat era back Jno play, bue ina totally diferent context, in hich a le more people have been radicalied society much more polarized and iis increas {nly clear to everyone that—awhether from the bullets ofthe police, COVID-19, of slob sate change—our lives see a stake The clashes in Minneapolis dominate the ‘news from Greece to Chile, For good or fori, the United States occupies central place inthe slobal atention economy—and thanks to the pandemic, everyone around the world is exper éeneing simular pressures. Especially inthe global South—BrcilIrsdonesia South AVrica—where lange numbers of people experience the same tion that
brutaley thats meted out ro people like George Floyd, che rebellion in Minneapolis wil ofr an ‘example others will emulate over the coming ‘months. How wil the ruling clas respond! In the United States, Teamp and his supporcers will change that Democrats can't contol the ses they govern using histo stake raise ear among the beneficiaries of white privilege. Centist Demate will aim that this sore of untest what happens when rule of aw i nor respected in the White House, hoping to regain power nationallyeven though Minnesota is under Democratic governance right now, and the Tse hasalays heen an instrument of white suprem- ay. The institutional Left wil present them Selves as stermediaris, fering to get us out of the street and under concol in retuen fora few Hopefully, in time when the state itself is fracturing tnco eval factions, none of these aroups have che political capital they need © {arty out a marsive state clampdown siehout running the risk of ing abandoned bythe oth fer. Te appears that eacs faction would ike the ‘others to be the ones held responsible forex “alating che seuation. In any ease, Trump is no Tonge the only one dominating the news cee [Now this war has two sides. ‘Only a week ago, some clements on the fa right were tryingto frame themselves as ant-po- Tice because of the “re-open” process In Min- neapolis Inst night, gun-toting militia members ‘expressed the aehvand poston that they sa ported the prowess but opposed the looting ‘contradiction thae becomes fageancly obvi 45 soon as you notice which direction che are pointing their guns. The apparent musder of 2 demonstrator in Minneapolis lastnight by 2 Wigilante defending a store should make i cleat ‘enough that vigilantes and cops are the same thing-murderers whether in oF out of whl form, ‘And whae should we dat We should tak cleanly ro everyone who wil listen about why people are sanding up for themselves. We hot shat kills abouthow ro keep each othet Safe in the street, We should strengthen ou net ‘works and prepare topartcipateinsimilarevents allsrounal the world. We should resi every fort to divide those acting tether in slid ity agains police viclence, especially conspiracy theories about outside agitators. We should ex plain yeragain why vandalismand looting aeet- fective and leptimate proves acti. Every une people stand up for themaclvesagainstthe police sae, we should show up in solidarity, prepared torn the same risks that those we support face ‘every day. Above all, we should share visione of 2 word without oppression, without hierarchy, Vethoue police oF prisons or surveillance, and demonsttatesteateges via which to create ‘Weowe nothing tothe police who have ak- ‘en advantage ofthe pandemic to murder Black People even mote fagranty than before. They tere never meant co Keep us safe: We ove noth- ing tothe iliaires who have taken advantage ‘of the pandemic to pocket even more money feom the site and comer the market with theit ‘monopolies Life for ther economy means death forus. We ove nothing othe politicians who have scarcely ited finger to protect our health ‘or housing, They have had their chance, We need eo change everthing ourselves, “The ring order i doomed. wil collapse sooner or lite. Concentrating wealth and pow rin fewer and fewer hands not sustinable “The only question is whether we wil abolish i before i kllal of us and decimates the planet. ‘Tie ie shor. The lives we choughe were ahead ‘of ushave already been snatched from us. I's up to ussocteate anocher fore “Thank you co everyone in Minneapolis and Los Angeles sho risked their freedom-—and rethaps thei lives—las night to shew that the ‘murder of George Foy is unacceptable

AT THE WENDY'S: rofgl2020 illulleditionscom ARMED STRUGGLE AT THE END OF THE WORLD ‘Anonymous The sine sce ous te «vents hae took place between June rath to July ruth athe occupation of Wendy's in Aeants, Georgia, he site of Raysbard Brooks! murder by the Atlanta Police Department. Over the course of this month, a strange in-between world formed around che burned inestines of 2 fast food restaurant Ine we sw one ofthe ‘most militant examples of Black strug inthe Country, The exemplary characterof the strug tthe Wendysallowes the authorsto experience ome ofthe most powerful interventions —and Some of the most dangerous limitaions—hat ‘American rebullion confronts today. In what follows che authors focus on three dimensions of this conflict: the effec of Black (nilane) leadership, faalsm and paranoia as coneiutive conditions ofthe event, and the Function of guns
and thal force in unfolding confit, For Reshard Bros fr Natalie White, for Scarica Ture Sumer wasabi midnight on a Friday nigh then uc ge hemes Tuas tenga fr of ‘thawewwh ventas ee at pert Mas of sere fucked up—ieaicted by & mise of adrenaline om 7 days suit of itn, a ones log up flowed guar, MDMA, and evening ese om ould pain sor bos tl shad so in and tao ne shapes theclletv oy ofthe eva The carves aarp dfatesincany, ‘Someone came ou ofthe Bouse in disres. “The elie at sot man atthe Wendy Ba cae friend fhe sow the whole thing He was the parking Tac fling and is eg el a a wines” Asha of pre dalled che moo We all new what happened tothe poson who filmed Alton Strings mut, ust like what happened coche poson wha fed Exc Gamersmudet Wehadogerhimouof thee quick Wendy’ Ar University and Por? The bldg ae rahe down he eee, onal we decided to head e the scene Amal but angry ro fing of wih a pice line The emu was mostly Black, weeny the neighborhood hee he kill tok place. Pape scveame at he cops ad the Black Disc Attorney sho came ove to calm people down. No one was Rung ie They talled mong themselier alot ‘shat happened, made no sce of the us thes ‘wore caring, nd ld the sees wl late. We ‘changal lances with comma in the coud and relents as too cal t tll wha woul pen, too late inthe night 10 expect coud £0 form We serge to think of the George Floyd rebellionasa single movement,andeventomake transtegional claims about its politcal content. ‘We can only speak of the evens that unfolded tn dierent places we speak of Kenosha, of 10 Portland, the CHAZ, Minneapolis, Chicago, NYC, Los Angeles, Richmond, Adants, each with its own dynamics. What the rebellion has made clear ts that we are living through the ongoing and uneven fragmentation of the United Seater of America a know hae spe the at 0 years ring to imagine what Something ie the Geoge Fay elon would look Iie—debacing what woud set of how people woul fight hat tones they would ae, ha it woud al be connate: Never n my wiles imagination ould have pict his. ‘On the day the Wendy srt dour, ain peace pie woe left shou tra the flor 1 lval cru tht gna and mone pus hom toto the sighs regard. Attempt annie the ‘mualongacialinee—"Whi peoplerohe font! and 59 on—uer alos ely nective. While a few people were duped inc sanding on che hgh ‘omimic the fersovafe down onthe ad bel, the bul of the cml was able 0 callaborate nd <wodinate bliss and weapons acme aca ne. ‘Themsthof the “ouside ageazr” wounded ie ask sek nthe es of exeromeon he gro i The ine days of he accion re af for all Every nig cenagerscame out lock eh ros ‘with ametuer guns, suo and oars Sdshous took over adjacent incections and by nightfall aroun had formed font vich parts f the city. ‘Theoecupatin of pace wan ited nthe pang fox e was porous and difise, ble vather than for. We showed up at the Wendy alae every singe doy, ening the ntl ane pial fet ofthe pace. But as tine went on, we were unsere (510 the engame ofthe ecupaton, We had been Irs hulding infasracte and forming alliances swith ome ofthe secur cam, bt had ad much amtersaron wth anjone aoa wha wuld happen Fast orwanl« couple weeks. O June oth
comrade snc sa message oer tet frm the Wend’ leadership, adits "To whom it may concen The cuthors of the message calle the occupation «a praae potest Bore going on 0509 that We awe desl lon, and we do mot wane our wast to be conf with ochercomimuniy wee” Th tts the frst we had herd “deal plan? They omic: “Asef naw we have ten na lous They con] community olcans os dour with ro oyanie the consouction ofa Peace Comer and a razon more, an other things. The ws of the lene ied demands for police abalion. We had ‘olaugh ache idea ofcallingita "pte pots. and ‘specially athe pt wher they al "we have broken nos" Soman ha to buon thar bung dw, fond ha ane shall ws legal. Ply of epee ‘acing changes forth. The selb pint leader clearly hae been thre from the being They fad mo mone ight a ouneaip over the pace than anyone ele. This was the fst time we had heard thar angone waned eo ans the Wee's a "Peace Center ews ler tous exactly ow that war supped to happen. Jt he paring Le Tengenough with ns and the cyl gt 304? Only one these us anneal dad weal theneerabsnce of asta ON (MILITANT) BLACK LEADERSHIP The group that hulle a permanent ceceupation at the Wendy's was not in any ‘vay afiaced with oficial lack Lives Mater for any other pre-existing scivis group, and for this renon we cannot desenbe it an 3 political leadership in a esdtional sense. The fccupition’s atmosphere was remarkable in its absence of lees or activist roles such ae people proselytizing, giving orders through ‘megaghones, general assemblies, or making arcempts to “organize” others. While a visible tnd traditional activist leadership was nowhere farbe acon, what emerged instead ft mare song n the line ofa silent and informal leadership. The roles at the Wendy's can be understood through three clearly “defined aegories-a council fears, aangleadership lemeng, and s security team mise up of largely younger men whore role war to guard he frtrance to the parking lot of the Wendy’ ‘do nighy patos eo watch fr signs of police ‘ids and from ie to time lock the roads and conttal atic. Overall, the leadership presented ‘many obstacles to unleashing the full potenti ofthe occupation, making it more of acop-ffee fone than an autonomous one Contemporary movements are consttaively lenderlss. This is not a moral thoicea decision 10 oppose any command {ssued from onhigh—but a condition of our epoch. As the We Sell Outside Collective fecendly wrote, "What they call ‘the Black leadership’ does notexist” Thisisto say neither that nobody takes initiative, nor that no one tells people what to do. Far fom it.The point ‘gsi epochal. In the 60 there was NAACP, SNCC, _Revolutioniry Action Movement, the Black Panthers, Weather Underground, SDS, BLA with their concomitant fgurer— Marcin Luther King Je, Huey Newton, Asta ‘Shakur. Who ave these figures today? If there ae plenty of martyrs from the srugules of the post several years thete are no leaders. Even iF ome chaptes ofthe formal Blick Lives Mater Snganisation have sureved the previous BLM ‘ele they have largely played a pacing rlein the curent uprising, advocated for reforms, or st bet have ben reduced o voicing euppor for ‘more militant actions which they had nothing to do with Blick Lives Mater survives not a8 fan organization but as a meme, chat is ssa logan atbest When leaders do emerge, they ate ‘unlikely to have any impel engagement with the stragele—leaders today only lead strugles fone place to heir nd
‘The lendership of the Wendy’ chose che goal of creating the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center, ‘hich was intended a place to setup services ‘of care and healing for Black people. This goal seemed appropriate for the situation and even potentially achievable, ancl aan deaf won the Support of many paecipant a the occupation Bucthe strategy wasconfusedin that tattered tocombine element from a confrontational and rulitane occupation with the ulkimate goal of having achat wih city politicians. In this way, the conflict over the oecupation’s outcome has an unsuspected analogy to the conflict over the ZAD lfrom the French “Zane to Defend here i refers to the militant blockade of the ZAD de. Notee-Dame-dev Landes). Would it be better to maintain a miliant space that tefused to negotiate With the city, ut which ‘would ultimately be crushed malta? Or did I make more sense to engage in negotiations fo make more permanent victories which, while potentially recuperative, might. have ‘ultimately empowered those invelved? (On this rote, i interesting that recent reports fom Portland have ted to call the same dichotomy fof "pressure politics versus iret action” ineo question “The problem of leadership atthe Wendy's exceeded traditional critiques of movement leadership. Such critiques tend to focus on sctors who attempt to circumribe the limits ‘of action to largely symbolic gestures, while reutlising oF denouncing any forces that stempe to exceed this framework, [the text "On Black Leadership and other White Myths?” for example, che particular problem aetelbuted to the Black leadership is is paifyng acempe to stile unmedisted Blick rage in a bil t0 appeal to the white imaginary. While such a ‘riigue capeues the problem of Black leaders like tanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms this narrative docttt effectively describe what 2 happened atthe Wendy's, Spectically, while che leadership there dicated what forms of action were and were not legitimate, they did noe pacity the movement, nor did they make any atempts re present more palatable version of Black age that would gain widespread symbolic suppor from white civil society. Instead, the opague leadership accelerated a mitane stance towards conflict point which, 38 wil describe belo, contributed to occupations eventual downfall ‘The problem of leadership combined with the armed nature of the occupation consolidated power ina manner that overdetermins theres Df the tation From a pragmatic perspestve, the wbstacle” presented by ‘Uhese more ul setempes at leaderhip i that our organisational Systems were incompatible, which prevented ‘communication between themn almost ently. Te was almost impossible for «group operating with a closed leadership and a clear sense of facrnal consstution interact andengae with chaotiy lenderlese swarms. ‘The hierarchic form of command ofthe prewdo-leaders st the Wendy's occupation could not interact with those accustomed to operating on principles of autonomy. With gard wots ow organizational System, the leadership at Wendy's had a cleat Sense of who was who, and as 2 result it was tle to clearly distribute tasks and delineate a structure of command within it nen ranks But hi model of organization belongs toa bygone rain which participants of a movement might feck coherence by forcing everything. ino aligament or expecting ideology of identity to providea practical uit. Ta contemporary insurrections, this Iicrrchiel truce. of command and. ite concomitane drivetowant unityisheing replaced bya form of immanent colletve intelligence Gestures and. communication spread srost an increasingly frmented sian without
consolidating any coherent organizational body or identi. Acions and tactics, shared on ‘Telegram or social media and detourned 0 ft theneeds of speci locales spread in amemetic fashion. “Our organisational tak therefore has more to. do with mediating diferences than with overcoming separation. Facing the ‘organisational problem with an understanding fof fragmentation as a condition, rather than 2 shortcoming, will be crucial wallowing out movements to flourish—rather than decay— tinder che mark of leaderlssnes. T's Jantech, the mood isbn, wee inthe rie of olin. Weve on rh ting high ‘ain, 7 oF 8of usin fl es, out vad doen tothe Wendy’ forthe night. Al of «sudden we hear feshes, Now, this Lakewood Heights, people ‘hoot guns of eery night inthis neighborhood. Bu Pee mver heard ansching ike eis my if In eal ‘ner 120 rund wee fie of The gunfire continued ‘mand of or about 30 inate, We ge the ast Someone we know ght bya riche bullet. They toured ther ou ly aust here cal’, teating toe driven of Lacs, they make eth any sexo inure Laver we ea that the ute came from white pope who dae up ‘and opene fe on the Wen’ Jceth mans thei day thar we ween at the Wendy We tke a eather te nex day asl, cand sear up o do big babeque on the day fer. It Seems tha people don' ely kw wha sng the Wend’, swe yen open apa the comm, sand sy aac ome new peopl the space, We ‘eed the space to go: We nad me pple to came tot hao ntutes edly bl espace up. We pur outa cal for donations and rseve len of funding, We prepare an exrbeant fas. Fo moe tallng abou hor dogs, bu several diferent ind of mea and fi, and gant pa of chil We send the ber par of day preparing. We ake 2 can du to he Wend’ around in he afiernoon. The car esi fn th he arb the bac. 13 min she seco ca, well up and eyo ene he patkng it, car pacad ful food Wevegree ya Sange man holding laminate sheet of paper when ‘wc approach he driveway. Wecrack he window and esa, "Have you hen a he Peace Canter bf” “Sir his isa Wendy” d's. Rater, Tee born ee exer) day aad Tue never ce You hee, th ae sen” Thema gets heat elu we need fall, ‘ve andlen to is speech bei ering Wego Fim and signal some ofthe people we knew fom clays pi, aa yw ge ur comades wo come hl vs out. The man gros impacient and tats ying "PULL AWAY MOVE TO THE OTHER SIDE (OF THE ROAD" Acts pin chins ely getense Allo. auen our cor i ural hy pple with uns Acthis pint, comply. The ar urs arn, sand wee stuck up ough the window as we ie ‘he car aco the set Wel now i a i sees We get exo crs the set, where we pat, Out cat sill sound "Vall ge ay bombs in his xt IEDs someane ses 10, Pike "oP been hee every day, you've sen shoe We amet cook Sorell ad the car ful of fond.” They serch the car [ide che life I bug wo ct fod ander Seat as dsr as pole Bask inthe Wend’: eskng lo, deliberations are waders, We chan, sabe egrets to passat fol lke on emits. (Ove frends areal behind he armed checkpoint, All swe candoiswate Finally we get through them hat wee there cogil. An older de comes up 0 ws: "1 Tew tha ot alae eee dogo eins for ws Budo nado an oh comsny. promise ou, Fy da hare to this community, we have spe fn yo thee ober 30 guns hating tg sow Ifyou mist, so wor make wou alive” We ‘ene them we mean na harm and then we recite fan amed carvan ba acre the mad. One of the memos ofthe secur team ls,“ god that owe out he with ws. Eero) who's not wth eons de” Once we reach the oor shoe of the Wendy pankng le, we begin vo waa. Shy ‘hear, disagreement ensues in the parking lt
‘and then inal someone comes up and elle sto gt the hal ou bore we get cased out, a which oe swe ead uc and see up arand the comer, and dlr ‘asof food othe space from ofr “Theshotngom hetenthtmaleheunboundad pce int a dfn and linia occupation, ad take people were temporary ed from he pace Teswade ese for them tighten up cvs fer shooting, but he ulinate ea of this wae a sharp Increase of milan of he pce combined with {suspicion of exeryone that had een shee bore. ‘Artie went on, etor wre tl hey cold come thee the monument co Rassha but that after sing ther ners they wo hase to Late Ae ‘a wome,ansone wha wanted t sty longer wo awe to sn in withthe coy, ore which cake thes waned complete, aw long they expected 9 Detheeand etn after they ha fie wha hey ‘same wo da, Ina notable tance, a young hid who had eolunecred ose up a media statey for he occupation was permanently Banned for cucing @ halen the fence ofthe parking ina he neighboring Tega ian ope spe fled with lems of arcade smote ad plenty of hiding spaces, at wll Faden xt Tees no lager cet ibe tad been in he cay ds, al coals nolinger ace foresprimenation PARANOIA AND FATALISM Paranoia and the proliferation of conspieacy ‘heores are anntegral part our contemporary political aznosphere. IF police and politicians fannot repress a movement eforchand or in the moment, they are likely to ty t0 divide i tor the fact by seeding mistrst among ators by ateriburing malicious intenione #0 those responsible. The police in Minneapolis have ured this sertegy, attempting ie and tine Sysintopin the mos sgncant act ofthe eve fn "white supremacists: Participants t Wendy's were not immune “4 these kinds of conspiracy theories. Thus, atone point, people agreed thatthe shooters stacking the camp on July sh were “Russians” seein co ‘erailthe movement Formuchof cei, many people chought we were ouside agiatorsas wll Iristobe expected that Black people distruse the fatentions ofa group with several whiee people ‘who came tothe Wendy's We don expect this tnistrurt tobe cvercome innately Buc asthe leadership became more and more paranokd, i became increasingly dificult for our group co dd anything. Thus, he food we broughe to the ‘eccupation in an attempt to adda reproductive clement to the strate wae deemed “poisoned” Sra not the eaten. In another insane, 2 bamboo structure was buileeo ereates makeshift sain cover, since there was lee #9 nothing in terms of lable protection from summer tin Aver completing the structure, i€ was (almost certainly inentionally broken out ofa mistrust ‘of ourintentionsto show solidarity. And finally the higher ups were absolutely certain thatthe KKK was going to come to the Wendy's on the fourth of July and stare shooting people: Some participants ha asked waif we would volumtecr fovfirate che KKK; we assured them tha, ‘were actually true they were coming, we would likly know aboutst Alas, chy dda really heat us. Asa resulon athof July they decided to call Jn suppor from NFAC (Not Fucking Around Coalition), «Black nis, ‘While paranoia stems from an inability rust the good intentions of other "outs sors, ftaliam is caused by an inability to test jn a desirable outcome of the struale overall Simply pac, by fatalism I mean the condition of fighting wth lorof determination bu no hope Kespingtrackofallhemovementsthatcomeand 0, one cannat help but get concerned hearing Soung people sym remly to dif this shie™ Te as the kind of things we heard often fom the mouths of chese youn Black men, area to
the eeth and talking abour defending a parking lot containing lite more than a burned down building. OF couse in some respects the space issocre since twas the ste of a police murder. On the other han the inability to detach fom ‘his sentiment i esl lethal. Fatalism is noe 9 mistake on anyone’ behalf, Rather # seems ‘more to be a condition of emenent revatt Indeed bya lack of clarity around the ultimate politeal horizon of revolutionary stovements in seneral, and beyond that, che gloomy horizon ‘of our species a « wile: If we are not merely fighting for negotiations (and I expec a large orton of the mvement wants much more "han this, andi here ino shared percep fof what revolution means anymore, then ie also oe clear what victory could look Uke aside from burning down police preines. Nor am Teaying thae brazen mlcancy is something in need of stewie cortction by more "ational revolutionary experts. Indeed, it almost seems as if ie i precisely these sorts of strategic “expsctatons inherited from the 20th sentry that cause dysphoria amongst more seasoned experts. However, the problem roma vethouta shared sensibility sound ou ultimate revolutionary objectives, revolts isk adopting 2 steategy of exponential escalation which can lead only to repression ortobur out. ‘This fatlitie. mindsct is recognisable ro anyone familiar with the problem of the warrior ‘orthe miltane subject, oth of whom undertake feverincreaing exploits with diminishing ferurna, Many feontliners faced this problem 2s wall: Uhey continued protest after protest after protest, never satised with what they had Achieved since it had resulted in che burning ‘of police presinctor something like revolution, ‘This not only opened chem up to Being targets ‘of represion, hu lent their aetoities a sense oF slesperaton, meaning they don’t know when it is me to disengage fom stecct hates, which In turn makes them fel disappointed or jaded withthe strugule- If wee unable ro detach fom Aspecticmede of confit ina timely manne, we Fisk being tapped in symmetrical bates with the stae which are largely reactive or vindictive Tn his. autobiography Bad, James Care, a legendary urlaw and prison rebel known for his camaraderie with George Jackson, famously ‘cls the guerilla ideology that was a pare ‘of both prison rgankzing and Black radicalism In the cary Gos “I teased hac a a miltane | would always be a che merey of arbitrary acts. ‘The militants an che Tactical Sud rot force live symbiotcally since the leftists speak in the Tansee the goons can understand the prety military resolution of power relations” He ‘ontined, “Taw that ll he alternatives PU se for myself were reactionary in that they were merely direct responses to cies committed by thestate The terms, the terrain al the weapons ‘of my past strugele ad all ben dictated by my ‘enemy, This hod increased my rage, But also increased my willingness enter int combat in sich away that couldn wn” Political action is our present will be characterized by paranoia and fatal and a revolutionary strategy must find a way beyond these limiations. Beth paranota and ftalism are born of a paradoxical situation of being incapable of nding meaningful action ouside theeurent confice andl an inability toplace ath ina collective process of empowerment. The ‘exsentil question remins how t cut throgh the confusion caused by misinformation, by poranoia and fatalism and preven dhe strugile from exhausting iselt internally, On the one hand, partisans muse actively combae the spread ‘of misinformation by being the fist set UP ‘communicitions infraracare that allows people to fact check information and discse Plane and idear in a deventralzed fashion Beyond that they rouse Sure out meaningful 15
ways to provide dasty around revolutionary goals that are immanent ro che moverent sell, ‘hich wil help_ prevent people fighting in Aesperate bats they cannee win. "How are we to engage in confists where participants so easily lose contact with the realty ofthe situation, yet are at the same time willis to throw thie ives on the line for the ame situations all without che possibly of ‘vitory? The problem of ftalism goes back to the question of leadership: Ie has historically been the role of the party to intervene and lead proleriansoutof desperate, dead-end srugules And ontoa historical trajectory which would end in victory. But today, we cannot point to any sroup, party organization, tendency oe any similar that would provide cohesion 1o the ‘movement, even after the fc. es th of July. A Bock pares i mania at the Waly For the ie te sine the shooing on Janecenth the space is open. Tht meas argone fe wsdcome to cams. This was what we Bal been thinking needed to happen ll amg. Howes of peaple ewer the space that had boow thee joe Then’ ld als chien, people come 0 Wendy’ thar ha een asing al ovr the cowney to protests. There's tns of foe a DI en with poole lacing peopl drinking al das long, Burs arn assed cond is the hih pn ofthe movement, veothing comes ager. fo activi ep ome sur of e “politcal ecation taming’, fc they weakly moval othe back of the parking let where nay could hear or ete, since they eu have ben mone out of tuck wth he be sf ‘hey had rid. Despite that, ltt they wee thee, Above al we ned a divers rumber of groups toe atthe spce Meanie oes pained mals fom the thr side ofthe bing. Finely the save eek an axes soe. Th’ dire des of what people sould he dang, nobod dominating the space or dsaaecing pet se, and the divene 16 elements present become a sun of sengh ater than a soe of confusion. This dynam what we ‘eer toa the composition ofthe movement, and ae thismomen the zone isundceaable Suddenly something changes. Unamowncey up of cout 200 people dese inal ack and fame tothe th shou up aul makes tng the Wen a lary formation. 1 anal Black mia. The gesture inspes ave i exerone resent now nebo would ack with he space. But something ange happens. After sing fora piste infront of the building he majority of them eum ‘rnd an leave. These aspects who—having never ben 0 the spac, quate literals qualified as nase agar ven they were Black The mood hangs." cloud suoops cents the dy ana Hols tt the en? Four hows late, nghtine and Tue never ae hs happy with he ocuation. The pking lt fa frmer fs fond vestawaeopensup ovale f para, Were eating fel eh someone cooked, teizng for Frew to art going of ile eed ‘Bom bls aa hes noice they wast black the rect of gai, which they hae dane ance he op stale ther haricales 3 weal ean Jets 3 thules wth long pst Hock oe ane of she rod, Since thewsenlyatradhcan asaboricade.|gohome to change and get rea for he nigh, since thew’ a ‘march in another are ofthe cy ltr tht evening When I come back abou an how ater Tm ead 0 st ative I drank « Gatorade aa ther Fw aly for ansthing noc the seme problem caer they ned actual baricades tack the oa. When the bls sat fying Tae all sense of rita my bs free a pul her ith ‘metothe round aa chia carl her ls, and tthe che shotngs sp ford mament we a ow 0 the gendtothe back of the parking lo: Someone opens up ther car door fr ws and we hop in and stim and duc We'e nt see he. Blo ding seams ring ou, Tse shots fred and eed Simeone screaming "WHOEVER SHOT THAT
BLACK MAN IS GOING TO DIE” We're looking for on pele, yng fave aut wher they wet, tmcenain if we sho eave or tay. The same woe rings out “IE YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIFLE (Of SHOTGUN, LEAVE NOW. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIFLE OR A SHOTGUN, LEAVE NOW" OK; i lew We rye igre aut en et. remember tht someone ot ike oof th Wer’ for ting hole nthe fnce it the neighboring lag and his sw we make are 1 dents ‘the id who cut he ale nea fnce knew tha his mischief would one day sav is but ta’ exacty “shat happens in ehat momen. Werke ur ayo tnt he meghboring I, hap some fone, an Bos Tes pm thew’ a march arin oo. We hve et tha a he dors nda all bore tue hie the areas aga. Were al dics from what Jat happened, buat the adnan hsp us going for fan all nigh adventure The nex day we hea that {ele gi named Secor Taser had boon shin the msn fa dsc hat had broke on a the Bockads I won’ elie il weak acer how what appene hae night ha scared me, ‘TO HAVE DONE WITH GUNSLINGERS Americas that strange land where oomers are quicker to shrug of cops geting shot than broken windows:theformerpresentsaleytimate form of sefdefense, and the later isan attack ‘om propery leis wishful thinking tobeieve that ‘demonstrations in America will be gun-frce in the fare, an fortis reason i is mporant 29 Aeliherateon how hes to engage with them. The problem iva differ one. If faaism points toa Seategie problem of escalation without acest horizon, then guns are the tactical counterpart ‘othis strategy in the American context While guns were present fom the very firs might atthe Wenel' right after Rayshare was killed they became a prominent feature oF the oecupation “ater the shooting on Jneteenth. Ths firs shooting had two notable consequences: white people were remporaily Banned ftom the space, and. people strced stockpiling weapons in the Wendy's parking lo. Regarless of whether or not his was the right ‘hing to do st muse be said thatthe rahe wings steategy depends on polarising tensions around preity thete ewo axes: the polariiion of confi slong ethnic lins and the ineitation of tied confi. Since the trafic blockades eventually led to an armed confrontation, can we locate any specific strategic function they might have Played? “On the days following Junetoenth, ond blockades made out of burnt remnants of teach leftover from the avon were at up in the streets and reinforced by young men with long suns. The blockade wasnt just at any random street in the neighborhood—it was atthe fist intersection of the freeway off ramp. To put it bluntly, they Mocked the entrance to the entire neighborhood. Cars of Black people who showed solidarity or gave a ist were allowed to ps, while white people mosey earned around far before approaching the blockades. Had it heen held or long enough, such a blockade the kindof thing that could provoke white fight from the ae, forcing people to abandon thelr plansto “clean up the neighborhcod.” While i was the power of stone throwers and atsoints who claimed the territory, wat loubtless the presnee ofthese guns that kept thepoliceawayforthree weeks. Lefistsareoten appalled when plice eke a hands-al appeoach to armed rightwing demonstrators who attempt to blockade or occupy space, but the Wendy’ showed chat this could have more todo with che presence of gunsthan mang leftists would lke to belive The visible display ofgunsimadeitsothat the cops would’ dare to approach the place for fearof entering into a shoot-out. Given the le tmoraleof the Atlanta Police Department—mny 7
cofcershad walked off che job that week over the charge fled against the ills cop —it was cleat that they were overstretched and didnt have the forces to engage in this kind of gun bale, And Jet inanextimated ttl of sven shootout hat foc place in three weeks, no fascists cons Bot thot, and none of thoae killed were adversaries ofthe cccupation. What war the effet of guns at the ‘ccupation? Eventually chey became an ersatz {or thinking about how to keep the space safe— and an erat fora strategy of collective power. [As much as they contributed to keeping police way they became a substitution for other types fof activity that could have strengthened the ‘ecupation: having more people there instead fof les, building actual playsieal baricades in the sce instead of leaving sup to gunmen to op cas, ete. The increas In guns contibured fo @ regimented, military vibe that dominated the camp, Thus instead of sleeping at nigh the security team wos tanked with ‘patolling’ the space to Took out for theses,» recipe for rapid bumowt. There's no dub in my mind that the season wy more people dade cometo the space fs because they were affaid ofthe guns Iwas ‘not even just white people. Black neighbors who fuck around with gunsall he time stl would come down, because they dc see the guns as anything particularly impressive; in their eyes guns signaled something more ike specialized fon activity that wor dangerous for thir kad fobe around. So edi’ have che same lloring leer tha # dal for many manta In other ‘words, the reliance on guns erated 4 hostile eavironment that eventually ended up iting the scope of actors engaged in the camp, which rade it even more vulnerable to violence and steack, “The problem was not the presence of guns per se, but the fact that carying 2 gun turned {ho a specialized role, This specialization wat 18 most visble inthe arival of dhe Not Fucking ‘Around Coalition (NEAC) coalition on the 4h of July. Tir alien presence, hardly more than 8 photo op, took no account of the siuation ‘whatsoever, militarized the mood, and deiitely didn't make anyone safer. While the militia ‘was clle ito secure the space for fabecated threats of a KKK lynching om the th of july thew presence was Just plan dominating, and created situation that they were noe actually there to ake responsbiliy foe. Even if they fre Black, they presne a pole of antagonism that escalates too quickly and falls neo a trap fof symmetrical warfare. The more med actors become the leaders ofthe strug the les room to maneuver will be lf to people throwing Molotvs, breaking into buildings 10 hack lect, oF curting fences to steal equipment. ‘The idea thatthe best way to Fespond to gun violence by che stat is by more armed violence Js-a fallacy with a history. A simlar debate played out in the 6os between Eldridge Cleaver nd Hucy Newtons while the former advocated fran armed vanguard of lumpenproes to led the struggle, Newton came to ae the iolting effets brazen malitancy had on the rage and ‘thus pursued survival programs instead. Amore ‘community-centred approach at the Wendy's ‘may have created the space fr real autonomous material power co grow, and broadening the scope of ators may have made the space less vulnerable toarmed attack reducingthe number ‘of guns necesay. “The guns atthe Wendy's wore not going eo smagiclly make a Peace Center appeat. Aside fom replacing any teal sates, guns did not halp the Wena’ leadership get any closer co thee real goal, and in the end they were still reliant on negotiations with the stae to get ‘what they wanted. At the same time, clear ‘that chere would have been no way fo lnc a critique of the guns from an unaried postion
‘Any plea for nonviolence would have been laughed at snd Brushed aside, In hindsight, 1 wwe would have wanted to make the space see and more hospitable, we would have had to eke ‘over roles om the security team and neutralise the inereasing miitarisation from within that tole sellabolition ofthe armed partisan, i Something like thats conceivable “The question of vielence will bea decisive ‘oneforthe furur of rvolusonary movermentsin ‘America. There's no doubt that sald movernents will noed to arm themselves for self-defense. Yes as also happened in the CHAZ in Seattle, the violence within the poice-fee ones often slirety rele in them losing polities seppore ‘When this isthe eae, che police do nat eves need to bother pursing 4 strateny of dict repression, Instead they can just wai unl thee theence from the area allows enough violence tehappen that eventually makes their presence ‘gun seem justified, In contrast to this statexy that is composed of minoritarian factions of armed shooters, the legacy of the non-violent direct action movement provides something thar i able eo maintain broad auppor., To point this outs nor vo make cate for moralistic non- olence, but sather co suggest tha the scength ‘of out movements will depend on bread social support more that on purely mulitary victories. CONCLUSION “Themain prblemsat Wendy's were thatthe space was controlled bya hierarchic leadership ttho—by their own account "privatized" the protest, tothe point of eefusing any lp fom several dozens of people who were interested In contabuting to the space in real ways. These factors made che space increasingly slate, and the leaders increasingly paranoid, As result the occupation relied om a dangerous srategy of sed eseaation f0strongarm the sts which ‘ended predictably with gun violence that made the space easly repressible and, quite frankly, dlficle to defend, after an. year-old wos ‘murdered inthe cross ofa shootout on the sh of uly. While the occupation galvanized an ‘overwhelming cisplayof militancy and courage, itended with asa dilerama a naty of the ‘ther eballions erom thecountey twas unable to lay whae there was to buld or atiem, once the looting, burning and destruction had ended ‘What does the Wend’s tell us about a stategy ‘of escalation? What ate we to think of the face that guns both made the oecupation possible and led to ts demise! If has been four tak in past struggles to escalate things to their insurrectionary horizon, this must be diferentaced from escalation a8 the mere Increase of a capacity for vielence: Kenosha is yet another sucion in which violence quickly ‘Sscalated pasta point in which emancipatory terors wore able tobe effective, In. these Sieuations, the accelerated rate of escalation is tunsortsinable and in the end, only accelerates the retortin of aw and onder. Revolutionary aevwity should be measured i terms of is fapacity to be sustainably defended by as tnang people as possible. When revelutionary olencecendsto isolate pariipants ater than defending them, itdoes more harm than good Beyond the question of violence, the “question merges a8 to howto create 3 common TPetepective on what forms of ston are posse Inthe absence of leadership structines oF democratic proceduraliam. As movements like the George Floyd rebellion continue to appear, organized milants” might find. chemseves being ouspaced and sidelined by proetarians who have lle interest or regard for long term revolutionary or stategie objectives, and instead are magnetized excisinely #0 Tooting tnd clashing with police. If we wish to avoid fn eallyforesoeable outcome, eis important 19
to clarity 9 measurable set of revolutionary ‘objectives beyond that of fighting increasingly riltarized Bateles with che state and esis oF becoming depressed or jaded when these dry up ‘or are no longer possible. Without any gols in ‘ind, the exalation of wolence risk outpacing the capacity of movements to produce cllective ffrmationsbeyond thatoftheenemiesthey hold fn common, How do we counter this escalation, while stil advancing along a eevolutionary rrajectory? Tnsurtections and uprisings are one Important piece of «protracted revolutionary process, noe necessity their apocslyptic Sulmination. All movement, being in their fssence living onganiims, are bound wo die fut However much we might wish to disavow this Ineviable ending of our movements ‘hove frameworks cha allow «sense of joy and celebration to accompany the end of movements are beter positioned to foster the growth of {sustainable long-term revlutionary force. Tr requires an enormous amount of energy £0 sweatherthenegative falloutof suchbigruptres sodto avoid sense of desperation that compels testo engage im aetions eat merely mimic the feelings evoked during the movement he oy of, destruction, now undertaken on an individual buss without « mass of people, but which do rot contain the potential to meaningfully open ‘op new path of struggle To avoid faite sctions, we mus ulvate the capacity t0 ero ‘verythinginto these revolts togivethesettes ‘ural while athe same tive recognising when thee potential sexhauseed, or when movements are ‘dea’ This capsity to recognize when the Certain Is nolonger one thar we are determining, ‘san essential pat of whatit means be water! [AS the recent debates around the desabiity ‘of civil war make cle, there is no meaning concept of rewoltion on ofer tay [In the seth century, proletarian revolution was 20 fmagined as a process whereby the working class would grow exponentially up to acetal fhreshold, at which point it would become politically hegemonic take power, and produce Srnew work! from out ofthe shell ofthe ok TTeaday, this is no longer concsivable: we ate collapsing under the tll of the old worl, rather than fing meaningtl ways eo salvage SC Consequently, today’s parcsans will have to be much more flexible in chelr expectations about whae is desimble and possible in the ‘coming years. Beyond. the internal strife our species f facing, we face the threat of extinction under a planetary catastrophe of unthinkable fropostions. This calls on us to think of, at Gnther Anders phrased ie) an *spocalypse that consists of mere dawnfall, which doesn't represent che opening of a new, positive state of afaits™—an “apocalypse without kingdom.” Fortunately, were not the only ones faced with the dificuley of founding @ new way of Iie Tn the time eo come, rling elites will lso find i increasingly challenging tO cstshlish and maintain hw and order. As the horizon of fovernance recedes, more and more space will ‘pen up foe us allowing us to experiment with ‘erlang regons of terstary outside of thet contra. The Wendy's gave sa very real glimpse ‘of precisely thiscomingdisaray, Ourtask now's totum the challenge i faced into touchstone fergie us through the coming aby
Notes 11} The story of Natale White is mote sinister than often reported. Missing from the account thar she was Raysharas ilfiendisthe fact that Rayshand was ali maried. The tory after that i well known, that Natale was hunted down after videos circulated on socal media ofa white ‘woman allegedly setting fe to the building Bur the Adanta Police Deparement dide't move to arrest her until after che funeral, which she ‘wasnt presenta. fer the fry went cough its grieving process together, the state then moved into take ou the extramarital! partner, further iglating her from Rayshaed’s Black family. The majority Black APD could chus aetempe to align itself with Rayshard’ family on the basis of Blck identity, while atcempring to tnalate Natalie White from the family abit ie the family to dade with che revo that Unfoldedafee Rayshard’s ling. TZ] For two takes with seemingly entinly dlifereat understandings of iv war and ‘conclusions about it desirably, sce dei Robinson, "Letter to Michael Reinoch!", and Crimethine, *Beeween Electoral Politics and Civil War a

FIGHTING SMARTER: ‘ina)2020 insgoingdown.org STRATEGY & ANALYSIS IN OLYMPIA Puget Sound Anarchists 23 SO versisieripeninn ta Olympia and ao fae that i foes impossible to catch a breather, The conalstene level of energy paced any other struggle remember e's been areal possible» Conditions soit makes lest sone t0 dh analysis of what currently i morro ie mye Completely uscles. What U hope to do instead is give a geneal ever view of the broad train were fighting iny give some auggesions, and pst on some tools that everyone ci use for moment to moment analysis a3 we delve further into the chaosic scream of strug
GLOSSARY OF TERMS 1 use some specific terms s0 T want £0 Aefine hem real quickly for people Swategy A flexible and constanely evolving ‘medium to long term course of ation £0 get from point A co point B Tenain: The culmination of all physical, social, economi, and politial situations chat Influence the goals, possibilities, and actions ina given area, Macuser General moves we can make in ny given situston to influence any given sot ofterrain. Discus: Having todo with communication, messaging, and discourse READING THE TERRAIN ‘The first thing to acknowledge is Olympia sin Seat, i ain't Portland, and sure 36 hell ain't Minneapolis. Olympia itself, not Including Lacey and Tumwater, # around s5,000 people. £89 ofthat is black, so give or fake theaccuracy of census datathav’sroughly 1000 Mack people. Olympia ts physically tinall, you can reasonably walk fom the westside to che east side, and downtown is, roughly, a block bys block grid Olympia i also a seat of government, and fe shows in how heavily policed ie fs. While PD themaclver aren't much, there's also the Washington State Patrol HQ, and an FBI field office downtown, and up on the west fide Is the Thurston County Courthouse ‘whieh is also the Thurston County Sherif HQ, On the edge of downtown and the east side isthe City court & jal as ells DOC probation services, and jus inthe eastside is the National Guard Armory The core of dowmown is a lot of 24 Jncteasingly upscale local businesses, and as such, much of the town i entranced by the myth of the ‘good local business as the area fs becoming flooded with upscale condos, some bigger banks and government offices 35 your get closer to the capitol (One ofthe major power blocs in the city is the downtown local business and land owners, and while they are not unified (we've teen some of those cracks recendy via who supports the protests vs opposes), they tendo Tearn towards the reactionary side to defend thei interests. They are mostly organized via the Olympia Downtown Alliance, essen hurineseunion that has itsofices downtown fon sth. They've been the steongese push for fseotrfication as well asthe mote organized antchomeless forces co kick homeless people ‘our of downtown, (Our of this bloc has come figures like former Mayoral candidate David Ross and Peter Diaz of American’ Wolf, Much of this camp is organized through Facebook pages and groups such as Olympia Looks Like Shi, ‘The David Ross Show, Thurston County Scanner, and Olympia News Network Ocher organizing is done via the Olympia Downtown Alliance and occasionally via Nextdoor, The other major power bloc is of course the city. Specifically the city counell and police. ‘These forees aren't necessarily ‘ified, but are unified on the cantinwation fof business as normal (and literally business tince that isthe main driver). As far a8 the ty goes, most power Is in the City Manager position and of course in the police. The ‘mayor is an empty figurehead that is mostly just fun eo hate on and make miserable. Most official organising is obviously done via city ‘council meetings and sessions, a8 well a the Olyampia Police Guild
MANEUVERS AND CONSIDERATIONS. With the general train laid out wane voice some considerations and suggest some poriclar maneuvers. When 1 tlle about Emaneuvers” here Tm talking about general moves wecan make in any given situation, These apply both to im che streets and ‘discursive eaing wich communication and messaging situations, These ate obviously not hard ules {not thae I'm in any position tose rules orhave any desire t6, There are no rules when ir comet to strategy, sale of ebservtion and acting 3s [bests we can off those observations. “The fine consideration i that Olympia it small people wise and sizewise. Whatthismeans ia that we have a much more diect impact on things thar happen here, rather than say a place lke Seale where 10 anarchist doesn’ mean rich 0 anarchists means lot here: That also means the loss of single anarchist is fle much tore wrongly here than other places The ip ide of tise that ourenemice ass have much faore dvet impact on things here, and Likewise the leas of one of then hae armuch bgze impact. ‘The small amoune of people broadly, and anarchists and radicals speciiclly, means thar the actions ofa single person efect uy all rmuch more strongly and our collective ations have a much more profound impact on the wider community — for boosting morale, for lemoralising our enemies, for building power, and fr putting people in danger. “The small size of the city means both us and our enemies ean get around quicker, and ie means ie’ easier for people to be followed Similarly its much easier to recognize and be recognized by our enemies around town, A prriular consideration isda to the whiteness Df thiscity, people of color and specially lack people stick out mach more which also makes ot smuch more particulate when autonomous far Righe forces go agitated ‘Speaking ofthe far Right, since American Wolf and thei cohorts are essencally 2 Diet Patriot Payer, we can think about some tactics thse have worked. Huriliation and absurdicy swork inredibiy well, ong things like liter ily string, al horns, and jst penealy being flamboyant and annoying. Things like Blocking them with big banners or Blank sheets of umbrellas also works asa good de-escalator ast blocks chem fom che object of thet rage. These things tend eo work wel because i hurts thie Image as brave defenders against the hordes of raging ania, ar well ar thins them down t9 their ideological core as, om one hand, those who ‘ame out to ight don't ge thee fight, any onthe ‘ther handy the les committed ones who did realize what they were getting into see what the soup isabout Tes natural for us to want to just ick their ases, but fights are risky fora number of reasons, Whileawin for ur can hea huge morale Iboos, it ean also he huge mobilize for them. Meanwhile slim winscan be ortasdemorslsing ava loss. There isa real possiblity of our people teting hospitalised or dying, which is never food, The police wil always be on the side of ‘ur enemies here and we can come out ofa fight Unscathed only forthe State to come down with charges: None ofthis to say we shout fighe them, but we should weigh risks vs rewand and ssnerlly is bet o find alterativesto fights we arent sure we're going to win. e's important to now when eo esate and when to dectealate ‘Tangentially related, i quickly becomes a hindrance if we sart viewing everyone thats not usa a potential enemy. Fist of all that's a op meneaity, Secondly we have to undersand fnarchy ain just for the “anarchist” but for everyone. Just because someone doesnt understand or approve of, people smashing windows or burning shit doesn't mean dhey 23
are our enemies, ve had a surprising amoune ‘of good conversations wich people in. the ferects that approached pissed off about people smashing up local businesses but were fverything from ‘uncaring to excited aboot “mashing up the City Hallor the police sation “That can be worked with, Sometimes good sia fs key and we have to sacrifice what we want ‘odoin the moment for shit that wll bring us closer tothe larger goal Lee's talk maneuvers. These ate generally stolen from The Are of War and 36 Seager ‘These can be used both for on the grovnd actions, discursive setions and. Broader 1. Make your Enemy Tie; Conserve Energy When possible, we should be making our {nei react tows rather than react fo them ‘Werdon't have to show up to every fghe we ate fnvted to (hetero lave them chasing ghost), nd we should se the ime and place of confice. Consider the ways in which the city hae curently militarized downtown throughout the might and the ways in which che wannabe ‘cope continually go out. They ate essentially fia state of siege and lke all humans they will bumnoutyand waste money doing ietoo In what ‘ways ould we encourage our enemies chase fer more ghosts to rum themes down and sake 3 fol of them even more? 2. Loot a Burning Howse “The bes timeto strike i when our enemies ave in disatay. The best part if we can help sow thaediatay Ory Wa Fake 2 move multiple times and your ‘emis wil grow weary af. Strike once they See no longer prepared 26 +4. Searle the Snake by Hing the Grass Around i you do not know the plans of your enemy, make a diret bur brit stack and observe how they respond 5 Remoue the Stick fom the Axe Tan enemy is t00 powerfl to engage cel, they mus tt be weakened by stacking thet foundation. (Equipment, funding, social sincles and socal accepeancs, 6. Brekeche Old Modes Sertegy is built off information and pattems. When we do the same thing ican be planned for. When we deviate and do something unexpected and strange it ean throw off our enemies 7 Spreal Thin ‘Whether its muleple diferent marches happening at once or different political ries and scandals happening, our enemies can only beso many places at once and deal with so much [AN ANALYSIS OF OUR OWN Many poople tend to. shy sway from conversitons around analysis and strategy, and Se makes sense. The way it curently exists in fhe hand of few who offen une i t0 Faont helt prowess and arene particularly food about sharing the actual kills of analysis fnd sraegy. Bur es importante to recognize these things for what chey ae, learned al and toa degre most people have them. Ifyou've fever looked around ae your surroundings and ‘hough “maybe it would make sense if we did this instead of that” you are analyzing and thinking sratexcally My hope is to offer you some tools 10 help
sharpen your skills of analysis and strategie thinking, because we don’t need a handful of anarchists "strategists" and “theorists” but @ clspersed practice of analysis, cheorising, and "trie thinking that everyone i able to and feels comfortable contributing 6000, BAD, AND DIFFERENT ‘The retool want to share isa very simple ‘one thats best done with your crew (or even by yourself). After an ation, ia simple debe, Were yu tlk: about the postves of an event the negtives, and what you would have dons! hadrepared diferent. ‘Questions: ‘One of the most important tools you can have for analysis is questions, Bue what ‘questions should be asked? And whent That realy depends on what you are doing and rying to do, but san share some of the constrsints [work under andl some ofthe questions that uideme ‘When it comes to discursive stragle talking sbour communication and messaging — fone of che main questions Lask myself "Does this reinforce prisons and policing?” Thinking about demands like al killer cops che answet ‘woul be ye, that then becomes something have to push bck agina. You can, andshould, take cis further ast lps clefy your analysis which then helps you commonieate i So ja Killer cops reinforces prisons and policing, so then [could ask how and why! And chen to thote answers [could ade how and why? And oon and x0 forth and when you hit an don’t Know (and we should always recognize what swe don’ know’ we know where we eed t0 get more ino ‘When ie comes to eting however that may be ~ good questions task ate: "Has thisbeen done before? Iso, what happened?” "ls this course of action being expected by [policeteactionaries)™ "How did our enemies respond "Why ae we) slo we want to do thie? "If this goes wel, howe rch of s success (measured in whaever way, whether morale for ur or aut enemies, damage done, nev fends mad, ge creative wll tise ‘ersusif this goeshad how sonal wlltimpace Usand our wider community? ‘Some questions only make sense In the concext of a specific goal that we wane 10 achieve, 50s important o ask broad, orienting {questions snd to be continually coming back 0 these." Where dove want tobe aethe endo this [whatever chs i,» particular struggle or event lke a pandemic or election), where do we want to be amount of tine] from nov.” “Whats changed in the las amount of time)” "Whar are weable o dono thae we couldnt before? What were we ableto do Before that we cand (OBSERVATION ‘Observation key, his is where you get the information chat informs your analysis and strategy and how you know in which ways things are changing Informacion can come fom all sors of sources, fom social media platforms fad pages 0 iy cou mestings Here's use few things people should he keepingsn eye on. + Oficial ety seatements + Carycouneil meetings + Posts on city council members socal media pases Gey and police social media pages The Olympian ‘The Olympia Downtown Alliance website ‘Thorson theloeal Reddit page aly) 7
Nextdoor (Olympia Looks Like Shit FB group ‘The David Ross Show FB pase ‘Thurston County Scanner FB page Olympia News Necwork FB page FB pages of any noeable individual enemies ‘What should you be looking foe? Plans and events fre of all: When it comet to anything Saidjposted Ws good to compare to previous things, Who is being targeted asa enemy ot ally Is what is beng sidan escalation? What's ‘he goal of our enemies in saying/porting this? Tf poliey changes ae happening you should be king and looking neo: how i his going 0 Be enforced? Who is going tobe most impacted and in what way? How does thi intersect with other ‘ongoing strugsles(housing/gentniicaion, police bolton, antiacisy/antifases, black libetation, Indigenous liberation, environmental) ‘Obrervation isa slow and boring process bu the more you do ty the easier isto spoethe fmportan information and how tha Factors into how we move: Patience and persistence i Key here FINAL THOUGHTS & RESOURCES While this is by no means an in depeh analysis of Olympia or a thorough guide on nals and strategy, I hope this proves t0 Be 28 useful for people More is possible now than ever before, but along with that means the stakes and heats are higher too. We need fight smarter s0:we can fight longer and come outwith some swing, because ourlives dependon For those who wane to delve a litede deeper foo strategy ad analysis, T want to leave you swith some resources to go through so Sraugens ‘angledwildernessong 26 Swatags Video Series: Shr 25min clips of fc ratage with aide more deehand added Inf fom eke sources Youtube The Arcof Wer Inps:/suncuaid con/downlead php ‘The Going Insoection Ieps/senseis xmpsnet/!TheGoinglnsurrection Deceiving the Sky ep: /rwedropboxcoms/yzqsomyvsisbes) DeceiingiiaothesaoShytacFinal¥a-Version pai ‘The Devious Momentum ofthe Reo srchiveong
LAPD Heal he dross have srs unl re om Wael May 7, 200 (Phas: Lng Beach Ai)

crn TOOLS AND TACTICS IN THE PORTLAND PROTESTS: FROM LEAF BLOWERS AND UMBRELLAS TO LASERS, BALLOONS, AND POWER TOOLS Across
‘Manyofthesetoolsworkbestincombination swith each other. As onl, diversity of tates Keynote tolerance for diferent approaches, but thinking about ow eo combine al of thers fr a symbiotic whole. Soo, we am follow Lup this cursory review with a mote thorough sccounting ofthe fl ange of tect acts and {equipment relevan to today’s demonstrators, ‘The Pordand prorests have also produced some new terminology, such a the expression roo” which describes what happens when a reformist with a megaphone makes a power play to hijack a gathering organized hy people ‘who wane see the police abolished. AS emonstrtors expand their notions of what tactics ate appropriate inthis swf polerzing society, we hope they will abo expand thelr visions of what is worth fighting fr, adopting horizontal modes of organization and learning howto idenety and eis power plays Ready ornot—the war ison DIGITAL SECURITY This thread spells out how to protect your privacy via proper phone safety at Semonstritions efor, dering, and afer the protest. You can find a lot of Important {formation about general security én protest situations here byZUPEine MASKING AND PROPER ATTIRE ‘Wearingamaskistesponsible roma medical pertpective—in the era of the pandemic—but leo forsccority reasons to proest your privacy. [Nowadays you don’ just have to worry about the police Sling and aresting you, but also about far-right internet tolls tying eo identify you fom video footage demonstrators are dressed appropriately 4 black bloc fashion, it should be dificule ro sake out tdeneivingpariulars 32 Pay atenton to detail, Cover your tattoos and other nique traits. Cover your whole face ‘or jus your mouth. There should Be no visible logos on your other, shoes, or backpock. Read thier more details, RIOT RIBS. FOOD CARTS, INFRASTRUCTURE eis really good for morale w havea group of people providing food and other needed ‘resources. Portland protemers have heen deeply thankful that Rie Ribs have come ou t fed tveryone free food. Ths enables people to stay Tonger ani helps them to fee hat iis worth the effort and risk to support che movernent that ‘pourthes them. ‘You con read elysAeXDp. Feds and cons know how important these smucual ald efforts ate and inentionally target them in hopes of breaking the will of the Semonstrtots: es iercomriinalon sanusnssr74nr9628673 Here you can "before" and “afer” shots of the infrastructure one night that federal mercenaries attacked Fetercom/ bch sanaairSanonisio4 Unforcunately, uniformed oficers are tee the only danger thteatening community infrastructure ate uly, Riot Ribs experienced 2 coup. involving physical violence and inuidation, Wherever money is involved in civ, here is pret risk of infighting unless the goals, suuctures, and expectations have ben set very precisely in advance. The original Riot Ribs folks havelefecown, apparently taking the concept of Riot Ribs on the road to other ‘iter as Revolution Ribs Someone should write tn detall about the es, fall, and rebirth of Rot Ribs. shour Riot Ribs here
LEAF BLOWERS: Leaf blowers can dispel ea gas or smoke “Tear “as” teaceualy a fine particulate mater— lenagine bog of dour exploding, but mach finer and lighter When this parculate lands on you, testays there and can be re-activated lat {specally by water oF sweat. For this reason, ‘demonstrators have used leaf blowers 0 Blow tear as off of people ater exposute—it is che same concept a taking a shower atthe beach to tthe la ofthe sand off your boy Be careful noe to blow tear gas ina direction where itcould affect other peor ‘A single leaf blower can serve to Blow gas from a single canister away from people unt ‘others can extinguish it, as demonstrated inthis <lasscwieo fom Hong Kong npsitecomtlonasnarus8s8930376082 But for best results, use several eat blowers rogether: cco Sarusissyassansa72 ‘When you're choosing leaf blower, make sure it hae 2 good fan and a witclers power Leaf blowert work wellin combination with umbels and shields, While he shields protect demonstrators agains impact munitions, the leaf blowers keep the gas moving avay from protexers until someone can run-up and “extinguish the canister o throw ack athe sessulters who shoei. Tesmork You can see an example ofthis approach at the beginning ofthis video: Ieee Rano statatasosnronasssnys “This ace traces the origins of the laf blower as 00! of strug from Hong Kongo the debut ofthe "dad blo" in orland. Te some cases ring the clases in Portland, demonstrators wich leaf blowers and other toals were able to keep the tear gs that federal mercenaries deployed entirely within the fence 3 surrounding the so-called Justice Center Ipettecomirtinmaens Senussrooestis "A tow people im Portland have employed “other let effective tooleanch a box feo the same purpose: upsiwitercom/rteaeamsiasr ast 60098 'Not wishing to be outdone, federal mercenaries in Portland used a fe 8 spray demonstrators with pois Ipetsocemddngo) statsas8pepay eens UMBRELLAS, ‘Umbrellas can serve several. functions ac once. An umbrella can Block a steam of Pepper spray. fall ine of ombrese tthe Front of 3 demonstration can block che view of unswanted cameras a police spotters stationed fon rooftops —for example, concealing efor to attack the Joins of the fence, ot making safer ro change clothes or employ other tactic, While noe a reliable substitute fora shiek, an umbrella can also aid in deflecting police bullets, green and hive poser marker rounds, snd the Inner spotters used by pole to identify rrovblemakers ‘On January 30, 2017, during dhe Gerce resistance tothe inauguration of Donald ‘Trump, a single umbrella played a crucial role In enabling a large numberof demonstrators the Hack loc ro Break out of «police kettle and ‘escapearrest. Previously seen in demonstrations in Hong Kong the wibrelia has ecome an ant fascist symbol of sorts Tr Poland, people with umbrellas have worked shoulder to shoulder with have carrying ‘hicks, creating phalanx that car hold linen ‘erect, offering cover and protection to those behind them. Inatleastone case, demonsteatoes have forced federal mercenaries 0 retreat back ino their courthouse by slowly advancing in a
Prices dob a si Pht: asm Ts line ike thi Umbrella, shies, and leaf blowers or thei pat, police haven't hesitated to andor eal demsonatatoy umbels, SHIELOS ‘So far in Portlnd, shields have mostly been usedin defense against attacks fom aditance— suchas impact muni the like—rather than charg. Different shield. designs ore better for diferent situations. Like umbrellas and le ear gas grenades, an 4 he fle own ae We that chey cannot do alone. Ifyou wan ro form 2 shied wal, ideally your shield should be ‘ough ro cover your body. But the big Shields the heavier, bulkier, and more diffeut fo transport wil be, Smaller shields can be lighter and easier to sneak into 3 profeat aes ‘Many people have been carrying smaller shields with them while playing ether roles besides maintaining the shield wall. Having even just Slide bit of protection has saved people fom ferious injury and provided the confidence to hold territory they might noe otherwise have you don’ have anything elie on hand, a skateboard ean serve asa smal, bile hil ‘A common Pordand shield'dsign snvolves cutting aplastic barel vertically into three or four curved rectangles, leaving the ices frm the top and ottom of the bare for maki
sovller sels ‘On the oter haat fem a shield wal be to line up shields ao that ehey overlap slighly, as even light breaks in the wall can presenta vulnerability. Consequenth wood may Be preferable to bores for that Poticulor appliston, ‘Some in Pordland have experimented with using lobricanton the edges of shields to make ie more dificult for police to grab chem during Make sure you're using technique when aking blows. you ae using 2 ell shield, hold ie very tightly against your boay where the center of your chest is that makes you harder to move, preventing Your sdveraary from pushing you around by your Shield and ensuring that even if your shield isbeae tobe an effective moves, stil covers your body "A shield wall in Oakland tn solidarity with demonstrators in Porn SPORTS EQUIPMENT You can ute sporting equipment no cateh tear gas and throw ie back. Juste you would When using a leaf blower, make sure you're ominunicating well with other demonstratots and have a wellshougheoue plan re wae you are go ding o dowith the canisters, Tost effective tools for this pprpose include Tacrose. sticky wile all and itehen mitts—anything that enables youtoengage withthe canister wchout touching them det Demonstrators have used hockey sticks to hie the canisters back, too ome people have Mar” arc gat fem leo flo rd OR Bandon BA The Net Yk Toe 35
been upgrading cher umbrellas—for example, dluceeaping. an umbrella upside down on a key stick handle can fp che tool around and use the sie that lacrosse stick of The user Although there afe many videos on che fnvcret of poople attemping to cover teat snes and the ike, etinguish them in container of water. The ter thread shove sve canisters with erafic itis a much better idea [BALLOONS AND BUBBLES Demonstrators have wsed balloons to show know which way ear gas wllblow—and dently Resp ant een aralying poin on the ground, “They have slo employed bubbles to mack the free ofthe police he Lasers Tr Portland, demons to disorient police and federal agents; they fan also disable sccurey cameras. I's worth hoting thar pointing laser a someone’ fae s expres illegal in Oregon and gresive respon from police @ inca amore i defensive ne masks, shields anda lowers Those who have been a we emsployed Iasers by themselves sted frames or shor with pepper balls and rubber bullets a iis easy to ace the source ofthe laser unlet the person directing it moves around apily between applications hao: Dave Kien Onn 36
Almost all the lasers seen in Portland during the lst weekend in July were che cheaper green fnes, the 303 (30 mV}, which canbe deployed enmasse to provide cover and irra police But hemore powerful Bie ones (18 4H are more ‘ffetveagnint police, helicopters, and drones. “Tey cost rously $450 Sio0 Portlanders have also. combined nser usage with high-powered faslightson strobe funeton, in an eforeco prevent che police fom sting 3 good visual read on the crows. Using bright lights to backlight a crowed might make it Aiicul fr oficers to pick ou india at che front Police also use lasers to identify demensteators for targeting. GRAFFITI “Thisis ao obvious that it slot doesnt heat mentioning, but demonstrators have painted fnspiring messages all over the area in which these clashes have taken place, underscoring the determination ofthe participants. Federal agents have iotentionallyelrained fom cleaning grafti off the courthouse in order te pose as helpless victims, when in face tele violent provecitions have heen the chief cause ofthe entire sequence of confit, Nonetheless, alehough images of rats on federal property ray serve tooutrae far-right voterswho already supported Trump and his goons, these lmages slko convey the courageous defiance of those who are standing up tothe authorities, PAINT BOMBS Demonstrators have used paine to reduce the vision of ofcers wearing visor oF uti transparent shickds Officers need clear vision to beable to go on atacking people etuszrsom)nathland) stagsasrser Sars etic wha ase acne (One ofthe classic models for makings paint ‘bomb eo inate a smal ballon and dip nto wax over and over unl the wax ean hold shape by elf, then pop the balloon an lhe vessel with paint. Other containers, such as hollow ‘Christmas tee ornaments, can serve the same function. You can find more information here FIREWORKS ‘Theuseoffireworksasprojectilestosorient ‘or discourage police and federal agents has nade for fanastic visual displays, both in the moment and in the footage that circulates afterwards (Ordinary, iris lesponsble co aim fireworks acuman beings, bu the state mercenaies here axe equipped with so much taxpayer-funded protective gear that this arguably does more t9 Prevent them from harming others than ie Goce toputthem ata (On the other hand, many demonstrators are reporting chat the booms of fireworks trigger thelr PTSD as a consequence of the ongotn trauma created by the booms of fash-bang anenades deployed by police. There are tradeotls toeverything FRE Protesters in Portland have used Se 10 dura officers to create an ambience of ‘clebraton. I's important to be very conscious about safety issues when people are doing cis in some instances, ees or human beings have ‘been exposed to fame, Some proestts have uscd morta fireworks to set fires from distance. “The question of whether fie is appropriate ae there proests has een hotly contested between demonatratort who ae oriented towards sjmbalie displays and those who are focused on direct confrontation. Selbappointed protest police have been quick v0 pur out ies, talk people out of setting them, and hassle 37
people who have started them, All ofthe fresin question have been purely Thi Precinct in Minneapolis nothing significant has been burned. Fire has been employed to burn fags tray the elk statue and is location after in was removed, and on one occasion a tiny pile ‘of pamphlets o someting ike that nthe police union (PPA) building, Soll che debate about symbull fires, symbolie—incontrasttothebueningoft Protestors scrambling to put out @ small symbolic fire Symbolic fires. FENCE TOPPLING Since the end of May, the police have installed several fences in Pod to control demonstrations, and demonststors nave repeatedly attempted to rple o elite them. The eater fences were mostly of the ‘ordinary chainlink variety protesters bed 3 Seriesof such fences "The Sacred Fence." A wordofeautionaboutthoaepeevieusfence telocttions Sometimes the fencesthat were torn ‘down were left discarded in street inersectons, creating a hazard of tiping o injury especially ‘when ofcers subsequently attacked with teat fs forcing blinded demonsrators to retreat hastily. Be mindful about where you put a ence after you dismantle 38
In late July, the authorities buileanindusteal burrer around he federal courthouse with sturdier frame, fencing, and smaller holes, anchoring with concrete Hocksacthe back, On subsequent nights, the blocks were moved the front side; protesters snd reporters frequently stood on these blocks, but federal mercenaries ‘would target those who did so with considerable fre fom impact munition weapons (On July 25, some demonstrators equipped with power tools Including a. portable angle frinder managed to topple a section of the fence. The anle grinder was used effecively on the comer ofthe fence but an ov of batteries before the job wos finshed. Leswons charge up Sirs and bing spare bateris. estercom elec” staapnspsegotsmiss “The use of power tos was neve. Umbrellas and shickds were crtial in protecting. the ‘operator from press cameras and impact ‘unitions while Teaf Mowers kept the smoke "Give mea lever long enough and a flerum fon whicheo plac it, and shall movethe world,” as Archimedes said. Ulimately, the section of fence was pulled down toward the protestors side by a wide line of people, after eater stempes to pull i spar atthe place where the angle grinder had been employed, usingaline of peonle pulling on ropes. ep ercom nantes Possible improvements could include finishing the cuttingo the hinges or using a sledgchammer to bang through an unfinished ft Te could make sense to range to have so $28 of sopes pling on bods the lle and right tidesof tea where the cutwat madestwo deep lines intead of one wide line. Aa people have discovered in the proces of toppling statues, 'simporeane wo use a stap oF chain that has 0 elasiciey rather chan a ope that has too much ve 39 Protesters have used sections of the chainlink fence as “shields” bur chese do not block gas or impact munitions. They have also used chem, at lest symbolically, to “barricade” the courthouse doors closed from the outside. This never actually stopped federal agents, 36 ro ane ever attempted to blk the doors at che bck ofthe courthouse. ‘At one point, demonstators filled parts of che fence with expanding foam to prevent federal agents fom shooting through heuitraomfurinesa pony 083 Iigeuitereom anges! sassy ‘Whether iewas acceptable to shake ortoprle the fence became point of contention Beeween the proces police and frontlines: hep acersomlcumetiny sania ‘After the fence cate down: ietuteosom pannus sce esses am ain9eno6048 DE-ARRESTING During the clashes in Porland, demonstrators have repeatedly freed. people from police and federal mercenaries who were sttempeingtokidnapther Successful de-srerts fre urvally only possible when demonstritors massively outnumber those atlempeing €0 Kednap them. To succeed, the action has £9 happen so fs that chere iit tme for police or federal einforcements to respond. Dearrests ae risky andl can result in much higher chargesthan the origina ares. Irs nota tactic to employ lightly. However, ifthe balance ‘of numbers and power aren the demonstrators favor, succesnfol de-rrets can show sate of (ederal mercenaries thatiris not worth grapeling sth 3 group of protesters, convincing ther £9 shifleco dispersal acti.
(CROWD MOVEMENT ‘Generally speaking, as long asthe police are oe prepare ta kel aul masearrest everyones, the Surest way for individuals to avoud act ‘when police are pressing into a crowd tb split {Up isto fallow he langest par ofthe cond: Tis {5 because—al ether chings being equal—the biggest crowd is usually the hardest fr them to seal with, This insight sales up since the best approach for cowdsisto stay aang aschey can ‘Wehaveseenthiswith hecrowssinPorland, where people have lene to sick together in lenge groups when the police stack, mowing slowly and cally eater than running and not Tetveiting more than necrascy—one Block it {yplelly the most chat che police in Pordand will ‘tfvance ata ime. There are chanes about chi “Stay together, stay ght we do this every might.” reminding everyone that there is no feason to fake exceptional rks to ones personal safety i fone can rerum the next night to accomplish the Same ation more safely with more ends “There sre other factors to beatin mind, of cute Ie beter tobe wth group thats aware fits surroundings, quick on ts et, and epable ‘of defending lf than cob wih a group tae ‘agi, confused, and cea tciidaed Tn Pordand, we have repeatedly seen police mploy a "bull rush” in which they charge at {ull clip while using some combination of test 235, pepper spray, impact munitions and batons Sn heryone he path you ae no pare of crowd big enough and equipped enought prevent the police from injuring pking olf {ndlviduas t's imporeane tobe ready trun, Cops can sprine very fr. DISABLING CAMERAS, BREAKING WINDOWS People have used paine and other tactics to prevent sunwillnce cameras from fling demonateators. Some demonstrators have also broken windows—a tactic chat canserveto draw the attention ofthe police away fom what they ‘were tyingto dobefore If youareensagedinany soreofacviey ike thst sespecally important to dess_ properly. Ie can be worthwhile to spose of al the clothes you were wearing after fn incident. What's more expensive another run to the thf store or bal money, cour ees, andalawyer? Fe niercom urease tos [LEGAL SUPPORT, JAIL SUPPORT Tk hae been very important. to. organize proper leal support in Portland with federal mercenaries seresting people every night. Even if you east go ta the ations, you ean help bal people out of fall or raise money to conthibute tobail fund, Kegeutrcom/molmasecnshaSiouscs88o8 ‘A movement that combines a wide range of the tactice described here—the way ‘demonstrators have done in Pordand can hold Space inthe face of considerable state vielnce Unfortunately, this may soon be necessary all round the United Seaes Be like water—keep your mask tight—and extroy what destrays yo. For feedback, questions, or comments plese en: GeorgeflydReader@protonmal com ne as ng Re ali gir AP SSAA cee ar

mm ara cin Tok. FERGY BAT INON 24 ie ne MINNEAPOLIS es


| Floyd Uprising Reader

Vol.1 Insurgency and Beyond



‘Thanks for pening tise.

‘A troup of anarchists and autoncmists in the Bay Ares/occupied
‘Ohlone land have collected these wetings animated by the 2020 upesings
‘which gited the so-called United States after the police murder of George
Floyd. Our invention that this reader inaptes poople everywhere 0
‘nage in deeper conversitions about al aspects ofthe uprising including
ite significance and context to the US Blick Liberation stugale. We
[blew these discussions are vital to shaping ongoing and fare stole
improving tatcs, and rendering ineffective the insidious nares that
smo crush ou cllecive power

We have organized these selected writings nto two volumes



Volume 1: Insurgency and Beyond shares on-he-ground accounts
feom various sites of struggle the challenges faced, vitorcs won, analysis
sharpened, and lesons leaned. Each writing, specific toe physical and
Cultural landscape, firme the necessity of insurrection while grappling
‘with ts impermanene nator and the questions of how we move forward
toxesher from such eruptions



Volume 2: Belligerent Identities in the Face of Counter-
Insurgency examines identity polities, Black anarchists role in the
uprisings, the racalized nature of “looting”, among other dynamics, The
concept of Beligerent lentes stake from te Latin Bellu Gere which
translater ae"towage war ater for guerilla soldiers wed by the tte. Ifa
Ipeligeren identity is that of the enemy combatant then we ack to reclaim
and wesponize this erm. The writing inthis volume peak to how the f-
‘cht, pole, tate, media, and thera use everything for live armnition
totired thetoi to douse the ames of rbellon and diffuse the potentials
cof solar.



‘As non-Blck anarchists and autonomists gathering and framing
‘wrcings about an uprising that is centered around Black liberation, out
Tositiomalty lends elf to 2 possiblity of missing important cements
and perspectives. However we hope that yu find this reader thought
provoking. Through erica analysis and Gere practice, may the Sree our
‘heats burn brighter as we love stronger and ight smarter in our eoletive
serugae for lberation.


‘TABLE OF CONTENTS

Volume



insurgency and Beyond

uu» Minneapolis: Now This Fight Has Two Sides
Riots Mean for ehe COVID.19 Era

What the



owt the Wendy's: Armed Struggle at the End of the World

Fighting Smarter Strategy & Analysis in Olympia



vo Tools and Tastes from Portland Protest

| INSURGENCY AND BEYOND
Some questions to frame your reading

‘What are the lessons ofthe rebellions in defense of Black lives and against
‘white supremacy that occured in 2020? How do we reinforce he strengths

tha emerged and lear from our callectve shortcomings?

Whar is che balance between supporting and feeding the justifiable fires of
sage and preparing for, building and defending a liberator future?

Hw do we carr the spn of insurrection inc further ations, relationships
‘aa practice after the looting, burning, and destruction fas ended”?


Asis ling wd srthe Mincapl oe Dpaomen sn
‘alae Td May oo tpn othe baling of Gg Pld ¢ MPD
“cat: lar)
MINNEAPOLIS:

5/28)2020
crimethincicom

NOW THIS FIGHT HAS TWO SIDES

WHAT THE RIOTS MEAN FOR THE COVIO-19 ERA,

The sosensins os vo

Minneapolis mark historic watershed in the
COVIDL9 era As we argued in March, there
are some things that are worth risking death for
Perpetuating capitalism i not one of them. But
some of us face threats even tone deadly than
OVID. leis worth risking our lives fight,
foraworldin which no one willbe murdered the
wo thae Geonge Floyd was-and what is hap
Pening in Minneapolis shows that people are
ready

ven before the pandemic hit, the United
Stars was powder keg, with rapily ecalat-
Ing inequalities polarising the popaation. Since
March, we have experienced historically ue
precedented “unemployment alongside lethal
Fiske chat ave been deerinutd throwshout the
population along che same ines of race and class


asthe preexisting disparities. The government
has invested bills of dollars to pour into the
pockes of executives, while leaving ordinary
people high and dys corporations are forcing
those who all have job 0 rik ther ives day,
whilenerodcing new surveillance technologies
sodsecking to hasten the pace of automation In
shor, we are being treated as surplus popula
tion tobe contrlled by sae violence and culled
bythe vius.

Politicians across the political specerum
are compliciin this. Some ae eying more on
brute forceto sabilizethe situation others mare
‘on more rational management, but no one hel
ing power has tel plan for how eo address the
sytem actors that yor usher inthe st place.
‘Atbeat they borrow ehetorie and talking points
from campaigns that we stare, showing jus 25
the firing ofthe police in Minneapolis did—ehat
the nly way we will ee social change i if we
take grassroots action to bring itabour by force
Yee until May 26, the chief faut line in the
United State appeared to be between Tromp
supporters who wane to pretend that there Is
fo pandemic taking place and Democrats who
‘wanteabe seenasthe cations responsible ones
without addessng the factors chat force us to
pur ourselves a risk. The spectade of clashes
Eeoween an astoturf farright movement de
‘manding to “re-open” the economy and uns
ally retrained police offers defending state
shutdown measures served 0 limit polite
iscourse to fools choice between the kind of
“feed” championed by capitalists and white
supremacists on one side and the kind of safe.
(9 chartotalearian tates always promise 0 p10-
ide on dhe other

“The courageous resistance to polis conta
in Minneapolis on May 26 and 27 in response to
the brutal murder of Oconge Foy shows hat 3
large nomber of peopl ae ready to oppose the
government and the police even at great rk £0



themselves, We are hearing the voies of a pat
‘ofthe population that was sl chese past ewo
‘months—those who are neither wealthy liberals
‘or booticking conservatives and itgurs out
that together, we are powerful enoush to inte.
rupethe sas qe

“The events in Minneapolis wil expand the
collective imagination of what i possible, which
hhad contacted painfully ver the past several
years. They will change the dscourse about how
Secial change happens. Ir has become clear that
entreating those who hold power through elec
oral means isa dead end, Arempring to make
change by main force isa gamble, but i isthe
‘only realistic option let.

Tris signicant that the mobil
took us sero this hreahold was a reponse co
anti-Blck police violence, stated by those on
the receiving end of white supremacy and all the
other vectors of oppression. As we noted at the
«end of ot, the uprisings gains police violence
that took place around che country fom Ferg
son to Baltimore and Beyond vival ceased
eer the election of Donald Tromp The reason
‘why this happen is unclear but they certainly
Aid noe cease because police violence dim
{shed in any way. The upaising ie Minneapolis
brings all the unseted debes ofthat era back
Jno play, bue ina totally diferent context, in
hich a le more people have been radicalied
society much more polarized and iis increas
{nly clear to everyone that—awhether from the
bullets ofthe police, COVID-19, of slob
sate change—our lives see a stake

The clashes in Minneapolis dominate the
‘news from Greece to Chile, For good or fori,
the United States occupies central place inthe
slobal atention economy—and thanks to the
pandemic, everyone around the world is exper
éeneing simular pressures. Especially inthe global
South—BrcilIrsdonesia South AVrica—where
lange numbers of people experience the same

tion that












brutaley thats meted out ro people like George
Floyd, che rebellion in Minneapolis wil ofr an
‘example others will emulate over the coming
‘months.

How wil the ruling clas respond! In the
United States, Teamp and his supporcers will
change that Democrats can't contol the ses
they govern using histo stake raise ear among
the beneficiaries of white privilege. Centist
Demate will aim that this sore of untest
what happens when rule of aw i nor respected
in the White House, hoping to regain power
nationallyeven though Minnesota is under
Democratic governance right now, and the Tse
hasalays heen an instrument of white suprem-
ay. The institutional Left wil present them
Selves as stermediaris, fering to get us out of
the street and under concol in retuen fora few

Hopefully, in time when the state itself
is fracturing tnco eval factions, none of these
aroups have che political capital they need ©
{arty out a marsive state clampdown siehout
running the risk of ing abandoned bythe oth
fer. Te appears that eacs faction would ike the
‘others to be the ones held responsible forex
“alating che seuation. In any ease, Trump is no
Tonge the only one dominating the news cee
[Now this war has two sides.

‘Only a week ago, some clements on the fa
right were tryingto frame themselves as ant-po-
Tice because of the “re-open” process In Min-
neapolis Inst night, gun-toting militia members
‘expressed the aehvand poston that they sa
ported the prowess but opposed the looting
‘contradiction thae becomes fageancly obvi
45 soon as you notice which direction che are
pointing their guns. The apparent musder of
2 demonstrator in Minneapolis lastnight by 2
Wigilante defending a store should make i cleat
‘enough that vigilantes and cops are the same
thing-murderers whether in oF out of whl
form,

‘And whae should we dat We should tak









cleanly ro everyone who wil listen about why
people are sanding up for themselves. We
hot shat kills abouthow ro keep each othet
Safe in the street, We should strengthen ou net
‘works and prepare topartcipateinsimilarevents
allsrounal the world. We should resi every
fort to divide those acting tether in slid
ity agains police viclence, especially conspiracy
theories about outside agitators. We should ex
plain yeragain why vandalismand looting aeet-
fective and leptimate proves acti. Every une
people stand up for themaclvesagainstthe police
sae, we should show up in solidarity, prepared
torn the same risks that those we support face
‘every day. Above all, we should share visione of
2 word without oppression, without hierarchy,
Vethoue police oF prisons or surveillance, and
demonsttatesteateges via which to create

‘Weowe nothing tothe police who have ak-
‘en advantage ofthe pandemic to murder Black
People even mote fagranty than before. They
tere never meant co Keep us safe: We ove noth-
ing tothe iliaires who have taken advantage
‘of the pandemic to pocket even more money
feom the site and comer the market with theit
‘monopolies Life for ther economy means death
forus. We ove nothing othe politicians who
have scarcely ited finger to protect our health
‘or housing, They have had their chance, We
need eo change everthing ourselves,

“The ring order i doomed. wil collapse
sooner or lite. Concentrating wealth and pow
rin fewer and fewer hands not sustinable
“The only question is whether we wil abolish i
before i kllal of us and decimates the planet.
‘Tie ie shor. The lives we choughe were ahead
‘of ushave already been snatched from us. I's up
to ussocteate anocher fore

“Thank you co everyone in Minneapolis and
Los Angeles sho risked their freedom-—and
rethaps thei lives—las night to shew that the
‘murder of George Foy is unacceptable

AT THE WENDY'S:



rofgl2020
illulleditionscom

ARMED STRUGGLE AT THE END OF THE

WORLD

‘Anonymous

The sine sce ous te

«vents hae took place between June rath to July
ruth athe occupation of Wendy's in Aeants,
Georgia, he site of Raysbard Brooks! murder



by the Atlanta Police Department. Over the
course of this month, a strange in-between
world formed around che burned inestines of
2 fast food restaurant Ine we sw one ofthe
‘most militant examples of Black strug inthe
Country, The exemplary characterof the strug
tthe Wendysallowes the authorsto experience
ome ofthe most powerful interventions —and
Some of the most dangerous limitaions—hat
‘American rebullion confronts today. In what
follows che authors focus on three dimensions
of this conflict: the effec of Black (nilane)
leadership, faalsm and paranoia as coneiutive
conditions ofthe event, and the Function of guns




and thal force in unfolding confit,

For Reshard Bros fr Natalie White, for Scarica
Ture

Sumer wasabi midnight on a Friday
nigh then uc ge hemes Tuas tenga fr of
‘thawewwh ventas ee at pert Mas of sere
fucked up—ieaicted by & mise of adrenaline
om 7 days suit of itn, a ones log up
flowed guar, MDMA, and evening ese om
ould pain sor bos tl shad so in and
tao ne shapes theclletv oy ofthe eva
The carves aarp dfatesincany,

‘Someone came ou ofthe Bouse in disres. “The
elie at sot man atthe Wendy Ba cae friend
fhe sow the whole thing He was the parking
Tac fling and is eg el a a wines” Asha of
pre dalled che moo We all new what happened
tothe poson who filmed Alton Strings mut, ust
like what happened coche poson wha fed Exc
Gamersmudet Wehadogerhimouof thee quick
Wendy’ Ar University and Por? The bldg ae
rahe down he eee,

onal we decided to head e the scene
Amal but angry ro fing of wih a pice
line The emu was mostly Black, weeny the
neighborhood hee he kill tok place. Pape
scveame at he cops ad the Black Disc Attorney
sho came ove to calm people down. No one was
Rung ie They talled mong themselier alot
‘shat happened, made no sce of the us thes
‘wore caring, nd ld the sees wl late. We
‘changal lances with comma in the coud and
relents as too cal t tll wha woul pen,
too late inthe night 10 expect coud £0 form

We serge to think of the George Floyd
rebellionasa single movement,andeventomake
transtegional claims about its politcal content.
‘We can only speak of the evens that unfolded
tn dierent places we speak of Kenosha, of

10

Portland, the CHAZ, Minneapolis, Chicago,
NYC, Los Angeles, Richmond, Adants, each
with its own dynamics. What the rebellion
has made clear ts that we are living through
the ongoing and uneven fragmentation of the
United Seater of America a know

hae spe the at 0 years ring to imagine what
Something ie the Geoge Fay elon would look
Iie—debacing what woud set of how people
woul fight hat tones they would ae, ha it woud
al be connate: Never n my wiles imagination
ould have pict his.

‘On the day the Wendy srt dour, ain peace
pie woe left shou tra the flor
1 lval cru tht gna and mone pus hom
toto the sighs regard. Attempt annie the
‘mualongacialinee—"Whi peoplerohe font!
and 59 on—uer alos ely nective. While a
few people were duped inc sanding on che hgh
‘omimic the fersovafe down onthe ad bel,
the bul of the cml was able 0 callaborate nd
<wodinate bliss and weapons acme aca ne.
‘Themsthof the “ouside ageazr” wounded ie ask
sek nthe es of exeromeon he gro i

The ine days of he accion re af for
all Every nig cenagerscame out lock eh ros
‘with ametuer guns, suo and oars Sdshous
took over adjacent incections and by nightfall
aroun had formed font vich parts f the city.
‘Theoecupatin of pace wan ited nthe pang
fox e was porous and difise, ble vather than
for.

We showed up at the Wendy alae every
singe doy, ening the ntl ane pial fet
ofthe pace. But as tine went on, we were unsere
(510 the engame ofthe ecupaton, We had been
Irs hulding infasracte and forming alliances
swith ome ofthe secur cam, bt had ad much
amtersaron wth anjone aoa wha wuld happen

Fast orwanl« couple weeks. O June oth
comrade snc sa message oer tet frm the Wend’
leadership, adits "To whom it may concen

The cuthors of the message calle the occupation
«a praae potest Bore going on 0509 that We
awe desl lon, and we do mot wane our wast
to be conf with ochercomimuniy wee” Th
tts the frst we had herd “deal plan? They
omic: “Asef naw we have ten na lous They
con] community olcans os dour with

ro oyanie the consouction ofa Peace Comer and a
razon more, an other things. The ws of
the lene ied demands for police abalion. We had
‘olaugh ache idea ofcallingita "pte pots. and
‘specially athe pt wher they al "we have broken
nos" Soman ha to buon thar bung dw,
fond ha ane shall ws legal. Ply of epee
‘acing changes forth. The selb pint leader
clearly hae been thre from the being They
fad mo mone ight a ouneaip over the pace than
anyone ele. This was the fst time we had heard
thar angone waned eo ans the Wee's a
"Peace Center ews ler tous exactly ow that
war supped to happen. Jt he paring Le
Tengenough with ns and the cyl gt 304?
Only one these us anneal dad weal
theneerabsnce of asta



ON (MILITANT) BLACK LEADERSHIP

The group that hulle a permanent
ceceupation at the Wendy's was not in any
‘vay afiaced with oficial lack Lives Mater
for any other pre-existing scivis group, and
for this renon we cannot desenbe it an 3
political leadership in a esdtional sense. The
fccupition’s atmosphere was remarkable in
its absence of lees or activist roles such ae
people proselytizing, giving orders through
‘megaghones, general assemblies, or making
arcempts to “organize” others. While a visible
tnd traditional activist leadership was nowhere
farbe acon, what emerged instead ft mare song

n

the line ofa silent and informal leadership.

The roles at the Wendy's can be
understood through three clearly “defined
aegories-a council fears, aangleadership
lemeng, and s security team mise up of largely
younger men whore role war to guard he
frtrance to the parking lot of the Wendy’
‘do nighy patos eo watch fr signs of police
‘ids and from ie to time lock the roads and
conttal atic. Overall, the leadership presented
‘many obstacles to unleashing the full potenti
ofthe occupation, making it more of acop-ffee
fone than an autonomous one

Contemporary movements are
consttaively lenderlss. This is not a moral
thoicea decision 10 oppose any command
{ssued from onhigh—but a condition of our
epoch. As the We Sell Outside Collective
fecendly wrote, "What they call ‘the Black
leadership’ does notexist” Thisisto say neither
that nobody takes initiative, nor that no one
tells people what to do. Far fom it.The point
‘gsi epochal. In the 60 there was NAACP,
SNCC, _Revolutioniry Action Movement,
the Black Panthers, Weather Underground,
SDS, BLA with their concomitant fgurer—
Marcin Luther King Je, Huey Newton, Asta
‘Shakur. Who ave these figures today? If there
ae plenty of martyrs from the srugules of the
post several years thete are no leaders. Even iF
ome chaptes ofthe formal Blick Lives Mater
Snganisation have sureved the previous BLM
‘ele they have largely played a pacing rlein
the curent uprising, advocated for reforms, or
st bet have ben reduced o voicing euppor for
‘more militant actions which they had nothing
to do with Blick Lives Mater survives not a8
fan organization but as a meme, chat is ssa
logan atbest When leaders do emerge, they ate
‘unlikely to have any impel engagement with
the stragele—leaders today only lead strugles
fone place to heir nd




‘The lendership of the Wendy’ chose che goal
of creating the Rayshard Brooks Peace Center,
‘hich was intended a place to setup services
‘of care and healing for Black people. This goal
seemed appropriate for the situation and even
potentially achievable, ancl aan deaf won the
Support of many paecipant a the occupation
Bucthe strategy wasconfusedin that tattered
tocombine element from a confrontational and
rulitane occupation with the ulkimate goal of
having achat wih city politicians. In this way,
the conflict over the oecupation’s outcome has
an unsuspected analogy to the conflict over
the ZAD lfrom the French “Zane to Defend
here i refers to the militant blockade of the
ZAD de. Notee-Dame-dev Landes). Would
it be better to maintain a miliant space that
tefused to negotiate With the city, ut which
‘would ultimately be crushed malta? Or did
I make more sense to engage in negotiations
fo make more permanent victories which,
while potentially recuperative, might. have
‘ultimately empowered those invelved? (On this
rote, i interesting that recent reports fom
Portland have ted to call the same dichotomy
fof "pressure politics versus iret action” ineo
question

“The problem of leadership atthe Wendy's
exceeded traditional critiques of movement
leadership. Such critiques tend to focus on
sctors who attempt to circumribe the limits
‘of action to largely symbolic gestures, while
reutlising oF denouncing any forces that
stempe to exceed this framework, [the text
"On Black Leadership and other White Myths?”
for example, che particular problem aetelbuted
to the Black leadership is is paifyng acempe
to stile unmedisted Blick rage in a bil t0
appeal to the white imaginary. While such a
‘riigue capeues the problem of Black leaders
like tanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
this narrative docttt effectively describe what



2

happened atthe Wendy's, Spectically, while che
leadership there dicated what forms of action
were and were not legitimate, they did noe pacity
the movement, nor did they make any atempts
re present more palatable version of Black age
that would gain widespread symbolic suppor
from white civil society. Instead, the opague
leadership accelerated a mitane stance towards
conflict point which, 38 wil describe belo,
contributed to occupations eventual downfall
‘The problem of leadership combined with the
armed nature of the occupation consolidated
power ina manner that overdetermins theres
Df the tation

From a pragmatic perspestve, the
wbstacle” presented by ‘Uhese more ul
setempes at leaderhip i that our organisational
Systems were incompatible, which prevented
‘communication between themn almost ently.
Te was almost impossible for «group operating
with a closed leadership and a clear sense of
facrnal consstution interact andengae with
chaotiy lenderlese swarms. ‘The hierarchic
form of command ofthe prewdo-leaders st the
Wendy's occupation could not interact with
those accustomed to operating on principles of
autonomy. With gard wots ow organizational
System, the leadership at Wendy's had a cleat
Sense of who was who, and as 2 result it was
tle to clearly distribute tasks and delineate a
structure of command within it nen ranks But
hi model of organization belongs toa bygone
rain which participants of a movement might
feck coherence by forcing everything. ino
aligament or expecting ideology of identity to
providea practical uit.

Ta contemporary insurrections, this
Iicrrchiel truce. of command and. ite
concomitane drivetowant unityisheing replaced
bya form of immanent colletve intelligence
Gestures and. communication spread srost
an increasingly frmented sian without






consolidating any coherent organizational
body or identi. Acions and tactics, shared on
‘Telegram or social media and detourned 0 ft
theneeds of speci locales spread in amemetic
fashion. “Our organisational tak therefore
has more to. do with mediating diferences
than with overcoming separation. Facing the
‘organisational problem with an understanding
fof fragmentation as a condition, rather than
2 shortcoming, will be crucial wallowing out
movements to flourish—rather than decay—
tinder che mark of leaderlssnes.

T's Jantech, the mood isbn, wee inthe
rie of olin. Weve on rh ting high
‘ain, 7 oF 8of usin fl es, out vad doen
tothe Wendy’ forthe night. Al of «sudden we hear
feshes, Now, this Lakewood Heights, people
‘hoot guns of eery night inthis neighborhood. Bu
Pee mver heard ansching ike eis my if In eal
‘ner 120 rund wee fie of The gunfire continued
‘mand of or about 30 inate, We ge the ast
Someone we know ght bya riche bullet. They
toured ther ou ly aust here cal’,
teating toe driven of Lacs, they make
eth any sexo inure Laver we ea that the
ute came from white pope who dae up
‘and opene fe on the Wen’

Jceth mans thei day thar we ween at
the Wendy We tke a eather te nex day asl,
cand sear up o do big babeque on the day fer. It
Seems tha people don' ely kw wha sng
the Wend’, swe yen open apa the comm,
sand sy aac ome new peopl the space, We
‘eed the space to go: We nad me pple to came
tot hao ntutes edly bl espace up.

We pur outa cal for donations and rseve
len of funding, We prepare an exrbeant fas.
Fo moe tallng abou hor dogs, bu several diferent
ind of mea and fi, and gant pa of chil We
send the ber par of day preparing. We ake 2
can du to he Wend’ around in he afiernoon.
The car esi fn th he arb the bac.



13

min she seco ca, well up and eyo ene he
patkng it, car pacad ful food Wevegree ya
Sange man holding laminate sheet of paper when
‘wc approach he driveway. Wecrack he window and
esa, "Have you hen a he Peace Canter bf”
“Sir his isa Wendy” d's. Rater, Tee born
ee exer) day aad Tue never ce You hee, th ae
sen” Thema gets heat elu we need fall,
‘ve andlen to is speech bei ering Wego
Fim and signal some ofthe people we knew fom
clays pi, aa yw ge ur comades wo come hl
vs out. The man gros impacient and tats ying
"PULL AWAY MOVE TO THE OTHER SIDE
(OF THE ROAD" Acts pin chins ely getense
Allo. auen our cor i ural hy pple with
uns Acthis pint, comply. The ar urs arn,
sand wee stuck up ough the window as we ie
‘he car aco the set Wel now i a i sees
We get exo crs the set, where we pat, Out
cat sill sound "Vall ge ay bombs in his
xt IEDs someane ses 10, Pike "oP been
hee every day, you've sen shoe We amet cook
Sorell ad the car ful of fond.” They serch the
car [ide che life I bug wo ct fod ander
Seat as dsr as pole Bask inthe Wend’:
eskng lo, deliberations are waders, We chan,
sabe egrets to passat fol lke on emits.
(Ove frends areal behind he armed checkpoint, All
swe candoiswate Finally we get through them hat
wee there cogil. An older de comes up 0 ws: "1
Tew tha ot alae eee dogo eins for ws
Budo nado an oh comsny. promise ou,
Fy da hare to this community, we have spe
fn yo thee ober 30 guns hating tg
sow Ifyou mist, so wor make wou alive” We
‘ene them we mean na harm and then we recite
fan amed carvan ba acre the mad. One of the
memos ofthe secur team ls,“ god that
owe out he with ws. Eero) who's not wth
eons de” Once we reach the oor shoe of
the Wendy pankng le, we begin vo waa. Shy
‘hear, disagreement ensues in the parking lt


‘and then inal someone comes up and elle sto gt
the hal ou bore we get cased out, a which oe
swe ead uc and see up arand the comer, and dlr
‘asof food othe space from ofr

“Theshotngom hetenthtmaleheunboundad
pce int a dfn and linia occupation, ad
take people were temporary ed from he pace
Teswade ese for them tighten up cvs fer
shooting, but he ulinate ea of this wae a sharp
Increase of milan of he pce combined with
{suspicion of exeryone that had een shee bore.
‘Artie went on, etor wre tl hey cold come
thee the monument co Rassha but that after
sing ther ners they wo hase to Late Ae
‘a wome,ansone wha wanted t sty longer wo
awe to sn in withthe coy, ore which cake
thes waned complete, aw long they expected 9
Detheeand etn after they ha fie wha hey
‘same wo da, Ina notable tance, a young hid who
had eolunecred ose up a media statey for he
occupation was permanently Banned for cucing @
halen the fence ofthe parking ina he neighboring
Tega ian ope spe fled with lems of arcade
smote ad plenty of hiding spaces, at wll
Faden xt Tees no lager cet ibe tad
been in he cay ds, al coals nolinger ace
foresprimenation

PARANOIA AND FATALISM

Paranoia and the proliferation of conspieacy
‘heores are anntegral part our contemporary
political aznosphere. IF police and politicians
fannot repress a movement eforchand or in
the moment, they are likely to ty t0 divide i
tor the fact by seeding mistrst among ators
by ateriburing malicious intenione #0 those
responsible. The police in Minneapolis have
ured this sertegy, attempting ie and tine
Sysintopin the mos sgncant act ofthe eve
fn "white supremacists:

Participants t Wendy's were not immune



“4

these kinds of conspiracy theories. Thus, atone
point, people agreed thatthe shooters stacking
the camp on July sh were “Russians” seein co
‘erailthe movement Formuchof cei, many
people chought we were ouside agiatorsas wll
Iristobe expected that Black people distruse the
fatentions ofa group with several whiee people
‘who came tothe Wendy's We don expect this
tnistrurt tobe cvercome innately Buc asthe
leadership became more and more paranokd, i
became increasingly dificult for our group co
dd anything. Thus, he food we broughe to the
‘eccupation in an attempt to adda reproductive
clement to the strate wae deemed “poisoned”
Sra not the eaten. In another insane, 2
bamboo structure was buileeo ereates makeshift
sain cover, since there was lee #9 nothing in
terms of lable protection from summer tin
Aver completing the structure, i€ was (almost
certainly inentionally broken out ofa mistrust
‘of ourintentionsto show solidarity. And finally
the higher ups were absolutely certain thatthe
KKK was going to come to the Wendy's on the
fourth of July and stare shooting people: Some
participants ha asked waif we would volumtecr
fovfirate che KKK; we assured them tha,
‘were actually true they were coming, we would
likly know aboutst Alas, chy dda really heat
us. Asa resulon athof July they decided to call
Jn suppor from NFAC (Not Fucking Around
Coalition), «Black nis,

‘While paranoia stems from an inability
rust the good intentions of other "outs
sors, ftaliam is caused by an inability to test
jn a desirable outcome of the struale overall
Simply pac, by fatalism I mean the condition of
fighting wth lorof determination bu no hope
Kespingtrackofallhemovementsthatcomeand
0, one cannat help but get concerned hearing
Soung people sym remly to dif this shie™
Te as the kind of things we heard often fom
the mouths of chese youn Black men, area to




the eeth and talking abour defending a parking
lot containing lite more than a burned down
building. OF couse in some respects the space
issocre since twas the ste of a police murder.
On the other han the inability to detach fom
‘his sentiment i esl lethal. Fatalism is noe 9
mistake on anyone’ behalf, Rather # seems
‘more to be a condition of emenent revatt
Indeed bya lack of clarity around the ultimate
politeal horizon of revolutionary stovements in
seneral, and beyond that, che gloomy horizon
‘of our species a « wile: If we are not merely
fighting for negotiations (and I expec a large
orton of the mvement wants much more
"han this, andi here ino shared percep
fof what revolution means anymore, then ie
also oe clear what victory could look Uke aside
from burning down police preines. Nor am
Teaying thae brazen mlcancy is something in
need of stewie cortction by more "ational
revolutionary experts. Indeed, it almost seems
as if ie i precisely these sorts of strategic
“expsctatons inherited from the 20th sentry
that cause dysphoria amongst more seasoned
experts. However, the problem roma
vethouta shared sensibility sound ou ultimate
revolutionary objectives, revolts isk adopting
2 steategy of exponential escalation which can
lead only to repression ortobur out.

‘This fatlitie. mindsct is recognisable ro
anyone familiar with the problem of the warrior
‘orthe miltane subject, oth of whom undertake
feverincreaing exploits with diminishing
ferurna, Many feontliners faced this problem
2s wall: Uhey continued protest after protest
after protest, never satised with what they had
Achieved since it had resulted in che burning
‘of police presinctor something like revolution,
‘This not only opened chem up to Being targets
‘of represion, hu lent their aetoities a sense oF
slesperaton, meaning they don’t know when it
is me to disengage fom stecct hates, which







In turn makes them fel disappointed or jaded
withthe strugule- If wee unable ro detach fom
Aspecticmede of confit ina timely manne, we
Fisk being tapped in symmetrical bates with
the stae which are largely reactive or vindictive
Tn his. autobiography Bad, James Care, a
legendary urlaw and prison rebel known for
his camaraderie with George Jackson, famously
‘cls the guerilla ideology that was a pare
‘of both prison rgankzing and Black radicalism
In the cary Gos “I teased hac a a miltane |
would always be a che merey of arbitrary acts.
‘The militants an che Tactical Sud rot force
live symbiotcally since the leftists speak in the
Tansee the goons can understand the prety
military resolution of power relations” He
‘ontined, “Taw that ll he alternatives PU se
for myself were reactionary in that they were
merely direct responses to cies committed by
thestate The terms, the terrain al the weapons
‘of my past strugele ad all ben dictated by my
‘enemy, This hod increased my rage, But also
increased my willingness enter int combat in
sich away that couldn wn”

Political action is our present will be
characterized by paranoia and fatal and a
revolutionary strategy must find a way beyond
these limiations. Beth paranota and ftalism
are born of a paradoxical situation of being
incapable of nding meaningful action ouside
theeurent confice andl an inability toplace ath
ina collective process of empowerment. The
‘exsentil question remins how t cut throgh
the confusion caused by misinformation, by
poranoia and fatalism and preven dhe strugile
from exhausting iselt internally, On the one
hand, partisans muse actively combae the spread
‘of misinformation by being the fist set UP
‘communicitions infraracare that allows
people to fact check information and discse
Plane and idear in a deventralzed fashion
Beyond that they rouse Sure out meaningful





15
ways to provide dasty around revolutionary
goals that are immanent ro che moverent sell,
‘hich wil help_ prevent people fighting in
Aesperate bats they cannee win.

"How are we to engage in confists where
participants so easily lose contact with the
realty ofthe situation, yet are at the same time
willis to throw thie ives on the line for the
ame situations all without che possibly of
‘vitory? The problem of ftalism goes back to
the question of leadership: Ie has historically
been the role of the party to intervene and lead
proleriansoutof desperate, dead-end srugules
And ontoa historical trajectory which would end
in victory. But today, we cannot point to any
sroup, party organization, tendency oe any
similar that would provide cohesion 1o the
‘movement, even after the fc.

es th of July. A Bock pares i mania at
the Waly For the ie te sine the shooing on
Janecenth the space is open. Tht meas argone
fe wsdcome to cams. This was what we Bal been
thinking needed to happen ll amg. Howes
of peaple ewer the space that had boow thee
joe Then’ ld als chien, people come 0
Wendy’ thar ha een asing al ovr the cowney
to protests. There's tns of foe a DI en with poole
lacing peopl drinking al das long, Burs arn
assed cond is the hih pn ofthe movement,
veothing comes ager. fo activi ep ome
sur of e “politcal ecation taming’, fc
they weakly moval othe back of the parking
let where nay could hear or ete, since they
eu have ben mone out of tuck wth he be sf
‘hey had rid. Despite that, ltt they wee
thee, Above al we ned a divers rumber of groups
toe atthe spce Meanie oes pained mals
fom the thr side ofthe bing. Finely the save
eek an axes soe. Th’ dire des
of what people sould he dang, nobod dominating
the space or dsaaecing pet se, and the divene

16

elements present become a sun of sengh ater
than a soe of confusion. This dynam what we
‘eer toa the composition ofthe movement, and ae
thismomen the zone isundceaable

Suddenly something changes. Unamowncey
up of cout 200 people dese inal ack and
fame tothe th shou up aul makes tng
the Wen a lary formation. 1 anal
Black mia. The gesture inspes ave i exerone
resent now nebo would ack with he space. But
something ange happens. After sing fora piste
infront of the building he majority of them eum
‘rnd an leave. These aspects who—having
never ben 0 the spac, quate literals qualified as
nase agar ven they were Black The mood
hangs." cloud suoops cents the dy ana Hols
tt the en?

Four hows late, nghtine and Tue never
ae hs happy with he ocuation. The pking lt
fa frmer fs fond vestawaeopensup ovale
f para, Were eating fel eh someone cooked,
teizng for Frew to art going of ile eed
‘Bom bls aa hes noice they wast black
the rect of gai, which they hae dane ance he
op stale ther haricales 3 weal ean Jets 3
thules wth long pst Hock oe ane of she rod,
Since thewsenlyatradhcan asaboricade.|gohome
to change and get rea for he nigh, since thew’ a
‘march in another are ofthe cy ltr tht evening
When I come back abou an how ater Tm ead 0
st ative I drank « Gatorade aa ther Fw aly
for ansthing noc the seme problem caer
they ned actual baricades tack the oa.

When the bls sat fying Tae all sense of
rita my bs free a pul her ith
‘metothe round aa chia carl her ls, and
tthe che shotngs sp ford mament we a ow 0
the gendtothe back of the parking lo: Someone
opens up ther car door fr ws and we hop in and
stim and duc We'e nt see he. Blo ding
seams ring ou, Tse shots fred and eed
Simeone screaming "WHOEVER SHOT THAT
BLACK MAN IS GOING TO DIE” We're looking
for on pele, yng fave aut wher they wet,
tmcenain if we sho eave or tay. The same woe
rings out “IE YOU DO NOT HAVE A RIFLE
(Of SHOTGUN, LEAVE NOW. IF YOU DO
NOT HAVE A RIFLE OR A SHOTGUN, LEAVE
NOW" OK; i lew We rye igre aut en et.
remember tht someone ot ike oof th Wer’
for ting hole nthe fnce it the neighboring
lag and his sw we make are 1 dents
‘the id who cut he ale nea fnce knew tha his
mischief would one day sav is but ta’ exacty
“shat happens in ehat momen. Werke ur ayo
tnt he meghboring I, hap some fone, an Bos
Tes pm thew’ a march arin oo. We hve et
tha a he dors nda all bore
tue hie the areas aga. Were al dics from what
Jat happened, buat the adnan hsp us going for
fan all nigh adventure The nex day we hea that
{ele gi named Secor Taser had boon shin
the msn fa dsc hat had broke on a the
Bockads I won’ elie il weak acer how what
appene hae night ha scared me,

‘TO HAVE DONE WITH GUNSLINGERS

Americas that strange land where oomers
are quicker to shrug of cops geting shot than
broken windows:theformerpresentsaleytimate
form of sefdefense, and the later isan attack
‘om propery leis wishful thinking tobeieve that
‘demonstrations in America will be gun-frce in
the fare, an fortis reason i is mporant 29
Aeliherateon how hes to engage with them. The
problem iva differ one. If faaism points toa
Seategie problem of escalation without acest
horizon, then guns are the tactical counterpart
‘othis strategy in the American context
While guns were present fom the very
firs might atthe Wenel' right after Rayshare
was killed they became a prominent feature
oF the oecupation “ater the shooting on



Jneteenth. Ths firs shooting had two notable
consequences: white people were remporaily
Banned ftom the space, and. people strced
stockpiling weapons in the Wendy's parking lo.
Regarless of whether or not his was the right
‘hing to do st muse be said thatthe rahe wings
steategy depends on polarising tensions around
preity thete ewo axes: the polariiion of
confi slong ethnic lins and the ineitation of
tied confi.

Since the trafic blockades eventually led
to an armed confrontation, can we locate any
specific strategic function they might have
Played? “On the days following Junetoenth,
ond blockades made out of burnt remnants of
teach leftover from the avon were at up in the
streets and reinforced by young men with long
suns. The blockade wasnt just at any random
street in the neighborhood—it was atthe fist
intersection of the freeway off ramp. To put
it bluntly, they Mocked the entrance to the
entire neighborhood. Cars of Black people who
showed solidarity or gave a ist were allowed to
ps, while white people mosey earned around
far before approaching the blockades. Had it
heen held or long enough, such a blockade
the kindof thing that could provoke white fight
from the ae, forcing people to abandon thelr
plansto “clean up the neighborhcod.”

While i was the power of stone throwers
and atsoints who claimed the territory, wat
loubtless the presnee ofthese guns that kept
thepoliceawayforthree weeks. Lefistsareoten
appalled when plice eke a hands-al appeoach
to armed rightwing demonstrators who attempt
to blockade or occupy space, but the Wendy’
showed chat this could have more todo with che
presence of gunsthan mang leftists would lke to
belive The visible display ofgunsimadeitsothat
the cops would’ dare to approach the place for
fearof entering into a shoot-out. Given the le
tmoraleof the Atlanta Police Department—mny







7
cofcershad walked off che job that week over the
charge fled against the ills cop —it was cleat
that they were overstretched and didnt have the
forces to engage in this kind of gun bale, And
Jet inanextimated ttl of sven shootout hat
foc place in three weeks, no fascists cons Bot
thot, and none of thoae killed were adversaries
ofthe cccupation.

What war the effet of guns at the
‘ccupation? Eventually chey became an ersatz
{or thinking about how to keep the space safe—
and an erat fora strategy of collective power.
[As much as they contributed to keeping police
way they became a substitution for other types
fof activity that could have strengthened the
‘ecupation: having more people there instead
fof les, building actual playsieal baricades in
the sce instead of leaving sup to gunmen to
op cas, ete. The increas In guns contibured
fo @ regimented, military vibe that dominated
the camp, Thus instead of sleeping at nigh the
security team wos tanked with ‘patolling’ the
space to Took out for theses,» recipe for rapid
bumowt. There's no dub in my mind that the
season wy more people dade cometo the space
fs because they were affaid ofthe guns Iwas
‘not even just white people. Black neighbors who
fuck around with gunsall he time stl would
come down, because they dc see the guns as
anything particularly impressive; in their eyes
guns signaled something more ike specialized
fon activity that wor dangerous for thir kad
fobe around. So edi’ have che same lloring
leer tha # dal for many manta In other
‘words, the reliance on guns erated 4 hostile
eavironment that eventually ended up iting
the scope of actors engaged in the camp, which
rade it even more vulnerable to violence and
steack,

“The problem was not the presence of guns
per se, but the fact that carying 2 gun turned
{ho a specialized role, This specialization wat





18

most visble inthe arival of dhe Not Fucking
‘Around Coalition (NEAC) coalition on the 4h
of July. Tir alien presence, hardly more than
8 photo op, took no account of the siuation
‘whatsoever, militarized the mood, and deiitely
didn't make anyone safer. While the militia
‘was clle ito secure the space for fabecated
threats of a KKK lynching om the th of july
thew presence was Just plan dominating, and
created situation that they were noe actually
there to ake responsbiliy foe. Even if they
fre Black, they presne a pole of antagonism
that escalates too quickly and falls neo a trap
fof symmetrical warfare. The more med actors
become the leaders ofthe strug the les room
to maneuver will be lf to people throwing
Molotvs, breaking into buildings 10 hack
lect, oF curting fences to steal equipment.
‘The idea thatthe best way to Fespond to gun
violence by che stat is by more armed violence
Js-a fallacy with a history. A simlar debate
played out in the 6os between Eldridge Cleaver
nd Hucy Newtons while the former advocated
fran armed vanguard of lumpenproes to led
the struggle, Newton came to ae the iolting
effets brazen malitancy had on the rage and
‘thus pursued survival programs instead. Amore
‘community-centred approach at the Wendy's
‘may have created the space fr real autonomous
material power co grow, and broadening the
scope of ators may have made the space less
vulnerable toarmed attack reducingthe number
‘of guns necesay.

“The guns atthe Wendy's wore not going eo
smagiclly make a Peace Center appeat. Aside
fom replacing any teal sates, guns did not
halp the Wena’ leadership get any closer co
thee real goal, and in the end they were still
reliant on negotiations with the stae to get
‘what they wanted. At the same time, clear
‘that chere would have been no way fo lnc a
critique of the guns from an unaried postion


‘Any plea for nonviolence would have been
laughed at snd Brushed aside, In hindsight, 1
wwe would have wanted to make the space see
and more hospitable, we would have had to eke
‘over roles om the security team and neutralise
the inereasing miitarisation from within that
tole sellabolition ofthe armed partisan, i
Something like thats conceivable

“The question of vielence will bea decisive
‘oneforthe furur of rvolusonary movermentsin
‘America. There's no doubt that sald movernents
will noed to arm themselves for self-defense.
Yes as also happened in the CHAZ in Seattle,
the violence within the poice-fee ones often
slirety rele in them losing polities seppore
‘When this isthe eae, che police do nat eves
need to bother pursing 4 strateny of dict
repression, Instead they can just wai unl thee
theence from the area allows enough violence
tehappen that eventually makes their presence
‘gun seem justified, In contrast to this statexy
that is composed of minoritarian factions of
armed shooters, the legacy of the non-violent
direct action movement provides something
thar i able eo maintain broad auppor., To point
this outs nor vo make cate for moralistic non-
olence, but sather co suggest tha the scength
‘of out movements will depend on bread social
support more that on purely mulitary victories.



CONCLUSION

“Themain prblemsat Wendy's were thatthe
space was controlled bya hierarchic leadership
ttho—by their own account "privatized" the
protest, tothe point of eefusing any lp fom
several dozens of people who were interested
In contabuting to the space in real ways. These
factors made che space increasingly slate, and
the leaders increasingly paranoid, As result
the occupation relied om a dangerous srategy of
sed eseaation f0strongarm the sts which

‘ended predictably with gun violence that made
the space easly repressible and, quite frankly,
dlficle to defend, after an. year-old wos
‘murdered inthe cross ofa shootout on the
sh of uly. While the occupation galvanized an
‘overwhelming cisplayof militancy and courage,
itended with asa dilerama a naty of the
‘ther eballions erom thecountey twas unable
to lay whae there was to buld or atiem, once
the looting, burning and destruction had ended
‘What does the Wend’s tell us about a stategy
‘of escalation? What ate we to think of the
face that guns both made the oecupation
possible and led to ts demise! If has been
four tak in past struggles to escalate things
to their insurrectionary horizon, this must
be diferentaced from escalation a8 the mere
Increase of a capacity for vielence: Kenosha is
yet another sucion in which violence quickly
‘Sscalated pasta point in which emancipatory
terors wore able tobe effective, In. these
Sieuations, the accelerated rate of escalation is
tunsortsinable and in the end, only accelerates
the retortin of aw and onder. Revolutionary
aevwity should be measured i terms of is
fapacity to be sustainably defended by as
tnang people as possible. When revelutionary
olencecendsto isolate pariipants ater than
defending them, itdoes more harm than good
Beyond the question of violence, the
“question merges a8 to howto create 3 common
TPetepective on what forms of ston are posse
Inthe absence of leadership structines oF
democratic proceduraliam. As movements like
the George Floyd rebellion continue to appear,
organized milants” might find. chemseves
being ouspaced and sidelined by proetarians
who have lle interest or regard for long
term revolutionary or stategie objectives, and
instead are magnetized excisinely #0 Tooting
tnd clashing with police. If we wish to avoid
fn eallyforesoeable outcome, eis important

19
to clarity 9 measurable set of revolutionary
‘objectives beyond that of fighting increasingly
riltarized Bateles with che state and esis oF
becoming depressed or jaded when these dry up
‘or are no longer possible. Without any gols in
‘ind, the exalation of wolence risk outpacing
the capacity of movements to produce cllective
ffrmationsbeyond thatoftheenemiesthey hold
fn common, How do we counter this escalation,
while stil advancing along a eevolutionary
rrajectory?

Tnsurtections and uprisings are one
Important piece of «protracted revolutionary
process, noe necessity their apocslyptic
Sulmination. All movement, being in their
fssence living onganiims, are bound wo die
fut However much we might wish to disavow
this Ineviable ending of our movements
‘hove frameworks cha allow «sense of joy and
celebration to accompany the end of movements
are beter positioned to foster the growth of
{sustainable long-term revlutionary force.
Tr requires an enormous amount of energy £0
sweatherthenegative falloutof suchbigruptres
sodto avoid sense of desperation that compels
testo engage im aetions eat merely mimic the
feelings evoked during the movement he oy of,
destruction, now undertaken on an individual
buss without « mass of people, but which do
rot contain the potential to meaningfully open
‘op new path of struggle To avoid faite
sctions, we mus ulvate the capacity t0 ero
‘verythinginto these revolts togivethesettes
‘ural while athe same tive recognising when
thee potential sexhauseed, or when movements
are ‘dea’ This capsity to recognize when the
Certain Is nolonger one thar we are determining,
‘san essential pat of whatit means be water!
[AS the recent debates around the desabiity
‘of civil war make cle, there is no meaning
concept of rewoltion on ofer tay [In
the seth century, proletarian revolution was

20

fmagined as a process whereby the working
class would grow exponentially up to acetal
fhreshold, at which point it would become
politically hegemonic take power, and produce
Srnew work! from out ofthe shell ofthe ok
TTeaday, this is no longer concsivable: we ate
collapsing under the tll of the old worl,
rather than fing meaningtl ways eo salvage
SC Consequently, today’s parcsans will have
to be much more flexible in chelr expectations
about whae is desimble and possible in the
‘coming years.

Beyond. the internal strife our species
f facing, we face the threat of extinction
under a planetary catastrophe of unthinkable
fropostions. This calls on us to think of, at
Gnther Anders phrased ie) an *spocalypse
that consists of mere dawnfall, which doesn't
represent che opening of a new, positive state
of afaits™—an “apocalypse without kingdom.”
Fortunately, were not the only ones faced
with the dificuley of founding @ new way of
Iie Tn the time eo come, rling elites will lso
find i increasingly challenging tO cstshlish
and maintain hw and order. As the horizon of
fovernance recedes, more and more space will
‘pen up foe us allowing us to experiment with
‘erlang regons of terstary outside of thet
contra. The Wendy's gave sa very real glimpse
‘of precisely thiscomingdisaray, Ourtask now's
totum the challenge i faced into touchstone
fergie us through the coming aby
Notes
11} The story of Natale White is mote sinister
than often reported. Missing from the account
thar she was Raysharas ilfiendisthe fact that
Rayshand was ali maried. The tory after that
i well known, that Natale was hunted down
after videos circulated on socal media ofa white
‘woman allegedly setting fe to the building
Bur the Adanta Police Deparement dide't move
to arrest her until after che funeral, which she
‘wasnt presenta. fer the fry went cough
its grieving process together, the state then
moved into take ou the extramarital! partner,

further iglating her from Rayshaed’s Black
family. The majority Black APD could chus
aetempe to align itself with Rayshard’ family on
the basis of Blck identity, while atcempring to
tnalate Natalie White from the family abit
ie the family to dade with che revo that
Unfoldedafee Rayshard’s ling.

TZ] For two takes with seemingly entinly
dlifereat understandings of iv war and
‘conclusions about it desirably, sce dei
Robinson, "Letter to Michael Reinoch!", and
Crimethine, *Beeween Electoral Politics and
Civil War



a

FIGHTING SMARTER:

‘ina)2020
insgoingdown.org

STRATEGY & ANALYSIS IN OLYMPIA

Puget Sound Anarchists

23

SO versisieripeninn ta

Olympia and ao fae that i foes impossible to
catch a breather, The conalstene level of energy
paced any other struggle
remember e's been areal
possible» Conditions
soit makes lest sone t0

dh analysis of what
currently i morro ie mye
Completely uscles. What U hope to do instead
is give a geneal ever view of the broad train
were fighting iny give some auggesions, and
pst on some tools that everyone ci use





for moment to moment analysis a3 we delve
further into the chaosic scream of strug
GLOSSARY OF TERMS

1 use some specific terms s0 T want £0
Aefine hem real quickly for people

Swategy A flexible and constanely evolving
‘medium to long term course of ation £0 get
from point A co point B

Tenain: The culmination of all physical,
social, economi, and politial situations chat
Influence the goals, possibilities, and actions
ina given area,

Macuser General moves we can make in
ny given situston to influence any given sot
ofterrain.

Discus: Having todo with communication,
messaging, and discourse



READING THE TERRAIN

‘The first thing to acknowledge is Olympia
sin Seat, i ain't Portland, and sure 36
hell ain't Minneapolis. Olympia itself, not
Including Lacey and Tumwater, # around
s5,000 people. £89 ofthat is black, so give or
fake theaccuracy of census datathav’sroughly
1000 Mack people. Olympia ts physically
tinall, you can reasonably walk fom the
westside to che east side, and downtown is,
roughly, a block bys block grid
Olympia i also a seat of government, and
fe shows in how heavily policed ie fs. While
PD themaclver aren't much, there's also
the Washington State Patrol HQ, and an FBI
field office downtown, and up on the west
fide Is the Thurston County Courthouse
‘whieh is also the Thurston County Sherif
HQ, On the edge of downtown and the east
side isthe City court & jal as ells DOC
probation services, and jus inthe eastside is
the National Guard Armory

The core of dowmown is





a lot of

24

Jncteasingly upscale local businesses, and as
such, much of the town i entranced by the
myth of the ‘good local business as the area
fs becoming flooded with upscale condos,
some bigger banks and government offices 35
your get closer to the capitol

(One ofthe major power blocs in the city
is the downtown local business and land
owners, and while they are not unified (we've
teen some of those cracks recendy via who
supports the protests vs opposes), they tendo
Tearn towards the reactionary side to defend
thei interests. They are mostly organized via
the Olympia Downtown Alliance, essen
hurineseunion that has itsofices downtown
fon sth. They've been the steongese push for
fseotrfication as well asthe mote organized
antchomeless forces co kick homeless people
‘our of downtown,

(Our of this bloc has come figures like
former Mayoral candidate David Ross and
Peter Diaz of American’ Wolf, Much of this
camp is organized through Facebook pages
and groups such as Olympia Looks Like Shi,
‘The David Ross Show, Thurston County
Scanner, and Olympia News Network
Ocher organizing is done via the Olympia
Downtown Alliance and occasionally via
Nextdoor,

The other major power bloc is of course
the city. Specifically the city counell and
police. ‘These forees aren't necessarily
‘ified, but are unified on the cantinwation
fof business as normal (and literally business
tince that isthe main driver). As far a8 the
ty goes, most power Is in the City Manager
position and of course in the police. The
‘mayor is an empty figurehead that is mostly
just fun eo hate on and make miserable. Most
official organising is obviously done via city
‘council meetings and sessions, a8 well a the
Olyampia Police Guild








MANEUVERS AND CONSIDERATIONS.

With the general train laid out wane
voice some considerations and suggest some
poriclar maneuvers. When 1 tlle about
Emaneuvers” here Tm talking about general
moves wecan make in any given situation, These
apply both to im che streets and ‘discursive
eaing wich communication and messaging
situations, These ate obviously not hard ules
{not thae I'm in any position tose rules orhave
any desire t6, There are no rules when ir comet
to strategy, sale of ebservtion and acting 3s
[bests we can off those observations.

“The fine consideration i that Olympia it
small people wise and sizewise. Whatthismeans
ia that we have a much more diect impact on
things thar happen here, rather than say a place
lke Seale where 10 anarchist doesn’ mean
rich 0 anarchists means lot here: That also
means the loss of single anarchist is fle much
tore wrongly here than other places The ip
ide of tise that ourenemice ass have much
faore dvet impact on things here, and Likewise
the leas of one of then hae armuch bgze impact.
‘The small amoune of people broadly, and
anarchists and radicals speciiclly, means
thar the actions ofa single person efect uy all
rmuch more strongly and our collective ations
have a much more profound impact on the
wider community — for boosting morale, for
lemoralising our enemies, for building power,
and fr putting people in danger.

“The small size of the city means both us
and our enemies ean get around quicker, and
ie means ie’ easier for people to be followed
Similarly its much easier to recognize and be
recognized by our enemies around town, A
prriular consideration isda to the whiteness
Df thiscity, people of color and specially lack
people stick out mach more which also makes ot
smuch more particulate when autonomous





far Righe forces go agitated

‘Speaking ofthe far Right, since American
Wolf and thei cohorts are essencally 2 Diet
Patriot Payer, we can think about some tactics
thse have worked. Huriliation and absurdicy
swork inredibiy well, ong things like liter
ily string, al horns, and jst penealy being
flamboyant and annoying. Things like Blocking
them with big banners or Blank sheets of
umbrellas also works asa good de-escalator ast
blocks chem fom che object of thet rage. These
things tend eo work wel because i hurts thie
Image as brave defenders against the hordes of
raging ania, ar well ar thins them down t9
their ideological core as, om one hand, those who
‘ame out to ight don't ge thee fight, any onthe
‘ther handy the les committed ones who did
realize what they were getting into see what the
soup isabout

Tes natural for us to want to just ick
their ases, but fights are risky fora number of
reasons, Whileawin for ur can hea huge morale
Iboos, it ean also he huge mobilize for them.
Meanwhile slim winscan be ortasdemorslsing
ava loss. There isa real possiblity of our people
teting hospitalised or dying, which is never
food, The police wil always be on the side of
‘ur enemies here and we can come out ofa fight
Unscathed only forthe State to come down with
charges: None ofthis to say we shout fighe
them, but we should weigh risks vs rewand and
ssnerlly is bet o find alterativesto fights we
arent sure we're going to win. e's important to
now when eo esate and when to dectealate
‘Tangentially related, i quickly becomes a
hindrance if we sart viewing everyone thats
not usa a potential enemy. Fist of all that's a
op meneaity, Secondly we have to undersand
fnarchy ain just for the “anarchist” but
for everyone. Just because someone doesnt
understand or approve of, people smashing
windows or burning shit doesn't mean dhey



23
are our enemies, ve had a surprising amoune
‘of good conversations wich people in. the
ferects that approached pissed off about
people smashing up local businesses but were
fverything from ‘uncaring to excited aboot
“mashing up the City Hallor the police sation
“That can be worked with, Sometimes good sia
fs key and we have to sacrifice what we want
‘odoin the moment for shit that wll bring us
closer tothe larger goal

Lee's talk maneuvers. These ate generally
stolen from The Are of War and 36 Seager
‘These can be used both for on the grovnd
actions, discursive setions and. Broader

1. Make your Enemy Tie; Conserve Energy

When possible, we should be making our
{nei react tows rather than react fo them
‘Werdon't have to show up to every fghe we ate
fnvted to (hetero lave them chasing ghost),
nd we should se the ime and place of confice.
Consider the ways in which the city hae
curently militarized downtown throughout
the might and the ways in which che wannabe
‘cope continually go out. They ate essentially
fia state of siege and lke all humans they will
bumnoutyand waste money doing ietoo In what
‘ways ould we encourage our enemies chase
fer more ghosts to rum themes down and
sake 3 fol of them even more?

2. Loot a Burning Howse

“The bes timeto strike i when our enemies
ave in disatay. The best part if we can help
sow thaediatay

Ory Wa
Fake 2 move multiple times and your

‘emis wil grow weary af. Strike once they
See no longer prepared

26

+4. Searle the Snake by Hing the Grass Around
i

you do not know the plans of your enemy,
make a diret bur brit stack and observe how
they respond

5 Remoue the Stick fom the Axe

Tan enemy is t00 powerfl to engage
cel, they mus tt be weakened by stacking
thet foundation. (Equipment, funding, social
sincles and socal accepeancs,

6. Brekeche Old Modes

Sertegy is built off information and
pattems. When we do the same thing ican be
planned for. When we deviate and do something
unexpected and strange it ean throw off our
enemies

7 Spreal Thin

‘Whether its muleple diferent marches
happening at once or different political ries
and scandals happening, our enemies can only
beso many places at once and deal with so much

[AN ANALYSIS OF OUR OWN

Many poople tend to. shy sway from
conversitons around analysis and strategy, and
Se makes sense. The way it curently exists in
fhe hand of few who offen une i t0 Faont
helt prowess and arene particularly
food about sharing the actual kills of analysis
fnd sraegy. Bur es importante to recognize
these things for what chey ae, learned al
and toa degre most people have them. Ifyou've
fever looked around ae your surroundings and
‘hough “maybe it would make sense if we did
this instead of that” you are analyzing and
thinking sratexcally

My hope is to offer you some tools 10 help


sharpen your skills of analysis and strategie
thinking, because we don’t need a handful of
anarchists "strategists" and “theorists” but @
clspersed practice of analysis, cheorising, and
"trie thinking that everyone i able to and
feels comfortable contributing

6000, BAD, AND DIFFERENT

‘The retool want to share isa very simple
‘one thats best done with your crew (or even by
yourself). After an ation, ia simple debe,
Were yu tlk: about the postves of an event
the negtives, and what you would have dons!
hadrepared diferent.

‘Questions:

‘One of the most important tools you
can have for analysis is questions, Bue what
‘questions should be asked? And whent That
realy depends on what you are doing and rying
to do, but san share some of the constrsints
[work under andl some ofthe questions that
uideme

‘When it comes to discursive stragle
talking sbour communication and messaging —
fone of che main questions Lask myself "Does
this reinforce prisons and policing?” Thinking
about demands like al killer cops che answet
‘woul be ye, that then becomes something
have to push bck agina. You can, andshould,
take cis further ast lps clefy your analysis
which then helps you commonieate i So ja
Killer cops reinforces prisons and policing, so
then [could ask how and why! And chen to
thote answers [could ade how and why? And
oon and x0 forth and when you hit an don’t
Know (and we should always recognize what
swe don’ know’ we know where we eed t0 get
more ino
‘When ie comes to eting however that may be

~ good questions task ate: "Has thisbeen done
before? Iso, what happened?” "ls this course of
action being expected by [policeteactionaries)™

"How did our enemies respond "Why ae we)
slo we want to do thie? "If this goes wel, howe
rch of s success (measured in whaever way,
whether morale for ur or aut enemies, damage
done, nev fends mad, ge creative wll tise
‘ersusif this goeshad how sonal wlltimpace
Usand our wider community?

‘Some questions only make sense In the
concext of a specific goal that we wane 10
achieve, 50s important o ask broad, orienting
{questions snd to be continually coming back 0
these." Where dove want tobe aethe endo this
[whatever chs i,» particular struggle or event
lke a pandemic or election), where do we want
to be amount of tine] from nov.” “Whats
changed in the las amount of time)” "Whar
are weable o dono thae we couldnt before?
What were we ableto do Before that we cand



(OBSERVATION

‘Observation key, his is where you get
the information chat informs your analysis
and strategy and how you know in which ways
things are changing Informacion can come fom
all sors of sources, fom social media platforms
fad pages 0 iy cou mestings Here's use
few things people should he keepingsn eye on.

+ Oficial ety seatements

+ Carycouneil meetings

+ Posts on city council members socal media
pases

Gey and police social media pages

The Olympian

‘The Olympia Downtown Alliance website

‘Thorson

theloeal Reddit page aly)



7
Nextdoor
(Olympia Looks Like Shit FB group

‘The David Ross Show FB pase

‘Thurston County Scanner FB page
Olympia News Necwork FB page

FB pages of any noeable individual enemies

‘What should you be looking foe? Plans and
events fre of all: When it comet to anything
Saidjposted Ws good to compare to previous
things, Who is being targeted asa enemy ot
ally Is what is beng sidan escalation? What's
‘he goal of our enemies in saying/porting this?
Tf poliey changes ae happening you should be
king and looking neo: how i his going 0 Be
enforced? Who is going tobe most impacted and
in what way? How does thi intersect with other
‘ongoing strugsles(housing/gentniicaion, police
bolton, antiacisy/antifases, black libetation,
Indigenous liberation, environmental)

‘Obrervation isa slow and boring process
bu the more you do ty the easier isto spoethe
fmportan information and how tha Factors into
how we move: Patience and persistence i Key
here

FINAL THOUGHTS & RESOURCES
While this is by no means an in depeh

analysis of Olympia or a thorough guide on
nals and strategy, I hope this proves t0 Be

28

useful for people More is possible now than ever
before, but along with that means the stakes and
heats are higher too. We need fight smarter
s0:we can fight longer and come outwith some
swing, because ourlives dependon

For those who wane to delve a litede deeper
foo strategy ad analysis, T want to leave you
swith some resources to go through

so Sraugens
‘angledwildernessong

26 Swatags Video Series: Shr 25min clips of
fc ratage with aide more deehand added
Inf fom eke sources

Youtube

The Arcof Wer
Inps:/suncuaid con/downlead php

‘The Going Insoection
Ieps/senseis xmpsnet/!TheGoinglnsurrection

Deceiving the Sky
ep: /rwedropboxcoms/yzqsomyvsisbes)
DeceiingiiaothesaoShytacFinal¥a-Version
pai

‘The Devious Momentum ofthe Reo
srchiveong
LAPD Heal he dross have srs unl re om Wael May 7, 200
(Phas: Lng Beach Ai)



crn
TOOLS AND TACTICS IN THE PORTLAND
PROTESTS:
FROM LEAF BLOWERS
AND UMBRELLAS TO LASERS,
BALLOONS,
AND POWER TOOLS

Across


‘Manyofthesetoolsworkbestincombination
swith each other. As onl, diversity of tates
Keynote tolerance for diferent approaches,
but thinking about ow eo combine al of thers
fr a symbiotic whole. Soo, we am follow
Lup this cursory review with a mote thorough
sccounting ofthe fl ange of tect acts and
{equipment relevan to today’s demonstrators,

‘The Pordand prorests have also produced
some new terminology, such a the expression
roo” which describes what happens when
a reformist with a megaphone makes a power
play to hijack a gathering organized hy people
‘who wane see the police abolished. AS
emonstrtors expand their notions of what
tactics ate appropriate inthis swf polerzing
society, we hope they will abo expand thelr
visions of what is worth fighting fr, adopting
horizontal modes of organization and learning
howto idenety and eis power plays

Ready ornot—the war ison

DIGITAL SECURITY

This thread spells out how to protect
your privacy via proper phone safety at
Semonstritions efor, dering, and afer
the protest. You can find a lot of Important
{formation about general security én protest

situations here byZUPEine

MASKING AND PROPER ATTIRE

‘Wearingamaskistesponsible roma medical
pertpective—in the era of the pandemic—but
leo forsccority reasons to proest your privacy.
[Nowadays you don’ just have to worry about
the police Sling and aresting you, but also
about far-right internet tolls tying eo identify
you fom video footage

demonstrators are dressed appropriately
4 black bloc fashion, it should be dificule ro

sake out tdeneivingpariulars



32

Pay atenton to detail, Cover your tattoos
and other nique traits. Cover your whole face
‘or jus your mouth. There should Be no visible
logos on your other, shoes, or backpock. Read
thier more details,

RIOT RIBS. FOOD CARTS, INFRASTRUCTURE

eis really good for morale w havea group
of people providing food and other needed
‘resources. Portland protemers have heen deeply
thankful that Rie Ribs have come ou t fed
tveryone free food. Ths enables people to stay
Tonger ani helps them to fee hat iis worth the
effort and risk to support che movernent that
‘pourthes them.

‘You con read
elysAeXDp.

Feds and cons know how important these
smucual ald efforts ate and inentionally target
them in hopes of breaking the will of the
Semonstrtots:
es iercomriinalon
sanusnssr74nr9628673

Here you can "before" and “afer” shots
of the infrastructure one night that federal
mercenaries attacked
Fetercom/ bch
sanaairSanonisio4

Unforcunately, uniformed oficers are
tee the only danger thteatening community
infrastructure ate uly, Riot Ribs experienced
2 coup. involving physical violence and
inuidation, Wherever money is involved in
civ, here is pret risk of infighting unless
the goals, suuctures, and expectations have
ben set very precisely in advance. The original
Riot Ribs folks havelefecown, apparently taking
the concept of Riot Ribs on the road to other
‘iter as Revolution Ribs Someone should write
tn detall about the es, fall, and rebirth of Rot
Ribs.

shour Riot Ribs here
LEAF BLOWERS:
Leaf blowers can dispel ea gas or smoke
“Tear “as” teaceualy a fine particulate mater—
lenagine bog of dour exploding, but mach finer
and lighter When this parculate lands on
you, testays there and can be re-activated lat
{specally by water oF sweat. For this reason,
‘demonstrators have used leaf blowers 0 Blow
tear as off of people ater exposute—it is che
same concept a taking a shower atthe beach to

tthe la ofthe sand off your boy

Be careful noe to blow tear gas ina direction
where itcould affect other peor

‘A single leaf blower can serve to Blow gas
from a single canister away from people unt
‘others can extinguish it, as demonstrated inthis
<lasscwieo fom Hong Kong
npsitecomtlonasnarus8s8930376082

But for best results, use several eat blowers
rogether:
cco
Sarusissyassansa72

‘When you're choosing leaf blower, make
sure it hae 2 good fan and a witclers power

Leaf blowert work wellin combination with
umbels and shields, While he shields protect
demonstrators agains impact munitions, the
leaf blowers keep the gas moving avay from
protexers until someone can run-up and
“extinguish the canister o throw ack athe
sessulters who shoei. Tesmork

You can see an example ofthis approach at
the beginning ofthis video:

Ieee Rano
statatasosnronasssnys

“This ace traces the origins of the laf
blower as 00! of strug from Hong Kongo
the debut ofthe "dad blo" in orland.

Te some cases ring the clases in Portland,
demonstrators wich leaf blowers and other
toals were able to keep the tear gs that federal
mercenaries deployed entirely within the fence



3

surrounding the so-called Justice Center
Ipettecomirtinmaens
Senussrooestis
"A tow people im Portland have employed
“other let effective tooleanch a box feo
the same purpose:
upsiwitercom/rteaeamsiasr ast 60098
'Not wishing to be outdone, federal
mercenaries in Portland used a fe 8 spray
demonstrators with pois
Ipetsocemddngo)
statsas8pepay eens

UMBRELLAS,

‘Umbrellas can serve several. functions
ac once. An umbrella can Block a steam of
Pepper spray. fall ine of ombrese tthe
Front of 3 demonstration can block che view of
unswanted cameras a police spotters stationed
fon rooftops —for example, concealing efor
to attack the Joins of the fence, ot making
safer ro change clothes or employ other tactic,
While noe a reliable substitute fora shiek,
an umbrella can also aid in deflecting police
bullets, green and hive poser marker rounds,
snd the Inner spotters used by pole to identify
rrovblemakers

‘On January 30, 2017, during dhe Gerce
resistance tothe inauguration of Donald
‘Trump, a single umbrella played a crucial role
In enabling a large numberof demonstrators
the Hack loc ro Break out of «police kettle and
‘escapearrest. Previously seen in demonstrations
in Hong Kong the wibrelia has ecome an ant
fascist symbol of sorts

Tr Poland, people with umbrellas have
worked shoulder to shoulder with have carrying
‘hicks, creating phalanx that car hold linen
‘erect, offering cover and protection to those
behind them. Inatleastone case, demonsteatoes
have forced federal mercenaries 0 retreat back
ino their courthouse by slowly advancing in a


Prices dob a si

Pht: asm Ts

line ike thi

Umbrella, shies, and leaf blowers





or thei pat, police haven't hesitated to
andor eal demsonatatoy umbels,

SHIELOS
‘So far in Portlnd, shields have mostly been
usedin defense against attacks fom aditance—



suchas impact muni
the like—rather than
charg.

Different shield. designs ore better for
diferent situations. Like umbrellas and le

ear gas grenades, an







4

he fle own ae We



that chey cannot do alone. Ifyou wan ro form
2 shied wal, ideally your shield should be

‘ough ro cover your body. But the big
Shields the heavier, bulkier, and more diffeut





fo transport wil be, Smaller shields can be
lighter and easier to sneak into 3 profeat aes
‘Many people have been carrying smaller shields
with them while playing ether roles besides
maintaining the shield wall. Having even just
Slide bit of protection has saved people fom
ferious injury and provided the confidence to
hold territory they might noe otherwise have



you don’ have anything elie on hand, a
skateboard ean serve asa smal, bile hil

‘A common Pordand shield'dsign snvolves



cutting aplastic barel vertically into three or
four curved rectangles, leaving the ices frm
the top and ottom of the bare for maki


sovller sels

‘On the oter haat fem a shield wal

be to line up shields ao that ehey

overlap slighly, as even light breaks in the

wall can presenta vulnerability. Consequenth

wood may Be preferable to bores for that
Poticulor appliston,

‘Some in Pordland have experimented with
using lobricanton the edges of shields to make
ie more dificult for police to grab chem during

Make sure you're using
technique when aking blows. you ae using
2 ell shield, hold ie very tightly against your
boay where the center of your chest is that
makes you harder to move, preventing Your
sdveraary from pushing you around by your
Shield and ensuring that even if your shield

isbeae tobe

an effective



moves, stil covers your body
"A shield wall in Oakland tn solidarity with
demonstrators in Porn

SPORTS EQUIPMENT
You can ute sporting equipment no cateh

tear gas and throw ie back. Juste you would

When using a leaf blower, make sure you're

ominunicating well with other demonstratots

and have a wellshougheoue plan re

wae you are go

ding
o dowith the canisters,
Tost effective tools for this
pprpose include Tacrose. sticky wile all
and itehen mitts—anything that

enables youtoengage withthe canister wchout
touching them det

Demonstrators have used hockey sticks to
hie the canisters back, too

ome people have

Mar” arc gat fem leo flo

rd OR Bandon BA The Net Yk Toe

35
been upgrading cher umbrellas—for example,

dluceeaping. an umbrella upside down on a
key stick handle

can fp che tool around and use the sie that

lacrosse stick of The user





Although there afe many videos on che



fnvcret of poople attemping to cover teat

snes and the ike,
etinguish them in
container of water. The ter thread shove



sve canisters with erafic
itis a much better idea







[BALLOONS AND BUBBLES
Demonstrators have wsed balloons to show

know which way ear gas wllblow—and dently

Resp ant een

aralying poin on the ground,





“They have slo employed bubbles to mack

the free ofthe police
he













Lasers

Tr Portland, demons
to disorient police and federal agents; they
fan also disable sccurey cameras. I's worth



hoting thar pointing laser a someone’ fae s
expres illegal in Oregon and
gresive respon from police @

inca amore
i defensive

ne masks, shields anda lowers

Those who

have been a

we emsployed Iasers by themselves
sted frames or shor with pepper
balls and rubber bullets a iis easy to ace the
source ofthe laser unlet the person directing it
moves around apily between applications

hao: Dave Kien Onn



36
Almost all the lasers seen in Portland during
the lst weekend in July were che cheaper green
fnes, the 303 (30 mV}, which canbe deployed
enmasse to provide cover and irra police But
hemore powerful Bie ones (18 4H are more
‘ffetveagnint police, helicopters, and drones.
“Tey cost rously $450 Sio0

Portlanders have also. combined nser
usage with high-powered faslightson strobe
funeton, in an eforeco prevent che police fom
sting 3 good visual read on the crows. Using
bright lights to backlight a crowed might make it
Aiicul fr oficers to pick ou india at che
front

Police also use lasers to identify
demensteators for targeting.



GRAFFITI

“Thisis ao obvious that it slot doesnt heat
mentioning, but demonstrators have painted
fnspiring messages all over the area in which
these clashes have taken place, underscoring
the determination ofthe participants. Federal
agents have iotentionallyelrained fom
cleaning grafti off the courthouse in order
te pose as helpless victims, when in face tele
violent provecitions have heen the chief cause
ofthe entire sequence of confit, Nonetheless,
alehough images of rats on federal property
ray serve tooutrae far-right voterswho already
supported Trump and his goons, these lmages
slko convey the courageous defiance of those
who are standing up tothe authorities,

PAINT BOMBS
Demonstrators have used paine to reduce

the vision of ofcers wearing visor oF uti

transparent shickds Officers need clear vision to

beable to go on atacking people

etuszrsom)nathland)

stagsasrser Sars

etic wha ase acne
(One ofthe classic models for makings paint
‘bomb eo inate a smal ballon and dip nto
wax over and over unl the wax ean hold shape
by elf, then pop the balloon an lhe vessel
with paint. Other containers, such as hollow
‘Christmas tee ornaments, can serve the same
function. You can find more information here

FIREWORKS
‘Theuseoffireworksasprojectilestosorient
‘or discourage police and federal agents has nade
for fanastic visual displays, both in the moment
and in the footage that circulates afterwards
(Ordinary, iris lesponsble co aim fireworks
acuman beings, bu the state mercenaies here
axe equipped with so much taxpayer-funded
protective gear that this arguably does more t9
Prevent them from harming others than ie Goce
toputthem ata
(On the other hand, many demonstrators are
reporting chat the booms of fireworks trigger
thelr PTSD as a consequence of the ongotn
trauma created by the booms of fash-bang
anenades deployed by police. There are tradeotls
toeverything







FRE

Protesters in Portland have used Se 10
dura officers to create an ambience of
‘clebraton. I's important to be very conscious
about safety issues when people are doing cis
in some instances, ees or human beings have
‘been exposed to fame, Some proestts have
uscd morta fireworks to set fires from distance.

“The question of whether fie is appropriate
ae there proests has een hotly contested
between demonatratort who ae oriented
towards sjmbalie displays and those who are
focused on direct confrontation. Selbappointed
protest police have been quick v0 pur out ies,
talk people out of setting them, and hassle

37
people who have started them,
All ofthe fresin question have been purely
Thi
Precinct in Minneapolis nothing significant has
been burned. Fire has been employed to burn
fags tray the elk statue and is location after
in was removed, and on one occasion a tiny pile
‘of pamphlets o someting ike that nthe police
union (PPA) building, Soll che debate about
symbull fires,

symbolie—incontrasttothebueningoft





Protestors scrambling to put out @ small
symbolic fire
Symbolic fires.





FENCE TOPPLING
Since the end of May, the police have



installed several fences in Pod
to control demonstrations, and demonststors
nave repeatedly attempted to rple o elite
them. The eater fences were mostly of the
‘ordinary chainlink variety protesters bed 3
Seriesof such fences "The Sacred Fence."

A wordofeautionaboutthoaepeevieusfence



telocttions Sometimes the fencesthat were torn
‘down were left discarded in street inersectons,
creating a hazard of tiping o injury especially
‘when ofcers subsequently attacked with teat
fs forcing blinded demonsrators to retreat
hastily. Be mindful about where you put a ence
after you dismantle







38
In late July, the authorities buileanindusteal
burrer around he federal courthouse with
sturdier frame, fencing, and smaller holes,
anchoring with concrete Hocksacthe back, On
subsequent nights, the blocks were moved the
front side; protesters snd reporters frequently
stood on these blocks, but federal mercenaries
‘would target those who did so with considerable
fre fom impact munition weapons

(On July 25, some demonstrators equipped
with power tools Including a. portable angle
frinder managed to topple a section of the
fence. The anle grinder was used effecively on
the comer ofthe fence but an ov of batteries
before the job wos finshed. Leswons charge up
Sirs and bing spare bateris.
estercom elec”
staapnspsegotsmiss

“The use of power tos was neve. Umbrellas
and shickds were crtial in protecting. the
‘operator from press cameras and impact
‘unitions while Teaf Mowers kept the smoke

"Give mea lever long enough and a flerum
fon whicheo plac it, and shall movethe world,”
as Archimedes said. Ulimately, the section of
fence was pulled down toward the protestors
side by a wide line of people, after eater
stempes to pull i spar atthe place where the
angle grinder had been employed, usingaline of
peonle pulling on ropes.
ep ercom nantes

Possible improvements could include
finishing the cuttingo the hinges or using a
sledgchammer to bang through an unfinished
ft Te could make sense to range to have so
$28 of sopes pling on bods the lle and right
tidesof tea where the cutwat madestwo deep
lines intead of one wide line. Aa people have
discovered in the proces of toppling statues,
'simporeane wo use a stap oF chain that has 0
elasiciey rather chan a ope that has too much
ve



39

Protesters have used sections of the
chainlink fence as “shields” bur chese do not
block gas or impact munitions. They have also
used chem, at lest symbolically, to “barricade”
the courthouse doors closed from the outside.
This never actually stopped federal agents, 36
ro ane ever attempted to blk the doors at che
bck ofthe courthouse.

‘At one point, demonstators filled parts
of che fence with expanding foam to prevent
federal agents fom shooting through
heuitraomfurinesa pony 083
Iigeuitereom anges!
sassy

‘Whether iewas acceptable to shake ortoprle
the fence became point of contention Beeween
the proces police and frontlines:
hep acersomlcumetiny
sania
‘After the fence cate down:
ietuteosom pannus sce
esses am ain9eno6048

DE-ARRESTING

During the clashes in Porland,
demonstrators have repeatedly freed. people
from police and federal mercenaries who were
sttempeingtokidnapther Successful de-srerts
fre urvally only possible when demonstritors
massively outnumber those atlempeing €0
Kednap them. To succeed, the action has £9
happen so fs that chere iit tme for police or
federal einforcements to respond.

Dearrests ae risky andl can result in much
higher chargesthan the origina ares. Irs nota
tactic to employ lightly. However, ifthe balance
‘of numbers and power aren the demonstrators
favor, succesnfol de-rrets can show sate of
(ederal mercenaries thatiris not worth grapeling
sth 3 group of protesters, convincing ther £9
shifleco dispersal acti.
(CROWD MOVEMENT

‘Generally speaking, as long asthe police are
oe prepare ta kel aul masearrest everyones,
the Surest way for individuals to avoud act
‘when police are pressing into a crowd tb split
{Up isto fallow he langest par ofthe cond: Tis
{5 because—al ether chings being equal—the
biggest crowd is usually the hardest fr them to
seal with, This insight sales up since the best
approach for cowdsisto stay aang aschey can

‘Wehaveseenthiswith hecrowssinPorland,
where people have lene to sick together in
lenge groups when the police stack, mowing
slowly and cally eater than running and not
Tetveiting more than necrascy—one Block it
{yplelly the most chat che police in Pordand will
‘tfvance ata ime. There are chanes about chi
“Stay together, stay ght we do this every might.”
reminding everyone that there is no feason to
fake exceptional rks to ones personal safety i
fone can rerum the next night to accomplish the
Same ation more safely with more ends

“There sre other factors to beatin mind, of
cute Ie beter tobe wth group thats aware
fits surroundings, quick on ts et, and epable
‘of defending lf than cob wih a group tae
‘agi, confused, and cea tciidaed

Tn Pordand, we have repeatedly seen police
mploy a "bull rush” in which they charge at
{ull clip while using some combination of test
235, pepper spray, impact munitions and batons
Sn heryone he path you ae no pare of
crowd big enough and equipped enought
prevent the police from injuring pking olf
{ndlviduas t's imporeane tobe ready trun,







Cops can sprine very fr.

DISABLING CAMERAS, BREAKING WINDOWS
People have used paine and other tactics
to prevent sunwillnce cameras from fling
demonateators. Some demonstrators have also
broken windows—a tactic chat canserveto draw
the attention ofthe police away fom what they
‘were tyingto dobefore If youareensagedinany
soreofacviey ike thst sespecally important
to dess_ properly. Ie can be worthwhile to
spose of al the clothes you were wearing after
fn incident. What's more expensive another
run to the thf store or bal money, cour ees,
andalawyer?
Fe niercom urease tos

[LEGAL SUPPORT, JAIL SUPPORT
Tk hae been very important. to. organize
proper leal support in Portland with federal
mercenaries seresting people every night. Even
if you east go ta the ations, you ean help bal
people out of fall or raise money to conthibute
tobail fund,
Kegeutrcom/molmasecnshaSiouscs88o8

‘A movement that combines a wide
range of the tactice described here—the way
‘demonstrators have done in Pordand can hold
Space inthe face of considerable state vielnce
Unfortunately, this may soon be necessary all
round the United Seaes

Be like water—keep your mask tight—and
extroy what destrays yo.

For feedback, questions, or comments plese en: GeorgeflydReader@protonmal com

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