#Black Lives Matter protest and riot

[remembertheplunge]

Riot downtown

“5/31/2020 Sunday 8:55pm

Riot downtown. Flash bombs. Tear gas cans hurtling through space over J Street. Rubber bullets whizzing by around 4:15pm. That’s what I was told. I was there. Per the Modesto Bee tonight, only concussion bombs were thrown.  I heard two of them go off.  One man thought that he got hit by tear gas. His eyes watered. No rubber bullets fired at me. The march included about 1000 people. Largley a quiet march. But, massive. People with “I can’t breath” and “Black Lives Matter” signs. The signs dotted McHenery Ave all the way from Standiford to downtown. Weather was cool and overcast. The experience was cathartic. The financial and criminal justice systems have failed. People hit the streets as a result. I wanted to see it. Mark Sullivan, today, said I’m Forest Gump. I’ve been through everything. I agree. This event was pandemic driven. I agree with Zoe. Civil unrest will explode along with the virus. It’s amazing the power those kids had to shut down downtown. Not many grey hairs out there. Mostly 20 somethings.”

End of entry.

Notes

I was headed home from the gym probably maybe around 2:30pm when I turned on to Mc Henery Ave and saw that it was jammed with cars moving slowly. As we slowly proceed closer to down town (it’s probably a mile and a half from Standiford Ave to downtown on McHenery) I saw the signs mentioned in the entry. I knew something was up downtown, so I had to go check it out. I had sought out other protest rallies in other towns before this . My friend Mojan was concerned that I might lose an eye to a rubber tipped bullet. He said I seek out trouble. I had that in mind when I parked on 12th street by the Wells Fargo Bank parking lot. From there I could see a line of police across 12th and J street about a quarter block away. Large cement barriers had been placed across road ways down two to block traffic if I remember right. I saw tear gas canisters being thrown back at the police. I head flash bombs going off. IAyoung man came running by me smiling and saying the police were shooting rubber tipped bullets. Heading Mojan’s warning, I got in my car and drove home.

[troythecatfish]

[chaddavisphotography]

Street art on a building on the 3500 block of Chicago Ave in Minneapolis.

[pumpacti0n]

Renegade Cut - Why Riots Happen

Crucial notes here:

"The label of violence is something enforced by the state."

This is because a state is an area in which a monopoly of violence has been claimed by an occupying force. The implications are clear: who gets labeled a criminal or terrorist mostly depends on who is doing the labeling -- in this case the corporate-owned media, the police, the courts, as well as the citizens who are complicit with the state's definitions.

"The aggrieved party in a riot may have been incited by a particular incident, but their long-standing grievances include the maintenance of their poverty."

This is an incredibly important point! The media in particular has a nasty habit of presenting riots as these isolated incidents entirely separated from a history of oppression and social context. This allows the consumers of this content to ignore all of the actual causes of these events and assign total blame to the rioting individuals and not the systems that keep them impoverished and marginalized. This is an incredibly old trick that still works wonders today. It's like if a school bully decided the only important part of a story was the bit where you punched them in the jaw, conveniently leaving out the part where they threw mud in your eyes...every day...for 500 years.

"Riots occur when all other attempts at reaching a peaceful solution have failed."

This point connects to the last. We should never forget that there have been attempts to avoid direct conflict -- and they often do not work for a myriad of reasons. Red tape, lack of funds and accessibility, sabotage from reactionary groups, and so on. The history of oppression necessarily informs the tactics and goals of the people who are oppressed. If it were as simple as choosing the nonviolent option, provided it that it actually addresses these concerns in an expedient way, we wouldn't have riots at all. It's because of the failure of the social order to provide adequate peaceful solutions that address these concerns, that rioting becomes the means that are chosen. We'd only land on other conclusions if we don't take this history into account.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Internal Secret Service emails obtained by CREW show special agents in close communication with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, while failing to acknowledge the group’s ties to white nationalists and clashes with law enforcement.

In September 2020, a Secret Service agent sent an email to others within the agency, informing them that he had just spoken to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes about an upcoming visit by then-President Trump to Fayetteville, NC. The agent, who referred to himself as “the unofficial liaison to the Oath Keepers (inching towards official),” described the group as “primarily retired law enforcement/former military members who are very pro-LEO [law enforcement officer] and Pro Trump. Their stated purpose is to provide protection and medical attention to Trump supporters if they come under attack by leftist groups.” He went on to say that Rhodes, “had specific questions and wanted to liaison [sic] with our personnel” and shared Rhodes’s cell phone number.

The emails obtained by CREW as part of an ongoing public records request offer only a snapshot of the communication between the Oath Keepers and the Secret Service. As they focus solely on the time period around the Fayetteville event, the extent of the contact Stewart Rhodes had with the agency remains unknown. The agent “inching towards” being the “official” liaison for Oath Keepers suggests a more longstanding relationship with Rhodes.

Another Secret Service agent spoke to Rhodes and informed the other agents that “their desire is to assist those attending the event make it to and from their cars safely. They are NOT there to demonstrate or push a political agenda.” In October 2022, a former member of the Oath Keepers testified that Rhodes had spoken to the Secret Service to coordinate around the rally, but an agency spokesman told CNN that, “The US Secret Service doesn’t have enough information to say whether or not this call actually took place.” These emails show that it did.

When one agent requested intelligence about the Oath Keepers another responded: “General searches revealed news articles that touched on the background of the founder Stewart Rhodes and the group. Rhodes has denounced White Nationalists ideals while sharing his dislike for ANTIFA…The group claims it is a local community response team for natural or civil disorders.” Agents also noted that a Facebook account associated with the group “contained pro-gun content, commentary on racism in the US, and news articles about politics,” but failed to find anything else.

There was plenty of other publicly available information about Rhodes and the Oath Keepers at the time that should have easily raised alarm.

In 2014, Oath Keepers traveled to Ferguson, Missouri with assault rifles claiming they were providing security for businesses in the area after the grand jury decision not to indict the white police officer who killed Michael Brown. The St. Louis County Police Department had to demand that the Oath Keepers stop patrolling the city, explaining in a statement that members were walking on rooftops of businesses holding semi-automatic rifles, breaking the county’s ordinance regulating security officers and guards. The police reportedly threatened arrest, and the Oath Keepers began protesting the authorities.

On the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s shooting, Oath Keepers again arrived in Ferguson with assault rifles and flak jackets, apparently intending to “protect” businesses and right-wing journalists, including an employee from InfoWars. St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar called their presence “both unnecessary and inflammatory.” This was also covered extensively by national media.

The group has also compared Hillary Clinton to Hitler on its website, and on May 5, 2015, Rhodes was recorded saying that then-Sen. John McCain should be tried for treason, convicted and “hung by the neck until dead.” A long list of former Oath Keepers allegedly cut ties with the group by 2017, citing concerns with Rhodes’s leadership.

Rhodes’s conduct outside of the Oath Keepers had also repeatedly come into question. In October 2015, the Montana Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel recommended that Rhodes be disbarred for violating his attorney oath following a number of ethics and conduct complaints against him, joining Arizona, which admonished Rhodes in 2012 for practicing without a license.

While the nearly all-white Oath Keepers themselves are purportedly not a white nationalist organization, and Rhodes may have “denounced” white nationalist ideals, Oath Keepers have repeatedly worked alongside white supremacist and white nationalist groups. In 2016, as neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups such as the National Socialist Movement, factions of the Ku Klux Klan and the American Freedom Party deployed members at polling sites, the Oath Keepers advised its members to do the same undercover. The Washington Post reported in 2017 that white supremacists in the alt-right scene “seem to have a lot in common with the Oath Keepers,” but that the Oath Keepers were not as racist or radical as certain far-right white nationalists would “prefer.” The Oath Keepers have repeatedly been highlighted in national articles as part of the landscape of white supremacist militias, and are often tied to their public ally the Proud Boys, a group that has been categorized as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Proud Boys similarly are allied with the American Guard, a white nationalist group according to SPLC.

Rhodes is now best known for his role in organizing significant turnout of insurrectionists at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, just a few months after he was in contact with the Secret Service. Rhodes and other Oath Keepers planned to participate in violence at the Capitol—against Secret Service protectees, no less—and he gave followers instructions like “stay fully armed” and “get ready to fight” leading up to the attack.

In November 2022, Rhodes was convicted of seditious conspiracy by a jury for his role in the attempt to keep Donald Trump in power, and was sentenced to 18 years in prison in May—the longest of any convicted January 6th defendant so far. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Rhodes’s role in January 6th amounted to terrorism and said that he presents “an ongoing threat and peril to this country.”

[odinsblog]

Nazis, openly waving Swastikas and doing the Sieg Heil salute in Orlando, Florida

Not a single uniformed police officer in sight. I say “uniformed” because the odds are that some of the people doing the Nazi salute are probably in law enforcement.

Now, contrast that to how overly militarized police have routinely shown up at peaceful Black Lives Matter protests

Or how the police treat peaceful college students protesting for free higher education

Or how the authorities treated Black people simply walking in our own communities, after the murder of Mike Brown

Oh, and how about six months before the January 6, 2021 white supremacist riots, when National Guard troops were deployed to the Lincoln Memorial on June 2, 2020, during George Floyd protests held in Washington, DC? Where was this overwhelming presence on January 6, 2021??

And finally, Ron DeSantis, a leading Republican candidate for President of The United States(!), has a large following of Neo-Nazis, but he has yet to explicitly denounce them. I guess maybe he’s too busy banning books, or making sure drag queens aren’t reading books to children, or making sure that accurate Black history—aka American history—isn’t being taught in schools.

I could go on and on and on, but the police never seem to have that same energy for actual fucking Nazis, or the Proud Boys, or Oath Keepers, etc etc etc

Domestic terrorism by white nationalists is the biggest threat to social stability, justice, democracy and to America itself.

👉🏿 https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/09/04/orlando-florida-nazis-march-blood-tribe/

👉🏿 https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna103186

[no-time-for-your-stupid]

Do you remember when we as a country lost all faith in the police?

Talking specifically to Americans here. Specifically to Americans who are mad at Biden for police related things.

Do you remember when the police honestly became our enemy?

I do.

It was 2020.

It was when George Floyd was shot dead by a police officer for the crime of being Black.

It was when the police were using tear gas to stop peaceful protests.

It was when Black Lives Matter “Riots” ended with police guns going off.

Do you remember who endorsed all that?

Donald Trump

Ex-President of the United States

Convicted felon on 34 accounts

Candidate for 2024 election

Not voting, doesn’t mean he won’t get elected, it just means that the better candidate won’t have a chance.

You may be pissed that Biden isn’t acting the way you want him to, but that doesn’t mean that he’s a bad president.

Not voting for him equals the removal of basic human rights for anyone who isn’t a white man.

If you can vote in November, you need to vote in November.

[decolonize-the-left]

Was looking up updates on Tyre Nichols and decided to click on the link for his lawyer, just wanted to see other cases he had and judge whether or not he'd be helpful or harmful.

And was linked to another case from last June with an update from this month that also deserves attention.

“People from my community have been coming to us for years talking about how they torture people in the back of paddy wagons,” said Scot Esdaile, according to the Associated Press. “They put people in the back of the paddy wagon; they go real fast and then they slam on the brakes.”

Mr Crump has similarly raised allegations that the driver could perhaps be more culpable than the force is letting on, saying he suspects speeding or texting while driving could’ve been a factor, and is thus demanding that the police department be transparent in the investigation.

The Independent has reached out to the New Haven Police Department for comment on the investigation.

Writing on Twitter on the Fourth of July holiday, Mr Crump highlighted how Mr Cox – an otherwise healthy young man – went from being able to step into the back of the police car on his own to now needing full support to breathe and eat with little hope that he’ll be able to walk again.

x

And there was an update recently......Just 4 days after Tyre's murder in fact.

The officers -- Sgt. Betsy Segui and officers Oscar Diaz, Ronald Pressley, Jocelyn Lavandier and Luis Rivera -- were each charged in November 2022 with one count of second-degree reckless endangerment and one count of cruelty to persons

Both charges are misdemeanors and the officers were each released on a $25,000 bond.

[...]Gregory Cerittelli, the attorney for the fifth officer Sgt. Betsy Segui, confirmed to ABC News on Tuesday that Segui will plead not guilty.

"The job of a police officer has become increasingly more difficult in recent years," Cerittelli told ABC News. "Police officers are often required to utilize their best judgment in assessing situations, and are now being judged with the benefit of 20/20 hindsight. Our Supreme Court has consistently held this is not the appropriate standard."

[...]The video footage also shows the officers dragging Cox by his feet and throwing him into a wheelchair, which his lawyers said could have exacerbated his already life-threatening injuries.

"[Randy] is essentially quadriplegic. He's in a rehab facility. He can't feed himself, he can't clean himself, he can't relieve himself without assistance," O'Donnell said on Tuesday.

"Randy is going to be left with permanent injuries. The least that can happen to these officers is that they have permanent records," he added.

Cox filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against the city of New Haven and New Haven Police Department officers in September 2022.

x

The lawyer saying "remembering to put a seatbelt on people is too high of a standard" "everyone has 20/20 hindsight" like???? About putting on a seatbelt??? What my 8 year old does As Soon as she enters a car cuz even she understands and knows it could be dangerous not to?

The absolute disregard and dismissiveness for Black lives in on full display with this pathetic excuse.

Remember that whatever platitudes they give us don't matter. Platitudes and promises mean nothing.

Firing the 5 cops who hurt Tyre Nichols won't help Randy Cox from New Haven. It won't help any future Randy Coxes and it won't help any future Breonna Taylors.

It's a band-aid. An attempt to look like they care in an attempt appease us all so we stop demanding better, so we stop protesting and rioting for police brutality to end.

....Because it's almost an election year. And a stance more extreme than "thoughts and prayers to everyone except cops who get another $50 billion" just isn't centrist enough to win the majority vote. So police reform and increased budgets will be the response. That's already the response. That's what they want us to accept.

Don't.

Keep protesting. Keep demanding. Keep posting. Don't let this die out.

Don't get complacent.

If change is ever going to happen it's because we will have forced it to. Not because the people in power suddenly decided to have a conscience.

[eretzyisrael]

by John Podhoretz

A day after Jewish college kids found it necessary to barricade themselves inside a library in the center of Greenwich Village while a mob of repugnant terrorist-lovers banged on the locked doors trying to get at them, the message is being broadcast that, on this Sabbath, Jews in Brooklyn had better remain at home.

Stay inside.

Lock the doors.

A pro-Palestinian protest is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday in front of the Brooklyn Museum.

That’s a mile from 770 Eastern Parkway, the headquarters of the largest ultra-Orthodox sect in the world, the Lubavitch Hasidim.

Roughly 20,000 observant Jews live around 770, in the neighborhood called Crown Heights.

“Jews should definitely avoid the area,” an ultra-Orthodox news site called COLlive.com said a “security source” had advised them and the Shmira, the local Jewish self-defense association.

“There’s no intel at this time in which direction the protest will head. Locals should definitely stay away from Eastern Parkway in that area.”

The Jews of Brooklyn feel they are at risk, and — this is the implicit corollary — they cannot be protected.

On the Sabbath, observant Jews do not use electricity or vehicles or screens of any kind.

To pass the time on a Sabbath afternoon, they often go on a long walk.

Not this weekend.

As the security source said, after all, who knows which direction the mob will go?

Better for the Jews to stay inside.

Just as it became a matter of life and death for them to stay inside back in 1991, in the very same neighborhood.

What everyone is afraid of is a repeat of August 1991.

In Crown Heights that year, a three-day anti-Jewish riot followed a tragic automobile accident that took the life of a 7-year-old black child after he was hit by a car being driven by a Hasidic Jew.

Not only were 38 Jews beaten, seven Jewish-owned businesses were looted and burned to the ground.

“Let’s go get a Jew,” a mob chanted, and then they did — they murdered an Australian doctoral student named Yankel Rosenbaum, stabbing him and smashing in his skull.

[chaddavisphotography]

A protester holds up a sign reading "Jail all racist killer cops!" outside a burning GM Tobacco store on East Lake Street on May 28th, 2020.

[variousqueerthings]

we have always been here: documentaries about trans people

documentaries about trans people, starting in the year 1953. I don't speak to filmic quality or whether or not something is problematic, what matters here is simply the testimony and the stamp of existence (including in those where the subject matter is spoken about, rather than getting to speak for themselves)

(I haven't seen every one of these yet, so some of them have slightly shorter texts to go along with them)

while (as you'll see) most of these are US-based movies, they are from all over the world. I'd be curious about whether there are any focused specifically on the intersection of transness and disability, I don't personally know of any, although of many speak to issues with access to healthcare (for example southern comfort)

all the ones that have links connected to them are watchable for free

some of these can be watched for free on the archive, youtube, vimeo, many could do with a few coins thrown their way: many of the movies, for example the the aggressives can be rented on vimeo, transgender tuesdays is free on youtube but accepting donations for trans women of colour, lotus sports club is doing festivals currently and is accepting donations to support the team and the vulnerable trans (now men) who have had to leave it to find work, call her ganda is accepting donations to support the family's legal costs in bringing justice for their daughter

remember, finding the stories that have been graciously shared is one thing, supporting our community is the next step

glen or glenda (1953): the first known movie about trans people, a mixed-media semi-fictional account (US)

the queen (1968) (US): following drag-queens at a national beauty pageant two years before stonewall, including footage of crystal labeija (US)

change of sex (1979-1999): a five-part series following trans woman julia grant as she tries to access gender affirming care via the gender identity clinic (UK - available on BBC iplayer)

paris is burning (1990): documenting queer people in the ballroom scene, community, competition, and challenges (US)

shinjuku boys (1995): following five young men who work at onabe bars, which cater to women, as they try to make ends meet (Japan)

transexual menace (1996): snapshots of the melting pot of trans life in new york, from famous faces, to protest, including several immigrants to america from columbia, west africa, japan, hawaii, and germany (Germany/US)

you don't know dick: courageous hearts of transsexual men (1997): about several trans men in different walks of life, who chat about their experiences, politics, and history (US)

the brandon teena story (1998): a documentation about the murder of brandon teena, using testimonies from the people involved (US)

southern comfort (2001): follows robert eads in the final year of his life, before he died of initially treatable ovarian cancer (US)

superstar in a housedress: the life and legend of jackie curtis (2004): a portrait of jackie curtis, one of the earliest punk pioneers, by (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)

screaming queens: the riot at compton’s cafeteria (2005): a rare documentary of the time featuring the voices of trans activists, about the pre-stonewall compton's cafeteria riot (US)

beautiful darling (2005): a portrait of candy darling (one of the trans woman superstars of the 60s) from the perspective of the (mainly cis) people who knew her (US)

the aggressives (2005): centered on black studs, mascs, and trans men, and more, exploring the term "aggressives," race and gender, filmed over five years (US)

Jayne County: man enough to be a woman (2005): a performance by veteran punk musician Jayne County and her band (UK/US) (excerpt)

beautiful daughters (2006): following a group of trans women who performed the vagina monologues in 2005 (US)

still black: a portrait of black transmen (2008): a series of interviews following black trans men speaking about their lives, careers, race, and gender (US)

the advocate for fagdom (2011): a series of political testimonies by queer activists, including the punk musician vaginal davis (US)

she said boom: the story of fifth column (2012): a documentary about seminal 1980s queercore punkband fifth column (Canada)

TRANS (2012): following a series of trans people at varying places in their transition, and the people around them (US)

hide & seek (2013): a group of trans people in pakistan speak about their experiences with the language they have access to (Pakistan)

before the last curtain falls (2014): transexuals and drag queens in their 60s-70s touring a show called "gardenias" (Germany)

mala mala (2014): following a number of trans people in puerto rico from all walks of life (Puerto Rico)

queercore: how to punk a revolution (2017): a primer to the history of queercore with interviews of some of the people who created the scene (US)

laerte-se (2017): a portrait of the underrated visual artist laerte (Brazil)

a year in transition (2018): 20 year old arab-american trans man documents one year of going on hormones (US)

call her ganda (2018): the story about the murder of a trans filipino woman named ganda by a us marine and the repercussions (Philippines)

indianara (2019): indianara is an activist fighting for trans survival and rights in brazil (Brazil)

disclosure (2020): going through a history of trans representation in the media (US)

transgender tuesdays (2020): featuring trans people talking about a groundbreaking gender-affirming clinic that opened in the 90s in the san franciscan tenderloin district (US)

prayers for sweet waters (2021): three trans sex-workers who live in cape town discuss their experience during covid (South Africa)

the end of wonderland (2021): follows erotic photographer tara emory as she goes through changes in her life (US)

travesía travesti (2021): the last performance of a cabaret during the chilean revolt of 2019 (Chile)

casa susanna (2022): documentary about the 50s summer retreat for male crossdressers and trans women (US)

la vida es un carnaval (2022): in a rural town, a group of trans women plan the first gay pride during its annual carnival and a bunch of scar tissue comes up (Mexico)

this is not me (2022): two young transmen in iran with supportive families share their daily lives (Iran)

lotus sports club (2022): a football club in cambodia run by trans man pa vann and a safe space for trans boys and lesbians (Cambodia)

nel mio nome (2022): four italian transmen share their thoughts, experiences, and identities (Italy)

the dads (2023): a group of dads of trans kids meet with the father of matthew shepard for a fishing trip (US)

kokomo city (2023): intra-community, celebratory documentary centering black trans sex-workers in america (US)

[algolagniaa]

I think I’m just a hater today bc you know what else I hate??? Brandon fucking Sanderson. he’s the most overrated author of all time I truly don’t understand why he’s so popular. his books read like video game manuals his characters are flat and boring especially his female characters his obvious Mormon sensibilities ruin the story he has to slow down every 10 seconds to explain how the magic system works AGAIN as if anyone 1) cares 2) forgot since the last time he explained it and on top of all that I’m so sure he’s racist. if I ever met him I would shove him in a locker. he’s the type of guy to see a Black Lives Matter protest and go “rioting isn’t the answer :/ the police are heroes :/“ and then get really mad about like, anti abortion protests or boycotting Starbucks or something because getting aggressive isn’t the answer that’s mean :( but won’t hold the people in power to the same standard as long as they talk nice and act nice and doesn’t care about proud boys bc they have a right to free speech too

[comrade-onion]

Advice to the Students

Student movements have often proved to be pivotal in bringing about radical change. From the Civil Rights movement, to anti-Viet Nam War protests as well as more contemporary examples such as Black Lives Matter and, of course, the ongoing student protests against the genocide in Gaza. One thing that all of these movements have in common is that they all faced and are currently facing vicious backlash from those in power, with riot police and even the national guard being sent on unarmed protesters, injuring and killing scores in the process.

In order to maintain this movement and to fight back against the crackdowns, the encampment and protest movements across the United States and the world will need to prepare, organize, and militarize.

Firstly, it is imperative that the protesters know that their action, no matter how peaceful, will be met with violence. And it is in these circumstances from which the necessity to defend themselves and fight back will arise, a series of tactics on resistance will be listed below, I hope they are of use and are accessible to any and all who need it.

Bricks: Bricks are easily accessible to the majority of protesters and can be used in a multitude of ways to disrupt and defend. Aside from the obvious uses, bricks can be alternatively used to build and alter structures in a way that slows down police or national guard advances with minimal violence.

During the Hong Kong anti-government protests in 2019, protesters utilized bricks to build small structures (such as the ones seen above) on roads and passageways. These brick roadblocks are extremely effective at slowing or even halting oncoming traffic. When these structures are hit by the wheel of a vehicle, "the block on top falls and helps buttress the other two."

Umbrellas: Umbrellas, if utilized correctly, can be a great defensive aid if protests become heated. They can be used to deflect against projectiles fired at you by police, such as tear gas cannisters, water cannons, and pepper spray. They can also be used in the construction of makeshift barriers and walls utilized by the protesting parties.

PPE: When attending a protest, encampment, or any form of civil disobedience, it is of utmost importance that you come prepared for it to go south. Police arsenals include a wide array of weapons and chemicals such as tear gas and pepper spray, and the site of the protest might be equipped with cameras that can later be utilized for facial recognition. Wear face and eye coverings to protest from pepper spray and gasses as well as to protect your identity. Always be ready to defend yourself in the case of physical confrontation.

Random Stuff:

• Makeshift barricades can serve as great protectice instalations at best, and serve as a way to buy time for yourself and fellow organizers at worst. In my opinion, they should be present at every encampment.

• Look out for one another, co-operate, and maintain order. From this point forwards treat your encampment as you would treat a small breakaway state. You are under attack, and only through planning and organization can you maintain order and safety for the members of your protest. Everyone needs to contribute what they can.

• Don't bring a knife to a gun fight, be ready for anything, rapid escalations at these types of protests are not unheard of.

Last but not least, this is in no way an incitement to violence. Merely a set of advice protestors can follow to defend themselves and their comrades in these turbulent and unprecedented times. Share this post with those who you think can benefit from it. Much love, solidarity forever 🇵🇸🏳️‍🌈🇿🇦❤️

[sharpened--edges]

On May 30th, 2020, thousands of people descended on downtown Chicago for a raucous daytime march. The gathering was part of a nationwide crescendo of rebellion that began in Minneapolis five days prior in response to the police murder of George Floyd. After being cooped up for months amid the uncertainty of the Covid pandemic, fearful of everyone as a potential carrier of disease, we had been set free by the images of Minneapolis’s Third Precinct aflame. Hitting the streets that day was something akin to a religious experience. From the onset it was clear that the crowd would not follow the shopworn “peaceful” Black Lives Matter protest script. I watched with glee as teenagers scurried through the crowd graffitiing every conceivable surface with anti-cop slogans like ACAB and Fuck 12, alongside their own confrontational reappropriation of “Black Lives Matter,” a long stalled out movement which many of them were too young to have participated in. An American flag was summarily lowered and burned, and after some spirited debate involving sentimental locals, the Chicago flag was similarly put to the torch. Chicago Police cars were attacked, their windows smashed with the skateboards preferred by many young people, or whatever else people could get their hands on. Multiple CPD cars were set on fire. The cops themselves were outmaneuvered by a massive crowd swarming a sprawling downtown grid, and formed defensive lines unprotected from behind, wantonly swinging clubs and deploying pepper spray with no clear purpose save perhaps their proximity to particularly valuable sites of potential looting. […] By the standards of the summer of 2020, this was not a particularly remarkable turn of events. Cops were outflanked and overrun in cities across the United States all summer. They were confounded by the ferocity of the riots, the abuse rained down on them by even the so-called peaceful protesters, and perhaps most shockingly, the people whom they ordinarily harass and intimidate with impunity defending themselves—and even going on the attack. Perhaps some cops were surprised by the realization that tens of millions of Americans hate their guts and want them to quit their jobs or else just die. If they were honest with themselves, though, they’d admit this was all a long time coming. The biggest surprise of the George Floyd Rebellion is how long it took to arrive.

Jarrod Shanahan, “Every Fire Needs a Little Bit of Help,” Endnotes, 2022.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Kate Briquelet at The Daily Beast:

MAGA pastor Sean Feucht and a band of Christian nationalists are glomming on to campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, leading “United for Israel” marches at Columbia and the University of Southern California while professing their belief that the conflict is a harbinger of the “End Times” predicted in the Bible. On Wednesday night, Feucht’s followers and far-right extremists rallied outside USC with the help of a police escort—an image that stands in stark contrast to the LAPD officers in riot gear who previously arrested activists from the school’s pro-Palestinian camp. The Christian Zionist parade kicked off with Feucht performing contemporary worship music (“Our God is an awesome God”) and anti-LGBTQ speakers like preachers Lou Engle and Ché Ahn, who once crowed at a “Stop the Steal” rally: “We’re gonna rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Feucht, looking every bit the part of a Jesus rocker in a black jean jacket, fired up the crowd with a concert before the march. “Lord, we stand together against hatred, bigotry, anti-semitism, violence that’s taken over this campus and the streets of the city,” Feucht said between songs. “God, I just pray today that America would see a different story tonight.” “Where they’ve seen division, they would see unity and joy,” added the 40-year-old Sammy Hagar-coiffed pastor, who once prayed over former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey. Afterward, Fox News portrayed Feucht as a hero of sorts for the Jewish people. “We want Americans to see that we are fed up with this rot of anti-Semitism on the college campuses, and that we’re gathering together in unity, bringing prayer, bringing hope,” said Feucht, who’s risen to MAGA fame and riches after holding worship concerts flouting COVID rules in 2020.

The irony of divisive activists making up the “unity” flock didn’t seem to be lost on reporters and extremism researchers, including Kate Burns, Jeremy Lindenfeld, and Kelly Stuart, who documented the scene in real time. They estimated a few hundred participants showed up versus Feucht’s projection of “thousands.”

[...]

“There’s a veneer of interfaith, there’s a veneer of solidarity,” said Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS). “I do interfaith dialogue for a living. These people are not doing interfaith dialogue. They’re doing Christian supremacy, but they’re cloaking it in the garb of interfaith solidarity.”

“If Sean Feucht is an enemy of anti-Semitism, why does he hang out with Proud Boys and QAnon supporters and conspiracy theorists at places that tolerate outright anti-Semitism like the ReAwaken America tour?” Taylor added. “Why does he invite far-right militia members to be security at his own events? Color me skeptical that Sean Feucht cares one whit about anti-Semitism.” (A Proud Boy and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist reportedly belonged to Feucht’s security team at his Oregon “Let Us Worship” event in 2021.) Feucht has also palled around with podcaster Elijah Schaffer, who has made anti-Semitic remarks along with his guest speakers like white supremacist Nick Fuentes. “Do you believe Jews disproportionately control the world institutions, banks, & are waging war on white, western society?” Schaffer asked in a 2023 Twitter poll.

[...] In New York, Feucht teamed up with conservative radio host Eric Metaxas, who, according to Media Matters, uses his platform to promote the belief that Christians should control the government, and once punched an anti-Trump protester in the face. A day before descending on the Big Apple, Feucht went live on Facebook and appeared almost giddy about the “end days.” “Yes, these are the end days,” Feucht said. “I know people say all the time, ‘Everyone’s saying it’s the end days.’ ‘Jesus said it was the end days 2000 years ago.’ Well, it is the end days, and we’re one day closer to the return of Jesus.” “And as that ramps up, we’re going to see a rise of evil, we’re going to see a rise of glory, and we’re gonna see a rise of hatred for the Jewish people.”

[...] Many evangelicals like Feucht believe in an End Times prophecy where Jews will return to Israel (and convert to Christianity) as part of Jesus’s Second Coming.

Far-right Christian nationalists such as Sean Feucht have traveled to various campuses where protests against the Gaza Genocide are happening to preach a right-wing pro-Israel Apartheid rally under the guise of an “interfaith rally.”