Nothing for Snitches: For a Revolutionary Anti-Repression

  • July 20, 2026 1:36 am

Submission

“The paramount issue is the character and integrity of the movements we are building. We must confront, vilify, and destroy traitors at every opportunity; deal with them as the dehumanized vipers that they are; instill ‘the greater fear.’ The political terms must always be clear: discredit and destroy all traitors.” – Sekou Odinga, Kuwasi Balagoon, Judy Clark, David Gilbert, Silvia Baraldini

In the wake of draconian sentences handed down to the Prairieland 8, each ranging from 30 to 100 years, much has been said about the role of Trump’s NSPM-7 in establishing new repressive tools for criminalizing activism. Less discussed has been the critical role of cooperation—by at least 6 of the Prairieland defendants—in securing these devastating convictions. While the terrain of repression is ever changing, what remains evergreen is our most powerful tool of anti-repression: the principle of non-cooperation with the state.

This statement is a call for unity against the forces that would nip any nascent revolutionary movement in the bud by suffocating its most basic survival instinct with equivocation about the need to keep out snitches. From its inception, the DFW Support Committee has chosen to include the cooperator Meagan Morris in its collective prisoner support effort, against the objections and concerns of many in the movement. Despite this controversy, the “anti-repression collective” known as Fire Ant Movement Defense has lent DFW significant media support, helping them popularize the “Prairieland 9,” despite there only being 8 non-cooperating defendants.

On July 7, 2026, Fire Ant published an essay called “Manufactured Betrayal” in CrimethInc. which serves as a justification for their practice. The piece proposes the possibility of an “off-ramp” for snitches, focusing in particular on Meagan Morris as an example of someone who “restore[d] their commitment to struggle” after informing on their comrades. By publishing this snitch apologia—along with Eric King’s rebuttal “No Way Home”[1] four days later—CrimethInc. has presented the question of if snitches should be welcomed back into the movement as if it is a debate with two sides—it is not.

By taking this position, these formations are setting the precedent that people can cooperate with the state and continue to receive the support of collective movement resources. We can only assume that welcoming snitches back into the fold is a position that DFW, Fire Ant, and CrimethInc. will continue putting into practice.

Meanwhile, those of us serious about building a revolutionary movement must unite around a collective commitment to the principle of non-cooperation. As a political, strategic, and ethical practice that prioritizes the collective movement over the individual, it is our only hope of withstanding escalating repression. Compromising on this principle destroys our basic capacity for self-defense. There can be no revolution without solidarity, and solidarity has no meaning without a commitment to non-cooperation.

– The Facts of the Situation –

Fire Ant claims that it is a strategic decision to bring cooperators back into the movement:

“At this moment, thousands of inexperienced new participants are flooding  into the fight for liberation. We probably won’t be able to educate all of them before they find themselves in confrontations with the state. Some of them will experience intense repression designed to scare them into cooperating before they fully understand the political implications, the options available to them, or their basic rights. When they find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun, some may well say something they shouldn’t. If we immediately make permanent enemies of everyone who do so, this may further endanger others.”[2]

This, however, is a complete distortion of the facts of Morris’ betrayal, and is the exact opposite of a strategic decision in relation to cooperators. To address the dangerous position of allowing snitches to enter back into the movement that they have betrayed, we must first address how this is a complete minimization of the extent of Morris’ cooperation.

According to her statement to law enforcement, Morris joined the Socialist Rifle Association in 2020 and learned of the noise demo from a Signal chat she joined “years ago after attending a protest.”[3] In another Signal chat that members suspected of being infiltrated, she stated that “if there are 4 or more liberals in a chat, there’s likely law enforcement.” This demonstrates that not only had she been active in movement spaces long before the noise demo on July 4, 2025, but she was also well-acquainted with movement norms regarding antagonism towards informants and agents of the state.[4]

Furthermore, the information law enforcement credits Morris with sharing could only have come from someone known and trusted by others as a comrade. By weaponizing the information she had been privy to in order to save her own skin, she became a willing accomplice in the state’s effort to construct a conspiracy narrative, which relies on criminalizing our relationships to each other.

Contrary to Fire Ant’s narrative of cooperators caving under “repeated torture,” Morris waived her Miranda rights and began snitching on her comrades within hours of her arrest.[5] Law enforcement credits her with identifying Autumn Hill, who was her live-in partner at the time and had not yet been apprehended.[6] Hill was arrested the next day on July 5, 2025, during a raid on the home she and Morris shared.[7] Morris also helped identify Joy “Rowan” Gibson and Benjamin “Champagne” Song, who she claimed to have met online and invited to her home before driving the group to the noise demo.[8]

While Song was still on the run, Morris provided additional information which led to their capture. She helped locate Rebecca Morgan—who law enforcement suspected of transporting and sheltering Song—by naming Morgan’s workplace and linking her identity to her Signal handle. The next day, an FBI SWAT team raided Morgan’s home, where they apprehended Song and took them into custody.[9] However, Morris’ betrayal did not end there.

In a follow up interview Morris requested after her initial statement, she linked the gunshots fired on July 4, 2025 outside the Prairieland Detention Center to Song, claiming that the sound was consistent with a binary trigger he had on his rifle. She also suggested that the shooting was premeditated, and that Song had intended to use the demo as cover:

“I don’t think it was an accident. A person set things up to have cover… I felt disgust and betrayal.”

“My suspicion is Song wanted to do this the whole time. To shoot someone. Have us all there with our guns… [his] jackoff fantasy… and get away.”[10]

Not only did she help deliver Song into the hands of the state, she actively contributed to its narrative of “attempted murder” in an attempt to scapegoat her former comrade. Furthermore, her “admission” to the existence of a coordinated plan serves as the linchipn for the state’s conspiracy dragnet, which attempts to link a loose network of comrades, friends, partners, and unaffiliated individuals in a “coordinated ambush” involving the shooting of a law enforcement officer:

“One of the suspects, Meagan Morris, admitted this was a planned protest of the detention facility that was coordinated online [emphasis ours] with numerous subjects bringing weapons, firearms, body armor, ballistic helmets, face shields, tourniquets and extra magazines and ammunition.”[11]

There would have been no “conspiracy” if not for the cooperators constructing such according to the wishes of the state. Far from a minor misstep which can be reversed via an “off ramp,” Morris’ cooperation was an essential element in the state’s case against the Prairieland defendants, without which her comrades Joy “Rowan” Gibson, Benjamin “Champagne” Song, Rebecca Morgan, and her own partner Autumn Hill might still be free. The extent of the damage she did was only possible because she had been trusted by those engaging in action alongside her. We have nothing to gain and everything to lose by making that mistake again.

– DFW Commitee’s Role –

The DFW Support Committee has decided to include the cooperator Meagan Morris in the court and prisoner support efforts, alongside the non-cooperating defendants. The DFW Committee offered no clarity or transparency as to who had cooperated and when they did so until January of 2026, shortly before the trial began. All of this information, however, was already available in the criminal complaints and other court documents released publicly in the early stages of the case. That cooperation had happened was a known fact, as well as the identities of the cooperators, and what specifically they had done. When slogans like the “Free the Prairieland 19” began circulating from the DFW Support Committee while paperwork revealed that 6 had already cooperated, people were left to wonder whether or not the cooperating defendants were receiving support. Fire Ant entered early on into the effort to gather public support for this case, while themselves being silent about the extent of the cooperation, as well as which defendants were receiving support.

While these concerns continued to circulate as more informed parties attempted to address these formations that were generating support, a story began to circulate that Morris had admitted she had made a mistake, and had re-committed to her co-defendants. When the DFW Support Committee began to attempt to rehabilitate Morris’ betrayal just before the trial, no insight was offered into what her reversal actually entailed in practice. It is still the case, however, that Morris’ actions before this reversal had already stolen people’s lives and aided the construction of the legal fiction of the “Antifa cell” that the state will now use at its will against anyone. The damage cannot be undone.

– No Room for Cooperators –

We have demonstrated that what Morris did was beyond the pale, and that there is no strategic reason for the pro-cooperator position of Fire Ant in the Prairieland case. But what about beyond this case? Can we ever allow someone who has betrayed the solidarity of their comrades to return? Fire Ant offers this answer:

“We must ask ourselves what we can offer defendants who have erred but  have yet to decide whether to continue to assist the state. If we cannot offer those who have begun to cooperate any incentive to stop doing so, that all but ensures that once someone starts cooperating, they will become a permanent addition to the state’s arsenal against us.”[12]

The problem with this, however, is that once someone cooperates, they have already become a permanent part of the state’s arsenal against us. Whether through informing on co-defendants, complying with a grand jury subpoena, or helping police identify other targets in order to take the heat off themselves, cooperators hand the state information that can and will be weaponized against the movement indefinitely. Once this is done, deterrence or reversal is not a possibility. In the Prairieland case, the only way to mitigate the damage done by Meagan Morris’ cooperation was for her co-defendants to challenge her credibility in court. By maintaining unity with her and standing trial together, they were left with no avenue to discredit her statements, thus compromising their ability to defend themselves.

Furthermore, cooperation is rarely an isolated incident. When police succeed in pressuring someone to snitch even once, whether by interrogation or other means, that individual becomes their first stop any time they seek information. By levying threats against those who wish to keep their initial cooperation a secret, promising them individual leniency, or using some other form of leverage, the state is able to cultivate longtime informants embedded in movement spaces. Thus, if known cooperators attempt to return to the fold, we must block them from doing so at every step.[13] Not only have they demonstrated that they will betray comrades if given the chance, but we can never truly know if they seek to rejoin with the intent of informing further.

In the case of Prairieland, making a lesson out of Morris and communicating to the broader movement why there is no return from what she did would serve an important function in teaching newcomers that complete social exclusion and disconnection from collective movement resources is the expected minimum consequence for snitching. It would establish clear lines against cooperation and eliminate room for confusion. However, Fire Ant would rather we teach people the opposite lesson:

“We reject simplistic generalizations that frame all mistakes as unforgivable, rendering it impossible to create an off-ramp [emphasis ours] for those who have previously cooperated with the state to change course, make amends, and restore their commitment to struggle.”[14]

Instead of offering clarity, the idea of an “off ramp” opens the door to endless ambiguity and hairsplitting around what constitutes a redeemable snitch. It teaches potential revolutionaries that there is a way back into our movement for those who have decided to save themselves by giving the state the means to take away the lives of other people. It undermines our power to enforce any standards and creates an incentive for opportunists to play both sides. Self-interested people could exploit the movement for their own gain, all the while being easy targets for future pressure by the state. Accommodating such elements would only weaken our movement by cultivating an individualistic logic of cowardice and self-preservation, leaving it defenseless against escalating state repression.

Soliciting cooperation is in fact one of the most powerful weapons the state can use against us, because it undermines the very fabric of solidarity that holds revolutionary movements together. We must prepare all partisans to expect this kind of pressure, and arm them with the knowledge that the only way to protect ourselves and each other is to remain silent and insist on speaking to a lawyer. When we are approached by law enforcement for information, we must immediately inform others publicly of what occurred and what the police are inquiring about, while making clear that we remained silent. When someone fails to do this, they cast suspicion on themselves if the incident is later discovered through court documents or other means, contributing to a destructive atmosphere of paranoia. The only way to protect ourselves against such paranoia is through a consistent practice of transparency and expelling any known cooperators in our midst.

Furthermore, we must teach people to expect that if they choose to join the struggle, jail and prison will always be a possibility. We recognize that what some activists call “torture” is simply the routinized violence of jail, and those who wish to join a revolutionary movement must steel themselves to withstand those conditions, and worse treatment, as Frantz Fanon helped revolutionaries do in the past.[15] Any breath wasted on justifying the betrayal of snitches takes our attention away from those prisoners who demonstrate behavior exemplary of a revolutionary in refusing to cooperate. With this comes an understanding of the contempt with which snitches are treated inside prison, and that those who cooperate jeopardize their own safety behind bars as well as the credibility of a revolutionary movement in the eyes of other prisoners. If we are seen as a movement that provides support to snitches, then we will be rightfully treated as enemies by the average prisoner.

Thus, where Fire Ant sees cooperation as an inevitability to which we must accommodate ourselves, we understand that a revolutionary movement must be capable of enforcing a hard line of non-cooperation at every turn.

– Revolutionary Anti-Repression –

This leads us to the question of the role of anti-repression work in the development of a revolutionary movement. We can turn this attack from the state into an opportunity to unite strategically along the political practice of non-cooperation and antagonism to the state and capital. Maintaining the consistency of non-cooperation in practice means that the work of organizing against repression must be conscious of its political character. The logic of the “off-ramp” that Fire Ant proposes is not that of building a revolutionary movement, but of a project of service provision to potential consumers.

Revolutionary anti-repression will not be for everyone. If anyone cooperates, they must receive no support, and be publicly made known to others. In order for anti-repression efforts to be revolutionary, they must be integrated into the effort of building a revolutionary movement. This entails identifying and engaging with cases of repression for political activity and providing support for those defendants. Support can provide material support such as funds for defense, as well as political, by helping coordinate defenses along collective movement principles. Defendants will need to be advised on how to assemble support committees, on the dynamics inside jails and prisons they should understand, and on how the carceral institutions they are engaging with function. This will demonstrate to defendants that revolutionaries can be trusted, and that solidarity is rewarded with solidarity. They will know that they receive this support because they resist becoming a tool of the state. In doing so, they become examples to others who we inform about this case, and to other prisoners inside.

Every political prisoner is a potential comrade. Revolutionary anti-repression must exist in order for defendants to know what their case means practically to the movement supporting them. They must know how the outcome of their case could set a precedent that will affect many others. This must inform the defense strategy that they choose to take. Lawyers cannot be expected to be the source of political clarity. Defendants that work in a tradition of revolutionary anti-repression need to be directly supported enough by revolutionaries to direct their legal representatives to construct legal strategy to accommodate the collective needs of the revolutionary movement. This means that the movement must be organized such that its political lines know how to enhance the efficacy of a defense’s strategy.

These points of tactical engagement in revolutionary anti-repression are at the level of dealing with an active case. However, this work cannot be confined to the exigencies of the courtroom, forced to always operate on the terms set by the state. This is what always keeps us on the back foot, unable to maintain any firm position in developing our forces. A defensive position can be made advantageous if an offensive strategy can be developed within the means of defense. What is learned from engaging in and studying the changing landscape of repression will allow us to develop practices of struggle that lead to the development of offensive capabilities that outmaneuver state repression. We must learn how to turn the weight of the leviathan against itself.

The fact that we are experiencing an influx of newcomers into the movement makes it all the more important that we must hold clear and unambiguous lines around snitching to eliminate any room for confusion. In doing so, we build a movement based on who demonstrates the most potential to become committed and trustworthy revolutionaries, if they are not already. That means prioritizing the interests of those who are able to remain steadfast in non-cooperation with their comrades, and having no qualms of casting those aside who cannot. We have no need for them or their accomplices in this treachery. Simply put, we will find tougher people.

For these comrades who will make up the truly revolutionary struggle, we cannot afford to be ambiguous or cowardly. We will better learn what we must build together to outlast this current wave of repression by preparing ourselves to engage in and enforce non-cooperation wherever we must. There will be cooperators left to fend for themselves in prison, but their own actions have already abandoned the struggle. That is the choice they have made and which has rendered us free of any responsibility to them. We make this choice ourselves because we recognize that the cost of compromise is much higher.

Revolutionary anti-repression cannot end with the support of direct cases of political repression. It begins here in our context, but the objective of state repression is to isolate layers of the population engaged in political activity from the potential mass base that could also become an organized force against the state. The state knows that the conditions for its own existence are those of the antagonistic social relations of capital. They reproduce this antagonism in order to produce capital, and in order to make that process stable, they expand the policing and carceral apparatus to keep the proletarians in line that their society produces, exploits, and oppresses.

Our era of mass uprisings against the police amongst racialized proletarians has shown that this population has revolutionary potential, but the failure of these uprisings to advance further also demonstrates that contradictions exist amongst those very proletarians that are barriers to their development into an organized social force, thus rendering them vulnerable to the eventual crackdowns by the state. These uprisings have emerged amongst specific populations and extended beyond them because of the history of the development of this repressive apparatus against both political movements and the activity of de-politicized layers of these classes. As such, it has created a value of non-cooperation that exists as an ideal among criminalized segments of the racialized proletariat.

The instinct towards a liberal appeal—forgiveness by the Democratic Party, individual redemption over collective resistance—and away from one of the most basic codes of honor amongst those engaged in illegality, reveals a politics oriented towards individualism, and a composition influenced by middle class values whose intended audience are those who share the same, and not those surviving through proletarian criminality. Needless to say, we are not making an appeal to victimhood or proposing a posture of deference to all who are victimized by capital and the state. We are saying that the normalization of snitches would only amplify the effects of the counterinsurgency that is already devastating radical movements, as well as the criminalized segments of the proletariat where we see an expression of latent revolutionary potential. This culture and strategy of non-cooperation has emerged because it is necessary for the survival of formations that are antagonistic to the state. As comrades have recently said, “the codes revolutionaries live by exist to keep a movement alive long enough to find possibilities of emancipatory horizons.”[16] The development and victory of our revolutionary forces depend upon our solidarity.

— Communists and Anarchists for Revolutionary Anti-Repression

Endnotes:
[1] https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/eric-king-no-way-home-an-anarchist-ex-prisoner-s-response-to-fire-ant-movement-defense
[2] https://crimethinc.com/2026/07/07/manufactured-betrayal-a-statement-from-fire-ant-movement-defense-on-solidarity-and-betrayal-in-the-prairieland-trials
[3] page 5: https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/gov.uscourts.txnd_.406323.1.0.pdf)
[4] https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-4th-federal-trial-day-8/#witness-lynette-sharp-cooperating-witness-in-handcuffs-and-striped-jumpsuit
[5] https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-4th-federal-trial-day-8/#witness-lynette-sharp-cooperating-witness-in-handcuffs-and-striped-jumpsuit
[6] page 2: https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Cofer_Luster_motion-to-exclude-meagans-testimony_2026-01-22.pdf
[7] https://yournews.com/2026/01/21/6233321/two-transgender-defendants-in-texas-ice-protest-case-describe-misgendering/
[8] page 6: https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/gov.uscourts.txnd_.406323.1.0.pdf
[9] page 21: https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/complaint-morgan.pdf
[10] https://prairielanddefendants.com/court-notes/march-4th-federal-trial-day-8/#witness-lynette-sharp-cooperating-witness-in-handcuffs-and-striped-jumpsuit
[11] page 25: https://prairielanddefendants.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/JohnsonCounty_Probable_Cause_Affidavit.pdf
[12] https://crimethinc.com/2026/07/07/manufactured-betrayal-a-statement-from-fire-ant-movement-defense-on-solidarity-and-betrayal-in-the-prairieland-trials
[13] See the case of Suzie Savoie in the Green Scare wave of repression and successive attempts that had to be made to continually remove her from related spaces after her cooperation: https://anarchistagency.com/an-anti-snitch-oral-history-of-the-seattle-wto-protests/
https://itsgoingdown.org/snitch-suzie-savoie-swarmed-and-deplatformed-in-southern-oregon/
[14] https://crimethinc.com/2026/07/07/manufactured-betrayal-a-statement-from-fire-ant-movement-defense-on-solidarity-and-betrayal-in-the-prairieland-trials
[15] For information of Frantz Fanon’s work in helping prepare revolutionary combatants for withstanding torture, see: https://www.parapraxismagazine.com/articles/fanons-revolutionary-gaze
[16] https://freepeppyandkrystal.noblogs.org/in-defense-of-dignity/

Breaking The Ice

  • March 27, 2026 1:07 am

Submission

April 5th 6pm Wooden Shoe 704 South Street
Anarchists in Philly talk with comrades from the Twin Cities about
their experiences building rapid response networks, how Minnesota thwarted Operation Metro Surge and lessons drawn about how to defeat fascism

List of New and Proposed ICE Detention Centers Across the US

  • March 7, 2026 1:40 am

from Unravel

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

In mid-January, government officials went on a series of site visits at the following locations of proposed ICE detention centers. Their plan is to retrofit industrial warehouses to save time and money. If all of these facilities were built it would add up to over 15 million square feet of space and increase bed space by 85,000, which would in turn facilitate more “surge” operations to detain our neighbors en masse. It’s up to us to stop them.

“Mega Centers”

50 Rausch Creek Road, Tremont, PA

Processing Sites

3501 Mountain Road, Hamburg, PA

CONFIRMED purchased warehouses:

3501 Mountain Rd, Hamburg, PA 19526 (capacity 1,500)

 

New and expanded offices (from WIRED):

Berwyn, PA – 1000 Westlakes Drive

Philadelphia, PA – 801 Arch Street

York, PA – Yorktowne Medical Center

 

In Contempt #4: Support the Prairieland Defendants on Trial, Inside-Outside ICE Detention Center Protests, Palestine Action UK Actionists Acquitted, Free Alabama Prison Strike, & More!

  • February 18, 2026 1:00 am

from In Contempt

[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]

IN CONTEMPT returns with the next monthly prison rebel roundup. Packed in as always are updates, action and analysis we hope helps build inside-outside networks of resistance. Over 100 copies are sent to comrades behind bars each month!

Following the closing of It’s Going Down, a new collective will continue publishing monthly “In Contempt” updates on this noblogs. Please submit any updates and calls to action to the new email in_contempt at autistici dot org.

A lot has been happening, so lets get to it!

Phone Zaps

Call in For Mumia Abu-Jamal!

Political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal is being denied essential medical care

As of February 2026, Mumia has not received treatment for his diabetic retinopathy or agressive glaucoma. His vision has been restored to a point after having a procedure done, but his vision is still at risk without further treating the underlying condition. He needs an opthamologist or he risks going blind!

Please call, email, and write letters to SCI Mahony and the secretary of the Pennsylvania department of corrections this week. They are open Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST.

Call:

SCI Mahanoy superintendant Bernadette Mason: (570) 773-2158
PA Department of Corrections secretary Laurel Harry: (717) 728-4109 or (717) 728-2573

Email:

PA DOC secretary: ra-crpadocsecretary@pa.gov

Send a Letter:

Berndatte Mason SCI Mahanoy 301 Grey Line Drive, Frackville PA 17931

Basic Script:

“Hello, my name is _____ and I am calling to request that Mumia Abu-Jamal needs to be seen and treated by specialists, who treat diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma. He also needs to be examined for new glasses, a heart healthy diet, filtered water, and regular exercise, indoors and out.”

At The Gates: Fighting Detention Centers

“If they build it, they will fill it. “

Homeland Security seeks to purchase 23 massive warehouses to expand imprisonment capacity by an additional 76,000 beds even as it already holds an estimated 73,000 people, the highest ever, in conditions so abysmal that 23 people have died in custody since Trump retook office. Personal stories recount mass violations of human rights and cellphone videos shows ghastly conditions inside. Those detained during DHS’s “Operation Midway Blitz” in Chicago are disapeared into a vast byzantine web of detainment facilities designed to prevent family and support from making contact, wearing down people to surrender due process rights and sign deportation agreements.

Bloomgerg reports these locations and bed capacities that ICE seeks to acquire: Tremont, Pennsylvania- 7,500. Roxbury, New Jersey-1,500. Hamburg, Pennsylvania-1,500.

Wired reports that DHS also secretly leased over 150 additional locations for ICE offices; many communities were caught off guard and are now organizing to stop the concentration camps from being opened.

 

Breaking the ICE: A Letter from the Frontline

  • January 27, 2026 1:10 am

from Crimethinc

In the following report-back, participants in a march against Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Philadelphia reflect on how to move from symbolic protests and top-down organizational models to effective autonomous action. As the conflict between federal mercenaries and the people of the Twin Cities intensifies, others around the country are looking for concrete ways to act in solidarity in order to divide the attention and resources of federal forces. We encourage everyone who participates in demonstrations to show up in affinity groups with concrete plans as to what they hope to accomplish and bold proposals to share with others.

The more agency and initiative each of us brings to our collective activity, the more powerful our movements will be.

On the night of January 23, the day of the general strike in the Twin Cities, a rowdy march against ICE took place in downtown Philadelphia, involving about 300 people. At the conclusion of the march, a couple dozen militants decided to break off and head in the direction of the nearby ICE office. The march organizers—Socialist Alternative—had told the entire crowd at the beginning of the march that they planned to circle City Hall once and then march together to the ICE building.

We had heard about the march just the day before. A small group of us quickly prepared a banner reading “FUCK ICE.” During the march, we carved out a spot for ourselves at the front, despite commands from self-appointed protest marshals to “move to the side” and make more space for their party-branded content.

The march proceeded down a major thoroughfare of the city, the simple “Fuck ICE” banner attracting enthusiastic support from onlookers. Then, strangely, when the crowd was just one block away from the ICE headquarters, the marshals directed everyone to the Federal Detention Center two blocks away. There, the organizers set up a weak sound system and began making speeches to the confused crowd.

At the same time, a member of a competing state socialist faction, the Revolutionary Communists of America, pulled out their own megaphone and started soapboxing to the people around them about the working class in a bid to one-up their competitors. The energy, which had been lively throughout the march, dissipated rapidly.

Someone asked one of the protest marshals why we weren’t converging on the ICE building. “There’s no shortage of targets,” they answered.

This rally was was explicitly organized in solidarity with the general strike in Minneapolis, which itself was a response to the invasion of the city by ICE and the recent murder of Renee Nicole Good. On January 24, the day following the general strike, ICE agents murdered another person in Minneapolis, Alex Pretti.

The usual alphabet soup of state socialists were there. Aside from Socialist Alternative (the main organizers), there were also the Revolutionary Communists of America, the Party for Socialism and Liberation, and others, each faction vying for their spot in the limelight with recruitment tables, proselytizing overtures, and promotional literature. They made many speeches about how we need to go beyond symbolic protest and take the next step into direct action against ICE.

But when protesters broke away to engage the nearby ICE office, most of the crowd simply looked on or away. Some jeered, made snide comments, or expressed disdain. Nonetheless, a few were curious or supportive. It is worth noting that, in a march that was probably 95% white, many of those who joined the breakaway march were not white, and specifically young and Black.

As we marched towards the throng of police outside the ICE office, encouraged by one enthusiastic snare drummer’s beats, some in the crowd began to chant “Migra, policia, la misma porqueria!” Someone made some quick remarks about how the Philadelphia Parking Authority and the Philadelphia police were protecting ICE. When someone in the crowd yelled “Fuck 12” in response, we all began chanting “Fuck ICE! Fuck 12!”

It was clear that there were too many police and too few people in the crowd to breach the office, which had been barricaded in anticipation with metal crowd barriers. So after a short while, the group took their exit, flipping off the bike cops.

If nothing else, some of those who were confused about the location of the ICE headquarters now know exactly where it is. Experimenting with the breakaway march as a protest tactic was also a useful exercise in that it demonstrated what a small number of frontliners can do as part of a larger crowd, showing the potential of autonomous direct action within a broader ecology of tactics.

Not all of the state socialists took a paternalistic attitude toward the militants who engaged the ICE headquarters. One of the protest marshals joined us at the end and made a genuine effort to show support and have our backs as we approached the building and the police stationed outside of it. The problem is not the intentions of specific individuals, but rather that the organizational structures of these groups are not oriented towards practical direct action. They remain stuck in the mire of representational, spectacle-based politics.

The class struggle, which necessarily involves a dynamic ecology of different kinds of action, is not the driving motor of organizational development and innovation for these groups. Instead, they filter class struggle through the sieve of each group’s particular brand of state-directed revolution, which the movement managers and wanna-be politicians of each respective faction are trying to sell us. When organizational fetishism is the driving force of a struggle, revolutionists appear as nothing but snake-oil sellers.

As a consequence, the burning need for decisive action is put off indefinitely. Rather than presenting opportunities to disrupt the operation of ruling class infrastructure, militant demonstrations instead become opportunities for selling newspapers, photo-ops, recruitment drives, and ideological competition between various bullhorn-wielding aspiring leaders.

It was heartening to see the federal inmates waving at us and flickering their lights from the inside. It was good to pay them a visit. But there is something very wrong with a march against ICE in which protest marshals direct the crowd away from a building ICE uses as its headquarters. At a certain point, revolutionaries need to make a choice: are you organizing for revolution, or building a political clique?

For those who want to make a revolution against class society, the spectacle of symbolic protest and organizational fetishism is a dead end. The 2020 George Floyd uprising, the Eddie Irizarry rebellion in 2023, and the anti-ICE rebellion in Los Angeles last year show us that there is another way: the path of militant solidarity, mutual aid, and autonomous self-activity and self-organization. The revolt against ICE that is unfolding in Minneapolis is currently the most advanced iteration of this mass historical dynamic within the United States. Rather than looking to the fantasies of the past, we should take our cue from the frontline in Minneapolis and follow their example. We have to fight with strategy, organization, and vision—but nonetheless, we have to make the leap.

Now is the time to get together with those you trust, to call more demonstrations, to organize rapid response networks with your neighbors, to facilitate assemblies, devise plans, experiment with bold tactics, take the initiative, build momentum, stretch the limits of whats possible, and most importantly, embrace every strategy at our disposal for tearing this motherfucker down and building a new, better world, including direct intervention against ICE and all agents of state repression.

See you in the streets!

– Your autonomous comrades across the partisan divide

Day of the Forest Defender Banner Drop

  • January 21, 2026 1:54 am

Submission

In honor of our fallen comrades Renee Nicole Good, Tortuguita Teran, and all others murdered by the police state, we dropped several banners along the vine street expressway on the morning of Jan 18th, on the third anniversary of the Day of the the Forest Defender.

Do You Know This Man? ICE Agent “El Gordo” Terrorizes South Jersey Immigrant Communities

  • December 1, 2025 1:36 am

from Jersey Counter-Info

This individual, dubbed “El Gordo”, has been seen by several community members around Lakewood, NJ terrorizing and assisting in detaining people in the immigrant community with ICE. He is suspected to be a bounty hunter/federal (ICE) agent himself based on his behavior and presence in the area. When seen recently, he refused get out of his car when confronted about his actions.

If spotted please send tips via phone call or email to: 888-347-3767 or DIREsupport@improvingNJ.org

Any tips about El Gordo’s identity can be sent to: jerseycounterinfo@protonmail.com

El Gordo detaining and harassing a South Jersey community member.
El Gordo sitting in his vehicle, a light gray/silver Hyundai Sonata with NJ plates, in South Jersey.

 

El Gordo standing next to his light gray/silver Hyundai.

 

El Gordo’s Hyundai with NJ plates “B73UMH”.

 

Este individuo, nombrado como el gordo, ha sido visto por varios miembros de la comunidad de Lakewood, NJ aterrorizando y ayudando en la detención de la gente por parte de ICE. Se sospecha que él es un cazador de recompensas y no agente federal debido a su comportamiento y presencia en el área. Cuando recientemente se encontró enfrentado, ni estuvo dispuesto bajar de su carro para contestar por sus acciones.
Si lo ve por favor llama al: 888-347-3767 o manda un mensaje a DIRESupport@ImprovingNJ.org
Cualquier pista sobre la identidad de El Gordo se puede enviar a: jerseycounterinfo@protonmail.com

L.A. Reportback: Resistance to I.C.E.

  • September 14, 2025 1:53 am

from O.R.C.A.

Tuesday, September 16th

6pm

O.R.C.A.

Join comrades coming from Los Angeles for a report back and Q&A discussion about ICE resistance, from rapid response networks to tactical observations. A photo of an ICE vehicle with masked people swarming around it. Text reads: "ICE Resistance in LA: A Reportback. 9/16 6pm@ ORCA

 

Anti-Border Demonstration Report

  • August 15, 2025 1:59 am

Submission

On the night of July 22 autonomous actors gathered in Center City to express their rage against borders. They took the streets. They marched for many blocks. Then they dispersed. Propaganda was distributed, trash got thrown onto the floor, some walls got themselves painted, and a police cruiser got itself vandalized. No arrests were made.

This demonstration was partly a response to the protests that have taken place over the last two years. We hope it showed that a protest may be called in the middle of the city in a way where the police cannot respond adequately. All that needs to be done is for the invitation to be shared in channels that are not being actively monitored by the police.

Borders will always be a way of controlling an inequitable distribution of capital, labor, and commodities. Borders will always be cruel and inhumane regardless of whether there’s a white or black president in charge. Peace under a state that is snatching people out of their homes and streets and sending them to concentration camps is another way of saying “collaboration”. Peaceful “resistance” in these conditions is little more than moral posturing.

No one is coming to save us. The time to act is now.

Sincerely,

Abolish ICE & Fuck the Police

L3 Harris Job fair

  • August 14, 2025 1:14 am

Submission

Thought y’all should know that the government contractor L3 Harris is hosting a job fair in Camden, NJ. They are a major government contractor that just recently landed a large ICE contract.

“L3Harris Technologies is a major U.S. defense contractor, L3 Harris has a $4.4 million contract to provide “equipment to determine the location of targeted mobile handsets to investigate crimes and threats” for ICE. ”

The address is: DoubleTree by Hilton Mt. Laurel: 515 Fellowship Rd, Mt Laurel Township, NJ 08054
2-6PM August 20th

Please share widely!

We Are Not Afraid Of Ruins

  • August 5, 2025 1:41 am

from O.R.C.A.

We Are Not Afraid of Ruins is a film by Greek filmmaker Yannis Youlountas recently translated into English that follows the squatters’ movement from 2019-2024 in the anarchist stronghold of Exarcheia in Athens as they support refugees, resist incursions by organized fascists and the state, and try to live their day to day lives in free from domination and exploitation.

Run time ~90 minutes, in Greek with English subtitles.

Cameras Painted in Malcolm X Park

  • July 24, 2025 1:24 am

Submission

Coasting off our excitement about autonomous self-organization, on the night of July 22nd we painted over all four cameras at Malcolm X Park. We want the park to stay the kind of place where people can meet and hang out without being surveilled, that’s why we took the game of Camover there. We’re holding in our hearts two people who have been accused of attacking ICE and policing and who were recently captured after being on the run, Jahki and Benjamin Song.
Solidarity with everyone fighting ICE and police!

Cop/ICE Watch

  • July 3, 2025 1:02 am

from O.R.C.A.

Join us for a night of learning, discussion, and roleplaying centered around cop/ice watching. Bring your curiosity and a friend.

  • Date: 2025/07/10 18:00

The Return of Autonomous Demonstrations in Philadelphia: Brief Notes on the Recent Anti-ICE Actions and A Response to the Socialists in the Partisan

  • June 20, 2025 1:43 am

Submission

The autonomous demonstration has returned to Philadelphia. On June 10th and June 14th respectively, two self organized autonomous demonstrations were called to fight back against ICE and in solidarity with the rebellion in Los Angeles. To read a better understanding of what went down, I recommend you read the Unicorn riot account (https://unicornriot.ninja/2025/philadelphia-police-crack-down-on-anti-ice-marches-twice-in-one-week/) and an article I have deep disagreements with (https://phillypartisan.com/2025/06/15/headless-courage-anti-ice-protests-vs-police-brutality/). Both give brief overviews of what happened at these demos.

As an older anarchist, I was glad to see younger comrades organizing against ICE in a militant fashion. It is a rare thing to see publicly organized autonomous demonstrations in the United States despite the fact that they are common in many other places like Latin America or Europe. Autonomous demonstrations are critical for real combative street movements. For over a decade, the activist/organizer culture has plagued Philadelphia’s street movements with their cowardice and liberalism. The tension between the militant and the activist has played out in the meeting, communique and even in the streets. Organizers have often played a counter insurgent role in various struggles such as anti-gentrification direct actions from 2013 to 2018, OccupyICE in 2018, the George Floyd uprising, the Eddie Irizarry uprising and the Palestine solidarity encampments. In each of these struggles, anarchists and our friends faced conflict with activists. While it seems more hip to talk about “counter-insurgency” these days from some of the very same cowardly leftists, it bears reminding that anarchists in Philadelphia have struggled against those who would want to water down social struggles.

These dynamics are often difficult to grapple with as the dynamics are often highly racialized. Despite the longstanding history of Black anarchists and Black radical militancy in the city of Philly since the 60s, those who take risks and organize autonomously are often accused of being “white adventurists”. While it can be amusing sometimes as there will be white radicals so plagued with white guilt that they cannot imagine that perhaps a Black or Person of of color person may in fact want to fight back against the forces that oppress them, many Black and POC organizers also actively despise militants of every background despite their near constant exhortations about “revolutionary violence” so they can sell copies of their books and admission to workshops.

Either way, I want to congratulate whoever called for the most recent demonstrations. The type of bravery displayed by those who organized and attended these demonstrations is the type that we’ll need to fight back against the worsening conditions in the United States. Unsurprisingly, both of these demonstrations were met with overwhelming police repression. There are probably a number of reasons for this. Both Cherelle Parker and the so-called progressive DA Larry Krasner both made it clear that peaceful protest was acceptable but anything deviating from permitted protest would be treated harshly. I believe that the PPD are afraid of a rerun of 2020. Doubtless the LA rebellion has scared the shit out of them. Either way, it is clear that the autonomous demo frightens the State in a way that the nicely marshaled parades by various activist and socialist groups simply do not. I want to commend the young people for taking the streets regardless of overwhelming police numbers on both days. The rest of the “Left” in the city of Philadelphia has been quiet. It makes me proud to be an anarchist to see that we remain on the front-lines when it comes to organizing to fight back against ICE while much of the Lefts skulks in the shadows (and not in the cool way). Let’s all make sure to support the comrades who faced more serious charges for taking part in these actions.

Some socialists wrote a critique of the first autonomous demo that I feel like I should address. In my view the article takes a myopic view of autonomous struggles and relegates them largely to a reaction to a current moment despite the fact that autonomous demos were popular in Philadelphia way back in 2017.

So the article is titled “Headless Courage”, I thought this was kinda funny because it’s clear whoever wrote it has never engaged with the work of Philly’s own Black revolutionary Russell Maroon Shoatz with his critical essay “The Dragon and the Hydra” where he argues for a multi-headed resistance against the colony and capital rather than a single-headed one. The autonomous demonstration in theory is an example of multi-headed resistance. The idea of an autonomous demonstration is a moment where various different WELL ORGANIZED affinity groups with different goals and intentions (ideally coordinating with each other prior to the action) can converge and act together in a public manner. Unsurprisingly, this doesn’t always work in real life as there are often liberals who show up as individuals, seeking to derail the demonstration or accusing people of being cops. However, well organized affinity groups who can assert themselves solves this problem. Often many anarchists understand affinity to be a one time thing but it’s actually critical to understand that affinity is a long term organizational orientation based on building trust and reciprocal knowledge with your comrades. It seems that whoever wrote the article did not arrive to the demonstration with their own set of goals but instead decided to complain on the internet because no one listened to them! Organize yourself and yourself better. No one owes you allegiance or a rowdy demonstration.

Chiding the demonstration for being “peaceful” when people were de-arresting, throwing barricades in the street and engaging in some light types of vandalism feels like a cheap shot considering the overwhelming police presence. Most demonstrations never even have any of those things happen. It’s sad but true. Furthermore, It’s clear that some people at the demonstration attended with intention and were able to take part in ways they found liberating. The conclusions in the article are unclear as the author acknowledges that non-autonomous demonstrations are weak and ineffective. Yeah, welcome to the club. Anarchists have been saying that for years. Nothing the socialists described at the demo such as police violence or snitchjacketing is particularly new. That’s just par for the course at public demonstrations. The solution isn’t creating some commander militant though but rather building forms of organization that can facilitate un-governability. I would refer the author to the coordinated affinity group as an example. Unfortunately, that form in Philly has largely been eclipsed by whatever the Left is doing these days. The author also argues bizarrely that socialists should do ESL classes and then use the people who do those classes for a militant demonstration.
“but you can recruit people more honestly and form more articulate connections by tabling, going door to door, or mounting programs like free food distributions or free ESL classes that directly serve your community. As described before in the Partisan, we should think of these types of projects as the proper way to build people power, and mass actions as the way to “cash out” on whatever power has been built to make change in the most direct and literal way”

Unfortunately just because someone likes your ESL class or free food doesn’t necessarily mean that they are going to be interested in whatever type of demonstration that you want to do. Mass actions are the the product of random people from an ESL fighting the cops but rather the product of affinity groups building amongst themselves and together to build capacity to fight back. I dunno the author’s background but the whole part about “organizing the masses” is always corny to me cause leftists always seem to be confused when the masses are not interested in their political project. Often when white leftists talk about “organizing the masses”, they are talking about Black and brown people in the city. I think it may be hard to imagine for some crackers to understand Black and brown people are already organized just in ways that are often reactionary or liberal. Instead of thinking of people as monolithic subject for your revolutionary desires perhaps realize that individuals regardless of their class background are complicated. The mechanistic way of thinking about human beings on the Left continues to be a weakness.

For the younger people. Don’t stop! Focus on building affinity with one another in the streets. I feel like there has been a lot of chastising from both socialists, so-called legal support collectives and various cowards on the internet. At the end of the day, ya’ll are doing what the Left wishes it was doing. Keep training, making sure your Black bloc is on point, talking with your friends and refusing to follow orders. Whether it’s from cops, progressive politicians, leftists, crackers, organizers, liberal anarchists or whoever. If I had any recommendations, it would be to examine the history of social struggles in Philadelphia prior to this moment. You might learn a few things. I’ll include a reading list. But honestly, I’m just proud of ya’ll.

– ya local anarchist agitator

Some reading reccs:

Anti-Gentrification Actions Philadelphia: 2013 to 2018
The Dragon and the Hydra by Russell Maroon Shoatz
Spontaneity and Organization by Kimathi Mohammed
Activism as Recuperation (From a Movement for No Society)
In Defense of Looting by Vicky Osterweil
The Secret is To Really Complain (From Anathema Volume 10 Issue 2)
What the Fuck Does Reconstruction Even Mean to Ya’ll: A Critique of the W.E.B. DuBois School and the Black Left in Philadelphia (From Anathema Volume 10 Issue 1)
Archipelago: Affinity, informal organization and insurrectional projects

Philadelphia Police Crack Down on Anti-ICE Marches Twice in One Week

  • June 18, 2025 1:16 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — The increasing tempo of pro-immigrant, anti-ICE protests hit Philadelphia last week, and the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) has decided to crack down.

On Tuesday, June 10, and Saturday, June 14, autonomous protests were called outside of the Federal Detention Center (FDC), where up to 125 immigrant detainees can be held by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The Tuesday protest included 80-100 protesters, while the Saturday demonstration brought an estimated 300. Both marches were met with intense police response which resulted in injuries and arrests.

Unlike other cities, where police shot tear gas and rubber bullets into crowds, the Philadelphia Police Department dispersed marches with tools on hand: battering protesters with batons, corralling the crowd with bicycles and nearly running activists and journalists over with motorized dirt bikes.

In October 2020, following protests against the killings of George Floyd and Walter Wallace Jr., the Philadelphia City Council passed a ban on the use of tear gas and rubber bullets on protesters. Additionally, a 2023 lawsuit resulted in a $9 million settlement awarded to activists, organizers and West Philly residents who were harmed by police use of tear gas.

This report covers how police repressed the June 10 and 14 demonstrations that roamed the northeast side of Center City — video from June 14 below.

June 10 Autonomous Demonstration: Philadelphia Police Arrest 15 Anti-ICE Protesters, Strike with Batons

Nationwide protests had taken off in solidarity against the recent militarized crackdowns and immigration sweeps in Los Angeles, as well as in objection to local ICE detentions. On the morning of June 10, ICE arrested at least one individual in South Philadelphia. Local activists also witnessed three detained in Kensington earlier that week.

In response to these detentions, an autonomous protest was called that morning to mobilize that afternoon. At 4 p.m., approximately 80-100 people congregated near the FDC at 7th and Arch Street and began chanting. A megaphone was passed among the crowd, and participants gave speeches about the Trump administration’s “fascist” immigration policies, as well as the interrelated struggle between domestic colonialism and the genocide in Gaza. (Local protesters also have been rallying weekly against one of Israel’s arms suppliers, Day & Zimmermann, on Spring Garden Street.)

Philadelphia police officers film protesters outside of the Federal Detention Center. Officers with cameras followed the entire march.

A march then began, trekking past the ICE field office and then down Market Street, taking the prominent throughway. At the end of the second lap, police began pressuring the protest and at 6:44 p.m., issued a order to disperse. The Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) then flanked the crowd in an attempted kettle, struck several people with batons and arrested 15.

Immigrants rights protesters march in Philadelphia on June 10, 2025.

Activists marched around the block to the ICE field office, looped back to the FDC, and then took another lap onto Market Street.

Several protesters used bikes to define the march’s perimeter, acting in sync during the protest. On the second return to FDC Philadelphia, tensions escalated between Philly PD bike patrol and the bike brigade activists. They faced off closely and argued for some time.

One protester from the bike brigade explained:

“From my perspective, the bikers present maintained control and effectively managed the situation, preventing a rush. This strategic positioning, I believe, was not favored by the police, leading to their attempt to accelerate matters. I also heard from someone that there was communication over the scanner indicating an intent to arrest the bikers, and myself. Our actions were entirely within legal bounds; we were simply employing strategic measures to maintain a safe distance and manage the situation effectively.”

Bike patrol officers stand close to marchers on June 10, 2025.

After the protest returned to the FDC, two bike cops were isolated by the crowd in front of the detention center. While activists and police exchanged verbal insults, at least one person in the crowd advised others to make sure that police could retreat from the cornered situation.

Protesters congregate outside the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia on June 10, 2025.

By this time, tensions were high. While there was no evidence of spray painted graffiti or significant property damage on the facility, a message was written onto one of the windows appearing to say “FUCK ICE.”

The Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia on June 10, 2025, with “FUCK ICE” written on a window.

At approximately 6:44 p.m., the police issued an initial dispersal order, declaring the march “unlawful.”

The PPD then pressured protesters to keep moving, issuing a third dispersal order by 6:51 p.m. However, these declarations were not easily audible — our contributor could not hear them on site. An increased presence of officers, prepared with batons and riot gear, began following the protesters from behind.

Police officers with bicycles follow the march in Philadelphia on June 10, 2025, after it was declared an “unlawful assembly.”
Philadelphia Police officers, including some in riot gear, tail the anti-ICE march behind the bike cops on June 10, 2025.

At around 7 p.m., police announced via their radios that they were planning arrests.

When the march reached Market St., police began to clash with protesters.

A police captain gives commands to protesters while flanked by officers on June 10, 2025.
Officers use batons to shove the crowd, with the Philadelphia Police captain giving commands, on June 10, 2025.

“They held the line when we got to Market Street. And they scared people. And, what do scared people do? They run. But then [the cops] started beating people,” one protester recounts. “There was no way out, so you had to run through or cower and hope they didn’t hurt you. If you ran, they tried to beat you.”

A Philadelphia Police officer chases a protester while brandishing his baton on June 10, 2025.
Philadelphia Police officers clash with, strike and arrest protesters on Market Street on June 10, 2025.
A Philadelphia Police officer uses baton to slam a pro-immigrant activist against a police car on June 10, 2025.
Philadelphia Police officers hold a protester on the ground on June 10, 2025, using batons to push into the protester’s neck.
Philadelphia Police surround a photographer and command him to move on June 10, 2025.
Philadelphia Police officers congregate after arresting protesters on June 10, 2025. Several detainees were lined up along the wall.

Fifteen people were arrested. Fourteen were hit with disorderly conduct, which is a ticketed offense called a CVN in Philadelphia. (There were press reports of another charge of aggravated assault but this has not been confirmed as of press time.)

In at least one documented instance, a Philadelphia officer kneeled on a protester’s neck. Two arrested protesters and two police officers received medical attention after.

As of 10 p.m. on June 11, additional barricades were placed around the FDC and its large window facade was boarded up.

June 14 Autonomous Demonstration: Protesters Flee Attacking Bike Cops via Holiday Inn Express

Liberal groups returned to Philly to host the “No Kings” national flagship rally on June 14 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art; messages against ICE policy were a major theme. Facing light rain at 2 p.m., much of the 80,000 person crowd began drifting back towards City Hall from the art museum.

Shortly after, an autonomous demonstration against ICE gathered again near the FDC around 6 p.m. with a message in solidarity with the revolt by ICE detainees in Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark, which is operated by the GEO Group. Last Friday, the Department of Homeland Security claimed four people escaped by knocking over an outer wall after an uprising among ICE detainees Thursday evening was spurred by a lack of food.

Philadelphia Police Department officers lined up outside the Federal Detention Center on June 14, 2025, some with riot gear.
Two masked federal police officers near the William Green Federal Building in Philadelphia on June 14, 2025.

Police scanners noted that the Philly PD shadowed some roaming protest groups earlier in the afternoon, as some “No Kings” protest participants joined into the autonomous gathering. Before the 6 p.m. protest began, dozens of cops stationed in groups around the FDC. Dirt bike police staged nearby on Broad Street, and sanitation trucks blocked street traffic around the FDC.

“Ice An Agent” message stitched on a cloth banner.

Shortly after the march began, over 100 Philly Police quickly corralled the protest to stop it from heading down 7th Street towards the highway. The group instead marched into Center City towards the Fashion District as bike cops followed.

Philadelphia bike police navigate around a plastic jersey barrier on the sidewalk.

The anti-ICE march snaked around northeast Center City. At 12th and Walnut there was a scuffle, after protesters repurposed plastic jersey barriers to obstructed bike police following the march. Officers had to push these out of way. Then, officers began to grab march participants with masks and umbrellas. Unicorn Riot saw what appeared to be several successful de-arrests.

A Philadelphia Police officer yells at protesters as he’s held back by his superior on June 14, 2025.

At 13th and Walnut, at about 7 p.m., after the conflict over barricades, police attacked the crowd and kettled it at the intersection. Some protesters then ran through the Holiday Inn Express garage. Police with bicycles lined up to cut off garage access, splitting the crowd. PPD ordered people to leave while they had everyone surrounded, and eventually let some march away while issuing dispersal orders.

This time around, the police had added dirt bike-type motorcycles to their arsenal. Philly Police on motorbikes nearly ran over people’s feet repeatedly, repeatedly zooming across a block to come within an inch or so of striking our reporter as well as a small handful of protesters leaving the area.

Once again there were arrests and injuries — legal observers tell us there were approximately seven arrests. One person was released immediately, two the following evening. By Sunday evening, June 15th, everyone was known to be released by 6 p.m.

Future ICE Activity Expected in Philadelphia

Philadelphia may see more militarized ICE actions soon. Detentions of immigrants have continued regularly around Philadelphia and its suburbs.

“The World is Watching” written with sidewalk chalk on the street in front of the FDC.

A report by NBC News said that Special Response Team (SRT) tactical units are expected in the city, as well as in Chicago, Seattle, Northern Virginia and New York. These may be similar to the SRT deployments that spurred major protests in Los Angeles and Minneapolis last week.

Unicorn Riot leaked the SRT ICE Homeland Security Investigations “team handbook” back in 2019.

ICE Special Response Team (SRT) “MRAP” style vehicle. Source: YouTube
Sidewalk chalk notes “Philly ❤️s immigrants.”