How A Mises Caucus Get Out The Vote Rally Got Little In Return

  • October 19, 2024 1:51 am

from Idavox

You know it was a bust if you have to search for anyone talking about this thing they laughingly called “The Power of Unity”!

NEWTOWN, PA – It seemed to be more of an effort to build momentum for supporters of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and the Mises Caucus, the  so-called “paleolibertarian” arm of the Libertarian Party currently running it, than it was an effort to get Donald Trump reelected President. Nevertheless, Trump was a means to an end for the moderately-sized crowd who attended an underreported rally they called “The Power of Unity” at a local athletic center organized by neo-fascist activists Scott Presler, Tim Pool and Jack Posobiec to get out the Republican vote.

While there was some media attention given to the event as the date neared, there were few reports on the event after it took place nor was there much discussion about it from even the promoters or the attendees.

The Mises Caucus was formed within the Libertarian Party in the wake of the tragic 2017 Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, Va after the then-leadership of the Party was critical of the White nationalist statements and advocacy expressed in the weeks prior to the rally by the leaders of the Mises Institute think tank. Within five years, the Caucus was able to take over the Libertarian Party and since then further advanced the neo-fascism they had been advocating, prompting splits and departures within the Party.

Sunday’s event was held at the Newtown Sports & Events Center which is owned by GOP Delegate Jim Worthington and where Trump’s running mate J.D. Vance made a campaign stop Sept. 29. It was organized by Ellen Cox, a member of the Doylestown (PA) Republicans who was at the rally on Jan. 6, but it is not known if she participated in the riot that ensued that day. Another organizer was the Mises Caucus Board member and Libertarian Party Chair Angela McArdle, who was not present and is currently facing a lawsuit filed on Oct. 3 that seeks to remove her from her position on the grounds of having a disloyalty to the party with the support of Trump, the Republican Party presidential candidate, over that of Chase Oliver, the Libertarian Party candidate. At this rally there was support heard from speakers and attendees of Trump but virtually none for Oliver. The Mises Caucus had a table for their effort to prevent National Guard members from being deployed overseas. It was being overseen by Mises Caucus Chair Michael Heise.

After a number of music tracks played – including the seemingly ironic 1982 club song “Murphy’s Law” by Cheri – attendees stood for “Justice for All,” a rendition of the National Anthem with Donald Trump reciting the Pledge of Allegiance spliced in various parts of the song.

Sunday’s event most well-known faces were Presler, Pool and Posobiec, all known for their associations with neo-fascist activity. Presler was an associate of the anti-Muslim hate group ACT for America, Posobiec has worked with known White Supremacists such as Richard Spencer, Kevin DeAnna and onetime Identity Evropa leader Nathan Damingo and Pool passes himself off as a moderate that has frequently used his podcast to promote the Proud Boys as well as neo-fascist positions, once attempting to hold a conference of such individuals along with sympathizing liberals in New Jersey before it was shut down and sent to a casino in Philadelphia, the afterparty being held at a venue a block away from the original location.

At the rally Presler attempted to energize the crowd by suggesting that they can take over long-held Democratic strongholds in voter drives and encouraged them to find votes in conservative circles. “Could hunters save Western Civilization by literally voting in this year’s election?” he asked to cheers, using a term that is often employed by White Supremacists as a code phrase for European culture. He ended his presentation by addressing Democrats with a bizarre declaration: “I want you to know that we are coming peacefully, not with bullets, but with ballots!” Pool, meanwhile, said that is wasn’t until 2020 that he was active in politics, even though he has been a well-known figure among political far right circles for over a decade, but said Trump inspired him to get involved enough to push his candidacy. “This time around, I’m here out of the studio back outside because we all have to do something,” he said. Posobiec aired out a number of grievances, from his family having to leave his hometown of Norristown, PA because “they made it a sanctuary city” to lamenting how America is a country of political prisoners, citing right wing figures such as those convicted for their roles on January 6, Trump advisor Steve Bannon, currently in prison on a contempt of congress conviction and someone that Posobiec he says he speaks to regularly, 2020 Election Conspiracy theorist Peter Navarro and White Supremacist troll Doug Mackey, who under the Twitter handle “Ricky Vaughn” attempted to diminish turnout in the 2016 election. He then said that he is going to encourage a future Trump administration to respond in kind and go after those that have gone against the things he supports. “When they took Steve Bannon away, when they took him away and put him in jail and they put him in chains, I said, ‘You know what? I’m not going to rest until I do it to you too. I’m going to do the same exact thing that you did.’”

Many of the other, lesser known speakers came from the abandoned campaign of Robert F. Kennedy who were now expressing support for Donald Trump. A number of speakers, including Posobiec noted how the different camps came together for that event hoping that it will mean a win for Trump. Meanwhile on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris was in Washington Crossing, PA also in Bucks County for a rally before her interview on Fox News where she met with Republicans expressing support for her. In her remarks, she noted that divisive politics should not be supported by anyone who wants to lead the nation. Bob and Kristina Lange, two Republicans who hosted the campaign stop on their farm, had been receiving death threats for supporting Harris.

Running Down the Walls 2024 Recap

  • October 1, 2024 1:56 am
[This post only contains information relevant to Philadelphia and the surrounding area, to read the entire article follow the above link.]
What follows are recaps from many of the runs that took place on September 15, 2024. This was the 25th anniversary of Running Down the Walls. Since 1999, prisoners and supporters throughout North America have participated in this annual event, often running or walking simultaneously in many cities and prisons at once. As reportbacks come in, they will be posted here. Read more about Running Down the Walls and the ABCF Warchest.

If you missed the chance to donate, you still can via these links:
https://fundrazr.com/RDTW2024ABCF
https://fundrazr.com/supportpdtw24
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/nycabc

Philly

Philly ABC held 2024 RDTW on Sunday, September 15th in solidarity with Palestinians resisting genocide. Philly ABC’s RDTW cleared 400 participants: 2 from inside prison and 398 outside plus multiple dogs and a kitten. People rolled in wheelchairs, bikes, and roller skates aswell as participating on foot. A Samidoun member joined us to speak about their important work supporting political prisoners in Palestine.

In addition to our very popular main shirt design by Sugarbombing, wemade two limited edition shirts in solidarity with Gaza and commemorating 25 years of RDTW. We are selling the last of the stock on our website at phillyabc.org/merch/, with the proceeds going towardsthe ABCF Warchest/Gaza mutual aid split.

Due to ongoing shirt sales, our total funds raised is still growing. Wealso are working with two matching donors to maximize the impact, which should help us clear over $40,000 in total. We will post the full reportback with details to phillyabc.org in November.

Confronting Climate Change with Direct Action: Hundreds Converge for 44th Annual Earth First! Gathering

  • August 18, 2024 1:47 am

from Unicorn Riot

Unicorn Riot heard from organizers and participants this year to offer a deep dive into the event and the movement behind it

By Sean Summers, Unicorn Riot August 15, 2024

Walking up the path to the Kirkridge Retreat Center outside Bangor, Pennsylvania in early July, you may have sensed something was afoot. Cars with license plates from far-flung states lined the driveway and wild-haired twenty-somethings mingled with kids, tweens and adults in their 30s, 40s and beyond.

A hand painted cardboard sign reading simply “EF!” would have directed you, with an arrow pointing to the activity. A blend of laughter, music, and fragments of conversations about climate catastrophe quickly sets the tone before you reach a folding table strewn with literature, hand sanitizer, masks and snacks.

“Welcome,” a smiling volunteer would greet you. “Are you here for Earth First?”

This summer, around 400 people found their way to a rural plot of land in eastern Pennsylvania to participate in the national Earth First! Gathering. Over the course of seven days, anarchists, abolitionists, environmentalists and more converged on Lenapehoking, the original name for the traditional homelands of the Lenape, the region’s Indigenous people.

For over 40 years, people have gathered under the banner of Earth First!, a no-compromise, direct action movement launched to confront ecologically catastrophic industries and policies. In opposition to “big green” nonprofits, Earth First! takes a more hands-on approach to climate activism. For decades, the movement has centered direct action – the tactic of physically blocking destructive projects.

Through protests, occupations, work stoppages, locking on to equipment, and sometimes property destruction and sabotage, Earth First! seeks to do what many other organizations don’t – directly intervene and confront the companies and policies that harm ecosystems.

While the movement is focused on environmental protection as its main cause, participants see intersecting struggles as equally important. Today’s Earth First! shares heavy overlap with antifascism, Indigenous sovereignty, queer struggles and autonomous movements.

Earth First!ers don’t claim to be members of a formal structure, but rather a network of people who share, and act on, a set of principles.

“It is not an organization, but a movement,” a website representing Earth First! reads. “There are no ‘members’ of EF!, only Earth First!ers. We believe in using all of the tools in the toolbox, from grassroots and legal organizing to civil disobedience and monkeywrenching.”

Though not a formal organization, Earth First! is organized. Each year for more than four decades, Earth First!ers have hosted a national gathering where movement participants, alongside people across a wide range of social movements, meet up to share info about the struggles they’re engaged in, host workshops and trainings, and build relationships. This year was the 44th time the meetup had happened since 1979.

Throughout the week, people hosted dozens of workshops and skill shares ranging from foraging wild foods to self-defense classes. Between teaching hard skills, organizers and participants hosted conversations about fostering solidarity with Indigenous communities, movement history, mentoring future activists, and more.

To kick off a week of workshops and education, Keshia Talking Waters and her mother Maria Lawrence shared the Lenape creation story and introduced attendees to the concept of Sovereign Science.

Talking Waters, founder of Sovereign Science, and Lawrence, a professor of science education at Rhode Island College, broke down to Unicorn Riot what Sovereign Science is, how it can help in our current context, and why they thought it was important to share Indigenous perspectives at the 2024 Earth First! gathering.

More than accruing skills and learning about theory, participants who spoke with Unicorn Riot were drawn to the event for the sense of community it offers. For some, this year’s event was their introduction to Earth First! as a movement, but others had been coming to gatherings for decades.

Regardless of how many times they had been to events or organized with Earth First!, though, community was a common theme that drew participants to the woods this year.

Organizing a national gathering for a decades-old movement is no small feat. Each year a different, autonomously organized group of volunteers find a location, set up logistics, arrange programming, and promote the event that draws hundreds of people for about a week in early July.

This year, organizers from New York took on the task and hosted the event. Unicorn Riot spoke to organizers to hear about the challenges and motivations behind putting in the effort to create the gathering this year.

Though the gathering acts as a focal point for the movement, Earth First! is active all year, organizing across the continent. Part of that activity includes the Earth First! Journal.

For as long as Earth First! has existed as a movement, the Earth First! Journal has served as its voice. An independent, collectively run print magazine and website, the Earth First! Journal acts as the public face of the movement, representing Earth First!ers through movement updates, discourse, debates, poetry, art, tactical discussions and more. Unicorn Riot spoke with two people involved with the Earth First! Journal collective – one who’s currently a member, the other a former editor – to learn about what the journal is and why they think it’s important to the movement as a whole.

After seven days of education, shared meals, and community building, participants broke down camp and headed home or, in some cases, continued traveling. Next year’s event will pop up somewhere else, continuing the long running tradition of the Earth First! Gathering.

Third Annual May Day A Success !

  • June 18, 2024 1:03 am

from Philly Metro Area WSA

By Greater Chicago WSA

Reprinted from WSA Discussion Bulletin # 75

1

Wednesday, May first, at 8 30 pm EDT, workers from around  the country and Canada gathered for our third annual May Day online event.

The recent passing of our beloved Clarissa, who was pivotal in the first two years of our evening May Day, was frequently mentioned through the gathering.

The opening song, by Martin Traphagen, ‘Arrival,’  was inspired by Clarissa.

The third annual May Day Speech, this year delivered by Rebecca Croog, vividly described the impact that Clarissa had on her work:  “As I find my way into this work, I am visited multiple times a day by the memory and spirit of our Comrade Clarissa, who we recently lost to long covid. I can hear her encouraging us:

‘Don’t mourn, organize!’ I can feel her galvanizing us: ‘Let’s build coalitions! Let’s make this moment bigger and bigger!’ Gathered together as an anarcha-syndicalist community, let’s invite her in to remind us: ‘ALL BUILDS TO THE GENERAL STRIKE’

Rest in power, Clarissa! Free Palestine!”

As attendance increased, speakers reported on recent health care labor struggles, and one of the founding members of WSA, Steve Rabinowitz, read from the history of the Haymarket Martyrs, specifically the words of August Spies.

After the formal program, attendees shared news of May Day events and Gaza actions in their areas, from Philadelphia, Asheville, Greater Chicago WSA and other cities.

Comrade Greg McGee shared breaking news of attacks on the Ceasefire Gaza encampment at Columbia University.

Rebecca shared news of her work with Jewish Voice for Peace, recent union drives, and workers  standing up for Gaza.

At one point everyone joined in singing happy birthday to our comrade Alexandra, who is a May Day baby!!

2

As the meeting wound further down, comrades stayed for more informal discussion. Comrade Mitchell, (WSA zone 2 delegate in Oregon), asked what anarchist-syndicalists make of Rosa Luxembourg. This led to an energetic discussion on how anarchists can build relationships with anti-authoritarian Marxists, such as council communists and anti-state Marxists, outlining how Luxembourg’s work prefigured councilism, lamenting how Trotskyist groups have claimed her. Like later councilists, her criticism of anarchists seemed to be more that, at that moment, they were disorganized and had little capacity, different from criticism of organized libertarian communism itself.

By this point there were a few brave and sleepy comrades engaging in this conversion, and there were warm goodbyes. And for annual attendees not part of WSA, there were hopes to see everyone on May Day 2025!

 

 

Below is Martin’s opening song ‘Arrival’, in honor of Clarissa –

 

 

Free Stuff? IN OUR PUBLIC PARK?? More Radical Than You’d Think…

  • May 25, 2024 1:23 am

Submission

Early morning yesterday, a small group of intersectional anarchists repurposed surplus materials from the now-defunct university encampment. Set up in the park was smooth and several tents were pitched to establish a presence. As an autonomous action, all of the gear onsite was explictly available for anyone who would care to put them to use. Talking with street-based neighbors it was quick to come to consensus that people wanted to share food, water, cigarettes, commiserate, and rise above the horrors of living under settler-colonialism.

As the sunrise welcomed in the day, more neighbors would greet each other and invite one another to share, some would leave and come back with coffee, bring chairs, and supply coolers with the trust that these items would help sustain an accessible communtiy hub in the park. The banners spoke for themselves: Land Back, Free Palestine, Free the Congo, Resistance is Justified. Signage addressed the elephant in the room while folks on the ground could speak/act freely and not be caught up in chanting or marshaling to cultivate a protest environment, which allowed for community engagement to take center stage.

This proved most interesting when one neighbor passing by pointed out a banner and stated “I’m not down with that”, then was promptly welcomed to engage conflictually. One anarchist invited him over for coffee and a smoke, and It wasn’t long before it became apparent this person wasn’t critiquing the international support, but rather the “trending-political-issue” phenomena that this country subjects its people to every election cycle. He spoke to the horrors – the devastation of the meadows, the chronic displacement in Kensington, and murdered children here in so-called Philadelphia.

The solidarity lines between the overt genocide abroad and the covert genocide at home became clearer amongst the group. With gratitude and a better understanding of each other, the passer-by left to a different section of the park and the autonomous zone carried on with distributing free goods. When anarchists were inevitably confronted by a pig who drove onto the lawn, this same conflictual neighbor came back to this intersectional group to stand against the intimidation and together, as a community, they turned the pig away. By engaging with each other through conflicts, we are ALL empowered and live WE KEEP US SAFE in real time.

In the afternoon, more people would come and go, some anonymously and others more plainly to be recognized by longtime neighbors & loved ones. Building familiarity proved valuable in practicing trust, with housed neighbors eager to know what resources were needed, offering use of their bathrooms to ANYONE who needed relief, and many were quick to make note of hostile zionists in the neighborhood known to harass.

The make-up of the pop-up distro in the park would change depending on who was able to stick around. Some folks more used to hierarchal organization found it difficult to self-start tasks or ask for direction from people they considered unaffiliated, whereas more horizontal-based practitioners would collaborate on supply runs and sign making, all while outreach with neighbors continued through lunchtime.

Houseless folks who wanted them got tents, hungry people got food, and even some student encampment folks found it reinvigorating to be in an occupation-style protest that materially benefited the community it was taking place in.

By the early evening, the cops escalated as the park’s belligerently gentrified beer garden installation began to open – a blight in the neighborhood that has been spoken on as a true disruption each season it has been erected. The juxtaposition of an autonomous and free exchange of resources next to a gated off colonizer project was noted as a bitter irony amongst the group throughout the night.

No laws were broken by this impromptu, picnic-style meet up apart from a technical park code violation that forbids the use of tents without a permit, which is to be handled by the department of parks and rec and NOT the PPD. Folks participating in the distro stayed together while friendly faces filmed the police from other sections of the park. A park ranger with several dozen pigs as enforcers confront folks willing to talk to them about the scene, and after back and forth dispute tents were deconstructed so that the resource exchange could continue without escalating interference from the state.

People continued coming and going, some held it down all day while others came in waves & shifts. Folks on the ground discussed how warped AmeriKKKa’s priorities are when nearly a trillion dollars (yes actually) are funneled towards proxy wars and people are literally in the park sharing what they could to sustain one another. Using each other’s experiences with oppression to identify their chains, this intersectional group of neighbors asked themselves what could be achieved in the park with the supplies and knowledge available to them.

An older neighbor and communist remarked that the people in the neighborhood are sick and tired, some nearly so much they can’t fight like they used to, some too scared to talk to their neighbors because fascism looms heavy. Another person noted how that feeling is what keeps them curious, reminds them to be sensitive whenever possible, and that we’re kept humble in our efforts by reminding each other of the stakes.

But that night in the park, those gathered spoke to a future where a person could feel empowered by the presence of another, where one could feel safe to walk home alone at night, and when one person is threatened for sleeping outside ALL their neighbors can stand with them and PROTECT them. Everyone who came to the park that day showed courage by taking the chance to know each other better despite the horrors of the world.

Even though the folks who stayed overnight were forced to clear out by the morning, a final act of solidarity with some recently-decamped university protestors & neighbors ensured that no essential distro materials were seized by the pigs and can be distro’d again! And again! And again! Nothing the state can do will ever undo the steps taken towards liberation over the past day or ever. We are, each one of us, immensely powerful.

What was learned? People need things, people are eager to give things, and people need people. Approaching resources from an abundance mentality keeps us nourished in all ways. 24+ hours of using the park to share with each other came from fostering conversations about what we needed in light of what we saw before us: the death of empire in its final throes to try and keep us too afraid of one another to realize the struggle is intersectional. Approaching public spaces with intention, making genocide un-ignorable in the most mundane parts of everyday life is essential.

People in the park out against genocide offering resources and engaging in conversation with their neighbors can be regular. Horizontal decision making is a daily practice, and neighbors understood there was no “org” because they know anarchists live here. What demands could have been made? Distro-ing will continue so long as there is a need. When will there no longer be a need? When we are all free. We are all ungovernable. May we all move a few steps closer today. Let’s hope to cross paths in the park again!

Be it with a crowbar, a tent, or a challenge + and open heart…we must liberate each other.

FTP, Palestine is almost free

Sincerely, your neighbor says

Philly Fight Night: A Report-back from a recent Anarchist Muay Thai Smoker in the United States

  • May 22, 2024 1:36 am

from Bash Back News

Introduction

On April 27, 2024 during the Northeast Regional Bash Back! Convergence, anarchists with an affinity for Muay Thai held an explicitly anarchist Muay Thai smoker (unsanctioned Muay Thai fight). This smoker was however organized as explicitly separate from Bash Back!

The idea to have an anarchist smoker in Philadelphia has been floating around for at least a few years now. A project that recently went semi-public in the city, Balagoon Boxing club (https://phlanticap.noblogs.org/balagoon-boxing-club-zine/), has interacted with other Muay Thai projects in the U.S. ,Canada, and Mexico which inspired some to host a smoker and get U.S A-team fight culture off the ground. Balagoon Boxing Club was in part galvanized as a counter to the rise of fascist fight culture, and for one thing knew we could put their shitty little smokers to shame…so we did. With people ostensibly coming from out of town to Philly for the BB! Convergence, we put the word out amongst our networks that there would be a smoker that weekend.

 

Bringing some violence to the weekend a crew showed up 2 hrs before the event to prepare a squatted warehouse room for a fight. This involved posing signage and placing glow sticks on the path for people to make their way to the event. It involved some final cleaning tasks, setting up table, chairs, sound and DJ equipment, mats for fighting, lights, etc. The mats we used were puzzle piece mats. The crew who helped put the thing on were so fucking helpful and we’re so thankful for each of their contributions. Fighters started trickling in and assembling in another space, here they could get changed, wrap their hands, and do pad work.

There were 10 fighters, so 5 fights. 8 fighters were local and 2 were from out of town. One of the out of town fighters was a last minute replacement, so we want to give a special thanks to them for stepping up and fighting hard. Organizationally, we aimed for each fighter to have 2 corners, one with more fight knowledge and one to give them water. We had a referee (who did a great job), a DJ (who also did a great job), a timekeeper (who did a great job, as well) with a sick custom bell, and a phenomenal announcer in a balaclava and bright orange suit. There was some rave lighting setting the mood. A black anarchist flag hung on the wall, as did a trans pirate cat flag. Each fighter was announced and walked out to a song of their choosing. Each fight consisted of three 3 minute rounds. It was so cute, incredibly fun, and the energy was fucking HIGH. There were about 100 people in attendance, people were crammed in and standing on the window sills. The crowd was screaming their heads off, heckling, chanting anti- police chants, it was so cute. The fights were all phenomenal, everyone did such a great job with their fights. Unfortunately, one person did get injured, thankfully our wonderful medical person was able to help them out. All in all, the event went better than expected, it was amazing. Afterwards, we cleaned up and left no trace that we were there.

To get a different angle on the fight, we had people write their perspectives on the smoker as attendees from outta town, fighters, members of Balagoon Boxing Gym, organizers and observers. These quotes are inspiring and speak to the energy at the event as well as broader theoretical and practical considerations for anarchists.

Some Perspectives on the Smoker

“The smoker was probably the highest energy I’ve felt at an anarchist event that wasn’t a protest or riot. I came away with a new sense of what it means to respect someone in a competitive setting. It was refreshing to switch things up after so many bookfairs. I was surprised at how nervous I initially felt waiting to fight. I’m looking forward to whenever the next one is!” – S, Philly

“The smoker was easily the highlight of bb weekend for me. As a fighter, it’s rare to get to be in martial arts or combat spaces where I don’t have to question my safety, and it was such a joy to be sharing that space with other people. Since lockdown, I’ve been grieving a specific category of social space– being alone with other people in dark spaces (think: live music, movie theatres, etc). The smoker was that space at its very best: here was a group of fucking freaks and weirdos expressing and appreciating aggression together, from the fighters giving their all on the mats or folks hootin’ and hollerin’ out from the very packed, standing-room-only crowd. It was beautiful to get to witness and celebrate other fighters that night. You could see how much work and consideration had gone into things to cultivate that night– you could see it in the boxing bell and the walk-on music and the extremely sick shirt designs, but also in the on-call medics, and the pride and care the fighters had for each other. You could see the hours spent building relationships with each other, you could hear the hard conversations folks had on consent and conflict, you could smell the sweat getting cleaned off the mats and gear and bags after every practice session. As an anarchist, these are the kinds of disciplines and commitments and socialities we need to be practicing all the time, and the smoker was such a fucking fun way to remember how to do it.” – m, chi

“The smoker was incredibly rewarding for me. Both because the event was a huge success in itself but also because it felt like the culmination of over a decade of growth in the radical fight training community in Philly. There was a time when @ fight training was 2 or 3 people in a park or lava with some gloves and maybe a set of pads. It was irregular and unfocused and that was reflected in our capacity (or lack thereof) in the streets. Now in Philly there are several independent clubs and training crews and of course our gym and that feels amazing. Hope that momentum continues here and in other places” – T, Philly

“I thought that the Philly smoker was incredibly invigorating. The night ended with an immeasurable high, and I’m glad I took part in it. I hadn’t intended to; when the event was announced, I considered it, but didn’t feel that my year of training was enough to feel confident in taking a fight with such a spectacle around it. But when someone canceled day-of, I decided to take a fight anyway. I’m not a boxer, and my sparse Muay Thai training, while strike-dominant, did not prepare me for a boxing match. Some of the technical skills of Muay Thai actually put me at a disadvantage for a boxing fight.

I’ve been training consistently about 2 days a week for a year, in a similar type of gym space as the Philly boxing club. I had tried in spurts in the past to train at a commercial gym, and with comrades, but it was inconsistent and short-lived. The commercial gym was far too expensive, and I rarely had the energy to attend consistently enough to make it worth it, as I was doing a lot of manual/domestic labor for work at the time. I think this is one of many reasons why a comrade gym is so important: most of us are broke and/or busy with a lot of other projects. But if we can eliminate the cost of maintaining a gym membership, it opens up a lot of space. Contributing to a comrade gym does take a lot of time and energy, but it can be a lot more rewarding than throwing money at or spending a lot of your time in a commercial gym that, at its best, can still be full of a lot of toxicity

I chose to fight last minute because I wanted to contribute to an event that friends/comrades had put a lot of work into-I wanted it to be as brimming as possible. It felt ridiculous and scary-I knew I was not going to ‘win’ by any measure of the word, and that it would be mostly a game of trying to leave the fight without a horrible concussion. I also chose to do it for personal reasons, mostly that an intense perfectionist mindset kept me from training martial arts for years before I started. I think that being visible being bad at something is a deep challenge for a lot of people, and something that is especially ripe in anarchist spaces. But we only learn by doing! And I think that confronting fear, anxiety and an uncertainty about one’s capabilities is an important skill and experience to expose ourselves to. I also think that egos really negatively impact radical spaces, and it’s important to constantly tamp down on our egos getting out of control. It’s good to take ourselves seriously a lot of the time, to understand the stakes of what we’re up against in this world, and the weight of it all, and also it’s sometimes useful to not take ourselves too seriously, to be able to laugh at ourselves and not be too beholden to maintaining a image or mystique of seriousness, militancy, whatever.

Learning to fight together is a great way to build friendships, trust, and potentially relationships of affinity. It’s definitely different to fight people you care about, because you have to learn a lot of control and calm to walk the line of proficiency and skill while also not going ham trying to destroy your friend. I definitely found myself having some chaotic preservation moments where I forgot my striking skills and was instead just trying to get my opponent the fuck away from me. And that happens sometimes in sparring but it went a lot more sloppy in the public fight (cool). It’s always way different than a street fight where anything goes; you have rules and the vibe isn’t destruction but skillfulness.

I’ve found that it’s actually way more difficult to be bad at things in front of my friends than it is total strangers. For that reason, a commercial gym is slightly appealing, but that appeal disintegrates when I’m exposed to the fat phobia, ableism and toxic masculinity of many commercial gyms. I like to create spaces where we can learn our limits and take breaks, but also try and push our limits a bit. Everyone is different, has different bodies and things that come up with exercise, fighting, social spaces, etc so I think it’s important to try to make a space that is as open as possible to being different. Sometimes we have to get over our own shit and just do the thing if we want to, or not. Not everyone is going to train and I think that’s totally fine. But it’s cool to open up the option as much a possible and it is a very important skill as this hell world grows worse. And sometimes it’s worth inspecting our internal world and seeing if it’s ego, fear or social anxiety that is keeping us from training, because hopefully that’s something we could try to work through a bit more. I think finding out what staying ‘fit’ or active means for our own bodies is worthwhile, and I think that exercise can be a generally positive way to manage difficult mental health struggles. Also, as a zine recently asserted, the downtime during waves of intensity can be really strange to navigate and keeping ourselves sharp and our relationships with one another connected as much as we can, is really wise.

For the most part the audience was very enthusiastic and supportive. People recognized that this is a very challenging thing to get up in front of people and do. And I saw intention put into encouraging both fighters during the match. Some of the people that were jerks were challenged and I think that’s tight. Before you talk shit, ask yourself if you would get into the ring. Ultimately, we are trying to craft a very different space than mainstream fight sports, so we always have to carry that with us. Maybe getting fixated on ‘dominating’ a friend/acquaintance in a fight, or trying to knock them out is worth challenging, while also understanding this is meant to be a test of training, and that it’s better to know our weaknesses in friendly company rather than on the street with our enemies.

I hope people’s excitement around the event can bolster enthusiasm for gathering with intention. Socializing can be nice, but I also think that building relationships through projects and skill building is really vital. Maybe not everyone is trying to fight train, but this can be a moment to recognize the effort that goes into these types of projects, and that if this isn’t your jam, that’s cool, but perhaps thinking about what it would be like to self-organize and create the type of project or event you want to see happening. I’m also really proud of my friends for their consistency in building the gym space, and seeing people put a bunch of time and energy into training, and to watch them put up such competitive fights; it was beautiful and inspiring.” – Paint Huffer, Indiana

“I walked into the smoker with some ambivalence and walked out with hella hope in my heart. I hate talking about hope because it feels manufactured sometimes and also pacifist but the type of hope I felt after the smoker was one that felt embodied. Literally. The smoker was a dope way to encourage relationship to bodily defense for anarchist and other radicals in the crowd. More smokers in more cities please!” – twig, Harlem

“After training for several years without having the intention of taking a fight, I jumped at the chance to do a smoker with friends and comrades. It felt like a relatively safe opportunity with a low barrier to entry that increased the accessibility, much like the gym spaces we respectively (and collectively) run. It was another opportunity to level up and grow together, after putting in a lot of work to increase our skills, and therefore having more to share with our collectives. The event itself was exciting, challenging, and a lot of fun to be a part of — and I hope it inspires more anarchists to train in combat sports. Doing difficult and somewhat dangerous things together is intimidating, but we are usually better for it, forging further trust and strength together — in addition to the potential practical application learning to physically fight affords us.” – C, Bloomington

“I think I really enjoyed the smoker because I think it gave me a goal to train and push myself for. I was also able to show everyone how much I improved when I fought. I think it was an important moment for anarchists in the United States culturally because it was an event that largely was attended by people from philly who aren’t coming exclusively from a niche anarchist subculture. Martial arts are widely practiced and super popular so there’s no reasons anarchists shouldn’t be doing them. I think co-training and a culture of fighting in anarchist spaces can lead us to having more confidence when it comes to confronting the police or other enemies. I think a smoker attracts a different group of people than a punk show or a reading group (not that those things are bad) so as someone who comes to anarchy not through subculture but through political and ethical utility for black struggle, this event felt really good. One of the best anarchist community events I’ve ever been to…maybe the best honestly. Like amazing contagious energy. We need these everywhere.” – A, West Philly

“I started doing muay thai with the boxing club in late summer of 2023; coinciding with witnessing the most documented genocide(s) of my lifetime and my exposure to insurrectionary anarchist spaces in Philly.

The potential for catatonic overwhelm and dissociation during this time is ripe; it’s become crucial for me to stay as grounded and responsive as capable. Over the past 9 months, my mentality towards strength and self defense has shifted significantly, along with the self-awareness to scale the intensity of my training while also knowing my limits. Though daunting at first, I’ve found a groove that works for me and have noticed many parallels between co-training in muay thai and insurrectionary anarchism.

Taking immediate action, practicing autonomy by defining my objectives, using unpredictable strategies while finding and creating openings in my opponent not only prepare me for a smoker, but also a potential conflict with an enemy. I’m grateful for the big nerds I’ve had a pleasure training with and proud of how well the smoker showcased what we have going on. S/O to all the hot trans fighters on gay tuesday ;)” – ~~~ philadelphia

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the smoker and what it means for anarchy/radical world, and while it was extremely beautiful to see everyone’s skills come to the front and to be able to showcase them, what really struck me was the way people threw down to make the actual event happen and how excited everyone was, in ways I couldn’t have anticipated. Like friends jumping in to make signs, be timekeeper with no experience, grab ice from the corner store, corner and making sure fighters were safe, take care of injuries with medic skills, help clean up after, make zines and tshirts to drop at the same time as the fight, etc. etc.. The excitement about doing something together was so palpable and makes me think a lot about how martial arts – while extremely transformative to learn as an art and practice on a personal level – can be so much more powerful as a social and interconnected activity that teaches us to look out for each other and also move/attack together. To me that deeply separates what we’re doing from a type of training that prioritizes a hyper-individualistic regimen of gains or individual strength or clout or whatever the fuck people train for. We’re learning to swarm dangerously.” – Temporary Muay Thai Autonomous Zone, Lenapehoking/Philly

“Attending the smoker was inspiring on multiple fronts. It was great seeing the fruits of years of peoples labor running the gym, training, and building with the local community. It’s rare to witness such tangible representations of people’s dedication and hard work and this was one of those moments. This felt especially important in light of the principles of the project. An anarchist project grounded in self defense and training up is neccesary for the work we want to do and one that also prioritizes queer and trans people is all the better. The project itself is incredible replicable and the zine they had available made this even more true.

Walking into the space felt like getting an instant snapshot into some of the amazing work happening in Philly. The energy at the actual smoker was electric. It was more high energy than some actions I’ve attended. There were chants in between rounds. The crowd was living for the fights. It felt like an honor to be there. It revealed something special about the capacity for anarchist social life.” – sangria, chicago

“The anarchist Muay Thai smoker in Philadelphia felt unprecedented. The energy in the room was electric, unlike any anarchist event I’ve personally been too in the States. People were chanting, cheering, absolutely overwhelmed with excitement. I’ve been to other radical fight gyms and combat sports events, I attended Friendly Fire Fight Club (FFFC) in Zurich, Switzerland. Despite there being twice as many people there than at the event in Philly, the Philly smoker had just as much of not more energy at times than in Zurich within the crowd. It’s relieving to see anarchists and community members enjoy each-other’s company and each-other’s violence. It’s a break from the monotony of endless workshops and seminars that accompany most regional anarchist assemblies, and a strong reminder of who we are by principle, fighters. I think these events are critical to further embrase a more physical practice within radical/militant spaces which I personally feel lack in their importance in the American context. Training is an absolute necessity (underline that shit!) and Philly demonstrated how it can bring us all together with more enthusiasm than endless and mostly useless conversations and semantics.” – Uzi, Raleigh North Carolina

“Between the pay to play model and the culture of gambling and placing bets on fighters, underground Muay Thai culture is usually heavily influenced by money. The underground space for the sport is historically so illegal bets can take place. On the other hand, sanctioned fights here in the West are unfamiliar territory to a lot of people. The training is long, fight camps and weight cuts are exhausting, and the amount of money you have to spend just to fight almost makes it not worth it.

There’s plenty of people who train Muay Thai here in Philly, wether at a “legit” gym or at Balagoon, who would have either never had the opportunity to fight, or wouldn’t want to put in the dedication needed for that experience. A lot of the anarchists here don’t train because of a love for the sport, they train for a variety of reasons that mostly have to do with just being more skilled at it than the Nazis and other white supremacists. (Not a hard task) – As one of the organizers and as the ref, I’m extremely impressed with all of the fighters, especially those who have only ever trained at Balagoon, which is just a bunch of anarchists getting together and sharing knowledge and experience, drilling and sparring. It’s proof that you can learn a combat sport outside of the coach to student model. Hosting a free smoker that felt that legit, and was that highly attended, I am so floored by. I saw so many faces I didn’t expect to see, that didn’t just come from the niche subculture of agro queer anarchists that were in town for Bash Back. This would have been a major success even if we didn’t host it on Bash Back weekend.
​​​​​​​
The energy in that room was electric. Reffing what was impressively clean Muay Thai, in a room full of outside agitators screaming anti capitalist and fuck 12 chants, felt like a movie. This was by far one of my favorite memories to date. I’m excited for the next one we put on, and for the future of the Anarchist Muay Thai scene. In Philadelphia and elsewhere.” – Meadow, West Philly

​​​

“I’ve generally been skeptical of the resurgence of Bash Back!, both as a convergence and a tendency. The resurgence has seemed aesthetically performative in both communication and practice. My understanding of these convergences has been that they feed the scenes cannibalistic nature for drama and couple that with hangoutism and hedonism. Not knocking hanging out or hedonism, I just don’t understand why it needs to be linked to this largely performative politics. This just reproduces cliqueyness often brought up in critiques of insurrrectionary anarchism, rather than extending the Bash Back! Tendency into a meaningful space of practice. The cliqueyness wouldn’t be so egregious if the tendency was actually bashing back, but without the practice, the whole thing lands flat.

The smoker during the BB! convergence was in part a criticism by example. The event was explicitly not a part of Bash Back! As an insurrectionary gender glitch who trains Muay Thai, in part towards a capacity to do violence in the street, I was interested in a display of what that looks in contrast to the rhetorical performativity about it abound in the philly scene. If one is serious in their desire to act against civilization, the state, etc., from my perspective it is important to take appreciable steps toward being more prepared to do that. This could involve martial arts training, fire arms training, trauma medicine training, wilderness skills, etc. Training in these ways with people increases our collective ability to act against our enemies, building trust between comrades and trust in our own capabilities.

The smoker brought some insurrectionary queer violence to the weekend in spectacular fashion. It was incredibly satisfying to both bring an event like this into existence and to participate in it as a fighter. As an environment, we wanted the space to be what it was, a rowdy underground anarchist fight night, and it was just that in the most beautiful way. As a fighter, it was overwhelming, I basically went from running around setting up and cornering other fighters right into my fight without a warm up or anything. I was very pleased with my fight, my opponent was great and tough, it was a good skill match up and really pushed me to my limits. The energy of the event was really great, all of the other fighters did great, it was so nice to have seen people progress so much in their skills and have the confidence to display those skills in a very public way. Its an extraordinary pleasure to train with people at Balagoon, that space is one of the most consistent comfortable spaces in my life. We were hoping that more fighters from out of town would participate, those who did were friends from a gym Balagoon has a relationship with, which demonstrated the importance of our networks in making things happen. The event would not have been possible without our out of town friends. The energy in the space was amazing, the aesthetic plus the actual event came together in a really satisfying way. It was one of the most unique and satisfying anarchists events I have ever participated in or attended. I’ve fought in anarchist smokers elsewhere and the grittiness and aesthetic of the event here put on display what can be so novel and interesting in the anarchist space in Philly.

Unfortunately, I did not feel like I was able to appreciate the event as it was happening, doing all the other tasks during the event was distracting. However, it seems like people had a lot of fun and were really impressed by the event. The whole thing went way better than I could have expected and I can’t wait until the next one. I’m incredibly thankful towards everyone who made it happen.” – Anal Terror, Filthy

“The Muay Thai smoker was my most anticipated events from the Bash Back! weekend. The smoker was invigorating. The energy from the crowd, fighters, DJ, referee, and timekeeper was bouncing off the walls you could almost see it. It was one of the few events that weekend that felt like it had a strong projectality. Many events, workshops, and discussions at Bash Back! felt surface level and not grounded in the fact that anarchist should equip themselves with skills to be able to destory empire and the state. With a spotlight on combat, the smoker pushed the idea that anarchism should involve a form of consistent collective training, whether that’s muay thai, boxing, jiu-jitsu, fire arms, medical, or intellectually. As someone who use to train muay thai consistently, it inspired me to work on a collective fighting project with comrades in my city. I’m excited about an anarchist future where combat is a shared political project in more cities in the u.s.”

– Griot, The Dirty South

Closing

Culturally, we wanted to this event to be explicitly anarchist, so we did not invite fighters from a broader Muay Thai community to participate. Ideally, we would like more fighters from out of town to participate next time as well, events like this can add some flare to regional convergences or be ones in and of themselves. This event was really fun to put on in several ways. Training together and preparing each other for the fight was a great way to build comradery and trust amongst comrades. The mood of the space can be cultivated, we went with a squatted warehouse fight club aesthetic, the walk-ons were equal parts cute and hard, the announcing a mix of kayfabe kitschyness and stadium seriousness. The fights were real and serious. Such an event is amorphous, the shape it takes on is the sum of those putting it on and the directions in which they want to take it. Collective excitement has the potential to create moments and shift culture towards activity, hopefully this event will inspire more people to train in whatever skills they desire to have, whether that be martial arts or something else. Deviations from the reading group/skillshare/book fair ways that anarchists gather with each other can introduce new and interesting directions into the projectuality of anarchist culture.

ANARCHISTS AT DREXEL

  • May 20, 2024 1:17 am

Submission

At approximately 7pm on Saturday May 18, and one day before the birthday of Malcolm X, a Nakba Day rally and march ended in protestors and students spontaneously setting up an encampment at Drexel University, at Academic Quadrangle. Immediately, more than a hundred protestors locked arms to defend the students. This was the second pro-Palestine protest in two days, Friday’s action having ended in several violent arrests by the Philly Pig Department (PPD) in a similar attempt to occupy a space.

Shortly after, the resilient encampment defenders began jotting down phone numbers (on their arms) for attorneys, civil rights groups, etc.

Of course, PPD wasted no time calling in reinforcements by the barn-load, a few of them already decked out in riot gear, reminiscent of the genocidal IDF. It should then come as no surprise to learn that Amerikkkan cops receive training from their Zionist buddies in Isntreal.

As the sun went down, the pigs moved in. Several encampment defenders and even legal observers were threatened with a taser by an angry member of Philly’s “finest”; one of his partners yanked him backward before he pulled the trigger. There were several other minor altercations as well.

One can’t help but notice how the violence at protests and encampments begin and end solely with the brownshirt jackboots of the State. From capitalist cops to so-called “proletarian cops,” the role of all law enforcement has been the protection of private property and defense of genocide and colonialist supremacy since the days of Amerikkkan runaway slave patrols.

At the time of writing this, the encampment is ongoing and needs support. Philly Palestine Coalition on Instagram (@phillypalestinecoalition) will be providing updates for mutual aid, jail support, etc.

To fellow anarchists, we urge you more than anyone to show up. Bring food, water, clothes, zines, but more importantly, bring YOURSELVES. Support our comrades in the streets and the encampments. In order to live in a better world, we need to create a better world. No party will save us or bring the revolution. As one protestor continuously remarked, “We protect us.”

Anarchy is forever.
Death to the zionist state.
From the sea to the river, Palestine will live forever.

Drexel encampment report back

  • May 20, 2024 1:15 am

Submission

Last night, students, anarchists, communists, and other community members took up occupation at Drexel University. What was at first perceived as another boring rally/march with WAYYY too many fucking speeches and shit turned into an encampment being sprung up. This particular encampment set up had it ups and down. The down side was that the pigs were surrounding it and at times were pushing, shoving, and threatening people with various weapons and cowardly tactics. Also, in comparison to the encampment at Upenn, this start up was really slow, and there were so many big tents that took time and effort to set up unlike at Penn where most tents were pop up tents and we were all able to set them up in pretty quick succession. Also, at the beginning, food and water were very scarce and to this point, police have barricaded protesters into the encampment and have not been letting people return when they leave, making it hard for people to use the various facilities leaving people unsure of where to use the bathroom. Also to note, a comrade had told me that because the march took so fucking long to get to Drexel that shit got discombobulated and items for tents were scattered due to the lack of sufficient numbers. On the positive side, camp did eventually get established, food and supplies were allowed to be brought in, students for the most part did stand their ground, made small pockets of barricades and harassed the cops. All in all, pretty successful I’d say.
Throughout the long day, there were small escalations here and there from both protesters and cops. At one point the police entered the camp grounds. But eventually were bullied off. Some of the escalating tactics by cops were threats of violence, carrying shields and long wooden batons. At one point, we even saw one fucker threaten a woman with a taser by pointing it at point blank to her upper torso. Ultimately, it was their so called commander piggy that told him to put his weapon away. Another point of tension saw riot cops swarm in like ridiculous and drunken bees. They were quickly dispersed though. Seems these fuckers will always be so fucking horny to fuck up some college kids just taking up space. Probably spend more time jerking off to that then fucking they girls. Though, they probably wouldn’t have much to do that with anyhow.
Over all, we shall see over the weekend if this encampment will last as long, if not longer than the Penn one. Let’s hope the kids keep escalating and don’t let the peace police get in their ears. Solidarity to all encampments domestic and overseas and fuck 12 in any city.

UPenn Students Arrested at Palestine Demo After Building Occupation Attempt

  • May 20, 2024 1:13 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA – Nearly twenty University of Pennsylvania students and supporters were arrested after briefly occupying Fisher-Bennett Hall along 34th Street Friday night. Officers including UPenn’s Emergency Response Teams worked to shove hundreds of pro-Palestine demonstrators away from what they renamed Refaat Alareer Hall. (Alareer was a prominent Gaza professor killed by Israel late last year.) UPenn has also been a site of rallies against Ghost Robotics, an incubator spinoff company that has fast become a key world supplier of military robots including for Israel. We heard that the action was an extension of the UPenn protest encampment organizing that was swept by police action a week earlier, and was aimed at forcing UPenn to divest from companies that do business with Israel.

Philadelphia, UPenn, Drexel and SEPTA Transit Police were all activated during the evening’s events, and the Philly PD “Counter-Terrorism” team which often shows up at demonstrations was also spotted.

According to student reporters UPenn Police were seen with evidence bags at Fisher-Bennett.

Unicorn Riot was live for much of the street demo on 34th Street and after. Full live video stream (YouTube):

Legal observers and other members of the media were shoved away from the scene; approximately 18 people were arrested; at least two people were reportedly tasered, however this is not confirmed.

Team of police lifts a cuffed arrestee into the police van on 34th Street.

UPenn cleared the Palestine solidarity camp a week earlier; a similar action at the University of Chicago on Friday led to the occupation of the Institute of Politics building.

Amid a large number of Philadelphia Police Department officers present, a group of them looked at their cell phones while away from the line.

Law enforcement largely controlled 34th Street most of the time.

The arrival of another set of demonstrators on the west sidewalk after it had already been cleared, brought cheers from the crowd:

An additional group of protesters arrived from the north onto the west side of 34th Street.

The police moved their lines south in a couple steps away from the hall and tried to isolate the crowd onto the east sidewalk. However, the crowd took 34th Street then, moving quickly, turned east onto South Street and down to the Penn Museum alumni weekend event.

Drums crafted from water jugs have been a common element since they were used to bonk police officers at Cal Poly Humboldt in April.
More demonstrators and observers on the west side of 34th Street were eventually dislodged south and off these stairs by police.

The vast majority of officers didn’t seem to tail the demonstrators to the museum — showing the utility of cat-and-mouse moves that are difficult for burdened police units to match. (This is one reason the cavalry-like mobile field force program continues to be America’s leading, standardized anti-protest planning template — it is designed to get ahead of, and split up, quick protest formations.)

Besides the UPenn Emergency Response Teams, SEPTA Transit Police, and Drexel campus police also activated. A Drexel officer was spotted assembling zipties.

Officer Adkins from Drexel University Police assembling zipties.

Unicorn Riot heard from one demonstrator that an international student was barred from their dorm room earlier without reasonable options to retrieve their possessions — similar to other tactics seen recently in other campuses.

As of May 9, six UPenn student organizers were put on mandatory leaves of absence. We also heard that more recent disciplinary messages had just been sent out which might have chilled participation on Friday night.

An alumni event attendee clasped hands with a demonstrator through the fence and compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to apartheid-era South Africa.
A Palestine supporter on another’s shoulders holds the Palestinian flag outside the Franklin Fest alumni event.

According to a series of updates by the Daily Pennsylvanian student paper, the alumni event was closed down around 11 p.m. after the protest encounter at the gate. Demonstrators dispersed and dozens headed to jail support to Philly police headquarters at 400 N. Broad Street.

Social media clips and live video camera operation for the second half of the event by Chris Schiano.

For more from Palestine and pro-Palestine protests click on link below.

Penn Campus encampment reportback:

  • May 1, 2024 1:53 am

Submission

So, there was an encampment that was sprung up on the Penn campus on Thursday, April 25th. Guess I love the enthusiasm? It’s being put on by a couple different orgs I’m thinking. One thing I know for sure is it’s definitely a young crowd. Which, is cool, love to see younger folx doing cool shit. N this is probably a lot of their first time doing a protest encampment. Unfortunately, there’s obviously some dumb shit. Like, they got fucking rules and demands and shit. Obviously as an anarchist, I don’t really vibe. But hey, fuck ton of food and other supplies. Hopefully people can come take what they need. And it was nice to see more than a few other anarchists in the initial taking of the space. But I did notice people already getting peace policed. Idk man, people should just keep that in mind. Other than that, maybe we can try and get it to be more direct in action or something. The fact these people only have a plan to GET arrested and none to de-arrest is beyond my understanding. Asking us all to be “nice to the cops” while being arrested… *Sigh* Honestly, we’re hoping that there’s room to get people here to be more confrontational. I won’t hold my breath.

Palestine Supporters in Philadelphia Block Day & Zimmermann Weapons Company Entrances

  • April 11, 2024 1:10 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — Around a dozen protesters marched from City Hall in Center City up to 1500 Spring Garden Avenue, the headquarters of privately held Day & Zimmermann corporation on Thursday, March 28. The company says it has more than 43,000 employees and is a “leading provider of munitions,” which includes 120mm tank rounds for Merkava tanks employed by Israel’s occupation forces in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as 155mm artillery rounds.

The late March protest was called by Extinction Rebellion Philadelphia and supported by Montgomery County-based Montco for Palestine. Protesters briefly held positions blocking the parking lot and main building entrances — in both cases they were threatened with arrest by Philadelphia Police Department Civil Affairs officers wearing plain clothes & body cameras, although no actual arrests or detentions took place. (The city government says that Civil Affairs is supposed to lead protest responses [PDF].) While one of the officers joked to an organizer that it was a small demonstration, the event highlighted that even early on a wet day people are committed to sending a message about the lethal products made by Day & Zimmermann.

John, a retired 40-year union construction worker, told Unicorn Riot,

“It’s offensive to me our tax dollars go to murder people anywhere in the world, especially that our government is funding and arming this genocide in Gaza. It’s reprehensible, and both parties are responsible for this. This is why we need a party of our own and not subservience to Democrats or Republicans. Day and Zimmermann is a construction company but also is in the munitions business. They do business with Israel, with the IDF. They’re a legitimate target for boycott and for targeting as an accomplice of genocide. They should be in the International Court of Justice with every corporation that arms Israel.”

John, Retired union construction worker

Since the environmental group Extinction Rebellion organized the event, we asked them about the ecological fallout of the current conflict. Another participant told Unicorn Riot that “without a doubt” Day & Zimmermann is contributing to ecological problems because of chemicals in the munitions:

“These bombs are dropping and it’s decimating the ecology. The bombs release pollutants into the atmosphere, so it is happening directly in Palestine that the ecology, the environment is being destroyed and a result of that destruction is that we’re having chemicals released into the atmosphere. […] It’s measurable. It’s a statistically significant change that has been measured since this bombing campaign started in October.”

Protest participant

Another organizer told us Day & Zimmermann munitions are contributing to the ecological devastation of the Gaza Strip:

[Day & Zimmermann is] “one of the largest arms suppliers to the US military […], we’re just here to shut down for Palestine. We want to stop the genocide and we want to make sure that we’re targeting companies that are complicit in that in our local communities and Day and Zimmermann is one of them. […] The ecological devastation in Gaza is unimaginable. Environmentalists have said it’s going to take an insurmountable number of years to even be able to rebuild, to even be able to get the land back to the state that was in originally. Obviously, genocide causes mass pollution problems. Their plumbing system has completely been dissolved. There’s raw sewage that has been consistently been dumped into the sea. […] Plus, you also have the aftereffects of all the munitions being dropped. In addition to internationally banned weapons of war, including white phosphorus. […] And they’ve also obviously destroyed all the agriculture, including the animals. It is a largely self-sustaining–was a largely self-sustaining society–through the blockade. So, yeah, a lot of the trees, it’s polluted [in] forests.”

Protest organizer

The organizer recommended the BDS Movement (Boycott Divestment & Sanctions) website for more info about corporations that work with Israel. The American Friends Service Committee identified Day & Zimmermann as a major source for shells to Israel:

  • [Day & Zimmermann subsidiary American Ordinance LLC] operates the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant (IAAP), which has been the source of much of the artillery munitions used by the Israeli military, including 155mm rounds, fired by Israel’s M109 howitzer guns, and 120mm M830A1 High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) rounds, fired by Israel’s Merkava battle tanks.
  • The factory has been operated by Mason & Hanger since 1951. Between 1998-2007, it was operated by American Ordnance, a joint venture of Mason & Hanger and General Dynamics. Day & Zimmermann acquired Mason & Hanger in 1999, and in 2007 acquired General Dynamics’ stake in American Ordnance.
  • In November, Israeli tanks fired M830A1 rounds as part of their attack on a U.N. school in Gaza. The serial number on one of the rounds suggests that it was made at IAAP by Mason & Hanger in December 1990.
  • On January 29, Israeli tanks fired M830A1 rounds as part of their attack that killed 6-year-old Hind Rajab, her six family members, and the medics that attempted to rescue her, in the Gaza neighborhood of Tel al-Hawa. The serial number on an exploded round found inside the ambulance suggests that it was made at IAAP by Mason & Hanger in November 1996.
  • In December, the U.S. government used emergency measures to approve sending Israel an estimated number of 14,000 M830A1 tank rounds, without congressional review. The transfer, from the existing inventory of the U.S. Army, is worth $106.5 million, funded by U.S. taxpayer’s money.
  • Day & Zimmermann’s factory in Texarkana, Texas, is the current supplier of M830A1 rounds for the U.S. Army. Between 2017-2021, the U.S. Army’s supplier of these munitions was a Northrop Grumman factory in Plymouth, Minnesota.

American Friends Service Committee, “The Companies Profiting from Israel’s 2023-2024 Attacks on Gaza“

Unicorn Riot also covered a similar protest at the Northrop Grumman factory in Plymouth early on February 12.

In a statement on October 13, 2023, Day & Zimmerman Chair and CEO Hal Yoh said, “Acts of terror, oppression and the loss of innocent lives is tragic and should be condemned. This is not about specific groups, ideology, religion, or politics. We stand with those who work to protect freedom and democracy around the world.”

Regardless, munitions made by Day & Zimmermann subsidiaries Mason & Hanger and American Ordnance have caused “the loss of innocent lives” during the conflict. A much larger demonstration by the Philly Palestine Coalition network on Saturday, March 9 also brought protesters to the company’s doorstep.

Israel’s demand for these munitions, particularly artillery shells, has also sapped the supply chain for Ukraine’s military, which has been attempting to fend off the Russian army since the full-scale invasion that commenced in February 2022.

Day & Zimmermann’s Iowa Army Ammunition Plant has been slated for $1.2 billion in upgrades according to an October 2023 report in the Des Moines Register, but the US military refused to tell the paper about specific ammunition flows to Israel.

An organizers’ flyer about Day & Zimmermann war materiel references the War Reserve Stockpile Allies-Israel (WRSA-I), a strategic pre-positioned stockpile of weapons. Only a handful of US-based manufacturers create ammunition of these types. WRSA-I is “a little-understood and opaque store of weapons” inside Israel but managed by the US Department of Defense, according to Just Security, which reports “publicly available policy guidance for WRSA-I is all but non-existent.” The hawkish pro-Israel Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) called for “replenishing and updating” this stockpile in 2020. (BreakingDefense also covered the issue of WRSA-I artillery stockpiles, Ukraine and Israel last August.)

Image gallery: (1) Three observers from the building containing Day & Zimmerman offices; two recorded demonstrators. CBS-3 is co-located in the building and did not cover the demonstration. (2) An observer from inside the building recorded also demonstrators. (3) Three Philadelphia Police Department officers believed to all be from Civil Affairs. The officer at right issued threats to arrest after demonstrators blocked entryways.

Antipersonnel mines are another controversial type of weapon, and Day & Zimmermann is connected to that business as well. In 2014, the Obama Administration said it would abandon the technology; procurement was suspended during the Obama Administration and then rebooted under Trump. Day & Zimmermann makes both GATOR [PDF] and Volcano [PDF] mine distribution system under the euphemistically named “Area Denial” brand category. The International Campaign to Ban Landmines reported more than 1660 people were killed by mines in 2022 [PDF].

Palestine Supporters Rally Outside Biden/Shapiro Fundraiser in Philly

  • December 15, 2023 1:06 am

from Unicorn Riot

Philadelphia, PA — Several hundred supporters of Palestinian rights gathered at Washington Square Park and marched through the historic Society Hill district, arriving at the war memorial parks built above I-95 next to the waterfront Hilton at Penn’s Landing on the Delaware River for an early afternoon protest on Monday, December 11. Unicorn Riot interviewed several participants and heard from the organizers who called upon the Biden Administration to support a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Biden, on his ninth visit to the city this year, was at the Hilton for a political fundraiser with Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a fellow Democrat. Earlier in the day he touted federal funding to reopen fire stations.

Protest organizer Sam Rise mentioned how student organizations have been suspended on college campuses, and “institutions and academics have been shamefully bullying and silencing” Palestine supporters. She added that members of the Working Families Party (WFP) have been introducing ceasefire resolutions in local governments. (Two WFP candidates won at-large seats last month in Philadelphia, ejecting the GOP from slots the party held for decades.) “Come November, we’ll remember” was a common chant at the event, as attendees vowed to hold the Biden Administration accountable for his support for Israel at the ballot box in 2024.

Anissa Weinraub from Jewish Voice for Peace talked about the “death and destruction at a rate that is unprecedented in recent human history” in Gaza, where the vast majority of the population is now displaced, with “so many on the brink of starvation”, referring to a “merciless military and their AI-programmed death machine“:

In a throwback to the Vietnam era chant “Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?” another organizer called out, “Biden, Biden, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today? Biden, Biden you can’t hide, you are funding genocide. Biden, Biden, you will see, Palestine will be free.”

One participant wearing a keffiyeh told Unicorn Riot,

“We are here to fight for human rights, we are here to fight for the people of Gaza, the innocent children that are being bombed day-in day-out. Our cousins, our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, we are all humans at the end of the day. We are here to fight for their human rights to live just like we get to live here in America. We should all have the right to live, to live in peace, and the innocent children did nothing wrong, they are just being bombed, for being alive, for being Palestinian.”

Regarding Biden’s recent actions and presence in Philadelphia he added, “It’s sickening honestly. Philadelphia does not stand for this, Philadelphia stands for freedom, Philadelphia stands for human rights, and Biden does not stand for any of that. … Palestinians are people just like us. I have friends that are Palestinian, I am Palestinian. We just want to live, that’s all we want. We just want to live like everyone else, and we are not given that option.”

Protesters gather in Washington Square Park around 1:15 p.m. on December 11.
March on Pine Street in Society Hill.
A man on Pine Street in Society Hill flips off demonstrators marching for Palestine on December 11, 2023.
The waterfront Hilton at Penn’s Landing looms over Palestine protesters. A large obelisk-like monument to Christopher Columbus built in 1992 is at right.
A protest sign lampoons President Biden’s well-known love of ice cream cones on December 11, 2023.

We also found an innovative protest use of a DeWalt drill — this gizmo is known as an “impact train horn” and can make a 130 decibel racket with a squeeze of the drill trigger.

The cordless drill-powered “Impact Train Horn” easily generated noise in Philadelphia on December 11.

Report on Dec 3 Flood Philly for Gaza Demonstration

  • December 12, 2023 1:03 am

Submission

The Philly Palestine Coalition called for another emergency action December 3rd, two days after the ceasefire. Over the past two—now going on three—months, the mobilization around Palestinian liberation has been a lesson to a lot of us: trust people’s rage. Trust the enormity of their grief. Trust that watching colonial genocide live-streamed has fractured some of the complacency of neoliberalism. If the demo intended to “Flood Philly for Gaza,” the chants were gushing through the cracks.

It was dreary out. PPC changed their demo location the day before (and then promptly got their IG deleted). Will the crowd be big enough? Trains were all out of wack. Will everyone be late? (Yes). While we initially felt discouraged and apprehensive, we underestimated each other and the crowd. We may have missed each other at the meet-up point (a lesson here about carrying a watch, or better yet, being punctual), but once we got dressed in black bloc we found each other easily. The larger crowd was tense, energized, and grew as we moved, swelling behind two pickup trucks hauling a PA system and speakers who addressed the crowd. The march snaked north from Rittenhouse Square, then west down side streets, where the vandals among us got bolder. Darting out in pairs and trios, people began writing decolonial and Palestinian solidarity graffiti, building momentum up to and across the Chestnut Street bridge.

Throughout the demo, people in bloc distributed fliers linking Israeli bombardment in Gaza to police violence in Philly, handing these to marchers and passersby, and ticketing them to the windshields of parked cars. A Philadelphia Parking Authority vehicle got itself vandalized along the way, too.

Graffitti at demos isn’t anything new — what feels remarkable was the support and complicity of more well-behaved marchers not in bloc. People looked out for graffiti writers, blocking the view of photographers, slowing foot traffic with bikes, and using Palestinian flags to shield writers from cops’ sight.

At a Starbucks on Penn’s campus, the march paused for speeches about the franchise’s support for Israel. Meanwhile, protestors crowded around the entrance, leaving room for people in bloc to write slogans on the walls and windows. One notable example: a writer painted “FREE GAZA” on a window while the students behind the glass bent over their laptops and pretended not to notice. Teens present in the march seemed particularly pumped here, surprised (and hopefully inspired) by vandals’ audacity. Continuing further west, the march ended at 40th St and Market, where a vigil for the UC Townhomes was already gathered. Speakers linked the displacement taking place in West Philly to the ethnic cleansing taking place in Palestine.

The demonstration ended with no arrests.

Running Down The Walls 2023 Reportback

  • November 17, 2023 1:58 am

from Philly ABC

We’re pleased to report the success from the sixth annual Philadelphia Running Down The Walls in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war, and the movement to #StopCopCity.

Before we go any further, we’d like to give the biggest shout-out to the prisoners that participated from inside the walls. The joint inside-outside participation is one of the most important parts of this yearly event. Our inside participants this year included:

Jerome Coffey – SCI Pine Grove
Mumia Abu-Jamal – SCI Mahanoy
Paul Kali Hickman – Vaughn Correctional Center
John Bramble – Vaughn Correctional Center
Beans (Abednego Baynes) – SCI Mahanoy

With a light breeze, partial cloud coverage and temperatures staying around 75 degrees, the weather could not have been much more ideal for a 5k run/walk/roll/cheer. The first wave of what would end up being around 300 participants, began arriving around 10am in FDR park. After some time for checking in, setting up tables, and hanging banners, Sheena Sood kicked off another amazing yoga warm-up in the grassy area in front the Boathouse Pavilion.

The event was emceed by Gabe Bryant from the #FreeAnt Committee and the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home. As the yoga concluded, Gabe amped up the crowd to start the 5K, but not before having a comrade read aloud a statement in solidarity with the Weelaunee forest defenders, including those facing repression and behind bars, in honor of Tortuguita, and calling for the release of Victor Puertas.

[L]ess than two weeks ago, Georgia’s Attorney General issued RICO indictments against over 60 people who they allege to be a part of a “criminal” conspiracy to stop Cop City. And yet, the struggle continues! … This is why it is of national importance to raise funds to support the defense of the Weelaunee forest [and] fortify the struggle.
…
We can take action by calling for the release of Victor Puertas, who is being held in ICE detention after his arrest at a music festival in the Weelaunee Forest.

From city to city, and however long it takes, we will ensure that Cop City never gets built!

Sometime between 11:00 – 11:30am, the first contingent lined up and kicked off the run/walk/roll/cheer after a countdown. The second group doing a hybrid jog/walk took off ten minutes later, with the fastest pace group taking off ten minutes after that. Those who stayed behind cheered and handed out water as participants completed their laps. Upon the return of all three groups, we began reading aloud solidarity statements by political prisoners Eric King, and former political prisoners Jalil Muntaqim, and Ray Luc Levasseur.

In between statements we gathered for a group photo, and took time for speakers and performers. The first speaker was Russell Shoatz III–son of beloved ancestor, freedom fighter, and former political prisoner Russell Maroon Shoatz. Along with decades of work with different groups and committees in the movement to free political prisoners, he is one of the Maroon Legacy Keepers that organize the Annual Maroon Memorial and Prisoners’ Families Brunch, and the Homegrown Maroons Retreats. He spoke of his active support for Running Down The Walls since its inception, and brought forward examples of the liberation of his father and Sundiata Acoli, to demonstrate the importance of the many facets of solidarity propelled by this event.

It probably is a triple or quadruple edged sword in a lot of ways. Of course, there is the solidarity, which is probably at the top of the list. … Obviously, it is the workout and the conditioning and training. And even if we’re not conditioning training, if we just come out for one day and give ourselves some workout, the intersection with the self love there, with the workout, is heavily important there. Then the political work around the political prisoners and folks who are still incarcerated, and the fundraising that happens here, happens to support a lot of people who need the money.
…
[Y]esterday I was at Porchfest in New York and I was able to be chilling with Sundiata. And so that’s because of y’all. … He’s home because of this style of work. … You coming out and running brought people like Sundiata home. … I couldn’t have, my sisters couldn’t have, my family couldn’t have liberated my father without you. Without you doing this work, we could not have done it. So, again, keep coming out. Keep doing this work.

Next, we had some outstanding performances from Philly-based artist, YahNé Ndgo. YahNé is a longtime and respected organizer involved several campaigns to free political prisoners, including Mumia Abu-Jamal, Kamau Sadiki, and Imam Jamil Al-Amin. She is also an organizer of the Annual Maroon Memorial Prisoners’ Families Brunch, Homegrown Maroons Retreats, Black Lives Matter Philly, and more. The second of two songs she performed was her incendiary single Philly Work: A Rally Cry.

The final speaker was a member of MXGM Philly, talking about the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement within the larger New Afrikan independence movement, the six principles of unity, and why MXGM supports the movement to Stop Cop City.

Following were more statements read aloud from current political prisoners Oso Blanco and Xinachtli Luna Hernandez, and former political prisoner Fidencio Aldama Perez (Español).

The event concluded with some final announcements from the #FreeAnt defense committee and organizers from #SaveTheMeadows. A huge thanks went out to all of Ant’s supporters for helping to spread the word via letters, social media posts, and rallies, and for the ongoing court support. The new sentencing date is currently November 28th. Please come out in numbers and pack the courtroom, the hallways, and streets outside! The Save the Meadows crew announced an upcoming Stop Cop City solidarity event–a festival of workshops, skill sharing, and presentations taking place the following weekend.

We give many thanks to MXGM Philly for organizing this epic and empowering event with us again, and the ~300 people who participated in person or remotely–inside or outside prison–from California, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Washington, and internationally from Ontario and Japan.

We’d like to thank Unicorn Riot, Hate5six and Marcus Rivera for filming the event. We thank Food Not Bombs Solidarity for the snacks and refreshments, IWW, Socialist Rifle Association, Iffy Books, and Mobilization for Mumia for tabling, and to Latziyela and Come On Strong for their expert help printing the shirts. We thank the Save the Meadows crew and Free Ant defense committee for the announcements, Gabe Bryant for emceeing, and Sheena Sood for leading the yoga warm-up.

Together we raised $12,812 to be split between jail/legal support for folks facing repression from alleged connection to the #StopCopCity movement, and the ABCF Warchest that sends monthly stipends to 15 political prisoners and prisoners of war with little or no financial support. A full breakdown of Warchest funds in and out since 1994 is available here (updated July 2023). Funds available beyond the reserved amount needed for the monthly stipends will be disbursed as one-time donations to other political prisoners who demonstrate financial need, or to the release funds of the next comrades to come home.

We look forward to more successes in the next year as we further the struggle to free all political prisoners, and ensure that a Cop City is never built!

Palestine Rally/Die in report back

  • November 11, 2023 1:30 am

Submission

Just a brief report back from last night:
Yesterday, numerous cities were called to do a day of “Shut it down for Palestine.” What was called for was for sit ins, rallies, actions, civil disobedience, what have you. There was a particular flier that I looked at which was calling for Philly healthcare workers to do a “Die in” and a rally. As one could expect, the whole event was a series of speeches and people laying down in a symbolic meaning. So, while I get what they were going for, it was disappointing that out of all the things that could’ve been done to answer a call to action, that’s what they chose. The most action that was seen was that after the rally ended, some anarchists went to local businesses and banged on windows, put their signs in people’s faces and threw up art on windows and doors. Hopefully more anarchists can show out for future actions and calls of these kinds.