Albany, NY: Anti-Prison Rally Report Back

On May 10th we decided to be present at a local parole and prison reform rally. There were a few hundred attendees, songs were sung, speeches were had and people appealed to their legislators for “change.”

Albany NY is a hotbed for liberalism, many locals here love Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Party, the Green Party, think things “aren’t so bad” and that the most horrendous aspects of our society and our increasingly bleak future will somehow just get better.

The city has an intense and effective “friendly policing program,” the police often don’t even show up to protests and when they do they don’t put up much of a showing. Albany doesn’t need to do much policing when everyone has a cop in their heads.

We decided to make an appearance to disrupt that shit. To disrupt the veneer of liberalism and reform, and to disrupt the safety those governing this city feel.

Our decision was made with relative haste, we made a banner and handed out Crimethinc’s To Change Everything zines and Support J20 handbills.

We heckled state workers and politicians who audaciously tried to make claims of progress in prison justice. We made reformists uncomfortable and reconsider their effectiveness of petitions that they even admitted were being ignored. Some folks really appreciated us “ninjas” and thanked us for being there.

The capital region is a desert for the radically minded but we hope to be a spark.

Burn the prisons!
Total Liberation!
Long live Anarchy!