Autonomous Action Against ICE in Tampa Bay, Florida

The following communique was anonymously sent to It’s Going Down which we reprint below.

As spontaneous rallies, protests, and even occupations have erupted across the U.S. in response to the Trump Administration’s “zero tolerance policy,” comrades in Tampa Bay, FL organized a series of direct action demonstrations on the evening of June 20, 2018. Impromptu, multi-pronged, and autonomous, these actions can serve as an inspiration in these times of mass paralysis to combat feelings of powerlessness, show our solidarity with undocumented migrants and other marginalized communities, and serve as a rallying cry against fascism wherever it might appear.

Tonight’s actions included a noise-demo in a temporary autonomous zone where the sound clip of migrant children calling out for their mothers was played for all to hear. ICE’s office in historic Ybor City was vandalized with “blood” to represent the lives of those gunned down at the border. A banner drop happened in downtown Ybor’s shopping district. Meanwhile, wheat-pasted pro-immigrant and anti-ICE posters appeared across the city, sporting slogans like “Stop the American Gestapo” and “Abolish ICE.”

All of these actions occurred fluidly, via limited digital organizing and word-of-mouth. One participant said, “Today we knocked on CBP’s door. Next time we knock a little longer. After that we kick the doors down. Open the prisons. Smash the border.”

We call on all people of conscience to mobilize and organize. The time for mass mobilizations against ICE, the CBP, and other arms of the Trump regime is now!

– Anonymous