Berkeley, CA: Anarchists and Antifa Rally Against Far-Right Terror Attacks Across US

On Saturday, March 18th in the evening, a crowd gathered outside of the Downtown Berkeley BART station that grew to upwards of 25 people. Participants dressed in full black bloc with their faces covered and held banners that read, “Self-Defense Against Far-Right Terror, Smash Racism,” and “Anti-Fascist, Anti-Racist.” Other participants brought other signs reading, “Smash the State, Bash the Fash (A),” as well as some amazing wooden picket signs.

While we held banners, crews handed out 400 flyers of a text that addressed the rise in far-Right, white nationalist, and neo-Nazi arson attacks against Mosques, acts of vandalism against Jewish places of worship and LGBTQI centers, outright killings by white nationalists and Trump supporters, and attacks on schools happening across the United States and Canada in the last several months. It also touched on the growing Alt-Right presence in the bay area and the need to confront it, including an upcoming rally being organized only several blocks away on April 15th.

This action was easy to pull off. We only had to make several banners and flyers to hand out to the public. We choose to wear black bloc and masks in order to engage the public and counter misconceptions about both the anarchist movement and the tactics that we use. This was not done in order to build some sort of vague populism; we got into several arguments with liberals which we expected, but instead to counteract much of the bullshit media demonization and hopefully normalize a culture of resistance and combativeness, while networking with people that might be down.

We got a lot of good feedback from people, lots of young people were very hyped, and especially got a warm reception from many African-American folks who were excited by the message that we were putting out. One young person even wanted our autograph saying, “I love what you do, don’t stop!” To which we replied, “You can join us!”

But above all, we call on all anarchists and antifascists across the US and Canada to take action against what is quickly becoming the new normal. While the current wave of far-Right violence is horrific, it also opens possibilities for us to talk to new groups of people about the need for self-defense against fascists and white supremacists. Let’s make the conversation we’ve been having about the far-Right and why we need to fight back a conversation we can start to have with potentially thousands of people. Let’s not let this period go un-answered. We urge other crews to organize similar events, demonstrations, workshops and educational events, and community meetings.

Props to our comrades in Denver holding it down against the pocket protector Alt-Right trust fund babies at Turning Point USA. Raised fists to all the homies in Montreal and beyond raining down blows of proletarian justice like big-ass hockey sticks into flapjacks against neo-Nazi and anti-Muslim groups. Big ups to the hard asses suited up in Texas standing tall against Islamophobic militia groups. Ginormous bear hugs to the Mid-Atlantic GDC organizing against an upcoming neo-Nazi concert. And a final salute to all the heads in Sacramento keeping it cool in the face of repression. You are not alone!

Stay strong!

– anarchists

Flyer PDF Here

Text From Handout:

Fight Back Against Far-Right Terror
Build Collective Self-Defense

In the last weeks and months, the US has been rocked by a wave of anti-Semitic attacks, vandalism and arson against Mosques, white supremacist killings, school shootings and attempted mass murder sprees, a string of bomb threats against various places of worship, and acts of terror against African-American churches. These acts of terror have taken place across the US, and even right here in the Bay Area. Meanwhile, Trump and his staff imply in the press that the various racist attacks are being organized and carried out by Trump’s political opposition in an attempt to make him look bad. Trump even went so far as to imply that these acts were being carried out by the victims themselves, a claim that echoed “false flag” sentiments coming from racist Alt-Right websites like Breitbart.

Even in the Bay Area, groups of white nationalists, members of the Alt-Right, and neo-Nazis have been organizing. They have held rallies at UC Berkeley and in San Francisco, under the banner of the group, Identity Evopra. They have put up posters and stickers in a variety of cities. Some have carried out racist attacks and even murders. They have worked within the local Berkeley College Republicans to bring Alt-Right speaker Milo Yiannopoulos to campus, and have also organized a pro-Trump rally on March 4th. On April 15th, they plan to come back to hold another rally in Berkeley, bringing a host of neo-Nazis and Alt-Right white supremacists with them.

But in the bay area, anarchists and antifascists have fought these scum, shut them down, and confronted them at each and every turn, despite being demonized by the police, the media, and liberals for standing up to the growing insurgent Right. We know that to fight the rising tide of fascism and far-Right violence is to come into conflict with the State they seek to strengthen and the systems of domination and exploitation they hope to protect. In doing so, we push to create a combative and fierce anti-fascist and anti-capitalist culture that leaves no room for white supremacy and patriarchy and recognizes the larger systems they seek to uphold and deepen as enemies in themselves. Tear down their posters and stickers. Shut down their rallies. It’s time to build collective self-defense against those that would destroy us.

nocara.blackblogs.org – itsgoingdown.org – crimethinc.com – submedia.tv

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