Noise Demo in Minneapolis in Solidarity With Nationwide Prison Strike

From Conflict MN

Fire to the prisons!

Fire to the prisons!

We don’t need no water

Let that motherfucker burn!

– chant from the noise demo

At 8pm, answering the call for a noise demo in solidarity with the September 9th prisoner’s strike and to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising, people gathered in Elliot Park preparing to march on the juvenile detention center. A small black bloc arrived, carrying a banner that read “FIRE TO THE PRISONS” and began marching through the park. Flyers were handed out along the way to some of the people gathered at the park for a barbecue and to play soccer. Once we took the streets, construction barricades were dragged into the street to block them off for the march and to slow down any advancing police. We arrived at the youth jail after passing by the obnoxious new Vikings stadium and got some shouts of approval from skateboarding teenagers who even briefly joined us in shouting “Fuck 12!”

Once we arrived at the jail, fireworks were lit, pots and pans were banged together, drums were pounded, horns and whistles and even flutes were blown, and the cacophonous noise reached our friends on the inside who responded by dancing, pounding on the windows, and flickering the lights.

We stayed at the youth jail and made noise for about 10 to 15 minutes before moving on to our next target: The Hennepin County “Public Safety” building which houses adult detainees and sends a strong message that “public safety” to them means locking up black, brown, and Native folks disproportionately and punishing poor and homeless people for existing. On the way to the adult jail we paid a visit to prison profiteers Wells Fargo and a paint bomb found itself flying towards their windows.

The march continued snaking around downtown Minneapolis, attracting a lot of attention from drivers and pedestrians and giving us an opportunity to hand out some flyers explaining the reason for the noise demo and the prison strike. More construction barricades were dragged in the street, windows were smashed, and when the police finally did manage to catch up with us a dumpster was hurled towards them and slowed their advance. When we finally arrived at the “Public Safety” building there were some bystanders already there who joined our chants and briefly joined the noise demo outside the adult jail, some of them dancing. The message of “fuck the police” and “fire to the prisons” resonated with many people, with some drivers honking their horns in support, residents of the Elliot Park neighborhood coming outside to watch with some of them showing support with raised fists, and the dancing inmates at the youth jail.

We returned to the park victorious and dispersed without incident, with the police not making any arrests or really trying to interfere at all other than a few bike cops trailing behind. We stand with all prison rebels fighting to end prison slavery and strike against white supremacy!

From Holman to Minneapolis

fire to the prisons!