Reportback from New Year’s Eve Noise Demo for Prisoner Solidarity in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

From Anarchist News

On the night of December 31, 2015, about 16 folks went to the Broward County Jail in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to show our support and solidarity for those inside. We approached the jail with the goal of making as much noise as possible. We banged pots, pans, and buckets, hammered street signs with spatulas, screamed and chanted into a megaphone, and blew hideously into a bent trombone. Our orchestra was immediately met with silhouettes peering through the fogged cell windows, trying to make out what was going on. Soon there were flickering lights, raised fists, and loud banging from prisoners within.

We kept up the riotous ruckus for over two hours with surprisingly little police interference. Carrying signs reading “You are in our hearts,” “Free them all,” and “Tear down the walls,” we marched around the building to reach as many inmates as possible, singing “Fire, fire to the priiiiisons!” to the tune of “Solidarity Forever” along the way.

It was incredibly rewarding to break the silence of incarceration on the eve of the New Year, and we’ll certainly be back again next year. But of course it was also humbling to spend our time outside of a jail, with the freedom to walk away any time we chose. Demos like this are just one small part of the important work of prisoner support that must be ongoing year-round.

Solidarity with those inside,

Until the end of prisons, jails, detention centers, borders and cages,

—Some anarchists

Tags: New Years Eve