This Is America #194: Jeremy White on San Diego ‘Antifa’ Case, Smash by Smash West, Franklin Lopez on New Children’s Book

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Welcome, to This Is America, March 8th, 2024.

On today’s episode, we feature an interview first with Jeremy White, a long-time community organizer in Southern California who is currently facing felony charges stemming from a counter-protest against violent far-Right gangs in San Diego in 2017. We talk about how Jeremy and other activists were selectively targeted by the State and law enforcement, while fascist groups like the Proud Boys and American Guard were allowed to run wild and openly attack members of the public.

We then talk to folks in Austin, Texas about the upcoming Smash By Smash West counter-summit. Finally, we speak with long-time anarchist media maker Franklin Lopez, who has now completed a new book for kids. We speak about anarchist media and the need for more engaging content geared at young people and parents alike.

All this and more, but first, let’s get to the news.

Living and Fighting

Across the world, people held vigils in memory of anarchist Aaron Bushnell, the 25 year-old active duty member of the Air Force who in late February, set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington DC in what he called “an extreme protest” against the US’s continued support of the war and ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine. In Portland, as Alissa Azar reported, in “a moving act of solidarity…Veterans [burned] their uniforms at a vigil for Aaron Bushnell, hosted by Veterans Against War.”

Protests, mass marches, and blockades against the US backed war in Gaza continue. In New York, a militant marches took the streets, in San Francisco, thousands marched on the Israeli consulate and were attacked by police, in Chicago, street blockades shut down intersections, several defense contractors in New Hampshire were recently hit with vandalism, in Ontario, over 400 pro-Palestinian protesters mobilized to shut down a speaking event featuring “prime minister Justin Trudeau in honor of [the] Italian prime minister,” a protest encampment sprang up outside of the home of US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and in Oakland, middle school students organized a walkout.

In Berkeley, California, hundreds shut down a speaking event featuring the deputy director of a far-Right Israeli think-tank, heavily involved in the state’s current trajectory. Protesters rallied outside of the event, windows were broken, and the speaker was evacuated out of the building.

Blockades of weapons manufactures also continued. In Plymouth, Minnesota, demonstrators blockaded Northrop Grumman, which “manufactures weapons that Israel uses against Palestinians.” Meanwhile, pickets and blockades also took place outside of Lockheed Martin offices in “Vancouver, Quebec City, Calgary and Toronto.”

A call in the Pacific Northwest has also been made for a mobilization against the upcoming “Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit at the Seattle Convention Center.” According to the call posted to Puget Sound Anarchists:

On March 12th to 14th Seattle will host the 2024 Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit at the Seattle Convention Center. This conference will bring together suppliers and subcontractors from around the world, including Boeing, to network and show off products that will be used to build weapons that will murder people in wars of colonial expansion in Palestine and around the world.

Read the full call here.

Vigils were also held across the US in memory of Nex Benedict, an Indigenous non-binary student who died after being attacked in a bathroom at a school in a district that had been targeted by gender fascists. In Los Angeles, California, people took to the streets to mourn the violent murder of Nex and also call for an end to attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.

As we reported on in our recent In Contempt column, various groups have been rallying in solidarity with the call from the Free Alabama Movement for strike and protest action. One person wrote on Instagram, stating:

Today, we protested again for the fourth week in a row in solidarity with the Free Alabama Movement’s 90-day prison shutdown. In honor of the international day of action for Rafah, the Young Palestinians of Birmingham (@yp.bham) joined us in solidarity where we united in chants about Palestine, Alabama, Congo, and more.

Incarcerated people in America are forced to produce a wide range of products and services, including the bombs and weapons that are killing Palestinians and other innocent people all over the world. When incarcerated people refuse the forced labor, they are subjected to beatings and solitary confinement.

Currently, incarcerated people in the U.S. do all the work to maintain the jails and are forced to work to make profits for the state and for companies like Raytheon. The same companies profiting from the occupation and genocide in Palestine are the same companies profiting from the exploitation and genocide of incarcerated people here.

As long as the ADOC and companies like Raytheon can use prison labor they will and as long as they can profit from genocide they will. Prison work stoppages shut down the entire economic system and get directly into companies’ pockets.

A rent strike organized by the Cargill Tenants Union in Putnam, Connecticut has continued into February and March, as tenants face threats of eviction as they continue to demand that landlord address health and safety concerns over lead, mold and beyond. Most recently, the rent strike has pushed the attorney general of Connecticut to launch an official inquiry. From a recent statement from the CTU:

Our rent strike and tenant union organizing has been building pressure to remediate this mill for our members. This is a major development directly resulting from attention on our rent strike. We still face retaliatory evictions, but the tide is turning in our favor. Organizing gets the goods.

Resistance to Cop City in so-called Atlanta and beyond continued across the so-called US. According to communiques recently posted to Scenes from the Atlanta Forest, an office in Santa Cruz, California of a subsidiary of Nationwide, an insurance provider to the Cop City project, was vandalized with graffiti slogans and had their locks glued. In Brooklyn, New York, police cars and buses had their tires punctured and the slogan, “For Tort,” was left behind. On Lenapehoking territory, three Nationwide offices were covered in anti-Cop City slogans and posters. A video of the communique was released:

Supporters of Jack, who was recently arrested in raids against the movement in Atlanta, rallied at a recent court hearing, complete with a hardcore band who played outside of the court house. A rally was also recently organized outside of the home of the Atlanta Mayor in protest of the Cop City project.

In the Pacific Northwest, action continued against a proposed Cop City in Lacey, WA. A communique posted to Puget Sound Anarchists wrote:

In the earliest hours of Saturday morning, a small crew spiked various trees in the woods that are currently being logged, a well-known eco-defense practice to prevent or at least delay the logging of these precious trees. We need forests, not cops. Hours later, a separate crew dropped a banner that read Stop Lacey Cop Complex #stopallcopcities at the Olympia/Lacey pedestrian bridge over Pacific Avenue that will hopefully bring more awareness to the project…

In Houston, Texas, a judge has ruled that police must “temporarily” stop the ticketing of the local Food Not Bombs chapter. According to one report:

Food Not Bombs have been operating in Houston, Texas since 1994 and after nearly three decades in 2023, they started getting tickets for serving free meals outside of the city’s Central Library. So far they’ve received 96 tickets which made them file a lawsuit against the city authorities who claim that their meal service was a constitutionally protected protest.

In Chicago, a communique posted to Chicago Anti-Report claimed credit for breaking out windows and covering an army recruitment center in paint and anti-war graffiti slogans. According to the communique:

One week ago, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the zionist embassy in so-called Washington DC. He follows an unnamed self-immolation outside the zionist embassy in so-called Atlanta. In addition, in 2023, a man self-immolated in Kinshasa, DRC in protest of the genocide in Congo over capitalist green and resource extraction of cobalt and copper for the world’s technology.

As such, comrades took the following actions against the recruitment center for the 33,000+ Palestinian martyrs since October 7, for Aaron Bushnell, and for all those struggling against the US imperialist machine:

• Painted Avenge Aaron, Gaza will Haunt You, and Free Gaza across the military machine recruitment center windows
• Smashed windows of the main army recruitment office
• Covered surveillance cameras with spray paint
• Poured red paint on windows of the Marines recruitment office

Finally, following a successful week of action against the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), direct actions and protests continue in Appalachia, with various lock-downs and disruptions of pipeline construction shutting down work sites for hours. Be sure to check out Appalachians Against Pipelines for updates on ongoing resistance.

Upcoming Events

• March 8th – 16th: Smash By Smash West. Austin, TX. Counter-summit. More info here.
• March 9th: Houston, TX. Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• March 10th: Solidarity Fundraiser for Jeremy White. Los Angeles, CA. 1st Street Billiards. 7 PM. More info here.
• March 15th: Rally and speak out against police brutality. Olympia, WA. More info here.
• April 26th – 29th: Northeast Bash Back Convergence. Philadelphia, PA. More info here.
• June 28th – 30th: Another Carolina Anarchist Bookfair. Asheville, NC. More info here.
• July 2nd – 9th: Hudson Valley, Earth First! Gathering. More info here.

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