This Is America #197: Resistance Roundup, Josh Fernandez on Antifascist History, Peter Gelderloos on Supreme Court & Beyond

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

On today’s episode, we speak first with Josh Fernandez, author of the new book, The Hands That Crafted the Bomb: The Making of a Lifelong Antifascist, out now on PM Press.

We then speak with anarchist author and organizer Peter Gelderloos, about the recent debacle and fallout following the so-called Presidential debate, and the draconian rulings from the Supreme Court.

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

Living and Fighting

On June 29th, angry crowds rallied and occupied a city hall building in Utica, New York, after police shot and killed Nyah Mway, a 13 year-old boy and refugee originally born in Myanmar and a member of the Karen ethnic community. In a horrific scene reminiscent of Oscar Grant’s grisly execution in Oakland, California in 2009, which kicked off a wave of riots, police could be seen on video stopping Mway in a residential neighborhood, leading to a foot chase. In a video recorded by a community member, three white police officers can be seen chasing Mway down and punching him after which, he collapses. As Mway lied on the ground, one of the police officers chasing him fired a shot into Mway, as horrified community members looked on. In a later press conference, police claimed that the murder was justified due to Mway being found with a “replica GLOCK pellet gun.”

In Hamilton, Ontario, abolitionists held a rally outside of the Barton jail in response to ongoing deaths in custody and horrific conditions inside.

Workers at CounterPulse in the bay area, an art and community space organized a march on the boss announcing their union drive with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Members of the union in the Pacific Northwest also honored the “Wobblies who were lynched or imprisoned following the American Legion’s attack on the IWW hall in…Centralia,” Washington on November 11th, 1919. The Tacoma IWW wrote, “Finally, after two years of effort, the IWW Centralia Monument Committee won the fight to have our 2.5-ton granite and bronze monument in the city park in the heart of Centralia.”

Back in the bay area, the fight against a proposed Cop Campus police training facility continues, with several sabotage actions being claimed on Indybay. One communique which took credit for carrying out targeted vandalism against the office of the contractor involved in the project wrote:

We committed this act as a simple reminder that you will be met with resistance at every step along the path to fullfill the contract to build Cop Campus. You have assests spread throughout the Bay Area, if you value them, you’ll drop the contract. This can be the end, or just the beginning. The choice is yours.

For more updates on the campaign, check out Stop Cop Campus here.

Pride events took place across the so-called US and the world, with antifascist and community defense groups in some areas on hand for security. Many Pride events also saw pro-Palestinian protests and parade disruptions, demanding divestment from corporations involved in Israeli apartheid and genocide.

Actions in solidarity with Palestine continue across so-called North America. In Atlanta, people took to the streets outside of the Presidential debates to denounce the spectacle of two right-wing parties jostling over who was the most draconian monster.

In Florida, solidarity activists wrapped up a week of action against weapons supplier Elbit systems, after organizing protests and home demonstrations. In Boston, a demonstration outside of the home of one CEO also called for divestment from Elibt.

In Eugene, OR, several sabotage actions in solidarity with Palestine took place “during the Olympic Track and Field trials.”

In Brooklyn, New York, according to a post on Palestine Action:

In the early hours of Wednesday morning, four Brooklyn museum executives and board members’ residences were targeted by artists and cultural workers in retaliation against their brutal attack on Palestinians and pro-Palestine protesters on Friday May 31, and their shameless complicity in genocide. Red paint obstructed their doorways, banners and messages were left to remind them that: BLOOD IS ON THEIR HANDS.

Consulates in New York were also targeted with vandalism and graffiti. as was a weapons manufacturer in Novi, Michigan.

Students at California State University Los Angeles, “…occupied, barricaded, and looted the admin building to protest the administration ignoring them. They [used] flipped vehicles…as barricades outside of the admin building where students were occupying. They dispersed before the pigs could arrest anyone…”

Meanwhile in so-called Canada, solidarity protest encampments, building occupations, and riots have popped off in Toronto and Montreal. In Montreal, people organized a solidarity encampment for several months and on June 6th, a campus administration building was also occupied, leading to clashes between riot police and defenders of the occupation.

As a report on Montreal Counter-Info wrote:

Hundreds of police officers were then mobilized to secure the area around the building and allow the police officers inside to intervene and arrest the 13 students trapped inside.

The aggressiveness of the police and their ridiculous effort to arrest a handful of students quickly heated things up. The students on the ground began to prepare for a police dispersal operation. While a small line held the west of the area, the forces converged to the east to hold a line against the massing riot police. Aided by more experienced activists, the students then began to stand in collective defense formations. Shortly afterwards, the police attempted a first charge into the lines. Surprisingly, despite pepper spray, gas, shields and truncheons, the lines held firm. While the bulk of the force seemed to be made up of activists new to street confrontations, the lines withstood a police charge and managed to push back the riot line…Whatever prompted the people gathered there to stand firm, their actions were more than commendable.

As night fell and tension began to mount again, the students abandoned the campus and took to the surrounding streets. The forces of the student intifada learned the language of the riot, bank windows were smashed…every available object to form barricades was used to block access to police vehicles as the students took control of the streets for a few hours.

For more updates, check out Clash MTL on Mastodon.

In Cambridge, MA:

Activists have occupied the Cambridge Democracy Center in order to combat and resist the unilateral decision made by its NGO owners to shutter the space, implicitly in response to community opposition to their permitting Zionist organizations to use it as an organizing space. The DC has been a fixture of movement and political organizing in the city and its loss would be a crucial blow to the progressive ecosystem.

Yesterday morning, courageous militants did just that. They escalated the struggle, seizing control of the building and declaring it the People’s Democracy Center, calling on all of us to stand with them and keep the space alive for future generations of organizers and artists who might call it home. It is our responsibility to answer their call and stand with our comrades.

Finally in Iowa, a fur farm was raided by animal liberationists. According to a communique:

June 20th⁠ All cages were opened, all breeding cards were scattered or destroyed, and perimeter fences were leveled at Schmuecker Fox Farm in Luzerne, Iowa. Anyone can do this, and the summer has just begun…

Upcoming Events

• July 2nd – 9th: Hudson Valley, Earth First! Gathering. More info here.
• July 12th – 14th: Dual Power Gathering. Pacific Northwest. More info here.
• July 25th: Benefit for Antifascist Prisoners. Bremerton, WA. More info here.
• August 31st: Halifax Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• September 7th: Sacramento Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• September 7th – 8th: Montreal Anarchist Tech Conference. More info here.
• September 20th – 22nd: NYC Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• September 21st – 22nd: Victoria Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• September 28th: Hamilton Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• September 28th – 29th: Seattle Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• October 6th: Bay Area Anarchist Bookfair. More info here.
• October 18th – 20th: Northeast Health Autonomy Convergence. More info here.
• November 26th – 28th: Indigenous anarchist convergence. Occupied so-called Phoenix, AZ. More info here.