Twin Cities: A Call For An Anti-fascist Response to Lauren Southern

This coming Wednesday, the alt-right is bringing Lauren Southern back from a failed hate flotilla in the Mediterranean to our backyard to spew her xenophobic garbage at the Willey auditorium. University of Minnesota president Eric Kahler has decided the best way to respond to stickers depicting ovens from The Right Stuff and flyers from violent white nationalists Identity Evropa, not to mention the incidents this past spring with swastikas appearing on campus by bringing a white nationalist pseudo-celebrity to campus.

We already knew the administration of this university didn’t give a shit about the safety of their non-white students and only sees its students as tuition payments, but this really takes the cake. It’s only fitting that a land grant university built on stolen Lakota land that supports prison labor would give a platform to overt white supremacy under the guise of “freedom of speech.” I’m sure that same freedom of speech applies to the students who have been met with a massive police presence every time a protest takes place on campus. I’m sure Danger Collective or Whose Diversity or Black Lives Matter would be given the same treatment by our oh so fair and balanced University of Minnesota Police Department. But I digress.

This is a call for an open ended anti-fascist bloc on Wednesday, October 25th[The speaking event is 7pm at West Bank Auditorium]. It’s encouraged that you do not arrive alone. Come with a close friend or better yet an affinity group. Take steps to protect your identity from the State and the expected presence of alt-right and alt-lite livestreamers who will surely be taking video footage to single people out for doxxing after the dust settles. This can mean any number of things from altering your appearance to covering your face. Use what makes you feel the most comfortable and more importantly, safe. Keep in mind that while on U of M campus you can assume that surveillance cameras will be everywhere. News media cameras aren’t your friends either. And as much as we all love Unicorn Riot, our enemies watch their stream too. They can (and will) find you there and if they care enough try to harass you. While online harassment might not intimidate you, keep in mind who else might be at risk if your security is compromised. Violent white supremacists and fascists typically go after the most marginalized for their acts of violence. Anti-fascism after Charlottesvile cannot afford to put any of our comrades in danger. (There are more detailed write ups available on counter-surveillance practices and security culture that can be found elsewhere.)

As anti-fascists in the Twin Cities we acknowledge that we fight on stolen land. We stand against white supremacy, patriarchy, homo- and transphobia, hatred of migrants, and the exploitation of the proletariat. We stand in uncompromising solidarity with all anti-fascist combatants worldwide in the struggle against capitalism and white supremacy. We intend to win.

– some friendly neighborhood anti-fascists