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Oct 14, 17
Filed under: Action, Anarchist Movement, International Coverage, Political Prisoners
Across the world, actions are happening in solidarity with 9 people facing repression in France, in the wake of resistance to French Labor Reform Laws aimed against the young and poor. Along with several others, Kara Wild, an anarchist from Chicago, has recently been found guilty of taking part in the burning of a police car in the midst of a riot. According to Free Kara Wild:
Kara Wild is an artist, comrade and resilient force of nature, currently being detained in France for her alleged participation in a protest against draconian labor reforms and police repression. She is a trans woman and is currently being held in a men’s jail. She is also a U.S. citizen and has been denied bond because French authorities consider her a flight risk.
On May 18th, thousands of people converged in Paris to defy an ongoing siege of police violence and to oppose a new neoliberal labor reform. During one of these marches a police car was attacked and set on fire. Kara was brutally arrested in connection to this incident more than a full week later, on May 26th, at a separate event near La Place de la Nation. Despite a distinct lack of evidence, she is being accused of smashing a pole through a police car’s windshield moments before it was set on fire. Her charges are, “attempted voluntary manslaughter of a person holding public office, destruction of property, group violence and participating in a masked armed group.”
Kara is among 6 people currently facing charges in connection to this incident. To make matters worse, France’s Prime Minister, Manuel Valls is vowing to execute “unrelenting punishment,” in order to set an example and de-mobilize protests.
Despite attacks by the state, global movements against capitalism, white supremacy, hetero-sexist patriarchy and austerity grow stronger each day, from Paris to Oaxaca. As the flames of resistance multiply this summer, let us make sure not to leave our friends behind! Please help us support Kara Wild by writing to her, donating to her defense fund, and spreading the word about her case.
Freedom to all political prisoners! Freedom to all transwomen prisoners! Freedom to all prisoners!
Several days ago, a judge handed out a verdict of up to seven years for several people that the State accused of being involved in the burning, as a group of over 40 demonstrated outside. Kara, who has already been incarcerated for a year and a half, received another two years added onto her sentence, as well as other stipulations. In the lead-up to the verdict, solidarity actions have taken place across the US and Europe. According to Bordered by Silence:
The trial is ongoing for nine people accused of participating in the burning of a police car on May 18th2016 in Paris. Because solidarity attacks continue to occur throughout the French territory around the trial dates, here is an attempt at an exhaustive chronology of direct actions carried out in solidarity with those accused in this case.
All links in this article are to French-language communiques unless stated otherwise. All actions are in France unless a country is indicated. Since most of the texts linked to have not been previously translated, we opted to simply translate a sentence or two from each one to give a sense of the action, in addition to providing the link. All italics are translators notes.
Many of these actions specifically name Kara and Krem, two anarchists still in custody in this case. Krem was based in the Paris area prior to his arrest, while Kara is from the United States. Their verdict is expected on October 11, 2017.
Keep an eye on Free Kara Wild for more info, updates, and how to donate.
Action Roundup From Bordered By Silence:
| Date | Title of communique or details of the action | Links and Quotations |
|---|---|---|
|
11-10-2017 |
[US] Sheriff tires slashed and yuppie storefront windows smashed. |
“Last week, we decided to ring in Kara Wild’s trial in Paris by raining the streets of Chicago with shattered glass and popping a cop tire for each month that she has spent in prison. The windows of yuppie shops on the thoroughly gentrified north side stood tall and vulnerable to our hammers. The tires of sheriff cars, brazenly parked on residential streets, challenged us to immobilize them.” |
|
08-10-2017 |
[US] Graffiti painted. |
“After being held for the past seventeen months in the largest prison in Europe, without so much as a trial date to give her solace, Kara Wild is now back in grueling prison purgatory waiting for her verdict to be announced on October 11th.” |
|
27-09-2017 |
[Paris] Demo in the courthouse during the trial |
“The court room emptied while Kara and Krem were handcuffed and taken back to prison. Cries of ‘freedom’ echoed through the halls of the Paris Superior Court” |
|
27-09-2017 |
[Berlin] Broken windows at the Bundesdruckerei building (federal printers in charge of money, passports, etc) and of the media firm DuMont, in particular in solidarity with Kara and Krem |
The communique situates the attacks in the context of the recent G20 summit in Hamburg and particularly focuses on the role of the media in legitimizing the state while attacking its opponents. Communique (in German) |
|
25-09-2017 |
[Besancon] A little stroll to get the week off to a good start – solidarity tags |
“Monday night we got together for a rowdy little stroll through the downtown. We used the occasion to make clear our disgust for property and its defenders by repainting the facades of several real estate agencies.” |
|
23-09-2017 |
[Clermont-Ferrand] A few flames – municipal truck burned |
“I just needed to let the darkness out of me a bit and have it turn against this world.” |
|
22-09-2017 |
[Bagnolet-Montreuil] Stroll through Bagnolet and Montreuil (leafleting, postering, tags, and traffic slowdown) |
|
|
22-09-2017 |
[Berlin] Solidarity rally “Until all police cars burn, until everyone is free” |
“Solidarity to our friends in France. We are following the ongoing trials on the burning copcar in Paris with one laughing and one sad eye. It is a relief to hear that atleast some are not joining their game and keep their mouths shut.” Communique (English and German) // Photo |
| 22-09-2017 | [Paris]A few messages for the accused in the pig-mobile case – solidarity banners | The banners read: “Freedom for the Quai de Valmy 9”; “Blue burns well” “Solidarity with kara and krem, Freedom for all” “From Paris to flames in Grenoble and Limoges. |
| 21-09-2017 | [Grenoble] Incediary Solidarity – a gendarmerie hangar containing 50 vehicles was burned | “Made it into the gendarmerie (military police) compound in Vigny-Mussey. Burned 6 response wagons and 2 logistics trucks. Over 1500 square metres of the garage and warehouse were destroyed […] Our hostility is a spreading flame.”
Communique / tor / English |
| 20-09-2017 | [Paris} Rally in front of the courthouse | Solidarity rally with those targeted by searches in Bure (a land-defense occupation in Western France against a nucelar waste dump) and those charged with the burning of the police car. |
| 19-09-2017 | 5 gendarmerie vehicles burned | “In the night of September 18 2017, we, as former gendarmes, collectively decided to burn 3 wagons and two buses from the gendermerie in the Jourdan compound in Limoges.” |
| 19-09-2017 | [Paris] Rally in front of the Superior Court in Paris, called by the Social Front (a left-wing formation of unions and grassroots groups) | “A considerable crowd (more than 200 people) has gathered in the hall of lost steps (in this section of the court, the glass floor in the level above shows the milling footsteps of those attending court)! The lawyers are fighting for a larger room so that all supporters can enter. The struggle was victorious since the hearing is adjourned.” |
| 19-09-2017 | [Basel, Switzerland] A little knifework in solidarity with the trial of those charges with burning a police car in Paris | This text claims responsibility for slashing the tires of dozens of cars belonging to Bouygues (a technology company that also builds prisons), Adecco (a temp agency), local government, Enedis (electricity company involved in pushing forward a nuclear waste dump in Bure), Siemens (for their work in surveillance), ABB (automatisation), and Impenia, Alpiq and EAGB who are involved in prison construction.
Communique (Translated in French) |
| 19-09-2017 | [Toulouse] Quai de Valmy – It’s fair to return fire | A banner reading “In the Quai de Valmy case: Fire to the inquisitors” was hung from the historical Convent of the Jacobins, a site strongly linked to the Inquisition. |
| 19-09-2017 | [Les Lilas, 93] 3 autolib are burned(Les Lilas is just outside of Paris proper and autolib is a car share service) | “With this simple act, we hope to express our solidarity with Kara and Krem who go to trial today … Because we appreciate clear and coherent postures when facing the justice system.” |
| 18-09-2017 | [Paris] Rally in solidarity with those charged with burning the police car | Over a hundred people gathered at Place des Fetes and did huge wheat pastes of slogans like “Police and Justice Defend the Rich” and carried banners “This week’s menu: lawyer purée, paired with roast pig served with screws and onions, and judges caramelized in whipped cream-of-prosecutor.”
Callout and reportback |
| 17-09-2017 | [Fleury-Merogis] Wildcat prison visit and fireworks | “An hour after night fall, twenty of us took the muddy path that leads towards the enclosure of this concrete monstrosity. Some firecrackers, shouts, and fireworks broke the silence that reign there and a multitude of voices responded from inside the prison”(Fleury-Merogis is home to Europe’s largest prison, the one that holds Kara and Krem). |
| 14-09-2017 | [Paris] Singin in the rain – broken windows and tags against the prison system’s collaborators | “Overnight between the 13th and 14th of November, we smashed the windows of the offices of the association ‘Communication Integration Training Learning.’” |
| 11-09-2017 | [Marseille] Fewer ankle bracelets, more fresh air! – Windows smashed at a branch of Correctional Services’ Insertion and Probation section | “With all the windows on its two entrances off Negresko and Paulet streets broken, this disgraceful place should feel a bit less carceral than usual.” |
| 10-09-2017 | [Bagnolet] Arson in solidarity with anarchist prisoners – Orange (communications company) utility vehicle burnt | “Fire and flames against this world!” |
| 22-08-2017 | [Orbeil (Puy-de-Dome)] The summer is for grilling antenna relays – arson attack against two antenna relays | “In the early morning of August 22, we set a fire up there on the hill. In Moida, two relay antennas that provide telephone service from Issoire to Brioude, as well as broadcasting several radio stations, were burned. Short of shutting off all the city lights, we could at least unplug their smartphones. “ The fire spread along the cables to also seriously damage two buildings. |
| 22-08-2017 | [Besancon] From each burning cop car blows a wind of freedom – solidarity banners | “Freedom will bloom on the corpses of police.” |
| 20-08-2017 | [Paris] Burning of a truck belonging to Eiffage, a prison builder, on rue Compans in the 19th district | “We’re impatient. We don’t give a shit about the masses. And class… we never liked school. Rather than the Revolution – an illusion – we prefer fiery early mornings.” |
| 19-08-2017 | [Cevennes] Audacious, we wanted to burn the heavens – sabotage against the taming of mountains | Attacks on anti-wolf propaganda, forestry machines, and communications infrastructure. |
| 06-08-2017 | [Bar-le-Duc, Meuse] Lots of rage and a few flames for ENEDIS – several cars burned in an ENEDIS parking lot | “Notably for this company’s link to the CIGEO project, seeking to bury radioactive waste in Bure as a necessary step for the continued expansion of nuclear power.” |
| 17-07-2017 | [Paris] Hearing on pretrial incarceration and bail conditions | “In spite of the oppressive atmosphere, some of those present in solidarity were able to show that the filthy work of the justice system isn’t concealed by the numbing normalcy of the court and answered back to the judge, yelling their rage.”
Callout and Reportback |
| 14-07-2017 | [Besancon] Solidarity glueing | “The locks of real estate agencies (x5), a private security company, and a sports club geared at the rich were sabotaged with glue. All we needed were a few tooth picks, some superglue, and enough rage and openness to risk to carry out these small actions.” |
| 02-07-2017 | [Pre Saint Gervais, 93] Nighttime stroll – arson of a Stanley security vehicle | “Everyone hates the police – and their proxies. Everyone can take action. […] Solidarity is attack.” |
| 02-07-2017 | [Paris, 19th district] Stroll against prisons | “On Sunday July 2nd in the late afternoon, tags, stickers, posters, stencils, and leaflets, appeared in the streets of Paris’ 19th district. The Canale3 architect office at 78 Darius Milhaud alley had its facade redecorated.” |
| 11-06-2017 | [Montreuil] Bye-bye Spie Batignolle – burning of a truck belonging to Spie Batignolle, builder of prisons | “In dawn’s first light this Sunday, some late revellers could spot other lights: a truck from Spie Batignolle was burning on Chanzy blvd between Montreuil and Bagnolet (yes, yes, it’s possible, even on a main street: you just have to choose your moment) (Montreuil and Batignolle are two suburbs just outside Paris). |
| 09-06-2017 | [Montreuil] Down with all prisons! – Attack on the offices of Egis | Communique in the form of a cute meme where two people in Egis hard hats say, “shit, we got our windows smashed.” “I told you we should have stopped building prisons!” |
| 08-06-2017 | [Crest] Concerning dialogue, solidarity, and attack – arson of an Enedis building | “We don’t live in the past and have not hope for the future. Our revolt has no tomorrow and so cannot be put off.” |
| 08-06-2017 | [Toulouse] Solidarity with the defendants from May 18 , Aachen, and more – burning of an Eiffage car | “Yesterday I was angry. I was angry because of the 7 year sentence handed down to an anarchist accused of a bank expropriation in Aachen. Angry because judges decided to keep Kara and Krem in detention.” |
| 29-05-2017 | [Pantin] Combustion versus reinsertion – arson of 2 cars from Atout Bois, prison collaborator | “To believe their intentions, this establishment, administered by the Youth Judicial Protection service, protects and accompanies youth caught in the claws of the justice system. Obey a boss, submit to hierarchy, respect authority, stay on the straight and narrow, accept the judge’s control over your life: a radiant future of wage labour will open before you. … Work is the best cop and reinsertion is coercion. Sabotage blocks the exploitation machine and frees up time.” |
| 29-05-2017 | [Les Lilas] Solidarity is attack – arson of a utility vehicle of the roadways division for the Paris region | “We think that solidarity is a relationship of mutual recognition based on conflict with the existent. We aren’t in solidarity with misery, but with revolt.” |
| 20-05-2017 | [Paris] Solidarity rally at Place des Fetes | “Sunshine, determination, and the (relative) response from the neighbourhood allowed us to make our solidarity with prisoners of the state visible, to call for the liberation of the last three accused still locked up in this case, and to express our rejection of the cops and the world they protect.”
Callout and Reportback |
| 18-05-2017 | [Rennes] We celebrate anniversaries our own way – arson of a Enedis vehicle | “May 18 2016, Paris. A blue white red car burns. May 18 2017, Rennes. A blue Enedis vehicle burns.
We found this to be a better candle.” |
| 30-04-2017 | [Bagnolet] Solidarity flames – arson of a Vinci vehicle | “We torched a Vinci vehicle, those builders and managers of prisons, highways, CRA and other airports.” They also slashed the tires of vehicles belonging to Sodexo, ENGIE, and JC Decaux for their connection to the prison industry. |
| 25-04-2017 | [Rennes] Against all religions and patriarchy, solidarity – hammer attack on two churches | “We attacked two churches with hammers. We spit on their visions of the family, the couple, and sexuality.” |
| 23-04-2017 | [Brussels, Belgium] Why? Why not? – 4 police cars torched in solidarity | “You cut a hole in the fence, and not any which one. The one that protects a rotten parking lot where 4 police cars are parked. You open your gas can, the smell is strong. Glug glug on the rear tires. You crouch down and light it. Take a minute to appreciate the sight of cop cars in flames before leaving.” |
| 18-04-2017 | [Liege, Belgium] Beautiful like a burning police station – arson attack on a police station | “We aren’t soldiers, we are criminals. We have no homeland, higher cause, or orders to take from others than ourselves. And yet we fight. To recover our lives and seek our freedom. We fight against the misery of our existence, the oppression of morality, and the bars that cage us. During the night of April 18 we burned a police station in Liege, Belgium. It was completely destroyed, ravaged by the flames.” |
| 08-04-2017 | [Fleury-Merogis] Solidarity in struggle and against repression! Rally in front of the prison | “We chanted slogans like ‘Freedom for all’, ‘fire to the prisons, with the guards in them’, ‘solidarity with prisoners, their families, their pals, and their revolt’, ‘for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd car burned, we love all barbecued pig’, ‘cop, guard, or solider, what won’t they do for a wage’ …”
Callout and reportback |
| 01-04-2017 | [Besancon] Solidarity flattening | “All four wheels of a Securitas car were flattened. A company that guards the security of the rich and their property. But that also participate in reinforcing the state system and its borders: in many countries, Securitas is in charge of security in immigrant detention centres and of the deportation of migrants…“ |
| 12-03-2017 | [Guillestre (Hautes-Alpes)] Kisses full of rage – tag |
“As in December 2016, the large stone wall on route de la gare in Guillestre was tagged. And again, the forces of order are singled out. In total, five tags were found in the town on Thursday…” The tag read “Aulnay and those charged for the burned cop car are in our thoughts Kisses full of rage ACAB. |
| 12-03-2017 | [Grenoble] Personal journal of a savage – broken windows on two banks | Communique |
| 11-03-2017 | [Fleury-Merogis] Rally in front of the prison | Fifty or so people rallied in front of the prison during visiting hours, sharing a meal and a microphone with family members of prisoners, making tons of noise and passing out texts against prison and its world.
Callout and Reportback |
| 28-02-2017 | [Alpes] Scale the hills – a relay antenna burned and attempted arson of several vehicles from the Liotard company | “With maps, good preparations, some imagination, gasoline, knives, bolt cutters, candles, land lighters, with our limitations, our fears, and our excitement, with our rage and our determination.” |
| 22-02-2017 | [Marseille] ATM torched in solidarity | “Warm greetings for all those who’ve taken to the streets these past weeks (and before!) to attack the police, the justice system, and everything that more generally spoils their lives.” |
| 12-02-2017 | [Montreuil] A small contribution to the disorder in the 93, in solidarity – arson of a COFELY vehicle (the 93 is the area code of Paris’ north and east suburbs, containing the poorest areas in France) | COEFLY is tied to ENGIE, one of Europe’s largest energy companies, and owner of GEPSA, the state’s favourite private sector partner when running prisons. |
| 12-02-2017 | [Toulouse] Solidarity in feelings and in deeds – an Eiffage backhoe and real estate car burnt | “We targeted Eiffage because it builds prisons, and a random real estate firm because they always poison our lives. […] Whether we know them or not, in France or anywhere else, we show our solidarity in deeds and in emotions when repression strikes those with whom we share a thirst for freedom and the determination to oppose all forms of power […]” |
| 11-02-2017 | [Besancon] Active complicity with the rebels in Aulnay and elsewhere – tags, flat tires, and broken windows for a departmental car | In Aulnay, a young man, Theo, was brutally attacked and sexually assaulted by a group of cops in daylight and on camera. Their attack was met by nights of sustained rioting in Aulnay and other Parisian suburbs and by a large number of solidarity demos and attacks. |
| 10-02-2017 | [Drome] Fiery Solidarity – Two National Front vehicles burnt | “During the night of February 10 […] we burnt two vehicles belonging to the National Front and tagged “dirty fascists” on on their front entrance. |
| 01-01-2017 | [Fresnes and Fleury-Merogis] Solidarity greetings | Midnight surprise demos outside two different prisons. Their chants seemed to be heard on the inside and they could hear people from responding. |
| 27-11-2016 | [Athens, Greece] Banner in Exarchia in Solidarity with Kara Wild | “In the morning of November 25, 2016, we dropped a banner on the Polytechnic School in solidarity with Kara. We don’t give a shit if she’s innocent or not of what she’s accused of. For us, the destruction or burning of police vehicles in France or anyway is not only right, but absolutely necessary.” |
| 04-07-2016 | [Paris] A colourful attack on the Ramponeau police station, in Paris’ 20th district | “Passing by Ramponeau street in the 20tharrondissement of Paris, I admired the streaks of green paint on the local police station. Whether it’s a burning car or a trashed facade, it warms the heart to see the cops taking the beatings.” |
| 18-06-2016 | [Paris] Freedom for the imprisoned demonstrators, rally in Paris at Republic square | Callout |
