tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37255504709646674732024-03-05T08:09:10.393-08:00Phoenix Anarchist History ProjectJon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-18725651708843496912014-11-11T17:48:00.000-08:002015-04-11T19:01:55.778-07:00Wave of Action becoming a common sight on Phoenix's streets<span style="background-color: white;">
Two weeks ago, the Wave of Action's anti-police-brutality march at Civic
Space Park culminated in a flurry of hurled protester flags, police
pepper-spray balls and six arrests. The group's demonstration against
capitalism at Cesar Chavez Memorial Plaza on Nov. 1 drew a thinner crowd
and produced just one arrest. </span><br />
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On Wednesday, members of the <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span> group marched in downtown <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span> to protest a host of issues, ranging from genetically modified foods to police brutality to government corruption. </span><br />
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Dozens of police officers tailed the <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span> arm of Wednesday's "Million-Mask March" on bicycle or monitored the group via watch posts, but the event went peacefully. </span><br />
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The group's philosophy is nebulous, but its demonstrations tend to
follow a common narrative: Events are publicized on social media,
attended by mostly masked 20-somethings and shadowed by a heavy police
presence. </span><br />
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Depending on whom you ask, Wave of Action is either a tribute, an
affiliate, an offshoot or a knockoff of networks such as the
hacktivist group Anonymous or the Occupy movement. Even within <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>, memberships in what some call <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchist</span> groups themselves are fluid, with various organizations continuously appearing and dissipating. </span><br />
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"Someone asked me what their cause was, and I said, 'I'm glad I'm not their spokesman,'" said Sgt. Trent Crump, a <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span> police spokesman. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>
police's community-response squad and the department's Homeland Defense
Bureau have for years monitored similar movements on social media. </span><br />
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Crump said the group seems to be bent on disrupting the downtown area
and prefers to have an audience. The Oct. 25 anti-police-brutality
protest coincided with the city's annual Zombie Walk festival, which
drew more than 10,000 attendees. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
The Nov. 1 event posed less of a threat, Crump said, because there were
no large-scale events downtown that day. But police noticed that one of
the members was provoking others, calling for participants to attend the
event armed. </span><br />
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Seven have been arrested recently -- six at the anti-police-brutality
rally for charges including failure to obey police and obstructing a
public thoroughfare, and one at the anti-capitalism event for an
outstanding warrant from Peoria Municipal Court. </span><br />
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Police said the Oct. 25 event started peacefully enough but soon became a
public nuisance when marchers began entering the roadway, obstructing
traffic and disregarding orders from police. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Alexander Kennedy, one of those arrested Oct. 25, said the police
presence was thin at the movement's earlier marches against police
brutality, which have been happening since the Aug. 9 police shooting of
Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. </span><br />
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He said it's only been since the media spotlight on Ferguson has dimmed that <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>
police began boosting their presence at Wave of Action events. Kennedy
said he's been targeted by police because of his involvement in <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>'s Occupy movement. </span><br />
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Kennedy said he was the only one in his group arrested. </span><br />
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"It was like, 'This guy's an organizer, a known agitator,'" he said. </span><br />
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Crump said the police don't believe the group is necessarily dangerous,
but an inconvenience that diverts manpower from other areas of the city. </span><br />
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The group's Facebook page describes it as "struggling in solidarity with
the global uprising against misery," and features the motto "Destroy
what destroys you." </span><br />
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Participants say there is no leadership structure, per se, and that the
group's Facebook page serves as the most centralized means of
communication. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Anonymous is an international movement that gained notoriety for a
series of cyberattacks against the government and private companies. The
group has since become a sort of social vigilante, targeting
child-pornography sites and Hunter Moore, the creator of the most
infamous revenge-porn website. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
It was the Anonymous brand that organized Wednesday's Million-Mask
March, and the movement served as an umbrella of the various
collectives. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Dressed in the march's standard Guy Fawkes mask, protester T.J. Ammons, a
chef, said Wednesday that he was marching against genetically modified
foods and police brutality. Ammons said he believes a group of people,
regardless of pet causes, can unite to agree that the system is broken. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"The whole idea is, there are too many problems, so now it's just one
collective, so that we can cover all of the bases," he said. "And that's
where people get thrown off. But where does it say that you only have
to march for one idea? Where does it say that you only have to cover one
topic?" </span><br />
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Ammons said he does not align with Wave of Action but participates in
other movements such as Anonymous' "Operation Safe Winter" and marches
against Monsanto, a St. Louis company that is among those that creates
genetically modified crops.</span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
But some say decentralized leadership and philosophies has also bred
infighting amongst the splinter groups and even those within them. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Protesters, ostensibly angry over the same core system, are consistently
at odds over brand messaging and treatment of law enforcement, said
Harvey Donner, a student at Mesa Community College who marched on
Wednesday. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Donner said he was disappointed that so many the marchers were
antagonistic toward police and government. Despite remaining inside
legal boundaries on Wednesday, many of the protesters joined in vague
government-hate chants and taunted nearby police. </span><br />
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</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Donner noted a moment during the march in which a group of people
waiting in line for a concert started cackling at the protesters. </span><br />
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"We're not painting a good message to the people," he said. "My personal
view is that we are at a point where we need to educate the public, and
you can't prove to people that there's a hood over their eyes by
punching them in the face." </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/11/09/wave-of-action-protests-many-mission-unclear/18781889/ </span>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-20167262354079029812009-08-25T03:57:00.000-07:002009-08-25T03:58:56.441-07:00"You Can't Vote Against..." series: Yuppie Takover<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAc6QA7gucoXowmWF93zeJF0PQKLHi1kgIU3fP2-XXV5T2taL8jkocqG-pljYPoRfH-0nodP04oj35t7HynwRO8nsRY2j-ZK4Wusd8TUspVrrZ4XojFlr7zXDR6UpOs9EXgv2wgqvwHg/s1600-h/yuppy.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 259px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBAc6QA7gucoXowmWF93zeJF0PQKLHi1kgIU3fP2-XXV5T2taL8jkocqG-pljYPoRfH-0nodP04oj35t7HynwRO8nsRY2j-ZK4Wusd8TUspVrrZ4XojFlr7zXDR6UpOs9EXgv2wgqvwHg/s400/yuppy.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373853979046143394" border="0" /></a>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-38076657164098499262008-09-01T20:05:00.000-07:002015-04-04T02:40:20.986-07:00McKinley Assassination Celebration!!!<span id="yui_3_15_0_1_1428116598096_1200" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span id="yui_3_15_0_1_1428116598096_1199" style="color: black; font-family: Verdana; font-size: x-small;">Everyone is invited to celebrate the 107th anniversary of William McKinley's assassination on Saturday, September 6th!<br /><br />There will be kickball and a potluck at Mitchel Park, in Tempe, at 4:30 pm. Bring some food and lets have a good fucking time!<br />(bring friends)<br /><br />William
McKinley was the 25th president of the United states, from 1897 to
1901. McKinley was a dirty capitalist who "hoped to make American
producers supreme in world markets". One of the ways he did this was to
push the annexation of Hawaii in 1897. He hoped to americanize it and
establish a naval base. McKinley's ties to capitalism are also seen in
his appointments; he made John George Alexander Leishman, president of
Carnegie Steel, the minister to Switzerland and Turkey.<br /><br />Two wars
were fought while he was in office, the Spanish-American war and the
Philippine-American war, which resulted in the death of almost 300,000
people.<br /><br />He was shot twice by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist.
Czolgosz acted alone and is quoted as saying, "I killed President
McKinley because I done my duty. I didn't believe one man should have
so much service and another man should have none.". He was sentenced to
death.</span></span>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-39874664629085977952007-05-01T06:11:00.000-07:002011-07-10T12:59:53.733-07:00Phoenix May Day 2007 flier<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgjjj7lCvQcbyFFuu_k8IFcjY6XeuiXv00c9NsN8f1U78F_Csn_jRUr8mUQzIm_5Lhd_dbUHoYV8Is-S5j-OBL1E6YvdQ2pQf4ltnsXNH_osVJtaCNyKQWg_jNc2jedEScioG9kZCHLM/s1600-h/mayday2007.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgjjj7lCvQcbyFFuu_k8IFcjY6XeuiXv00c9NsN8f1U78F_Csn_jRUr8mUQzIm_5Lhd_dbUHoYV8Is-S5j-OBL1E6YvdQ2pQf4ltnsXNH_osVJtaCNyKQWg_jNc2jedEScioG9kZCHLM/s400/mayday2007.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5098358367936677842" border="0" /></a>Anarchist flier distributed for the 2007 May Day immigrant march in Phoenix.Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-42340355987820676112006-09-20T18:35:00.000-07:002015-04-04T18:36:07.124-07:00Paradise Valley: Town victim to 11 tags; Police offer $250 reward for informationPolice documented last week 11 graffiti drawings, all including anarchy or peace signs, and believe the vandalism is related.<br />
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Residents in the northern part of town began calling police the morning of Sept. 10 to report red "tagged" walls and power boxes, said Crime Prevention Officer Rick Cookemboo.<br />
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Police are offering up to a $250 reward for information on the graffiti that occurred Sept. 10.<br />
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All reports were north of Mockingbird Lane and most were near the intersection of Doubletree Ranch and Invergordon roads.<br />
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"I don't think there was any rhyme or reason to where they hit," Officer Cookemboo said.<br />
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Police officers believe the tags were not gang-related and possibly just one or more juveniles with paint cans, Officer Cookemboo.<br />
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"We think it is kids because true anarchists would not put a heart next to it (an anarchy symbol)," he said, who added the department plans to put up posters around schools to urge students to report information anonymously.<br />
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Officer Cookemboo works in Paradise Valley classrooms encouraging youth to make good decisions and said he has seen the anarchist symbol sketched on some students' notebooks..<br />
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"Many are using it to show protest to the war," he said.<br />
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Paradise Police Chief John Wintersteen said residents report information to the graffiti hotline, run by the Northwest Phoenix Block Watch Coalition, a group that Paradise Valley donates $500 a year to assist with incidents such as this one.<br />
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Graffiti reports in Paradise Valley are not common, Officer Cookemboo said.<br />
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"Every now and then, we'll get one or two reports a month," he said. "It's not a huge problem."<br />
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For the three years he has worked at the Paradise Valley crime prevention officer, Officer Cookemboo said this is the first suspected string of graffiti reports.<br />
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Phoenix, however, sees thousands of graffiti reports a month.<br />
<br />
William Hogan, neighborhood program coordinator in Phoenix, said the Graffiti Busters team responded to 4,730 reports in Phoenix in July, up from 3,093 the same time last year.<br />
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Mr. Hogan said increased reports in Phoenix were due to both increased graffiti in the area and more residents reporting tagged sites.<br />
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An spike in the Phoenix-are population could also be a contributing factor.<br />
<br />
"We're seeing residents move here from all over the world," Mr. Hogan said. "Unfortunately, some people from other areas think it's OK to graffiti."<br />
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The 11 reported tagged walls and power boxes did not contain any vulgar pictures or language, which are also rare in Paradise Valley, Officer Cookemboo said.<br />
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Mr. Hogan said in Phoenix, graffiti reports range from complex drawings to simple one dimensional.<br />
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<a data-rapid_p="1" href="http://www.newszap.com/articles/2006/09/19/az/north_valley/tpv05.txt" id="yui_3_15_0_1_1428140909783_887" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.newszap.com/articles/2006/09/19/az/north_valley/tpv05.txt</a>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-83309755148634708612006-05-08T19:03:00.000-07:002012-05-22T19:03:49.402-07:00Immigrant who survived murder attempt by nazi, and was then deported, is back in ArizonaPhoenix anarchists supported Martinez and his illegal return across the border. No to all borders and controls on movement.<br />
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Illegal immigrant demonstrates ease of re-entering U.S.<br />
May 8, 2006 09:04 AM EDT Email to a Friend Printer Friendly Version <br />
<a href="http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4872524&nav=HMO6HMaW" target="_blank">http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4872524&nav=HMO6HMaW</a><br />
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An illegal immigrant who was jailed in Arizona and deported to Mexico has since returned to the state. <br />
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It took Efrain Martinez, who spent 42 days in jail for lying to police,
less than a week in late April to be convicted, deported and return to
the country.<br />
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Border officials and immigration experts said such rapid border recrossings aren't uncommon.<br />
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In March, Martinez was accused of shooting at former Mesa council
candidate JT Ready. Ready, a concealed weapons instructor and member of
several civilian border patrol groups, said Martinez fired at him first.<br />
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Martinez has said he never fired a gun at Ready and was misidentified.
He was charged with assault and threatening and intimidation, but those
charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of giving
false information. Authorities say Martinez gave a false name.<br />
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While immigration officials don't keep statistics on illegal re-entries,
most people know that returning immigrants back to the border can
sometimes be like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in the bottom.<br />
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"Every day there are hundreds crossing, and some of those hundreds were
removed a matter of hours before," said Russell Ahr, a spokesman for
Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Once they go right back out into
Mexico, they are out of (this) country's control, so a lot of them turn
right around and try to get back in."<br />
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There is a logical reason for the problem, said Nadia Flores, Texas
A&M University professor and a researcher for Princeton University's
Mexican Migration Project.<br />
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"If the person is deported to the border town, and the person has
nothing, they have no money or they have nowhere to go, the only thing
they can do is to come back," Flores said.<br />
<br />
Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration
Reform, which favors limiting immigration, said some immigrants accept
voluntary repatriation because they know they can sneak back into the
country again quickly.<br />
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"If you weren't just across the border it would be more of a problem to get back," Mehlman said.<br />
<br />
Ahr said Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents typically take
deportees as far as the Nogales checkpoint and watch them walk into
Mexico to make sure they are fully repatriated. Not much stops them from
simply turning around and coming right back, he said.<br />
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As for Martinez, the 33-year-old is unapologetic for being an illegal immigrant.<br />
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All he cares about is moving up the social ladder: Finding a good-paying
job, meeting the right woman, having children. He said he wants to go
to Florida soon.<br />
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"They cannot impede me from trying to have a better life," he said Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-5900176747230458762006-04-24T19:39:00.000-07:002015-04-04T18:36:31.700-07:00Phoenix Anarchists confront "Americans First"Mon, 2006-04-24 09:17 — worker
by Collin Sick<br />
Phoenix Anarchist Coalition
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30 Phoenix area anarchists, many from the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition (PAC) along with members of the Phoenix branch of the IWW, the Boom Box Crew, and Phoenix Insurgent, attended a counter-demonstration, organized by PAC, against the racist "Americans First" demonstration. Marchers met up a half mile down the road, and walked down to the rally site, where over 150 anti-immigrant protesters were already holding their rally at the Mexican Consulate. As anarchists approached nearly a dozen police cars appeared, and the Americans First rally was quickly disrupted by the anarchists shouting and shit-talking, which enraged the anti-immigrant crowd, much to the anarchists' pleasure. The media reached anarchists first, followed by the American Firsters, and finally the police. The groups were quickly separated by 30 Phoenix PD officers, who remained there for the arguing and shouting matches that went on for nearly two hours. No one was arrested, but one participant of the anti-immigrant rally was detained after police learned he was carrying a concealed firearm in his belt. [If we ignore them will they go away?]
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The April 22 demonstration took place at the Mexican Consulate in west Phoenix, on the heels of 200,000 Latinos and working people marching against the criminalization of their class by racist politicians. The protest on the 22nd was organized by JT Ready (photo of JT Ready at the border), a member of the Minuteman CDC, a white vigilante organization that patrols the American border with Mexico aiding the border patrol in apprehending migrants. Ready recently ran for a failed bid for a city council position in Mesa (A city in the Phoenix-metro area), but his candidacy was overshadowed after he opened fire on Efrain Martinez, an undocumented immigrant, who Ready accused of casing his car (For more info on the Martinez shooting, check out this post on Phoenix Insurgent). Ready is one of the most dangerous of the anti-immigrant set, valley anarchists wanted to make sure he felt the heat this time around, many of the signs carried reflected a strong anti-Ready sentiment, with one sign saying "Vote JT Ready: Imperial Grand Wizard 2006!", another sign was in support of Efrain Martinez. Anarchists made sure to catch Ready's attention to heckle him a number of times.
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The Americans First rally followed the typical Minuteman rhetoric, "we don't hate Mexicans, just the twelve million illegal immigrants," "We're not racists, but I'm just tired of no one speaking English anymore." This was an expected aspect of the rally, as valley anarchists have confronted the Minutemen, and related white vigilantes a number of times, what was truly unsettling was the escalation in their rhetoric and their anger this time around. It was such an ugly scene that even reporters and police were shaking their heads. One anarchist overheard a few police officers talking about the anti-immigrant demonstrators, one officer was heard saying "these people are crazy", another responded "I know, it gets worse everytime, more flags this time too." Much of this has to do with the mainstreaming of the Minuteman movement, recently new groups have emerged in Phoenix, such as Mothers Against Illegal Aliens, and JT Ready's Americans First, both groups are busy expanding the anti-immigrant sentiment amongst white working class and lower-middle class whites in the Phoenix area. The border may be where the battles are taking place, but their base of power is in the cities, Phoenix and Tucson in Arizona, San Diego and the Los Angeles area in California.
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Anarchists and "American First"ers were in a variety of heated arguments, some turned into good ol' shit talking and insults (anarchists were great at this) as the American Firsters could not listen. Everytime an anarchist spoke, they were interrupted by "Oh yeah, well what do you know about...(such and such)." It was impossible to have a dialog, and equally impossible to up the level of confrontation due to their much larger numbers, and police protection.
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Phoenix anarchists have been very active over the last few years working with Latino advocacy groups, unions, and grassroots organizations to fight against a number of ballot initiatives, racist politicians, and militia organizations in Arizona. We will continue to advocate for no borders and to confront white vigilantism.
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Read the PAC call to action here:
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Below is an article on the rally from the East Valley Tribune:
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Protesters state views, trade insults near Mexican Consulate<br />
By Shanna Hogan, Tribune<br />
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About 100 illegal immigration protesters gathered Saturday outside the Mexican Consulate in Phoenix in an event organized by former Mesa City Council candidate JT Ready. "The Mexican people have to realize the government of Mexico is a threat," Ready said. "They are corrupt against their own people."
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Ready said the protest was not in response to the immigration rights demonstration earlier this month, where more than 100,000 mostly Hispanic protesters marched to the state Capitol. But some of the protesters who showed up Saturday spoke out against that event. "I look at that demonstration as an attack on our government and an attack on the American people," said Glendale resident Iva Underwood.
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The American government needs to focus on Americans, she said. "I believe charity begins at home," Underwood said. "We've got too many problems within our own country."
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Demonstrators carried signs that read: "Mexico Please Respect Our Laws and Our Border," "Build the Wall," and "Seal the Borders."
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"We hate the illegals, our border should be closed," said Louise Lonsdale of Phoenix. "People need to realize we're being taken over."
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Debates flared between the protesters and about 30 proimmigration activists who showed up to counterprotest.
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One pro-immigration activist, Phoenix resident Eric Malatesta, 32, wore a black handkerchief across his face and waved a sign that read: "JT Ready is a Racist and Trigger Happy."
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"I am here to show solidarity with the immigrants and the poor people," he said. "They insist they are not racists despite the fact that they are a very angry group of white people protesting the Mexican Consulate."
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http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=63877
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http://www.phoenixanarchist.org/
Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-55432126087420029212005-06-19T20:17:00.000-07:002016-03-09T20:17:43.818-08:00The Mothership: Centerpoint Condos and the Real State of Tempe Real Estateby Ken Dahl (printed in <i>Upheaval</i> #1)<br />
<br />
Two Tempe Town Lake penthouse condos recently sold – for more than $2.1
mil apiece. I guess some people just can’t pay enough for the smell of
stagnant, rotten dam runoff.<br />
<br />
And just down the street, something far smellier is wafting in: the
Centerpoint Condominiums are slated to begin construction soon, an event
which will begin the final, brutal assault on whatever shadow of life
still lingers in the woebegone, robocorporate fluff-hole of downtown
Tempe. <br />
<br />
Once built, these luxury “mixed-use” condos will be weighing in at four
towers and twenty-two stories, making them by far the largest
structures in the Tempe landscape. And this won’t be your everyday
block-long cluster of skyscrapers: with units starting at around
$250,000, this is the kind of place even the Jeffersons aren’t likely to
be moving on up to.<br /><br />But hey, look at all the crazy, decadent
rich-person shit you get: in addition to a 1,300-space parking garage
(secured, natch!), residents get access to a wine lounge, a fitness
center, at least two spas, yoga and pilates studios, an “electronic
lounge,” two in-house movie theaters, “deluxe meal[s] cooked by
full-time resident chef Troy Thivierge,” concierge service, and an
“urban beach with sand and shaded patio.” Wow – it’s Beverly Hills in a
box!<br />
<br />
To get a better idea of just how bad Tempe will soon suck for normal
people, here’s Ken Losch, principal of Avenue Communities and one of the
project’s high priests:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>We spent over a year researching and touring more than 200 properties
across North America and there is no other project of this magnitude in
the United States or Canada.... Centerpoint will have a spectacular
international and cosmopolitan appearance, but it will also have a
strong sense of community that is lacking in so many other developments.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Oh sure, it’ll have a “strong sense of community.” Just don’t ever dream
of being a part of this community – that is, unless your idea of home
is hanging out with pedicured, ruling-class caucasian golf enthusiasts
in a fucking country club biodome.<br />
<br />
And hey, maybe if the rest of us are lucky we can get hired at one of
the dozens of Starbucks they’re sure to plant in every corner of the
“exclusive amenity level,” so the yuppie fucks won’t even have to
descend to street level to get their half-decaf skim McLattes.<br />
<br />
All of this is already pretty nauseating; but, if you can stomach it,
try sampling this last little nugget of corporate corpulence:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>In addition, the Valley’s first true urban grocery will encompass the
majority of the first floor of phase one. The 16,000 square-foot
gourmet grocery, deli and café will further connect the residents to
downtown Tempe by offering a service that currently does not exist.</i></blockquote>
<br />
If tears of incomprehension and rage are not yet streaming down your
crumpled face, it is because you haven’t heard that, just down the
street, another condo project (this one a mere 16 stories) has bought
out the Gentle Strength Co-op’s parcel of land. Gentle Strength, of
course, is Tempe’s current “gourmet grocery, deli and café”! But I guess
there’s not much we can say about that now – the co-op’s own management
negotiated the sale of their property to the developers. Thanks, y’all!
Nothing says “community empowerment” like selling out an entire
neighborhood to corporate greed.<br />
<br />
For a better idea of the delusions and hypocrisy this town employs to
justify such a stratospheric level of development, check out what Jan
Schaefer, Tempe’s economic development administrator, had to say about
the oh-so modest and historically sensitive architecture of University
Ave’s Chase Manhattan building (just across the street from the future
Cosmo Building and the Centerpoint Condos):<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>
We knew that they wanted to build a very nice building... The intention
was to look at historic buildings and build something that would mesh.</i></blockquote>
<br />
“Mesh” you say, Jan? Mesh, you flippant, facetious profit-face? Anyone
who has seen the Chase building knows that the only way that
soul-crippling monstrosity could ever “mesh” is if it was stuffed into
the world’s most giant blender with one hundred million Lexus SUVs and
the exhumed corpse of JP Morgan. This is what happens when you live in a
city so eager and willing to sell itself out that it takes real-estate
developers and multinational banking institutions at their word.<br />
<br />
Of course, the sick irony of this is that soon, the entire landscape
surrounding the Chase Manhattan building will be mutated and debased
enough to “mesh” around this one awful building – as soon as these
gentrifying land-pimps and spineless bureaucrats finally get around to
burying the entire rest of our town under identically awful
blue-mirrored peach & teal monoliths. <br />
<br />
This is the future, my friends – and you weren’t invited!<br />
<br />
If you have computer access, this publication strongly recommends that
you educate and enrage yourself about Tempe projects such as the
Centerpoint Condos, the Cosmo Building, and the Chase building. For a
start, check out <http: www.centerpointaz.com=""> and
<http: br="" news="" www.downtowntempe.com="">
index.shtml#1> to get a firsthand look of what our town is going to look like, post-Centerpoint.<br />
<br />
If you’re without access to the web, there’s another easy way to get
information about the Centerpoint Condos: walk down to the parking lot
on 5th & Farmer. On the east side of the lot – right in front of the
patio seating at Z’Tejas – there’s a trailer-sized billboard covered
with advertising for the condos, complete with a giant television screen
playing a continuous loop of a commercial for the project. It’s the
same ad that they show on their website, and it’s playing to passersby
at most times of the day and night.
</http:></http:>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-1241541847936046392005-06-05T20:09:00.000-07:002016-03-09T20:10:43.570-08:00Tempe Fought A Class War, and All I Got Was This Stupid Eviction Noticeby Ken Dahl (printed in <i>Upheaval</i> #1)<br />
<br />
A couple weeks ago – in the middle of a generally low-income
neighborhood and just two blocks from my house – they laid the
foundation for yet another luxury “mixed-use” condo.<br />
<br />
The website for the Merrion Square Lofts
(<http: www.merrionsquarelofts.com="">) claims that the area in
which these “luxury two-story lofts” are located – the northwest corner
of Beck & University – is a</http:><br />
<blockquote>
<br />
<i>dynamic urban setting that has produce [sic] some of the most
sought-after real estate in the city. A magnet for new restaurants, art
galleries, retailers and progressive business [sic].</i></blockquote>
<br />
This description seems a bit flattering if you consider that right now,
Beck Avenue north of University is mostly just a “magnet” for cops...
Oh, wait, you must be talking about Mill Avenue – that place where the
pod people go to consume when they’re homesick for Burbank! <br /><br />The literature sniffs on: <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Refined amenities blend with your own panache for interior design to
create a unique environment that lets you fully express yourself and
your love of the arts.</i></blockquote>
Are you starting to get a hint of the kind of vermin this trap is trying
to lure? Our neighbors will soon be the type of people who use words
like amenities and panache with a straight face. <br />
<br />
The Merrion Square condos also promise, in accordance with your
generously well-endowed pocketbook and bourgeois affectations, a<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
<i>place to dine, dream, entertain, and renew yourself in the company of
like souls. Surrounded by deco-styled accents and comfortable lofts,
provide [sic] all of the elements necessary for the perfect urban home. </i></blockquote>
<br />
Translation: “Don’t worry, folks – we’ve got a strict anti-beaner policy
in this joint!” All this “refined” homeopathic psychofluff just reeks
of LA-variety status obsession – the kind that's both New Age and old as
the crusades. It’s Klan for the kappuccino set. “Renew yourself”? Shit.<br />
<br />
The aristocratic smarm reaches its climax with this passage:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>What attracts people and businesses here is an uncommon desire for a
more active, urban way of living and doing business away from suburban
sprawl, commuter traffic and the responsibilities of conventional home
ownership. Tempe’s lifestyle is about freedom and creative living –
following a path of your choosing.</i></blockquote>
<i>
<br />
</i>“Tempe’s lifestyle”? “Freedom and creative living”? Now we’re
definitely not talking about the same neighborhood. The last time I
checked, people on my block hardly had the “freedom” to walk outside at
night without getting interrogated by the pigs. Most people here are
still hardly even “free” enough to pay their rent on time. They must be
talking about that other Tempe “lifestyle” – the one over by that
artificial new “lake,” in those half-million-dollar “mega-offices”
nobody over here in the real world will ever see the inside of, unless
we’re cleaning out their mega-toilets.<br />
<br />
Please, let’s stop talking about this yuppie rampart like it’s some
kind of summer camp, and see it for what it is: the latest chapter in
Tempe’s ongoing war on the poor. Plain and simple, it’s gentrification. <br />
<br />
<b>The hidden code</b><br />
Some people would make you think that real-estate development is a
complicated economic process – but really, gentrification is easy to
understand if you just learn how to translate the code.<br />
<br />
For instance, the words “redevelop and revitalize” are used frequently
by developers and city councils when they want to whitewash a new
gentrification project. The city government of Tempe even has its own
“Redevelopment & Revitalization Task Force.” Sure, peppy feel-good
verbs like “revitalization” don’t sound like anything worth opposing.
Who could possibly be against vitality?<br />
<br />
But then, don’t they have to tear down existing stores and homes to
“redevelop”? And why do these new, more-vital developments they build
always seem to be priced so that only wealthy people can afford to live
and shop in them? And don’t a lot of these new properties become
secondary homes and “investments” that are likely to sit empty for at
least part of the year? <br />
<br />
Knocking down affordable housing; tearing down trees; paving green
lots; and replacing it all with a bunch of locked, empty, overpriced
rooms – how exactly does this bring vitality to a neighborhood? Does
kicking poor people out of a neighborhood develop it into a better place
to live? Or are redevelopment and revitalization just code words for
plain old destruction, theft, and greed? Who and what is getting
“revitalized” by this process? Who is going to benefit from the
development? Will it be you?<br />
<br />
I guess the answer to all these questions will depend on who you’re
asking – the rich people making money off the new condos, or the poor
people forced from their homes and businesses because of them.<br />
<br />
Now, think about Merrion Square’s “dynamic urban setting.” No one can
really imagine what these words actually mean – but whatever it is, it
sure sounds like fun, doesn’t it? The words are just vague enough to
promise everything and define nothing.<br />
<br />
But notice the word dynamic – what exactly is in motion here? The
answer is, as usual, just money. Poor people are moving out; the rich
are moving in. Take off the PR spin, and in “dynamic urban setting”
you’ll find a more honest, hidden message to the upwardly mobile: It’s
time to invest. It’s a subtle guarantee that property values will
continue to rise – good news for people playing the real-estate market.
Maybe a better way of expressing it might be: “We haven’t yet completely
finished hosing the mud-people out of sight. We’ve kept just enough of
them around to leave a little ‘ethnic flavor’ and a couple of decent
Mexican restaurants. Don’t worry though, you won’t have to actually talk
to any of them – unless you’re telling them how to park your car.”<br />
<br />
As for a Merrion Square’s “lifestyle” of “freedom and creative living” –
well, some people have a “lifestyle” and a “creative living”; the rest
of us can only afford “rent” and a “job.” Do you really think the future
inhabitants of Merrion Square are actually going to hang out with the
people who live in this neighborhood now? Do you think they’re going to
stroll over to the Rollins Food Mart or the River of Life food ministry
to get their groceries with the rest of us? Do you think they’re going
to be buying their socks and wrenches from the 99-cent store? Will they
hit up the Multigenerational Center to check their email, or barbecue
with the ballers at Jaycee Park? Of course not. Cheap food, laundromats
and check-cashing booths – i.e., the plain facts of actual urban life –
just aren’t a part of their “active, urban way of living.” They’ll walk
from their apartment doors down to their secured indoor parking garage,
get in their Escalades (lock your doors kids, it’s a bad neighborhood),
and whisk themselves away to Whole Foods, or the Pottery Barn, or LA
Fitness, or Fashion Square, or wherever other fucking place up in
Scottsdale they go to find “the company of like souls.”<br />
<br />
Of course, the real plan is to bring Scottsdale down to us. And believe
me, they’re closer to doing this than you might think. Look around the
block – have younoticed all the rich-people crap being built lately?
Merrion Square is just one of a whole infestation of gentrification
projects in this town. There’s another on 1st & Beck. There’s that
“Abbey Lane” cluster just above the future Merrion Square, and those
awful new dayglo office buildings on University between Beck &
Hardy. They’re going to build luxury condos on the empty lot at 5th
& Roosevelt. They have big plans for that whole plot of land between
Roosevelt and Wilson below 5th. That “Regatta Pointe” bullshit around
1st & Farmer has almost swallowed up the Sail Inn. And there’s all
those new weird condos just above the “lake.” We’re surrounded, and the
seige has only begun.<br />
<br />
<b>Tempe’s class war</b><br />
Not too many people realize that the word gentrification is just a
synomym for displacement of the poor. The dictionary calls
gentrification “the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the
influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that
often displaces earlier usually poorer residents.” There’s another term
to describe that – class war – and certain people profiting from
gentrification would prefer that you didn’t ever make this connection,
because the building of “luxury” condos is directly related to the
raising of your rent. There is a very real effort, through carefully
chosen words like redevelopment, revitalization, and creative living to
ignore or distort simple facts about the war the rich wage on the poor.
Gentrification is just a continuation of the same old bullshit the rich
have been dealing to the poor since the day they invented the game.<br />
<br />
A couple years ago on KAET, Phoenix city council member Tom Simplot
spelled out the essential requirement for a “revitalized” neighborhood
in unusually plain language: “You gotta have some folk.... Not just
folk. Folk with money.” It’s important to understand this simple point.
For all the rhetoric and cheerleading the profit-heads are throwing at
us, gentrification remains a very simple, cruel economic equation: poor
people out, rich people in. The people that profit from this math
already understand all this very well. They know which side of the class
war they’re standing on. Do you?<br />
<br />
<b>The good news</b><br />
The good news is, the only way these people can keep making money off of
our poverty is to keep us complacent, ignorant, and divided enough to
control. That’s why everyone who lives in Tempe today should take the
time to learn how local real-estate developers work. Learn how to read
the hidden code in their lingo. It might even help to learn something
about the business of real estate itself – property laws, tax
exemptions, market indicators and all that. Sure it’s dull as hell – but
have you ever wondered if there’s a reason why it’s so boring and
opaque? Maybe if the jargon was easier to understand, people other than
developers might start forming opinions of their own about what should
be done with the land they live on.<br />
<br />
The important thing is to get involved, however you can. Push, and see
who pushes back, and how. Gradually it will become much more obvious who
profits from this system, and who pays for it. The veil of lies
covering gentrifications like the Merrion Square McCondo is pretty
flimsy really, and you can see through it best if you read between the
lines of passages like this one, from Merrion Square’s website, where
they take a moment to speak candidly to potential investors:<br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>
The urban rebirth [of Tempe] can most logically be tied to the
investment potential of the area. With the recent announcements of new
construction throughout Downtown Tempe and Phoenix, like the new Hayden
Ferry Lakeside mega office, retail and hotel development, the new
Performing Arts Center on the Lake, new hotels and the Papago Park
Business Center, it’s clear that if general property values go up,
lofts, condominiums and housing values should go up as well, despite
what is happening in today’s stock market. Whether it is the purchase of
a new loft or office condominium, buyers can feel secure in their
investment choice.</i></blockquote>
<br />
Hotels, mega offices, and business centers, oh my! Somebody’s about to
make a lot of money evicting a lot of poor people out of Tempe. Nowhere
in their sales pitch will you find a single mention of anything that
would make life liveable for people who don’t have lots of extra money.
When “property values” go up, small businesses get replaced by corporate
chains. When “housing values” (our rents) go up, we get kicked out of
our homes. This makes way for the yuppie “rebirth” of what was once our
neighborhood, but is now just another vacuum of yuppie condos and
generic sprawl, another concentration of privilege and excess where you
aren’t allowed to live. It’s a process that’s already happened time
after time in this city, and in other cities across the continent. And
it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down today. <br />
<br />
Don’t forget, property is theft – and this kind of crime pays well, if
you’re on the right side of the class war. And what about the rest of
us? No one’s going to invest money in a community garden, or
neighborhood solidarity, or affordable housing for the homeless and
unemployed, or any other facet of human life that can’t be manipulated
and exploited for the sake of a few extra thousand bucks.<br />
<br />
Remember all this the next time you pass by the big sign on Beck &
University, the one hailing the arrival of Merrion Square Lofts. They’ll
try and tell you that they’re doing you a favor by building another
pricey, pretentious condo; that their war on the poor is an improvement
rather than an affront. They’re lying to you. Remember that none of
these people are a part of your community. <br />
<br />
Remember that every last one of these profit-addicted investors and
developers are coming to town for one reason: to make a fortune off of
your poverty. Every last one of them. Everyone who drafted the business
plan for this abberation; every well-intentioned architect; every
weak-minded and naive city planner; every opportunistic investor and
franchise-holder; every real-estate agent and property manager who
stepped on our heads just to grab a little profit. We’ve got nothing in
common with these people, and they’ve got no desire to cut us an even
break. This is war, whether you realize you’re fighting in it or not. <br />
<br />
To the “folk with money,” the people who now live on Beck Avenue – and
in poor neighborhoods everywhere – are just obstacles to their crusade
for endless profit and sprawl.<br />
So when do we start fighting back?
Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-4031044960905252512005-06-01T20:13:00.000-07:002016-03-09T20:15:12.846-08:00The Arizona Counter-Recruitment Coalition Wants YOUby the Arizona Counter-Recruitment Coalition
(printed in <i>Upheaval</i> #1)
<br /><br />
You have fewer civil rights enlisted in the military than you do in
prison. As a detainee, you have the right to test the legality of your
detention as many times as you want – but once you’ve enlisted, you have
no legal right to contest your situation. One-third of homeless men are
veterans. Many veterans are ill with Gulf War Syndrome.<br /><br />Myths
told by military recruiters lead teens to exchange their lives and civil
liberties for promises of college funds, travel and adventure. Here
lies the military’s Achilles heel – if they were given enough
information about the truth of enlistment, most people would never join
the military.<br />
<br />
The Arizona Counter-Recruitment Coalition<br />
The Arizona Counter-Recruitment Coalition (AZCRC) is a group of
students, teachers, parents, veterans, and workers from the Phoenix
metro area who provide information and perspectives to counterbalance
the one-sidedness of military recruiters. We advocate for a society that is
truly secure, through the principles of cooperation, conflict
resolution, and sustainability. We organize to replace the current order
of exploitation, conquest, and domination. We recognize the need to
work with other like-minded organizations, while exploring ways to
connect with those who may initially be opposed to our motives.<br />
<br />
Problems<br />
In the struggle for control over a young person’s life, the military has
the upper hand. Military recruiters have access to a student's personal
information from their school, and they use this information to target
the poor, minorities, the young and naïve.<br />
<br />
They lie and mislead to meet enlistment quotas. Further, they’re about
to be delivered the ultimate advantage: conscription, i.e. a draft,
which will mandate involuntary servitude and provide the military with a
demographic database on an entire generation. After enlisting, or being
drafted, personal autonomy is lost. Instead, it becomes mandatory to
kill and be killed if ordered to do so, and to serve the interests of
corporate elites who value money and power over humanity and life
itself.<br />
Enlistees who are not killed are likely to be maimed and sustain
lasting damage to their physical and mental health. Veterans of war in
Iraq have a special name for their diseases: Gulf War Syndrome. This may
be caused by forced inoculations, and/or exposure to depleted uranium,
which has devastating effects on soldiers, the environment, and the
innocent civilians who live in these war zones.<br />
<br />
The lives of military personnel and the human rights of those who live
within US military targets are sacrificed to keep the world in a
stranglehold of US economic hegemony. Upon returning, soldiers often
bring home the violent culture of war, beating and sometimes killing
their spouses and kids, and suffering the anguish of Post Traumatic
Stress Syndrome.<br />
<br />
Solutions<br />
Students, parents, and teachers must reclaim control of their schools
from the military and work to inform people about the dangers of
militarism. We want to empower parents who wish to invoke their legal
right to withhold their child’s contact information from the military.
We are reaching out to students with flyers and presentations, informing
them of their rights, and helping students create counter-recruitment
clubs on-campus.<br />
<br />
We are continuously seeking teachers and administrators who see a need
to provide a broader and unbiased examination of the military, past and
present, in the world and in their schools. We believe that the
students’ best interests are served when educators teach them to use
critical thinking when presented with the slick marketing campaign that
recruiters use to attract possible recruits. <br />
Lastly, we demand that school administrations provide us with equal
time and space to present our point of view at assemblies and job fairs,
and to place our alternative literature in career counseling centers.<br />
<br />
Alternatives<br />
Security: We believe our society will never be truly secure so long as
we enjoy a much higher level of consumption than the rest of the world,
based on military conquest and exploitation of the poor and the
environment. Only when all people are recognized as free and equal, with
access to affordable education and adequate resources to meet their
basic needs, in ways that preserve a heritage of natural resources for
future generations, can we live in peace and safety.<br />
<br />
Economics: Military recruiters often target economically disadvantaged
young people with promises of college money, job training, and a ticket
out of their financial dead end. Not only are these promises in most
cases misleading, we have found that when given enough information, most
young people don’t feel that the gamble of risking their lives and
long-term physical/mental health is worth the possible benefits.
However, we must acknowledge the lack of local sustainable
community-based economic opportunities that can make “three hots and a
cot” in a battle zone seem tempting. <br />
If we want to build an effective movement to oppose the militarization
of society, we need to seek out, support, and even create more job
opportunities that are truly productive, locally owned and locally
controlled, so that the money generated stays in our community. We also
need to help young people get access to alternative sources of college
money and job training if we wish to successfully challenge the “poverty
draft.”<br />
<br />
Goals:<br />
-Decentralized networking of counter-recruitment groups, including
on-campus student groups who are working to stop military recruitment<br />
-Building draft resistance through education and networking<br />
-A network of support for veterans – one that acknowledges their situation and illnesses due to service<br />
-The repeal of school policies such as the No Child Left Behind Act and
ASVAB testing, as well as the replacement of JROTC programs with
electives.<br />
<br />
Tactics:<br />
-Distributing counter-recruitment literature to those who are targeted by military recruiters<br />
-Speaking at and organizing community events where people can meet
other like-minded individuals interested in military and draft
resistance<br />
-Speaking and tabling at events where our perspectives would otherwise be unheard.<br />
-Demonstrating in the streets to show our frustration and opposition
and to bring pressure on those who support war and recruitment.<br />
<br />
For More Information, Visit Us At:<br />
<www .arizonacrc.org=""><br />
Or Email Us At:<br />
<azcrc riseup.net="">
</azcrc></www>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-57692658314319540562004-11-01T16:29:00.000-08:002015-12-10T16:31:31.018-08:00October 22 summaryRoughly 45 people attended Phoenix's sixth annual march and protest against police brutality held on Friday, October 22 2004. Those gathered, came from both collectives of the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition (the Anti-Power Society from the west valley and the Monsoon Anarchist Collective from the east valley), the Women in Black, and a couple dozen other folks who are just sick of police brutality, met at Patriot's Square Park in downtown Phoenix. A contingent from the police monitoring group Phoenix Copwatch was also present to videotape and document any police brutality or abuse at the demonstration. <br />
<br />
The march left Patriot's Square Park shortly after 5:30 and headed straight to the Phoenix Police Department's main station, just down the street from the Park. The police presence was very light, four red squad cops (Police who spy on radical groups under the guise of acting as public relations for the department), two cops on bikes, a couple of cops sitting in unmarked cars across the street from the park, a police van that kept cruising by the march, and a helicopter briefly hovered over the park. Once the march arrived, the department's front doors were guarded from the inside by a cop and, to discourage anyone from entering, 20 gang task force officers were standing ready in the parking lot across the street from the station next to a row of unmarked cars. The Phoenix cops used this same tactic last year, placing heavily armed cops across the street from the police station and using a few bicycle cops, but keeping most of the bike cops out of the sight of the demonstration and just a few blocks away at all times. Demonstrators called the police out on the killings and brutality in Phoenix, the harassment and repression of anarchists and radicals in Phoenix, and one demonstrator mentioned the 21 year old woman who was murdered by a police officer in Boston after a Red Sox game that week. A couple of marchers overheard one police officer saying "Yeah, there's a bunch of little terrorists out here," as he was exiting the station, word of the insult moved among marchers.<br />
<br />
The march then left the Police station to move to the Madison Street Jail, passing by the crowd of police in the parking lot first, demonstrators chanted "police are the terrorists" and "cops are bin Laden" while flipping off the gang task force thugs, who could only stand by watching as they were mocked and insulted. <br />
<br />
It was important for the protest to end at the Madison Street Jail, a site that is notorious for it's master, Maricopa county sheriff Joe Arpaio, who took jailing and policing in Arizona to new level of scandal and horror. Most recently, inmates at the Durango jail went on hunger strike due to the conditions in the jails, conditions that have led to the Maricopa Count Sheriff's Office receiving warning from the US Dept of Justice and from Amnesty International. The demonstration halted at the steps to the Madison Jail where a handful of sheriff deputies stood keeping watch, the deputies and the jail were quickly denounced by the crowd. Protesters screamed "Fuck sheriff Joe" in unison, along with pro-inmate slogans knowing that the inmates inside would be able to hear the chants inside the jail. The anti-police brutality day ended back at the park where signs and banners were held in front of passing traffic.Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-48711914906814724022004-10-12T20:01:00.000-07:002011-08-31T20:03:33.668-07:00Police: Security will be minor hassle- More than 600 security personnel to blanket areaLaw enforcement officials insist that the more than 600 security
personnel scheduled to be in Tempe for tomorrow's presidential debate
will not have an impact on students.<br />
<br />
ASU police Cmdr. John Sutton said police are not very interested in interfering with students.<br />
<br />
"The biggest impact is going to be some inconveniences related to the
debate," Sutton said. "The main thing is to allow some extra time to get
where you need to go."<br />
<br />
Secret Service <br />
<br />
Special Agent Chuck Wolford, in charge of Secret Service for the
districts of Arizona and New Mexico, said he didn't expect any student
issues except for traffic problems. <br />
<br />
Wolford said the Secret Service has always been charged with the
protection of the president and any persons the president deems warrants
their protection.<br />
<br />
Wolford said Senators John Kerry and John Edwards, their families and some staff members qualify for protection.<br />
<br />
"Our key role has been as a coordinator between the different local and
federal law enforcement agencies," Wolford said. "The closer one gets to
the protectee the more the Secret Service is involved. <br />
<br />
"When you start looking at the inner and outer perimeters of an event you will see other agencies come into play." <br />
<br />
While he would not give specifics about staffing levels or tactical
assignments, Wolford denied rumors that there would be snipers on
buildings around campus.<br />
<br />
"We will have people on rooftops with binoculars looking for anything unusual," he added. <br />
<br />
Wolford said federal agencies like the FBI and the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection Agency will be part of a collective federal
intelligence gathering effort.<br />
<br />
"At this time we haven't seen any indications of a terrorist attack from
an intelligence standpoint," he said. "But we are well prepared for
anything."<br />
<br />
Sky Harbor International Airport spokesperson Julie Rodriguez said
commercial flights would only briefly be restricted from landing while
Air Force One is landing. <br />
<br />
She said the delay would likely take a few minutes as the president's flight is given priority to land.<br />
<br />
Wolford said the Secret Service had issued a notice to airmen clearing
all private air traffic around the debate site, but commercial flights
would not be affected. <br />
<br />
Wolford also said the Phoenix police will be escorting the motorcades
for Bush and Kerry, but he would not divulge their routes to Gammage
because of security concerns.<br />
<br />
Local police<br />
<br />
ASU police will be coordinating the various law enforcement groups from a
forward command center at Tempe High School located at 1730 S. Mill
Ave.<br />
<br />
Tempe police Sgt. Dan Masters said ASU and Tempe police would be joined
by horseback police from Scottsdale and Phoenix and added that Gilbert
police would help with traffic security. <br />
<br />
Masters also said the explosive ordinance disposal unit would be using bomb sniffing canines and robot detection systems. <br />
<br />
The 91st Civil Support Team of the Air National Guard will also be in
Tempe monitoring air quality to detect any biological weapons Masters
said.<br />
<br />
Civil rights concerns<br />
<br />
During the weeks leading to the debate, some students voiced concern
about being searched while taking pictures of Gammage Auditorium. <br />
<br />
Wolford said it would be neglectful for a law enforcement officer to not investigate such activity.<br />
<br />
Sutton agreed and said he hoped that an officer observing someone taking
pictures of the site would go over and politely ask them what they were
doing.<br />
<br />
"It's a situation where we need to ask the question and find out what's going on," he said.<br />
<br />
"We know that terrorists do their homework when they make their plans," Sutton added. <br />
<br />
Sutton said if the students were not doing anything wrong, officers would only take a minute of their time and nothing else.<br />
<br />
Eleanor Eisenberg, the executive director of the Arizona chapter of the
American Civil Liberties Union, said that such activities intruded on
the rights of citizens.<br />
<br />
"We see that as an absolute infraction of peoples' rights unless police have clear evidence," Eisenberg said.<br />
<br />
Eisenberg said she would be holding a "Know Your Rights" forum tonight
at 5 at the Gentle Strength Co-op located at 234 W. University Drive to
help prepare Tempe residents for the debate. <br />
<br />
"Unfortunately, at this point we would advise people around the debate site to obey police orders," Eisenberg said. <br />
<br />
She said in most situations there would only be a moment for
demonstrators to decide whether or not what officers are asking them to
do is legal or in violation of their right to free speech and peaceful
assembly. <br />
<br />
"If they [demonstrators] don't want to be arrested they would be best off if they complied," Eisenberg said.<br />
<br />
Sutton said demonstrators would enjoy their constitutional right to free speech as long as they are peacefully doing so.<br />
<br />
"There is going to be a Speaker's Corner set up on the [Student
Recreation Complex] fields with a platform and a [public address]
system," Sutton said. "It will be an area for people to get their
message out if they want to protest."<br />
<br />
He said people would maintain the right to be by the Gammage security fence, as long as their actions do not break any laws. <br />
<br />
"If officers observe people breaking the law, then they would have to take appropriate action," he added.<br />
<br />
Sutton said the University's Emergency Operations Center would be
operational during the day of the debate. The center, however, would
not be activated unless ASU President Michael Crow or his designated
representative orders it. <br />
<br />
In such an emergency the police command post at Tempe High School would
then be directed by key University officials at the EOC, Sutton said.<br />
<br />
Law enforcement agencies also have been doing their homework on groups they expect to see protest this week, Sutton said.<br />
<br />
"We know what types of tactics that certain groups employ," he said. "We
do know that groups like the anarchists will mingle with other groups
and get them charged up to act in ways they wouldn't normally act." <br />
<br />
Sutton said disruptive groups have been known to fling urine and paint-filled jugs onto police. <br />
<br />
Masters said there would be several hundred mobile field force squad
officers from various East Valley agencies on call to respond if
necessary to a violent protest. <br />
<br />
"These officers are equipped with less-than-lethal ammunition including
gas, ballistic shields and batons in the event of a worst-case
scenario," Masters said.<br />
<br />
Masters said police are equipped to handle a large amount of violent protesters. <br />
<br />
"We have solicited support from the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office,
and we will have the use of several city-size buses to transport and
book anyone who is arrested," Masters said.<br />
<br />
Eisenberg said there would likely be arrests because of the constraints placed on protesters.<br />
<br />
"America used to be thought of as a free speech zone," she said. "Now it's a cage or a lawn."<br />
<br />
<em>Reach the reporter at <a href="mailto:mark.saxon@asu.edu">mark.saxon@asu.edu.</a></em>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-78861391961136437822004-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:002015-12-10T15:29:21.623-08:00Inmate solidarity rally on MondayCALL TO ACTION:<br />
<br />
The Monsoon Anarchist Collective (MAC) calls for a solidarity rally to be held in support of inmates rights.<br />
<br />
WHAT: Maricopa County jails house prisoners awaiting trial or serving sentences of up to one year, and conditions in the jails have been cited by human rights group Amnesty International and the US<br />
Department of Justice as inhumane and unconstitutional. Two weeks ago inmates in Maricopa County's Durango Jail went on hunger strike to take action against the poor conditions prevalent in County jails. <br /><br />
2,200 inmates refused meals to take action against the horrible quality of the food served and to demand that a third meal be served, as only two are served in Maricopa County Jails. In the days following the start of the strike, inmates returned to eating, but a core group continued the hunger strike. The strike has ended now, but the poor conditions of the Maricopa County's jails persist, and, at least, one of the strike organizers has faced harassment and unjust persecution for organizing inmates to stand up for their human rights. Members of the Monsoon Anarchist Collective, Phoenix Copwatch, and Mothers Against Arpaio came together and held a solidarity rally two days after the strike began. We gathered at Durango Jail and received a lot of support from family members and friends of inmates who were going to the jail for visitation, but most importantly, the word was<br />
passed on to inmates by their family members and friends coming to visit them, and letting them know that folks on the outside support their struggle. Come out to the Sheriff's Office on Monday to stand in solidarity with inmates rights and struggles and against the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, their lies and their brutality. <br />
<br />
MAC has three demands to support the struggles of County inmates:<br />
<br />
1. We demand an end to the harassment and unjust persecution of inmates who participated in the Durango Jail hunger strike and the hunger strike organizers.<br />
<br />
2. We demand that the inmates demand of three meals a day be acted upon immediately by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office and that inmates receive a more balanced and healthy variety of food.<br />
<br />
3. We demand that Maricopa County close the Tent City jails immediately due to the brutality delt by the guards upon inmates and the well known and documented flagarent disregard for human rights and life.<br />
<br />
WHERE: 100 W. Washington in downtown Phoenix. Meet at the northwest corner of Washington St. and First Ave. at the Wells Fargo Bank Plaza, where the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office is located. Parking is located on the streets and is metered, as it is a work day it may be difficult to find metered parking space. There is a surface parking lot just east of Patriot's Square Park inbetween Central Ave. and First St., and Jefferson and Washington. The daily rate is $2.00 and is a few minutes walk from First Ave. and Washington where the rally will be held. There are other parking garages around the area and fees will range in price.<br />
<br />
WHEN: Monday, July 12th at 9:30 AM.<br />
<br />
For more info, read Amnesty's report on Maricopa County Jails:<br />
<a data-rapid_p="1" href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/document.do?id=5EA95096ECE9FFC28025690000693391" id="yui_3_15_0_1_1449789804816_844" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/usa/document.do?id=5EA95096ECE9FFC28025690000693391</a><br />
<br />
Contact us at: pac@...<br />
<a data-rapid_p="3" href="http://www.phoenixanarchist.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.phoenixanarchist.org/</a>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-83538537190433578212004-06-24T14:53:00.000-07:002015-12-10T14:55:06.772-08:00CALL TO ACTION: SOLIDARITY RALLY WITH DURANGO JAIL INMATES ON HUNGER STRIKEWHAT: <br />
Are you sick of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and his gestapo goon squads? <br />
Sick of his poor treatment of county inmates and violations of human rights? <br />
Sick of his love of the media spotlight at the expense of human life? <br />
Sick of the tales of brutality and at the hands of his deputies and guards, on our streets and in his jails? <br />
Sick of the cover-ups and lies?<br />
Sick of the two meals a day served in county jails(some of the food unfit for human consumption)?<br />
Are you as sick of him and his policies as the inmates in Durango Jail?<br />
<br />
Durango Jail inmates went on a hunger strike Thursday morning to take collective action against the poor treatment they receive from Sheriff Joe and the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) in the county's jails. The inmates are demanding that the jail serve three meals a day, as it stands, county inmates serve two meals a day, and for some inmates, such as diabetics, that is a dangerously low amount of food. <br />
<br />
If you're sick of Sheriff Joe Arpaio and the Maricopa County's treatment of inmates, then join us, People United Against Joe's Jails, this Saturday at 9:30 AM in front of the Durango Jail in Phoenix.<br />
<br />
WHEN: 9:30 AM, Saturday, June 26<br />
<br />
WHERE: Durango Jail is located on Gibson Lane, just south of Durango St., inbetween 27th Ave and 35th Ave in West Phoenix.<br />
Durango Jail<br />
3225 W. Gibson Lane<br />
Phoenix, AZ 85009<br />
MAP: <a data-rapid_p="1" href="http://www.mcso.org/submenu.asp?file=jailfacilities&map=durango" id="yui_3_15_0_1_1449787431546_899" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.mcso.org/submenu.asp?file=jailfacilities&map=durango</a>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-18998410787860742512004-04-02T16:49:00.000-08:002015-04-04T18:44:19.889-07:00Concert aims to support accused Tempe activistBy Bryon Wells, Tribune<br />
<br />
Since his arrest last year on suspicion of federal weapons offenses, Tempe activist Laro Nicol has amassed a large following of supporters.<br />
<br />
Nicol, a former air traffic controller, was already well-known in Valley peace activist circles.<br />
<br />
Now, typing in Nicol's name on the Google search engine reveals 10 pages of links that exclaim "Free Laro!" and call him a "prisoner for peace."<br />
<br />
Widespread support is found on Web sites for Cop-Watch, a group that opposes police brutality, and other leftist political organizations.<br />
<br />
On Saturday, the Monsoon Anarchist Collective is hosting a benefit concert with local punk, reggae and hip-hop acts for Nicol and Sherman Austin, "a political prisoner imprisoned in Tucson."<br />
<br />
"It's incredible, there's definitely a large level of support for my cause," Nicol said, adding that he lost his job after his arrest, and his family is just scraping by.<br />
<br />
Nicol was arrested March 4, 2003, by agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives on suspicion of unlawfully possessing explosives and unlawfully possessing firearms on the grounds that he is an illegal drug user, court records state.<br />
<br />
Nicol said that much of the government's case against him stems from the statements of an informant who was under threat of arrest.<br />
<br />
A recent motion to postpone Nicol's trial suggests that a plea deal may be in the works.<br />
<br />
"The parties are now actively attempting to achieve a pre-trial resolution," court records state.<br />
<br />
Nicol said he believes his political leanings and past involvement in CopWatch had something to do with his arrest, facilitated under the USA Patriot Act.<br />
<br />
"I have a family. I was not out there raising hell," Nicol said. "The government intrusion is so pervasive that no one is safe from it anymore. With as little as an informant's statement, boom, I was raided."<br />
<br />
If Nicol ends up behind bars, his family will need help, and that's where the benefit show comes in. Proceeds will help Nicol's family and Austin, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to a year in prison in Tucson on charges related to publishing information about explosives on his Web site.<br />
<br />
Activist fund-raiser<br />
What:Benefit concert featuring Bodhisattva, Financial Panther, Joey G, Kitch Kitchen, Queen, Mohammed, FNX Underground & Ill Phonix, Yavin 4, Kindread<br />
When: 6:30 p.m. to midnight Saturday<br />
Where: Kid's Place, 1245 E. Broadway Road, Phoenix<br />
Cost: $5 suggested donation at the door<br />
<br />
www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=20285Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-9275256173705817042003-05-02T16:18:00.000-07:002015-04-04T18:41:27.320-07:00Tempe May Day 2003 analysisby Heather Ajani
<br />
On May 1st, activists and anarchists from around Arizona met in Tempe to celebrate <a href="http://workers.labor.net.au/51/c_historicalfeature_may.html">Mayday</a>. The crowd, which consisted of approximately 85 participants made their way down 5th street chanting, holding signs and banners for neighborhood onlookers to see as they made their way towards Mill Ave in downtown Tempe.
<br>
The celebration took shape on Mill Ave. as participants took to the sidewalks, targeting corporate business and consumers. Anti-corporate and anti-police chants were shouted by the crowd as they confronted businesses such as Urban Outfitters, Hooters, and Borders Books. As the group circled Tempe City Hall, an onlooker with the protest heard police say they were "targeting for 8 o'clock."
<br><br>
Onlookers stood and watched not sure of why folks were out "protesting." One man said that he thought the "whole thing was retarded..I don't know why they [Mayday participants] are protesting the war, I was in the military for two years and I love my country." When the event was explained to him, he exclaimed, "well it's still retarded, even if it's not an anti-war march."
<br><br>
Mayday celebrants headed up and down Mill Ave. as police blocked crosswalks and followed the march on bicycles. As the celebration headed south on Mill around 8pm, the police began to encircle the crowd, which kept moving along Mill Ave. as a police SUV blocked traffic as a muffled speaker warned protesters to stay "off of the street and the sidewalks."
<br><br>
As the crowd continued to move, police moved further into the crowd, charging with horses as foot police grabbed one woman with a bullhorn at 8:03pm as the march was in full swing. The woman, was charged with "obstructing a public thoroughfare" by Tempe police, though she was in the center of the crowd. None of the surrounding participants were cited or taken into custody.
<br><br>
As a result of the arrest, several people were assaulted and or injured by Tempe police officers, including two female Phoenix Copwatch members who were acting as legal observers. Another woman's glasses were broken and a man suffered a foot injury as a police horse trampled over his foot.
<br><br>
Police attempted to further control the situation by pointing pepper spray canisters into the crowd, though at one point during the march a police officer told an IMC reporter that they [the police] were not prepared to use any chemical weapons. It was apparent that the police were disorganized as various officers reprimanded each other for failing to control the crowd throughout the evening, via verbal shouting and through radio communication.
<br><br>
In spite of the one arrest, the crowd continued to move along unfazed for the next forty-five minutes. Police, which greatly outnumbered the march participants, continued to follow the group as they made their way back to their vehicles after the activities ended. The evening ended without further arrests, though the police continued to monitor the park that had been used as the convergence point earlier in the day.
<br><br>
Mayday is a labor holiday celebrated world-wide, excluding the U.S., who changed the observance of Labor Day to September, after several factory uprisings, such as the <a href="http://flag.blackened.net/revolt/about/mayday.html">Haymarket Square</a> riots in Chicago, at the beginning of the 20th century.Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-73992215576863287732003-03-22T12:53:00.000-08:002015-04-04T18:44:40.854-07:00Extra security for protest: Anti-war activists question police planSusan Carroll<br />
The Arizona Republic<br />
Mar. 22, 2003 12:00 AM<br />
<br />
PHOENIX - Police will beef up security for a war protest this weekend, spurred by concerns about a small group of radical protesters who they say have crashed peaceful demonstrations across the Valley.<br />
<br />
"Locally, the majority (of protesters) are very peaceful," said Phoenix police Lt. Jeff Halstead. "We have a small contingent of people who want to show up and cause trouble for us, but we are prepared for that."<br />
<br />
The "troublemakers" typically turn out in groups of five to 30 and cover their faces with bandannas to shield themselves from pepper spray and other less-than-lethal weapons, police said.<br />
<br />
But many peaceful demonstrators have questioned police tactics at local protests.<br />
<br />
"We are concerned that the police presence may actually be causing some of these problems," said Marty Leiberman, a member of the American Civil Liberties Union. "Ninety-nine-point-nine percent want to peacefully protest to make their point."<br />
<br />
The concerns stem in part from the March 8 arrest of seven protesters, an incident that activists and police described differently.<br />
<br />
To avoid such conflicts in the future, police have met with activist groups and ACLU members to work out plans to keep protesters safe and orderly and avoid arrests.<br />
<br />
Police are offering tips for protesters to get their message out without getting arrested:<br />
<br />
• Avoid crossing against traffic lights.<br />
<br />
• Do not block access to roads.<br />
<br />
• Do not lock your body to a fixed object, such as a tree, sign or bench.<br />
<br />
"They can still show their support for peace . . . without violating any of our state laws," Halstead said.<br />
<br />
Sue Hilderbrand, an organizer with Arizona Alliance for Peaceful Justice, said demonstrators plan to stay on the sidewalks near 24th Street and Camelback during a 48-hour vigil for peace that starts at 10 a.m. today.<br />
<br />
"As long as we stay on the sidewalk, we won't get arrested," she said. "Our goal is to be very visible at the intersections. It's all very legal."<br />
<br />
Hilderbrand said the police presence has raised questions about protesters' ability to freely question the war in Iraq.<br />
<br />
"Since September 11, any sort of dissent has been considered putting America and the American government down, that we're criticizing the government," she said. "And that's not what we're doing. We're being as patriotic as anyone could possibly be because we're expressing ourselves. If we're not allowed to dissent, to question our government, then the terrorists have won."<br />
<br />
<br />
Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8543.<br />
<br />
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0322phxprotest22.htmlJon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-4868118100178083172003-02-16T12:40:00.000-08:002011-07-10T12:43:37.326-07:003000 march on Phoenix streets to demand peaceBy Dennis Welch<br />and Tracy Kurtinitis<br />East Valley Tribune<br /><br />Thousands of banner-waving demonstrators, energized by musicians and political speakers, took to the streets of downtown Phoenix Saturday to challenge America's countdown to war with Iraq.<br /><br />The peace rally was part of a world-wide series of protests denouncing the looming conflict in the Middle East.<br /><br />The day started at 10 a.m. with heavy clouds over Patriots Square<br />Park as nearly 3000 people assembled near Washington Street and Central Avenue for a speakers' rally before marching into the streets.<br /><br />The crowd included a diverse group of college students, senior citizens, anarchists, Christians, Muslims, doctors and construction workers. They sang, waved signs that criticized President Bush's foreign policy, and expressed sympathy for the Iraqi people.<br /><br />"I'm for peace," said Dr, David Willbirt of Tempe. "This is the personal agenda for a few people who want to control the oil supply."<br /><br />The Rev. Scott Ritchy, a minister at the Scottsdale United Methodist Church, was the first to address the protesters and drew loud cheers from the crowd when he proclaimed "war is not a family value."<br /><br />Alfredo Gutierrez, a former Democrat candidate for governor, finished the ally by declaring the Bush administration has presented no compelling reason for war.<br /><br />Not everyone who attended the rally agreed with the speakers' agenda. A group of about 20 people gathered on the north side of the park to support the president's policy towards Iraq.<br /><br />"I believe in the rights of the Iraqi people," said Greg Iannelli, 21, of Gilbert. "We are the most powerful nation and we can't just sit back and do nothing."<br /><br />His roommate, Eric Sprattling, added, "Saddam Hussein is a dictator who has no right to sit on the world's oil supply."<br /><br />After the rally, protesters marched about 2 ½ miles along the streets of downtown Phoenix as police closed some intersections to traffic. A contingent from the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition dominated the parade front, wearing all-black clothing and dark bandanas covering their faces.<br /><br />Beating drums, the crowd chanted antiwar slogans with obscene phrases and wrote statements in chalk on the pavement.<br /><br />Don Clouse, a photographer from southeast Phoenix, held an American flag upside down with white gloves.<br /><br />"It's a symbol of distress," the 61-year-old said. "I think our country is in a state of distress."<br /><br />Clouse said he wore the gloves because he didn't want to show disrespect to the flag.<br /><br />Phoenix police in riot gear were deployed in large numbers and attempted several times to divert the demonstrators from their planned route. At First Avenue and Roosevelt Street, officers blocked the intersection with motorcycles and bicycles as they tried to direct the crowd east toward Central Avenue.<br /><br />After a brief pause, the crowd pushed past the make-shift barricade and continued north.<br /><br />One anarchist waving a black flag led the protesters as they continued to ignore police instructions at two more street corners and ended the march where they planned – in front of a military recruitment center at First and Washington streets.<br /><br />As officers stood in front of the recruitment center, angry protesters called for an end to the "police state".<br /><br />"Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but some day we will shut you down," one man said.<br /><br />Authorities arrested six people outside the recruitment building for undisclosed reasons.<br /><br />Most of the demonstrators returned to Patriots Square Park for more speeches and music. But about 25 people danced and taunted police officers near the corner of Washington Street and Central Avenue. Police in riot gear tried to push the group north onto Jefferson Street.<br /><br />However, most refused to budge and chanted antiwar messages as motorists beeped their horns and flashed peace symbols.<br /><br />"The story here really is that there is this outpouring of protest for a war that hasn't even started yet," said Barry Vaughn, 38, a philosophy and religious studies professor at Mesa Community College. "Wait until you see the public outcry once young Americans come home in coffee cans because thy had to be cremated in Iraq due to the risk of biological contamination.<br /><br />Gary and Christine Guerin, who marched with their basset hound, Archie, said they participated in rallies in the late 1960s that opposed the Vietnam War and supported the civil rights movement. The Guerins said Saturday's protest was subdued by comparison.<br /><br />"It's a lot less radical," Christine Guerin said.Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-42029725580372357262003-01-02T16:19:00.000-08:002015-11-19T16:19:42.589-08:00Report on INS Demonstration on December 27Over 50 people demonstrated at the Phoenix INS building in late December to express their anger at the racist terrorism of the government's recent detentions, harassment, and forced registration of Arab, Persian, and Muslim men and boys in Los Angeles. Members of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), Phoenix Anarchist Coalition (PAC) and the Arizona Alliance for Peaceful Justice attended the rally along with other concerned individuals. <br />
<br />
Demonstrators marched south from the INS building on Central to McDowell to spread out and cover the four street corners with signs, posters, and banners. The Phoenix PD's political police were in tow <br />
as usual, with two cops following the march, and three others standing across the street observing the participants. <br />
<br />
The demo ended without any trouble from the cops, even though they had a line of INS cops lind up outside of the building. The demo was organized in only a few days and brought muslims, arabs, anarchists, and anti-war activists to oppose the racist, fascist scare tactics of the INS and the US government, we need to continue to be in the streets opposing the rich and powerful and fighting for freedom. <br />
<br />
FREE ALL DETAINEES, FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! <br />
<br />
Anarchists Against War and TerrorJon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-76275750197172527422002-12-24T15:27:00.000-08:002015-11-19T16:21:23.210-08:00Demonstration at Phoenix INS this FridayPlease forward widely to interested anarchists and anti-authoritarians.<br />
<br />
On Friday, December 27th, at 3:30 p.m., there will be protest outside of the INS building in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, to show support for the Arabs and other Muslims who have suffered since September 11th, at the hand of the INS and elsewhere, and to protest the policies of the INS towards them, especially following the recent detentions in Southern California. We need all people concerned with the unjust and inhuman treatment of people to come out and tell the INS that their racist, nationalist, and anti-Arab policies must come to a halt!<br />
<br />
In the past week we have seen the detention of approximately 600 men and boys who were attempting to follow the directive of the INS and register for a database to track the movements of all immigrants and foreigners in this country. The penalty for nearly a quarter of the people appearing at he INS offices in Southern California was incarceration. These men faced freezing, cramped, standing room only cells, with few necessities. In many cases they were not allowed to contact their loved ones or lawyers. One man begged a nurse for access to medication for a potentially fatal disorder and was refused any access to a doctor or treatment. Although most of the men were released after a week, some of the men targeted are now facing deportation. The INS has blamed the victims of this tragedy, claiming that because the agents didn't have enough time to process all of the men in time for their own deadline, and that this warranted their detention. Many of the men arrested did not know they were supposed to report to the agency until very near to the deadline, and some arrived on the last day only because they hadn't known to arrive earlier. <br />
<br />
This process is not yet over. There is a Jan. 10 deadline for more than 7,000 males from 13 countries<br />
to register, and another deadline for Saudi Arabians and Pakistanis on February 21st. We must not sit and let the treatment of these people be the same as that encountered by the Iranians and others. <br />
<br />
Last week's detention of Arab and Muslim men and boys is inexcusable. We must respect the rights of all people to move and travel freely, to flee oppressive situations and to the freedom to move and start anew. No one should be shamed or punished for simply existing somewhere, without ever harming another. We must also resist scape-goating and racist action against any community. No person should be punished for their ethnicity, country of origin, race, gender, or religion!<br />
<br />
We can see these recent events are a part of the government's anti-immigrant hostility, which was<br />
intensified by the events of September 11. The arrests, extended incarceration, and brutality faced<br />
by immigrants in 2001, the passage of the PATRIOT Act, and these recent detentions are only a few facets of the xenophobia and racism faced by newcomers to this country. We can find similarities to the intense INS and vigilante control of the border, targeting Mexicans and others from the Americas, which has caused so many deaths and too much pain. We all recognize that the way to stop "terror" will be to stop the government from terrorizing right now. We must all stand together to oppose the INS and the US government's racist strategies. <br />
<br />
We call to anarchists and anti-authoritarians everywhere to reject these racist, nationalist persecutions. This is a time to stand up against the INS and make sure they are aware that we aren't going to take their crap anymore. <br />
<br />
Support free passage for people everywhere! For a world without the INS, for a world without borders!<br />
<br />
FREE THE DETAINEES, FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!<br />
<br />
Meet on the 27th of December at 3:30 pm at the Phoenix INS Building (2035 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004), which is north of McDowell. All who oppose these hateful detentions and all who support human rights should feel welcome to attend. <br />
<br />
For more information, please contact Anarchists<br />
Against War and Terror at <a data-rapid_p="1" href="mailto:againstallwar@..." id="yui_3_15_0_1_1447974478610_1221" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">againstallwar@...</a>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-20149667801878385672002-11-07T19:04:00.000-08:002015-04-11T19:20:56.297-07:00Local anarchists unite to build 'freer society' <span style="background-color: white;">
The weekly meeting of Monsoon <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Anarchist</span> Collective in Tempe begins a little late. <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Anarchist</span> time, someone jokes. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
The perception of <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span> has long been of loners who hate government and break laws, an image fueled by protests and arrests here and around the world. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Getting arrested for a good cause is a badge of honor, local <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span>
say, and they are anti-authoritarian. But, they add, overthrowing
capitalism requires organization and cooperation. So, the 25 men and
women sit in a circle of chairs at Gentle Strength Cooperative's
community room and run the meeting by consensus, not Robert's Rules of
Order. They congenially discuss plans to distribute clothing and food to
the homeless; advocate for political prisoners; protest; screen
T-shirts with <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchist</span> slogans. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"For so long, ever since the 1920s, the general sentiment among <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span>
had been this time is not our time. ... Maybe this time is our time to
do something," said Terry Hughes, a Tempe resident and herbalist. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
About 70 people across the Valley are active in the <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix Anarchist</span> Coalition, a group that includes the Monsoon collective and the West Valley's Anti-Power Society. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span class="hit" style="color: black;">Anarchists</span> and organizations with an <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchist</span>
framework, such as Earth First!, Anti-Poverty Coalition and Food Not
Bombs, have increased in number and are more connected than ever in
Arizona. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Across state lines, <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span> have formed the Southwest <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Anarchist</span> Network. Also, a conference will be held in Arizona next spring, and in Tempe, a <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix Anarchist</span> Coalition center is being planned.
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
They are serious about change, as serious as the union organizers rooted in <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchist</span> ideals who were responsible for securing the eight-hour workday. Despite that, people can't get past stereotypes, the <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span> say. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"They see protesters and they see angry, young protesters, and that
translates into not a legitimate form of organization," said Kate James,
22, a Tempe resident who works in a medical office. She's a
third-generation Arizonan and one of the few college students. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
The <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix Anarchist</span> Coalition organized about two years ago, after some <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span> were arrested on May Day, the international workers rights day, during a protest in <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
In recent years, protests against the World Trade Organization and the
International Monetary Fund in Seattle and Washington, D.C., have
brought out thousands and energized the movement, said Brian Tomasi, 28,
a writer and musician in Tempe. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Everyone may come to anarchism from a different perspective, and
coalition members don't agree on everything. They are finding a common
goal, though, as more people connect to their ideals.
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"People have realized that the tactics of the '60s and '70s have not
worked to change our world for the better, so people are exploring other
tactics," James said. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Their structure mimics what they want to create: A society without
hierarchy, without White supremacy, without patriarchy, without
capitalism, without majority rules or minority rules, with no rule of
anyone over anyone else, they say. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"They think <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span>
are a bunch of chaos freaks and that we want to go around and smash
everything when really we want to get rid of corruption," said Kat
Mayes, 20, of <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
For Columbus Day, Tomasi, James and 19 others went to Denver, where they protested with <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span>
and Native Americans against the racism of the parade, they said. They
carpooled and slept in sleeping bags at a community center provided by <span class="hit" style="color: black;">anarchists</span>
there. The trip cost less than $50, including gas, which is why they
could go. Most work in retail or office jobs and don't make a lot of
money. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"There's a tension between wanting to put food in our mouths and wanting
to build a freer society, but in the end, I'm committed to a freer
society," Tomasi said. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
When they distribute clothing, and sometimes food, to the homeless in downtown <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>, they spread out the clothes on their cars and homeless men and women stop and pick out clothes and sometimes take literature. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Police always stop to talk to them and suggest they donate the clothes
directly to the shelters. They tell the police they'd rather do it
themselves. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
Detective Tony Morales of the <span class="hit" style="color: black;">Phoenix</span>
Police Department said that police officers have a low opinion of
people who intend to break the law. Citizens have a right to protest
peacefully, he said, but if they break the law, they will be arrested,
he said. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"There are people who are professional protesters, nothing better to do
than travel around the United States and do that," he said. "That's
their thing and they are certainly free to do that, but when they cross
the line ... . </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span><span style="background-color: white;">
"If they think that's a good thing, then OK, but you're the one who's going to sit behind bars in some nasty jail, not me."
</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">
</span>
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-88672244483129822752001-12-30T17:45:00.000-08:002011-07-10T12:45:34.022-07:00Glendale Police Brutality March Report<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">by Brian T.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Sun Dec 30 '01</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Article describing the 12/19 march against police brutality in Glendale. Includes background, the march and my experience assisting in the organizing with the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition. Another version, including critique and analysis, will appear in the zine, "Necrotic State". </span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Members of a largely immigrant Glendale community battling police brutality, other victims and families of victims of police brutality, the Phoenix Anarchist Coalition (PAC), the Arizona Anarcho-Punk Federation, Phoenix Copwatch, North Phoenix Anti-Racist Action and the Phoenix Industrial Workers of the World joined together for a march through downtown Glendale and a Know Your Rights Forum on Wednesday, December 19th, the one-year anniversary of an early morning police raid which left 23 young men arrested. The day was also coincidentally the one-month anniversary of another police shooting in nearby Peoria in which the cops killed an unarmed man when he reached for a cell phone.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Phoenix Anarchist Coalition members first met the Glendale families at last year's Martin Luther King, Jr. march. The families had taken over a hill overlooking the event, carrying huge banners and signs denouncing the Glendale police as racist brutalizers. A conversation was begun there, and the families were eager to talk about what had happened to them. Over the course of the next year, several PAC members went across town to hear their stories and to offer any support that was needed. Despite some difficulties in communication because of the lack of Spanish speakers within our group, a special effort was made to keep in touch with these families to stay on top of developments and then, when this year's October 22 police brutality march was planned, the families were invited. We were definitely aware that it was up to us to be relevant to their struggle, not the other way around. Happily, they came and spoke at several points along the march, bringing with them the most passionate speakers and the most wonderful banners.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The stories that the families told were brutal ones indeed. In a series of early morning attacks, officers of the Glendale Police Department (GPD) simultaneously raided 23 homes in Glendale, serving warrants on sons and brothers who were alleged by the GPD to be members of the Califas gang. The families vehemently deny this allegation. Instead, they complain about a pattern of harassment in which the GPD intimidated, categorized and photographed their sons based on a very loose set of gang criteria: they were effectively tried and convicted by the police merely because of their income, skin color and who they knew.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">When the police came, they blew down doors with explosives and charged into the houses with overwhelming force, including automatic weapons, surprising many of the residents in their pajamas and underwear. In one case, the GPD lay in wait outside a home and arrested two brothers as they left for work in the early morning, down the street, then waited for their father to leave as well. Then, when the house was almost empty, the police charged the door, knocking hard without declaring themselves. Thinking that one of her sons had forgotten something, the mother of the two newly arrested young men made her way towards the door with a small child in her arms to open it. Mere moments after knocking, the GPD set off explosive charges which blew the door to smithereens, sending pieces of the metal hinges and doorknob flying through the air like shrapnel. But for a second or two, this woman would certainly have been killed or seriously injured - the doorknob flew through the air, through the wall and into an adjoining bedroom from the force of the explosion. As a result, this family was left without a door in the middle of December. All the families, including small children and pregnant women, were held at gunpoint while police armed with automatic weapons ransacked their homes and arrested many young men. Police were rude,</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> aggressive and uncooperative when residents asked to see warrants or for explanations. Eventually 25 young men were arrested, and 22 of them still sit in jail one year later.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">The attorneys for the police have pressured the young men while in jail to take plea deals. One sixteen year old boy who took a deal has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for illegal possession of a handgun. Gus, the father of one of those still in jail and one of the neighborhood organizers characterized it this way: "They [Glendale police] are pressuring these kids to sign plea bargains. They [the young men arrested] are not killers. They are not terrorists. Is this the law? Is this the civil rights for the United States? This is like Gestapo! They [Glendale Police] don't respect anything."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As if that weren't bad enough, there is also some evidence that the GPD orchestrated this raid as a way to justify a new Federal anti-gang task force grant it was applying for. Two weeks after the raid, Glendale was approved for the money. Not that we should be surprised by this, but it certainly casts the GPD in a truly shameful light.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">A few weeks after the O22 march, the Glendale families decided that they wanted to have a march of their own on the anniversary of the police attacks. Explaining why, Gus said, "It has passed one year, but it still hurts me and the Mexican community. They do not need to commit police brutality. We still remember. That is the reason that we march. I will never forget what they did. It was four months of investigation and we have been waiting one year for evidence. Do you think it's fair? I don't think it's fair."</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">PAC members were asked to assist in the planning, and so a hurried series of meetings took place in which anarchists and neighborhood residents decided cooperatively on a route, on a press release that was written and faxed out, on inviting groups, and on designing flyers to distributed in both english and spanish. Once this was done, PAC mostly focused on getting out anarchists to the march. However, on one of the flyer distributions we assisted in out in Glendale, two Glendale neighborhood residents and two PAC members hit up shoppers at a local grocery chain and another nearby westside neighborhood that had recently seen an unarmed man shot and killed by police after reaching for a cell phone, leaving his young girlfriend widowed and their 2 month old baby without a father. When we got there, I was disturbed to find that it was a neighborhood in which I had spent a lot of time as a younger punk. I'd spent probably three or four days a week hanging out just a block from where the shooting happened. It was a mixed working class white and hispanic neighborhood.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">While handing out flyers, two interesting things happened. First, through asking around, the house where the young man lived was located. We knocked but no one was home and so we left Copwatch literature, along with a note expressing sympathy, information on the march and a contact number. We knew his girlfriend would be grieving, but we also knew that this was an issue she would have a personal connection to. We were a little unsure if this was appropriate or not, but, not having any other ideas, we did it anyhow. A few minutes later, while handing out flyers in the same neighborhood, about two blocks away, we ran into a man whose sister was now taking care of half a dozen kids orphaned when a mentally ill woman was shot and killed by police on May 1, last year. Most of us remember this event clearly because it came on the same day as our local May Day march in which 11 people were arrested.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As part of its new strategy, Copwatch, a group I am involved with, had decided to increase its patrols of this neighborhood, and the week before the march there was a patrol in which the Glendale police stopped one of our cars after we pulled over to observe a stop. The cops were ticketing a hispanic man for a broken headlight at a corner gas station. After being detained for 20 minutes, it turned out that it was just a bad fuse. At one point the man, explaining to the cop, reached out and kicked the headlight - it came on immediately. Too late - he was still ticketed. While we were there the cops called out a bunch of unnecessary backup, including a sergeant, who promptly came up to us like the big man he is to tell us what we could and could not do (as if we don't know). He told us we made the cops nervous by the way we pulled up on the scene. When the stop was over, we drove off, only to be pulled over a few blocks down the road by a cop car that had immediately swung in behind us after we left the gas station. The officer who pulled us over demanded to know who Copwatch was, what it was doing, where it was based and various other information. When we were released, an unmarked car followed us out of</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Glendale. Clearly, the Glendale cops are nervous about being watched.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">When the day of the march came, everyone gathered on a street corner downtown. About 80 to 100 people eventually showed up and the march moved out. Copwatch shadowed the march, sporting their trademark orange shirts with cameras in hand while we proceeded down the street towards the police headquarters, stopping periodically to show the beautiful banners made by the Glendale families. The cops were trying to play nice by stopping traffic for us. People were generally very supportive, and many honks from passing cars followed us as we marched thanks to a "Honk if you hate the police" sign. At this point I'd like to make a critique of the way the march proceeded. Probably unconsciously the march had segregated, with mostly white anarchists up front and mostly non-white folks at the back. This was particularly distressing because it was not the anarchists' march. Several people tried consciously to remedy this and by the time we left the police station, the march mixed up more, although some anarchists continued to take the lead, which I found distressing, since our role was to be</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">supportive and not co-optive.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">I was also a bit distressed by the number of anarchists wearing masks on the march. While I recognize the utility of masks, and have worn one on many occasions, this particular time it seemed inappropriate. For me, although I had a mask, I opted not to wear it for two reasons. First of all, I was just so impressed that these people could stand up, without masks, and denounce the very cops who had brutalized them that I just couldn't justify hiding my identity. How sad would that be if I, not even a resident of this community, and being white, felt I had to hide my face, despite all my privilege, while these people with so little and who had been so recently victimized refused to do likewise. Could I, despite being a victim of police brutality myself, honestly say I was in more danger than these people were? My answer was clearly, no. In fact, many times in front of the HQ I heard residents demand that the cops show themselves and come out of the building, chastising them as cowards for not doing so. Hiding behind a mask at that point seemed insupportable to me. Secondly, the Glendale cops were not filming the march, unlike they were in Phoenix at O22 or Mayday. So, even strategically, it made little sense to conceal my identity. I was glad to see most anarchists going unmasked, though. I was also glad to see most of the anarchists playing supportive roles and taking their lead from the residents themselves about what was appropriate behavior.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Eventually we reached the police station. The bullhorn was passed around as people spoke, denouncing the police. A few cops guarded the building's entrance and were treated to condemnations from one angry resident after another. It was mostly women who spoke, often shaking with emotion, screaming about their sons' situations and the fascist, inexcusable behavior of the cops. About 20 people spoke, probably more, each followed by supportive applause from those assembled. The most moving part for me was when the sister of one of those incarcerated stood, a few feet from the cops, screaming, "My brother got ten years for having a gun in our house! How much time are you guys going to get for bringing your guns into my house and pointing them at us?! How many years are you going to get?! Fuck you!"</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Another inspiring moment came when it was revealed that the girlfriend of the man shot with the cell phone had come to the march. She had called our house the night before the march asking about it. She brought with her their small baby and a photograph of her boyfriend. Shaking tearfully, she told her tragic story. When she was done, one of the anarcha-punks rushed up to comfort her and the two embraced. The cops stood there without expression, unmoved. More peeked from behind the glass doors, cravenly taking in the scene on the street.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">After about 20 or more minutes of loud denunciations, while some of the media took pictures and filmed (only one</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> english-language media outlet bothered to come - the rest were all spanish-language), we began to move out. Suddenly, however, half the march stopped and started running back to the entrance. One of the cops had gone inside, apparently, and a group of people started chanting, "Chicken! Chicken!" over and over at him. This continued for a while, along with a few more angry words from demonstrators. Eventually, though, the march moved out again.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">As we headed down the street some of the residents moved into the streets. Following their cue, so did some of the anarchists. The cops were busy blocking off streets and one lane of traffic. This continued off and on for a little while until we reached the library and turned around, heading back along the other side of the street. The police ignored it, unlike on Mayday where they attacked us, armed to the teeth. There were some attempts to get some chants going, but it was difficult. One failing is that during the actual march the bullhorn was rarely in the hands of the residents. At the stops it was, but in between it wasn't, most of the time. Further, we hadn't prepared any spanish-language chants, and neither had the families. As a result, most of the chants that were started petered out pretty quickly. We should not make this mistake again. In the future we need to have printed out, english and spanish language chants to distribute in case no one else does. PAC has a regularly meeting spanish class, so hopefully this is something they will take up - I know they recently translated our anti-police flyer.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Finally, as the march was about to reach the end, it came across an unmarked police car in the parking lot of Pete's Fish and Chips, occupied by four fat and arrogant pigs in long-sleeved dark blue shirts emblazoned with "POLICE" across the front. Gus, stopped and called for the megaphone. It turned out that one of the cops in the car was one who had raided his house. The megaphone was handed over to him and he let loose on that cop, denouncing him for his role in the raid, and asking him whether he was ashamed or not and if he understood the consequences of his actions. Things were really heating up as the crowd began to mass around the cop car. The pigs were visibly nervous as the crowd grew bigger and began moving on them. The car slowly began to move backwards down an alley, unable to turn around. The crowd, encouraged, began to advance and cheer, following as it went. It began to retreat faster as it called for backup and cops on bikes and motorcycles moved in to surround it so it could make an escape. The people surrounded these cops, who seemed scared and began blaring their sirens and revving their engines to intimidate us. Some anarchists locked arms on one side of the cops while the neighborhood residents carrying the banner used it to block off the cops from the other direction. Everyone else closed in from the other sides. Partially surrounded, the cops beat a hasty and disorganized retreat. Cheers and curses went up from everyone as they fled.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">We regrouped and several people took the megaphone and spoke while the cops eyed us from a distance. A female PAC member spoke about solidarity and communities standing together in spanish, and there were cheers. Gus spoke again, this time standing on something. He attacked the cops as worthless, finishing off with a loud "Fuck the cops!" Another woman, also a PAC and Copwatch member, spoke about the strength that occurs when different communities stand in solidarity together and about her commitment to seeing an end to the shoot-to-kill policy of the police in the Phoenix-area. Everyone cheered. Slowly everyone dispersed, making their way to the Know Your Rights Forum a couple miles away.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">At the KYRF, a spanish-fluent lawyer answered questions about rights, with the assistance of an interpreter. Most the questions, predictably, centered around the recent events in Glendale and the way the police handled themselves. People were very interested in telling their story, venting and asking about their rights. They were also very aware that this kind of harassment does not happen in wealthy white neighborhoods (unless one of them happened to stray into one late at night). One of the obvious points that several people have made coming out of this forum in particular is the necessity for an all spanish forum. It sounds like several people are committed to working on this for the future. Hopefully by then the number of anarchists who speak spanish will have increased as well. There is also the upcoming March 15th international day against police brutality which is coming up. Perhaps there will be another march.</span><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial;"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20020615043819/http://www.phoenixanarchist.org/">www.phoenixanarchist.org</a></span></p>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-15967665557521494022001-12-23T19:20:00.000-08:002012-05-22T19:32:17.731-07:00FREE THE DETAINEES, FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS!<div style="color: black;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">Please forward widely to interested anarchists and anti-authoritarians. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">On Friday, December 27th, at 3:30 p.m., there will be protest outside of the INS building in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, to show support for the Arabs and other Muslims who have suffered since September 11th, at the hand of the INS and elsewhere, and to protest the policies of the INS towards them, especially following the recent detentions in Southern California. We need all people concerned with the unjust and inhuman treatment of people to come out and tell the INS that their racist, nationalist, and anti-Arab policies must come to a halt! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">In the past week we have seen the detention of approximately 600 men and boys who were attempting to follow the directive of the INS and register for a database to track the movements of all immigrants and foreigners in this country. The penalty for nearly a quarter of the people appearing at he INS offices in Southern California was incarceration. These men faced freezing, cramped, standing room only cells, with few necessities. In many cases they were not allowed to contact their loved ones or lawyers. One man begged a nurse for access to medication for a potentially fatal disorder and was refused any access to a doctor or treatment. Although most of the men were released after a week, some of the men targeted are now facing deportation. The INS has blamed the victims of this tragedy, claiming that because the agents didn't have enough time to process all of the men in time for their own deadline, and that this warranted their detention. Many of the men arrested did not know they were supposed to report to the agency until very near to the deadline, and some arrived on the last day only because they hadn't known to arrive earlier. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">This process is not yet over. There is a Jan. 10 deadline for more than 7,000 males from 13 countries to register, and another deadline for Saudi Arabians and Pakistanis on February 21st. We must not sit and let the treatment of these people be the same as that encountered by the Iranians and others. Last week's detention of Arab and Muslim men and boys is inexcusable. We must respect the rights of all people to move and travel freely, to flee oppressive situations and to the freedom to move and start anew.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">No one should be shamed or punished for simply existing somewhere, without ever harming another. W must also resist scape-goating and racist action against any community. No person should be punished for their ethnicity, country of origin, race, gender,<br />or religion! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">We can see these recent events are a part of the government's anti-immigrant hostility, which was intensified by the events of September 11. The arrests, extended incarceration, and brutality faced by immigrants in 2001, the passage of the PATRIOT Act, and these recent detentions are only a few facets of the xenophobia and racism faced by newcomers to this country. We can find similarities to the intense INS and vigilante control of the border, targeting Mexicans and others from the Americas, which has caused so many deaths and too much pain. We all recognize that the way to stop "terror" will be to stop the government from terrorizing right now. We must all stand together to oppose the INS and the US government's racist strategies. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">We call to anarchists and anti-authoritarians everywhere to reject these racist, nationalist persecutions. This is a time to stand up against the INS and make sure they are aware that we aren't going to take their crap anymore. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">Support free passage for people everywhere! For a world without the INS, for a world without borders! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">FREE THE DETAINEES, FREE ALL POLITICAL PRISONERS! </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">Meet on the 27th of December at 3:30 pm at the Phoenix INS Building (2035 N. Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004), which is north of McDowell. All who oppose these hateful detentions and all who support human rights should feel welcome to attend.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica,Arial;">For more information, please contact Anarchists Against War and Terror at <a href="mailto:againstallwar@yahoo.com">againstallwar@yahoo.com</a></span></span></div>Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-12483907801199297312001-11-27T18:22:00.000-08:002011-07-10T12:59:03.461-07:00Not Quite Justice For Phoenix May Day 10by bill krist<br />6:16pm Tue Nov 27 '01<br /><br /> After seven months and many pretrial hearings; "May Day 10" walk.<br /><br />After two of the May Day 10 defendants were found not guilty by directed verdicts, charges of 'obstructing traffic' were dismissed against the remaining activists.<br /><br />One defendant was found guilty of 'interfering with a po-lice officer' for trying to un-arrest one of those unjustly detained, and sentenced to no fine and time served.<br /><br />Videos taken by the police and activists clearly showed that any traffic obstruction was done by the Phoenix po-lice. Po-lice video, it was revealed under oath; was taken by the Phoenix 'organized crime' unit. It was missing 3 minutes of action shot on West Van Buren.<br /><br />Also, Lt. Crockett of the testified that the Feds had asked for specific intelligence on certain of the activists.<br /><br />Lt. Crockett also testified that though he was in command, he had no idea how many officers were under his command, that he could not identify the defendants and that they were obstructing traffic EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD THE RIGHT OF WAY!<br /><br />Lt. Crockett stated repeatedly that he gave three warnings to stay off the street using the bullhorn in his car; but the video tapes picked up no warnings. Arresting officers Shaw and Wirth testified that though on the scene, they heard no warnings.<br /><br />So after seven months of pre-trial hearings, dismissal of 'failure to obey' charges in June, a bunch o' missed hours at work, a night in jail and grief and worry; the defendants are free.<br /><br />See: The system works.<br /><br />Solidarity- billJon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3725550470964667473.post-52039638036136378062000-05-01T02:42:00.000-07:002015-04-04T02:42:46.166-07:00May Day rally ends badly. Peaceful protest turns ugly, police reaction citedBy Pat Kossan<br />
The Arizona Republic<br />
May. 2, 2000<br />
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Four people were arrested Monday by Phoenix police in a May Day protest against economic inequalities.<br />
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One Prescott man suffered a deep cut over his eye and others were bruised during scuffles with police at City Hall.<br />
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''Nothing we did justified that kind of explosion,'' protester Daniel Patterson of Tucson said.<br />
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Police say the protesters, part of a larger, peaceful demonstration at noon, had been warned not to block traffic again on busy Washington Street.<br />
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The protesters had left Patriots Square about 4:30 p.m., headed west down the middle of Washington. They hoisted a black and red anarchist flag, a banner that read ''Free Trade Destroys Democracy,'' and<br />
chanted, ''Ain't no power like the power of the people.''<br />
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Seventy-five officers, 50 helmeted in riot gear, surrounded the group as it stopped at City Hall. Police went into action when one or two protesters appeared to head back into the street.<br />
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Police wrestled two men to the hot pavement of Washington, which was quickly closed from First to Third avenues, and apprehended two women who came to their aid.<br />
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A line of helmeted police, with clubs across their chests, pushed the remaining protesters into a short-walled tree planter, leaving one man with a deep cut over his eye and others battered as they scrambled to get out of harm's way.<br />
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''We warned them after their first series of protests they would be arrested if they stepped into the street,'' said Lt. Steve Haynes, who ran the operation. The four were cited for ''obstructing the<br />
thoroughfare.''<br />
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Haynes said the show of force - about 2 1/2 officers for each protester - was necessary in case of traffic problems or vandalism.<br />
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Many protesters were from Prescott and Tucson, college and high school students, most from activist groups including Earth First! and Arizona Citizen Action. A few had protested recent world economic meetings in Seattle and Washington, D.C.<br />
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The protesters were part of a group of 60 that had staged a Monday lunch-hour protest that shut down traffic up Central Avenue and wound west through Wells Fargo and City Hall plazas.<br />
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It was peaceful, at one time weaving through a McDonald's restaurant and briefly shutting down the western entrance to Bank One Building.<br />
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Police were generally accommodating and shut down streets.Jon Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17299802548928505223noreply@blogger.com0