URGENT CALL TO WRITE LETTERS!

In this video you can hear Mel talking about what it means to receive letters whilst in prison. Mel Broughton spent quite a few years locked up (and a good few afterwards on tag) for their actions to further animal liberation. He is a good reference to explain why letters to prisoners are so incredibly important.

In this times of lockdown and widespread actions to contain a virus, prisoners have it hard. In many prisons a “two week lockdown” has been imposed, where folks have to stay 24 hours a day locked up in the cell. No access to anything else, no access to the outside, to a cafeteria where they might be able to swap their yogurt for an apple, no access to showers, to library, nothing. It is a hard time and you can do something about it.

The first part of this call to action is for you to write to a prisoner, or two. Maybe make it a daily routine where you write something for someone each day and post a bulk of letters once a week. It is up to you, but send some letters to prisoners. You can find a few addresses on our website under “prisoner support”.

The second part of this call to action is more specific. Leonard Peltier was locked up in 1977 under completely fabricated evidence accused of the murder of two police officers. Although since then it has been proved that ballistics, forensics, testimonies and even the murder weapon was completely fabricated by the FBI, the courts have always denied a second trial. His release date is non existent as court recoded his sentence as “life”. The only reason for this is because Leonard is a resilient native rights activist.

He has multiple underlying health conditions that make him vulnerable to any viral outbreak in prison. Due to the fact that the US Attorney General has given the power to the Director of Bureau of Prisons to release vulnerable prisoners to home confinement, we should all do some effort and help Leonard get back home, where he can be safe and at least, a little safe.

You can read all the details about what to write and where to write to in the link below:

http://www.abcf.net/blog/covid-letters-needed-for-leonard-peltier

Please, please, please put some effort into this. Help folks in prison. Tell them you’re there for them. Do not let them feel that the system has made them invisible.

SOLIDARITY IS OUR WEAPON.

UA

29 LAYER HENS SAVED

March, Lincoln UK

Received anonymously via email:

“Tonight was our second visit to this location in Lincoln. With just two of us tonight, we had put careful planning into how we could take the maximum number of lives we could carry.

We encountered few obstacles upon entry and were able to save 29 lives.

When leaving the area, we sighted a human on their phone, close to the site. This was a strange sight at this time of night. Were they calling the cops? We didn’t hang about to find out!

All 29 chickens are now living life as they should. They are now truly free-range (as opposed to the pathetic excuse for free-range they previously experienced), their eggs are eaten only by themselves, their bare raw skin will start to heal and, most importantly, they will not be exploited and killed.”

MAKE THE STREETS COLOURFUL AGAIN.

Disclaimer for the feds: Incite, Conspire, Inspire is a solely-for-fun section never designed to give real advice. The tools, tactics and ideas given on the series are only thought to entertain. We would never dream of anyone using any of this tools as a form of dissent and we do not promote, partake in or condone any illegal activities that might derive from said tools.

There is something inherently beautiful about a colourful riot. Do you know when the cops are walking down the street with their robot costumes singing the tune of the imperial march and everybody is a little bit excited and a little bit scared? Then all of a sudden, balloons start flying in their direction and there is an explosion of colours over them, covering their helmets, their googles and their shields, making them unable to see and also sad, wet and very sticky? Well, that is how you would make the streets colourful again. Or you know, if you want to visit the ministry of defence as you believe their murderous grey doesn’t suit very well their loving attitude towards people and would like the building to look deep red. Whatever floats your boat, we’ve got you covered (in paint). 

To make paint bombs you will need:

Paint.
Water.
Sand.
A recipient that can be thrown, like water balloons or Christmas baubles.

This recipe is simple.
Dilute the pain with 1 part of water, two parts of paint. This will make it runny, so if you want it to be a little stickier you might want to skip this step.

Grab your throwing recipient (if it is Christmas baubles you’ll need to slowly remove the top bit where you would hang it and fill up about 1/4 of the volume with sand. This will give it incredible aerodynamics, helping it fly exactly where you want it to be.

Add the paint and water dilution to the recipient and then close it. If using baubles you might need to hot glue them.

Throw wherever you want them to explode. We would never recommend anyone throwing them at people or private property so our recommendation is, of course, throwing it at white canvases and then capitalising on them by selling them for a million dollars each.

Other ideas might include filling up fire extinguishers with paint, or water pistols. The sky is the limit (or gravity in this case).

Enjoy and make sure that you bring a little colour to your life.

TWENTY SIX “FREE RANGE” HENS LIBERATED.

March, Lincoln UK.

Received anonymously via email:

“After much time spent looking through maps, we had identified a ‘free-range’ egg farm that we couldn’t not pay a visit to.

With the exception of an electric fence, which was easily crushed under-foot, we encountered few obstacles upon entering the site.
We undid the latches to the large shed, and two of us climbed in whilst the other two remained outside, keeping lookout and passing through the carriers we had brought with us.

Inside, the stench of ammonia was unbearable. We found our breathing was noticeably different after only a short while in there, and yet these chickens were densely packed in there. This was what they got to call home.

We quickly loaded as many as we could into the carriers, later counted as 26. 26 lives saved. They are now living happy, free lives at an animal sanctuary.

Without animal sanctuaries and individuals who are able to home these animals, we would not be able to liberate them. Please support your local sanctuaries, and if you find yourself with a free night, you know what to do…”

BUTCHER SHOP REDECORATED

March, UK.

Received anonymously via email:

“In a capitalist society, money has power.

When you encounter a butchers shop, full of the bodies of innocent animals that have been murdered, what else to do?

Hit them and hit them hard.

By destroying these places, we not only give them a financial hit, but this has the knock on effect of delaying business, eventually maybe even putting them out of business. It also sends a clear message. You fuck with the animals, and we will fuck with you.

Four activists arrived by car (with a doctored numberplate) into the small town in which the scummy butchers was located. Armed with spray paint and tubs of gloss paint, we parked down a back alley and made our way towards the target. We couldn’t believe our luck when we realised the butcher’s van was parked on the road we had chosen!

Even with extensive planning, we had to hide in the shadows to avoid some late night locals, before we crept round to the front of the shop.

The gloss paint was thrown over the walls and we had fun ‘decorating’ the exterior with slogans that would have left the scum with a very clear message.

As we ran back to our vehicle, we did of course stop at their van for round two.”

HOW TO CAUSE MAYHEM WITH HELIUM.

Disclaimer for the feds: Incite, Conspire, Inspire is a solely-for-fun section never designed to give real advice. The tools, tactics and ideas given on the series are only thought to entertain. We would never dream of anyone using any of this tools as a form of dissent and we do not promote, partake in or condone any illegal activities that might derive from said tools.

Helium isn’t just a funny gas that makes you sound silly. It also is a tool for dissent. Today we take a look in the past and get inspired by ACT UP, a collective that worked tirelessly to bring attention to AIDS and HIV+ issues. They flew a giant banner in Grand Central Station (NY) reading “Money for AIDS not for wars” in a protest related to the Gulf War, bringing massive attention to the issue with a few helium balloons, a big fucking banner and a lot of fucking rage.

Tools needed:
– Balloons.
– Helium cannister.
– A BIG banner with your favourite slogan written on it. Ours is “Fuck off” but whatever floats your boat.
– Rope.
– Some plastic bottles filled with water.
– Two wooden rods (or broomsticks or whatever you want) the width of the banner.
– That’s it.

Method:

This shit is pretty self explanatory isn’t it? Get that banner painted and dried up (seriously, stop making banners twenty minutes before the demo, they get smudged and you look like you are not a professional anarchist). Attach the rods to the banner with some rope so that the top and bottom of the banner stay straight and don’t fold inwards.

Add a plastic bottle with a little bit of water to the two bottom corners. This will help keep the banner extended all the way down in case the wind moves it around. It might not be necessary if the bottom rod is heavy enough. Test it!

Tie a couple of strings to the bottom of the banner giving yourself two or three metres on each side. This will be helpful during your testing process.

Fill up the balloons and tie them to the top of the banner, testing how many balloons you actually need to lift that big ass flag for freedom. Remember those nice ropes at the bottom of your banner? You can thank me now for not losing your banner to the sky. Take note of the balloons you need and take them off. You can now roll up the banner with the rods included for easy transport. Remove the bottom testing strings unless you want people to easily remove your beautiful banner.

On your trouble making day, fill up fresh balloons. Do a few extras in case some pop or get lost. Tie them in two bunches and leave enough rope to tie them to the banner when you arrive to the location. Once you get to whatever building you want, tie those balloons and release the beast.

Do you want to step it up a notch? Tie some rape alarms to the banner and set them off before releasing the whole system. That will 100% bring attention to what you’ve just done and if done inside of an office building, will annoy everybody immensely. Two for the price of one!

ENVIRONMENTAL DISCLAIMER: Will people please think of the fucking turtles. No seriously, plastic is shit, littering is shit, so littering plastic is .

Do this inside of a building so it cannot fly to the sky. Depending on the building of choice, the business might have to get someone with an air gun to come shoot the balloons down, specially if there are rape alarms attached to it. This is assured havoc.

Do you want to know more about Act Up past and present actions? Check this: https://actupny.org

Video: Short clip from United in Anger, a history of Act UP. A nice documentary talking about Act Up’s history we would recommend all of you to watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrAzU79PBVM

Do you like what we do? Keep us going by joining our Patreon. Even $2 changes things immensely.

www.patreon.com/animalliberation

LADDER TRAP DESTROYED, CROW RELEASED

March, East Middlands

Received anonymously over email:

“Whilst out and about a ladder trap was discovered under the cover of woodland. Clearly the gamekeeper had been having a lot of success here as carcasses of many shot birds were found. One crow was still alive but most likely only hours from suffering a similar fate. We released them, and watched them fly to their freedom, before we returned to smashing the trap and causing as much damage as we could.

Whilst we know that this action alone won’t bring the shooting to an end, we hope to have sent a clear message to the scum – the torturing and killing of wildlife will not be tolerated and we will continue to protect those who can’t protect themselves.”

WHAT IS MUTUAL AID

Mutual aid has been in the spotlight recently in light of the current crisis, but what exactly does it mean? And what makes it a powerful form of anarchist praxis unique from charity and volunteering?

Well, ‘mutual aid’ is essentially the very radical notion that co-operation, rather than competition, is what drives communities forward. It is the most practical expression of solidarity, aiming for everyone to be taken care of, incentivising but never expecting reciprocity. It is decentralised and grassroots, relying on the collective skills, resources and efforts of the community rather than state intervention or making demands.

In the animal kingdom, it is second nature – Kropotkin’s evolutionary observations in “Mutual Aid” displayed how mutual support networks, rather than mutual struggle, play the greatest role in species prosperity. But like most forms of commonality that pose a threat to capitalism in all its neoliberal individualism, our instinct for mutual aid has been ironed out and repressed. Organising in this way is therefore a display of solidarity which threatens to crush the destructive fallacy of “Every one for himself, and the State for all”. It breeds a form of collective abundance that endless economic growth will never succeed in creating, and that the state will never understand.

Reclaiming it is taking the fuck back our humanity, our animality, from the capitalist machine. Practicing it, is an act of resistance and an embodiment of an alternative system that we can carry out here and now; anarchism does not sit around and wait for capitalism to collapse. It lives and breathes in the present. Now more than ever, it is not something you pray for… it is something you do.

Further reading –