Defend Direct Action
Delayed report, East Bay USA.
via: Scenes from the Atlanta Forest.
“Dear Atlas,
You may have noticed that four of your trucks in the East Bay don’t run so well anymore. That might be because some time ago some forest fairies poured bleach into the tanks of your gas guzzling machines. We did this to avenge Tortuguita and the Forest.
xoxo
Cop City will never be built!”
23rd April, NRW Germany.
via: Act for Free!
“We continue to warm up the shitty RWE company!
As promised, we are continuing to heat up the shitty company RWE [German energy company]. We would like to emphasize once again that RWE is just an example for all other capitalists who can suffer the same fate at any time.
On the night of April 23-24, we burned out the cable which connects the infrastructure of the Inden rat hole [an RWE-owned open-cast lignite mine in North Rhine-Westphalia]. We hope to have caused a lot of damage and chaos for the company. Every year, 20 million tons of coal are extracted from the earth in the Inden rat hole to feed the RWE-owned Weisweiler coal power plant and the bank accounts of the financial elite. In 2020 alone, open-cast mining was responsible for 11.2 million tons of CO2 emissions.
It is unacceptable that those responsible for the global climate collapse do not feel the consequences of their actions. What we are doing are only pinpricks. Nothing compares to the suffering that the climate catastrophe is already imposing on many living beings today. But while nothing changes politically, while global hierarchies accumulate money and power, and while living beings die for the profit of a few individuals, the pinpricks will multiply…
Greetings from GAFFA (Guerilla Activists Fighting For Anarchy)”
Photo: Unrelated image, arson attack at a pumping station in Hambach Mine in 2017.
On Wednesday May 17, A female FBI Agent approached Burning Books wanting information about an arson attack on an anti-choice medical center. In June of 2022, a pro-choice activist group, Jane’s Revenge, claimed responsibility for the action. Burning Books is trying to spread this information around the activist community to be aware.
Leslie’s facebook statement on the situation read:
“About an hour ago I had a visit from the FBI.
The agent presented her badge, stuck her foot in the threshold of the door, &attempted to ask me about the fire last June at Compass Care here in Buffalo. I replied that I was not going to talk to her, pointed at her intrusive foot, and said she was not welcome to come inside.
The FBI has an inexcusable and horrific track record of working to destroy social justice movements, which spans its entire history. I have personally been targeted by the FBI for over 25 years, & the thought of cooperating with them in any way turns my stomach, to say the least.
Please beware that this investigation is underway and do all you can to spread the word about this danger to activists, our movements, & our collective future. Together we keep us safe.”
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Needless to say, be it the FBI or any other form of law enforcement around the world, cops are not your friends. Don’t talk to cops. Never talk to cops.
Leslie, thank you for being not only an inspiration and reference, but so fucking good at raising the alarm without being alarmist!
we have received an anonymous submission about cop city that we would like to share with all our readers:
“The struggle against cop city, and for the Weelaunee forest has been explosive, experimental, and wild for nearly three years now. In the situation in the process our enemies have brutalized us, charged people with domestic terrorism, leveraging 5-35 years in prison against them, murdered our friend and comrade Tortguita, attempted to repress our struggle, and yet we are still here fighting.
As the forests we swore to protect get clear-cut, and people face hefty sentences leveraged by the courts, as we stare at the possibility of raids, repression, investigations, and the unknown, we desire to take the plunge. We will make our enemies pay for every inch. We will not let them know a moment of peace.
We call for the mechanisms of the US capitalist system, the government, and the infrastructure that upholds it to be moved against in an effort to make this wretched civilization and those responsible which took our friend and levies the might of their courts and police against us pay.”
Via: Animal Liberation Press Office
“CLEVELAND, OH—FBI Cleveland and the FBI Toledo Resident Agency continue to seek information from the public regarding the release and vandalism surrounding several mink farms in Northern Ohio and Michigan several months ago.
The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) claimed responsibility for the releases. According to the ALF Liberation Press Office website, ALF is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that advocates and engages in what it calls nonviolent direct action in protest incidents of animal cruelty. Arson is one of the many tactics utilized by ALF. ALF’s goal is to cause financial hardship to entities whom ALF believes to have committed acts of animal cruelty. Members of ALF and other underground organizations feel that to truly liberate animals, the unjust laws that allow their exploitation must be broken.
The releases and criminal activities stem from occurrences at various locations on the following dates:
The FBI is working collaboratively with local law enforcement agencies, including, but not limited to, Van Wert County and the Mercer County Sheriff Offices.
The releases caused significant economic strain to the locations where the vandalism occurred. In one instance, the farm closed entirely.
Due to ALF being a leaderless movement and the subjects who carried out the crimes potentially being transient, the FBI is seeking information on individuals who were involved in attempt to provide a successful judicial outcome for the local business owners who suffered financial loss.”
Mid May, activists in Denmark liberated two lobsters from a MANY supermarket. They did their homework, found what sea they came from, and released them back into the wild. After that anonymous report was shared, local activists in Denmark and beyond got to work.
By having raised the live lobster trade by MANY, those anonymous activists inspired a local storm. Activists emailed and called MANY demanding to stop the sale of live lobsters. They warned them that if they didn’t a pressure campaign would be set up against them, with direct action and protests.
MANY really felt the heat and emailed back to those reaching out, letting them know that they took their concerns very seriously and that they would put an end to the sale of live lobsters from August 1st onwards.
The action of some anonymous activists inspired enough people who not only felt liberating those lobsters was right, but who also decided to put even more pressure on the company, backing those taking direct action, defending the lobsters and warning the company to put an end on the abuse.
This is a clear show of how direct action, regardless of how small it might seem to be, can have incredible impact. Not only two lobsters were freed, but it united folks from different ways of life, raised the issue and created a united front to fight back against injustice.
It is worth mentioning too that whilst many people advocate for direct action to occur within existing campaigns, raising the profile of that campaign or creating a front where the target feels they either talk to those who are campaigning and find a solution, or they have to deal with those who do not fear breaking the law, in this case a seemingly small act of liberation inspired the phone/email storm that ultimately bagged a win.
Always defend direct action and never forget the power of people!
UNTIL WE WIN
PS: To the anonymous activists who took those lobsters to freedom; we hope you know how much that act has impacted animals. Congratulations on your win.
March, Värmland Sweden
received anonymously via email:
“The ALF spraypainted a butcher shop with the word “DJURPLÅGARE”, meaning ANIMAL ABUSERS in swedish. Also we have previously removed and destroyed cardboard advertisements put up by the butcher shop.
Every action counts! Long Live Animal Liberation!”
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.
Stencils are a cheap and effective way to send a message out on the streets, you can paint / repeat them dozens of times in a few hours and also paint them pretty much over any surface. To keep it simple, first, think what message is that you want to paint or communicate, grab a sheet of paper (the thicker the better) and start drawing the letters to form the message you want to send, these letters need to be thicker solid forms.
We’ve all seen stencil letters, when drawing them, make sure you add bridges to the letterforms, bridges are a very important element for stenciled letters, they are thin strips that connect the solid areas inside the letterforms to the outer border of the design, these solid areas are called islands (see graphics).
After you draw all the letters the stencil is ready to be cut. Use a Xacto knife or even a box cutter which is cheaper. You will need a cutting board or any surface like thick cardboard to cut the stencil over and don’t scratch your desk or floor.
With the blade, follow carefully the lines that form each letter making sure you don’t cut through the bridges and throw away the cut out pieces.
Now that you turned your message into a stencil it is ready to be used. Next thing you will need is a spray paint can, commonly used for DIY projects vandalism and decorating. Nowadays, you can find multiple brands for different purposes, but you will be fine with one from the hardware store. Finally, just go out, bring your stencil, spray can and some masking tape, put a little piece of tape on the top part of the stencil to stick it to the wall and with your hands hold it against the wall firmly and spray over it making sure not to add to much paint or it will drip.
Last week, Pal Action was on trial. After a two day roof occupation of a weapons manufacturer in Newcastle, where an estimated £69K worth of damage was caused, two people were arrested. Alongside them, another two activists at different locations were arrested for “conspiracy to commit criminal damage”. The two rooftop smashers were granted bail, but Crown Prosecution appealed the decision and one of them was remanded. The two activists away from the site were immediately charged and remanded in prison.
Another three people appeared in court in Chester after dismantling the Runcorn APPH weapons manufacturer in June 2021. One was acquitted, whilst the other two received a 16 and a 27 month prison sentence.
In Wolverhampton Crown Court after a seven week long trial and five days of deliberation, four people were convicted of “possession of articles to cause criminal damage”, having been arrested two years prior whilst travelling towards UAV Engines, an Elbit weapons factory, with items like paint buckets. A fifth person was acquitted in the same trial, and the four convicted will face sentencing in Wolverhampton Crown Court on the 26th of June.
Meanwhile, at the gates of Elbit in Leicester, an activist was arrested during their third week of the siege for simply sitting on the road, then subjected to the cop shop cell for 10 hours before release.
We do not know the mail addresses for those in prison, but we have found a fundraiser to support one of the folks locked up which you can find below: https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-mike-in-prison
This week PalAction is facing even more court cases, so we will keep you informed of results and new prisoner addresses as and when news appear!
SOLIDARITY IS OUR BIGGEST WEAPON!
This has been a big month for CAFT. After a period of preparation, they have spent the last month targeting LVMH (a French luxury goods conglomerate) during their Annual General Meeting to demand that they drop fur from all their brands. This campaign has been massive and has had actions all over the world.
Over 11 days of the campaign, 137 actions took place in 22 cities across 8 countries.
One hotspot of the campaign was Paris, where local anti-fur group Collectif Sipe joined with CAFT for a day of protest on April 20th. They played images of the disgusting fur trade on a billboard truck outside LVMH’s meeting and protested outside. Then, when board members went to their hotel for the night, protesters joined them to force their message home!
Meanwhile, CAFT-USA was being very active across the Atlantic. In New York the NYC-Animal Defense League targeted LVMH brands. For some of these, such as Dior, every single location in the city was hit. Actions took place across the country – with NYC, LA, and Boston being the cities with the most activity. In total, the campaign targeted 11 corporate headquarters, 3 museums/exhibits, 1 hotel and 1 market. 28 LVMH brands were visited overall.
CAFT said that their method is ‘to dismantle the retail market, forcing one company after another to abandon fur, until the industry collapses’.
‘Success hinges on a comprehensive use of resources and a collective effort from every animal advocate. Failure is not an option.’
CAFT lists a number of different ways to get involved on their website, for those who are interested.
