Anarchist headlines
Aug. 29th, 2004 12:38 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gordonzolawell this isn't exactly a PEMM apropriate post, but I'm the Great Helmsman here, so what are you gonna do? All this talk of anarchist leaders invading NYC with their followers *reminded me of the Best Ever Headline for a upcoming political confernce and protest.
1988. Toronto. The third annual North American Anarchist Gathering was about to descend. The Toronto Star's headline:
"Officials Fear Anarchists' Idea of a Good Time"
I wish I still had the full article.
I hope everyone going to the NYC protests stays safe. Good luck.
*"Anarchists Hot for Mayhem" is pretty damn good too, I must say. But what the hell with this gasoline soaked teddy bear thing. If they were gasoline soaked, how come no one set them on fire? What bullshit. That was so obviously an art school protest.
1988. Toronto. The third annual North American Anarchist Gathering was about to descend. The Toronto Star's headline:
"Officials Fear Anarchists' Idea of a Good Time"
I wish I still had the full article.
I hope everyone going to the NYC protests stays safe. Good luck.
*"Anarchists Hot for Mayhem" is pretty damn good too, I must say. But what the hell with this gasoline soaked teddy bear thing. If they were gasoline soaked, how come no one set them on fire? What bullshit. That was so obviously an art school protest.
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no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 02:05 pm (UTC)good lord
Date: 2004-08-29 05:32 pm (UTC)ummm, gee how can you protect and serve when you're so cynical sir?
Re: good lord
Date: 2004-08-29 05:36 pm (UTC)Re: good lord
Date: 2004-08-29 05:43 pm (UTC)hey, late night, amnesia
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 04:52 pm (UTC)http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Render&inifile=futuretense.ini&c=Page&cid=992945693891&pubid=968163964505
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 05:35 pm (UTC)But thanks.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 05:58 pm (UTC)"Fifty of the country's leading anarchists"
Date: 2004-08-29 06:28 pm (UTC)heh.
Re: "Fifty of the country's leading anarchists"
Date: 2004-08-29 06:37 pm (UTC)"and Jimmy's number 101 ... knows someday he'll be one"
I always knew Billy Idol was a great songwriter but I didn't know it was a coded anarchist message!
Re: "Fifty of the country's leading anarchists"
Date: 2004-08-29 07:00 pm (UTC)it's all that wild-eyed journalism, where outsiders are all seen as having materminds, smoke-filled rooms etc.
I used to know more of the story o that teddy bear thing, but I've forgotten. I don't even see how it casn be true at all. I know they were using a giant catapult to throw teddy bears, but gasoline soaked? that sounds messy, and dangerous.. naw.. I think it's standard police/media scare tactics. Reminds me of when we in Miami for the FTAA demos, we watched the news on the first night, and the anchor was standing there with a table full of stuff (this is from my NOvember24th 03 journal entry):
The reporter for local TV 7, displayed a table full of objects which he said were confiscated by police from protestors, and were intended to be used as weapons by the protestors. After picking up a bicycle tube and identifying it as a slingshot, and then *not* explaining how a Haitian flag was to be used as a weapon, he said:
"What you don't see here are clear plastic bottles of urine and feces, which police said protestors were planning to throw at them"
yeah, you don't see those, do you.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 08:37 pm (UTC)im a bit worried about friends in nyc catching the backlash of the critical mass arrests and rnc protests even after its gone. damn messengers sure do look like protesters! kinda like the looks i kept getting from cops during the biogen stuff here... and then i remembered i was wearing all black, and on a bike. oops.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:35 pm (UTC)who did that song "Hot for Teacher"? it keeps partially popping into my head when I read the article.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:47 pm (UTC)got it made, got it made, got it made... im hot for mayhem!
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 11:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 06:11 am (UTC)heh :)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:12 pm (UTC)Reply to New York City tabloid and police smears and lies
MONTREAL -- August 27, 2004
Dear friends and allies --
As some of you might know, there has been a series of scare-mongering
articles in New York City and beyond -- targeting mainly anarchists and
other left-wing political organizers -- in anticipation of the
mobilization against the Republican National Convention (RNC) this weekend
and next week. Some of these articles mention me by name (although I was
never contacted beforehand for comment by any of the reporters, and I'm
not even attending the anti-RNC protests). Normally, I wouldn't care too
much about these negative pieces, based solely on anonymous police
sources, but two of the recent articles in mainstream New York City daily
newspapers are just so outrageous and untrue that I need to respond
clearly and publicly.
In yesterday's New York Daily News (August 26, 2004), the frontpage reads:
"Police Intelligence Warning: Anarchy Inc." The headline inside refers to
"Anarchists hot for mayhem". The supposed "exclusive" by writer Patrice
O'Shaughnessy (of the Daily News Police Bureau) begins as follows:
"Fifty of the country's leading anarchists are expected to be in the city
for the Republican National Convention, and a handful of them are
hard-core extremists with histories of violent and disruptive tactics,
according to police intelligence sources. Police said each of the 50 have
up to 50 followers who are willing to be arrested during disturbances at
the convention."
The article later goes on to refer to me by name:
"Jaggi Singh, a Canadian citizen, is known for allegedly setting off hoax
devices to detour police resources. He allegedly catapulted teddy bears
soaked with gasoline at police at the Quebec G-20 protest in 2001,
according to NYPD reports. A member of the International Solidarity
Movement, or ISM, he was seen shooting a handgun, and allegedly received
firearms training from Toure, according to a police source."
(Kazi Toure is referred earlier in the article as "[A] Black Panther from
Boston also known as Christopher King, convicted in the 1980s of
conspiracy to overthrow the government, and with arrests for bank robbery
and transporting firearms, was observed training younger militants in
weapons use.")
An accompanying article refers to "Potentially violent groups identified
by the NYPD", and includes SHAC (Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty), the
International Solidarity Movement (ISM), the Anarchist Black Cross, and
two groups referred to as "The Organization" and "No Police State" (the
last described as a "[f]ringe group of anarchists planning to spark
violence.")
[The original Daily News article is available online at
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/story/225853p-193988c.html]
Ten days ago (August 16, 2004), the Daily News' competitor -- the New York
Post -- ran its own scare-mongering piece (isn't free market competition
great!) with the headline: "Finest prep for anarchy: Radicals eye GOP
gala" (co-written by Murray Weiss and Andy Soltis). That article includes
brief profiles of activists Lisa Fithian, Starhawk and myself. However,
accompanying my profile, under the title "Here's trouble," is an undated
photo of someone who is dark-skinned and vaguely resembles me shooting a
gun at some sort of outdoor range. I'm referred to as a "key anarchist
leader who has become increasingly militant."
Clearly, these recent articles are not just limited to the usual innuendo
and lack of context of most of the usual reporting about protesters or
anarchists, and I feel compelled to respond.
(continued in next comment...)
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:13 pm (UTC)In reference to yesterday's Daily News article's claims about me, here is
a point-by-point rebuttal (with a bit of editorializing):
* I don't have 50 followers. I don't have 5 followers. I don't even have a
dog.
* I have never set any hoax devices.
* I don't know, and have never met someone named Kazi Toure or Christopher
King.
* I have not received firearms training from Kazi Toure, or anyone else
for that matter.
* Based on the recent New York Daily News article, out of sheer curiosity,
I would now like to meet Kazi Toure.
* I was nabbed by undercover police from the streets of Quebec City in
April 2001 during an anti-Summit of the Americas protest, and charged with
participating in a riot, as well as possessing a dangerous weapon -- a
teddy-bear launching catapult. I was jailed for 17 days.
* Based on my subsequent knowledge of the catapult, and the people who
operated it, only teddy bears and confetti were launched. Based on the
police services' own videos from Quebec City, the catapult only launched
teddy bears and confetti.
* The teddy bears were not soaked in gasoline (although, knowing some of
the folks involved, they might have perfumed the bears).
* The article mistakenly refers to a "Quebec G-20 protest in 2001". I was
arrested, with many others, at an anti-G-20 protest that took place in
Montreal in October 2000, and charged with participating in a riot. I was
acquitted, along with two co-accused, by a Montreal jury in April 2003.
Many of the jurors personally congratulated the defendants after the
trial.
* The charges against me from the Quebec City protests in April 2001 were
dropped in January 2004. I always insisted on my innocence but the charges
were stayed before I could be unequivocally acquitted in front of a jury
(actually, the charges were stayed because the courts knew I would be
unequivocally acquitted in front of a jury, and a second jury acquittal
would have been embarrassing to the state).
* Yes, I was a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM),
and I'm a member of the ISM in Montreal. I was privileged to be able to
observe firsthand the courage and steadfastness of ordinary Palestinians
as they confront daily injustice and defend their dignity, and to continue
to support the work of the ISM from Montreal. The ISM is a Palestinian-led
group of Palestinians and internationals that are working to raise
awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli
occupation. The ISM uses nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance
to confront and challenge illegal Israeli occupation forces and policies
while also recognizing the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence
and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, the ISM itself is
committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance. The claim that the
ISM is a violent group, or might potentially engage in violence at the
RNC, is ludicrous.
As for the New York Post photo on August 16, 2004: it's a fake. As a
friend of mine who saw the photo put it to me by e-mail: "It's not you. I
got a copy of the article and the photo is not actually you. It is some
brown guy with high cheekbones and a Harry Potter haircut, but it's not
you."
By responding publicly, perhaps I'm drawing just more attention to the
smears. But, I do have something of a track record as a political
organizer, and anybody who knows me can verify how untrue the tabloid
claims against me are. Instead, I hope I can modestly contribute to
exposing the level of corporate media complicity in the police and state's
marginalization of radical dissent, and the extent of their fabrications.
Of course, it's not a surprise that out-and-out lies are used in smear
campaigns against "radicals" or "anarchists." Still, we should remind
ourselves of the proof when it exists, such as yesterday's Daily News
article, or the Post photo.
In solidarity,
Jaggi Singh
no subject
Date: 2004-08-29 09:31 pm (UTC)but I do appreciate your posting it.
no subject
Date: 2004-08-30 05:48 am (UTC)