CrimethInc. Ex-Workers Collective

This weekend, everyone who orders books, posters, or stickers from us will get copies of these zines. https://store.crimethinc.com/ 🏴

Κατανοώντας τις διώξεις RICO στην Ατλάντα Ένα σαρωτικό κατηγορητήριο επιδιώκει να ποινικοποιήσει την ίδια την αντίσταση https://crimethinc.com/2023/09/05/katanoontas-tis-dioxeis-rico-sten-atlanta-ena-sarotiko-kategoreterio-epidiokei-na-poinikopoiesei-ten-idia-ten-antistase Από τις αρχές του 2023, εισαγγελείς στη Τζόρτζια απείλησαν με διώξεις ακτιβιστές, οι οποίοι διαμαρτύρονταν εναντίον μιας σχεδιαζόμενης στρατιωτικοποιημένης εγκατάστασης της αστυνομίας, γνωστής ως “Cop City”, για παραβίαση του νόμου RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations – Επιρροής Εκβιαστών και Διεφθαρμένων Οργανώσεων ). Την περασμένη εβδομάδα, ο Γενικός Εισαγγελέας της Τζόρτζια Κρις Καρ απήγγειλε κατηγορίες υπό το νόμο RICO σε 61 άτομα στην κομητεία Φούλτον. Η υπόθεση αυτή αντιπροσωπεύει μια πολιτικά υποκινούμενη καταστολή που αποσκοπεί στο να φιμώσει κάθε μορφής ακτιβισμού και πολιτικής διαφωνίας, αλά Βλαντιμίρ Πούτιν. #Ελληνικά

Elon Musk blames the Anti-Defamation League for the catastrophic decline of the platform formerly known as Twitter, but the fault is entirely his own for willfully flooding it with Nazis. Billionaires like him promote anti-Semitism in hopes of distracting angry people from their true enemies—the ruling class itself and the capitalist system that gives a few people so much power. https://crimethinc.com/TwitterCanary It has been nice to see activity picking up on other platforms this past week. What we knew as Twitter is unsalvagable. Let it die.

Сегодня Дмитрию Петрову исполнилось бы 34 года. Дмитрий организовывал выступления против самодержавного правительства России, пока не был вынужден бежать из страны, где его разыскивала ФСБ. Он отправился в Рожаву и помог издать серию книг о её революционном эксперименте, участвовал в восстаниях в Украине и в Беларуси, организовал подпольную сеть для борьбы с Путиным и, наконец, был убит в апреле этого года, сражаясь против российского вторжения в Украину. Он всегда впечатлял нас своей скромностью и храбростью. Вы можете прочитать наш панегирик о нём здесь: https://crimethinc.com/dima В Европе издательство Active Distribution выпустило книгу, в которой собраны панегирик о Дмитрии и наши переводы его текстов. Заказать её можно здесь: https://black-mosquito.org/en/dmitry-petrov-a-life-in-combat.html Его русскоязычные товарищ:ки сделали в его часть этот мемориальный сайт: https://leshy.info/ Мы от всей души сочувствуем друзьям, подругам и близким Дмитрия. #Русский

Today, Dmitry Petrov would have been 34 years old. Dmitry organized against the autocratic government of Russia until he was forced to flee the country with the secret police looking for him. He traveled to Rojava and helped publish a series of books about the revolutionary experiment there, participated in uprisings in Ukraine and Belarus, organized a clandestine network to fight against Putin, and was finally killed last April fighting against the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He always impressed us with his humility and courage. You can read our eulogy for him here: https://crimethinc.com/Petrov In Europe, Active Distribution has published a book collecting our eulogy for Dmitry and our translations of his writing. You can order it here: https://black-mosquito.org/en/dmitry-petrov-a-life-in-combat.html His comrades in the Russian-speaking world have made this memorial site for him: https://leshy.info/ Our hearts go out to Dmitry's friends and family. 🖤🏴

Acclaimed artist NO Bonzo has just published this moving allegory about the transmission of anarchist history, "The Beautiful Idea." Among other sources, it draws on a discussion that one of us engaged in with the From Embers podcast about our text, "Against the Logic of the Guillotine." It's an honor for us to be connected with such an elegant and inspiring project. You can view it online here: https://archive.org/details/the-beautiful-idea_202308/mode/1up Or order a magnificent print copy here: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1548877503/the-beautiful-idea-comic

We’ve designed a zine version of our coverage of the RICO case targeting alleged participants in the movement to #StopCopCity. https://crimethinc.com/zines/understanding-the-rico-charges Please print these out and share them in your community! The outcome of this case will impact all forms of activism.

This weekend we will be tabling at and participating in the Bash Back convergence in Chicago. As bigots renew their assault on queer and trans people and anarchists fight back, there is an urgent need for renewed coordination and innovation. In this interview, the organizers speak about the convergence, the legacy of Bash Back, and how the battlefield has changed: https://crimethinc.com/bashback2023

Today, members of the Faith Coalition to Stop Cop City joined other members of the community in blocking construction vehicles at the site where the city government of Atlanta is destroying the forest in order to build a police militarization facility known as Cop City. This comes on the heels of a RICO indictment charging 61 people with "racketeering" for allegedly participating in the movement to #StopCopCity. They have not broken the spirit of the movement. https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO

Quoted in the New York Times, a constitutional law expert says that the RICO case against alleged #StopCopCity activists seems to be as much an indictment of an ideology as a description of actual criminal activity. This is an old story. After the Haymarket riot in 1886, seven anarchists were sentenced to death, despite the fact that most of them had not even been present at the riot. The governor eventually pardoned and released the ones who had not already been executed, but by then, the state terror campaign had achieved its intended effect. The Georgia Attorney General hopes to drum up irrational fear of anarchists and use that to secure convictions regardless of the facts of the case. If he succeeds, it will have implications for protesters of all stripes. Solidarity with the defendants. https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO

Why was the indictment in the #StopCopCity RICO case so poorly written and riddled with so many inaccuracies? Here's one clue—even ChatGPT wouldn't help! https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO

Understanding the RICO Charges in Atlanta A Sweeping Indictment Seeks to Criminalize Protest Itself https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaRICO In indiscriminately lumping together scores of arrestees, many of whom have ostensibly never met, into a fabricated conspiracy case, the prosecution is attempting to criminalize protest itself. This case should be of interest to anyone who is concerned about civil liberties such as the freedom to protest, the freedom to advocate against police brutality and authoritarianism, and the freedom to advocate for preserving the environment. The indictment does not seem to indicate that prosecutors have any previously unreleased information at their disposal indicating the existence of a conspiracy, in the sense that the word is ordinarily employed. Rather, they have brought new charges against those whose names they already had as the result of previous arrests, and are now clumsily endeavoring to frame them as participants in a cohesive criminal enterprise. #StopCopCity 🏴

Although the two RICO cases represent rival factions of the political class, the same grand jury that indicted Donald Trump is responsible for indicting those accused of "racketeering" for protesting Cop City. The court system is the central infrastructure of state violence; however Democrats may endeavor to represent it as a check on the aspirations of autocrats, it naturally lends itself to all forms of repression targeting the oppressed, and that is the chief role that it will always play. This is not the first time that corporations and police have frivolously used RICO charges to intimidate those who oppose their power grabs. For example, from 2016 to 2019, the company behind the Dakota Access pipeline brought RICO charges against the nonprofit organization Greenpeace. All of those charges were eventually thrown out. For more background on how the authorities are using the legal system to try to crush environmental protest: https://crimethinc.com/AtlantaSolidarity2023

Fulton County now has two competing RICO cases—one against Donald Trump, one against those accused of protesting the construction of the police training center—the former prosecuted by the county District Attorney, a Democrat, and the latter by the state Attorney General, a Republican. This clumsily constructed case represents politically driven repression aimed at all forms of activism, in the style of Vladimir Putin. Background on the movement to #StopCopCity: https://crimethinc.com/LivinginanEarthquake

Georgia State Attorney General Chris Carr has indicted 61 people on charges of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act in Fulton County. The indictment includes 42 people previously charged with "terrorism" for allegedly participating in the movement to #StopCopCity, 3 people accused of distributing handbills, and the 3 people charged for organizing legal support for activists. The only thing that connects the indictees is that they have been arrested at some point, however randomly, and accused of protesting against the government's plan to destroy the Weelaunee Forest in order to build a police militarization compound. The Fulton County prosecutor already withdrew from all cases related to the police training compound in June; likewise, the judge assigned this case immediately recused himself today.

The only humorous part of this ongoing nightmare is Musk declaring that his "giant data dump" might "take until next week," as they are "short-staffed this week." Punchline: they haven't had a full staff on hand since he took power and fired half the work force. They might still be short-staffed next week.

Elon Musk has been working with open anti-Semites this week to mobilize people against the Anti-Defamation League, as a way to blame declining advertising sales (caused by him welcoming self-declared Nazis back to Twitter) on Jews. Now, in dialogue with one of these bigots, he is promising to do a "giant data dump" on the ADL and other groups, with the presumable goal of enabling anti-Semites to harass, attack, and kill people. We warned that Musk took over Twitter with the explicit goal of seizing territory for the far right, but even we didn't expect it to go so far, so fast. Background: https://crimethinc.com/2022/11/25/elon-musk-bans-crimethinc-from-twitter-on-request-from-far-right-troll Death to fascism.🏴

Labor Day, a government-sponsored fake alternative to May Day, is a great day to read "The Mythology of Work," debunking the myths that keep our eyes on the clock, our noses to the grindstone, and our hands busy generating profit for our enemies: https://crimethinc.com/workmythology All of us deserve to be able to spend our lives fulfilling our potential on our own terms, contributing to our communities rather than fattening the pockets of capitalists. That's what real freedom means! 🏴🏴🏴

Género y sexualidad en St-Imier https://crimethinc.com/2023/08/25/genero-y-sexualidad-en-st-imier En la siguiente narración, une participante en el encuentro anarquista internacional que tuvo lugar en Saint-Imier, Suiza, en julio de 2023, explora las prácticas políticas y el discurso en torno al género y la sexualidad en el movimiento anarquista contemporáneo. #Español

Today, we remember our friend and comrade, David Graeber, who passed away three years ago. To honor his life, you could read this text he published with us: https://crimethinc.com/ShockofVictory Or visit these projects set up in his memory: https://museum.care/ https://davidgraeber.institute/ But the very best thing you can do is to continue his legacy of anarchist critical thinking. That's what David would have wanted.