Anews Jan 2009.Indd
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selected stories from www.anarchistnews.org Best of the Anarchist Tubes The goal of anarchistnews.org is to provide a non-sectarian source for news about and of concern to anarchists. It is also to provide a location for community moderated discussion about such news. original publication and author given when available Everything has bias. The bias of anarchistnews.org is to promote an anarchist culture by providing a source of news Compiled for and commentary about and of interest to anarchists. The goal is not to advocate for a particular January 2009 anarchist practice but to serve a general anarchist need. vol I, 3 political education and propaganda in the an- Cleveland Anarchist archist community and in “the Left.” More Capitol Graffi ti, Black Cross in The Cleveland ABC is in dire straits! We Huge Cost Dire Straits are short on members and time, and grow- ing shorter by the minute. We need to fi nd From The Olympian - By Adam Wilson the bright minds and hard workers of this Dear Prison Abolitionists, Political region, north-east Ohio, and work togeth- In addition to the holiday displays going Activists, Revolutionaries, &c, er to amplify our message, to impact the in at the Capitol, there was considerable community, to build a strong network of effort in removing some unwanted decora- This letter is addressed to all those who wish resistance in our area. These are bad fuck- tion in the form of yet more anarchist graf- to see this misogynistic, homophobic, white ing times. Look at Marie Mason and the fi ti from the sandstone building. settler colonial society of the rich destroyed; Cincinnati anarchist community. Look at The fi gures, including a peace symbol and to all those who have no intention to com- the Green Scare. Look at the RNC 8, the an anarchist symbol, were painted next to promise or reconcile with the system of vio- SHAC 7, Anna the infi ltrator. Shit – look at the big bronze doors on the north entrance. lence and oppression which has dominated those still behind bars after twenty or more Indeed, state workers walked by the taped- years – Leonard Peltier, Alberto Torres, Os- more and more of the planet these past ten over marks as they shoved the holiday tree car Lopez, Mumia Abu-Jamal – look at As- thousand years or so; to those who view into the building this morning. sata. Look at Guantanamo and Gaza. And prisons and incarceration as an embodiment The Department of General Administra- look at Barack Obama and John McCain. of the nature of this civilization – of capi- tion puts the cost repairs at $16,000, three- talism, rooted in slavery, and of civilization Not to be a-historical — for what other quarters of it in labor. itself, based on subduing and domesticat- sorts of times has this society seen — but You may recall that this is the third time ing all living things; to all those who stake these are defi nitely bad times. So what are people have defaced the Capitol this year. your very survival on the outcome of the we going to do? First the columns, then in May, the interi- struggle against this empire. I am Josh from So here’s what we want to do: we want to or marble and the wall near the north en- the Cleveland Anarchist Black Cross, and I organize radical events in the area to put out address this letter to myself as much as to a message of non-negotiable revolutionary trance, and now near the doors on the same anyone else who comes into possession of it. struggle to draw together the community. entrance. The state says the latest incident We want to fi nd you, to work together, and We want to spread literature throughout the occurred just after the close of business to mutually support and inspire each other. area, to further political learning and discus- Wednesday – as everyone was heading home We need more participation and more part- sion. We want to get quality political propa- for the Thanksgiving holiday. nerships! ganda – video and audio – on the airwaves The Anarchist Black Cross is a group dedi- and on the internet, to connect with more http://anarchistnews.org/?q=node/5640 cated to supporting anarchist and other revo- people and reach out to new folks. And we lutionary political prisoners, to abolishing want to build strong partnerships and alli- She Looked Like a Mom prisons, and to destroying the state and civili- ances with groups in the area that share our zation, the banes of peace, freedom, and life. vision, goals, and passions; groups that we The organization has a long history through- can support and learn from, so that we can From Star Tribune - By Randy Furst out many revolutionary movements over the mutually benefi t. past century, and currently consists of numer- A deputy sheriff and two others infi ltrated ous independent groups around the world, in Yours in love, & till civilization crumbles, the RNC Welcoming Committee before Europe, South and North America. We are Robert Smith, Uma, Joshua Soybottom GOP convention. against all forms of oppression, going at it by Cleveland ABC On Aug. 31, 2007, Marilyn Hedstrom, attacking the root of things, and in our daily [email protected] who appeared to be in her early 50s, walked praxis in our group and our lives. We are un- http://myspace.com/clevelandabc into a run-down store-front where anar- fl inchingly LGBTQUU*-friendly, feminist, PO Box 602440 chists hung out on E. Lake Street in Min- anti-racist, and in solidarity with the struggles Cleveland, OH 44102 neapolis. against oppression worldwide. We work with She introduced herself as Norma Jean. political prisoners, and we are a machine for Asked by a man at the Jack Pine Center 1 why she was there, she said she had issues any reports by the undercover operatives, did not come as a complete shock.” with President Bush and the Iraq war. “I also declined to allow interviews with the Cop was almost outed told him I was interested in helping the three from his offi ce. ... While Hedstrom blended in, Dugger cause and interested in participating in the Watch, but don’t suggest gave off different vibes and was often under protesting,” she later wrote in reports re- Based on what they and the FBI informer a cloud of suspicion. In his late 20s, he was viewed by the Star Tribune. found, a full investigation was launched, al- “kind of muscular,” had tattoos and looked What she did not tell him is that she was lowing undercover agents to attend private like a biker, says Katrina Plotz, a member a deputy sheriff for the Ramsey County meetings and participate in the group so of the Anti-War Committee. Sheriff’s Offi ce. Along with two other un- long as they did not suggest criminal activi- At one meeting of various groups, “some- dercover sheriff’s operatives and an FBI in- ties, he said. body made a joke that based on looks, he’s former, she had been assigned to infi ltrate The sheriff’s investigation cost about the one who looks like a cop,” Plotz said. “He the RNC Welcoming Committee, which $300,000, Fletcher said. He’s asking the kind of smiled and didn’t say anything.” was planning street blockades at the 2008 city of St. Paul to reimburse his offi ce from At a meeting where Hedstrom was the Republican National Convention. $50 million in federal funds for convention facilitator, a kind of chairperson, an anar- She went “dumpster diving” at the group’s security. chist expressed concern that he was a cop, instructions to fi nd food for the anarchists Hedstrom, a narcotics offi cer, was part- a report said. Dugger “became emotional to eat. She cooked meals for some meetings, nered with Rachel Nieting, a guard in the and told them how bad he felt, he wiped his ran errands, coordinated committee discus- county jail. Nieting, in her 20s, posed as eyes and blew his nose.” He denied he was sions and represented the organization at Amanda, Hedstrom’s niece. A third opera- an informer. some gatherings of the protest movement. tive, Chris Dugger, was a confi dential paid The memo said two anarchists told him She became friends of some of the activists. informant who has since become a jail guard they “don’t think he is a cop. They said a And she, ironically, even helped on secu- and has taken tests to become a deputy. cop would have just walked away and never rity for the anarchists, who worried that the Agent was like a mom returned and wouldn’t cry.” cops were infi ltrating them. Nieting, now a deputy, halted her under- Dugger even got into the act. By August For a year Deputy Hedstrom led a dou- cover work after a few months. Fletcher he was urging an anarchist to suspect an- ble life as Norma Jean Johnson, fi ling her said she “didn’t have the level of acceptance other anarchist of being an informer. ... recollections, often daily, with the Special that Marilyn had.” Hedstrom told an anar- Nieting wrote that she and Hedstrom were Investigations Unit, as did the other opera- chist that Amanda dropped out after fi nd- the only two women to join Karen Redleaf tives. The covert operation was not with- ing a new boyfriend. at a “women’s Welcoming Committee” out drama. When one informant was ac- Most of the anarchists were decades meeting.