The Hotwire #13: J20 trials begin, worldwide anti-fascism, squatting for the win in Chicago

Today is the beginning of the J20 inauguration protester trials in DC. There are some important developments in the case, so we interview Sam from DC Legal Posse about what’s going on and how to support the defendants. We also interview a Polish anti-fascist from Warsaw about this weekend’s 60,000 person far-right march that was littered with Nazi slogans. The folks at the IRL squat in Chicago called us to talk about resisting their eviction and squatting as a window to a world outside of capitalism. Stay tuned until the end for exciting calls for upcoming action camps and decentralized days of action. {November 15th, 2017}

-------SHOW NOTES------

• Table of Contents:
  • Introduction {0:00}
  • Headlines {1:45}
  • Ultranationalist march in Poland {9:50}
  • IRL squat in Chicago {18:00}
  • J20 updates{25:50}
  • Next Week’s News {30:50}
• J20 support resources:
  • J20 Legal Defense Fund
  • Sub.media’s Defend J20 Resistance info video
  • Twitter
  • Fed book
  • Agency: The J20 Case, What You Need to Know
  • The Nation published a really good article, found here, on the importance of supporting the J20 inauguration day defendants.
  • The Intercept: Group Investigating Police Conduct On Inauguration Day Has History Of Siding With Police
• Anti-capitalists in Montreal are holding an anti-G7 organizing assembly on November 18 at … 1PM to 5PM Comité social Centre-Sud 1710 Beaudry Near the Beaudry metro station. The room is wheelchair accessible.
• On November 21 at 8 PM EST, tune into CrimethInc.com for a live video presentation in which an experienced legal support worker will explain what grand juries are, how they work, and how to resist them.
• Donate here to support the Rojinegro anarchist infoshop in Bogotá, Colombia.
• Call in to Wabash Valley Correctional Facility and the Indiana Department of Corrections to demand that prisoners on strike stop being harassed by guards, be removed from camera cells, and that guards stop tampering with prisoner mail.

  Wabash Valley Warden Richard Brown: (812) 398–5050 IDOC Commissioner Robert E. Carter Jr.: (317) 232–5711 IDOC Chief of Staff Randy Koester: (317) 232–5711

• Here is the Facebook page for Northwest Detention Center Resistance in Tacoma, WA.
• The Cascadia Forest Defenders are fighting against the Goose Timber Sale of 2,500 acres of the Willamette National Forest in Oregon. Go here to donate to their struggle or find out how to get involved.
• Anti-fascist organizing resources:
  • This Is Not A Dialogue
  • The Anti-Fascist Action chapter of Recipes for Disaster
  • Episodes 11 and 12 of The Ex-Worker podcast
  • Torch Anti-Fascist Network, the IWW’s General Defense Committee, Antifa International
  • Notes on Anti-Fascist Self-Defense Training: 10 Lessons from the Russian Anti-Fascist Experience
• Tour dates for Mark Bray speaking on his new book Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook:
  • 11/15 Davis, CA: University of California, Davis- Voorhies Hall 126 7PM
  • 11/16 Stanford University: 3:30- Building 320, Room 105, Braun Corner (Geology Corner)
  • 11/16 San Francisco: City Lights (at night)
  • 11/17 LA: Skylight Books
  • 11/18 Berkeley: South Berkeley Senior Center (2939 Ellis St) 7PM 11/19 San Francisco: Howard Zinn Bookfair

  Full event details, including specific locations and times, can be found here.

• Writings by Greek anarchist political prisoners Pola Roupa and Nikos Maziotis:
  • Their most recent statement
  • Oral declaration to the court – Pola Roupa
  • Political Letter to Society – Kostas Gournas, Nikos Maziotis, Pola Roupa
  • Statement to the Athens Criminal Court – Nikos Maziotis
• Other anarchist podcast episodes mentioned in this Hotwire:
  • The latest IGDcast has an interview with Indiana Department of Corrections Watch, who are organizing support for the hunger strike at Wabash Valley Correctional.
  • This episode of The Final Straw has interviews with two latinx organizers about DACA and the DREAM act.
  • The brand new episode 59 of The Ex-Worker podcast has first-hand stories and lessons from anarchists who resisted grand juries.
  • This episode of The Final Straw has interviews with Cascadia Forest Defenders about their anti-logging occupation in the Willamette National Forest.
• CrimethInc. essays mentioned in this Hotwire:
  • Make Your Own Effigies: A Tactic for Delegitimizing Authority and Rendering Dissent Visible
• Videos & Pictures
  • Anarchists in Moscow commemorating the centennial of the Russian Revolution
  • Why to support the J20 defendants
  • The captured white nationalist banner which was corrected to now say “It’s Ok To Be… Antifascist Action.”
  • The older women who sat and blocked the nationalist march in Warsaw, Poland on November 11
  • The Mi’kmaq blockade of the Alton Gas Project in Nova Scotia
  • The flyer handed out in the neighborhood of the IRL squat in Chicago
• The 2018 Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners calendar is now available! Your group can buy 10 or more at the rate of $10 each. Single issues are available from LeftWingBooks.net and AK Press. This year’s theme is “Awakening Resistance,” and features art and writings by Jesus Barraza, Fight Toxic Prisons, Serena Tang, Andrea Ritchie, Roger Peet, Sophia Dawson, Rasmea Support Committee, EE Vera, Herman Bell, Fernando Marti, Alexandra Valiente, Billie Belo, Arlene Gallone Support Committee, Marius Mason, David Gilbert, UB Topia, April Rosenblum, Design Action Collective, Sundiata Acoli, CrimethInc, Annie Banks, Mutope Duguma, Xinachtli, Zola and more. You can sponsor copies for prisoners for only $8, postage included! Just be sure to specify their full legal name and prisoner number. Any questions can be sent to info@certaindays.org.
• Ongoing grassroots disaster relief efforts:
  • Florida: Mutual Aid Disaster Relief
  • Texas: Bayou Action Street Health, Greater Houston Grassroots Relief, World on My Shoulders, Austin Common Ground, the Black Women’s Defense League, Redneck Revolt Houston, West Street Response Team, Houston Food Not Bombs
  • California: Sonoma County IWW wildfire rebuilding fund
  • Puerto Rico: Submedia’s grassroots disaster relief support, Hurricane Maria Community Recovery Fund, Mutual Aid Disaster Relief: here and here. Also, check out Mutual Aid Disaster Relief’s website for on-the-ground reports from Puerto Rico.
  • Mexico: Oaxaca Earthquake Autonomous Solidarity Campaign
• Corrections & Clarifications Last Hotwire we repeated an uncredible claim that the Department of Homeland security considers Antifa a terrorist group. For a thorough debunking of that claim, check out Taking Out the Trash: Fact Checking Politico’s “Antifa Attacks”. Now, it is true that New Jersey’s Department of Homeland Security has written up a profile of anti-fascists, but they don’t explicitly call Antifa a terrorist group.