CALL TO ACTION!!! National Prisoners Strike: Sept 9th, 2016

We will keep this page updated with current information.  The strike starts on Sept 9th, 2016.  Please keep reading to find out how you can support the Prisoner's efforts.  There are a variety of ways to help.  If there is any information you would like us to add to this page please email us at iheartpaps.com and we thank you for your support for the Strike!

THINGS YOU CAN DO TO HELP 

Repression Response
One of the most important things outside supporters can do is respond to retaliation against prisoners. We need to shine a protecting light on their struggles, let prison staff know people are paying attention.

We need you to volunteer now! We are looking for people to commit to maintaining this pressure on an ongoing basis, and folks at IWOC have made it easy for you. If you would be willing to make calls every other day then please visit and bookmark this site: (https://goo.gl/forms/s4gBzsgvz6W9LQoN2) make the calls, and fill in the one-line form at the bottom so we can send friendly reminders if you don’t.

Tweetstorm

You can help bring attention to the strike by participating in an online tweetstorm that will last ALL DAY on Sept 9.  You can make up your own tweets or you can use tweets we have suggested.  For more information on the Tweetstorm visit our PASTEBIN HERE. 

Chalking and Distributing Pamphlets

*Printing out information to distribute or chalking important messages in public places helps bring attention to a cause.  Check out what Its Going Down in Denver has done!!

*Its Going Down also has links to printable pamphlets and e zines HERE. Just scroll down to the bottom of the page :)

Attend a Local Event

There are local events being planned for Sept 9th. If you can't find a local event consider planning one yourself.  We suggest doing a Solitary Confinement Demo.  If you are having an event and would like us to include it please email us at iheartpaps.com

*Buckeye, Arizona
 Bring signs, banners and drums to let these prisoners know they are not forgotten on the 45th anniversary of the Attica uprising.
This demonstration is in solidarity with the nationwide prisoner strike beginning on September 9 and is organized by the mother of a prisoner in this facility.

For more info contact:
LindaRobles39@gmail.com
(520) 393-3671

AZ weather during Sept is very hot. Come prepared. Water will be provided.
We will get together on Sept 7 for a planning meeting. Call or email for details.
Hosted by the EJ Mothers Safe Air Safe Water Force and the Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons.


*Durham, North Carolina
 September 9th Durham Central Park 7:30pm


*Portland, Oregon
 Friday, September 9th: People across Portland and Northwest will converge in Downtown Portland in solidarity with the US wide prison work strike against prison slavery and white supremacy. Our goal is a mass showing of support with the growing prison rebellion in the US and to also march on the corporations in the Downtown area that make massive profits off of prisoner enslavement.
2PM: Teach-in at Chapman Square.
3PM: March to Prison Profiteers.
6PM: Reconvene at Champman for a Noise Demo @ the Justice Center (across the street from Chapman Square). This event has been organized by the September 9th coalition in Portland. Comprising the All African People’s Revolutionary Party, Black Lives Matter Portland, Portland Anarchist Black Cross, Enlace, Portland Prison Divestment Coalition, Black Rose Portland, PDX SURGE, Marilyn Buck Abolitionist Collective, Oregon Jericho, The Jericho Movement, Incarcerated Worker Organizing Committee, Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media and Education, and American Friends Service Committee.Bring banners, signs, noise makers, friends, co-workers, neighbors, family members, and more! Gather at Chapmand Square (SW 4th and Main), 2pm. From there we will march to prison profiteers in Portland and end back at Chapman Square for a Noise Demonstration at the “Justice Center” where we will send our sounds of love and solidarity to all those trapped in the white supremacist state’s cages.

*Minneapolis, Minnesota
Noise demo at the youth jail!
8:00 PM on September 10th starting from Elliot Park in Minneapolis.
Starting on September 9th, prisoners will be going on strike across the U.S. To pull it off, this strike will require support from those of us on the outside as well.
Join us to send some love to everyone behind bars. Bring noisemakers, banners, and your friends.

*Oakland, California

Friday, September 9 at 6pm-10pm PDT Mosswood Park Rec Center Oakland IWOC and our friends are planning a mass action and march on Saturday, September 10th, but before hand we want to create a space where those new to the campaign can come and learn more about is happening, and everyone involved in the mobilization can work on making banners and signs. Join us on Friday, September 9th at Mosswood Park (look for us by the amphitheater) for a BBQ, banner and sign making party, open discussion on the strike and the mobilization on the 10th, and also watch a film about the Attica Prison Uprising. Oakland IWOC also stands in solidarity with our comrades organizing the Urban Shield protest in Pleasanton the same day as well as the FICPFM Conference. We encourage people to attend these other events and join us later in the day for the BBQ to report back and cross-pollinate. *Wildwood, Florida  The primary FTP events will occur on Sept 10th at 10am in front of the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) of Coleman, located at 846 NE 54th Terrace, Wildwood, Florida 34785.  This location is the largest prison factory in the entire country, producing material goods for government agencies nationwide. Much of the very furniture which accommodates the offices of the bureaucrats that we live under is made by prison slaves at this facility.   *Detroit, Michigan  Meet at the corner of Gratiot and St. Antoine, the proposed site for a new county jail with up to 2,000 beds -- meaning more space to send more people to prison, when instead we should be ensuring homes not jails. Bring something to make tons of noise with: drums, whistles, pots & pans, airhorns, tambourines, music, noisemakers -- anything that's loud! We'll walk from the site of the proposed new jail to the Old Wayne County Jail, handing out literature and making noise. Once there, we'll get extra amplified so those inside can hear us and know that they are not alone. Please note: There's a Tigers game that night starting at 7:10 PM. Leave ample time for traffic and parking. Free parking is available in the parking lot at Old St. John's, 2120 Russell Street off Gratiot near Eastern Market. This noise demo is just the beginning! Potluck Picnic: No New Jails! No Old Jails! Tuesday, September 13, Clark Park, 5-8 PM Bring a dish to share, plus blankets and chairs if you want them. If you're already doing a prison solidarity/abolition project, please bring info; if you want to propose a new project or organizing effort, bring your idea to share. Clark Park stage, Clark Street between Christiancy and the old YMCA, SW Detroit (rain: meet under the shelter between the stage and Scotten Street). 5:00 PM – Gather and eat 6:00 PM – Share ideas in a facilitated go-round 8:00 PM – Until we meet again! *Brooklyn, NY Sept 9 at 7pm-10pm EDT STAY TUNED! NOISE DEMONSTRATION AND SPEAK OUT! In front of MDC, on September ninth in solidarity with the #BX120 and the start of the national prisoner-led strike until all prisons fall! More information and co-sponsors TBA. Hit us up if you want to be involved, and for now SAVE THE DATE AND TIME *Los Angeles, California  Strike Against Police Terror (StrAPT) calls on prison abolitionists, community organizations, collectives, unions, workers and oppressed people to join solidarity actions for the National Prisoner's Strike on September 9th. The strike not only demands better conditions in prisons across the US and an end to prison slavery, it is also on the anniversary of the Attica prison rebellion. Open meeting August 31st at 7pm at Cielo Studios 3201 Maple Avenue. Meet near Men's Central Jail/Twin Towers (Between Vignes/Cesar Chavez & Vignes/Bauchet) 11am-3pm 2 Corner Demonstrations Teach-Ins & Workshops (Do you want to host a discussion or activity?) Tabling & Poster Making Food & Resource Share 3pm-6pm- RUSH HOUR- Speak Out, Rally, Noise Demo! Let the People Hear you! Endorsements! Have your organization endorse the event! Come thru and bring your people!  *Cincinnati, Ohio September 9th: Hamilton County Justice Center, 11 am, bring signs supporting prisoners. Contact Sonny Williams for more info: 513 751-2090. *Austin, Texas  Texas Prisoners are going on Strike! On September 9th, the anniversary of the Attica Uprising, prisoners are stopping work to shut down the system in a NATIONALLY COORDINATED STRIKE under the banner END PRISON SLAVERY. Texas Prisoners' demands include: humane living and working conditions, good time/work time , repeal of the 100 dollar medical co-pay, right to an attorney, and the formation of a TDCJ oversight committee. Lets us know if you would like to be involved! Join us outside the Texas Correctional Industries South Austin Showroom to speak out in support of the start the strike! Products distributed by TCI are exclusively made by prison slave labor and include hospital beds, furniture, janitorial supplies, tires and more. We will be picketing and hosting a speak out in support of the prisoners' demands! **** We are offering a rideshare from Monkeywrench Books in North Austin at 11 AM on September 9th. If you cannot participate in person please call: Austin TCI Showroom 512-282-7734 *Cumberland, MD Sept 9 from 8pm-12am at the Federal Correctional Institution Bring anything that makes noise! guitars, pots+pans, megaphones, etc.! This is going to be in solidarity with Maryland and Nationwide prisoners participating in the September 9th Prisoner Strike. We will set up carpools for all involved :) food + drink will also be provided, and noise making materials if you came empty handed! *Philidelphia, Pennsylvania Friday Sept 9 from 8pm-11pm EDT N48th St & Aspen St Other events near you: https://itsgoingdown.org/spreading-strike-solidarity-actions-across-north-america-september-9th/ Union Endorsements Are you in another union other than the IWW? Get your local to endorse the prisoner strike. Sample motion language can be found at:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QgJDD4zcAeWdv-DWcqsm1yBHuY__Ao7uAAQ92WfB2Pc/edit?usp=sharing

GROUPS SUPPORTING THE PRISONERS STRIKE

Free Alabama Movement

International Workers of the World: Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee  

Crimethinc 

Shadowproof
Support Prisoner Resistance
Milwaukee IWW
Free Jeremy Hammond 
Buffalo ARC
Project South
We Were Occupy Austin
All African People's Revolutionary Party
Black Lives Matter Portland
Portland Anarchist Black Cross
Enlace
Portland Prison Divestment Coalition
Black Rose Portland
PDX SURGE
Marilyn Buck Abolitionist Collective
Oregon Jericho
The Jericho Movement
Northwest Alliance for Alternative Media and Education
American Friends Service Committee
Conflict MN
Oakland IWOC
Strike Against Police Terror
EJ Mothers Safe Air Safe Water Force
The Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons
Austin Anarchist Black Cross
DC IWW IWOC
Inside-Out Alliance
No New Jails, No Old Jails
IWOC NYC
The Ordinary People's Society 
The National Lawyers Guild 
Free Virginia Movement
Free Ohio Movement

 


 

Press by PAPS in support of the Sept 9th Prisoners Strike #EndPrisonSlavery

"Should Prisons Be Abolished?"
FEARocious Talk with "A1" interviews PAPS Co-Founder and IWW IWOC Media Chair, Professor Azzurra Crispino regarding prison abolition and the upcoming Sept 9, 2016 Prison Strike.  #EndPrisonSlavery

Part One

Part Two

 

Part Three

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"EX-WORKER: SEPT 9th NATIONAL PRISON STRIKE"

Crimethinc interviews PAPS Co-Founder and IWW IWOC Media Chair, Professor Azzurra Crispino regarding the upcoming Sept 9, 2016 Prisoners Strike.  #EndPrisonSlavery

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sept 9, 2016 National Prison Strike"

SIDETRACKED with Blue Vino interviews PAPS Co-Founder and Prison Abolitionist, Leah Burris and also PAPS Member Vincent Kershaw of The Paypal 14.

Dude, Where's My Stratfor?

We have protested in front of 221 W 6th St a lot. When Free Anons  asked for solidarity events for Jeremy Hammond on his birthday after he was sentenced to 10 years for pleading guilty to one count of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) for all the hacks he allegedly committed as part of LulzSec during the Arab Spring and Occupy insurgence, we knew we could easily oblige.  I sometimes refer to it as the Building of Evil: Chase Bank, Senator John Cornyn’s offices, and of course Strategic Forecasting or Stratfor all reside here. My favorite time was the Occupy Austin street theater action placing Jaime Dimon in stocks in front of Chase Bank. The only time I got “all the way inside” was into Senator John Cornyn’s office to talk to his aides about why people are not corporations. 

Since The End of Occupy I’m usually on this particular street corner to troll Stratfor, where we have done three Jeremy Hammond birthday parties, one South by Southwest action, and a Nobody Fuck Sabu event after the snitch who ratted out Jeremy was sentenced to time served.  I transitioned from doing jail release support for Occupiers to doing prisoner solidarity for Occupiers to PAPS, and it just so happens that Jeremy will be the last of "my" Occupiers to get out - after Jay Chase, last of the NATO 5, all of the Cleveland 4 and Barrett Brown are out.  (Granted, I don’t think Barrett Brown was much of an Occupier, but we all know I support him as an accessory after the fact of the Stratfor hack, even though he’s an asshole who never writes back. But he’s a hilarious asshole, so send him some books and put money on his commissary so he can afford hooch-making supplies and opioids - like Robin Williams, he's funnier when he's high.)  Jeremy’s more of a black block anarchist and hacktivist than an Occupier to most people, but he took up space with Occupy Chicago at the intersection by BOA, Mercantile Exchange, Federal Reserve, Board of Trade - our "wall street" on LaSalle and presumably sparkled his fingers (most likely in a downward direction) while he was there. The least we can do – those of us who were Occupy Austin, and those of us who have joined in writing to Jeremy since - is throw him a birthday party in front of the Building of Evil. 

Our most glorious moment trolling Stratfor at this particular location was when they evacuated their employees out the garage entrance on January 8th, 2014. We marched straight into the front lobby with a vegan-plus-gluten-free birthday cake and a “Free Them All” banner, wanting to share. Our most glorious moment trolling Stratfor period was the Book People signing, where George Friedman decided his friendly neighborhood bookstore wasn't. Which is why I have been treating this year’s action as a bit of a “punch the clock” affair: go in, wish Jeremy a happy birthday, hand out some fliers, get some folks to sign a birthday card, go get dinner and drinks, and eventually get smashed and ignore the fact that I haven’t singlehandedly overthrown the state, abolished prisons, and ended the global intelligence-industrial complex, or even managed to really have good security practices for any of my communications.

“It will be better next year”, I tell myself silently as I accept that my vehicle of comrades will eventually get to the action – when Jeremy calls.  

“I’m half an hour late to your birthday party” I tell him when he asks me how I am. “You’re not releasing actual cats into the building?” he asks, concerned for their welfare. I’m a little annoyed – doesn’t he trust me enough to know I would never piss off the entirety of Anonymous by engaging in cat cruelty, especially in support of a prisoner particularly well known for his love of cats?  I mean, I know that I kick kittens for fun in my own spare time, but I would never do that while representing any member of LulzSec. I am tempted to shout out “Y’all we better turn back and bring these cats back to the lab where we got ’em” to see if I can get the driver to make screeching car noises, but then decide that Jeremy’s getting up there and it might be better not to give him a heart attack. I’m getting to tell him about the Bureau of Prisons hack that happened on the anniversary of the Stratfor hack, and his delight is palpable.  I listen politely as he describes the newest FCI Manchester drink craze: tea, some sort of “milk” product, and soda or kool-aid, depending on the fortitude of the drinker, which Jeremy admits he’s starting to lose now that he’s all of 31.  We agree he will call back in an hour so he can join us in front of Stratfor. 

Our comrades are already there, meowing away with “Justice 4 Bhopal” and “Happy Birthday Jeremy” banners. I was just getting into the swing of things when…

Dude, Where’s My Stratfor? 

Imagine my surprise when a security guard comes out and, effectively, tells us it's his first day and that he doesn't know why we're there. He came back out later and told us that Suite 400 is empty, but wouldn’t let us check for ourselves.  “You might as well go home, they’re not here.”

Ingenious! Tell us that Stratfor moved so that we’ll go home.  “I don’t believe you” I shouted out.  Surely this is a joke.  They didn’t move their entire corporate headquarters just to avoid our birthday party, right?

I mean, this is the Building of Evil. I don’t really care which particular reason I’m protesting outside it.  I’m sure Chase Bank finances the prison-industrial complex somehow (though I know if protesting immigrant detention centers, Wells Fargo is a far better target). If not, Senator Cornyn probably had something to do with the CFAA.  Besides, Stratfor was here when Jeremy hacked them on LulzXmas 2011. But, Jeremy’s calling in so we can sing him Happy Birthday in front of Stratfor and I don’t know where my Stratfor is. When a 1%'er loses his truck, he knows he can ask Stratfor to locate it, but as an Occupier who has lost my beloved global intelligence company, what am I to do?

Kit O’Connell jumped on the case post haste.  “Google still lists them as being at this address” he called out, “but their website both claims they have a PO box as an address and that they are open for office hours.”  Kit then began a series of funny calls to Stratfor, attempting to deliver our corporate-purchased cupcakes (we thought the home-made vegan/gluten-free had put them off our first year). This video chronicles Kit calling their tech support trying to get their address. “As you probably know, it’s Jeremy Hammond’s birthday, and we were all thinking of you on this special day so I just wanted to find out if we could what your new address was and if you would like we can bring the cupcakes by this evening” before asking for a tech support ticket number. 

This is embarrassing. We even had a National Lawyers Guild green hat lined up for this action, which is kind of a new thing to have in Austin. And we’re raising awareness in front of the wrong building? 

Our Stratfor cat box was all ready for us to pop a squat. How are we going to take our dump to celebrate Jeremy’s (data) dump in front of Stratfor if Stratfor is playing hide-and-go-seek?  Maybe I should be home answering letters instead of trolling a corporation hired to keep tabs on activists wanting to get Bhopal cleaned up or activists who want the City of Austin to have better banking practices  – what does this have to do with abolishing prisons anyway? Vince Kershaw of the PayPal14 came all the way out here with his cat just to photobomb our action, and we are not even in the right place!

Happy Birthday?

Jeremy called, right on time, and we appraised him of our cupcake flavors, as well as our current inability to locate Stratfor.  But we still sang him Happy Birthday, wherever we were: 

Video

Just wish Jeremy weren’t where he is, no matter where Stratfor is. 

Abolish Prisons! Encrypt Your Shit!  Resist!

How to Do a Solitary Confinement Demo

 How To Do a Solitary Confinement Demo in 5 Easy Steps

Step 1: SET GOAL

• What do you hope to accomplish with your demonstration?

Examples: get passers-by to send postcards to a specific prisoner, sign a petition to end long-term solitary confinement, support a lawsuit to end long-term solitary confinement

Step 2: BUILD CELL

• Get measurements: how big is the solitary cell you are re-creating? (typically range from 6 x 9 to 8 x 10 but some prisoners may be in even smaller confinement – if you are supporting a specific prisoner, check with the inmate).
• Make your cell: you can use chalk to draw it on the ground, use masking tape to mark it on the ground, or build a replica of a solitary confinement cell
• Fill your cell: can leave empty, to signify the person who is missing from society; can fill it with prison items and have an activist inside the cell representing the prisoner.
• Prepare materials. Have something to hand out to passers-by: brochure about your prisoner, copy of the petition, pre-addressed stamped postcards for them to write to the prisoner, stickers, etc.

STEP 3: PUBLICIZE YOUR EVENT

• Make an event page for the action
• Contact local media a week before the event – include a press release
• Go guerilla: skip publicizing the event and just do it!

STEP 4: DAY OF

• Be courteous and polite
• Engage the public
• Take pictures for write-up

STEP 5: AFTER THE ACTION

• Write a blog post or post-action write-up. We will be happy to post it on the PAPS site too! If you get news coverage, let us know and we will amplify it.
• Follow-up with turning in petition signatures, or with your inmate. Did they receive the postcards? Are they planning on writing back to those who wrote them? Did they receive second communication?
  
  Check out our link to the Mint Press News Article featuring PAPS conducting a Solitary Confinement Demo.

Pool Party Not Only Incident of Police Brutality in McKinney

This girl in McKinney, Texas lost her track scholarship and went through 12 weeks of physical therapy because of injuries she sustained in a separate incident at the hands of Officer Bailey at the local high school. Officer Baily was standing next to her as she tells her story. Watch:

Would you like to get involved by transcribing this video? Email iheartpaps@gmail.com

The PAPS Review of Actions and Letters and Stratfor

                 

Postcard Solidarity Station Worked by an A-non

If our objective was to roast sabu the snitch pig in front of  Stratfor, then we failed miserably.

sabu Roasting

If our objective was to have some laughs and drum up postcards from drunks, then we were a rousing success.  

We began our action by stacking two tables, literature, the Barrett Brown Bathtub Solidarity Selfie Booth, two bags of charcoal, two bottles of lighter fluid and a fire extinguisher on the side of the Stratfor building.  Staging on the building itself had been fine during the Second Annual Jeremy Hammond Birthday Party on Jan 8th, but evidently was no longer fine in the post-BookPeople world of Stratfor-activist relations.

Almost immediately four building security - which Douglas Lucas would later clarify were two “building security” and two “engineers” - asked me to move off their building. I was feeling literal, and began moving everything off the building itself but just next to it on the sidewalk. Roughly the moment after I managed to get all our gear moved, APD arrived. I am happy to report Austin Police have increased their political action response time from the admirable three minutes it used to take them to show up after Occupy Austin Alerts tweeted a location to so fast I hadn’t even realized security called them. 

First on the scene was an officer in full uniform we’ll call Friendly.  Officer Friendly said our gear was still on Stratfor’s property, or blocking the sidewalk, but either way it all needed to leave. I spent some time asking Officer Friendly astute questions regarding the actual sidewalk ordinance and the location of the boundary between the building and the sidewalk. Talking to him, I began feeling as I had, by the power of LOLcats, been transformed into the Schroedinger Cat of Activist Trolling occupying Stratfor’s property and the city’s sidewalk simultaneously.  

Unloading sabu

During this conversation, Officer Friendly tried to convince me he truly believed he was being adequately helpful, while I came to believe he was mostly full of shit and perhaps did not know the sidewalk ordinance. After calling in to dispatch for clarification, the closest he could come to spelling out the ordinance was giving me the URL for the city’s ordinance database and the very specific instructions of “search for sidewalk”. I followed his instructions to the letter (I would say to the t, but there’s no t in sidewalk) and told him this resulted in over 100 hits. His response was to declare himself more than helpful and pronounce me adequately informed on the law.  He had already told me (twice) if I didn’t like what he had to say, I could take it up with his “supervisor” - aka Handsome Bike Cop.  

Cops had us move to the park across street where we are now. 4 security-looking guys stood outside building's front door #WikiLeaks #GIFiles
— Douglas Lucas (@DouglasLucas) March 19, 2015

He said they were engineers. I asked Why do ya need engineers out here? 1 "engineer" said Repairing the building. Lolwtf #WikiLeaks #GIFiles
— Douglas Lucas (@DouglasLucas) March 19, 2015

Handsome Bike Cop plied me with reason – in case of an emergency building evacuation, we would be an obstruction to the poor innocent employees of JP Morgan Chase, Senator John Cornyn, not to mention our beloved Stratfor, who might die in a fire unable to escape past the throng of southbyers and our tables. I failed to see how our tables posed a unique danger, especially since they were parallel to the sidewalk, compared to the band on the other side of the building, which was perpendicular to it but had been told by APD they did not need a permit and that they were not causing a disturbance. Officer Friendly later explained police only respond when there is a complaint. If I wished to complain, he would be happy to remove them as well, which ended my protests faster than anything a police officer has ever said to me before.

I reassured Handsome Bike Cop that I only blow up buildings when there are no people in them and that I was not the “pacifist” arm of a militant group intent on blowing up Stratfor. We did not intend to position our tables, topped with cupcakes of mass destruction, for maximum carnage. Surely this was the reason Fred Burton was engaged in his, by now famous, spy routine: 

Austin PD & U-Texas PD talking about what to do with us. @fred_burton (or his twin) walked by. We're handing out fliers. #WikiLeaks #GIFiles
— Douglas Lucas (@DouglasLucas) March 19, 2015

Still here handing out fliers & talking #FreeBB #FreeJeremy. Some passersby wrote cool postcards for our prisoners. #WikiLeaks #GIFiles
— Douglas Lucas (@DouglasLucas) March 19, 2015

Pretty surreal making eye contact multiple times with @fred_burton. You're losing a lot of your hair dude. I have more. #WikiLeaks #GIFiles
— Douglas Lucas (@DouglasLucas) March 19, 2015

No, I didn’t say ANYTHING to Handsome Bike Cop about blowing up buildings. How stupid do you think I am?  (Don’t answer that.) Instead, I politely informed Handsome Bike Cop that I, too, was concerned for the safety and well being of all SXSW attendees as well as the employees of The Building of Evil.  After all, I have already invested birthday cake, yoga and LULZ into converting these Stratfor employees, it would be such trouble to start all over with a new batch if the present ones all got blown up by terrorists.  See, whereas Burton and Friedman would be resurrected from clones as in the film The Island and simply hire all new minions, we pacifists would have to start from the beginning with our conversion process. We want everyone to be safe while they are rethinking their actions and exploring new ones; why else bring a fire extinguisher to a protest? I simply did not believe that we were going to be an impediment to human traffic out of the building in case the Stratfor engineers were just as good as their InfoSec. Surely Handsome Bike Cop agreed we were causing no danger? 

At this point, Handsome Bike Cop proved himself both pretty and astute, or perhaps he was simply looking for a diversion because he knew he had no answer for my retorts, for he took note of the two bags of charcoal, the bottles of lighter fluid, barbecue tongs and asked if we were planning on cooking something. “Why yes, officer, we’re planning on roasting a pig.” “A pig?” he asked, incredulously, engaging in the first round of “How Many Times Can We Get an Officer to Use the Word ‘Pig’?” or, as the game is more commonly called, Pig-Say-Pig. 

The excitement of setting off a round of Pig-Say-Pig had caused Handsome Bike Cop to increase the intensity of his insistence we would be more comfortable across the street at “that little park over there”. He almost began to look flustered. My attempt to reassure him with the fire extinguisher failed – perhaps he too had heard of Stratfor’s InfoSec failures, and feared the company’s engineers could be putting us in imminent, mortal danger completely independent of pig-say-pig and which could not be rectified by the use fire extinguishers. Surely he didn’t think the sheer presence of these building engineers could so increase our ineptitude thereby causing the coals inside the grate of the pig roaster to spark a fire?  Even if there somehow were a spark that strayed, how could it possibly be strong enough to overcome that it has been raining all week including earlier that morning? Handsome Bike Cop nevertheless offered a deal: he and APD would leave us alone across the street, though Code might have something to say about “roasting a pig”, he wasn’t sure, since that falls outside the laws he normally enforces in his normal bike cop day-to-day.  He admitted to not knowing all the laws on the books perfectly; after all, there are so many laws, how could one cop possibly know them all? (Everyone knows all the laws under anarchism: we don’t have any.)

I was beginning to be persuaded, perhaps more by his handsome smile than his words. “Indeed,” I thought, “the Barrett Brown Bathtub Solidarity Selfie Booth would look better next to that fountain which spouts no water, they are attracted by their mutual absences in a way I too would find aesthetically pleasing as a backdrop for postcard writing. Perhaps we would be more comfortable across the street”.  His deal seemed reasonable enough. Perhaps I could, just this once, trust a cop? Yes, cops are bastards, but surely some desire to serve and protect?!?

See, Handsome Bike Cop had just at this very moment, while I was stunned by the gleam off his overly white teeth long enough to stop talking, informed me he wanted to get back to catching criminals instead of having to deal with us, as we clearly were not an actual threat to anything except Fred Burton and George Friedman’s egos. Handsome Bike Cop may not have understood he was serving and protecting the face-saving interests of a global intelligence company against the disclosure interests of the local and global community. But what he did understand is that he had better things to do during south-by than play pig-say-pig with us. He wanted to be serving and protecting the community, namely the young women and men otherwise lacking male privilege who could become victims of sexual violence if not for his presence. I responded I hoped he wasn’t sending any of the wrongdoers to prison, and a lovely dialogue ensued. There had already been one rape that day, Handsome Bike Cop informed me, and he wanted to find anyone else who was doing that and make sure they were punished afterwards. I replied that I understood the significance of that harm as a survivor, but that I personally wouldn’t send my rapists to prison. I firmly believe all rapists do in prison is learn not to get caught next time, which begins by practicing on raping other inmates and seeing whether the guards will let them get away with it. I tried to gain his sympathies by taking the side of his colleagues, and added that I sympathized with the APD officers who had recently gotten in ‘trouble’ for stating the obvious on camera – “go ahead and call the cops. They can't unrape you.” 

At this point, my comrades had finished parking the car, and I had stalled as long as my best Scarlett O’Hara-as-prison abolitionist interpretation would allow. “Hun, these handsome officers think we would be more comfortable across the street, let's go over there” I called out. Handsome Bike Cop had begun looking confused at my insistences that we shouldn’t have prisons.  Quickly he recovered his composure, aided by the realization his own handsomeness had extended over the whole group. His eyes had quickly darted to the rest of the team, and realized even Southern generosity could not otherwise stretch the adjective so far. Raising his chin and smiling bravely, he offered to help ferry our belongings across the street. After all, he really wanted to get back to enrolling more people into the Texas Department of Criminal Justice 40-cent-an-hour work camp program – I mean, catching criminals. I replied that, although he was surely kind to offer, Jeremy would kill me if I were to accept. Yes, I really did say that. Come to think of it, that might be overstating Jeremy's blood thirst - he might just force me to read Our Enemies in Blue as many times as his twin Jason watched Fight Club before joining ARA.

Perhaps I should have stayed at home reading Our Enemies in Blue instead of engaging in ambulatory pig roasting, for I was beginning to trust Handsome Bike Cop.  He said they wouldn’t give us a ticket for jaywalking while we crisscrossed the street without going to the intersection, and they held to that promise. After a while, he even realized my skills from being a Crossing Guard as a fifth-grader at Lincoln Elementary still held and that I did not need him to block traffic for me.  Officer Friendly seemed less convinced, and continued to jump into the street after me to block traffic. After a while he too realized the sun had come out and it seemed to dawn on him it was just too damned hot for such shenanigans. 

I must confess I did not intend to lie the officers – they had, after all, been treating us in good faith so far. I truly thought a case of water had been stolen under the watchful eye of three bicycle cops, one fully uniformed APD, and the four security officers, though it turned out I had overlooked the case of water under the cupcakes of mass distraction.  Handsome Bike Cop believed me and seemed genuinely distressed that our stuff had gotten lifted under their “watchful eye”. (The only saving grace to bureaucracy is inefficiency.) 

In retrospect, I should have let Handsome Bike Cop carry the waters and Barrett Brown Bathtub Selfie Solidarity Booth across the street.  After all, Jeremy isn’t going to be in a position to assassinate me for another six years or so (assuming he doesn’t have his date extended out again in the mean time, which I highly hope for his sainted mother but somewhat doubt as his comrade) and those waters were heavy. More to the point, it would have even more clearly underscored that APD had given us “permission” to set up “across the street”. 

A crucial fact has been omitted from our tale hitherto: 

“across the street” is the Claudia Taylor Johnson Building and property of UT Austin. 

                     ​

 

 Lonely Fountain Seeks Waterless Companion

We had considered setting up at the Johnson Building dorm in the first place because it IS a better space and we suspected UT PD were likely to be more friendly to our cause than APD (which thankfully turned out to be true).  At the last minute, we decided to use the courtyard as a fall-back location and to troll Stratfor more directly first.  Could it be even Handsome Bike Cop had, by the intoxicating stench of  corporate influence so strongly emanating from the Building of Evil, been willing to imply the police would leave us alone when he knew it wasn’t all police? Are ALL cats BEAUTIFUL?!? Alas, I was not surprised, as we were well-aware when APD said THEY weren’t going to continue messing with us, that this didn’t mean we were in hog heaven – UT PD could kick us out at any time. Or say pig more often, one of the two. 

After two hours of negotiation with UT PD, APD, Code and Stratfor (certainly Burton was in and out of the Johnson Building enough times that he must have been somewhat involved in the conversation) we reached an agreement: we would move our tables far enough away from the building not to appear affiliated with UT but far enough away from the sidewalk that APD would not give us any trouble.  None of these negotiations had included our plans to roast a snitch, or at least its porcine sacrificial equivalent.  “You want to do what?” UT PD asked us, adroitly refusing to play pig-say-pig. “Don’t tell me you want to do that here.” (Did they think the roaster was empty?).  After reconvening all the relevant parties (I believe this time without Stratfor, but perhaps Burton had disguised himself as a tree), we were told we could (legally) roast the pig at a local park, but only if we used the city’s roasters, or at a private residence. Did we want to lock arms and defend roasting this pig here? Our militant vegetarian fiercely answered yes, even though eating the pig was out of the question for him personally. Roasting the pig at a park was also inadvisable: the city’s roasters would be unable kill the taint of being called sabu– besides, the pigs would show up to play post-curfew pig-say-pig; it would need to roast at least four hours and the parks shut down at 10.  Questions sprung to my mind: how far out does the circle need to go to defend a roasting pig? Do you have half the participants facing in to watch the pig to make sure there’s no fire? Or just have the roast master inside the circle with you facing the pig as the rest of you defend facing out? These were all burning questions – and more – which remained unanswered. I personally just couldn’t get it up to defend a pig I’d named sabu. 

Code and Officer Friendly Playing Pig-Say-Pig

Snitch Pig Costumes Worn by Pirates

Meanwhile, the action had continued springing forward. “Free waters! Free cupcakes! Abolish Prisons!” we cat-called in our fetching pirate costumes. Our costumes were indeed fetching, but perhaps our offers of free waters when most sell for $2 a bottle were more so.  The Barrett Brown Bathtub Solidarity Selfie Booth was more amusing to us than passersby, as most were completely unfamiliar with the case but were too drunk to question why we would have a fake bathtub with no water next to a real fountain which also had no water while handing out water – they had enough sense to just drink it. People were shocked we turned away donations and told them to give money to the PayPal14’s restitution or write a postcard instead. Some just wanted water and a cupcake and still didn’t want to talk to us. Some wrote a postcard just to “pay” for their cupcakes (we sent all of those to Barrett). Some were former inmates or had family members or friends incarcerated, more than a few were “between addresses” or otherwise clearly homeless – they all appreciated being able to use our PAPS address to write their folks on the ins as well as our two featured political prisoners. Others wanted to learn more about the revelations from the Stratfor hack, which Douglas Lucas handled perfectly. When the crowds died down, about as far past our event end time as our actual start time had been to the event actually kicking off, we left. 

                 

To the vegans reading this, I too feel uncomfortable calling that lovely pig sabu. First, definitely female. Secondly, splitting her back bone was harder than splitting the real sabu’s would have been if his is even discernible to the human eye. Though, perhaps that had something to do with the fact I had my knife 90 degrees off from how it should have been angled and effectively used the hammer to jam the knife into where the pig’s backbone met its skull instead of using it to split the backbone as it was subsequently properly done. I’m sure I did a number on the pig’s pineal gland; if pigs have souls and this pig’s soul had intermingled with its body there, or pigs even have pineal glands. Thirdly, this pig definitely had guts, as I removed them before roasting. As much as ahimsa says associating this lovely pig with police or snitches is wrong, I can only say this: setting that fucker on fire and eating it tasted of triumph in the struggle! 

Ultimately, 65 people wrote postcards to Barrett and Jeremy, and more took fliers and claimed they would write after reading more about the case.  Stratfor already knows how many signed up for our service, I’m sure, though we haven’t counted those yet. Alas, we did not manage to play Jeremy Jeopardy… next time? 

Stratfor & sabu, do you regret helping the FBI entrap Jeremy Hammond yet? 

WE DO NOT FORGET OUR CAPTURED COMRADES. 

EXPECT US.