Activists with Shell to Sea rolled out their first wave of actions in the new year to disrupt construction of Shell’s natural gas pipeline in Mayo County, Ireland. The action started on January 7 with protestors waiting along the highway used to access the construction site. As trucks carrying gravel approached, the activist jumped in front of them to stop them. This was done several times until enough police arrived on the scene to arrest 3 of the protestors.
The following day activists were able to intercept a specialized tree cutting machine being used to clear the route for the pipeline. One person was able to climb on top of the machine and lock himself to it. It took three and a half hours for the cops to cut him free, all the while the entire road was blocked which prevented other construction equipment from getting to the site!
On the morning of January 10, about twenty members of the assembly of solidarity with the case of Revolutionary Struggle (Epanastatikos Agonas, whose trial is currently underway), joined the corporation flash.gr radio station in the Kifisias Avenue and stopped the program from the station to transmit a message of solidarity with the accused.
Although neither the direction of the station or its staff formally requested the intervention of the police, dozens of them (DIAS motorcycle units, such as MAT squads, plainclothes police officers, among others) soon arrived at the scene and surrounded the building. At about 14.00 hours, after hours of being locked in the offices of the radio, the anarchists who participated in the intervention of solidarity were arrested en masse and taken to police headquarters on Alexandras Avenue: two prosecutors , along with squads of police, stormed the radio station, forcing the partners to leave the premises, all were handcuffed and held in police buses, while their mobile phones were confiscated.
As soon as the news spread, anarchists gathered outside the police headquarters (GADA), where a solidarity protest of about 100 people was conducted.
Here is part of a text published by the same 20 detainees’ s:
Today, January 10, 2012, the companions of esapcio anarchist / anti-authoritarian we conducted an intervention in the company’s FM radio station Flash 96 in the context of a series of solidarity actions in the case of Revolutionary Struggle, trial was conducted from October 5, 2011, in the special court Koridallos prison.
We have taken this action in an effort to break the wall of silence and the political order of muzzling the judicial and political discourse of the defendants in the case of Revolutionary Struggle.
It appears that all comrades l @ s @ s s are accused of a misdemeanor of “inciting violence”. ‘S are now threatened to be arrested and should be tomorrow at the hearing, 11 / 1, in the courts Evelpidon in Athens, around the 12:00 BHRS. We call for unconditional absolution!
End the persecution s @ s comrades who participated in Flash 96 FM!
Freedom now to everyone!
Solidarity with the three members of the revolutionary struggle, Nikos Maziotis, Pola roupa, Kostas Gournas, otr l @ s @ s @ s Plead in the same case, Vaggelis Stathopoulos, Nikitopoulos Sarantos, Christoforos Kortesis, Beraha Katsenos Marie and Kostas. We demand the immediate release of K. Katsenos hostage remains in custody.
new graphic to go with ch 32 ‘Smash the Prison Gates’ from the novel The Free..(available as a free download here https://thefreeonline.wordpress.com )
denverabc We hope these words find our comrades around the world in the best of health and spirit, during this time of massive social upheavel and revolt. The world has definitely seen a spread of anarchist influenced and revolutionary praxis throughout the last half of 2012, and we’ve definitely been feeling the massive change in current here in Denver.2011 saw the busiest time yet for our collective, as we worked to support social movements active in Denver, and across the world.
GENERAL/INTERNAL:
The most recent formation of the Denver Anarchist Black Cross has now been active in the Denver metro area for 2 1/2 years. During that time our collective has seen a lot of ebb and flow with our membership and our work. However, the last 6 months of 2011 saw our collective solidify to a consistent membership base. At the close of 2011, we had 11 dues paying members, with three more people expected to complete their membership process sometime in January 2012……..
LONG TERM POLITICAL PRISONER/POW SUPPORT:
One of the mainstays of Anarchist Black Cross work will always be support for long-term imprisoned comrades, classified as political prisoners and prisoners of war. Denver ABC has continued our dedication to supporting our kidnapped warriors through a variety of ways.
Since our inception, Denver ABC has worked to maintain a comprehensive listing of political prisoners and social movement prisoners held captive within the U.S. An electronic version of our listing is continuously updated and available at our blog at denverabc.wordpress.com. An 11th edition of a print version of that listing was made available in November, with a new edition to be made available sometime in January 2012…….
For the second year, Denver ABC maintained a $30 a month stipend for long held Black Liberation prisoner, Mutulu Shakur.support website: http://mutulushakur.com
In July, DABC held our 3rd annual Running Down the Walls 5k benefit for U.S. held political prisoners. The run was held in solidarity with the chapters of the Anarchist Black Cross Federation and other ABC chapters across North America. This year’s run was the most successful by far. 40 participants helped us raise over $1,100. $800 was sent to MOVE prisoner Michael Davis Africa. More information: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/political-prisoners-database/michael-davis-africa/ Our efforts at supporting individual political prisoners also included sending $300 each to the last two members of the United Freedom Front held captive within the United States, Tom Manning and Jaan Laaman. More information on Tom, Jaan, and the United Freedom Front can be found here: http://denverabc.wordpress.com/political-prisoners-database/jaan-karl-laaman/
Our work to support our long held comrades has included a myriad of other programs and initiatives, including participating in a night of action for long term anarchist prisoners which took place on June 11th. DABC members helped plant dozens of flowers throughout Northwest Denver, accompanied by vibrant full color posters explaining the cases of two comrades, Eric McDavid and Marie Mason………
FORMER POLITICAL PRISONER SUPPORT:
The struggle a political prisoner faces does not end once they are released from prison, no matter how long they have been outside of the prison gates. It is with this contention in mind that DABC also believes it is important to support our previously imprisoned comrades. They have lost years of their lives to our social movements, and they deserve our continued support……..
PRISON ABOLITION/MIGRANT DEFENSE:
Throughout 2011, Denver ABC continued our commitment to supporting local movements resisting mass imprisonment throughout Colorado. Our work focused on two fronts: the Colorado state prison system and the ICE detention system.
Our work within the Colorado state prison has been multi-pronged. We still maintain a free literature program for prisoners; sending radical, revolutionary, and anarchist titles into prisons across Colorado. 2011 finally saw the release of a new catalog of titles, as well as the solidification of the project, which had stalled last year for various reasons.
DABC held several solidarity rallies with women prisoners actively struggling against violence and sexual assault at the hands of guards at the Denver Women’s Correctional Facility in northeast Denver.
Twice in the spring, a group of 20-30 people held banners proclaiming solidarity with the women struggling inside. The reactions from the women inside were supportive and excited, as women banged on the windows of prison cells and raised fists in solidarity. Our efforts to create a solid working relationship with these women has stalled out, after some correspondence with women who got our address off of a large banner held outside the prison, encouraging them to write us. We hope to work more on this in 2012 and correct our mistakes.
Our solidarity with prisoner struggles was not just limited to the geographic confines of Colorado. During both rounds of hunger strikes that spread across the California prison system, Denver ABC took a role in organizing local solidarity. In July, we helped organize local movement members to call and write the prison system, and to write and develop relationships with the prisoners active within the hunger strike. In October, we organized a march and rally, where we handed out hundreds of fliers with information about the strike. We continued our phone call and letter writing campaigns, and also held a teach-in and strategy session where we were able to get Bo Brown, a former member of the George Jackson Brigade and a member of the Pelican Bay Hunger Strike Support Committee, to video chat with the participants about the strike and the efforts to offer support.
Our work supporting the efforts of local migrant and Chican@ liberation movements was not as active as it was last year, but still took up a considerable amount of our organizing efforts, particularly in early 2011….DABC maintained our presence at monthly vigils against the ICE Detention Center in nearby Aurora. …..For the second year, DABC has maintained our involvement with Colorado AID (Abolish Inhumane Detention)…..
LEGAL SUPPORT:
DABC has been providing legal support to local social movements since our inception. 2011, however, pushed this work to a whole new level, as we worked to support participants in the local anti-police movement, including an attempted murder case.
the case of Amelia Nicol
The most serious case we have ever offered our support for was the case of Amelia Nicol, a woman arrested during the “March Against Police Terror” that took place in May. Amelia was accused of throwing a molotov cocktail (or a bomb, depending on which capitalist media source you choose to read) at police officers. She was charged with two counts of attempted murder of a police officer, arson, use of explosives, possessing explosives, and a host of other felonies and misdemeanors. In all, Amelia faced over 100 years in prison for these charges. Denver ABC took the initiative to offer the support necessary to win this court case. Our support took on a myriad of roles; starting with providing correspondence, speaking to Amelia on the phone everyday, and working to develop a pressure campaign against the District Attorney. DABC organized a letter and phone call campaign, where hundreds of postcards, letters, faxes, and emails were sent to the District Attorney from all over the world, demanding that the charges against Amelia be dropped. We organized a press conference outside the DA’s office, and a half dozen supporters went inside to drop off hundreds more postcards directly to the DA. This was the first time DABC had organized anything like this. Video of the press conference can be found here:http://denverabc.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/amelia-nicol-press-conference-rally-and-da-confrontation-6911/
On June 9, after being imprisoned for over a month, Amelia had her most serious charges dropped in court. She was bonded out by DABC members on June 13, facing one felony count for possession of explosives, and 3 misdemeanor charges for assault and resisting arrest. DABC provided Amelia with a place to live, a job, clothing, and other physical resources that she needed upon release. By September, the remainder of Amelia’s charges were dropped in court. Amelia went from facing over 100 years in jail to being completely free and clear in a matter of months. This was the first time DABC has ever performed a support role of this magnitude and with these dire of consequences. It was
version of graphic titled ‘Re-Creating’ used for Act 2 of the novel ‘The Free’ ( available as a free download here https://thefreeonline.wordpress.com )
definitely a learning experience, and one that will continue to inform our legal support work. It also was a major victory for our collective and for local revolutionary movements.
OCCUPY DENVER:
A lot can be said about our participation in Occupy Denver. The comments, history, analysis, and insights we have gained could fill an entire periodical at this point. However, we’ll just offer a brief overview of our involvement. Denver ABC was present from the first General Assembly ever held at Occupy Denver. In fact, members of our organization facilitated the first five general assemblies. We were also a part of helping to adopt guidelines that would ensure an acceptance of a diversity of tactics, embodied by the St. Paul’s Principles, four guiding points drafted and adopted by organizers of a diverse array of political and tactical persuasions during the 2008 protests against the Republican National Convention in Minnesota…..much more……
The Denver ABC Mutual Aid Fund provides emergency financial relief to social movement members in dire economic need. Since its inception, the fund has provided thousands of dollars to local movement members………The Denver Armed Resistance Committee is a working group of Denver ABC that works on providing tactical and self defense skills and resources to members of local social movements…
CHILD AND FAMILY SUPPORT:
DABC continued our work to build a multi-generational movement and support parents and families throughout 2011. In the early part of the year, DABC members helped construct a new room at the 27 Social Centre that would act as a childcare room and a base for our Nurturing Liberation program. . DABC also provided childcare at several events for outside organizations.
NORTH AMERICAN ANARCHIST BLACK CROSS CONFERENCE:
In August, Denver ABC hosted a conference for North American Anarchist Black Cross chapters and other anarchist based prisoner support formations. Around fifty participants representing at least 14 different organizations and defense committees active in the United States and Canada participated in the weekend long conference……….
P&L PRINTING/27 SOCIAL CENTRE:Members of Denver ABC have been running a collectively owned commercial print shop for nearly 3 years. P&L Printing is a union, worker owned shop, affiliated with the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Communications Workers of America Local 7777………..
OTHER SUPPORT/ANTI-REPRESSION WORK:In April, DABC organized to support one of our members and close comrades, Stefan Martinez, in response to mounting FBI pressure against him. Stefan had been contacted and harassed by the FBI for years, demanding information on Earth and Animal Liberation activities and groups, and other radicals. Stefan always refused to answer their questions or to talk to them, and after months of harassment, they stopped contacting him……..
SUPPORTING DENVER ABC:In 2011, the workload of Denver ABC increased exponentially from the previous year. We were able to support dozens of legal cases, provide thousands of dollars worth of financial support to movement members inside and outside of prison, and ensure that many people would no longer sit in jail cells, and would not spend their lives inside of them. We’ve only been able to accomplish what we have because of financial and physical support and solidarity from hundreds of supporters in Denver and across the world………….
-Donate to the DABC Mutual Aid Fund or our Prisoner Warchest! Just contact us to find out how to make a donation!
Support your local ABC or other anti-authoritarian projects!
To inquire about purchasing posters, t-shirts, or making a donation, drop us a line at denverabc@rocketmail.com or visit http://plpress.bigcartel.com
In love and solidarity! Your comrades at Denver Anarchist Black Cross
The final logic of Capitalism is war. The excuse of a ‘nuclear program’ in Iran is as false as Saddam’s secret weapons. This time round more millions of innocents will die, to boost the profits of the US ‘War Economy’ Corporations who control the US Congress. This time round there is little protest, nobody believes they can be serious, but with the latest sanctions set to choke Iranian banks and the next to stop their vital oil exports, this war is becoming daily more certain. Now is the time for the US and UK public to stop a barbaric genocide.
Paul Joseph Watson..Iran’s newly announced “massive” naval drill, set to take place within the next few weeks near the Strait of Hormuz, will coincide with a major US/Israeli exercise in the same region, increasing the chances that a war provocation manufactured by either side could take place.
“The newly announced Iranian drills, codenamed The Great Prophet, may coincide with major naval exercises that Israel and the United States are planning to hold in the Persian Gulf in the near future,” reports RIA Novosti.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s naval commander, Adm. Ali Fadavi, told the Fars news agency last night that the upcoming exercise would be “different” from previous ones.
Iran’s announcement of yet more naval drills follows an escalation in rhetoric after the United States sent the massive battleship USS John C. Stennis
Corporate warcrimes: In Iraq they did not even keep count of civilian casualties.
The US/Israeli naval exercise, named Austere Challenge 12, is set to be the largest ever naval drill between the two powers and is based around “(improving) defense systems and cooperation between the U.S. and Israeli forces.”
The overlapping of the naval exercises amidst escalating tensions serves as a reminder that the Bush administration once debated staging a false flag wherein fake Iranian patrol boats would be used to attack a US ship as a means of creating a pretext for war.
In January 2008, the US government announced that it had been “moments” away from opening fire on a group of Iranian patrol boats in the Strait of Hormuz after the boats allegedly broadcast a warning that they were about to attack a US vessel.
The January Strait of Hormuz incident taught Cheney and other administration insiders that, “If you get the right incident, the American public will support it”. Hersh said: “There were a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war. The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build, we in ‘our shipyard’, – build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our
''Who are the murderers? These are the murderers!''
boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up. Might cost some lives”.
Given the fact that the Obama administration’s foreign policy of pre-emptive warfare has mirrored that pursued by the Bush administration, the potential for a stage-managed provocation to create a pretext for an attack on Iran during the next round of naval wargames is clear.
The struggle began in September, when Wukan residents became suspicious that the local government was in the process of selling common farming land to Country Garden – a company which builds residences for the rich.Protesters began blocking roads and attacking buildings in an industrial park.
Three villagers were arrested at the Communist HQ demonstrations, and the next day hundreds laid siege to the police station, demanding their release. The state responded to this challenge with unrestrained ferocity, with police and mercenaries beating villagers apparently
Wukan VICTORY over State
without discrimination – men and women, children and the elderly.
Chinese police backed down as Wukan uprising got worldwide coverage
Frustrated, the Communist leadership eventually cut a deal. Though details are scarce and unreliable, the provincial government has reportedly agreed to buy back land it had seized, and allow the peasants to collectivise it once more. Detained villagers have been released, and an ‘investigation’ into the death of Xue Jinbao has been announced.
There are growing indications that the national export-led economy is being dragged down by rising recessionary tides in the western world. Factory bosses have already been compelled to attack jobs, wages and conditions across the country, and a strike movement seems to be gathering pace. During the first recession of this global depression, Chinese leaders threw money at the problem, and seemed to have headed off a broad revolt. But that money has now been spent, and indeed led to more problems, as a property bubble seems fit to burst It it now possible to envisage a largescale uprising of the Chinese industrial proletariat, which would no doubt find support in villages like Wukan.
Chevron found guilty in Ecuador… again By Mike G A court of appeals in Ecuador has upheld the ruling of a lower court, confirming what 30,000 Ecuadorians suffering from Chevron’s oil pollution in the Amazon and activists the world over have known for decades: Chevron is guilty. There is no question of Chevron’s responsibility for dumping some 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The only question, at this point, is: What ludicrous talking point will Chevron roll out this time to explain away its refusal to pay to clean up its mess?
. Evidence recently surfaced of the company’s secret labs used to hide dirty soil samples from Ecuadorian courts. Earlier this year, an appeals court in the US threw out the injunction barring enforcement of the $18 billion judgment against the company. That same week, diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks revealed that Chevron had been lobbying Ecuadorian officials to make the lawsuit go away, and just a couple weeks ago an attempt to buy its way out of liability for its pollution in the Amazon by funding Ecuador’s Yasuni-ITT Initiative blew up in the company’s face.
The real reason Chevron won’t take responsibility for its mess in Ecuador, of course, is unbridled greed and a complete disregard for human life. More than 1,400 Ecuadorians have died from Chevron’s oil pollution in the Amazon, but it’s all about money for the Big Oil behemoth. It’s certainly not that the company can’t afford to pay. Late last year, Chevron announced third quarter profits of $7.8 billion, bringing its haul in just the first three quarters of 2011 to $21.7 billion.-………… Read full article HERE with than http://www.newint.org/blog/2012/01/05/chevron-guilty-
Sat 7 January London Rally Trafalgar Square: Shut Guantánamo – End 10 Years of Shame
Saturday 7 January 2012: 2.0pm – 4.00pm Public Rally Trafalgar Square, London
January 2012 marks ten years of torture, abuse and arbitrary detention at Guantánamo Bay – one of the world’s most notorious symbols of injustice. The illegal US military prison has held more than 800 prisoners – most of them released without charge or trial. 171 prisoners remain, without prospect of release.
Over a dozen British nationals and residents have been illegally imprisoned at Guantánamo. Two remain: Shaker Aamer, a UK resident with a British family in south London, including a son he has never met; and Ahmed Belbacha, an Algerian national from Bournemouth. Both men were cleared for release in 2007.
President Obama promised to close Guantánamo but has not. Now prisoners may beheld indefinitely without evidence. The vast majority have never faced any charges.
Kidnapping and imprisoning people indefinitely without charge or trial, denying them their freedom and human rights,gratuitously denigrating and abusing them physically and mentally: Join the rally on 7 January 2011 to say all of this must end now.
Activists with Shell to Sea rolled out their first wave of actions in the new year to disrupt construction of Shell’s natural gas pipeline in Mayo County, Ireland. The action started on January 7 with protestors waiting along 
the highway used to access the construction site. As trucks carrying gravel approached, the activist jumped in front of them to stop them. This was done several times until enough police arrived on the scene to arrest 3 of the protestors.
The Free 