Janine Jackson: Mainstream Media Coverage of the J20 Case Has Been Sloppy, When Present at All
Janine Jackson interviewed Sam Menefee-Libey about a J20 prosecution update for the June 22, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Janine Jackson: Listeners know that Washington, DC, police mass-arrested more than 200 people, including journalists, during protests at Donald Trump’s inauguration, in which a few windows were broken and a limousine […]
Natasha Lennard: Anti-Fascist Practice and Impossible Non-Violence
Between spells of January drizzle, in the midst of scattered street protests, on a particularly bad afternoon in Washington D.C., Richard Spencer got punched in the face. That morning, Donald Trump commenced his term as president with rageful, nationalistic oration. Police penned in and arrested over 200 inauguration counter-protesters. The demonstrators, participants in an “anti-fascist, […]
The J20 Case – What You Need to Know
Trump Administration Takes Unprecedented Legal Action against Anti-capitalist and Antifa Activists
WAMU 88.5 (DC), “After Charlottesville, D.C. Police Say They’re Ready To Keep Protests Peaceful”
MPD still faces criticism for how it handles some protests, though. Activists involved in Inauguration Day demonstrations say the department responded in a heavy-handed manner to a small group of anarchists that destroyed property. City officials have defended MPD’s actions that day, saying officers were merely trying to stop violence and protect the thousands of […]
San Francisco Chronicle, “Feds go too far against anti-Trump protesters”
It is true that a small group of anarchists broke windows, set a limousine on fire, trashed bus shelters and threw rocks at police in riot gear. More than 200 people were indicted on felony rioting charges as a result. Continue Reading
The New York Times, “Justice Dept. Demands Data on Visitors to Anti-Trump Website, Sparking Fight”
But a smaller group of anarchists — sometimes called the “black bloc” of the so-called Antifa, or anti-fascist, movement — protested violently. Rioting by a small group of anarchists has become common at broader left-wing demonstrations for the past generation, such as during anti-free trade protests outside World Trade Organization talks in Seattle in 1999. […]
Al Jazeera, “Trump’s America: Where activists face felony charges”
Kim Kelly, a journalist and a member of the Metropolitan Anarchist Coordinating Council (MACC) press collective, said that police, district attorneys and other authorities have been emboldened to stifle anti-Trump protest movements since the president’s election. Meanwhile, Kelly argues, the government has not carried out a similar campaign against those on the far right or […]
The Washington Post, “What draws Americans to anarchy? It’s more than just smashing windows.”
“The Trump presidency has certainly given a boldness to fascists and racist movements throughout the country, and that’s a moment where anarchists are ready to respond in a way that many others aren’t,” said Samantha Miller, 32, a D.C. anarchist who helped organize the Inauguration Day protests. Continue Reading
The City Paper (DC/MD), “The kind of police violence Trump encouraged in Long Island speech marked his inauguration, according to ACLU suit”
Police have argued that the protesters were part of a “black bloc” conspiracy to destroy property. But neither of the people hit by the grenade were wearing black. The only person in black, to the left of the screen, is wearing a black tracksuit with white stripes and a red hat, looking more like a […]
ThinkProgress, “D.C. cops used ‘rape as punishment’ after Inauguration Day mass arrests, lawsuit says”
Officers quickly deployed pepper spray, tear gas, and crowd-control grenades of various types. The Metropolitan Police Department opted to “kettle” everyone on the streets nearby the initial anarchist-driven property destruction, something it does not, by reputation, make a habit of doing during protests. Continue Reading