The Washington Post, “Pro-Trump rally in Berkeley turns violent as protesters clash with the president’s supporters”
“These people just want to fight,” Nancy Chase, a Trump supporter, told the Chronicle. “They are anarchists in black, and it’s not what we are about. I just want to stand up for liberty.” It is unclear whether those anarchists belonged to any one group. Activists aligned with “black bloc” groups had similarly wreaked havoc […]
The Chronicle of Higher Education, “Host a White Supremacist, Risk Chaos From Anarchists”
The political philosophy of many, but not all, of the people who participate in the black bloc is the political philosophy of anarchism. That is why people associate anarchism with disorder or violence. That is really far from the truth of what an everyday anarchist actually practices and believes. Anarchism is based on mutual consent, […]
The Sacramento Bee, “Donald Trump ignited a massive protest movement. Will it work?”
Backlash from both conservatives and liberals is particularly aimed at the “black blocs,” groups of more militant protesters dressed in anonymous all-black who often have ties to anarchist or “anti-fascist” groups. They vandalized property and assaulted some opponents on Inauguration Day and at tangential demonstrations, like a recent UC Berkeley rally that shut down a […]
NPR, “Black Bloc Group Leads Militant Protests In San Francisco Bay Area”
But there was a lot of talk at the time that it was all just a little too perfect, you know, the new president has just painted a picture of a grim America in his inauguration speech, and then the TV cuts to a burning limousine with an anarchist symbol on it. People have suggested […]
The Los Angeles Loyolan, “In Defense of the Anti-Milo Protests at UC Berkley”
Even the most well meaning anarchists do not have credible plans for how to successfully overthrow the government or how to organize society effectively should they somehow succeed in smashing the state. I say this as someone who has participated in anti-facist groups in the past. In my brief European experience participating with anti-facist groups, […]
Los Angeles Times, “Inside the black bloc militant protest movement as it rises up against Trump”
But they do recruit. An anarchist group is hosting a two-day conference in Oakland and San Francisco next month to draw newcomers. The black bloc member said he hopes it will help more people find the movement. Continue Reading
San Francisco Examiner, “UC Berkeley protest raises questions around the use of violence”
For decades, anarchist protesters have shattered windows and set fires at a contingent of larger demonstrations in the East Bay. But the destruction came into the spotlight earlier this month when protesters at UC Berkeley used “any means necessary” to disrupt the scheduled speech of right-wing provocateur and Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Continue Reading
Greensboro News & Record, “Our Opinion: UNC campuses can police speech”
One spectacle occurred Feb. 1 at the University of California-Berkeley, where an anarchist group carried out a violent demonstration against a right-wing speaker, forcing cancellation of a scheduled speech. Protests included arson and destruction of property, which should result in criminal prosecutions. Continue Reading
Inquisitr, “Donald Trump And Republicans Might Inadvertently Legitimize Political Violence”
The tools of the black flag anarchist to counter provocation by police is invaluable, but no, it is not alright to just punch a Nazi — yet. Unfortunately, these tactics also add to the legitimization of political violence, particularly by the state against protesters. Unlike the paradigm of police violence against people of color, anti-fascist […]
San Francisco Chronicle, “UC Berkeley police shift to safety over force at protests”
Today, as he reflects on the black bloc anarchists who turned what might have been a peaceful student protest against Yiannopoulos into a fiery, destructive encounter, Radey’s sympathies lie with the police. “This black bloc business is really bad news,” he said of the anarchists who have showed up at protests in the Bay Area […]