"fuck occupy chicago"

[Red And Black Sabot]

Got this from the IWW list about a situation Chi Town Wobs had to deal with:



Yesterday, myself and several other Chicago wobs went to Occupy Chicago to show some solidarity. We really shouldn't have wasted our time, I'm sad to say.

First, this is only my opinion. Second, from what I hear from Occupy Wall Street and others around the country, Chicago sounds like an isolated case.

We get there, walked around, chanted a bit, you know the drill. Handed out some IWW lit, I read the statement from the GDC to the crowd, much applause. Around 6pm, the majority of the crowd marched off to Millennium Park for the General Assembly. We followed, and as their bullhorn was a piece of junk, I stood with the speakers so they could use my awesomely loud 55 watt horn and actually be heard. Cops made us leave claiming MP was closed, and sent us a couple blocks south to a large open area south of MP.

The GA reconvened there. I was on the stack to read the GDC and IWW statements with FW Slavin to the crowd when I got a phone call from a FW who had walked back to her car after leaving MP. She had walked away alone, as it was only a couple blocks to where she parked. She had texted me shortly before to tell me that there was a car following her at a snails pace as she walked. When she called, she gave me the full story.

As the car was following her, she stepped into a train station to be around other people. After waiting a little while, she walked out of the station and a plainclothes confronted her. He started asking her who she was, where she was going, who was she with, was she at the demo, etc. He had grabbed her phone to look through it, but it was locked. He demanded to see what her shirt said (her hoodie was zipped up), she refused to unzip it. At this point, he grabbed her zipper and opened her hoodie partway. He saw her IWW shirt, and said something like "Oh I see." He then grabbed at her again to open the hoodie completely and she started yelling. Pedestrians heard and started to turn and watch. The plainclothes dropped her phone and jumped into the waiting unmarked car, peeled out and turned the corner. She was very shaken up and understandably scared. She got to her car and headed home ASAP.

I was given the chance to tell the crowd what had happened to our comrade. After I relayed the info, a couple Occupy Chicago people came up to me to talk. Several were NLG observers and one was a self-described "police liaison" named Joe. 20-something white kid, stereotypical hipster look (ironic jacket, bad mustache, cheesy glasses). He swore the cops said nothing had happened, and kept demanding the comrades name and phone number. I told him to sod off, he wasn't getting it because I didn't know him from Adam.

Joe the police liaison then insisted that we don't tell anyone what happened to our comrade so we didn't "scare anyone". FW Haley from Chicago GMB called this kid out pretty well, asking him if he was serious that we not tell anyone that a woman walking alone was just grabbed by some dude who tried to forcibly unzip her jacket. He got defensive, but little did I know how defensive he would get.

The FW who was assaulted also told me on the phone that paddywagons were headed in our direction; several of us decided that it was a good time to beat feet and leave. No sense getting arrested with a police snitch right with us.

After we left, I got a phone call from FW Haley; Joe the police liaison was going around the crowd telling everyone that I was a provocateur or a fed, and not to trust me. OccupyChicago then put out over their twitter feed not to believe the guy who told the crowd about the assault (me!) and that I was likely a provocateur.

FW Haley did an amazing job of standing up for her fellow workers and defending us against this badjacketing police informant. She called out his patriarchal "blame the victim" attitude (when he said the FW that was assaulted was lying), and his badjacketing in calling me and the others feds etc.

An hour or two after we left, the twitter tags #occupychi and #occupychicago started getting hit with reports from people at the GA that the CPD admitted they'd stopped "one woman". It was now verified by the Chicago PD that our comrade wasn't a liar, but had in fact been stopped by undercover CPD cops. Despite this, Occupy Chicago refuses to issue an apology for calling us provocateurs and smearing the IWWs involved in this.

Personally, fuck occupy chicago. They seem to have no idea how much damage calling someone a cop can do, much less saying that someone who was assaulted by cops is a liar. They refuse to apologize; neither has this Joe kid, their "police liaison", said anything to retract his smears.

I hope you wobs around the country are having a better time at your Occupations than we had in Chicago yesterday. Because seriously, fuck occupy chicago and fuck this Joe police informant.

p.s. if you know the name of the female FW I'm referring to in this email, keep it to yourself. She doesn't want to be publicly identified with this event, she's pretty shaken up and nervous.

I'm curious as to how other cities are doing with their occupations. Here in Atlanta there have been a few assemblies to plan but it seem to have attracted several Ron Paul types getting involved pushing for a "flat tax" to be included in the list of demands. Any strategies for dealing with this and the liberal apologist bullshit like what was described above?

[black magick hustla]

Got this from the IWW list about a situation Chi Town Wobs had to deal with:



I'm curious as to how other cities are doing with their occupations. Here in Atlanta there have been a few assemblies to plan but it seem to have attracted several Ron Paul types getting involved pushing for a "flat tax" to be included in the list of demands. Any strategies for dealing with this and the liberal apologist bullshit like what was described above?

there isnt much to deal with, all the "occupy this and that" are an activist spectacle joke. the us had some interesting things going on, including verizon strikes, the longshoremen strikes, madison etc but this is not def. one of them.

[Veovis]

Portland's is starting on the sixth. We had a pretty good turn out at the planning meeting. Only two cops that I could see.

As far as dealing with the liberals and right-wing libertarians, I guess just try to be more visible. I've got my red flag ready and I'll probably make a poster with a slogan. If every leftist does something like that, the protest would necessarily take on a redder flavor.

[redhotpoker]

Occupy Atlanta made the fair tax one of there demands.

[Red And Black Sabot]

Occupy Atlanta made the fair tax one of there demands.

I just heard about that. It makes me want to spit.
A bunch of us anarchists and leftists and wobblies and etc are going to try to come out hard to the assembly tomorrow because that just should not go unchallenged.

[Die Neue Zeit]

there isnt much to deal with, all the "occupy this and that" are an activist spectacle joke. the us had some interesting things going on, including verizon strikes, the longshoremen strikes, madison etc but this is not def. one of them.

Yeah, and riots and looting are just the modern path to workers power! :glare:
:rolleyes:

[RedHal]

This is what could happen when you have a liberal movement who wants to be cop friendly they'll side with the fucken "police liaison" against the radicals!

[Astarte]

It seems to me they accomplished their goal of dividing any forming movement even further. They planted seeds of distrust within the rank and file by way of their Stasi mole. The IWW did the right thing in exposing the stopping by the undercover cops and telling everyone - but they probably had planned for such a thing to happened and had told their man that in case of this scenario to retort that the IWW people are actually the cops, or something to that effect. Now, it also could look like "Oh, of course the police will say they stopped someone - no one was really stopped - the cops and the IWW are in bed together". This serves the dual-edged purpose of frightening the vanguard and also alienating the rank and file from them.

This very thing needs to be explained to the rank and file.

[#FF0000]

Yeah, and riots and looting are just the modern path to workers power! :glare:
:rolleyes:

moreso than anything involving a bunch of liberal arts students who want to pal around with cops before protesting

[Bardo]

Because when I think proletarian solidarity I think looting flat screen TVs, burning down working class neighborhoods and stealing from injured little kids.

[Rusty Shackleford]

non-leader leaders! consensus after the non-leader leaders try to get everyone to adopt their view! direct democracy only when then non-leader leaders think you aren't a provacoteur or have an underlying difference with you!

oh how i love the liberal, utopian anarchist (as opposed to the more levelheaded class-war anarchists) consensus non leader bullshit.


It takes skin thicker than the hull of the titanic to get through that shit sometimes. Of course, you are going to have to suffer this kind of general bullshit (not that specific scenario in Chicago) to get a movement anywhere.

[Jose Gracchus]

^ agreed.

I think it goes to show the extent to which 'democratic' and 'progressive' rhetoric has been reshaped by establishment-coopted 'activist' and 'make a difference' channels into a cage for struggle and consciousness-development. It all becomes about reflexive re-channeling into safe waters, while simultaneously claiming to be 'outside' and 'against' the mainstream.

Politically moribund.

[¿Que?]

Is this wobblie letter published somewhere, like on a blog or something. I'd like to repost it on facebook, so as my comrades who are thinking of attending Occupy in my Area can be fully informed.

Thanks.

[Rusty Shackleford]

Let me just add, so i dont alienate the shit out of some people, that i am not against these things happening. The April 13th occupation of CSUS operated on a consensus model but there was no immediate threat to the occupiers so discussion could be had.
but when more pressing matters are at hand like how to deal with cops closing in and what not, that consensus model must be shelved. (but without any established leadership, panic or lethargy can set in)

there is a cult of anti-leadership it seems sometimes. now, lets not forget the leadership cults that also exist. they both sap the strength of a movement. a cult of leadership saps it of its ability to flex and act dynamically, and a cult of anti-leadership sap it of any coherent way of reacting to fast-paced changes.

[Le Socialiste]

Damn it, now you've pissed me off. Not at you, but at those liberal "anti-establishment/let's cooperate with the police" pricks who mistake their rallies for actual vehicles for change. :cursing: