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I guess some folks finally figured out what we’ve always known: if your protest doesn’t imply a real threat, your protest sucks.
e: Okay, this bit actually got a laugh out of me:
I put the criticism to Richard Ecclestone, an [Extinction Rebellion] spokesperson and former police inspector.
I see that XR continues to earn their “all feds and cops” reputation.
think doing praxis does some soul saving
Really interesting. This is by far the most in depth thing I’ve seen written about STS in particular.
i assume being lowkey and properly insulated be like that
Yeah, for sure. They’ve been doing a good job of it too from what I can tell. That’s just partly why this article surprised me.
I worry for these activists about what kind of prison sentences they could get. European prisons aren’t great, but I’m not sure how their tactics could be replicated in the US. Anyone caught would be charged with terrorism and possibly treason, leading to them being sent to awful places.
Is there any information about how to avoid this (other than don’t get caught)? I assume they’re only being charged with vandalism in the UK, with sentences of maybe a few years to a decade at most in a low security facility.
They put Jessica Reznicek away for 10 years for shunting oil rail lines
This kind of action is risky, no doubt. And actionists are definitely being charged with more than vandalism here.
The UK has introduced a whole raft of draconian new anti-protest laws specifically targeted at eco and anti-war groups while also essentially outlawing historically successful legal defenses at trial. They’re also increasingly using terrorism legislation to go after activists, even when they know the charges won’t stick, in order to give them impossible bail conditions that they can then claim they’ve broken them and impose prison sentences without trial.
For some people that’s having a radicalising effect rather than a chilling one:
Another factor that steered my STS contact towards unaccountable sabotage was the increasingly draconian punishments the British state was dishing out to peaceful protesters. “Just Stop Oil’s campaign of blocking roads and disrupting sports events really boosted the signal – put the words just-stop-oil in every mind in the country,” they enthuse. “But the prosecutions and prison sentences have been ridiculous. If I’m going to go down and do time, I want to cause the maximum amount of disruption in the time I have, and that means covert actions.”
I saw that part in the article. I was hoping by “ridiculous,” she meant like 6 year sentences with million dollar fines. I was thinking that in the US, it’d be more like life in prison or the death penalty.
That’s certainly more like what UK activists are getting in some cases at the moment, but it’s still really draconian. And a big part of the scandal around them is the kinds of offences these sentences are being given for, like Roger Hallam getting over 5 years in prison for being on a Zoom call discussing potential action to block the M25 motorway, with the state also blocking legal defences. And the state is continuing to escalate their tactics to circumvent the legal standards around sentencing as well as disrupt and dismantle activist groups through extralegal means.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the UK sent illegal paramilitary death squads into Ireland to do all kinds of horrendous shit. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised if they had “unknown assailants” attack protesters and activists.
Interesting rediscovery of classic revolutionary organizational model.
Yeah the vouching system is what was used in the Philippines during its war for independence back in 1896 led by Aguinaldo. They required members to recruit two other people in secret for Katipunan (poorly abbreviated as “KKK”), creating a chain with security measures in place.
