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Tag: Antifa

Masked Up For Your Protection: In Praise Of Black Bloc Heroes (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Austin, Creative Commons, Gonzo Notes, and Journalism

What do you feel when you see the black bloc?

I feel pride, solidarity, and hope.

Though their faces are masked, I see a group of beautiful humans willing to get injured or imprisoned in order to keep all of us safer.

What the mainstream media wants you to feel is fear. Strangely, they want you to feel the opposite around the police, who come out to the protest dressed for war, driving military vehicles and with a sniper team ready on the roof tops. In addition to bullets, they’ve got bean bag guns, pepper bombs, noise cannons, the whole array of nightmarish “less lethal” weaponry that late stage capitalism can bring to bear.

Meanwhile, the black bloc have just their bare hands and their bodies, or if they’re lucky, a handful of flags on sticks and some homemade shields.

Richard Spencer’s Ties To Violent Nazi Will Fears (Newsweek)

Posted in Austin, and Journalism

Last week, Texas neo-nazi Will Fears, along with his brother Colton and another local fascist, Tyler Tenebrink, were arrested after a speech by the notoriously punchable Richard Spencer at the University of Florida. 

Fears was, once again, working with Patriot Front, the neo-nazis who attacked the Houston Anarchist Bookfair and themselves a spin off of Vanguard America, the neo-nazi group that included Heather Heyer’s killer in Charlottesville. Patriot Front and other fascist groups like Anti-Com were working as security for Spencer’s event, according to a document leaked by Atlanta Antifascists that has since been verified by multiple sources including Spencer’s think tank.

The Fears brothers and Tenebrink were arrested after the speech when Tenebrink, under encouragement from Will Fears, opened fire on a group of antifascist activists.

I recently spoke with Newsweek reporter Michael Hayden about Fears’ long history of violence against antifa and the left in Texas, which includes his participation in the May Day fascist attack in downtown Austin and an assault on a clergywoman at Houston airport during the Muslim Ban protests.

The 8K Words Holiday Giveaway: Kit’s Gonzo Insiders Get A Book By Scott Crow & Stickers!

Posted in Archive, and Journalism

Don’t say I never give you anything.

My friend, the anarchist author scott crow, recently approached me to let me know that he has copies of his books to give away, and I realized this would be a perfect holiday gift for my Gonzo Insiders.

Anyone who signs up on my Patreon as a Gonzo Insider (or at one of the higher levels) before December 1st will get free copy of “Emergency  Hearts, Molotov Dreams: A scott crow Reader.”

This 2016 collection brings together fascinating interviews about a range of topics that are more current than ever, including anarchy, cooperatives, police brutality, prisons, animal liberation, environmental justice, surveillance and political movements. Also included is my conversation with scott, originally published at Firedoglake, where we discussed the rise and fall of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the lessons that can be learned by future movements.

On Punching Nazis & Forbidden Knowledge In 2017 (#GonzoNotes)

Posted in Gonzo Notes, Journalism, and LGBTQIA

Almost a month ago, in broad daylight in a busy urban neighborhood in Houston, nazis tried to shut down a book fair.

If you follow me online, you’ve heard about this incident: a group of about two dozen nazis targeted the Houston Anarchist Bookfair while I taught a class on antifascism (called “Punching Nazis”) inside. The volunteer security team prevented them from entering the building, and they left after throwing a temper tantrum for their livestream viewers. The book fair, and my class, continued after a brief but terrifying interruption.

Master gaslighters, as always, the nazis began their livestream by declaring themselves to be “peaceful,” then stood outside a community center armed with tactical gloves demanding that I — they called for me by name — come out and fight them. The bookfair’s organizers pointed out the likely results if we’d been drawn into a fight:

Security Culture And Punching Nazis In Texas (Kit O’Connell On Radical Underground Podcast)

Posted in Act Out!, Audio, Austin, Creative Commons, Journalism, and Occupy Wall Street

I really enjoyed talking with the Radical Underground podcast and the episode turned out great, full of lively conversation and fab music.

In our conversation, we talked about security culture and the ways our smartphones turn us into snitches against ourselves — but also touched on the human element, which is just as vital as technology when it comes to staying secure.

We also talked at length about the Oh Shit What Now collective, the recent incident at my “Punching Nazis” class in Houston, and other fascist and antifascist activity in Austin, Texas (including copwatching).

Intersectional Left Collaboration In Texas, Nazis Attack A Book Fair (Black Tower Radio)

Posted in Audio, Austin, and Journalism

In Kit’s latest appearance on Black Tower Radio, a discussion of a recent nazi attack on the Houston Anarchist Bookfair, where Kit was teaching a class on antifascism. Kit and Jake talk about diversity of tactics including antifa clowning.

Next, they pivot to a discussion of activists successful opposition to the Republican agenda during a recent special session of the Texas Legislature. Kit O’Connell also discusses the general ineffectiveness of the Texas government, which only meets for a few months every two years.