Resist: It's Time

Long text post incoming!

Any popular resistance movement dies in the cradle if people feel isolated. Isolation breeds inaction. Therefore, to make people feel less isolated, word needs to go out to the general public to build solidarity and make them feel part of a greater whole. Resistors are not alone! It also has the psychological benefit of making oppressors feel surrounded (and rightfully so).

Therefore, to get those who want to resist motivated, we must advertise our cause. Thankfully, we live in a modern age where designing good looking graphics and printing them has never been easier.

The best information campaign will rely on guerilla tactics. Put posters up in heavy traffic areas outside, at work, in your neighborhood, on public bulletin boards, wherever needed to get the message out. One priority place would be inside government offices. There are plenty of federal workers who are resisting. If they put up even a few, we can psychologically terrorize the fascists, and this will force them to focus inward and divert from the rest of society.

Of course, these will be damaged or destroyed, whether intentionally or not, so we must be ready to replace posters as that happens, especially if it's ripped down.

Design: This, I think, is paramount. To attract those who may not like the current actions but are hesitant to really resist, it is important to use American symbology. Don't let the fascists take our flag, our symbols, our iconography. These things bind us together as Americans, and it can have an inspiring effect. We are all part of the greater whole.

Also highly important, make sure the designs are good. Marketers, graphic designers: that's your cue. If your an amateur, get the opinion of a trusted friend on a design.

If you don't have the time or ability to design, just take one off the internet. Therefore, I propose that we make repository of resistance posters on the web. Domains are cheap. VPSes are, too. It can also serve as a virtual poster.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. If you have some designs, post 'em, print 'em, and distribute 'em!

Faced with intensifying repression and state violence, there is an understandable inclination to seek safety by avoiding confrontation. But this is not always the most effective strategy.

Cross posting from elsewhere since it's a good read

ID: A guide titled "Know Your Rights with ICE: What is a warrant?" posted by servicesnotsweepscoalition and created by WASHINGTON IMMIGRANT SOLIDARITY NETWORK. There are 9 images in English followed by the same 9 images in Spanish, which I will put in their own comment to the post:

After a volunteer confirmed an officer’s identity, they would alert neighbors to the agent’s presence, and our dispatch team would send a text message to our contacts in the area. ICE agents almost never carry judicial warrants giving them the authority to enter private homes or businesses without permission, so they often wait to make an arrest when the person they’re looking for leaves their home or car. And in every case we worked on, when the agents realized they were being watched, they abandoned their stakeout.

(2) A person commits the offense of trespass by an illegal alien if such person: (a) Is an illegal alien; (b) Knowingly enters this state and remains in this state; and (c) Is physically present in this state at the time a licensed bounty hunter or a peace officer apprehends such person.

(3) (a) The offense of trespass by an illegal alien under this section is a felony for which the authorized term of imprisonment is life imprisonment without eligibility for probation, parole, conditional release, or release except by act of the Governor or the natural death of such person.

WHAT. THE. ACTUAL. FUCK.

This is a very rough start for a guide to getting involved in activist work in your community.

The Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects people from random and arbitrary stops and searches. Although the federal government claims the power to conduct certain kinds of warrantless stops within 100 miles of the U.S. border, important Fourth Amendment protections still apply. This helps you understand your rights within the 100-mile border zone.

Do they exist?

An interactive map of ICE sightings in the US, showing you only today's sightings by default. Use caution in any of the areas marked on the map. It looks like people can report sightings anonymously, but please only report confirmed sightings where you have a photo. We are stronger together.

Now that he is out, the Proud Boys leader wants revenge, he told Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist host of Info Wars.

“The people who did this, they need to feel the heat, they need to be put behind bars, and they need to be prosecuted,” Tarrio said.

“Success is going to be retribution,” he added. “We gotta do everything in our power to make sure that the next four years sets us up for the next 100 years.”

In case you were wondering what all those pardons were for. That last quote sounds like some Fourth Reich shit.

You're going to need to be vigilant about fact checking the information you come across. Meta (FB, Insta, WhatsApp), X/Twitter, TikTok are all fascist mouthpieces at this point, and you don't have to use those services directly yourself for the messages they amplify to reach you.

Don't just be suspicious of those messages you oppose. Be as suspicious of rage-bait, and messages you are already primed to agree with. This is how propaganda works: by taking advantage of what people already want to believe.

If you can't find decent sources about the thing you're seeking to verify, set that thing aside. If you can find one source, or the same story being repeated multiple places, be skeptical. Be aware that early reporting on events as they unfold can easily be wrong in ways that impact the accuracy of the reporting, even if the story is substantially true as a whole.

Information gaps - where one party has more, or more accurate, information than another party - are how power is leveraged. When you take steps to be factually accurate, in line with objective reality, you are shrinking the power of those who would like to control you.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka criticized ICE agents for "raiding" a local business without a warrant, detaining several individuals, including U.S. citizens, a military veteran, and undocumented immigrants.

When they come, they are not going to have warrants. They're just going to strongarm and intimidate their way in, and they're going to detain people without cause.

• Do you have a warrant? No? Go get one then.
• I decline to answer any questions.
• I do not consent to any search.

And I know this sounds real "sovcit," but they're right on this one:

• Am I being detained, or am I free to go? If you are free to go, go. If you are being detained, shut the fuck up.

From Barrio Drive's free resources. Standing up for our immigrant communities is a team effort. Posts like this one help people avoid dangerous situations. Verify your facts and don't spread misinformation.

Below is a list of defendants charged in federal court in the District of Columbia related to crimes committed at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021.

This page is no longer linked to from its parent page (https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc).

If someone knows better than I do how to download all of this information before it goes in the memory hole, that's probably a good idea.

Seems to be mostly on archive.org, including PDFs.

Documents, including phone number and invitation to ‘join us’, distributed same day Trump took office

Anyone in Kentucky want to see what they can find out?

Out of them was produced a secret handbook developed on how to break down prisoners. The key was using shock to reduce adults to a childlike state.

I just got back from a long drive to nowhere. My welcome back was a litany of posts about all of the ridiculous things Trump did this afternoon.

This is going to be a marathon, not a sprint. None of us, together or alone, are going to be able to really change anything for a long, long time. It's going to get worse before it gets better, and I don't see a light at the end of the tunnel. Yet.

Do not expect any of your actions to have immediate or visible effects. The strength will be in the cumulative efforts of everyone who is able to put obstacles in the way of the fascists, no matter how small those efforts may be. "Did you see something? No you didn't." If that's what you're able to do, that's good.

Be prepared, build contacts, look for opportunities. I'm a big proponent of everyone carrying pepper spray. Learn some first aid. If you're a gun owner, practice. Talk to people you trust. Let them know that they can come to you if they need to, or if they know someone who needs support. Protect people who are being threatened. The insurrectionists just got pardoned, so they're definitely making fresh plans; listen for those plans. Take note that if you're going to be on the "support" side of things, you will probably want to avoid being actively subversive, and vice versa. Above all, be careful. Of course, there will be risks no matter what, but honestly, we're all at much greater risk now regardless.

Good luck.

If you know someone in the United States who might be harassed by immigration agents, make sure they have a printout of this card. One side has a message for those agents in English, and the other side has important information in the cardholder's language.

All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. The Red Cards were created to help people assert their rights and defend themselves against constitutional violations. Knowing and asserting rights can make a huge difference in many situations, such as when ICE agents go to a home. Red cards provide critical information on how to assert these rights, along with an explanation to ICE agents that the individual is indeed asserting their rights.

Good set of resources

Administration to send 100 to 200 officers to city on day two of new presidency, Wall Street Journal reports

Here we go.

Whatever you do, don't deflate any tires by severing the valve stems with a pair of diagonal cutters.

While the Supreme Court hasn’t addressed the matter, other federal courts have. Recording the police has been recognized as a protected right under the First Amendment by the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 11th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals.

Today was the second time recently that I recorded the police at a traffic stop in public, and the second time that the police absolutely saw me doing it. The first time, I'm quite sure the outcome of the stop was a lot better than it would have been had I not been seen recording. This time, maybe.

Recording the police while they are on duty reminds them that they are being observed. This reminder can change police behavior. If you see a traffic stop, and it is safe for you to do so, recording the interaction is a good thing.

• Keep your distance
• Do not interact with anyone involved in the stop while it is going on
• Staying inside your own stopped vehicle makes any claim of "interference" fall flat
• If you are addressed by police, you need to explicitly state your desire to not answer questions

34 felony convictions. Zero consequences. This signals overt permission to commit crimes at every level.

President-elect Donald Trump has been sentenced to unconditional discharge for his hush money case conviction. Follow here for the latest live news updates.