Workers reject both federal cops and disruption by antifa
https://themilitant.com/2020/08/08/workers-reject-both-federal-cops-and-disruption-by-antifa/
BY SETH GALINSKY
Vol. 84/No. 32
August 17, 2020
Working people in Portland and elsewhere welcome the announcement that
the administration of Donald Trump is withdrawing its use of federal
cops — including a Border Patrol SWAT team that is trained to act like
special forces — around the U.S. courthouse and other government
buildings in Portland. When the federal government deploys heavily armed
cops on city streets, it’s almost never good for the working class.
That doesn’t mean working people support the provocative and disruptive
actions by antifa and other “anti-fascist” forces, which gave the
government a pretext for bringing in the special forces-like units in
the first place. These groups undermine and weaken the fight against
police violence.
Not that the local cops act much differently than the federal ones.
Portland’s cops have also indiscriminately fired tear gas at protesters
and brutalized those who got in their way. On July 30 they drove
protesters from camps they had set up in downtown city parks.
Oregon state troopers have replaced the federal cops “protecting”
federal buildings.
For participants in the various protest actions in Portland over the
last several months, it’s been no secret that there are two separate and
competing actions in the city every night.
The editors of the New York Times — whose policy is to blame Trump for
everything they think is wrong in hopes of driving him from office — and
other liberal and middle-class radical media lie about what is going on
in Portland. A good example is the July 29 Times piece by senior
columnist Nicholas Kristof, entitled “Help Me Find Trump’s ‘Anarchists’
in Portland.” He tries to cover up for the disruption and destruction by
antifa and similar groups at the federal building.
‘Two different things’
These media insist on calling all those on the streets just
“protesters.” But the antifa aren’t “protesters.” They describe
themselves openly as combatants. “Violence is coming: may as well have
fun while we wait,” one wrote on their website, “It’s Going Down,”
describing how they set fires and initiated other mayhem. They denounce
those who just “protest,” and seek to entrap them in the melee.
This has nothing to do with building a movement that can take on police
brutality and win prosecution of the cops who killed Breonna Taylor in
Louisville, Kentucky, and many others.
Articles in the Oregonian and by Reuters reveal the real story. They
show how there are two distinctly different things going on every night.
“A peaceful demonstration against racial injustice and police brutality
begins at nightfall at the central police precinct,” Reuters reported
July 31. “Protesters chant: ‘George Floyd. Breonna Taylor. Black Lives
Matter.’”
“As midnight looms,” a small band goes into action, “trying to attack
the courthouse throwing fireworks and objects at police and agents over
a fence guarding the building,” Reuters reporter Deborah Bloom writes.
Then she quotes from 22-year-old Black male nurse Najee Gow, who got
active after Minneapolis cops killed George Floyd. “There are two
different protests. This is beautiful,” Gow tells Bloom, pointing to the
main body of demonstrators at the police precinct. “This is
destruction,” he said, nodding to those waiting to confront federal
agents outside the courthouse.
“If you really want to respect Black lives, and if you really want to
respect Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, then you’d be listening to the
movement instead of antagonizing police,” Gow said.
A few days earlier, the Oregonian reported how Gow had gone to the
antifa gathering at the federal building to urge them to stand down and
join the broader, peaceful movement.
Some anonymous antifa supporters responded by posting hostile comments.
“Guy & his crew are trying to defang and co-opt for their own personal
gain,” wrote one identified only as Buffalo Soldier. “Don’t let these
asshats co-opt and turn this into a meaningless instagram worthy Pepsi
ad performance show to launch their brand influencer careers.”
“F–k peaceful we’ve tried that it doent [sic] work send a message they
will never forget,” posted someone called Hamelech.
“The protesters aren’t all peaceful, nor are they primarily violent,”
writes Kristof, despite these facts. “They’re a complicated weave.”
But it’s not complicated. Neither antifa and self-proclaimed anarchist
groupings, nor liberal apologists like Kristof are looking to build a
movement that can force the capitalist rulers to rein in the police.
They are not looking to broaden the fight against police brutality by
organizing protests designed to reach out and involve the trade unions,
churches and other organizations of working people.
But broadening out the fight is the only road to a more powerful, united
working-class movement that can win more victories.
Veterans against cop brutality rally in Pittsburgh
“Veterans from different generations — from the Vietnam War, from the
post 9/11 generation, joined the protest,” Aryanna Hunter, left, told
the Militant in a phone interview the day after an Aug. 2 demonstration
she organized in Pittsburgh of Veterans…
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Carl Sagan
“Every aspect of Nature reveals a deep mystery and touches our sense of wonder
and awe. Those afraid of the universe as it really is, those who pretend to
nonexistent knowledge and envision a Cosmos centered on human beings will
prefer the fleeting comforts of superstition. They avoid rather than confront
the world. But those with the courage to explore the weave and structure of the
Cosmos, even where it differs profoundly from their wishes and prejudices, will
penetrate its deepest mysteries.”
― Carl Sagan, Cosmos
