A private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, is scheduled to host a multi-day event organized by its Antifa-aligned Prison Abolition Club that critics describe as training in terrorism and radicalization.
Antifa has been designated as a terrorist organization in the United States.
Lewis & Clark College will hold the 5th Annual Transformative Action and Abolition Symposium, titled “Bad Trouble,” from April 13 to April 15.
The event, organized by the student Prison Abolition Club, focuses on strategies for “violent direct action” against the government, risk assessment to avoid prosecution, and running interference to stop arrests.
The symposium’s overview asks participants questions such as, “What place does violent direct action have in social justice organizing?” and “How can we critically evaluate the efficacy of our direct action decisions and strategies?”
It also asks how to fight “neoliberal co-optation” of resistance and learn from past “risk takers.”
Scheduled panels include:
Anarchist Communique Readings: Participants will read and analyze Antifa and anarchist blog posts that claim responsibility for attacks, drawing inspiration from them.
Grab Your Comrades Back Training: Instruction on how to interfere with lawful police arrests to “de-arrest” targeted individuals (also referred to as de-arrest tactics).
Queer Activist Roundtable and other discussions on abolitionist organizing.
The event flyer explicitly directs attendees to “wear a mask, please,” and features imagery including a burning police vehicle with smashed windows, a gas can, flames, bolt cutters, and barbed wire.
A private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, is scheduled to host a multi-day event organized by its Antifa-aligned Prison Abolition Club that critics describe as training in terrorism and radicalization. Antifa has been designated as a terrorist organization in the United States.
Lewis & Clark College will hold the 5th Annual Transformative Action and Abolition Symposium, titled “Bad Trouble,” from April 13 to April 15.
The event, organized by the student Prison Abolition Club, focuses on strategies for “violent direct action” against the government, risk assessment to avoid prosecution, and running interference to stop arrests.
The symposium’s overview asks participants questions such as, “What place does violent direct action have in social justice organizing?” and “How can we critically evaluate the efficacy of our direct action decisions and strategies?”
It also asks how to fight “neoliberal co-optation” of resistance and learn from past “risk takers.”
Scheduled panels include:
Anarchist Communique Readings: Participants will read and analyze Antifa and anarchist blog posts that claim responsibility for attacks, drawing inspiration from them.
Grab Your Comrades Back Training: Instruction on how to interfere with lawful police arrests to “de-arrest” targeted individuals (also referred to as de-arrest tactics).
Queer Activist Roundtable and other discussions on abolitionist organizing.
The event flyer explicitly directs attendees to “wear a mask, please,” and features imagery including a burning police vehicle with smashed windows, a gas can, flames, bolt cutters, and barbed wire.