Thread by @antiracistsouth

Some people really believe we are being hyperbolic when we talk about reformism as a police counterinsurgency strategy, when we frame policing as a manifestation of domestic war and occupation… if you read the literature across any political spectrum they are clear about it: 🧵

“Repression does not always come dressed up in riot gear, or breaking into offices in the middle of the night. It also comes in the form of the friendly “neighborhood liaison” officer, advisory boards to local police departments, & the social scientist hired on as a consultant…”

“…Repression is, first and foremost, a matter of politics: it is the means the state uses to protect itself from political challenges, the methods it employs to preserve its authority and continue its rule.”

interfacejournal.net/wordpress/wp-c…

“We have to understand repression as involving both coercion and concessions, employing violence and building support, weeding opposition and seeding legitimacy. That is the basis of the counterinsurgency approach.”

I firmly believe that what we are witnessing in Atlanta, New Orleans, New York, Los Ángeles, Chicago and across the U.S. is a shift in domestic warfare strategy away from “costly concessions” (ie police reform as police preservation) & moving towards one of unbridled force…

Recent policy papers from academics at MIT and think tanks like RAND point to a shifting strategy away from “soft power” (think reform, concessions, cooptation, pacification) to a more “efficient” ñ, direct, & targeted “counter terrorism” offensive. belfercenter.org/publication/wh…

This shift will not be uniform— rather it will come about in fits and starts—they clearly are still invested in psychological warfare to demonize insurgents and manufacture popular perceptions of “legitimacy” of the state. But this shift in COIN strategy post-2020’seems clear…

Whereas the previous “soft power” approach might have yielded concessions to pacify more moderate supporters post-2020 uprisings (see #8CantWait— as we’ve seen since the #BlackLivesMatter movement in 2013) instead we saw govs “double down” on policing w/o any substantive reform.

Even the thinly veiled, pro-cop “George Floyd Act” couldn’t be passed by a Democratic majority in the house, senate & White House. They aren’t even trying to placate us anymore. It’s just sheer violence. Brute force. Bc they are counting on us giving up (& it’s cheaper for them)

The working papers about this new approach seem to acknowledge that reforms & concessions are “too costly” and even with significant investment do not completely pacify or quell rebellion. Thus, they advocate for direct force against “insurgent” populations & actors.

In short— as many activists & scholars have previously predicted—

THEY ARE PREPARING TO POLICE THE COLLAPSE.

We must organize accordingly. Our survival and the future of human survival of the planet depends on all of us.

IMHO this explains how supposedly “progressive” Atlanta could immediately follow the 2020 uprisings by pushing through a literal domestic warfare training center requiring the clear cutting of an entire forest ecosystem. They are preparing for a new phase in the war. #StopCopCity

“Fascism is imperialism turned inward”…

We already know weapons of war get brought home & turned against the internal colony of the U.S... Police already investing in drones, robots that deliver explosives, surveillance tech, etc.

Our struggles are connected. #AbolishThePolice

Whats clear is that the U.S. has spent the last 20 years conditioning it’s population to internalize fear of the “terrorist”— 9/11 opened the gates for a new escalation in global imperialist violence. Now, the “terrorist” label is being weaponized to dehumanize & criminalize…

…increasingly more and more subsections of the domestic population. This rhetoric lays the groundwork to justify intense state violence. To make those closer to the center more afraid to get involved. To fracture us & frighten us into submission— lest we meet the same fate.

If y’all read this far, pls check out @dylanrodriguez’s books, talks, podcast, he really breaks this stuff down in his book “white reconstruction”, also this article: ⬇️

“Reformism Isn’t Liberation It’s Counterinsurgency”
level.medium.com/reformism-isnt…