Well, that's awfully disappointing to hear about several hundred fascists out there to hear Charlie Kirk speak at some golf course in Creswell, but also consider the 4th of July festivities that they had down there this past time around and it sort of contextualizes this a bit I, the admin writing this, don't like the "Let them have X because everyone who lives there is racist" approach. I think this cedes vast territories to our enemies that they will organize, and use as a base of operations against the people there, primarily, and us secondarily.

It could be the case that far-right forces decide not to go after well defended govt buildings and instead turn their violence on ppl that they assume are democratic voters or whatever. In this scenario, Eugene is an obvious target, given its location and reputation. Much of the Willamette finds itself in this situation, tbh. Small "progressive" bubbles surrounded by small towns in the forest that host an array of right wing paramilitaries. It is not a good situation to be in, but one we need to be honest about.

White Liberals in Eugene are complacent and docile, having achieved something of an oasis (in their minds) in the middle of a sea of racist resentment here in the Southern Willamette Valley. This bleeds into the rest of the left here, and results in things like we see today. There is simply no way to avoid the conflict that is coming to us. When fascists come to Eugene and tell us "war is coming" we need to take them at their word and prepare for it. And to the blockheads saying "stay home" or "let the police handle it", Please shut the fuck up.

When people say things like "You're dividing the movement", we need to acknowledge that maybe we are not a part of the same movement. People who talk like that are still engaged with this representative form of politics, albeit one that plays out on the streets, and that is fundamentally different than advocating for seizing direct control over our own lives, which is the anarchist vision. Theirs is concerned with this idea that if they just maneuver themselves in the correct ways that they will win over the mythical "masses" and they will win with

Let's talk a little bit about professional activists folks, since this town is inundated with them. But anyway, we gotta be careful of people who walk around like they hope a book is going to be written about them someday, or they will get a statue put up on 18th/Chambers. A lot of the times these people really front like they're some real militants but no one who is making themselves that visible is up to some gangster shit because they would probably be in jail right now. So, what ends up happening is they construct politics with the veneer of

With the far-right spreading ridiculous rumors about “ANTIFA” starting the forest fires, this might be a good time to reflect on rumors and disinformation as a tactic of disruption.

THREAD
#Eugene #EugeneProtests #HolidayFarmFire #antifafires The far-right is adept at weaponizing rumors and misinformation. Donald Trump is exemplary of this: he’s always just saying random shit that he himself may or may not believe is true, and that BS is reported as if it were fact by the right-wing media apparatus.

The ineffective tactics and strategies of Eugene BU are an integral part of the EPD's counterinsurgency strategy to repress dissent in this town. The EPD knows that they can't get rid of protesting altogether, so they hold sort of a tolerance for marches by Eugene BU and then take the approach of use of force, arrests, trumped up charges, and surveillance for everyone else. This is their way of violently enforcing the line between what constitutes a good protest and a bad protest here in Eugene. Knowing people are hitting the street's, the EPD

THREAD: Some thoughts on "Unity"

There is almost no word as effective at cooling down the streets than "Unity"

"Unity" means we can't call out left-activists for their ineffective strategies and collaboration with the state and police. "Unity" means that us anarchists are told that we can't air our critiques, try our tactics, and open the space up to unpredictability, unless we hurt "The movement"

It's a common tactic of left-activist types to get caught on the back foot by people leveling critiques at them and then try appealing for unity.

THREAD

Suggestions for next steps after the momentum dies down in the streets:

Given that we have leveled critiques at those who would seek to crystallize the energy of "the movement" under their own agenda, we feel somewhat compelled to offer some alternatives to attending endless street marches that accomplish nothing. These are merely suggestions and specific actions should always be tailored to your specific context. What works in Eugene won't necessarily work in Portland/Seattle/Salem/Corvallis, etc etc.

THREAD
On pointless marches and recuperation:
Given the public infighting in the various BLM/police reform groups in #Eugene, we feel there are points that are important to bring up re: marches/recuperation/ activists,that may help bring some clarity to the moment
#eugeneprotest Though larger in scale, and messaging, this is not the first time in recent history the USA has seen a large wave of people of all walks of life hit the streets. Occupy '11, Ferguson/BLM '14-'16, and '16-'17 around Trump/fascism/Standing Rock are good examples of this.