Make Ready: Safeguarding Our Movements against Repression

Margaret reads a piece from CrimethInc with practical steps for resisting state repression.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Cool Zone Media, Hello, and welcome to Cool People Who
Did Cool Stuff. You'r weekly reminder that whenever bad stuff
is happening, people are out there trying to do good
stuff in response. And this week is a special cool
People is You week. Maybe these will happen more, I
don't know, but you're the cool people this week because

(00:23):
the history we're talking about this week is the history
that we are living through, and we are I don't know.
I think it's important position ourselves as the people acting
whenever possible. Action is the antidote to despair. And we
call the right wing reactionaries because they are by and
large reacting to the things that we do. They are

(00:45):
reacting negatively to progress, and even though we're looking at
them in power right now, we still need to understand
that this is a reaction to the work that we
have done to try to make this world better and
fairer and cooler and better. I already said better, but

(01:07):
that's okay. I have a podcast with the word cool
in the title twice, so I can be repetitive in
a way that would make my fourth grade teacher sad
who always got mad at not mad at, but would
tell students not to use words like cool and good
and nice when trying to describe good things, but to
be more specific. But here we are. I don't know

(01:29):
why I'm talking about this. The piece that I'm going
to read today is a piece that appeared on crimethink
dot com last week, and this very audio version that
you're listening to the recording of it. I volunteered to
record it for them, so that's appeared as well, and
I thought to run it here as well because I

(01:50):
think it's worth hearing and understanding. And I know I
do a lot more audio processing than written processing. I
read for work. I listen to a lot of audiobooks.
I listen to a lot of podcasts. Clearly I like
the audio format, and so do you, and listen, this
is your very first time listening to a podcast, in

(02:10):
which case this is a strange one. This is not
what cool people who did cool stuff normally is. It's
normally twice a week history podcast where we talk about
cool people in history. Anyway, the piece I'm going to
read make Ready Safeguarding our Movements against Repression, how to

(02:31):
respond to Donald Trump's threats, and it was released on
September eighteenth, twenty twenty five. In a post on truth
Social yesterday, Donald Trump declared that he is designating Antifa
as a major terrorist organization. What does that mean? How
can we prepare to weather the storm? Everyone should read

(02:54):
this guide. It's always difficult to tell how seriously to
take Trump's performative declarations. He makes wild statements to see
what plays to his audience, throwing things against the wall
to see what sticks, and then doubles down wherever there
is no pushback. But this time around his administration has

(03:14):
stuck very close to the classic fascist playbook, with one
supporter going so far as to declare without any irony
that the shooting of Charlie Kirk is the American Reichstag fire.
The obvious next step in that playbook is to expand
from targeting immigrants to go after anarchists, leftists, and other
opponents of the regime as well. Yes, Trump has previously

(03:39):
declared that he would designate Antifa a terrorist organization, most
famously at the outset of the George Floyd Revolt, but
at that time the rest of the federal government largely
acted as a break on his impulses, whereas today the
entire executive branch of the federal government is comprised of
toadies and sycophants who are incapable of distinguishing their interests

(04:02):
from his. Granted, there is no law authorizing the president
to designate domestic terrorist organizations, but even without new legislation
or an executive order, Trump has direct control over the
Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigations and other federal agencies. What he

(04:26):
says on social media is probably indicative of what he
will direct his underlings to do. The fact that ANTIPHA
is not an organization at all, but rather a nebulous
category that could include virtually anyone who disapproves of Trump's
autocratic agenda is convenient for Trump. This means that, regardless

(04:47):
of who you are and what you do, you too
could become a target. That's why everyone should review the
following suggestions, whether or not you think they apply to you.
Rather than spreading panic, preparing ourselves in concrete ways will
enable us to approach this situation calmly and effectively. While
no domestic terror organization designation currently exists, and nor does

(05:12):
any obvious mechanism to establish one, far right prosecutors already
have a track record of groundlessly pressing trumped up terrorism
charges as a means of terrorizing activists and supporters of
social movements. Trump has explicitly called for the use of
racketeering charges to suppress as critics. Far right Republican senators

(05:33):
are already sponsoring a bill that would add rioting to
the list of offenses that the Justice Department can use
as part of a probe under the Racketeer Influenced and
Corrupt Organizations RICO Act. There are obvious precedents for how
this might go. Two years ago, a wide range of
defendants in Atlanta, Georgia, were randomly charged under the RICO

(05:57):
Act as part of the repression of the Stop Cop
City movement. The cases have been endlessly delayed, and earlier
this month, a judge dismissed most of the charges on
a technicality. Under Donald Trump, many federal agencies are disorganized
and focused chiefly on managing perceptions. This precisely describes the

(06:20):
authorities who brought the haphazard RICO charges in Georgia two
years ago. If the trajectory of the Stop Cop City
reco case offers any indication of how other rico persecutions
of accused activists might go. The chief threat may not
be that the crackdown Trump is calling for will send
people to prison, but rather that the charges will discourage

(06:42):
and immobilize people, creating the conditions for the Trump administration
to eventually supersede this form of repression with something worse.
It remains to be seen how seriously the administration will
carry out Trump's threats, and whether they will start by
attacking grassroots groups or proceed from the top down targeting
massive liberal institutions and fundraising platforms. In either case, our

(07:07):
long term prospects will depend on whether we can establish
large numbers of people to act in solidarity with each other,
taking up the kind of grassroots direct action tactics that
can be effective regardless of whether the people who control
the state wish to listen. Here are some steps you
can take to protect yourself and your community, proceeding from

(07:30):
the immediate to the general. Don't be intimidated. Keeping your
morale up is essential to resistance. Do not surrender in advance.
Our adversaries aim to cawous into submission because they know
that they cannot subdue us by brute force alone. Remember

(07:51):
Managing perceptions is core to the fascist project. They seek
to project strength at all times, precisely because they are not,
even when things seem grim. Keep your hopes up and
keep fighting. Defeatism only serves the enemy. Several recent examples
show that a determined movement can beat repression. On January twentieth,

(08:16):
twenty seventeen, only a few hours into Trump's first presidency,
hundreds of people were arrested in proximity to his inauguration.
They were charged with eight identical felonies apiece, two of
which were not even on the books as legitimate charges,
and threatened with decades in prison. The defendants could have

(08:37):
reacted by taking plea deals or going it alone in
the court system. Instead, in an astonishing display of solidarity,
nearly two hundred people committed to fighting the charges together,
and after a stressful year and a half, they beat
every single one of the charges. The Stopcop City reco

(08:57):
case has foundered thus far for similar reason. Rico and
conspiracy cases often hinge on whether some of the defendants
can be frightened into cooperating with the prosecution. If the
defendants form a united front and their communities stand resolutely
beside them. The chief advantages of the state evaporate solidarity

(09:19):
is power make the most of your strengths. Donald Trump
and the institutions he presides over are hierarchical, centralized, formally structured,
and profit driven. They would prefer to fight a symmetrical adversary.
By contrast, the movements that challenge them are largely decentralized

(09:43):
and horizontal, without formal roles or funding. This is a
good thing, not only because it undermines prosecutors concocted narratives,
but also because it makes it more difficult to figure
out who to target in the first place. If they
have to focus on the population large, if resistance could
come from any direction, they won't be able to concentrate

(10:05):
their forces. The autocrats are not in a position to
repress everyone who opposes fascism. Remember on June fourteenth, twenty
twenty five, the day of the No Kings demonstration, well
over five million people flooded the streets to defy Trump.
Safety will not come from hiding from the authorities, permitting

(10:27):
them to go after their targets one at a time,
but rather from spreading resistance tactics, strategies, and momentum as
widely as possible. Everyone who is against fascism is an
anti fascist. In seeking to target everyone who opposes fascism,
Trump is biting off more than he can chew, provided

(10:48):
we don't roll over and let him win. But do
you know what would never bite off more than it
could chew. I don't know why they actually probably would.
I don't know whatever this is that transition. Here's some
ads and we're back. Prepare for federal visits and raids.

(11:13):
Review what to do in the event of a visit
from police or federal agents, whether they are simply making inquiries.
Show up with a subpoena or execute a no knock raid.
Back up your electronics and store the backup somewhere secure
that cannot be easily connected to you. Remove items from
your house that should not fall into the wrong hands.

(11:34):
Get legal representation in place ahead of time so you
know what lawyers you will work with. If you learn
of someone else's house being raided, show up and take
video footage. The more attention is focused on every state assault,
the safer everyone will be instruct your friends in advance
as to how they can support you in the event

(11:55):
of a raid or arrest, whether that means feeding your cat,
providing child care, or reaching out to your employer or
family members. Make your preferences known in advance. For example,
if you are arrested, would you prefer to be bailed
out immediately or to wait to see if your bail
is reduced. The more precisely you can specify your desires

(12:16):
in advance, the better. In a worst case scenario, you
don't want rival factions of your support committee to be
wrangling over what you would prefer without any way of
resolving the question. Be transparent about repression. If you are
the target of repression, talk openly about it. They want

(12:38):
to isolate you and make you paranoid if you're already
on their radar. You gain nothing from trying to hide
that they are targeting you. Don't draw any connections for
them that are not already clear for all to see.
Don't make yourself unnecessarily easy for them to find, but
double down on your public connections. If federal agents visit
you or subpoena you, the best way to get the

(13:01):
support you need and maintain the trust of your community
is to refuse to cooperate. Document everything about the encounters,
and publicize it so that everyone knows what is going on.
Redundancy means resilient. If you play a role in a
project or community effort, however formal or informal, make sure

(13:23):
others know how to do what you do that goes
for you as an individual and for any groups you
participate in as a whole. Spread your skills and knowledge
far and wide. Copy the key to the bookstore, share
the log into the social media account with someone you trust.
Help people to found another food distribution or legal aid

(13:43):
project like your own. Making it easy for others to
replace you can diminish the incentive to target you. Likewise,
make information about how to counter repression as widely available
as possible. Hold regular educational events in your community about
TIS security culture and distribute materials about it. Educate people

(14:04):
about how to respond if agents pressure them to become
informants or subpoena them to a grand jury. The more
people know these things, the better. As federal agents sometimes
begin by exerting pressure on those they perceive to be
on the periphery of social movements, coordinate to support each other,
reach out to others in a similar situation. For example,

(14:28):
if you run a radical bookshop or student group, you
could create a network of similar projects so that all
of you can move into action as soon as one
of you is targeted for repression. Brainstorm about what forms
of leverage you can employ to maximize the cost of
targeting you, and to ensure that any assaults on you
mobilize people rather than intimidating them. Prepare a contact list

(14:52):
and a list of responses tailored to different scenarios. Give
copies of these documents to comrades you can rely on
to support you in the event of depression, so that
as soon as something happens, everyone will hear about it
and know what to do. For example, if we are
arrested and not immediately released, such and such group will
hold a press conference. The next day, such and such

(15:14):
person will conduct an online publicity campaign, and such and
such other person will arrange a fundraising campaign. Discredit the
police and courts. While Donald Trump and his henchmen have
sought to bend the legal system to their will and
sidestepped it outright wherever that was not possible, this involves

(15:38):
some drawbacks as it diminishes the perceived legitimacy of institutions
that they nonetheless rely on. Promisingly, multiple grand juries have
refused to indict defendants charged by prosecutors serving Donald Trump.
We should popularize the tactic of jury nullification as a
means by which ordinary jurors can throw a wrench in

(16:00):
the gears of federal repression. Wherever possible, we should erode
public faith in the institutions that Trump will use for
his crackdowns. Despite the false promises of liberal politicians, the
wave of momentum towards defunding the police that crested in
twenty twenty secured no major changes in legislation or budgets.

(16:22):
The one lasting effect of the movement was that, through
grassroots action, the participants succeeded in compelling large numbers of
people to quit the police force. Today, exerting continuous low
level pressure against the Trump administration and its lackeys will
diminish the number of people who are prepared to serve

(16:42):
Trump as traitors to their communities, whether as ice agents
or in some other capacity, fracture the political class. We
need a strategy to compel opposition politicians to actually impede
the police state. Rather than simply standing aside left to themselves,
most politicians will simply cultivate an image, rather than helping

(17:06):
those who are under attack. But if their image depends
on the perception that they are opposed to Trump, that
can offer points of leverage via which to impel them
to take a stand. Identify every institution, group, and influential
individual that you have access to that is not inextricably
invested in the rise of fascism. Work out what forms

(17:27):
of leverage you can exert on each of them. With
some of them a conversation will suffice with others, and
might require other means. Set concrete goals, such as dissuading
job seekers from working for ICE, getting influential figures to
issue solidarity statements, or compelling local politicians to instruct police
not to cooperate with federal operations. The police state requires

(17:52):
the smooth functioning of the entire apparatus of power that
makes it vulnerable at countless different points. The liberals who
helped create a fracture between Trump and Elon Musk simply
by holding signs at Tesla dealerships have demonstrated how to
divide the alliance that supports Trump. This should be repeated

(18:13):
over and over, especially targeting those who are peripherally involved
rather than those who are most deeply committed to his
authoritarian project peel away the pillars of his support structure
one by one. The United States is polarized and divided
regionally as well as locally. If communities, cities, or whole

(18:34):
regions can eventually put themselves concretely beyond the reach of
federal repression, a model for real resistance will emerge. Take
the offensive in chess. Once you become focused on defensive maneuvers,
you have lost the game. To face down Trump's power grab,
we need proactive strategies rather than simply reacting over and over.

(18:59):
We have to choose the time and place of conflicts.
This can be a way to tie up the resources
and labor cycles that will otherwise be directed against us.
Trump's oligarchical policies are emiserating countless millions all around the world.
We need to demonstrate means of addressing the urgent needs
that he is creating in a way that conveys a

(19:21):
revolutionary vision of social change. The best defense is a
good offense. Refuse to divide. When repression succeeds, its most
damaging effect is not the immediate impact of the blow,
but the fault lines it opens. Up. Trump's chief goal
is to make us doubt ourselves and resent each other.

(19:42):
Resolving misunderstandings and conflicts is a fundamental part of resistance.
Present criticisms in good faith holding open the door for
those who are currently arrivals to eventually become allies, provided
that they learn to conduct themselves responsibly. Rereading divisiveness and
toxicity are doing the work of the state. That's the

(20:06):
end of that piece. But I'm actually going to read
one of the linked pieces that if you want to
read this and it's worth of creating a little bit
of a checklist around, you can go to crimethink dot
com and at this point it'll be one of the
top articles. Otherwise you'll probably have to search it if
it's if you're listening to this in the future. But
they have an older piece that they link to called

(20:27):
when the Police Knock on Your Door, Your Rights and Options,
And that's what I'm going to read next, but not
before someone else gets to have a say. People who
pay us to have a say, they get to talk
now er back. When the Police knock on your door

(20:53):
Your Rights and Options? If you want that poster is
available from crimethink dot com and you can just print
it out, but I'm going to read the contents to
you just so. Obviously having this down in a written
format is really useful, but I find that a better
way for me to hold on to information is to
kind of let it be in the air around me

(21:14):
and hear it multiple times and then have it written down.
So that's why I'm reading this to you, because it
was linked from the other piece and I was like,
you know, I feel like people should hear that too.
In cooperation with legal counsel, our comrades have prepared a
poster explaining how to handle visits from law enforcement. This
includes any agent from any law enforcement agency, regardless whether

(21:37):
they are local, state, or federal, including the FBI, ATF
and ICE when they are working as law enforcement uniformed
or not. Consider putting a copy of this poster by
the doors of your residence and familiarizing yourself with the information.
These days, no matter who you are or what you're doing,
you never know when you might receive an unwelcome visit.

(22:00):
Say no, you cannot come in, I do not consent
to a search. Keep the outer gate or door chain
locked if you must step outside, and close the door
behind you better yet speak through the door. Say no,
I will not answer your questions. You can also say

(22:22):
I have been advised to not answer questions. If you
leave a card, a lawyer may contact you. The police
are trained to intimidate. Don't let them bully you regardless
of what they say. Remember that you are never required
to answer anything they ask. Your responsibility is to your
conscience and your community, not to the police or their investigation.

(22:44):
Research the legal resources available in your area. Keep the
phone numbers accessible for the local National Lawyer's Guild hotline,
the local hotline to report ice raids, and any contacts
you have for legal support or raising bail money. Agree
on a respet bonds plan with those you share this
home with. Keep in mind that the phone numbers you
have written out in your home may be discovered by police.

(23:08):
Do not sign anything you are given without seeking advice
from a lawyer first. Lying to police may result in
criminal charges. The safest thing to do is not engage
with them at all. Rehearse the phrases on this poster.
That way, when the time comes, you will feel confident
enough to deny them entry, access and information. If they

(23:30):
want to conduct a search, ask if they have a
search warrant that is signed by a judge. It must
be no more than ten days old. If they do
not have a search warrant, say I do not consent
to a search. You may inform them that if they
leave a card, a lawyer may contact them. You can
then ask them to leave, or you can simply close

(23:51):
the door. If they do have a warrant, you may
ask them to slide it under the door or mail slot.
Want to take a picture of the warrant and send
it to a lawyer. Signal is a secure and encrypted
messaging app for smartphones. You can assert that you wish
to consult with a lawyer before consenting to a search.

(24:13):
This may not stop them from entering. Before they enter,
you may wish to shut down electronics of anything you
wish to keep private from plain sight, and close all doors.
The warrant may not apply to the entire house. Anything
in plain sight that obviously appears illegal or evidence of
a crime may be seized. If they have come to

(24:33):
carry out and arrest, they must have an arrest warrant
signed by a judge that is no more than ten
days old, specifying someone in this home who is named
you are not required to confirm whether or not that
person is present. The best way to decline to answer
is to say I am going to remain silent. I
will not answer any questions without a lawyer. If police

(24:55):
have a reason to believe the named person is in
the premises, they may enter without your permission to search
for the individual. They can check places where a person
could hide. Anything in plain view that obviously appears illegal
or like evidence of a crime may be seized. If
the arrest occurs inside, police may more thoroughly search the

(25:16):
area of the person arrested. On the other hand, if
the name person decides to surrender outside, it may limit
or prevent a police search of the house. It is
crucial for anyone arrested to fully exercise the right to
remain silent. Do not answer any police questions other than
booking questions, name, date of birth, and address. The best

(25:38):
way to assert this right is to say, I am
going to remain silent. I want to speak to a
lawyer if they have a subpoena. Police who come to
your home with a subpoena are not legally entitled to
enter unless you give them permission. Unless they have a warrant,
they cannot come inside to search for anyone or anything

(25:58):
named in the subpoena. The best way to assert that
they do not have permission is to declare I do
not consent to searches. After an incident, you may want
to write down the details of what happened, include the date, time, location,
the people present, the agencies involved, the badge numbers of
the officers, the names they mentioned, the questions they asked,

(26:20):
the items they seized, and any damages, injuries, or other details.
Documenting the details of this incident can be beneficial later.
It may be important to have a record of all
these details, and it is possible they will be forgotten. Otherwise,
in case there could be potential risks if the document
is discovered. It may help to protect the privacy of

(26:41):
the document to write the name of an attorney and
the words confidential attorney client communication at the top. All Right,
that's what I got this week. I know that kind
of ends on this like sort of bummer note, But look,
I do a lot of stuff around preparedness, and the
point of preparedness is to not worry, like that's actually

(27:04):
the point of it is to kind of go through
like Oh, if a wildfire was going to come to
my house, what would I do? I would turn on
all the sprinklers, and I've already done a little work
clearing brush around the outside of the house, and I
have a go bag and my car always has a
half a tank of gas. Once you've done all that,
you can stop worrying about wildfire because there's no point

(27:25):
in worrying about it anymore. And that is my goal
about teaching preparedness. That is my goal about this stuff.
Print out this poster, keep it somewhere in your house,
talk about the people that you live with about how
to handle this kind of thing. And then you've done
what you can, so tell yourself to let go and

(27:48):
stop worrying as much. That is my advice. I know
that's an easier said than done, but it is the
kind of thing that with practice you can do. I
believe in you, And next week I'll be back with more,
almost certainly regular episodes of Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff?
All right, good bye. Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff

(28:08):
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