PORTLAND, Ore. – The police are a popular target for anarchists – until they need their protection.
Anarchist author Kristian Williams, a panelist at the recent Law and Disorder conference, learned that the hard way:
On May 10, 2014, we attempted to speak on a panel at Law and Disorder entitled, “Informants: Types, Cases & Warning Signs.” This is a subject with which all three of us are only too-well acquainted. It is a subject of utmost importance to us — both personally and politically. One of us has a partner spending almost 20 years in prison because of an informant.
We believe that sharing our experiences with the movements and struggles we are a part of and that we care about deeply can go a long way towards protecting those movements and the people involved in them.
And so it was with great dismay that we realized two weeks before our talk was to happen that people were planning on disrupting the event. The series of events that has unfolded has been disheartening and upsetting to us as long-time anarchists and organizers.
As our first presenter began to speak, several people from the crowd stood up and started chanting over him (“We will not be silenced by your violence”) while the panelists sat silently, waiting to speak.
LaughingatLiberals has the video:
(Warning: on language – NSFW)
The panelists finally left because “they didn’t feel safe because the police were coming.”
They apparently were not frightened when their fellow anarchists threatened them.
