An Anonymous plea to BlackBloc
How it feels to speak out about Black Bloc
Sometimes the most vicious thing you can do to the OPD is to not use violence, give them enough rope to hang themselves.
Remember, if they attack us, it only helps us, unless we attack them, then all people see of us is violence, our message is crushed.
Not all strategies are equal, and it’s not enough to just look at how justified you think it is, there are also overarching consequences which should not be ignored.
Throwing bottles at officers only makes their show of excessive force look justified and damages the footage, they’re well protected by riot gear you aren’t hurting them, but doing that does hurt the protesters next to you.
Smashing windows is meaningless, it costs nothing for millionaires to replace a broken window then it’s business as usual, meanwhile if you break the window of a coffee shop, you are making those who share in your cause look like terrorist and street thugs, no matter how it makes you feel or how justified you think it is the tactic is not only ineffective and pointless, it’s harmful.
Before these tactics were used in Oakland, Occupy protesters enjoyed broad support among small business owners who were providing food, shelter, and goods free of charge to support the movement, then people using Black Bloc tactics started intimidating small store owners, and attacked a Whole Food store which did nothing to hurt the store owners, and devastated Occupy Oakland. People had to sleep out in the cold and endure the rain and constant night raids as a result of these tactics.
And it is no coincidence that Oakland is on the map, but Black Bloc didn’t put it there, police brutality and a backlash to it did. Black Bloc tactics is harming the backlash, when we try to edit footage and see bottles and rocks being thrown at police do you have any idea what that does to the footage? It constrains the backlash by making the police look provoked, even when we all know they were the ones doing the provoking.
As another pointed out, quote
‘Black Bloc doesn’t get that OPD is TRYING to Provoke Violence so their payed for Main Stream Media can scare people and turn public opinion against Occupy.’
Black Bloc tactics are having this effect, we implore those sympathetic to them to consider the consequences of each direct action, think far beyond the action itself, think of how it will look, think about the effects it can have on recruitment, think about what it can do to the message, imagine the worst case scenario because there are those who will exploit it. The State wants violence, because the state is adept at exploiting violence, there are much crueler ways to resist.
AaronM makes sense.
Nonviolent action can not use violence. Defending against an attack is defending – not counter attacking. Physical counter-attacking is violence. It could be used as an extremely limited occurence while withdrawing to protect life, perhaps. Even then, it would risk escalation.
Yes, it’s natural to fight back, but not for these marches.
The biggest problem, and what has brought OO down to the lowest level, turned the 99% against OO, and helped it destroy a national movement, is that the overall opinion of OO is that all tactics are acceptable. Therefor, if you believe in non violence, you have to be ok and in solidarity with the black bloc and those who commit violence.
I’ll call bullshit on this one. Time for OO to stand up and tell the Black Bloc to take a hike. If you don’t believe in violence, then do not support or stand in solidarity with those who commit violence. Tell them to take a hike and GTFO.
The most powerful individuals are the ones who stand by their convictions. Unfortunatly, OO is made up of weak individuals. So many people who feel they have to go along with the mob mentality.
So they do what they can to stir shit up, cause violence, and most importantly provoke the police. Every time they do this, and then the mob mentality is “fuck the police, they are the violent ones”. And then this empowers the black bloc, makes them smile, makes them do the same fucked up shit again, every single time.
Time to stand for non violence. If the mob you’re in won’t stand for you, you don’t have to support that mob. Use the police if you have to. Have an element that is violent, committing illegal crimes, then call them out. The police are a tool of the people, not the police state. Use the police to remove the violent black bloc individuals from the pack.
I know alot of people are saying the police are a violent tool of the status quo. But I’ll stand by my statement that they are a tool of the people. Right now, 99% of Oakland wants Occupy gone, because of it’s support and cover for the violent ones in the group. The police are the tool of the people of Oakland.
Get rid of the black bloc, by any tactic necessary. If all tactics are acceptable, then you must accept the actions of the police.