Pirate Mike: In Memoriam. - Occupy Oakland

Pirate Mike, an active participant in Occupy San Francisco, was killed by a semi trailer truck in Texas on October 30th, 2015 during his March Across America.

Stephen Michael Clift, Pirate Mike to his comrades, @occupirate on Twitter, was also one of the original participants in the first Occupation of the Berkeley Post Office in July of 2013. That event, and the second Occupation by First They Came for the Homeless in November, 2014, in which he also participated, ultimately played a significant role in preventing the Allston Way building from being sold and Postal Services from being relocated, and helped mobilize resistance to Postal Service privatization across the country.

Michael was an US Army Veteran, subsequently becoming a member of Occupy Veterans and Veterans for Peace, fighting US Imperialism.

Jesus F’ing Christ… I just heard. #OccupySF #OccupyOakland [RIP Stephen Michael Clift] https://t.co/mYV8ndBciq — Domain Awareness (@domainawareness) October 30, 2015

Here is Pirate Mike, in tweets, pictures, and his own words.

MILITARY VETERANS AND THEIR ROLE IN REVOLUTION

The resistance movement in the United States is notable for many things; not the least of which is our embrace of non-violence, and our willingness to conform to State pressure. We do this not because we lack the will to resist oppression, but because we feel that to use force is against our collective morality and civilized aversion to violence. The problem is that many people confuse force with violence.

Our groups become bogged down in endless discussion about “diversity of tactics.” … We have seen how the State treats “peaceful” demonstrators; the provocateurs will initiate disorder in the crowd, initiating chaos and the police will beat the protesters down…

We must project a credible threat to the state, we must meet force with equal, if not overwhelming force… We do not need, nor can we ever hope to best the State in a contest of arms. We must be able to protect our selves in the streets and we must protect our Movement from becoming weakened by the sheer attrition of low morale and time…

State repression wears us down… many are unaccustomed to the rigors of constant struggle. Our country has indeed, melted into the sofa and the soda pop. But there is a meta-class of people who are accustomed to struggle, who have spent more time “in the field” of State custodianship or repression than many of our more benign comrades.

His daughter Jordon

SOLIDARITY

As long as people depend upon the Government to take care of their needs they will remain unable to do so themselves, and the Government will hold them in financial bondage and use taxes to fund wars so that corporations can keep the campaign funds rolling in…

Groups like Earth First!, GreenPeace, Food not Bombs, Homes not Jails, etc. are labelled as terrorists for feeding people and protecting the environment. The “domestic terrorists” are always groups that challenge the status quo or threaten corporate profits. They provide the rationale and justification of “domestic terror” committed by the State security apparatus, the ongoing civil war between the police and the people.

…The veteran is free to serve the Nation by direct service to his or her fellow country men, and the new duty is to ones’ fellow human being, rather than Militaristic Agendas… The Homeless Veteran is part of a nation within a nation, and we are being exploited just as surely as we were conned during our service… If the regulations, rules, codes, laws or any other legal mechanism are a violation of an individuals autonomous and necessary action, whether political, symbolic, or by virtue of physical necessity, these devices will be ignored and resisted, the counter measures amplified, and repeated

His last logged event:

October 12th: March and Rally INDIGENOUS PEOPLE’S DAY OF RESISTANCE with THE RED NATION to ABOLISH COLUMBUS DAY

His last tweet:

Just another tidbit from the road….come on, I gotta make ya wit for the juicy stuff… https://t.co/mNFUGwQcAY via @weebly

— OccuPirate (@occupirate) October 23, 2015