“June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.”
– Gertrude Jekyll
Tearsday, 30/6/15:
US, Hawaii: particularly obnoxious scumbag politician beaten up by homeless people “Rep. Tom Brower (D), who made national headlines in 2013 after smashing homeless people’s shopping carts with a sledgehammer, was reportedly punched in the head several times and taken to Queens Medical Center in serious condition, where he was treated for a concussion and eye injuries. Isaiah Totoa, 17, who was involved in the altercation, told Hawaii News Now that he and a friend were angry after Brower refused to stop filming them. “How would you feel if I walked in your house and just started recording you, right? We live here, this our house, respect it…We don’t choose to live like this. If I had a choice to go to a house right now and live in that house… trust and believe, I would be in my house. I wouldn’t be living underneath one tent.”
Holland, The Hague: fury at killer cops continues “Protesters also shouted “police killers” and attacked officers with stones and fireworks. Shop windows were broken and vehicles were set on fire, prompting police to use water cannons. “ More here: “Things started getting out of hand just after 9:00 p.m., when the police refused to start a conversation with the crowd outside the police station, according to NOS. Protesters walked to the side of the station and threatened a small group of police officers. Stones and other objects were thrown at the officers and the riot police stepped in, using a water canon and police dogs. After this the protesters dispersed into the neighborhood. Some of them went to the nearby Hague Market, where they threw out windows and set of fireworks. The riot police were pelted with stones and insulted. At the corner of Heemstraat and Hoefkade the protesters set fire to a container, a portable toilet and a construction trailer, the Telegraaf reports. The protesters also threw furniture at the officers and built barricades across the full width of Hemstraat. “Tonight everyone has the same goal. Here there are Dutch, Turks, Moroccans and Arubans. It does not matter. If the police come at one of us, the come at all of us”, one young man said to the Telegraaf. “I’m not an Aruban, but that does not matter. He was just one of us”
The Hague…the time to hesitate is through, no time to wallow in the mire
China, Hebei: sit-in blockade and clashes against waste-generated plant
Greece, Athens: Syriza office torched by anarchists In the meantime, Syriza’s referendum has distracted from the fact that Syriza has given way to most of the detestable Troika’s demands, but the Troika, it seems, just wants its pound of flesh – wanting to punish the Left of capital and the Greek proletariat at the same time, to discourage any very minor tendencies towards some very watered-down Keynesianism. The call for a referendum is not just brinkmanship in response to the brinkmanship of the EU, but also a way of preventing splits in Syriza’s party, which would have become very overt if Syriza had conceded absolutely everything to the Troika: it would have destroyed its hold on parliament. However, the EU don’t particularly want a Greek exit – it’d be the first time the EU area would have reduced in size in its entire history. Plus, with Podemos possibly coming to power in Spain, the fear that another country might follow will not be something the Euro bankers particularly want. Their hope might be that the return of the drachma will be so devastating for Greece, that the voters of Spain will decide not to support Podemos in less than 6 months time. But they might feel that’s not a risk worth taking and in the face-off they’ll be the first to blink. However, I suspect that neither side will withdraw from the brink and a Greek exit is more likely than one side conceding (though it’s possible the EU will make very slight concessions which Syriza will somehow spin as something a lot more than what they’re likely to be). Speculating on such possibilities however is a way of making me feel that I’m in some way contributing to effecting a situation totally outside my (or the vast majority of proletarians’) control. Because, without any international confrontation with the forces of capital on any revolutionary scale, Greece is caught between the rock of brutal EU-managed austerity and the hard place of brutal nationally-managed austerity. Isn’t democracy a wonderful thing? More witty analysis here: “The referendum is less than sound and fury signifying nothing. It’s less than zero. A tic. The trembling of a dead body. “
France, Calais: 2nd day of ferry workers strike – sailors break into eurotunnel and burn tyres on track Idiotic anti-refugee comments by union bureaucrat: “Vercoutre said they had ‘done Eurotunnel a favour’ by highlighting poor security when thousands of British-bound migrants are trying to break into the Channel Tunnel every day.” British Road Haulage Association calls for military action to end strike…Sens: 2nd night of small confrontations – cop car stoned, 4 vehicles burnt… l’Isere: cops swamp Echirolles (popular area consisting of maze of estates and walkways), giving chase for several hours, after they’re pelted with stones in the afternoon. More here, which mentions garbage fires, the BAC and firefighters stoned, school windows broken…
Echiriolles
Australia, Melbourne: 300 prisoners riot against smoking ban
Moanday, 29/6/15:
Holland, The Hague: rocks thrown at police station after cops kill Caribbean guy More here.
France, Calais: 2nd strike within a week blocks port…Loire: mayor’s car burnt after cops disperse crowds with tear gas
Armenia, Yerevan: split amongst anti-electricity hike demonstrators as protestors resist cop attempts to remove barricades “Police tried to remove trash cans on Monday that the participants of mass protests against a hike in electricity tariffs have used to create barricades in downtown Yerevan. Protesters, who have been rallying for a seventh day already, have hampered the move. Armenia’s capital saw the highest tension on Sunday night over the past week. After a long discussion, activists decided to leave the central Baghramyan Avenue, where traffic has been blocked for several days. They moved to the Freedom Square in front of the opera theatre to continue the protest there. This step was considered as treason by some of the protesters who said they would not leave the area as their demands have not been met. As a result, there was a split among the demonstrators…. Armenia’s police head Vladimir Gasparyan promised that “police would act in a harsher way.”…A group of members of Armenia’s parliament have formed a “human wall” between the protesters and police on the central avenue in an effort to prevent clashes between them.” More here “One protester from the crowd has already been detained after he took to the stage and urged an armed rebellion against the government. “You don’t negotiate with viruses, you destroy them. In other words through armed struggle,” the protester was quoted as saying. As a result the young man was detained by the police for inciting violence.” (see also this, which speculates on how much this is a power conflict between different suppliers of electricity; though such “conspiracy theory” speculation implicitly tends to dismiss the element of independent struggle within the events unfolding, exaggerating the extent to which everyone is just a pawn in some secret power game, it might also indicate a weakness in this movement which makes it open to manipulation by party political elements with hidden agendas ). And this.
Stunday, 28/6/15:
US, Georgia: mini-riot in Walmart as 40 or so youths cause over $2000 worth of damage…Atlanta: bikers “wreak…havoc across the city”
Turkey, Istanbul: cops attack gay pride march with tear gas, water cannon & rubber bullets Not the usual standard banal tourist attraction that the pride march has been for several decades in most countries…
Shatterday, 27/6/15:
Mexico, Querétaro: federal forces violently repress freight train expropriators in a poor suburb Pi writes: People of the poor suburbs often rob freight trains passing through their areas. It has been well organized in this area for some time, and there was already an attempt by federal forces to stop it at the beginning of this year. This time six were injured by bullets, two of them being in serious condition. Here’s a video of how these operations are sometimes carried out, in the same state of Querétaro :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gMGvtBwJbc
Shows clearly how state repression in Mexico not only concerns indigenous communities, the Zapatistas or social movements. It also represses violently various forms of survival, street activities, small theft, graffiti (in Puebla state, a policeman shot and killed a young street artist from behind a few weeks ago, see this link : http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=403283) , making all of them pretty dangerous to carry out openly
….Mexico City: prisoners’ hunger strike by the “Informal Coordination of Prisoners in Resistance” begins Very rough translation:
“Today, June 27th, a hunger strike of several prisoners in different prisons of Mexico City has begun. Strike demands focus on…torture and abuse in prisons and the actions of the Commission on Human Rights in the City, the institution which is the prison authorities’ accomplice . Likewise the business conducted with inmates through their sexual exploitation is denounced.
Beyond the differences in methods and strategies (for us prison should not be improved or reformed, but it must be destroyed), in solidarity with the comrades in struggle they …call upon all related organizations, groups and individuals to express solidarity.
Collective Hunger Strike
Informal coordination of Prisoners in Resistance.
For the following demands:
1) Cease the abuse and torture in all prisons either by word or deed.
2) Termination of the silent repression exercised by the institution in collaboration with the CDHDF (Human Rights Commission of the Federal District)
3) For the people to stop all contact with jailers and / or officials who have been denounced for mistreatment.
4) Total rejection of the austerity measures that are being implemented worldwide, in prisons by various tendencies of economic and political interests.
5) Application of the Istanbul Protocol on torture to all inmates.
6) Clarification and withdrawal of penal article 148/201H from the sentenced comrade Jose Santiago Hernández who was sentenced and imprisoned for eight months before reaching his age of majority.
7) That due respect and consideration to the families of the prisoners when they are in the prisons is maintained.
8) No more illicit enrichment, based on the exploitation of prisoners.
9) No more illicit enrichment by officials based on the sexual exploitation of women and men interned in prisons.
10) Breaking the relationship of complicity between the administration and the medical unit; no more neglect and inhuman treatment.
11) Open more opportunities for cultural recreation and artistic projection and paid work for prisoners; the few that exist are elitist and conditioned by the administration.
12) Waiver of staff who actively shapes the Technical Board in all prisons in Mexico City and generate the necessary mechanisms to eliminate corruption and authoritarianism of management and custody.
13) Let us not be judged or repressed for the activities that we protest about because we have always been incited by the malfunction of the penal institution.
14) No more violations of personal data and correspondence for the purpose of extortion, kidnapping, intimidation and confiscation of information material.
Also we denounce the confinement and incommunicado detention that is practiced against fellow prisoner Jessi Alejandro Montaño and we’ll carry out a day of struggle and resistance to make our mark against ignorance and our rejection of prison authority. Side by side with our brothers and sisters, face to face with the enemy!”
India, Tamil Nadu: riot, police station attacked and burnt, cop jeeps burnt, cops flee abandoning uniforms, after death of youth in custody… (this, in English, describes circumstances of arrest and death)
the heat of the night, Tamil Nadu
US, Chicago: public burning of Confederate flag
Canada, Ontario: 3 cop vehicles destroyed, rocks thr0wn at cops, during indigenous protest against violent arrest by indigenous cops of indigenous person “Protesters threw rocks, causing “extensive damage” to the two-storey police detachment and “leaving officers in a situation where they had to take up fortification” …brief wildcat strike at car factory
France, Carcassonne: cops surrounded, projectiles thrown at them, 2 shots also fired at them, as they intervene in estate gang fight; flash balls and anti-encirclement grenades fired; no arrests…Haute-Savoie: cops stoned, insulted and spat upon for 2nd time within few days
Thumpsday, 25/6/15:
UK, Barnsley: cop car torched in grounds of police station
Mexico, Mexico state (Xochicuautla): locals set up barricades against riot cops sent by local government to protect construction of highway The Otomi villagers have been fighting against this project for several years and has been quite repressed for doing so. The community is involved in the CNI (Consejo Nacional Indigena), with various communities and indigenous organizations close to the Zapatistas….villagers fight against cops to protect their community radio station…Vera Cruz: Toyota dealership destroyed in anarchist arson attack (ever so slightly over-the-top in its rhetoric: ” For every dead comrade we will kill a thousand more for them”)
Guatemala, Cuilapa: riots and clashes with cops after locals attack and kill member of extortionist gang (video here)
Sweden, Malmo: 2 cars & meeting room set alight, as unrest grows on 3rd night of riots (see also this)
Chile, Santiago: more fights between the state and students
France: 70 vehicles damaged in anti-Uber taxi driver protests across country Admittedly, taxi drivers tend to be amongst the most individualist section of workers, with a largely petit-bourgeois mentality aiming to exclusively guard their own personal niche in the system – in this case, against their undercutting by modern technology and often unlicensed competitors, so I was in two minds about putting this up….Still, it’s funny to read things like this: “French taxi drivers pulled out the throttle in an all-out confrontation with the ultra-cheap San Francisco-based Uber car service Thursday, smashing livery cars, setting tires ablaze and blocking traffic during a nationwide strike that caught tourists and celebrities alike in the mayhem. Travelers going to and from the airport were forced to walk alongside highways with their bags, while others, including singer Courtney Love, had their cars set upon by striking taxi drivers. “They’ve ambushed our car and are holding our driver hostage,” Love tweeted. “They’re beating the cars with metal bats. this is France?? I’m safer in Baghdad””
…Besancon: town hall molotoved by Cameroon refugee whose survival project was rejected by local bureaucracy “The man had “come to the Town Hall of Besançon, asking an employee present to get out” before launching two Molotov cocktails inside according to a witness…The man, who was moving with crutches, was subsequently arrested in the vicinity. …The suspect had wanted to set up a publishing house in France…His project stalled, the man in his fifties had conducted a sit-in at Besancon Town Hall twice last week, and the police had had to dislodge him.”
more fire (Besancon Town Hall)
“He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”
-Luke III, 16
…Meuse: site for probable future nuclear waste landfill sabotaged “In Bure, in the Meuse, the government is trying in every way to get people to accept a project for a landfill site of nuclear waste 500m underground. Though the project has officially not yet started, and nuclear waste will not happen before 2025, ANDRA facilities (National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management, in charge of the landfill project) are already all over the area. One night around 25 June, a site containing multiple electrical systems and a well to analyze the state of the rock and the water table was ransacked. The well was then plugged with concrete, and all the cupboards were broken into and destroyed by the rage of those who do not want to wait till legal remedies have been exhausted to confront this project.”
Wailsday, 24/6/15:
Chile, Santiago: football fans chuck missiles at cops, cops use water cannon
UK, London: disability protesters try to storm parliament (video here)…protesters apparently occupy hospital maternity unit set for closure…but this says the “occupation” was a Trot stunt (see also this, about hospital wing occupations in the early 1990s, which also involved Trots sabotaging the movement)
France, Narbonne: BAC cop attacked with his family in supermarket, then later cops clash with 30 youths on estate “During their purchases, the man was attacked by a group of four young men, who had recognized him as a policeman….The story might have stopped there but about 7 pm, a crew of Bac is called to intervene in Saint-Jean Saint-Pierre, while a brawl is underway at the foot of a building of the avenue Pompidor …A group of youths in which officials identify the perpetrator of the threats to their colleague…and proceeded to his arrest … not without difficulties. For the thirty people present then rallied to oppose the arrest, uttering insults and threats to the police in their turn , forcing them to use their tear gas. When they left, the officials also suffered lots of stone-throwing, causing extensive damage to their vehicle.” The BAC are the worst of the French cops, known for their psychotic brutality, often getting away with murder. The CRS riot cops, despite their violent history against obviously political movements, are angels in comparison. Perhaps this derives from the fact that the BAC are the permanent foot patrols in the banlieux and the estates, where their racism is given free rein (though they also police other situations) and where they choose to be in hand-to-hand combat with little defensive protection other than their weaponry (gas, guns, light-weight truncheons capable of breaking limbs…) – which possibly attracts those who derive sadistic pleasure from such risky situations, whereas the CRS are used specifically for riots or potential riots, often carrying shields and wearing body armour….Toulouse: cops harassing someone are attacked by about 50 people with tiles, glass, concrete blocks; CRS called, flash-balls, disencirclement grenades and tear gas used; two 15-year-olds arrested
Tearsday, 23/6/15:
Venezuela, Barquisemeto: molotovs thrown in student transport struggle
France, Calais: Channel tunnel shut as wildcat striking ferry workers burn tyres on road and rail tracks in protest against job cuts; tear gassed by riot cops (video) Unfortunately the strikers sang the Marseillaise and their trade union leader talked about the necessity of presenting themselves with a good image (though fortunately this latter was contradicted by some of their actions). Fuck all national anthems! Fuck image!
Calais
And this mentions sympathy strikes in Calais: “There were also “sympathy” strikes in the port itself, with around 50 protestors trying to stop ferries from leaving for England”.
Armenia, Yerevan: the state moves in unmysterious ways More here “Thousands of protesters angered by the planned price hikes marched on the presidential palace on Monday…. Several hundred of them remained on the streets overnight, holding a sit-in and blocking traffic. In the early hours of Tuesday, hundreds of riot police moved in to disperse the demonstrators, using batons and water cannon to break up the rally. Plainclothes police also beat up journalists and destroyed or confiscated their equipment…Some 237 demonstrators were detained”… Protesters refuse to meet President…protests spread to 3 other cities (Gyumri, Vanadzor and Charentsavan)…interview with an Armenian anarchist
Moanday, 22/6/15:
South Africa, North West: service delivery protesters block roads, trash vehicles and traffic lights “…the community of Tlhabane barricaded the road from Phokeng to Lefaragatlha village on Monday, in protest of service delivery and shortage of water in the area…approximately 5 000 community members barricaded the road with burning tyres and stones. According to the information, the community allegedly damaged three vehicles and six robots [traffic lights] in the area.”…Limpopo: residents demanding closure of initiation school block roads with tree trunks, rocks etc. For some reasons for this, see this: “Six people have died since the start of the initiation season in the Eastern Cape…an 18-year-old died on the way to hospital on Friday after circumcision at an illegal school…The second young man, aged 22, died on Saturday. He attended a registered circumcision school in Tsolo….The initiation season is usually associated with numerous deaths stemming from complications arising from botched circumcisions. Last year, more that 25 young people died and more than 60 were hospitalised across the Eastern Cape. The department blames greedy traditional surgeons who have hijacked the custom to make a quick buck, putting the youngsters’ lives at risk.”
See also this, which has some random thoughts about events in South Africa – and these quotes amongst others:
In the Cape Province, however, where for various social and historic reasons a section of the whites have an uneasy conscience about the Coloured people, it is still permissible to desire their betterment in so far as it in no way impinges upon the prosperity and well-being of the whites, and to deplore their present miseries.
We are always accommodating to whatever has happened in the past and acknowledge the necessity of all the changes and revolutions that have occurred, but we resist with all the means at our disposal to take the same attitude to the present situation.
The only law that matters is the one inside your head.
Israel, Tel Aviv: Ethiopian Jews clash again with cops (video). See also this and this “Prior to Monday’s demonstrations, Israeli-Ethiopian soldiers organized an online protest calling on other Ethiopian soldiers to “abandon the system that has abandoned you.” The online plea also urged soldiers to join the demonstrations on Monday, despite IDF regulations banning soldiers from attending “any demonstration or in any march or parade, conducted by an authority that is not the military.”
Ghana, Accra: cops clash with slum-dwellers as they destroy slums (video) “…police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters but they seemed to be overpowered by protesters who threw stones and damaged police vehicles….Protest organiser Osman Alhassan said people now don’t have anywhere to sleep. Some 50,000 people live in the slum which is thought to be the biggest and oldest slum in the country.” From the video: “..Squatters responded by blocking roads and burning tyres…they threw stones and scrap metal at the police, destroying vehicles and motorbikes….For some 50,000 people this is their home…Police fired bullets and tear gas…” State House occupied “Some protesters have warned the Ghanaian government that they may resort to insurgency in response to the demolition and subsequent displacement. …Homeless residents at Old Fadama in Accra whose houses were demolished have occupied the State House demanding to see the President about their grievances. About 500 residents took to the streets and blocked some of the major roads in Accra, particularly the ceremonial road around National Theatre, before making their way to the State House. …The protests eventually turned violent, resulting in some journalists being attacked and the destruction of some public properties… some police vehicles had their door glasses shattered.“
Armenia, Yerevan: God intervenes to prevent clashes between His representatives and protesters after 3 days of sit-in against electricity hikes See also this
Turkey, Bursa: wildcat strike by metal workers over unfulfilled promises wins them 10% wage rise
France, Calais: migrants clash with filth
Stunday, 21/6/15:
France, Toulouse: all the windows of an army recruitment centre are smashed
Belgium, Nivelles: 7 prisoners in rooftop protest “Their anger is linked to the recent arrival of a fellow prisoner, who enjoys the favours of the prison governor.”
Brazil, Goias: landless re-occupy right-wing senator’s land
Walworth, South London
US, Charleston: Confederate flags burnt, memorial graffitied, in protests against mass murder More here “A second Charleston statue memorializing 19th-century South Carolina statesman John Calhoun was defaced in recent days as well… Initially, the monument to the secessionist and defender of slavery read “Truth Justice and the Constitution.” But the words “AND SLAVERY” were tacked on the end.”
Shatterday, 20/6/15:
UK, London: another ritual Also see this. According to a friend, the police outflanked and spoiled minor token “trouble” (e.g.a pretty colour smoke flare in Downing St, lots of graffiti at the Cenotaph in Whitehall and elsewhere, and a few other incidents) by being ULTRA-SOFT!! – just letting people do it and then these people, not knowing what to do next, wandered off home. This 33-year-old leaflet still seems pertinent.
Indonesia, Jakarta: illegal street vendors riot, storm commerce manager’s offfice “…around 300 street vendors stormed through Monas’ Eastern Gate… because they were not granted permission by Satpol PP to operate in the area…. perpetrators wore helmets to shield their faces. “They stormed the management’s office, destroyed three televisions, CCTV camera, WIFI modem, as well as the toilet of the site,” she said. Lenggang Jakarta’s Manager, Marjali, said that the incident has caused at least Rp50 million in damages. “It is likely that the actual damages will cost more than that…“
India, Gurgaon: hundreds of workers riot in garment factory “Hundreds of workers of a garment export house at Udyog Vihar VI in Sector 37 went on a rampage on Saturday morning. They pelted stones at the factory gates, smashed window panes, and set cars, bikes and some parts of the factory building on fire. The spark for the violence at Orient Craft Ltd, located near Hero Honda Chowk, was a rumour that a fellow worker, Pawan, had died of an electric shock that he sustained inside the factory lift. …some agitating workers pelted stones on the police team as well. As reinforcements arrived, the police managed to contain the violence within minutes. But by that time, at least five cars and four bikes — belonging to officials of the factory management — were burned down.”
France, Valenciennes: stones and cans v. flashballs and police dogs; bins lit
Frightday, 19/6/15:
Pakistan: violent protests against electricity power cuts across country on 1st day of Ramadan, roads blocked with burning tyres…electricity company offices stormed “In Swabi, hundreds of protesters stormed Pesco offices in Chota Lahor sub-division at midnight before setting record, computers, dozens of power meters, 10 transformers and other valuables on fire. Three police personnel and one protester suffered injuries during the violent protest.”
Armenia, Yerevan: clashes between cops and electricity hike protesters occupying Liberty Square
France, Yvelines: 2 attacks on cops within 15 minutes “The police were stoned twice in the night from Friday to Saturday in Carrières-sous-Poissy and Mureaux. Around 11.35 pm in rue des Freres Tissiers police were hit by projectiles thrown by a group of at least thirty troublemakers. Police respond by throwing two grenades to get rid of them. There were no injuries. Fifteen minutes later, Pascal Street in Les Mureaux, the BAC controlled the occupants of a car when a man well known to them,protected by a group of fifteen people, threw a rock. The attacker has not been arrested up till now.“…Tours: 50 people stone police vans…Clamart (near Paris): 4 cops injured by crowd stoning them
Thumpsday, 18/6/15:
China, Hunan: 100s storm po-lice station in dispute over woman’s death “…hundreds of local residents stormed the local police station, blocked a road, and flattened the tires of a police vehicle, preventing the police officers from leaving, the statements said. Early Friday morning, the crowd threw rocks and stones and sprayed pepper water at the police that tried to make a forced exit, the county government said. “
Greece, Athens: anti-authoritarians fight Syriza’s riot cops with molotovs and fireworks as demo against debt regenerates (video here) See this, for latest reflection on Greece’s debt
Canada, Ontario: 6 hour riot in maximum insecurity prison ” Inmates at the maximum security facility in Penetanguishene, Ont., erupted into a random riot Thursday, destroying meal hatch doors, cell doors, phones, duct work and garbage bins in a six-hour incident that was only resolved when a tactical team used pepper spray.”
Colombia, Huila: small riot as heavily armoured riot cops evict informal settlers with tear gas…Santa Marta: businesses attacked during riot celebrating football victory
French Guyana: 2nd prison mutiny in 2 days Prisoners refuse to return to their cells, demand improved health conditions (there are rats and coackroaches in the cells), more interesting social activity, end of abuse by guards. More prisoners (189) in protest than Tuesday’s (see 16/6/15).
Uganda, Kampala: traders clash with cops in protest over electricity hikes (cops fire bullets and tear gas)
France, Paris: mini-riot…Douai: 30 youths pelt cops trapped in car with stones etc
South Africa, KwaZulu Natal: investigators into exam “cheating” report violence against them in 3 centres of investigation “Pupils in this province had engaged in violent behaviour in at least three centres where the hearings had taken place. Criminal cases had been opened with law enforcement authorities for malicious damage to property. Pupils who had damaged cars and property would be punished, the department said. As a result of the violence, the DBE had to move some of the hearings to more secure locations to prevent intimidation of its officials.” The “cheating” in these exams was, as far as I can tell, an organised refusal of the separate individualism nurtured by “education”, an expression of mutual aid and solidarity against the rat race.
Venezuela, Bolivar: Unesco World Heritage Site occupied by indigenous tribes in protest against gang-related mining Whilst it’s obviously necessary for people to struggle over such life-wrecking projects, appealing to the state for protection is unfortunately typical of the false consciousness of this epoch which reinforces one section of the forces of destruction against another.
Wailsday, 17/6/15:
Chile, Santiago: clashes with riot cops, as teachers march in 6 cities…more here Seems like the education reform is a clever mix of carrot and stick. “The protest took place in the middle of the teachers’ strike…there were clashes between police and hooded protesters who threw stones and sticks at the police officers, who used gas and water to break up the demonstration. “With this event we expect a good response from the Ministry (of education),” said the president of the teachers union, Jaime Gajardo, who demanded the withdrawal from Parliament of the New Teaching Career Bill presented by the government. The initiative proposes a wage increase of 28% for teachers who adhere to the new system, which provides readjustments based on regular performance, a mechanism that is based on “mistrust” towards the teachers’ work that teachers refuse to consider. The College of Teachers of Chile, which has about 100,000 members, mainly from state sector secondary schools, began their strike on June 1, affecting some 2,200 schools, equivalent to 42% of teaching, according to government data. Bachelet outlined this project in the framework of a comprehensive education reform…ending with the system inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet (1973-1990), which reduced public resources for education and encouraged the entry of the private sector. At the level of primary education, as part of the reform being conducted by Bachelet, they have already succeeded in passing a law that eliminates the selection of students and prohibits the pursuit of profit in schools that receive state contributions. In May, in addition, Bachelet announced a 60% gratuity for the poorest students in higher education from 2016.” For a more developed critique of miseducation see this (and especially this, in French)
South Africa, Soweto: as daytime temperatures hit 0°, residents block streets at night with fire to protest electricity cuts…Port Elizabeth: striking garbage workers block roads with abandoned garbage trucks
Trinidad & Tobago, Arouca: prison riot “Five officers were badly beaten … Officers were stabbed and one officer’s teeth were broken. T&T Guardian was informed that the prisoners were in possession of weapons crafted by the prisoners. These include shanks made out of tooth brushes and metal objects. The prisoners have barricaded themselves in an area in the prison. The officer said the prisoners have created shields to prevent the officers from harming them if the riot police were to enter. …many prison officers do not want to engage with the prisoners because they fear for their lives. Members of the Riot squad are standing by at Golden Grove to assist if prison officers are unable to contain the situation. A prisoner informed T&T Guardian that the riot ensued following an incident where the prisoners were soaked with water and an Imam was badly beaten inside the prison”
Greece, Athens: union members occupy European Commission offices for a few hours after demo against austerity (see also this, for a critique of the false choice between the rock of complicity with Troika demands and a hard place of Grexit)
Tearsday, 16/6/15:
Colombia, Huila: local residents attack cops who were beating up guy
Jordan, Maan: protesters against death of 2 people by cops attack courthouse with stones
Italy, Ventimiglia: Red Cross allow their bus to be used by riot pigs against protesting immigrants
US, Ohio: cops clash with teenagers at swimming pool
Panama: indigenous population end blockade of 3,400 mile highway, having blocked it for 2 days and protested (about hydroelectric dam construction) along it for almost a week “If the indigenous communities manage to halt the project, the Panamanian government could face a multimillion dollar suit from German Investment Corporation (DEG) and the Dutch Development Bank (FMO).”
Moanday, 15/6/15:
Mexico, Veracruz: 600 locals burn the town hall, the mayor’s house and a public building after the police tortured, killed and left at the entrance of the village a young guy they falsely accused of being associated with organized crime…Tabasco: 3 cops beaten & almost lynched, their cars burnt, when villagers trap them after they robbed 2 grocers
“Bring me my Arrows of Desire…Bring me my Chariot of Fire! I will not cease from Mental Fight, Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand….”
– William Blake
France, Lorraine: gendarmes cop car attacked with stones, cop car window smashed on estate
Venezuela, San Francisco de Asis (near Aragua): police station burnt by molotov as residents protest killing of butcher…tanks deployed to village
Stunday, 14/6/15:
UK, Rutland: 6 hour riot by about 100 prisoners “Up to 60 prison inmates attacked officers and started fires during a six hour riot at the weekend…It would appear there were over 100 prisoners involved in the riot”……More here “A prison officer has been hurt in a riot in Rutland involving scores of inmates. Police and fire crews were called in after small blazes were lit during the disturbance. Order was not restored until screws specially-trained in brutal methods of inflicitng pain intervened. The defender of ruling class “justice” who was assaulted was treated in hospital and discharged on Sunday night, while four prisoners were taken to hospital after a savage beating, and two screws were treated for smoke inhalation. Around 30 inmates have been transferred to other prisons far away from friends and relatives to be beaten by cowards in uniform. A Prison Service PR manipulator said: “A serious incident of insubordinate lack of servilitiy on one wing at HMP Stocken was resolved by a specially trained gang of ruling class protection racketeers. ….” [translated from the original Massmediatese]
France, Île-de-France: poetry in motion “Officers from Stains police station were attacked Sunday night around 11.30 pm by a group of youths while patrolling Poets Estate in Pierrefitte. They were the object of “mortars” and thrown projectiles, which fortunately did not hit their target. Alerted by the sound of explosions, a crew of the ferry Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise) came to their rescue. Upon arrival, the alleged perpetrators fled after throwing two “mortars” and other projectiles at police in the Val-d’Oise. To get out of the estate, they had to make use of defensive weapons. At 11.55pm, calm had returned.” These “mortars” are not the lethal weapons used by armies etc., but are highly explosive fireworks.
Shatterday, 13/6/15:
Mexico, Mexico City: bank “burnt to a crisp” in incendiary attack
Spain, Barcelona: as the new activist mayor is sworn in (praised by all liberal-lefties – see this, for instance), it seems worthwhile starting to formulate the skeleton of a critique of developments such as these. For one thing, her programme doesn‘t seem to scare entrepreneurs:
http://www.barcinno.com/new-barcelona-mayor-ada-colau-startups-technology/
http://www.lavanguardia.com/local/barcelona/20150429/54430930898/ada-colau-permitiria-okupas.html
Her programme even includes letting squatters occupy official empty buildings. Which will require deep analysis of the relationships between radical and reformist squatting strategies, as well as recuperation policies and the integration of radical practices into official politics, and the way to avoid being part of something squatting is supposed to be against.
In Madrid, the new mayor is also from Podemos. She was previously a judge (left-wing, of course)
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2015/06/12/podemos-backed-anti-austerity-leftist-becomes-madrids-new-mayor
and she created “Yayos Emprendedores”, a “company with social benefits” which commercializes toys and children clothes produced by prisoners.
http://www.fundacionmelior.org/content/tema/yayos-emprendedores-una-empresa-con-beneficio-social How nice!
[thanks to Pi for the beginnings of such a critique; see also this ]
US, Missouri: 31 railway wagons carrying coal derailed – part of solidarity with anarchist prisoners, apparently (see discussion below this latter article on how useful/stupidly dangerous such actions are/could be)
Senegal, Dakar: informal street traders fight back against council harassment by rioting, attacking cops, etc. “…traders burned tyres in the streets, broke electronic signs and threw stones at the council security officers… elements of the Mobile Intervention Group (GMI Police) had to use tear gas to disperse street vendors…During the clashes, a fire broke out at the Petersen market and destroyed lots of shops, making substantial material and financial losses. The fire was extinguished by firefighters after a few hours.”
Dakar
India, Delhi: bus burned, roads blocked, 6 cops thrashed after woman killed by bus (video)
Uruguay, Montevideo: football fans rip up stadium seats to attack cops
Frightday, 12/6/15:
Belgium, Brussels: arson attack on prison building company
Sudan, Khartoum: cops kill protesters against state land grab
South Africa, North West: 4 cars and bus burnt as locals demand work
UK, London: small victory as bailiffs intent on eviction are repulsed
Thumpsday, 11/6/15:
Chile, Santiago: transit workers go on strike on opening day of Copa Americana “Transit workers kicked off their strike June 11th – the day the games opened – shutting down four subway stations during morning rush hour and sabotaging around 500 buses. Construction workers, who are building a new subway line, joined the strike Monday. On Wednesday, they used a giant crane to a dangle truck with a mannequin representing their employer hundreds of feet above the city’s largest public market. And twelve transit workers are now facing charges for blocking subway tracks during a protest….Students and striking teachers…blocked traffic in front of the presidential palace by releasing hundreds of soccer balls into the streets. The balls each had a hand written demand for education reform on them. While union leaders are calling for all of Chile’s union members to participate in a national strike, many Chileans are debating the country’s three to three tie game with Mexico Monday and why even the post game celebrations were dispersed with police water cannons.“
Greece, Athens: Greek Communist Party tries to boost its image by occupying finance ministry
France, Marseille: 2 BAC cops injured on estate after being attacked by youths…Calais: riot cop knocked unconscious; arrested migrant beaten up, elbow broken…Carcassonne: 2 cops hurt as a dozen youths attack them during an arrest
Wailsday, 10/6/15:
Burundi, Buyenzi: large area blocked to traffic as clashes continue after cop kills a young man “…traffic has come to a halt forcing the local market Ruvumera to close…”…. No cars can go through. Everything is burning…The young people were trying to bring the body to the mayor for him to face up to [his] own responsibilities, but police stopped them with tear gas. The police are shooting with real bullets”
Colombia, Barranquilla: 2nd day of small riots and blockades in different areas over electricity cuts “…a group of vandals damaged several articulated Transmetro and broke the windows of a gas station. Because of this the riot police had to intervene, firing tear gas that affected children who were near the riots…These protests are in addition to those of the previous day, when the road between Barranquilla and Santa Marta was seized. … for more than seven hours the road was closed, causing major traffic congestion.”
Tunisia, Douz: clashes with cops as unemployed re-start their protests (see entry for 5/6/15)
Chile, Santiago: students and cops in new confrontation “The demonstrators threw stones and other projectiles at the police, who used tear gas and water cannon to disperse them. Police and protesters were wounded in the clashes…Earlier in the day, protesters lit barricades on fire to block traffic for several minutes during the morning commute in central Santiago. The students sought to use the attention on the Copa America, which kicks off in the capital Thursday when the hosts play Ecuador, to rally support for their cause.” Video here shows molotovs thrown in response to water cannon
South Africa, Western Cape: illegal strikers sacked after violent strike “Citing a violation of labour laws, mainly safety regulations, the 170 plasterers embarked on a strike on April 21. The protesters targeted GHC sites in Macassar, Scottsdene, Philippi East and Delft, where property was damaged and work brought to a standstill for four weeks. The strike has seen a construction worker killed, alleged kidnappings, a sjambok attack and malicious damage to property.”
Tearsday, 9/6/15:
Mexico, Guerrero: movement about the 43 disappeared students burn massive truck and liberate its contents “Normalistas of Ayotzinapa intercepted and torched a double-decker trailer …demanding the appearance of their 43 classmates alive; [it] was carrying twenty tons of cement that was stolen by locals….Around noon, a small group of Normalistas intercepted the trailer near Tixtla and forced the driver to get off, proceeding to burn it with petrol bombs, blocking the road … many villagers took sacks and wheelbarrows to take the material.“
China, Guangxi: gemstone workers clash with cops over forced relocation to high-rent area etc. Residents protested against this factory about its pollution and the noise – forcing the company to relocate to an area where landlords took advantage of the increased demand for accommodation to hike up the rents, one of the reasons for the workers’ protests. Just judging from this (without knowing anything more) it’s not hard to see in some way some of the contradictions of fighting aspects of this society without any connection with the totality of misery, and the false conflict of interests between workers and local residents that inevitably develops within such limited perspectives. See also this, for some interesting facts about labour unrest in China “In the first five months of 2015, there were triple the number of labour strikes as in the same period in 2014, according to data from the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, while mass protests by workers against layoffs are on the rise.”
France, Yvelines: a dozen people attack cops with cans after helping motorbike driver avoid arrest…Val d’Oise: small deliberate fire, screws attacked, in prison…Limoges: 10 Eurovia-Vinci construction engines destroyed by arson Damage is estimated at over a million euros. Threats have been made and sent to various companies involved in building the airport of Notre-Dame-des-Landes. Among the listed companies, there were Eurovia and Vinci. Vinci is particularly involved in the construction of prisons.
Limoges
Colombia, Medellin: explosive devices thrown at riot cops during clashes over underfunding of University and student debt…Tolima: hooded youths attack cops outside University
Chile, Santiago: clashes on unauthorised demo between private University students and cops “A group of protesters barricaded the central strip of the capital’s main artery, displaying paintings alluding to their demands, but were attacked by water cannons.”
Moanday, 8/6/15:
Mexico: short video against elections
Finland, Hanhikivi: sabotage of machine on nuclear power plant construction site
Greece, Athens: 5 ATMs of bank (belonging partly to head of murderous oil refinery company) torched “5 National Bank ATMs torched in Athens on 10.06.15. for the workers who were killed in the #Aspropyrgos Refinery explosion on 08.05.15. The refinery is run by the company Hellenic Petroleum (HP). “The National Bank was chosen as a target because the capitalist-gangster Spyros Latsis* owns an 11% share of it’s capital…Revenge for the dead HP workers! Class against class!”
*note: Spiros Latsis owns 42% of Hellenic Petroleum.
India, Uttar Pradesh: heavy confrontations with cops in 4 separate incidents and areas
railroad blckaded near Sahjanwah
China, Jiangxi: clashes with cops over work-related death of young man “Chinese industry is plagued by lax safety standards and routinely sees major workplace accidents, with an estimated 57,000 people killed in 269,000 accidents in the first 11 months of 2014, according to government figures.”
US, Los Angeles: “black lives matter” activists camp out on pavement in front of mayor’s house
“They’re all these rich white people gawking at us like we’re ornaments on a tree. They see all these black and brown faces and they get a little bit intimidated, they get a little bit antsy. The mayor went out of his way to go through the back [of his house], so that says our presence actually made him uncomfortable, that’s the point of this”
Thailand: prison revolt; 1 prisoner killed, 5 guards injured, as prisoners protest overcrowding etc.
Stunday, 7/6/15:
Mexico, Tlapa: 12 minute video giving chronology of events from 1st to 7th June ….ballot boxes burn…election cancelled in Tixtla
“At least three polling stations were prevented from opening after masked protesters and the parents of 43 students allegedly killed by a police-backed drug gang last year seized and burned ballots in Tixtla, Guerrero, cancelling the vote in the town of 40,000. “
Oaxaca: local mayor shot dead…whilst anti-election movement continues “Teachers of Section 22 of the CNTE burnt electoral propaganda during their march against the FONAPAS gas station, as one of its measures of pressure against election day. In the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, they burned ballot boxes… while in Miahuatlán the situation is very tense as the army looks on”…Police forced to retreat in Tlaxiaco, Teotitlán and Miahuatlán “Oaxaca…teachers refused to surrender the premises of INE [building of the electoral board overseeing the elections]…From the moment the Army, Gendarmerie, Federal Police and Navy, entered the state by air, land and sea, teachers from different regions armed themselves with Molotov cocktails, stones and rockets, to confront the national security forces…..Initially the teachers of Section 22 of the CNTE in the region of Tuxtepec… removed all the furniture and set it on fire in the street, and they seized several different gas stations, shops and, by Friday afternoon, they took the hydroelectric facilities of Temascal, a strategic facility for the state that supplies power to the southeast of Mexico….in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Juchitan de Zaragoza, a group of 500 education workers from six sectors of Section 22 of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, blocked the main entrance to the refinery “Jaime Antonio Dovalí” in Salina Cruz, preventing the exit and entry of Pemex petrol tankers, however, on Saturday the army and the gendarmerie managed to evict the teachers who’d been struggling with federal forces…In the Mixteca region, or more precisely in Huajuapan de Leon, where the District Board was besieged… they retained control of a gas pipe to reinforce the blockade. …the pipe was occupied as a barricade to prevent the police forcess coming….In Tlaxiaco grenadiers, evicting the teachers who were in possession of the local board of INE, had a heavy confrontation with teachers, who were supported by villagers …these, resulted in several federal forces being seriously …injured… In Miahuatlán …located in the southern highlands, teachers supported by members of the Revolutionary Popular Front RPF fought elements of the security forces, but also set fire to the premises of the local board of INE, besides burning a truck owned by the same federal electoral institute….In Tlaxiaco, a major contingent forced the federal police to retreat… setting fire to a vehicle, tires and … prevented the police from returning…. in the district of Pochutla in the Coast region, teachers were holding the gas station, where a group of people armed with stones, machetes and sticks, were evicted, several teachers being injured in addition to a number gone missing“
Jiutepec, Morelos State: ballot box and election officials burnt “According to witnesses, a guy who pretended to come in order to vote threw gasoline on hundreds of ballot papers and at polling officials, then threw a lighter which caused the burning. Both the president of the ballot…. and the officer were taken to a hospital. The man who burned the box was not arrested”
South Africa, Soweto: riot as electricity is cut during bitter cold “A KFC outlet, the first in Soweto, was also damaged with its windows and glass doors cracked where it was hit by stones. The inside of the store was littered with rocks and rubble. Protective glass at the paypoint was damaged. A liquor store nearby was looted with broken beer bottles littering the pavement. …“Several shops were looted. Two ATMs, a liquor store and a KFC were damaged by the protesting hostel dwellers”…“They were protesting because there was load shedding in the hostel area, but they could see the other side of Dube still had power” … they hadn’t had power since Wednesday. …”
US, New Jersey: hip hop on a cop “The annual New York City hip-hop festival Summer Jam devolved into a tense and scary situation as police fired tear gas at a group of attendees. According to reports, a small riot broke out as fans waited in long lines to enter MetLife Stadium. Several people were seen throwing bottles at New Jersey State Police, injuring one officer. Police responded by using tear gas grenades. Several people were also arrested. In a statement, New Jersey State Police said, “This evening, security personnel at one of the entrance gates to MetLife Stadium were confronted by crowds attempting to illegally enter the sold out Summer Jam concert by climbing over fences and forcing their way through security personnel…”
Kyrgyzstan, Bishtek: prison riot over failure of doctor to turn up
Brazil, Rio: 2 die in prison riot over overcrowding More here “The riot broke out in the Governador Valadares prison of the Minas Gerais state during visiting hours on Saturday morning and ended after a 21-hour standoff, leaving two inmates dead, according to the local Social Defense Secretariat. During the incident, a group of inmates broke security railings and invaded administration offices to protest the overcrowding of the prison, which, with a capacity for 290, holds some 800 inmates. In the end police launched an operation to regain control, using tear gas bombs and a helicopter”
Shatterday, 6/6/15:
Mexico, Oaxaca: 6000 teachers mobilize in main square to boycott the elections “Among slogans such as “no to the farce”, “to vote is to lie”, the event is followed at a distance by army soldiers while helicopters carried the Mexican Air Force overhead in the area.” Video here
megabarricade in Teotitlan
Teachers were joined by locals who came to support them. They placed two buses, tires and metal structures across the road. At 1.40 pm about 200 federal agents aboard seven trucks and three buses tried to enter the town but they couldn’t
Guerrero: teachers’ leader beaten to death by cops (2 other teachers also brutally beaten)
UK, Brighton: anti-austerity protesters squat former bank “Red graffiti sprayed on a wooden barricade states “No cops, no Tories, no junk mail”, and there are posters saying “Get the Frack out of Sussex” on the top floor. Another banner asking “How many more will austerity kill?” hangs from the side of the building being nicknamed the “Bank of Love” by those inside.”…Bedfordshire: fence round Yarls Wood prison for migrants torn down
US, New York: 2 prisoners have a nice day
Frightday, 5/6/15:
Mexico, Chiapas: teachers ransack offices of at least 6 political parties, burning papers…Vera Cruz, Xlapa: state forces savagely attack students opposed to elections “At about 1 am today, Friday, June 5, 8 students from the Universidad Veracruzana were brutally attacked by a group of hooded thugs and police in tactical vests, with bats, batons and rifles, in a house during a birthday party …Approximately five minutes after they left police patrols arrived to photograph the wounded, some with serious skull fractures….We hold the government of the state of Veracruz responsible for this campaign of ruthless attacks and criminalization of youth and activists under the electoral process marked by uncertainty and violence generated by the government….Similarly we demand a statement and concrete actions by the rector of the Universidad Veracruzana, Sara Ladron de Guevara, related to the attack. We will not allow a witch hunt.”…electoral boycott in Zacatecas (traditionally not one of the most combative)
Congo, Brazzaville: high school students riot, attack Ministry of Education, after finals exams are cancelled due to “fraud”…also in Pointe-Noire
barricades in Pointe-Noire
Tunisia, Douz: 4th day of riots; rioters burn national guard post, police car and police station ….night-time curfew imposed amidst reports that the cops have left the city…Bizerte: youths on estate attack cops with stones, put up burning tyre barricades; cops cover area with tear gas
Colombia, Cordoba: protesters demanding “improvement” of the streets, improve them by blocking the main highway and rolling burning tyres that set fire to the police station…Bogota: tyres burnt, 20 vehicles attacked, in protests against 2-day water cut-off
France, Bourgon-Jalieu: 30 youths surround cops and insult them; cops pepper spray their way out
Thumpsday, 4/6/15:
Tunisia, Douz: cops attacked with stones, fires lit, on 3rd night running of unemployed protests
Douz, Tunisia
France, Tourcoing: 4th night of rioting “14 cars were torched, there were three dumpster fires and 12 arrests in the district of Burgundy, a particularly disadvantaged territory of one of the most important cities of Lille area, plagued by high unemployment….The gendarmes…endured some provocations and brick-throwing a little before 11.30 pm …firefighters said they had intervened in a total of 26 car fires and six trash fires both in Tourcoing and in the neighboring towns of Roubaix and Wattrelos.”…France, St Omer: authorities make much ado about nothing Cops and town hall bureaucrats make public statement about some drunk youths who overturned a couple of bins and walked into the park at night. Public drinking is forbidden and the park is locked at night. Big deal, but the cops used tear gas when they were surrounded (but not even touched) and the authorities felt obliged to state the “youths must not think that they make the law and that the street belongs to them” and the whole thing was discussed and pondered over at top council level. 30 years ago this would have been considered an unusually quiet night. Today, zero tolerance and intensified domestication turns a tiny molehill into a mountain, whilst the really vast mountains making life increasingly insane are dismissed as unimportant molehills.
Mexico, Oaxaca: movement continues “lack of gasoline…led members of the National Coordination of Education Workers (CNTE) to resort to…theft of vehicles belonging to government institutions and companies….In addition, the protesters stole and burned stationery from the PRI headquarters on Federal Highway 190 …”
Members of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) burn Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) [ie the governing party] documents, as well as pictures of President Enrique Peña Nieto, on Federal Highway 190
Guerrero: confrontations with cops (video) This video says that 60% of the population have said that they won’t vote
Ghana, Bawku: students in confrontation with cops
Wailsday, 3/6/15:
Mexico, Oaxaca: 200 teachers block airport in movement against elections “Teachers of the National Coordinator of Education Workers (CNTE) today blocked Oaxaca International Airport as part of its actions to boycott Sunday’s election to exert pressure [on the state] to respond to its demands. Having taken Route 175 leading to the air terminal just after sunrise, about 200 teachers came to the airport installations …After the blockade by the teachers, the airport suspended flights and closed its facilities…Teachers on Monday began an indefinite strike affecting more than one million students seeking to boycott the elections on June 7 and simultaneously press the government to respond to their requests, including….the appearance alive of the 43 students missing in Iguala, free education, wage increases and the cancellation of the educational reform enacted in 2013, among other things. “…However, teachers announced on Tuesday that, although the government is committed to meeting their demands, they’ll continue to boycott the electoral process which they consider a “farce”. On Sunday, more than 83 million Mexicans are called to the polls to elect 1,996 officials, including 500 federal deputies and governors of nine states.”…More here “… teachers, the National Coordinator of Educational Workers (CNTE)…occupied 11 electoral offices, oil company Pemex’s facilities and several commercial installations”…Guerrero: clash between Normalista School and cops – 10 cops injured Video in English here…Tixtla under state of siege as state aims to occupy the Ayotzinapa School “The head of the Mexican National Electoral Institute, Lorenzo Cordova, admitted that actions in support of the election boycott in the state of Oaxaca have made it impossible for the institute to conduct its work in that state.”
Israel, Tel Aviv: unpermitted protest against cop brutality by Ethiopian Jews leads to 10 arrests (see also this)
Brazil, Rio: favelas resist brutal eviction attempts in run-up to Olympics
France, Tourcoing: 3rd night of riots after death of passenger in cop car chase widens to several new areas “The incidents started around 10 pm. Forty people wanted to do battle with the police, throwing stones and flaming projectiles. Twenty cars were torched, bins also, to attract firefighters into an ambush….a hundred police officers and a riot police squad, a riot vehicle and a helicopter of the gendarmerie were mobilized. What especially worries the police is that over the nights, incidents have extended geographically…”
India, Hyderabad: female prisoners of “rescue home” escape
Tearsday, 2/6/15:
Mexico, Chiapas: teachers take over 14 gas stations, start distributing free gas; set fire to law library in the House of Culture, also burn Institute of Elections and Citizen Participation…Nayarit: general assembly of Council of the United Communities announce their refusal to allow the general elections of June 7th to be held in 4 villages…Guerrero: at least 17 armoured vehicles sent to Chilapa to prevent opposition to elections……….Sonora (near US border): locals and miners sabotage water supply of mining project, and other stuff “… during its second day of protests, members of the United Front against Grupo Mexico represented by the Sonora River settlers and miners of Section 65 destroyed the valves and water pipeline booster … which supplies the mine Buena Vista del Cobre….With these actions, the Buena Vista Copper mine has been reduced to 10% of water resources…According to information from leaders of the National Mining Union, this acttion against …Grupo Mexico is causing daily losses of $ 4 million. About three hours later, protesters set fire to a hectare of pastizaje…The president of the strike committee, the National Mining Union, section 65, Jesus Verdugo Quijada said that the union was “tired” of being forgotten. “We’re going for everything, we have nothing to lose … it’s been eight years of struggle during which they took away our rights, but not our creativity, conviction and dignity” …In 2013, the consortium reported that its shareholders are responsible for 52% of environmental problems in Peru; 48% in Mexico and only 2% in the United States.“
Grupo México is also the company that is behind the Tia Maria project in Peru. Locals and miners created a “United Front against Grupo Maria”. It is one of the few places where industrial workers can lead strikes: the last one there lasted 3 years and ended in 2007 (see this in English). It’s also the place where one of the first and major strikes in Mexican history took place, in 1906, which prefigured the Revolution (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cananea_strike). The Magonistas were active. It’s a very isolated and desert region of Northern Mexico, close to the US border. Sonora is one of the main “narco-states” of the country, where various cartels are active and have close links with politics. (see, for example, this article). [written by Pi]
Mali, Bamako: semi-legal market traders ransack and burn part of Town Hall in resistance to heavy state controls “They attacked the security forces accompanying ….the census takers… In addition to the courtyard of the town hall, the crowd invaded the offices and ransacked everything before setting fire to the municipal building. Many civil-status documents have been destroyed, including certificates, diplomas and other documents waiting to be signed. Others took the opportunity to take computers, chairs and other valuables. ” More here “The premises and work materials, important files, motorcycles were torched. A total of 5 cars were partly burnt. To calm the destructive madness of the mob, it took the energetic intervention of the security forces of the 4th police district. The police struggled to restore calm. They had to use tear gas against demonstrators who did not hesitate to attack with stones…. officers …managed to get out of the town hall in time. However, they were forced to abandon their cars and motorbikes were set on fire. Rioters smashed the doors of offices and shops to carry the equipment…Modibo Keita who has lived in Badian Daoudabougou since 1968, said he was “really unhappy” about the behavior of the demonstrators. “I worry about the future of our country because we already live in a critical situation,” he said, lamenting the fact that the population no longer trust the authorities. “Leaders must work seriously to create a climate of confidence …in our country …” What ignited the powder was the aim of the municipal authorities to develop and modernise the market by building shops. Small vendors, fearful of losing the places they occupy, violently demonstrated their disapproval….”
Doudabougou town hall, Mali
Tunisia, Kebili: army deployed outside governor’s buildings to protect them from destruction by protesters…protester badly hurt by cops…after roads blocked with burning tyres; northern governor’s HQ ransacked, office equipment destroyed, by unemployed youths demanding work
Australia, Darwin: inside out – then outside in
Moanday, 1/6/15:
Mexico, Vera Cruz: molotov cocktails burn electoral building…Oaxaca: despite army protection, 18 ballot boxes are burnt in anti-election movement initiated by teachers’ organisation (in Juchitan) (more here, mentioning Tehuantepec, another town in Oaxaca state)…and this talks of teachers expelling soldiers from electoral building and the theft of a van carrying electoral packages in Gorge…Puebla: 6 days before election, molotovs thrown at National Electoral Institute, the Secretariat of the Economy and the Urban Network of Articulated Transport…This report resumes some of the events, which include the “temporary” closure of 9 of the 11 electoral boards of Oaxaca; the assassination of several candidates and a possible boycott of the election in some states, especially Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacan; that in the Yucatan town of Peto there was a clash between rank and file members of the National Action Party (PAN) and a group attacking them that left a toll of two dead and at least six injured; that in Tehuantepec members of the teachers organisation set fire to the premises of the District Board 05; that in Guerrero 3 radio stations were taken over and broadcasters were forced to transmit a message from the Normalista School about the 43 disappeared students and a critique of the electoral process; that in Michoacan a car carrying the state president of the Social Encounter Party (PES), and his chauffeur was fired upon, though they were unharmed; and that in order to ensure the security and peaceful (ho ho) development of the elections of June 7, more than 12 thousand members of the Mexican Army, the Navy of Mexico and the Attorney General’s Office have already been deployed.
France, Tourcoing (north of Lille, close to Belgium): cars set alight, 2 cop cars hit by molotovs, riot cops hit by projectiles, etc after cop-provoked “accident” causes death “Burned garbage cans, trash put into the middle of the road in flames…a dozen car fires… A “visceral” reaction connected with the accident that killed the passenger of a vehicle after a failure to comply with a control? For now, the authorities do not wish to link the two events together even if the drama is, of course, in everyone’s head….It all started around 10 pm Monday night, with the attempt to control a motorist by a CRS team surrounding a silkscreened car. … Twenty individuals then appear to defend the occupants of the vehicle inspected, and launch projectiles at the police. Insults, stone throwing, incendiaries thrown. …The security forces were forced to retreat….no one was injured, no one was arrested….This is the beginning of three hours of tension, over a relatively small area around Burgundy Square and June Marshal Street and Dr. Schweitzer Road. At 10.30 pm… a Transpole bus is hit by thrown stones: broken glass causing no injuries. The bus line was diverted until morning. The metro station “Burgundy” was closed during the events….A little later, around 12.30 am , near a police station in the neighborhood, police returning to equip themselves against the “urban violence” are once again targeted by stone-throwing. Fifty youths come into contact with the police, but they are repelled as the riot police stepped in.”...Toulouse: cops attacked with cans, one almost run over, after stolen car incident
Bosnia, Tuzla: unpaid workers clash with cops, give 3 days warning See also this, from 2014.
Turkey, Bursa: workers win wildcat strike, including the kicking out of the bosses’ scab union
Leave a Reply