Keep Austin Criminal
Austin Autonomedia: Keeping Austin Criminal
Revolt, of the sort that exceeds the form of permitted street marches and sign-waving rallies, has rarely manifested in Austin’s streets. As such, its occurrences–such as the wave of activity that came with the George Floyd rebellion–deserves attention and uplifting in our historical memory. Four years ago, at the beginning of the Trump’s term, one such revolt manifested in the Rundberg area in North Austin.
In late July, flyers were spotted around so-called Austin. These flyers described and celebrated the various acts of expropriation (aka looting) that took place at the beginning of the uprisings in June. We’ve transcribed the text along with an image of the flyer for preservation and to help spread the message.
Austin Autonomedia: Keeping Austin Criminal
On the evening of June 27th, a group of protestors who had assembled to counter a “Blue Lives Matter” demonstration was attack by a white man in a car who aggressively drove into the crowd. Witnesses reported the man pointing a gun at protestors as well. While no shots were fired and nobody was injured, APD briefly took the man into custody and then let him go (while, shortly afterwards, arresting a Black protestor). Here’s a collection of information about the man believed to be responsible, selected from a handful of tweets and information collected by Bat City Antifascist Front.
An anonymous transmission from a participant in the Rent Strike ATX car demo on May Day
On May 1st, a caravan of around 30 cars proceeded down I-35 as part of a May Day car demonstration hosted by Rent Strike ATX. Some cars bore banners and signs reading “Rent Strike,” and “Justice for Mike Ramos,” while others amplified various parts of the 5 demands which have been popularized nationwide (including free healthcare, freedom for prisoners, no debt, and homes for all).
This communique offers a participant’s perspective on the events of this May Day demonstration—both evaluating its local significance and the contribution it makes to evolving national experimentation with the car demo form. It is a response and extension of the strategic conversation initiated by friends in Atlanta around the car demo form, with analysis that still speaks deeply to a local context. This piece aims to cultivate, deepen, and inspire forms of autonomous action that can strike directly at the settler-colonial economic system which, with each passing day, reveals itself more and more to be a death cult for many of us. May the experience of this demonstration offer strategic clarity to others seeking ways to intervene in our exceptional moment, whether in so-called Austin or anywhere else across this world.
Continue reading “Deep In The Heart of Texas: The Car Demo Form as Attack on Economic Circulation”
Anonymous submission. On the afternoon of April 25th, a small group of people showed up at the APD headquarters with signs and a megaphone. The protest came in response to APD’s murder of Michael Ramos in Southeast Austin on the evening of April 24th. This brief statement was sent along with the photos.
Communique republished from Texas Antifascist News
Editor’s Note: In recent weeks, focus has been placed on the AT&T Conference Center Hotel near UT for employing a Proud Boy named Dustin Casler. As we have said in a previous article, The Proud Boys are a fascist, “Western chauvanist” group founded by Gavin McInnes. They’ve frequently been found to have connections and overlap with outright Neo-Nazi groups. One of the defining features of the Proud Boys is a thirst for violence, expressed in things like calls to attack immigrants and attacks on anti-fascists, people of color, queer & trans folks, and others in the streets. After this news initially came out, antifascists began flyering and calling in attempting to get Casler fired. This article follows up on recent events surrounding that campaign and includes instructions on how to call in to pressure the Hotel.
Continue reading “Protests Against “Proud Boy” Dustin Casler Continue”
Austin Autonomedia: Gestures Towards the Ungovernable. Follow Underpaid at UT on Facebook or Twitter.
On Monday, May 13th, around 50 graduate student workers joined Underpaid at UT in a “grade-in,” occupying the office of Maurie McInnis, Executive Vice President and Provost at UT Austin. The graduate workers held the space from around 10 AM until 1 PM. The grade-in came as a followup to the organization’s May Day rally, where a large group of graduate students, professors, and other allied students & community members delivered a petition to the UT administration and marched around campus in solidarity with the demands.
Continue reading “UT Works Because We Do: Grad Student Grade-In”
Background: On May 1st, Texas State students prepared for a confrontation with members of violent fascist group Texas Nomads, who planned to travel down from Austin and stage a rally in support of “free speech.” Members of Texas Nomads have repeatedly harassed liberal & leftist events in Austin, sometimes stalking people leaving these events. Members have assaulted anti-Trump protestors. Nomads member Christopher Ritchie was at the Charlottesville Nazi rally and has repeatedly gone to Portland to fight alongside Patriot Prayer. Their presence came as a response to a campaign & student government vote to ban Turning Point USA from campus.
SAN MARCOS. TX – On Wed. May 1, four students were brutally arrest. by Texas State University Police Department while peacefully protesting threats of organized white supremacist presence on campus. Two of the students arrested are vocal, queer students of color that have been previously targeted by the university administration
Submission from some anti-fascist longhorns
On Tuesday, November 13th, the UT chapter of Turning Point USA will host a speaking event by white nationalist British “journalist” Katie Hopkins. While the choice of speaker is not surprising, it is a bold escalation from the more disguised racism that TPUSA typically traffics in under the banner of conservativism. Katie Hopkins’s racism is not disguised.
Continue reading “#TexasFightBack: Turning Point Brings White Nationalist To UT”
Autonomous Student Media: Gestures Towards the Ungovernable
While we missed a beat last week since we were busy digging into Turning Point, we’re back with a brief report on some of the stuff going on around campus. You’ve probably heard about these events, but we hope to highlight some perspectives and sides to these stories you might not otherwise find. Continue reading “What Starts Here: Kirk on Campus & Water Crisis”
