WEBVTT - The Battle of July 4th 0:00:19.720 --> 0:00:22.680 Violence has a curious way of rendering you both more 0:00:22.760 --> 0:00:26.640 resilient to and less tolerant of more violence. By the 0:00:26.680 --> 0:00:30.000 start of July, every regular protester and press member in 0:00:30.000 --> 0:00:32.440 the city of Portland had seen dozens of flash band 0:00:32.440 --> 0:00:35.440 grenades detonate within feet of their heads. In June lo 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:37.800 One I was tear gas at least sixty times, and 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:41.520 there are literally thousands of other Portlanders who endured similar barrages. 0:00:42.120 --> 0:00:44.920 We'd all run like hell from charging riot lines, which 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.519 isn't experience in and of itself. I've been to war 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:49.680 zones on two continents. I've been shot at, and I've 0:00:49.680 --> 0:00:52.600 been shelled once, and I can honestly say that being 0:00:52.640 --> 0:00:55.840 bul rushed by dozens of armored policemen ranks as among 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:59.120 the most frightening things I've ever experienced. It's certainly less 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:02.720 lethal than coming under sniper fire, but there's something uncontrollably 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.080 panic inducing about being chased by a wall of angry 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.399 men who want to harm you. The lizard part of 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.600 your brain starts firing, panic rises up in the primal 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:14.600 hinterlands of your brain. If you aren't careful, it takes 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:17.880 over completely. And even if you do stay in control 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:21.960 the adrenaline coursing through your system. It'll make your handshake, 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:23.920 It'll blur the parts of your mind to make coherent 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:27.280 thought possible. Portland protesters learned a lot through the month 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:29.840 of June, but one thing they didn't quite figure out 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:41.960 was how to stand up against a charging riot line. 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:45.480 They did learn a lot of other valuable things, though, 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.520 Tear gas went from something that instantly dispersed crowds to 0:01:48.680 --> 0:01:50.960 more of a moderate annoyance. Some of this was a 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:54.280 product of people acquiring gas masks and respirators, but more 0:01:54.320 --> 0:01:56.080 of it had to do with people learning how to 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.760 treat gas injuries, how to put out or throw back 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:02.720 smoking canisters, and most importantly, how not to panic while 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.360 choking on poison. One major way this information spread in 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:09.960 the early days were live streams. Conundrum, A blind journalist 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.079 who recorded soundscapes of the Portland riots recalls how she 0:02:13.200 --> 0:02:16.400 used live stream audio to train herself up before going out. 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:19.840 And I had been, you know, since like the first week, 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:22.720 helping out in ways I can sort of from behind 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:28.320 the scenes constantly. It took until middle you know, because initially, 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:31.600 when all this started going down, you know, here in Portland, 0:02:31.919 --> 0:02:34.080 I was like, how can I be involved? You know, 0:02:34.240 --> 0:02:37.720 logic brain is going, Okay, Katie, you're blind. Not safe 0:02:37.720 --> 0:02:40.080 for you to go out there. You know, all of 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.480 all of these reasons why blind person probably running through 0:02:43.480 --> 0:02:46.720 clouds of tear gas not not the greatest idea you've 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:50.760 ever had. Um. And so it was like, Okay, Well, 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:52.760 what are the other ways I can I can support 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.440 the community at large and specific people who I know 0:02:56.560 --> 0:02:58.600 that are out there. Well, for one, I got that 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:01.600 stimulus check and I didn't need it, so I'm like, 0:03:01.639 --> 0:03:06.920 who needs gear? Um? So donating into different organizations that 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.080 was one way that I could help very easily. In 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.800 my position. I live by myself. I live like a 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:16.119 student because I am a student and I yeah, um, 0:03:16.320 --> 0:03:19.640 also supporting friends that I had who were out on 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:23.040 the ground, like sitting there watching all of the live 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:25.200 streams and like following all of you guys that were 0:03:25.200 --> 0:03:27.799 out there on the ground since day one. Like I'm 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.880 sitting there up all night every night, eight nights a 0:03:30.919 --> 0:03:35.480 week because some number of my friends are out every night, right, 0:03:35.560 --> 0:03:39.000 And so as stuff gets started, I start pulling up 0:03:39.000 --> 0:03:40.960 every stream that I could find. So, yeah, that was 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:42.600 a lot of what I would be doing is having 0:03:42.840 --> 0:03:45.800 multiple live streams playing at the same time, like listening 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:49.080 to the audio's Obviously, I can't see what's happening in 0:03:49.360 --> 0:03:52.560 the videos, so I mean I was not as effective 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:54.920 as somebody who could actually see the pictures, obviously, and 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.920 that tiny regard. I can't see the pictures people are 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:00.280 tweeting out or what's in them. But you know, me 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.280 and some of my friends had some groups set up 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.880 where I wasn't the only one doing this, and we 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:06.360 would sort of share the information with each other first 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.480 before passing it on to the people who were, you know, 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:12.280 out and about, like, hey, guys, maybe stay away from 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:14.800 Third and managed and there's reports of fascists in a 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:16.839 truck with u S flags like don't go around, there's 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:18.520 a guy with a gun, you know, stuff like that. 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.640 Once people were actually out on the ground getting tear 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.400 gas and grenated and charged on a regular basis, they 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.800 started coalescing into groups based on what they were particularly 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:29.440 interested in doing to help out. For Chris and a 0:04:29.520 --> 0:04:31.920 number of his colleagues, that meant learning to work as 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:36.800 a team of medics. This kid out a broken shoulder, um, 0:04:36.839 --> 0:04:40.240 and there's a bunch of people crowding around being like 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:42.039 I'm medic, but I've only got water and band aids 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:45.400 and stuff. Um. And I wandered up and I said, Hi, 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.800 my name's Chris. UM, I have triangle band just would 0:04:48.839 --> 0:04:50.720 you like one? And so I met a medic friend 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:52.680 that way, and then I met all of their medic 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:54.760 friends and it's like, well we should keep in contact. 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:58.400 You guys have signaling made like a small signal group. Um. 0:04:58.480 --> 0:05:01.599 And then I started to meet other medics and like 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:03.760 get their signal information and met other medics that we're 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.760 doing the same thing. And so we all kind of 0:05:07.360 --> 0:05:10.120 like everybody kind of met like five medics and all 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.760 five medics new another five medics and so it all 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:16.960 kind of um coalesced like that. UM. So there's a 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:20.560 lot of independent medics. But really there are these medic groups, 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.280 and within the internal communications that we have, we usually 0:05:24.279 --> 0:05:27.679 have like a few people like one or two people 0:05:27.760 --> 0:05:31.240 from each group. Like I'm with PAM. I know other 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.080 medics that are with PAM that are in like uh 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:39.640 you know, in communication. Um. And then you know there's 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:41.600 the e walks and we'll know some e walks and 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:43.640 well if I can't get ahold of the walks, I 0:05:43.640 --> 0:05:45.920 know somebody you can. If I can't get ahold of 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:48.840 rose hips, I know somebody you can. UM. And so 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.200 we do all try and talk to each other. UM. 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:52.920 We try and talk to each other on the day 0:05:52.920 --> 0:05:58.000 of to make sure that you know, like we're all 0:05:58.040 --> 0:06:01.520 on the same page because different medics sceptor styles UM. 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:04.279 And then another reason that's so important is because especially 0:06:04.320 --> 0:06:07.680 in emergency medicine UM, you're taught how to deal with 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:11.600 like bio hazards, situations, you know, things where you need 0:06:11.640 --> 0:06:13.839 to triage things where there's a lot of patients at once, 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.679 and there's a lot of people coming from different places 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:19.640 to be medics, and you have to learn you know 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:21.720 who's above you, who's below you, so that you're not 0:06:21.760 --> 0:06:23.599 stepping at each other's does and getting each other's way. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.440 And so learning what everyone's scope of practices was very important. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.160 And that's just kind of a standard question that we ask. 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:31.400 Now if you meet somebody that you haven't met, they're like, oh, 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:33.679 medic would be like, oh hey, cool, my name's Chris. 0:06:33.760 --> 0:06:36.520 UM has trained as an m t uh, if you 0:06:36.560 --> 0:06:38.720 don't mind me asking what's your scope of practice? Because 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:40.720 sometimes there are people will be like, oh yeah, I've 0:06:40.760 --> 0:06:43.520 been taking care of my mom for like five years, 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:45.360 but I have no formal training and be like, all right, cool, 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:47.320 I'm gonna keep that in mind so that when something happens, 0:06:47.360 --> 0:06:50.320 you know, I don't ask someone like, hey, grab my 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.480 sand's plant and mold it for me. I can be like, hey, 0:06:53.760 --> 0:06:57.440 hold my flashlight, guy, um. Or sometimes you know, we 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.160 know a lot of people get tear gas. Those people 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:01.440 are really good because flushing eyes isn't hard, and I 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:04.560 can teach somebody out the flush eyes, um, and that way, 0:07:04.720 --> 0:07:07.360 if we've got those people flushing eyes and then someone 0:07:07.400 --> 0:07:09.320 else has like a broken bone, I can deal with that. 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.880 There were small emergent groups who brought shields, others who 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.560 brought traffic cones and water jugs to douse tear gas, 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.920 and others who showed up with food and protective gear 0:07:21.000 --> 0:07:23.960 to hand out to protesters. A number of disabled activists 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:26.320 who did not feel they could safely participate in toe 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:30.360 to toe confrontations with riot lines, filled valuable logistic roles 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:33.960 making sure that front liners had ample water, respirator filters, 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:36.720 and food. Juniper was one of hundreds of people who 0:07:36.800 --> 0:07:39.200 took it upon themselves to see that the Portland protests 0:07:39.240 --> 0:07:43.040 were supplied with what they needed. I was able to 0:07:43.920 --> 0:07:47.680 UM feel like I could go and drop off supplies 0:07:48.040 --> 0:07:51.680 like I have. You know, I am a middle class, 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:56.760 upwardly mobile white person, UM, and I have some money, 0:07:56.800 --> 0:07:59.119 and there are people out on the front lines putting 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.680 their bodies and live on the line. And so I 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.080 was like, I'm gonna go give some snacks to people 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.880 and get some water and just some other other protective 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:09.320 equipment and things that I had that I knew could 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.560 be useful. Other small groups helped coordinate aid and raise 0:08:12.600 --> 0:08:16.560 attention for actions online. One of these organizations was pop 0:08:16.600 --> 0:08:19.480 Mob or Popular Mobilization, who formed early on in the 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:23.080 Trump administration after a series of disastrous and bloody dueling 0:08:23.200 --> 0:08:27.200 rallies between fascist and anti fascist protesters in Portland. Pop 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:30.360 Mob acted as a sort of unifying bridge for different 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.360 local anti fascist groups, with a focus on getting the 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:36.280 word out to large groups of what they called everyday 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.920 anti fascists. These were people who weren't hardcore activists but 0:08:40.120 --> 0:08:43.320 didn't want Nazis marching around their city when Portland's BLM 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.040 movement took off, Though Effie Baum and their colleagues at 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:49.080 pop Mob decided they should take a less visible support role, 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:52.480 so mostly just retweeting things and then UM when people 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:55.840 would share events with us, boosting those events or boosting 0:08:56.280 --> 0:08:59.400 different affinity groups that were involved in the nightly protests, 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:04.440 and UM really just kind of providing a UM UH 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.720 basically a signal boost to the people that we're doing 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:11.680 organizing UM and specifically like focusing only on trying to 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:17.040 boost UM bipoc led efforts, especially given all of the 0:09:17.120 --> 0:09:22.880 conversation around UM white anarchists and UM you know, co 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.920 opting the movement or the you know, media like to 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.280 blame everything on white anarchists, which then takes away the 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:36.000 autonomy and disempowers the people that were in fact organizing 0:09:36.000 --> 0:09:39.840 those events and the very real anger UM and justified 0:09:40.200 --> 0:09:43.520 anger behind those events. And so we also did not 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.640 want to UM contribute to that narrative in any way, 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.680 shape or form. So we really made a very intest 0:09:50.800 --> 0:09:56.679 intentional efforts to UM operate exclusively in a supportive role. 0:09:56.920 --> 0:10:00.080 A lot of us were there UM many nights, and 0:10:00.640 --> 0:10:05.800 UM continue to go out many nights, but UM the 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:09.680 organization as a whole did not have an organizational presence 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:15.040 as organizers. One of the you know, goals that we 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:20.200 would you know, have is pushing back against kind of 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:24.720 this like white supremisist culture that we have all that 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:29.040 we all participate in every day. And so that was 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:31.600 one of the main reasons we did not want to 0:10:31.640 --> 0:10:33.920 take any kind of lead in the organizing is because 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:39.520 it's one thing when we are coming out and organizing 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:45.239 against jere like Joey Gibson and Patriot Prayer Um who 0:10:45.559 --> 0:10:49.440 you know, the proad Boys and those groups target a 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:54.400 lot of different marginalized and vulnerable populations from you know, 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:59.320 many different UM groups, and so in a sense you 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.319 could look at it say that that the work is 0:11:01.360 --> 0:11:05.960 similar UM. But at the same time, I think that 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:09.680 it's important for the people who are most affected to 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:14.040 be the voices that people are hearing, and especially because 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:18.160 we've seen how much that the media has latched onto 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:23.080 trying to discredit those voices by painting it as angry 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.800 white anarchists. As the days and weeks wore on Portland, 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.079 protesters grew hardened and increasingly effective at standing up to 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:33.120 police violence. Tear gas and grenades stopped working to disperse crowds, 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.440 Pepper balls, little paintball style projectiles filled with mace and 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.679 fired from a paintball gun. Likewise, lost their effectiveness As 0:11:39.679 --> 0:11:44.000 shields became more common, police bulrushes remained the most effective 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:48.160 tactic for dispersing crowds, especially since by late June most 0:11:48.160 --> 0:11:52.079 of those crowds were quite small. Portland protesters started gathering 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:55.600 on Telegram, an anonymous messaging app, in order to coordinate 0:11:55.640 --> 0:11:59.199 and pass on intelligence. During events. People would warn each 0:11:59.240 --> 0:12:02.520 other of police charges in the presence of riot trucks. 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:05.320 Before and after events, they would dissect their performance and 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.000 discuss ways to improve. Near the end of June, they 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:11.680 started talking about how protesters might form their own shield wall, 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:15.640 something that could stand up against police charges. Now, in 0:12:15.679 --> 0:12:19.080 between numerous knights of reporting on riots, my partner Elaine Kinchin, 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:22.920 spent hours browsing through those conversations and watching is people 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.400 worked out how to defend themselves from charging officers. I'm 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.600 gonna throw you over to e Lane now explaining how 0:12:28.640 --> 0:12:31.920 that process came together. Well, since that our the beginning 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:35.360 of the protests, there had been various diagrams that were 0:12:35.400 --> 0:12:38.520 circulating on the Internet. A lot of them came from 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:43.520 things that had been done in Hong Kong, so different 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:47.479 diagrams of roles that protesters could take two more effectively 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:51.280 protect each other. Some of those involved laser pointers, and 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:55.640 some of them involved shields or helmets or supply line stuff. 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:59.480 And so those have been being circulated throughout all of June, 0:13:00.240 --> 0:13:04.360 both on protester telegram channels and also on Twitter and 0:13:04.440 --> 0:13:10.360 other communication channels. And as the charges than bullrushes and 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:14.880 stuff really heated up and more people were being injured 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:18.559 and the police brutality was becoming more intense, a lot 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:23.760 of those discussions and how to effectively implement them would 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:28.120 be happening after protests had wound down or during the day, 0:13:28.200 --> 0:13:31.360 and so I would follow and read through all sorts 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.680 of different threads where people were posting images of how 0:13:34.720 --> 0:13:39.080 to do Roman style turtleshelf formations with overlapping shields, or 0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:43.360 could make an effective vault to block the people behind 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:47.160 them from police munitions to more effectively protect all the 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.200 peaceful protesters who are in the back. All these different 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:53.160 emergent groups that form to handle different tasks within the 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.440 movement are what is called affinity groups. This is a 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.640 fairly old concept within anarchist organizing. Here, our friends at 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.240 the Youth Liberation Front or Wild Left explain the context again. 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.960 Because President Trump and numerous right wing media figures have 0:14:07.040 --> 0:14:10.440 repeatedly called for their imprisonment or execution, we've hired voice 0:14:10.440 --> 0:14:12.840 actors to reread the things they said to us rather 0:14:12.880 --> 0:14:16.199 than risk exposing their identities. So an affinity group is 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.640 usually like five to tend people who share some affinity, 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:23.040 and it's the preferred method for anarchist organizing because it's small, 0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:28.760 it's informal, and usually non hierarchical, and usually horizontally organized. Yeah, 0:14:28.880 --> 0:14:32.520 and um, it's uh. I think it's been preferable to 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.240 like the large organization model that we attempted and just 0:14:35.400 --> 0:14:38.400 failed because there's no accountability and there's no way to 0:14:38.560 --> 0:14:41.080 ensure that. Like, everyone was cool with each other and 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.600 when problems came up, they just sucked us over. We 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:46.520 spoke to one anonymous activist who had no experience with 0:14:46.560 --> 0:14:50.320 anarchist organizing prior to the summer of She started coming 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.240 out to Portland protests earlier in the summer with her friends. 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:55.320 So the first time I went out to one of 0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:58.000 the nightly protests, I went with a couple of friends 0:14:58.000 --> 0:15:00.600 that I've known since I was like eighteen or nineteen 0:15:00.920 --> 0:15:03.320 because they had been going out and I felt comfortable 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:08.080 being with them. Um, they don't come out anymore. Once 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.480 her friends stopped going, she floated around different crews of activists, 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:14.760 experimenting with different affinity groups, but eventually deciding that she 0:15:14.880 --> 0:15:18.960 preferred an even more decentralized approach to protesting. As far 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.600 as you know, like my length of knowledge, an affinity 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:27.680 group is just you know, a decentralized group of people 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:32.240 that you can uh form ideas with and kind of 0:15:32.280 --> 0:15:36.200 go over maybe like safety tactics and different things like that. Um. 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.800 But I kind of quickly realized that affinity groups weren't 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:43.640 necessarily for me. UM. I think that sometimes it can 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:47.520 get complicated fairly quickly, and so I still go down 0:15:47.560 --> 0:15:50.360 to the protests by myself. Since I've been doing this 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:54.600 for as long as I have, it doesn't take me 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.680 very long to run into somebody that I know. And 0:15:58.440 --> 0:16:01.920 sometimes I feel like having someone that's worried about my 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.120 safety can be a bit of a hindrance sometimes, I 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.479 you know, having to like be on a radio consistently 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:13.400 and and always be on my phone to make sure 0:16:13.440 --> 0:16:16.560 that I'm you know, in communication with different people. I 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.040 don't want anybody to have to worry about if I'm 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:21.880 going to be fine, because I'm going to be fine. 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:24.000 So yeah, I mean I I just I usually go 0:16:24.080 --> 0:16:28.640 down by myself. I think that the network of affinity 0:16:28.680 --> 0:16:32.200 groups has been a positive thing. You know. The people 0:16:32.240 --> 0:16:35.680 that have been around and experienced the most have that 0:16:35.760 --> 0:16:39.440 information that they can share with one another. One major 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:42.920 advantage of anarchist organizing tactics is that it makes anarchist 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.720 groups harder to infiltrate and disrupt. Between nineteen fifty six 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.560 and nineteen seventy one, the FBI instituted a counter intelligence 0:16:50.600 --> 0:16:54.320 program nicknamed co intel Pro at the orders of Director 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:57.040 j Edgar Hoover. The program was initially targeted at the 0:16:57.120 --> 0:17:00.080 US Communist Party, but was quickly extended to all kinds 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.480 of left wing activist organizations, particularly the Black Panthers. Hoover's 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:08.200 goal with co Intel Pro was to increase factionalism caused 0:17:08.240 --> 0:17:12.160 disruption and wind defections. He wanted to spread such terror 0:17:12.200 --> 0:17:14.680 among left wing activists that none of them would again 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.240 walk into a meeting without feeling like there must be 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:21.760 FBI agents in the room. Co Intel Pro was incredibly successful, 0:17:21.840 --> 0:17:24.720 and while the program officially ended in nineteen seventy one. 0:17:24.960 --> 0:17:27.479 The tactics the FBI pioneered in this period have been 0:17:27.560 --> 0:17:30.560 used by a variety of law enforcement agencies ever since. 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:33.639 Even organizations like the Portlands Chapter of the Black Panthers, 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:37.160 whose more radical programs included free breakfast for neighborhood kids 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:39.560 and dental care for all, earned the ire of co 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:43.119 intel pro In an interview last year, chapter co founder 0:17:43.200 --> 0:17:45.920 Kent Ford recalled a journalist sharing with him plots from 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:48.520 the FBI to poison the produce the Panthers would use 0:17:48.560 --> 0:17:51.000 to feed hundreds of kids every morning. As a result, 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.280 it is impossible to take part in any kind of 0:17:53.320 --> 0:17:55.960 mass anti government action and not feel like there are 0:17:56.040 --> 0:18:11.160 probably federal agents in your miss. Organizing by affinity groups 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:13.720 helps to negate some of the advantages the state has. 0:18:13.880 --> 0:18:16.639 It's impossible to know that any mass group of hundreds 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.920 of people doesn't include undercover cops, but it is very 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:22.160 possible to know that you and your four or five 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:25.520 close buddies aren't cops. The only organizing that occurs in 0:18:25.560 --> 0:18:28.520 the open at a large scale event is very basic 0:18:28.640 --> 0:18:31.840 and not legally incriminating. I e. We're gathering at this 0:18:31.920 --> 0:18:34.440 park at eight PM, hearing speeches, and then marching at nine. 0:18:34.880 --> 0:18:37.720 On most occasions, either a specific organizer will pick the 0:18:37.760 --> 0:18:39.960 direction for that week's march or a vote will be 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:42.680 taken as to the destination. The decision to take part 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.399 in any illegal activity, acts of property destruction in the 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:48.480 like is made by these small, independent affinity groups and 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:51.879 sometimes just individuals on their own. Often only two or 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:54.520 three groups out of a three person march will actually 0:18:54.600 --> 0:18:57.560 engage in serious law breaking. The others are there to shout, 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:00.199 wave signs and stand up to confront the police when 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:03.720 they inevitably arrive. This method of organization does have a 0:19:03.760 --> 0:19:06.640 number of weaknesses, which we will discuss in subsequent episodes, 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:09.600 but it has proven more resilient to state surveillance than 0:19:09.640 --> 0:19:12.480 being part of an organization with a strict hierarchy. One 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:15.480 major aspect of this is that many more dedicated Portland 0:19:15.480 --> 0:19:20.000 protesters take something called security culture very seriously. Here's the 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:24.439 y I left again. Security culture. Uh, security culture, I 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:27.800 think is it's interesting the risks you are taking and 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:30.080 what precautions need to take to be safe. Were like 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:32.960 because like, not every risk is going to have the 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.200 same consequences, and so it's being able to judge those, 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:40.119 um and like if you do something that's questionable, possibly illegal, 0:19:40.240 --> 0:19:42.919 don't talk about it, don't don't incriminate yourself, keep your 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:47.119 mouth shut, don't incriminate others. I mean, Um, there's just 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:50.119 a crime Think article called what is security Culture? I 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.520 believe and that's like a great introduction for people who 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.320 don't know. It's a very important part of like really 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:58.040 any movement because if you have bad security culture and 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:01.600 you're putting yourself at risk or or the organizers at risks, 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.199 you're going to disrupt a movement because you're going to 0:20:04.240 --> 0:20:07.400 get people in trouble. So like that definitely plays like 0:20:07.960 --> 0:20:10.159 don't let you know, don't talk about things you did, 0:20:10.200 --> 0:20:12.800 don't photograph things you did. You can like you know, 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:14.760 don't don't bring your phone if that's the thing you're 0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:17.159 able to do, because like they could track you, and 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.600 Feds in Portland literally clone phones and have like you know, 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:23.240 they can just pinpoint you. So that's another thing where 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.720 it's like yeah, basically it's knowing the risk and knowing 0:20:25.720 --> 0:20:29.320 how to safely protect yourself from those risks. That Zene 0:20:29.840 --> 0:20:32.439 what is security Culture? We like to make sure to 0:20:32.560 --> 0:20:34.760 send it to all everyone who wants to get involved 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.399 with us. That's like the first thing. Yeah, it's the 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:40.320 most basic thing that we send. None of these security 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:43.000 measures were enough to protect people from being arrested by 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:46.439 cops during actions. It doesn't matter how solid your digital 0:20:46.480 --> 0:20:48.879 security is or how trustworthy your friends are if a 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:51.119 cop charges that you faster than you can run away, 0:20:51.480 --> 0:20:54.800 But good security culture can prevent activists from being arrested 0:20:54.840 --> 0:20:58.320 after actions. See the United States is filled to hell 0:20:58.359 --> 0:21:01.439 and back with cameras when protest sterre's damage or destroy property. 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.560 While protesting police will spend weeks trying to identify the 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.919 individuals responsible. This is a big part of why black 0:21:07.920 --> 0:21:10.840 block has evolved as a tactic. If everyone is dressed 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:13.920 basically identically, with their features covered and no logos or 0:21:13.920 --> 0:21:17.000 tattoo showing, it's much more difficult for police to identify 0:21:17.040 --> 0:21:20.840 people after an action. Going in block has disadvantages too, 0:21:20.840 --> 0:21:24.320 though largely when it comes to optics. When you're properly 0:21:24.359 --> 0:21:27.040 blocked up, it will be difficult or impossible to determine 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:29.879 your race. As a result, police and local politicians in 0:21:29.960 --> 0:21:32.960 Portland tended to blame the activities of blocked up crowds 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.640 on white anarchists alleging that the city's Black Lives Matter 0:21:36.680 --> 0:21:38.960 movement had been hijacked by white kids who just wanted 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:42.199 to break things. Kosca, an Indigenous Portlander who has been 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:46.160 arrested by this point at least ten times, pushed back 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:50.240 against that characterization. Definitely a narrative that works because people 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:52.720 believe it, and people keep repeating it, even some people 0:21:52.800 --> 0:21:55.240 of color. I hear repeating it. But I know for 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:59.440 a fact it's not true, because because I've been doing 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:03.879 this with, you know, people in Black Block for several 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.880 years and have gotten to know lots of people, and 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.200 I have never ever seen so many people of color 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:15.520 in block before, and particularly Native people, you know, like 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:19.480 the just the native people in block is a huge 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:24.000 amount compared, you know, compared to the population the general 0:22:24.000 --> 0:22:27.560 population of the area. So yeah, I think it's I 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:30.600 think you could even say it's races to say that 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:33.800 everyone in Black Block is white. In September, after more 0:22:33.840 --> 0:22:36.879 than four months of nightly protests, the Justice Department launched 0:22:36.920 --> 0:22:40.560