Anarchists on Ferguson Grand Jury Decision

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: agent@anarchistagency.com
November 26, 2014

An Agency Press Brief: Anarchists on Ferguson Grand Jury Decision
Anarchists Respond to Grand Jury Decision to Not Indict Officer Darren Wilson for the Murder of Michael Brown

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As anarchists we extend our full solidarity to everyone demonstrating in the streets and by other means, especially residents of Ferguson and St. Louis, following the announcement that killer cop, Darren Wilson would not be indicted for the murder of Michael Brown. We especially extend our solidarity with those who refuse to temper their outrage. This is the time to escalate our resistance to state violence. This is the time to envision and demand a world without police, and ultimately a world free from the State and Capital.

As the Brown case unfolds, the last place where people should place their faith is in the White House, Congress, or the State of Missouri. These institutions have given us no reason to do so. Against the death and repression visited upon Ferguson, America’s liberals and progressives offer only a series of cosmetic gestures that have no chance of changing the balance of power in our communities.

Police violence is inherent in the current political system. Only a fundamentally different system, one that gives communities control of their political and economic future and removes it from the hands of the so-called authorities and their corporate patrons, will give us meaningful change. We can only accomplish this by resisting authority and working to undermine the State—by rejecting the parameters set for us, stepping outside the framework of the State and the capitalist system wherever we can whether it be in the workplace, in our neighborhoods, in our social lives or within our families, and creating a new, directly democratic political and economic order. Protests and civil disobedience challenge power by increasing the costs of business as usual and creating repercussions for the police, putting the power to pressure police in the hands of the people rather than legislators.

We don’t buy into attempts to blame the victim—or their community. We won’t allow the State to divide us into “good” protesters and “bad” protesters, or persuade us to do so ourselves. We won’t accept a political order that values private property above human life.

We stand in unyielding solidarity with Black youth who are predominantly in the street on the front lines, fighting against structural racism and police violence. We stand together with those in Ferguson, in St. Louis, and across the country who are unwilling to accept the continued oppression they face on a daily basis.

Above all, we accept that the State, the capitalist system, and white supremacy as a whole are the root of the problem. Endemic racism didn’t begin with and extends far beyond a violent and bigoted police force.

“It is only possible to preserve the prevailing social order by giving police officers carte blanche to kill black men at will. Otherwise, it would be impossible to maintain the racial and economic inequalities that are fundamental to this society. In defiance of widespread outrage, even at the cost of looting and arson, the legal system will always protect officers from the consequences of their actions—for without them, it could not exist.”
– CrimethInc. Worker’s Collective

“The sacred value of a human life is not superficial. It’s not just skin-deep, or a fashion item, not something that can be determined with a glance, or totted up in a bank account. it is bone-deep, visceral, inalienable. Michael Brown’s life holds that value. Trayvon Martin, Andy Lopez, the list goes on and on. I am sad and enraged as again and again their murderers walk away with impunity. None of us can be truly safe or free when some lives have value and others don’t. And although I’ve been an advocate of nonviolence all of my life, I find myself sickened by the hypocrisy of those who can’t seem to understand that rage will speak its own language, and yes, rocks and bottles and broken glass are its verbs. And if we refuse to hold accountable those who speak with bullets, how dare we stand in judgment of those who respond with stones?”
– Anarchist author, Starhawk (as written to her Facebook followers on 11/24/14)

Critical Reading on #Ferguson

The following analyses present some of the best critical writing on Ferguson, protesting, and police violence related to Michael Brown’s murder.

Read Agency’s original editorial, A Death In Ferguson: The State’s Message and Our Message Back, here.

Post Verdict

The Thin Blue Line Is a Burning Fuse—Why Every Struggle Is Now a Struggle against the Police | CrimethInc.

Actually, Riots Are Good: The Economic Case for Riots in Ferguson | Matt Bruenig | Gawker

Why We Won’t Wait | by Robin D.G. Kelley | Counterpunch

On Ferguson Protests, the Destruction of Things, and what Violence Is (And Isn’t) | Mia Mckenzie | Black Girl Dangerous

Barack Obama, Ferguson, and the Evidence of Things Unsaid | Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Atlantic

Darren Wilson Ain’t No Ham Sandwich: Prosecutorial Manipulation of a Flawed Grand Jury System | Huffington Post | Kris Hermes

Pre-Verdict

In Defense of the Ferguson Riots | Robert Stephens II | Jacobin