We were informed tonight that Indivisible found out about the anti-ICE action due to take place in Clearfield, PA—home to the Moshannon Valley Processing Center, the biggest ICE processing facility in Pennsylvania—on Saturday, January 17. They “claimed” the action, notified the local police department, and declared themselves “safety liaisons” for the protest. They even placed a time limit on it, as well.
These are moves that ultimately help the Trump regime and his army of undereducated fanatics that chose actual domestic terrorism in exchange for a sign-on bonus that barely covers a year’s worth of a living wage in the Trump economy.
Here’s why:
The myth that peaceful protest affects change is a narrative pushed by state power to manufacture consent among the populace for repression of civil unrest and disruptive protest. The civil rights movement was not won with peaceful protest, and neither were LGBTQ+ rights, two major things under threat by the Trump regime. If you believe otherwise, you have been successfully duped by state-funded whitewashing of history taught in public schools.
The laws surrounding protest are designed in the way that they are to protect public and private corporate property, as well as the continued flow of the economy. The disruption of these targets is what will accelerate the biggest favorable response. Remember that—although this is a more extreme example—after the murder of the United Healthcare CEO, claims denials came to a screeching halt, and another insurance company immediately reversed their decision to only partially cover anesthesia for what are already incredibly expensive surgeries.
We understand the fear that is conjured by the idea of martial law being declared by the U.S. Government in response to civil unrest. The military being deployed to U.S. cities to act as police, federal agents breaking into homes of suspected conspirators, the suspension of habeas corpus and penalties without due process are all scary things. And they’re all happening right now anyway.
There is a strange notion among Americans that martial law will stop resistance in its tracks rather than accelerate it. The people that are currently putting their lives on the line to effectively resist the U.S. empire at home and abroad are already aware of the risks involved with doing so. Those risks will become greater, sure, in the event of a martial law declaration. But the risks of allowing a fascist regime to continue are greater. Most real activists understand this. And martial law won’t stop them. Imagine the position South Korea would be in if they had just obeyed.
What becomes even more apparent when someone won’t escalate resistance because of the fear of martial law is that they will be the first to snitch on others when martial law is declared to get the heat off their own backs.
The people of 50501 and Indivisible, and organizations like them, are actively assisting the Trump regime in their efforts to terrorize U.S. cities and now kill people just for mouthing off to them. The president himself said that Renee Good was killed for being disrespectful to law enforcement.
They, too, are the far-right, the Nazis. Whether they realize it or not. Whether they call themselves that or not.
This is not confirmation that anything violent by the state’s definition was planned to take place at the anti-ICE action in Clearfield; there wasn’t. But the fact that an organization would step in and notify police, attempting to stifle any kind of escalation that may have been necessary in the name of community defense is enough to let us know whose side they’re actually on.
As always, anonymous, decentralized action is the key to success. It worked in Vietnam. It worked in Minneapolis in 2020. It will work in Venezuela. It could work here, now.
“We can handle one 10,000-person protest, but ten 1000-person protests throughout the city will overwhelm us.”
— LAPD Chief Michel Moore