Richmond Police Withdraw Lawsuit Against Anarchists

Jan. 11, 2011 Infoshop News

The Richmond Police Department and the City of Richmond have dropped their
lawsuit against us.

Yay?

Sorry, I guess I’m not as excited as I should be. This is the best
possible thing the RPD could have done… for themselves. Why? Because it
puts this situation out of the public eye as quickly as possible, and
allows them to attempt to save face before exposing themselves to even
more public ridicule and calls for the resignation of Chief Norwood. (Not
from us – we’d like to give him a “Best Anarchist of the Year” award for
drawing so much attention to anarchist projects happening in the city.
Thanks and keep up the good work!)

But there are some other subtler and more interesting things to take into
consideration when looking at the RPD’s decision to drop the case. The
court documents we were provided with claimed that the manuals and
protocols we had recieved through FOIA “jeopardizes and endangers
Richmond’s Police Officers and citizens,” yet one of the statements made
to the media in regards to why the case was dropped was that the state
didn’t want to “waste resources.”

If there’s one thing cops are good at, it’s protecting other cops. If the
reasoning behind the lawsuit actually had anything to do with keeping the
pigs safe, there is NO way it would have been dropped just because it
might be a little difficult to win. The speed with which this case was
dropped really just cements the fact that this case was a politically
motivated attempt to intimidate a dissident group into turning over
documents that we had received through THEIR OWN BEAUREAUCRATIC PROCESS.

Norwood claims that his objective in filing the lawsuit was to get the
documents back quickly, but doesn’t even wait for the initial hearing
date. Did he expect us to see the legalese, the statements saying they
wanted the documents back, and come rushing to his office crying “OH
PLEASE DON’T SUE US, WE’RE SO SORRY!”

WE

ARE

NOT

AFRAID OF YOU

We are anarchists. We come from a centuries (or millenia, depending on how
you want to look at it) old history of resistance to the state and
perpetual struggle for liberty. We’re not going to stop just because the
latest overpromoted fascist with a gun and a badge gets upset about giving
us some documents we asked for.

This is not about “Freedom of Speech” or “Constitutional Rights”, or any
of those other feel-good-pseudopatriotic platitudes that are so often
quoted in “support” of us. This is about exposing the machinery of the
state for what it is – self perpetuating, self protecting, and uncaring of
those who it steps on in the process. We are fortunate enough to have the
ability to defend ourselves from many of the encroachments of the
oppressive apparatus of the state, but others have not been as lucky as we
have. Jailed, beaten, murdered, endlessly harrassed, many have stood
strong in the face of far greater repression than we have faced to date.

It would be a great disservice to the memories of our comrades, past and
present, as well as to ourselves and our community, to capitulate to such
oafish attempts at oppression. We’re here to stay.

They say they are here to protect and serve. The question is – who do they
protect and who do they serve? Certainly not ME, and probably not you
either. (Unless you’re one of our loyal following of cops who read this)

This is a war. It doesn’t always look like one, but it is. It’s a war of
information. A war of ideas. A war to determine what the shape of the
future will be.

To us, our sides of the trenches are beautiful. An abundance of free food
and gardens, laughing neighbors, shared resources, and a fierce network of
international solidarity. Cooperation, sharing, mutual defence, self
determination, and a willingness to be accountable for our actions because
they are really and truly OURS.

Their side? It looks like the underside of a boot. The barrel of a gun in
your face. A cage from which you can never leave. Monstrosities of steel
and concrete to which people devote their lives just trying to “get by.” A
lifetime of slavery in a prison/cubicle, rewarded with toys and privileges
for “good behavior,” punished with deprivation, beatings, and execution
for bad.

We will settle for nothing less than the immediate cessation of all
oppression, and the liberation of the entire world. The RPD and the city
are right (from their worldview) to try to suppress us at every turn. They
know who their enemies are.

Do you?