Noise Demo in Asheville (NC) Solidarity w/Seattle Anarchists & Others

Sept. 8, 2011 Puget Sound Anarchists

On September 2nd, around thirty people rallied in downtown Asheville’s
Pack Square to hold a noise demonstration denouncing the police and prison
system. A large, gruesome puppet head depicting a police officer as a pig
bobbed above the crowed and mocked the APD. A banner hung beneath the
puppet reading “Police are the violent force separating community from
self-determination” and “Police ARE brutality!”

The crowd took the busy intersection with chants such as “Our passion for
freedom is stronger then their prisons!” and “Pigs on the street and the
poor in prison? There’s no justice in this system!”. The group marched in
the downtown streets around busy Prichard park to the shock and amusement
of many. Several onlookers joined the procession on its way to the local
jail.

Outside the jail, the intensity and volume of the protest grew as the
pig-cop puppet was smashed to pieces and left skewered on a fence. Flyers
were passed out which read “Over the past few months, we have been
inspired by the actions taken by prisoners striking in Georgia and the
Pelican Bay inmates in California who have refused food in order to have
their voices heard, as well as all inmate struggles behind prison walls.”

Upon arrival back at Pack Square, squad cars surrounded the park in a
hilarious spectacle of finger-waiving. A large number of tourists,
shoppers and workers watched the stand-off which was ended with a final
“Fuck the police!” and dispersal. Four people were detained after the
rally for jay-walking, one of whom was arrested for an outstanding warrant
but later released.

This demonstration comes in light of the recent uprising against the
police in London, a wave of anti-police activity on the west coast and the
unyielding corruption of the Asheville Police Department.

Solidarity with Seattle anarchists and all of our friends and family
facing charges in Asheville, Carrboro and beyond.

Solidarity with all prisoners who fight for freedom around the world, who
refuse to accept forced confinement, isolation and abuse, who dream of the
day when we destroy these walls together.