Today we lost Ted Kaczynski. It's not surprising, we all knew that day was around the corner, considering his diagnosis, but hearing about it still shook me a bit. He was certainly not a flawless person, but his uncompromising devotion to defending the wild against the system of civilisation will forever earn him my respect. We need more people of such powerful character, determination and wit. Rest in power, Uncle Ted 💚
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Worse than Waco
What transpired between members of the Branch Davidians and federal law enforcement in Waco is one of those moments where the government showed its true colours, but there’s an an even worse case.
After prior years of harassment and abuse (including murder) at the hands of law enforcement. MOVE, a christian anarcho-primitivist communal organisation, was besieged by nearly five hundred police officers on 5/13/1985.
Arresting & detaining have been among the tactics pigs used to either destroy MOVE or chase them out of the city. The reasons were racism (most MOVE members were black), and the organisation's activism related to the injustices of the American "justice" system among other things.
MOVE was started by John Africa (pictured bellow), who came up with their philosophical underpinnings, but was not a leader in any traditional sense. These beliefs included a love for all life, state abolition, self defence, soberness, eating fresh raw food, and staying active.
On that day in 1985, neighbouring buildings were evacuated as an army of pigs showed up to arrest MOVE. Water and electricity was shut off. Police used more than ten thousand rounds of ammo before cops decided the compound be bombed (yes, literally). A helicopter dropped two bombs that caused a fire. The ensuing fire killed 11 of the 13 people in the house (John Africa, 5 other adults, and five children). Ramona Africa, the only adult survivor, said that police fired at those trying to escape. The fire destroyed over 60 other buildings.
In '96 a federal jury ordered the city to pay a $1.5 million civil suit judgment to survivor Ramona Africa and relatives of 2 people killed in the bombing. The city used excessive force and violated the members' constitutional protections against unreasonable search and seizure.
If you wish to learn more about MOVE, I recommend their booklet "25 years on the Move", available for free at Anarchist Library.
“All living beings, things that move, are equally important, whether they are human beings, dogs, birds, fish, trees, ants, weeds, rivers, wind or rain. To stay healthy and strong, life must have lean air, clean water and pure food. If deprived of these things, life will cycle to the next level, or as the system says, ‘die’.” - John Africa
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