2011-10-27T16:18:00.003-04:00

Today marks the five year anniversary of the death of Brad Will.

Brad Will ¡Presente!

2011-10-17T22:01:00.002-04:00

Everywhere - The Occupy Wall Street movement has gone global, after just a few thousand gathered in lower Manhattan one month ago. Momentum and support is continuing to build, and spread to new locations.

2009-04-06T15:41:00.003-04:00

Bombs and Shields is on hiatus.

Check out some of our other projects!
A New World in Our Hearts - NYC
Sticks and Stones - Santa Cruz

Riot porn wise, there was some pretty sweet burning and looting outside the NATO summit in Strasbourg recently.

Social Rupture is a frequently updated blog on attacks in the U.$. and links to a number of similar blogs from Europe and Canada.

2009-03-14T14:26:00.003-04:00

Manila, Philippines - Hundreds of students clashed with police outside the U.S. embassy and Filipino Supreme Court, demanding the immediate withdrawal of U.S. forces and expressing rage at the Filipino Government as well. The U.S. military has maintained a presence in the Philippines since 1898.

Another anti-U.S. youth action in Manila got rowdy in June and also involved clashes with police while attempting to storm the embassy.

2009-03-13T01:54:00.003-04:00

Rumieh, Lebanon - Over a hundred inmates rioted in Beirut's largest prison, "burning mattresses and other items to press their demands for reduced sentences".

The same prison was the scene of a mutiny in April last year in which seven warders were held hostage. A riot also broke out at the Qubbah prison in the northern Lebanon city of Tripoli in January with inmates holding two wardens hostage.

2009-03-13T01:42:00.002-04:00

Nairobi, Kenya - An anti-police demonstration sparked by the police killings of a student and two human rights activists turned into a riot in the Kenyan capital. Thousands of youth, who have faced a rising tide of police violence in "anti-gang" crackdowns in recent years, built barricades, beat up journalists, pelted police with stones and looted businesses. Witnesses said a rally of about 2,000 students more than doubled in size as slum dwellers, jobless and others joined in.

2009-02-15T21:41:00.002-05:00

Dresden, Germany - Anarchists and antifascists broke away from a permitted demonstration of 10,000 to battle police protecting 6,000 Nazis and nationalists gathered to mark the 65th anniversary of the firebombing of Dresden by the U.S. Rage against the fascist presence resulted in two flipped police vehicles and hours of clashes with rocks and other objects hurled at police.

2009-02-15T21:08:00.002-05:00

Tongxiang, China - Hundreds of migrant workers clashed with more than 100 regular and armed police in this city in the southern province of Zhejiang on Saturday, leaving six police vehicles smashed or burned, witnesses and said. One witness described thousands of people besieging the police detachment: "the protesters, most of whom seemed to be migrant labourers, were so discontented and indignant that they hurled almost everything within their reach, including bricks, stones and bottles, even when the police seemed prepared to retreat."

2009-02-15T19:44:00.003-05:00

Bilbao - Hundreds of demonstrators in the Basque region's largest city built barricades of burning dumpsters and fought police for control of the streets. Incendiary devices were thrown at the offices of the Basque Nationalist Party. The provocation for the riot was the banning by Spain of pro-independence groups from participating in elections. The Basques are one of Europe's longest-colonized and least-assimilated indigenous cultures, with an equally long history of resistance to the rule of Madrid and Paris.

2009-02-13T18:43:00.002-05:00

Monterrey, Mexico - In a fourth day of evening-rush-hour street protests against mlitary operations in the region, masked protestors blockaded major streets of this industrial city in northern Mexico and burned a truckload of wooden pallets. The day before, fireworks and molotov cocktails were thrown at police.

Authorities and the media have portrayed demonstrators as tools of the drug cartels, but admit the global economic crisis is a major force behind the unrest. In the past five months, the U.S. consulate and a TV station in Monterrey have been attacked with grenades.

2009-02-02T21:28:00.005-05:00

Piraeus, Greece - Hundreds of farmers from the island of Crete battled riot police at the port of Piraeus, near the capital Athens. The farmers arrived on board three ships, bringing 300 pieces of farm equipment such as tractors, which they intended to use to create a convoy to Athens to demand aid from the government. Farm vehicles are barred from the capital's roads, and wound up being used to try to smash through police barricades at the port's gates. Farmers also pelted police with potatoes and struck them with crooks, traditional tools of Greek shepherds.

Thousands of farmers have been protesting across Greece since Jan. 20, blockading the country’s main roads. Most of the blockades were removed last week, although one remains on the border with Bulgaria. Greek farmers’ income has shrunk by almost 24 percent in the last decade, according to their labor union.

On the same day in Athens, about 200 protestors smashed their way into Athens City Hall and interrupted a city council meeting to express displeasure with the felling of trees and destruction of a public park to build a parking garage in the Kypseli neighborhood.

2009-02-02T02:00:00.003-05:00

Pecos, Texas - Rioting inmates "heavily damaged" at least one building in a two-day riot, the second such unrest at the Reeves County Detention Center in as many months. The Reeves County Detention Center is run by the Geo Group and houses federal inmates who are being held on immigration charges. Smoke was seen pouring from the prison on Saturday night. "We do not have anything in control," one guard told KVIA-TV, El Paso, Texas. "Everything is out of control."

2009-01-31T22:11:00.002-05:00

Geneva, Switzerland - Demonstrations against the World Economic Forum erupted in street clashes, with youth throwing bottles and fireworks at police.

2009-01-29T15:49:00.005-05:00

Paris - A massive protest against president Sarkozy's handling of the financial crisis erupted in rioting, with youths throwing bottles, setting fires and pulling up manhole covers in battles with police. On Thursday, around a million French workers participated in a mass strike called "Black Thursday" which severely disrupted transportation throughout the country and saw massive demonstration in Marseille as well.

2009-01-26T07:08:00.003-05:00

Tripoli, Lebanon: Prisoners began rioting on Sunday in northern Lebanon's largest prison and took at least three guards hostage. Security officials said the rioting inmates at the Qubeh prison in the northern city of Tripoli are demanding better conditions. Tripoli, Lebanon's second largest city, is 50 miles north of Beirut. Smoke was seen rising from the building as apparently the prisoners set part of the prison on fire.

2009-01-26T07:00:00.003-05:00

Athens - Several hundred anarchists rioted during a protest to demand the release of the 67 arrestees being held from the December riots. Demonstrators smashed several banks, set fire to a bus station, looted a Nike store, attacked a security camera and threw stones and chunks of pavement at police who were firing tear gas. A fire bomb was thrown at the defense minister's office. A solidarity march in the western city of Patras attacked a newspaper building and some banks, causing damage.

2009-01-21T02:02:00.006-05:00

Reykjavik, Iceland - Thousands of protesters angry about the failures of the country's government and economic system clashed with police and attacked the parliament building. Demonstrators surrounded the Althing House and smashed windows to that and other government buildings. A large bonfire was built outside and people continued to hold police off and away from the area late into the night.

2009-01-18T16:26:00.006-05:00

Olympia, Washington, U.S. - An anti-police march threw torches and stones at a police station in Olympia on Friday. Around 40 people participated, some carrying road flares and torches, others carrying signs reading "Liar, liar, cops on fire" and "Fire all cops, all cops are murderers."

Participants were angered by the recent police killings of Alex Grigoropoulos, Oscar Grant, Miles Allen Murphy, Olympia local Jose Ramirez-Jimenez, and the police in general. Inspired by the appropriate responses in Greece and Oakland, the march started at a library re-opening downtown and then crossed the 4th Ave. bridge to the Westside of Olympia, blocking traffic. Some screamed "Fuck the Police!", "Beneath the Concrete Lies the World of Our Dreams" and "Destroy Misery," but overall there was little chanting.

Approaching the police station, a dumpster was overturned in the street, blocking the tailing police cruisers. The crowd then surged towards the station, pelting it with stones and hurling torches before dispersing into the surrounding neighborhood, reportedly setting off fireworks and breaking at least one cop car window in the dispersal process.

Police drew guns and arrested three people for minor misdemeanor charges and detained about 20 people temporarily. About ten officers responded, and Police Commander Tor Bjornstad stated that due to the "changing nature of Olympia protests," more officers are made available to respond to these kinds of demonstrations.

2009-01-17T00:40:00.004-05:00

Oakland, California, U.S. - On Wednesday night, another anti-police demonstration erupted in rioting, although on a smaller scale than last week's. Participants smashed numerous windows (including several at a Wells Fargo, a bank frequently targeted by U.S. anarchists for sponsoring private immigrant detention centers), expensive vehicles and bus shelters.

Anarchists have carried out a number of graveyard-shift solidarity actions in the East Bay, including attacks on a police station, BART stations and banks by smashing windows and ATM screens and gluing locks and ticket machines.

2009-01-15T23:42:00.001-05:00

Sofai, Bulgaria - The first day in what was planned to be three consecutive days of mass anti-government protests ended in rioting after police and demonstrators clashed outside of parliament building. Yesterdays demonstration was similar in many ways to the prior days protests in Latvia. The thousands of participants are upset about their grim economic future.

Demonstrators threw rocks, cobblestones and barriers at police who attacked the crowd indiscriminately with clubs. As the square outside of the parliament building was cleared a number of shops were vandalized and looted and police cars and city buses damaged.

2009-01-13T16:28:00.006-05:00

Riga, Latvia - Hundreds of anti-government protesters spurned on by the growing economic crisis attacked police and government buildings in the historic Old Town district of the capital today. The demonstration was not the first of it's kind in recent months but it was the largest and most unruly the country has seen since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Last month Latvia was given 7.5 Billion Euro by the IMF in an attempt to ease their economic crisis.

Three police officers were injured and 97 protesters detained. Authorities are now seeking to identify prosecute the organizers who explicitly called for the demonstrators to bring pitchforks to use as weapons and to prepare to violently overthrow the government. Rioters attacked police with rocks, cobble stones, sticks, and miscellaneous projectiles. Protesters chanting "dissolve parliament, dissolve parliament" overturned a police van and set it on fire, and broken windows at the Finance Ministry.

2009-01-12T23:33:00.002-05:00

Edmonton, Canada - The luxury home of former Syncrude president and CEO Jim Carter was burned down by an arsonist Saturday night. Investigators believe that environmental concerns may have been the motive. The building was struck by two molotov cocktails and was quickly consumed by flames, before firefighters had a chance to control the blaze. Damages were estimated at $850,000. Carter who has ties to the oil and gas industry was out, as were his family members, at the time of the incident which took place at approximately 8:15 PM. No one was injured fighting the fire.

2009-01-10T11:53:00.006-05:00

Athens, Greece - Hundreds of anarchists broke away from a larger central Athens rally in of protest education reforms and attacked police and property Friday. Demonstrators chanted "These are the government's last days" as they marched and led many to wonder if Greece would see a resurgence of the violent protests that spread throughout the country in the weeks before Christmas. Widespread rioting in December was sparked by the fatal police shooting of a youth and caused a reported billions in damages to property in the capital alone.

Earlier in the week a riot police officer was machine gunned down by a suspected member of Revolutionary Struggle an armed far left-wing group that fired a missle at the U.S. Embassy back in 2007. The 21-year-old police officer is in critical condition and his injury has generated a significant degree of sympathy amongst the more conservative elements of the country's population.

2009-01-08T02:15:00.008-05:00

Oakland, California - Fury erupted over the video-recorded police slaying of an unarmed and restrained suspect at the Frutivale BART station on New Year's Day. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered at the station tonight, and independent as well as corporate reports indicate that participants fought cops, smashed and graffitied police vehicles and storefronts, built fires in the street and burned several vehicles. A number of BART stations were shut down due to the unrest. Some autonomous individuals also stated that they sabotaged a BART police car and two ticket machines with superglue in solidarity with the victims and opponents of police in Oakland and Greece.

2009-01-06T23:59:00.009-05:00

New York, New York, U.S. - A Friday night concert organized to raise funds for anarchist eco-prisoners and the Earth First! Journal was broken up by police after about five hours and a number of noise complaints. Concert goers left the venue on Walker Street and proceeded to construct a makeshift barricade near the intersection of Walker and Broadway out of disregarded Christmas trees and garbage and then lit it on fire. Firefighters soon extinguished the blaze and the crowd dissipated before police could make any arrests. One organizer who was not involved in the disturbance was briefly detained back at the venue but does not expect to be charged with anything.

2008-12-10T16:14:00.024-05:00

Outrage over the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos continues to spread:

Rioting in Thessaloniki and Athens Wednesday.

Greece - Two officers who were arrested for the murder of Alexis Grigoropoulos were presented before an Athens judge today as rioters outside hurled molotov cocktails at the courthouse. Sporadic bouts of rioting continued for the fifth consecutive day in both the capital, the port city of Thessaloniki, and more than eight other cities. In Athens more than 400 business have been burned out or vandalized.

Rome, Italy - A solidarity demonstration in Rome culminated in the overturning of cars, burning barricades and fierce battles with riot police outside the Greek embassy.

Germany - Dozens of solidarity demonstrations, some spontaneous, were held in cities throughout the country. Protesters in solidarity with Alexis attacked a bank and destroyed city property in Frankfurt which has a sizable Greek population. Monday's embassy occupation in Berlin ended after eight hours when the police promised safe passage to demonstrators. Another demonstration was in Dresden attacked a courthouse leaving broken windows and graffiti.

New York, New York, U.S. - A hooded individual who left the scene on a yellow BMX bicycle threw bricks through windows at the Greek consulate around 4 AM. Graffiti was also painted on building including an anarchist symbol and the words "Alex was here," "murders," and what appears to be the word "burn!"
Though the connection seems to be a bit of a stretch, authorities believe that the vandalism may be the work of the "Bicycle Bomber" who threw small bombs at the Mexican and British consulates and last year bombed the Army recruitment center in Times Square. Later in the day an anarchist organized solidarity protest was held outside the damaged consulate which was closed for the day due to the attack. Police commissioner Ray Kelly said that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

Moscow, Russia - An unknown individual threw a firebomb at the Greek consulate building today igniting a small blaze that had to be extinguished by embassy staff. An eyewitness described the attacker as a young man between 18 and 20-years-old.

Istanbul, Turkey - Anarchists held a demonstration outside the Greek consulate and left the building covered in red paint and an anarchy symbol.

2008-12-08T23:57:00.012-05:00

Greece - Riots and destruction envelope Greece as anger over the police killing of a 15-year-old anarchist boy is expressed. Alexandros Grigoropoulos was fatally shot three times by police as he allegedly hurled projectiles at them in the Eksarhia district of Athens. The shooting sparked a spontaneous uproar as an estimated 10,000 anarchists and their sympathizers took on police and set fire to businesses in cities across the country. Rioting continued unabated for a second night and is expected to continue on Tuesday when a general strike is planned.

The huge Christmass tree outside parliament and the six-story Eurobank building burn.

Rioters in Athens sang and posed for pictures as they set fire to a giant public Christmas tree and hundreds more businesses. Dozens of stores including a shop that sold hunting weapons and swords was looted. Even the tourist islands of Crete and Corfu were not sparred by the destruction and unrest.

Berlin and London

Solidarity protests in London and Berlin targeted Greek embassies and consulates. In Berlin anarchists occupied the consulate and in London the Greek flag was taken down and replaced with a red and black anarchist one.

2008-11-27T01:14:00.005-05:00

(Jan. 16 riot at Maersk factory near Dongguan)

Dongguan, China — Laid-off migrant workers demanding unpaid wages at a southern Chinese toy factory quickly tapped into a network of friends and unemployed laborers who battled security guards, flipped over a police car, smashed police motorcycles, stormed into the plant and rampaged through offices, destroying at least 10 office computers Tuesday.

This part of southern China, called the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, is one of the country's biggest manufacturing bases, and most of the residents are migrant workers who work long hours in factories and live in crowded dormitory rooms. News of protests or mistreatment quickly spreads via mobile phone text messages. Crowds can quickly swell; workers from the same provinces often band together and support each other.

As the global economic crisis deepens, China has been seeing far more and much bigger protests in recent times. Similar eruptions of proletarian fury have been occurring with increasing frequency in southeastern China's industrial zones, most recently on Nov. 17 in Wudu and Nov. 7 in Shenzhen.

2008-11-27T00:26:00.000-05:00

Ångermanland, Sweden - On the night of 21 November more than 100,000 salmon were liberated from two fish farms in northern Sweden. These two fish farms are a part of the huge Swedish fish farming industry that kills over 5 billion fish every year. In a fish farm, tens of thousands of fish live cramped in net-cages without any chance to engage in their natural behaviors, like traveling long distances.

2008-11-24T17:48:00.006-05:00

Wudu, China - Two days of rioting involving thousands of people erupted on Monday, Nov. 17 in Wudu, in Gansu province's poverty-stricken region of Longnan, where 1.8 million people were made homeless by the May 12 Sichuan earthquake. An angry crowd of about 10,000 (some witnesses said 50,000; the state media said 2000) rioted in China's impoverished Gansu province over the government's redevelopment plan, torching cars and attacking a local Communist Party office, injuring police and officials. At one point, rioters met a surging wall of armed police officers with a hail of rocks, bricks, bottles and flowerpots. The crowd reportedly later confronted police with iron bars, axes, chains and hoes as protesters tried to hijack a firetruck and smashed windows and office equipment in two government buildings.

The state-run press has reported on numerous pickets and demonstrations that have broken out across China in recent weeks, including a two-day strike by disgruntled taxi drivers in the city of Chongqing, about 300 miles south of Longnan.

2008-11-24T17:23:00.001-05:00

Athens, Greece - Nov. 17 was also the 35th anniversary of the student uprising against the U.S.-backed military dictatorship that ruled Greece from 1967-74. A black bloc of about 2000 (or in official and media accounts, about 100) broke away from a march of about 15,000 people to hurl Molotov cocktails and rocks at riot police outside the U.S. embassy.

2008-11-24T16:51:00.001-05:00

Aswan, Egypt - Approximately 2000 people rioted after police from an anti-drug unit killed Abdel Wahab Abdel Raziq, a bird-seller, in his apartment. Police said the man was harboring a drug dealer; witnesses said police entered the wrong house while pursuing another suspect. Angry citizens gathered at the hospital where Raziq died smashed windows, burned tires in the street and pelted police with stones.

2008-11-23T23:58:00.000-05:00

Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, U.S. - Sabotage shut down assembly lines at a Philadelphia area Boeing aircraft plant that produces military hardware. A foreign object was found lodged in the fuel line of a V-22 Osprey fuselage on Friday. Workers were instructed to show up to work as usual on Saturday by their machines remained silent as investigators attempted to discover who was responsible for the damage and if any other aircraft had been tampered with.

The incident was the second to cause concern at the plant this year. Last May a disgruntled worker snipped wires in two CH-47 Chinook Helicopters at the same facility. The plant was last silenced in September when 1400 workers walked off the job to pressure the plant managers to agree to a new contract. After a week a contract was signed but presumably all of the workers were not pleased by it.

2008-11-15T23:17:00.011-05:00

French TVG high speed train and a surveillance camera still of the NYC "bicycle bomber"

France - Anarchists in three cities across France were arrested by anti-terror police Tuesday morning and accused of being responsible for a campaign of sabotage that severely disrupted rail travel throughout the country. It is believed that the campaign was designed to protest nuclear technology and coincided with the transfer of nuclear waste from France to Germany. Attacks on the railway lines were characterized by debris left on the tracks, shooting out power lines, and iron bars jammed into the overhead 25,000-volt power lines and left more than 150 high-speed TGV trains across the country hours behind schedule. Initially 20 accused radicals were arrested, but now only nine remain to face charges Five of those accused are women and four are men.

No acts of sabotage have been reported since the police roundup, which took place the same day that the nuclear waste transfer was completed. On the German side of the border the deadly shipments where delivered 20 hours behind schedule thanks to nearly 16,000 mostly passive demonstrators who built barricades, took part in protest and acts of civil-disobedience.

The group, some of whom are based on a rural commune in the tiny village of Tarnac located in the Corrèze region of central France, are alleged to have ties to like minded groups in Germany, Belgium, Greece, Italy, the U.K., and the U.S.. Last January two of those arrested Julien Coupat, 34, and Yldune L, 25 were detained attempting to illegally cross the U.S. border into Canada, while in possession of English language anarchist texts and photos of the Time's Square army recruitment center weeks before a lone bicyclist detonated a homemade bomb at the center. No one was injured by the bombing which echoed similar attacks on the British and Mexican consulates and were believed to be possibly connected to anarchists.

Coupat and L were no longer in the U.S. at the time of the recruitment center attack but were surveilled attending anarchist meetings during their stay in New York City. After the border incident the FBI asked French authorities to keep tabs on the pair and alerted the press about a possible French connection. Upon their return to France the French domestic intelligence service then began a surveillance operation that culminated in these arrests.

Coupat has been labeled "the leader" of the anarcho-autonomist group dubbed "the invisible cell." He is a former sociology student and faces up to 20 years in jail if convicted of heading a terrorist organization. Other alleged participants in the vandalism face charges of causing damage, criminal conspiracy and participation in a terrorist enterprise. No one was injured by any actions taken against the rail lines or by the bombing of the Times Square army recruitment center in NYC.

Authorities have said that they were able to recover fingerprints and DNA evidence from the sites of the sabotage but at least some of the suspects have refused to submit to DNA tests and it has not so far been relieved that any of the fingerprints match. A search of the Corrèze property allegedly yielded railway network maps, material that might be used for sabotage, anarchist literature and documents on how to attack overhead cables.

Neighbors of the Tarnac farm where many of the accused live have formed a support committee to aid the arrestees. Jean Plazanet, the town's mayor, said that Coupat "is of great intelligence and kindness" and that the media's portrayal of him and his housemates was inaccurate.

2008-11-09T03:51:00.005-05:00

Shenzhen, China - Hundreds of rioters attacked police in Shenzhen on Friday afternoon after a motorcyclist died near a checkpoint. The violence continued until yesterday morning, when calm was restored in China's southern economic powerhouse. The protest was the latest in a series of confrontations over social issues in China, where thousands of riots erupt each year, many stemming from grievances over abuse of power, corruption or land grabs.

Anger flared when Mr Li Guochao, 31, crashed into a lamp-post after a local official threw a walkie-talkie at him as he sped towards a checkpoint set up by a sub-district office, according to a statement from the public security bureau in the city of more than eight million. Mr Li's family, who thought the mishap was caused by the police of a nearby district, attacked their station on Friday afternoon. They were joined by hundreds of others, some of whom burned a police car, the statement added.

The street where the violence took place had returned to normal yesterday afternoon. There was a beefed-up police presence outside the station where the riots took place.

Mr Li, who had no riding license, had been stopped at the checkpoint in the city's Bao'an district while riding his motorcycle, which bore no number plate, the police statement said. An official tried to block his path when he turned back at a crossroad, but seeing that he was going to crash through the checkpoint, threw the walkie-talkie at him. Mr Li lost control of his motorcycle and crashed into the lamp-post, the statement said. He was taken to hospital where he died a few hours later.

Mr Li's relatives gathered about 30 people and carried his body to the police station, where they 'smashed things' and set off firecrackers, the statement added. By 5pm, more than 400 people had gathered at the police detachment with more than 2,000 others watching nearby. Some people threw stones and set fire to a police car. Police were able to disperse the crowd only at 2am. There were no other reports of injuries.

The checkpoint official has been detained by police, while the official Xinhua news agency said Shenzhen's public security bureau had established that police had shown restraint in handling the unrest. People living in the Bao'an area said the checkpoints were set up to enforce a ban on motorcycles following a spate of muggings by riders who snatched handbags.

China's top police official has urged officers to avoid inflaming protests at a time when social unrest is easily ignited. In June, residents in Weng'an town in south-western Guizhou province torched and ransacked police headquarters and government offices after allegations spread that police had covered up a girl's rape and murder.

2008-11-09T03:06:00.001-05:00

London, England - A group calling themselves the DA! collective has occupied a six-story Georgian townhouse in Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, The property has been assessed at £6.25 million and has been called "Britain's poshest squat" The squat is less then 100 yards from the American embassy on Grovesnor Square.

A squatter who appeared on the balcony, next to a waving black flag, read out a statement prepared by the collective. "Who we are is not important. As a collective we have 'squatted' an empty, dilapidated building in Mayfair. We are making this place live through the exchange of knowledge and ideas," she said.

2008-11-06T03:38:00.005-05:00

Asuncion, Paraguay: At least 14 police were injured in a protest by farmers demanding agrarian reform. Paraguayan campesinos have been struggling against a wave of paramilitary violence linked to the expansion of genetically-modified soy biofuel monocultures in the countryside.

2008-11-06T03:08:00.001-05:00

Vichy, France: Masked anarchists attacked police and torched three cars as about 2000 people protested the EU's repressive immigration policies. The meeting of 27 EU ministers to discuss immigration was the first international government conference held in Vichy, the former capital of the pro-Nazi regime during WWII. Many of the demonstrators compared current EU restrictions on migration to Nazi policies of mass deportation and genocide.

2008-11-06T02:09:00.002-05:00

East Jerusalem - Israel demolished four unauthorized Palestinian-owned buildings in occupied East Jerusalem in one day, provoking local youths who threw stones at police and a demolition unit in Silwan, where two homes were razed. Five police were injured and several police vehicles damaged as clashes continued through the day.

2008-11-04T22:59:00.005-05:00

Santa Cruz, California, U.S. - Two polling places had their locks glued, and two campaign headquarters had their windows smashed. All four locations were also redecorated with circle As and messages denouncing politicians and the electoral process.

2008-10-17T16:51:00.003-04:00

Santa Cruz, California, U.S. - In commemoration of Columbus Day, individuals attacked an Armed Forces Recruiting Center and vandalized 11 windows with paint and acid. A communique posted on indybay.org read in part, "The U.S. government has always waged a war of extermination against land-based ways of life in order to impose capitalist exploitation of the earth and its peoples. For 516 years they and their predecessors have been met with resistance. Neither law enforcement nor the military can ever defeat our struggle. To the land and all indigenous peoples devastated by the U.S. government: we apologize for leaving this building standing."

2008-09-16T03:44:00.003-04:00

Tijuana, Mexico - Inmates of La Mesa state prison seized control of the facility Sunday afternoon after a 19-year-old prisoner was allegedly murdered by guards, during a mid-day search for contraband. Rioting broke out shortly there after while 1,200 visitors were in the prison. About 600 of the visitors were trapped inside as federal police surrounded the compound. 3 Prisoners were killed, and another 25 seriously injured during the unrest.

Inmates took 8 prison officials hostage and burned down many prison buildings. Three prisoners attempted to escape during the confusion but were quickly recaptured. Masked inmates hung a banner from the roof of one of the prison buildings that read in Spanish 'Justice. Guards. Assassins.' Prison guard Alex Cervantes Jaramillo was arrested, and police are looking for the prison's top commander Marco Antonio Ibarra Chavez, and his lieutenant, Daniel Ibarra Perez in connection to the murder of inmate Israel Marquez Blanco.

It took joint force of federal soldiers and riot police 12 hours to free the hostages and regain control of the facility which continued to burn into the night. Much of the prison was destroyed by the fires.

2008-09-15T23:02:00.006-04:00

Santiago, Chile - A march in memory of the victims of the Pinochet regime ended in riots as the country of observes the 35th anniversary of his assent to power. Anarchists looted and vandalized shops including a gas station, and set fire to traffic signals and public garbage cans that were then left in the streets. Riot police with a water cannon engaged the mob who fought back with rocks, bottles, and molotov cocktails. Protesters also burned American flags, some of them homemade, to highlight the C.I.A.'s role in propping up the Pinochet regime. Thousands took part in the demonstration yesterday, 19 of whom were arrested by police.

2008-09-14T12:21:00.003-04:00

Thessaloniki, Greece - A group of about 15 masked and hooded anarchists attacked the Dimokratias square police station early this morning with fire bombs, gas canisters, and stones. Two police patrol cars and four motorbikes suffered extensive damage. At least one car and 15 motorbikes also parked at the station were damaged in the attack as did the building itself. Following the destruction the anarchists rose away on their own motorbikes.

The organization behind the assault Cells of Fire told the press that the action had been taken in support of two anarchists who had been arrested last month on suspicion of involvement in the abduction of Thessaloniki industrialist Giorgos Mylonas. Authorities say that the case exposes ties between anarchists groups and organized crime.

2008-09-13T23:19:00.010-04:00

Legal Updates from the RNC protests in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.

Bradley Crowder, and a photo allegedly showing him with a helmet and arm pads lifting a street sign to throw onto a roadway.
Two men from Austin, Texas David Guy McKay, 22 and Bradley Neil Crowder, 23 are being held on charges that they constructed and possessed eight molotov cocktails. Police discovered the devices with the help of two confidential informants, one of whom traveled from Texas for the protests. FBI agents named the group the "Austin Area Affinity Group."
The group brought with them a rented U-Haul trailer packed with batons and homemade riot shields that had been fashioned out of traffic barrels and plexiglass. Authorities claim the shields were designed as offensive weapons because of protruding screws that held the shield together faced outward and could theoretically be pushed into police.
One informant who was traveling with the group took one of the 35 shields to the police who acted quickly and seized the trailer's contents on August 31st, before the convention began. The police did not bother to obtain a search warrant before acting on their informant's tip so it is unlikely that anyone can be charged in connection with the materials confiscated from the trailer.

David McKay
The two face charges outlined in an affidavit signed by Special Agent Christopher V. Langert. Langert, 40, has been with the F.B.I. for the last 10 years and has investigated environmentally focused anarchist organizing in the past. Agent Langert also authored the affidavit that supports RNC related charges against another anarchist, Matthew DePalma. According to the affidavit McKay confessed that he did construct the molotov cocktails and he went on to implicate Crowder as his accomplice.
Since their arrests authorities have named both Crowder and McKay as "prime suspects" in the June blaze that destroyed the 152-year-old Texas Governor's Mansion. The building was burned beyond repair by a lone individual with a molotov cocktail. The act was caught on serveilance footage but no one has been arrested for the crime and no motive has yet been made public. No one was injured in by the fire.

Authorities arrested 23-year-old Michigan resident Matthew DePalma for possessing five molotov cocktails. According to an FBI affidavit DePalma met an FBI informant at the annual Crimethinc. Convergence that was held in Waldo, Wisconsin in July. According to the affidavit the informant asked DePalma to contact him when he got to Minnesota for the convention.
Between the 15th and 28th of August DePalma assembled five fire bombs with the assistance of the FBI informant who drove DePalma to stores and gas stations where they purchased supplies. Two of the bombs were tested and three were left with the informant with the understanding that people other than DePalma would put them to use while protesting the Republican convention.
The affidavit specified that the informant in this case has been working with the FBI for at least five years. An informant who infiltrated the Minneapolis based RNC Welcoming Committee and is confirmed to have attended the Waldo, WI Crimethinc. gathering has already been exposed although not much detailed information about him has been publicized.

A Saint Paul Police Department Bulletin that appealed to assistance from the public led to two tips that resulted in the arrest of 23-year-old Jason Sparks. Sparks, a resident of the neighboring city of Fridley is accused of smashing a $17,000 plate-glass window at the First National Bank Building with his hands. He faces a felony count of criminal damage to property and is also alleged to have kicked a police car.
Although the individual sought by police had their face obscured by a bandanna they did not cover their hair or a piercing over their right eye. Sparks is no longer in custody and awaits arraignment. At least one other individual was arrested and charged similarly for allegedly breaking windows during anti-RNC demonstrations.

David Murphy
Saint Paul, Minnesota - 23-Year-old David Terence Mahoney faces charges of assault and "terroristic threats" for allegedly dropping a 50-pound sandbag off an overpass along Interstate 94 during the first day of the protests. The bag landed harmlessly out of the way of traffic.
Although the individual who hurled the weight off the overpass was masked, authorities say that they were able to identify Mahoney by a distinctive tattoo on his back. According to police he was arrested at the home of a member of the RNC Welcoming Committee, eight of whom still face felony conspiracy charges.

2008-09-10T00:19:00.004-04:00

Cordón Macul, Chile - Masked molotov cocktail wielding anarchists have clashed with police and attacked corporate and state property on numerous occasions since the start of what they have dubbed "Black September." Last night rioters attacked a McDonalds resturaunt and burned tires and other debris in the roadway, blocking traffic.

The riots and anti-state violence commemorates the September 11, 1998 murder of the anarchist combatant Claudia López and the September 11th, 1973 CIA backed military coup that replaced the democratically elected leftist Salvador Allende with General Augusto Pinochet. Lopez was gunned down by police while defending a barricade during anti-government demonstrations commemorating the coup.

2008-09-05T22:43:00.013-04:00

Saint Paul, Minnesota - Last night four days of anti-government protest concluded with the mass arrest of nearly 400 demonstrators, journalists and bystanders outside the Republican National Convention. The protests opened Monday with an roving anarchist march that clashed with police and left a trail of smashed storefront windows, overturned dumpsters, and trashed police cars in it's wake. One patriotic vigilante who attempted to intervene was beaten by masked anarchists. Fewer than five people were arrested before the black-clad masked anarchists "seemingly disappeared."

Police attempted to intimidate protests by preemptively arresting anarchist organizers and raiding their homes and a protest welcome / convergence center. Law enforcement officers and their informants also infiltrated activist groups and spaces more than a year prior to the convention. Eight of the arrested organizers affiliated with the RNC Welcoming Committee now face conspiracy charges under Minnesota's Patriot Act. If Convicted individuals could face up to almost eight years in prison.

On the streets thousands of National Guard troops and police Some of whom came from as far away as Texas, Arizona, New York, Florida, and California used teargas, tasers, rubber bullets, batons, and pepper spray on demonstrators. Allegations have surfaced that police tortured some individuals after they were arrested. In all 816 people were arrested around the convention. (video)

2008-08-31T21:52:00.004-04:00

Chittagong, Bangladesh - At least five people were injured yesterday in a clash between police and locals over an eviction drive by the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) at Mirzarpool in the port city. Sources said a CDA team went to Mirzarpool to demolish a two-storey building that houses a number of shops and factories at around 11:00am. After the police beat three people and arrested one at the building, a gathering of angry residents barricaded the Panchlaish-Muradpur road, bringing traffic to a halt for two hours, and trashed five vehicles including a government truck (above).

2008-08-31T21:32:00.000-04:00

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - A National City Bank Branch was attacked with iron bars by anonymous anarchists who smashed windows and an ATM. A communique received by Twin Cities IMC read in part, "It was an attack on a symbol of the entire capitalist system of exploitation. Primarily, however, we chose to carry out this attack as an act of solidarity with our friends and comrades who are fighting in Denver and the Twin Cities against the conventions.... We know that comrades all over the country are carrying out actions like this in solidarity, and we know that there will be many more. Fight your hardest, and we'll do the same."

2008-08-30T19:42:00.003-04:00

Dhaka, Bangladesh: Police used tear gas and rubber bullets Saturday to disperse hundreds of rioting textile workers protesting the firing of 18 co-workers in an industrial area near the Bangladeshi capital, a police official said. About 40 people, including two policemen, were injured in the clashes, Mozammel Hossain, a local police official said after visiting the area. No one was immediately arrested. The protesting workers, armed with stones and sticks, ransacked several garment factories, blocked a major highway and damaged several vehicles in Gazipur, an industrial district near Dhaka, Hossain said.

Meanwhile, about 30 people were injured in a clash between police and workers of a garment factory of Biswas group in Savar after the workers blockaded the Dhaka-Aricha Highway for three hours demanding payment of two months' arrears. Witnesses said about 8,000 workers gathered at the factory at around 1:00pm. They started vandalizing the factory after receiving the news that the factory had been closed for a month. Police charged the highway barricades with batons, who pelted the cops with brickbats. The workers withdrew the blockade at around 4:30pm. Later, personnel held talks with the factory owners about the payment of workers' arrears. Police said the factory workers had been staging demonstrations for the last few days demanding payment of arrears. Although the factory owners assured them of paying arrears on several occasions, they did not keep their words.

Bangladesh has more than 3,000 garment factories that employ more than 2 million workers, making up 40 percent of the industrial workforce. Tens of thousands of workers have defied a government ban on union activities and gatherings to take part in sporadic protests in the past few months over low wages and better working conditions. The basic minimum monthly salary of a garment worker is 25 dollars while a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of rice, the country's main staple, costs 35 taka (50 cents) -- normally enough to feed a family of four for a day; but rice prices have doubled in Bangladesh in the past year, in part due to devastating floods and a massive cyclone in 2007.

2008-08-29T13:02:00.003-04:00

On August 27th at around 10:30am, "at least seven" police officers from the UC Berkeley Police, Alameda County Sheriff and the FBI entered the Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley with guns drawn, broke down every door, and stole all computers on the property. Computers taken included those used by the Slingshot Collective and East Bay Prisoner Support as well as the public computer room which provided on-line access for those otherwise unable to afford it. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail.

People began to gather and demanded that the police show a warrant, which they didn't do until they were finished ransacking the building, and they didn't allow anyone involved with the space in to observe that the warrant was being executed to the letter. Both CopWatch and The Berkeley Daily Planet were there to cover the incident. The police stated that the computer equipment "may have been used to commit a felony." This is the first time there has been a raid since the infoshop opened 15 years ago.

The UC system, a powerhouse in the military-academic-industrial complex, faces treesits against expansion plans at UC Berkeley as well as nearby UC Santa Cruz; vivisectionists employed at both campuses have also faced protests (see 8-18 & links).

2008-08-23T17:00:00.003-04:00

Erie, Pennsylvania, U.S. - Kevin Tucker, anarcho-primitivist forager, writer, activist, and artist, announced that he has been served a subpoena by the FBI to appear in front of a grand jury in Erie, PA on September 9. No further information appears to be available on this grand jury but the FBI records 6 instances of "domestic terrorism" -- one of which involved nothing more than spray-painted graffiti -- alleged to be the work of the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, in Pennsylvania in 2002. Kevin, who used to live in PA, states, "They [the FBI] contacted me 6 months ago to 'question me about the ELF and ALF'."

2008-08-22T13:19:00.004-04:00

Indigenous people in Peru have concluded a week of nationwide militant protests against new laws that would have opened their lands to exploitation for oil and gas. An estimated 12,000 people from 65 tribes participated in actions including armed road blockades, clashes with police (2 officers taken hostage), and the seizure of a gas field and an oil pipeline, leading to the declaration of a state of emergency in two provinces and the repeal of the challenged laws.

Another belated yet heart-warming item: Silverton, OR - Between 4:15 and 6:00 am on the night of August 1, someone slashed 20 tires in the Silverton Police Department's parking lot, immobilizing 4 of the town's 6 cruisers. Police have claimed the damage cost between $5,000 and $7,000.

2008-08-18T15:09:00.005-04:00

Aug 11 - Dhaka, Bangladesh - Enraged by mass firings, unpaid wages and brutal harassment by security forces, thousands of garment workers went on strike and rioted, attacking security forces with sticks and stones and vandalizing the factory for several hours. Unrest spread the next day as 15 factories and 4 shopping centers were attacked by roving crowds of the exploited. 3 other factories went on strike, demanding pay increases, and 60 factories closed over the weekend.

Aug 10 - Montreal, Quebec - After police gunfire killed 18-year-old Honduran immigrant Freddy Villanueva and hospitalized two other youth, 500 officers were called out to suppress the ensuing riot in which a dozen stores were looted, cars and dumpsters set alight and one cop hospitalized by a gunshot wound to the leg.

Aug 2 - Santa Cruz, California - Two vehicles belonging to animal experimenters in the employ of the University of California-Santa Cruz were destroyed by incendiary devices. There was no communique, but the FBI has searched a home in Santa Cruz which was burglarized by a SWAT team in February following a demonstration at an animal experimenter's house. The Humane Society of America has donated $2500 to the reward fund.

2008-07-07T20:20:00.018-04:00

Resistance to I-69, "The NAFTA Super Highway":

Fredrick, Maryland, U.S. - Members of Potomac Earth First! held a small but loud and spirited protest outside Michael Baker Jr. Inc. offices at 4 College Ave. in Frederick. The June 3rd protest was in opposition to a new section of I-69 in Indiana, which the Michael Baker Jr. Inc. is contracted to construct.

Louisville, Kentucky - Westbound commuters traveling on I-64 in Louisville were greeted with a display from Anti-I-69 road activists early on the mourning of June 5th. Critics of the development say that it will lead to the outsourcing of jobs, and destroy thousands of acres of forest and wetlands.

Evansville, Indiana, U.S. - On June 16th tree-sitters blocking Interstate 69 were forcefully evicted by local police. Along with ground support activists, the tree-sitters were arrested and held in Warrick County Jail. Since the eviction, numerous solidarity actions have commenced in various locations.

Bloomington, Indiana, U.S. - Opponents to I-69 held a torch-lit march through the streets of Bloomington on June 21st.

Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S. - On Monday, June 23rd at 1:30 PM Kalamazoo residents opposed to I-69 visited the DLZ Corporation in Kalamazoo for an office demonstration. They entered the building prepared to read a statement but were instantly harassed by an employee. He screamed obscenities, shoved the woman reading the prepared statement, and insisted that there was no office manager or anyone to discuss the impact of I-69 with. The Kalamazoo residents opposed to I-69 marched through the office with drums and whistles and exited the building.
The office seemed to instantly be aware that they were being protested. They did not want to talk or hear a word of what the residents had to say. The following letter was left on several desks and at the main desk.
Dear Kalamazoo Neighbors,
We are writing to inform you of something that is of great importance. Though you maybe unaware of this, your current place of employment, DLZ is in league with some very dark and disturbing things that are happening to the world we live in. You might be aware of the fact that DLZ is one of many companies that is helping in the formation of highway development in Indiana, the extension of Interstate-69. Now though this may seem to be “Business as Usual” or “Just another development in a long line”, this particular project is so much worse. Interstate-69 is part of a massive undertaking that is spreading across states, countries, and indeed continents. It has been talked about for decades and gone under many different names. The NAFTA Super Highway, the North American Corridor, and Plan Puebla Panama are only a few.This expressway is a small part in the globalization of our world. To explain this further, jobs here at home are being moved across borders, the products of which will be shipped here, via I-69, to those currently unemployed. These jobs of course are going to be exploiting the global South. Not only will this further harm some of the most super-exploited people on Earth, but miles upon miles of forests, wetlands, farms, and homes will be destroyed and/or displaced from the construction of this expressway. Between jobs going over borders, products being shipped in, farms being destroyed and the utter destruction of the natural world here at home and abroad, it seems obvious to those of us in Kalamazoo that the completion of this expressway is an atrocious, repugnant act. It is opposed by those in its line of destruction, those in other countries, and now by us in Kalamazoo.
It is with this in mind that we write you. We want you to be aware of the fact that what DLZ is doing is wrong and under the watch of people throughout the country, and the world at large. Rather than just bear witness to this injustice, we demand that this project be stopped and that it be discarded. We stand in Solidarity with our brothers and sisters who will lose jobs because of this. We stand in Solidarity with those whose homes are being destroyed. We stand in Solidarity with those who are being exploited in Central and South America. We stand in Solidarity with the farmers who will now be putting down their tools and who will be left in the gutters of development because of the actions of DLZ. We as residents of Kalamazoo, as friends, as neighbors, and acquaintances of yours demand that YOU stop this highway.
Sincerely,
And in Solidarity with those oppressed,
The Residents of Kalamazoo Opposed to I-69

Hicksville, New York, U.S. - On the morning of Tuesday June 24, employees of HNTB's 40 Commerce Place office in Hicksville, NY arrived at work to find the building defaced with spray paint. "DEAL WITH I-69 DEAL WITH US" was written across the front of the building. HNTB is Kansas City Missouri based architecture and engineering consulting firm working on the I-69 development.
Employees were at first unable to get inside because locks to both the front and back doors were tampered with and filled with glue. Other slogans were painted on the sides of the building and all the windows and front door were covered in etching paint. HNTB's Hicksville location on Long Island was soon removed from their website.

Maryville, Illinois - On June 30th vandals targeted the Maryville offices and a company car of I-69 consultant Bernardin, Lochmueller, & Associates. The car had all four tires slashed, headlights, windows, and mirrors busted out. The office building had its locks glued, windows smashed, and exterior painted with “187 ON I-69″ and “THE FRONTLINE IS EVERYWHERE.”

2008-06-29T20:14:00.004-04:00

Weng'an, Guizhou, China - Thousands of outraged villagers surrounded and torched, local police stations and Communist Party offices Saturday. The incidents were following the alleged murder and cover up of a 15-year-old girl and her uncle. Rioters also overturned and set fire to 20 cars, many of which were police or government vehicles. Many who participated in the violence were teenagers, and may have been classmates with the young girl.

The teen's body was found in a river, after, according to police, she took her own life by jumping off a bridge. Locals claim she was raped and murdered by the son of a senior police official. Her uncle, a high school teacher, was beaten to death by police after he demanded they investigate his niece's death and perform an autopsy.

2008-06-25T11:53:00.006-04:00

Paris, France - Detained immigrants burned down two buildings at the Vincennes detention center, after the death of a 41-year-old Tunisian migrant Saturday. Fourteen migrants were able to escape during the chaos.

Guards claim that the migrant who died had a heart attack while he was alone in his cell, but authorities have promised to investigate the matter following the uprising. Twenty migrants were hospitalized for smoke inhalation following the fire, but none of the cases were reported to be serious.

Detainees at the center, most of whom are of African origin and many of whom have fled former French and other European colonies, are not accused of committing any criminal offenses but are only being held for lacking EU documents.

The Vincennes center was the largest in the country. There is no word yet as to whether or not it with be rebuilt.

2008-06-25T10:31:00.003-04:00

Pleasant Hill, California, U.S. - Three incendiary devices touched off a blaze that destroyed the Diablo Valley College's police services building early Monday morning. The 40-foot by 60-foot wooden building was deemed unusable after burning for only about 20 minutes. No other nearby structures were damaged by the fire. Police set up a temporary operations center in a parking lot, until the school gave them a conference room in another building. No suspects or motive has been made public yet.

2008-06-24T11:40:00.004-04:00

Flathead Valley, Montana, U.S. - The non-profit environmental group, Citizens for a Better Flathead, has joined developers and their allies to offer a cash reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of individuals responsible for a campaign anti-sprawl vandalism. A group calling itself Americans Stopping Sprawling Development (ASSD) has taken credit for a rash of incidents, involving the removal of surveyor stakes and graffiti, that is estimated to have cost developers as much as $20,000 so far.

A three-page anti-capitalist manifesto was left behind by the vandals after the first incident, which took place on May 17th. The document calls urban sprawl, “one of the greatest issues facing our society,” and promised more actions against it.

Citizens for a Better Flathead pledged $100 towards the reward fund. A representative at the Sierra Club’s Missoula office also disavowed the action.

2008-06-20T15:31:00.004-04:00

Chehalis, Washington - Vandals with a message redesigned a National Guard recruitment billboard to convey a decidedly anti-war statement. The roadside advert with an image of a military hummer originally said, “Feel the Noise,” but was altered to read “No War.” The email address and phone number listed on the billboard were also painted over. It seems that black and white spray paint was all that was used to change the sign.

The incident occurred during a time when 73 members of the National Guard’s “G” Company, based in neighboring Centralia, are preparing to deploy for a for a 12-month tour in the Middle East. A spokesperson from the Chehalis Police Department said yesterday morning that they had yet to receive any complaint about the redesigned billboard. According to National Guard recruiters, this was the third incident in which a National Guard recruitment sign was damaged or stolen in the past few weeks.

2008-06-18T08:43:00.005-04:00

Bogota, Colombia - Police attempted to enter the grounds of the Bogota National University during a tuition protest, but were repelled by students armed with rocks and slingshots. Police employed teargas and a water cannon against the demonstrators who were estimated to be a thousand people strong.

Yesterdays' protest was in response to a proposal to privatize the school, and begin charging tuition, though historically the school has been free and publicly-owned. At least one demonstrator and three riot cops were seriously injured.

2008-06-17T18:34:00.008-04:00

Moquegua, Peru - Poor residents of the copper-rich southern state of Moquegua have taken 48 police officers hostage, as well as captured and burned a police station. Police were attempting to disperse a blockade of the country's main highway to Chile, the Ilo smelter, and the American-owned Southern Copper's Cuajone mine - the country's largest copper producer.

Demonstrations began a week ago as an effort to gain control of local natural resources which bring little benefit to the majority of the people in the region, 30 percent of whom live in poverty. Union miners at the Cuajone mine exacerbated the crisis by staging a two-day strike that coincided with the blockades. In the neighboring Arequipa province, workers have been off the job at Peru's third-largest copper pit, Cerro Verde, for more than a week. The miners are demanding increased benefits.

President Alan Garcia's chief of staff, Jorge del Castillo, said that he could not negotiate with the protesters while they possessed any advantage, and urged them to release the hostages. Some feel that the unrest could easily spread to other provinces before the standoff is resolved.

2008-06-14T18:35:00.006-04:00

Kidlington, Oxfordshire, England - Detainees rioted Friday at the Campsfield House Immigration Removal Centre for the second time this year. Inmates started fires in the facility before making their way to and attacking the perimeter fence, but they were unable to break through it.

Authorities attempting to control the situation sent in a special prison riot control unit, known as the Tornado Team, which was made up of 50 officers outfitted with specialized gear. Some of the officers also brought attack dogs. Firefighters, along with 15 trucks, were unable to extinguish the blaze for two hours.

The privately owned center has faced constant opposition from community and human rights groups, as well as a generous share of controversy. Another incident in which fires were set last August led to a successful jailbreak for 26 asylum seekers.

2008-06-14T08:32:00.008-04:00

Kandahar, Afghanistan - A Taliban insurgent attack on Sarposa Prison partially destroyed the facility and liberated a reported 1,100 inmates, both men and women. Conflicting government statements have said that either a handful or zero detainees remained. About 380 of the those freed were Taliban militants, but many were social prisoners. At least 15 guards and an unknown number of police, prisoners and insurgents were killed during the assault.

In May, around 200 Taliban suspects participated in a hunger strike including 47 who sewed their mouths shut. The protest concluded a week after it began, when a parliamentary delegation pledged to review their cases.

The jailbreak began with a car bomb attack on the prison's main gate after nightfall around 9:30 PM Friday. Another explosion occurred at a rear wall of the facility and the sky was lit up by a barrage of rockets before militants stormed the compound with small arms. Minibuses were parked in the area to quickly evacuate the freed prisoners from the area, which is now being closely scrutinized by foreign troops.

2008-06-13T16:03:00.002-04:00

Manila, Philippines - Protesters, who consider the Philippines' 110 years of independence from the U.S. to be a sham, marked the anniversary of the occasion by attempting to rush the U.S. embassy yesterday. Demonstrators, most of them students, sprayed red paint on a large portrait of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo after they were rebuffed from their original target by riot police.

2008-06-12T23:58:00.012-04:00

The Global Food and Fuel Crisis Worsens:

Haveri, Karnataka, India - Police fired on farmers protesting a critical fertilizer and seed shortage killing one Siddalingappa Churi, a local farmer and injuring four others on Tuesday. The farmers had already turned violent - burning three buses. Three police officers were reported injured in the unrest. Shortages have affected planting in two other states, including Maharashtra where another demonstration was attacked by baton-wielding police.

Spain - Striking truckers, seeking relief from rising fuel costs, have caused food shortages in stores across the country. One picketing trucker was rundown and killed by a scab driver. Another driver who refused to respect the strike had his rig firebombed and suffered severe burns over 25 percent of his body. Seventy-one strikers have been arrested and charged with a variety of offenses including intimidating drivers who refused to join the protest.
A panic has spread among some consumers throughout the country who have emptied the shelves of some grocers as the majority of deliveries have been halted. The food crisis is now costing food markets an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars a day.

Brussels, Belgium - Hundreds of fishermen angry about the rising costs fuel converged on the EU headquarters in Brussels last week where they clashed with police and smashed windows at the European Commission's agriculture offices and a bank. The fishermen came primarily from France and Italy, where they have been on strike. Fishermen have also been refusing to work in Spain, and, until recently, in Portugal. Rioters also ripped up paving stones, overturned cars and destroyed surveillance cameras. Seventy-four demonstrators were arrested, and three officers were reported injured.

Britain - Shell petrol tankers are just hours away from beginning a four-day strike. This has lead some alarmists in the media to invoke the quote that Britain is just, "nine meals from anarchy." The origin of the quote was Lord Cameron of Dillington, the first head of the Countryside Agency, who made the statement to Tony Blair to illustrate what would happen if the oil needed to get food from the farms to the markets disappeared.

South Korea - Approximately 13,000 unionized truckers have walked off the job in response to rising fuel expenses. The action is expected to cripple the nation's ports and cause serious losses to businesses. The government has sent hundreds of riot police to the ports, and have threatened to intervene if the workers attempt to prevent unorganized drivers from replacing them, which they are sure to do.

2008-06-10T23:49:00.003-04:00

Banda Aceh, Indonesia - A Sharia police patrol car was destroyed in a firebomb attack by at least four individuals. It was the first reported incident of it's kind targeting police who enforce Islamic religious laws in the country.

"The attack is a sign of resistance by the population against Sharia laws, that are unfair in Aceh," said Fuad Mardhatillah, a religion and philosophy professor at the Islamic State Institute Ar-Raniry. Sharia police routinely arrest women who wear clothing deemed 'inappropriate,' unmarried couples seen together in public, as well as those suspected of gambling, consumption of alcohol or other drugs and sexual promiscuity. The federal government began allowing the largely Muslim province of Aceh to practice Sharia law in 1999.

2008-06-08T14:22:00.005-04:00

Austin, Texas, U.S. - The 152-year-old Texas Governor's Mansion was completely destroyed by a fire early this morning. Investigators have ruled arson as the cause, but the motive is unknown. Governor Rick Perry and his family were in Europe at the time. The mansion was undergoing renovations, but still protected by security cameras and state troopers at the time of the blaze. No people were injured by the fire.

2008-06-07T06:13:00.004-04:00

Caloto, Cauca Department, Colombia - The Nasa (also known as Paez) Indians of Colombia's southern state of Cauca are holding off state police with one hand and Marxist guerrillas from the FARC with the other. The Indians are armed only with machetes, slingshots, stones and sticks. They have thrown up barricades across key roads to an area they are claiming as their ancestral lands.

The Colombian state agreed to respect the Nasa peoples' claims to more than 545,000 acres of their traditional land after the massacre of El Nilo. Outrage grew following the 1991 incident in which paramilitaries aligned with the National Police brutally murdered 20 indigenous community members. Among the victims were 11 men, 5 women and 4 children. The promise that reparations would be given to survivors and the larger community didn't come until the end of President Ernesto Samper term in 1998.

The Nasa only waited so long for the government to make good on their promises. On October 12-Columbus Day 2005 they began seizing farms and non-violently pushing both left and right-wing militants off their lands. A 16-year-old indigenous activist was killed during the actions. Though things were relatively quiet in the area for a while, tensions have once again been growing in recent months. In mid-April FARC militants attacked a police station in the town of Toribío, which is located in Nasa territory, bringing increased federal attention back to the area.

Since then, Nasa land activists have taken the offensive. Hundreds of poor indigenous landless people have participated in land seizures. The state responded by sending in ESMAD anti-riot-police corps to put down the uprising and end the land appropriations. Having failed, the police are now locked in a stand-off with the activists.

Mama Kiwe, or Mother Earth, is sacred to the Nasa who have a land-based spirituality. Geovanny Yule, a leader in the 2005 land seizures, explained then that, "what we want is to liberate the Mother Earth, Mama Kiwe, from this cycle of accumulating wealth by squeezing and killing the earth which gives us life.”

2008-06-06T02:24:00.007-04:00

Adonis Georgiadis and his bookshop after a 2007 attack.

Athens, Greece - Two right-wing bookstores were attacked and firebombed by groups of hooded youths believed to be anarchists. One of the shops is owned by the right-wing LAOS party deputy Adonis Georgiadis. The same business has been targeted by anarchists numerous times in the past. Both attacks took place Thursday while employees were present, but the workers were hurried out before the fires started. Each location suffered extensive damage, and no people were injured.

2008-06-05T23:28:00.005-04:00

Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. - As many as 17 partially or recently constructed luxury homes have burned down in southeast Charlotte, western Union County, and Lancaster County, South Carolina since 2001. Authorities have yet to find who is responsible for the fires, but now believe that radical environmentalists may be behind the arsons. The most recent development to go up in smoke was a $3.5 million mansion that was destroyed Monday evening.

2008-06-04T23:05:00.004-04:00

Santiago, Chile - A student protest movement against government education reform has taken control of nine high schools and three colleges in the capital Santiago. Students have been protesting for weeks and holding frequent and sometimes violent rallies against what they see as inadequate reform to the country's education system. The nation's education policies were formed under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. More than 130 demonstrators were arrested on Monday alone.

2008-05-16T10:02:00.008-04:00

Athens, Greece - Early this morning an anarchist "gang of conscience" (symmories syneidisis) known as "Floga" (Flame) claimed responsibility for a frontal arson attack on the Police Station of Aigaleo (Athens) and vowed to carry out additional actions. Five marked patrol cars and two undercover police cars were destroyed by the groups molotov cocktails and gas canisters.

Authorities estimated that the assault was carried out by approximately 15 individuals who reached the area on motorbikes and then parked a short distance away. A guard fired three warning shots in the air in an attempt to disperse the anarchists who say they were not intimidated and left on their own accord at an agreed time. A communique was promptly issued by the group that claimed the action was designed to target, "the existence of police itself."

2008-05-02T16:48:00.033-04:00

May Day actions marking the international anarchist holiday:

New York, New York U.S. – Anarchists in New York City took part in traditional labor and immigrant rights marches that began in Brooklyn and Manhattan's Chinatown and converged in Union Square, before rallying near the Jacob K. Javits Federal Office Building that houses U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS).
Overnight anarchist graffiti appeared outside banks, real estate brokerage offices and other businesses in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Windows at a Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate office in Williamsburg, Brooklyn was among those shattered by vandals.

Olympia, Washington, U.S. – A bloc of black-clad anarchists left an authorized immigration rights May Day march and attacked banks and the state capitol building. The windows of two banks were smashed, despite the fact that customers and employees were inside. The group also allegedly attacked police officers who tried to stop them. Police used pepper ball guns against marchers.
Government business was temporarily disrupted and windows were broken as dozens of protesters burst into the legislature chanting anti-state and pro-immigrant slogans. Protesters left without arrest, but left their demands such as "Burn the Capitol" on the building's walls. Six people were arrested throughout the day, including an individual who was also arrested at a riot at Evergreen State College in February.

Mexico City, Mexico - Anarchists also marched in observance of May Day in Mexico's capital.

Bogota, Colombia - Radicals attacked a bank and smashed windows during demonstrations in the Colombian capitol.

Medellin, Colombia - Demonstrators attacked and overturned an armored truck, during an unruly protest in Colombia's second largest city.

Valparaiso, Chile - Anti-capitalist rioters clashed with police, and built barricades in the streets of Chile's unofficial capitol city on the eve of May Day.

Santiago, Chile - Hooded protesters destroyed state property, attacked police and their armored vehicles. At least one police officer was injured and 96 protesters were detained during the violence.

Seoul, South Korea - Students and police clashed during an anti-government march to mark the holiday.

Ankara, Turkey - Unionists and other protesters exchanged a steady flow of projectiles with riot police. One officer was disarmed and beaten with his own club. Police used chemical weapons, causing at least one demonstrator to be sent to the hospital. The May Day holiday has banned in Turkey since the Taksim Square massacre of 1977.

Istanbul, Turkey - Unionist as well as anarchists fought street battles with police. Authorities tried to shut down unpermited May Day observances that were planned to take place in Taksim Square.

Moscow, Russia - Anarchists demonstrated and danced with the help of a portable sound system within sight of the Kremlin. They joined thousands who came out to protest and decry rising food prices that have been affecting poor people around the world.

Hamburg, Germany - Anti-fascists clashed with police and blocked roads and train lines in order to disrupt a neo-Nazi march. Leftists and anarchists attacked neo-Nazi buses and cars smashing up and torching more than a dozen of them. Twenty Police officers were reported injured, and approximately 250 rioters were detained. Some journalists were also injured at the hands of the extreme right-wing marchers. The riots were the most intense the city has seen in years. Similar riots took place in Berlin and Nuremberg.

Switzerland - Tens of thousands rallied and marched in cities across the country in support of increased wages and more favorable labor conditions. Unrest broke out in Zurich, where anarchists and others ran riot outside of the officially sanctioned rally. Approximately 300 people were detained during the violence, and two people were injured - one seriously - as a result of an automobile accident.

Lausanne, Switzerland - Anarchists were the only ones to organize a demonstration. They led a march of hundreds through the downtown area and smashed the windows to businesses including a McDonald's.

Madrid, Spain - 25,000 people marched to demand economic reform including many members of large anarchist trade unions.

2008-04-30T23:36:00.004-04:00

Dari County, Qinghai Province, China - According to Chinese authorities a Tibetan independence insurgent shot and killed a police officer and was fatally wounded himself, as security forces attempted to apprehend the unnamed man, Monday. The alleged insurgent was accused of leading an anti-government riot in March. The shootout took place in China's western Qinghai Province a former territory of Tibet and home to many ethnic Tibetans.

The death was the first that China's Communist government has taken responsibility for since unrest broke out in the region back in March. The incident shows that tensions continue to run high in the area, and that China's troublesome problems will not likely disappear in time for the Beijing Olympic Games.

2008-04-26T22:42:00.003-04:00

Saint Joseph, Missouri, U.S. - Military recruiters arrived at their offices Friday morning to find multiple plate glass windows and the windshields to five government cars had been shattered and broken. The offices are housed in five separate storefronts one for each branch of the military: Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Recruiters admitted that this had not been the first incident, but it was the most destructive. It appeared that a hammer was used. So far no one has claimed credit for the vandalism.

2008-04-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

Athens, Greece - Someone fire-bombed three car dealerships in the early hours of Wednesday, causing extensive damage but no injuries, reports said. The foreign-owned dealerships, among them Opel and Nissan, are located in different parts of the Greek capital, and police said two of the attacks took place simultaneously.

2008-04-23T23:49:00.004-04:00

Lakewood, Colorado - Fire officials say arson has been confirmed as the cause of Tuesday's fire at Bear Creek High School. Principal Phyllis Emrich said this morning there would no classes through Monday. The fire broke out around noon Tuesday in a gymnasium, causing extensive smoke damage. No one was injured.

2008-04-22T14:24:00.004-04:00

Palmerston North, Manawatu-Wanganui, New Zealand - Vandals stalled construction in the Manawatu River watershed by torching a $750,000 drilling machine. Multimillion-dollar construction projects have have sparked heated battles between current residents, environmental advocates and developers. While above ground eco-groups attempt to slog out compromises in the courts, clandestine saboteurs have been costing the construction industry millions in additional expenses each year. According to Malcolm Abernethy, a technical adviser with the Contractors' Federation, small acts of arson and vandalism are a serious threat to industrial progress. "Every night something probably happens, but it's not always reported."

The burned machinery was owned by Blackley Construction and was the only one of its kind in the country. Blackley Construction operations manager Kevin Bush said the drill was an integral piece of equipment and the incident would probably trigger a change in the company's protocols. Additional expenses would likely include increased security transporting valuable heavy equipment back and forth from job sites twice a day. "We get hit about once a month I'd say. Not this big, but generally something will be targeted," Mr Bush said.

Similar acts of vandalism and sabotage in the U.S. are seen as deadly, serious acts of terrorism. Federal law enforcement has made the disruption and apprehension of underground eco-groups like the Earth Liberation Front a greater priority than right-wing groups with a history of indiscriminate bombings, lynchings and assassinations. Environmentally motivated vandalism, while it has yet to have even injured a single person, was ranked by the FBI as "the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat" in 2005. The Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and anti-abortion fanatics were bafflingly not ranked as serious threats. Eco-saboteurs have as of yet not injured a single person, while Christian anti-abortion terrorists have murdered nearly a dozen people and maimed more than 100 in the U.S. alone. Environmentalists who are apprehended routinely face lifelong prison sentences for their actions.

2008-04-22T04:06:00.003-04:00

Lenggeng, Negeri Sembilan State, Malaysia - Some 72 Burmese detainees rioted at a Malaysian holding camp on Monday, torching a building, after hearing they had been denied asylum in a third country, the authorities said. The detainees, who were being held at a camp just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur, forced their way into an administrative block and set it ablaze, after an unsuccessful mass escape attempt.

Just Sunday two bombs exploded in Burma's (also known as Myanmar) largest city Yangon. The nation has been under military rule since it's democratically elected government was prevented from assuming office by a coup in 1990. The first bomb exploded downtown around 8 PM. The second one went off an hour later outside of the high class Traders Hotel. The blasts were small and no injuries were reported. Information in Burma is tightly regulated by the military and little more is known at this time.

2008-04-22T03:41:00.005-04:00

Montreal, Quebec, Canada - At least five cop cars were torched and "several" stores damaged in the course of festivities celebrating the Canadiens hockey team's 1st-round playoff victory over the Boston Bruins. In March, anarchists torched six police cars in a Montreal police station parking lot.

UPDATE 4/23 - Describing the attacks as "organized," Montreal police have acknowledged that 11 other cruisers were damaged in addition to the 5 set on fire; damages to all 16 vehicles are estimated to run to $500,000 Canadian.

2008-04-21T16:18:00.002-04:00

Athens, Greece - Two anarchist groups Anti-State Action and Subversive Cell claimed responsibility for a pair of firebombings of diplomat cars belonging to the Saudi Arabian embassy early last week. Later in the week another pair of bombings destroyed cars belonging to the Bosnian embassy and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization. Anti-State Action again took credit for one of the attacks. The actions are believed to be in solidarity with an anarchist who was scheduled to stand trial for bank robbery this week.

2008-04-08T16:06:00.003-04:00

Savar, Bangladesh - At least 50 people, including 15 policemen, were injured in a two-hour clash between police and workers of a Pakistani garment factory at Dhaka Export Processing Zone (DEPZ). Sources alleged a feeling of discontent was prevailing among about 3,000 workers, as the authorities were not paying them overtime allowances and proper transportation facilities. Their anger intensified when the quality of their lunch deteriorated. Witnesses said the workers went on the rampage after lunch and ransacked the canteen and furniture of the five-storey building. The workers hurled brickbats at the police, who also charged batons.

2008-04-07T20:02:00.003-04:00

Egypt - Clashes between police and residents of Mahalla el-Kobra, including many textile workers angry over high prices and low wages, continued for a second day, with reports of looting, arson and the destruction of a billboard featuring the Egyptian president. Solidarity protests also occurred in Cairo, the capital. Nearly 40 percent Egypt's 76 million-strong population live below or near the poverty line of $2 a day. The prices of staples such as cooking oil and rice have nearly doubled in recent months, amid widespread shortages of government-subsidized bread.

Wariyapola, Sri Lanka - Five prisoners remain at large after a jailbreak in the northwestern part of Sri Lanka, two having already been recaptured.

2008-04-06T19:10:00.003-04:00

Mahalla El-Kobra, Egypt — Thousands of demonstrators angry about rising prices and stagnant salaries torched buildings, looted shops and hurled bricks at police who responded with tear gas Sunday in a northern industrial town as Egyptians staged a nationwide strike. Riots broke out among residents and workers at the largest textile factory in Egypt as security forces interfered with workers' plans to participate in the strike. Protesters stormed city hall, burned tires in the streets, smashed chairs through shop windows and ran off with computers. At least two schools were set ablaze and facades of banks were vandalized, police said. Elsewhere across Egypt, thousands skipped work and school and hundreds protested over the rising cost of food and deteriorating working conditions.

In Olympic resistance news, demonstrators against repression and occupation in Tibet repeatedly disrupted the movement of the Olympic torch through London, including one attempt to put it out with a fire extinguisher. Police and security personnel made unscheduled detours including covering part of the route by bus.

2008-04-04T00:04:00.002-04:00

Les Cayes, Haiti - An estimated 5000 demonstrators, angry at rising food costs (see last post) chanted anti-government slogans as they looted food from trucks and businesses and tried to burn down a U.N. base as police "watched helplessly". Graffiti declaring "Down with the expensive life!" has been reported to be appearing throughout Port-au-Prince.

(banner says "schools on strike!")

Paris, France - Hundreds of youth broke away from a march of several thousand, mostly high school students, protesting teacher job cuts, to attack stores, hurling rocks and bottles at police. High school students were also very active in the anti-CPE riots in France in 2006. About 100 high schools around the country were blocked or disrupted by protests Thursday.

2008-04-02T18:22:00.002-04:00

Abidjan, Ivory Coast - Crowds of demonstrators, said to have been mostly youths and women, blocked roads with burning tire barricades in two days of violent protests against rising food prices. The government responded by cutting taxes on imported food staples. NGOs have commented on the increasing amount of unrest in the global south tied to rising food prices, itself tied to the growing Western demand for biofuels.

Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, Scotland - Two of the ten escapees from a juvenile prison are still free as fugitives after a riot at the "escape-proof" "residential facility". During the riot fires were set, staff attacked and computers, electronic security system, and reinforced windows were smashed. £100,000 damage was reported.

In further prison escape news, a captive at a private prison in San Antonio, TX escaped from a rooftop recreation yard by fire escape, and wasn't missed by guards for a full day.

2008-03-21T23:37:00.005-04:00

China - A Chinese government spokesperson claimed that 17 Chinese embassies and consulates in the United States, Canada, India, Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia have suffered violent attacks since China's military crackdown on Tibetan independence demonstrations. These Chinese military responses may have left as many as a hundred dead and many more injured and imprisoned.

A metal gate protecting the Chinese consulate in San Francisco was damaged after the building was attacked with an incendiary device early this morning.

Tibetans in New Delhi stormed the Chinese embassy and clashed with police today.

An otherwise peaceful pro-Tibet march in Chicago on Tuesday ended with a broken window at the Chinese consulate.

2008-03-19T21:03:00.004-04:00

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. - Opponents to the Iraq war, and ongoing U.S. occupation, marked the five-year anniversary with demonstrations around the nation. Milwaukee's east-side Army Recruitment Center was attacked by vandals for the second year in a row. Anti-war messages were painted on the building's fascade and all the windows were smashed.

In Washington D.C., protesters poured fake blood at the site of another recruitment center, and were arrested blocking the entrances to federal buildings including the IRS. Anti-war activists also successfully blockaded the entrances to the Chevron headquarters and the Federal Reserve building in San Fransisco.

2008-03-18T23:15:00.006-04:00

Michael W. Sykes

Lambertville, Michigan, U.S. - Police say that 17-year-old Michael Sykes torched two newly constructed homes in order to call attention to the problem of urban sprawl. The teen was arrested as he allegedly attempted to siphon gasoline from an unmarked police Jeep Cherokee near a new development. Detectives say that Sykes confessed to the arsons along with another at a Kroger supermarket in 2006, as well as a recent string of acts of vandalism including burning an American flag, damaging an 80-foot utility pole and painting an anarchy symbol.

Sykes was charged as an adult, and has pled not guilty. He is being held in Monroe County Jail in lieu of $1 million bond. His next hearing is scheduled for March 26.

2008-03-17T19:33:00.006-04:00

Montréal, Québec, Canada - A group calling itself Collectif Ton Père (Your Father Collective) has claimed credit for torching six police cars last Friday in the Hochelaga Maisonneuve area. They seem to be related to another group that smashed and burned three ATMs belonging to the National Bank in Montreal. The second action was claimed by Collectif Ton Oncle (Your Uncle Collective.) Each group issued statements that were posted to anti-capitalist websites.

Both communiqués outlined their motives as being anti-state or anti-authoritarian and expressed solidarity with "Native struggles." The first statement called on others to take actions against capitalists by setting, "fire to their cars, SUVs, police cars, their new real estate developments, their big houses, their hotels."

2008-03-16T23:16:00.005-04:00

Montréal, Québec, Canada - Anti-police brutality protesters rampaged through the downtown area last night in what has become an annual ritual to commemorate the International Day Against Police Brutality. Police were unable to stop demonstrators as they smashed the windows of a number of corporate-owned franchises including McDonald's, Subway, and Starbucks Police in a helicopter followed an estimated 200 protesters who, at one point, smashed out the windows of a police van and attempted to loot equipment from it. A molotov cocktail was also thrown inside a police vehicle. Private cars and two subway stations were also vandalized. In all, 32 people were arrested on charges including mischief, assault, assault on a police officer and theft. No injuries were reported by the police this year.

2008-03-16T18:19:00.004-04:00

Lhasa, Tibet - Anti-government protesters clashed with occupying Chinese authorities and destroyed property in the regional capital Friday. As many as 30 demonstrators were reported killed, 12 police officers seriously injured (two of whom were left in critical condition), and 22 buildings were burned during the unrest. Mobs of red-clad monks, and other pro-independence rioters, overturned cars and attacked store fronts and Chinese police. The Bank of China was among the buildings targeted.

2008-03-06T06:03:00.006-05:00

New York, New York, U.S. - An early morning explosion blew out windows in the Time's Square Armed Forces Recruitment Center and shook buildings blocks away. No one was injured, but New York City police officers and firefighters now redirecting foot and vehicular traffic away from the area. The Time's Square subway station, a major hub that nearly a dozen train lines pass through was also shut down.

A witness reported seeing a large plume of smoke after the explosion and an individual wearing a hooded sweatshirt on a bicycle leaving the scene. Police believe that attack may be connected to a similar one that shattered windows in the Mexican consulate on the eve of the anniversary of slain anarchist journalist Brad Will's death last November.

The Time's Square center located directly across the street from a police station is a frequent target of anti-war protests. There are likely to be demonstrations at recruitment center as we near the fifth anniversary of the March 20th 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

2008-03-03T23:54:00.007-05:00

Woodinville, Washington, U.S. - Built Green? Nope black! read a banner left at the site of a $7 million arson that destroyed 3 "McMansions" and damaged two others. The note was a pink sheet signed with the letters "ELF" for Earth Liberation Front. According to police, the fires began with loud explosions around 5 AM this morning.

Federal authorities have investigated and failed to make any arrests in at least four similar cases in which the ELF took credit for burning trophy homes in eastern Washington.

The homes targeted today were model homes that were promoted as environmentally friendly constructions in this rural area north of Seattle. They were located on, "The Street of Dreams."

2008-02-16T14:05:00.016-05:00

Denmark - The night air of Denmark's major cities has been full of smoke and fire for the past six consecutive nights. Immigrant youth are believed to be behind the destruction in response to racist police harassment. Police have long since enforced selective "zero tolerance policies" in poor immigrant neighborhoods and declared "visitation zones"-- special areas of cities where civil liberties are temporarily suspended. The incident sparking the unrest was the police beating of an elderly immigrant man and his sons last Saturday.

Cars and dumpsters have been the main targets for the arsonists, but in the last days several schools have also come under attack. At least one school was burned to the ground. Rioters seem to be avoiding direct conflict with the police, but are using hit-and-run tactics similar to classic insurgent strategy. On several occasions, however, police and fire fighters have been met with rocks and bottles when approaching fires or large groups of youths.

A social worker from an area most most affected by the violence said, "This is the fire that the police have built. They have been on a constant course of confrontation with the youths, so it's no wonder that it comes to this." The disturbances have loud echoes to immigrant youth rioting in France that followed incidents of police brutality there. In November of 2005, months of anti-state unrest eventually spread from France's immigrant communities throughout Europe as far as Greece and Denmark.

Initially the disturbances were confined to Copenhagen, but have since broken out in more than 15 Danish cities. Last night alone, in the capital, 28 cars and even more garbage containers were burned.

2008-02-15T19:13:00.007-05:00

Olympia, Washington, U.S. - A hip-hop concert, featuring the revolutionary emcee duo Dead Prez, ended in a riot that saw tens of thousands of dollars in damaged and stolen police property. The incident began when a campus police officer arrested a suspect on misdemeanor assault charges. The show had ended but the performers, still onstage, allegedly egged on the crowd saying, “They’re taking one of our people. Go take care of it.”

A crowd of maybe two dozen concert-goers surrounded the police car, forcing them to release the arrested individual. The arresting officer and her backup were unable to start her patrol car, and hastily abandoned it as the crowd swelled to 200 strong. Rioters smashed in the cruiser's windows, graffitied the car and looted its contents, which included a laptop and radar gun before flipping the car over. Officers in riot gear later arrived on the scene and were greeted with a hail of bottles and rocks. More police cars were damaged ,but less seriously than the first. Police made no arrests, but said that they hope to find DNA on the destroyed cruiser that will lead them to suspects.

2008-02-13T23:33:00.002-05:00

Athens, Greece - A group of anarchists set fire to the offices of Interamerican insurance company, and those belonging to the temporary worker organization Manpower (OAED) in separate instances. The attacks took place on the eve of a 24-hour general strike called by the country's largest labor unions. The strike crippled all transportation, including the grounding of all airplanes, and shut down public services. The workers intend to force the government to reconsider plans to cut back the national pension system.

2008-01-31T15:57:00.001-05:00

Police officer Alejandro Barrita Ortiz shot dead in Oaxaca City park

Oaxaca City, Oaxaca, Mexico - Prominent police officer Alejandro Barrita Ortiz was assassinated yesterday morning. The incident appears to be linked to the fact that he played key role in the repression of the Oaxacan anti-government uprising of 2006 that saw control of the state capitol fall into the hands of the Oaxacan People’s Popular Assembly (APPO). An anonymous phone caller claimed responsibility for the killing on behalf of the Marxist-Leninist guerrilla group the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR). The caller explained that Barrita Ortiz was the first, and that there were, “two more left to go.”

Numerous activists were shot and killed by paramilitary goon squads of plain clothed police, state employees and their supporters, including American journalist and anarchists activist Brad Will. Once the uprising had been violently put down dozens of activists were disappeared, brutalized and raped by police forces.

Barrita Ortiz, director of the Auxiliary, Industrial, Banking and Commercial Police, had been identified as having played a key role in the police operations during and in the aftermath the 2006 uprising. He was alleged to have been responsible for coordinating illegal detentions of activists, as well as extra judicial paramilitary operations during the uprising.

The assassination took place in the “El Tequio” sports park near the international airport. Accounts vary, one reports the assassins used a 380 and 9mm handguns, and another purports AK-47s were the weapons of choice. According to the second version, the assassins fled the scene in a red pick-up and a black Dodge Stratus.

2008-01-24T23:39:00.000-05:00

Rafah, Gaza, Palestine - Israel has had Gaza under siege since the hostile Hamas led government was elected last July, but all that changed early Wednesday morning when militants demolished approximately half of a seven mile section of border wall. Hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents swarmed across the remains of the border fence into Egypt. Egyptian border guards largely stood by helpless to do anything but have been massing and now plan to once again use force to lock down the border.

Palestinian liberation fighters were allegedly quietly cutting at and weakening the border barrier for months before it was blasted at 3 AM Wednesday morning. Hamas police kept crowds away from the border, following the explosions, for three hours until the sun was up. By sunrise the crowds were so thick and determined that the few Egyptian border guards on hand were impotent to hold them back.

The situation in the Gaza Strip had grown dire since Israel closed down the borders last summer. Power outages and rampant shortages of food, medical supplies and other necessities have thrown the territory into a humanitarian crisis, though much of that pressure has been greatly lessened as goods and supplies flow into the region from Egypt.

Renegade members of the militant al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades carried out a similar but less ambitious action just over two years ago, when they used a commandeered bulldozer to destroy a portion of the same barrier. Gaza is home to 1.5 million people, and is considered by many to be the worlds largest open air prison.

Aljazeera coverage of the "Gaza prison break"