nsrxn

Opposing War. What should be done? A discussion meeting on how we can develop a practical internationalist postion in the face of war escalation. Wednesday, January 15 · 7 – 8:30pm At the moment, revolutionaries upholding internationalist positions are in a minority. Many have embraced support for one side in the conflicts created by capitalism, either supporting Russia or the Ukraine, or siding with Hamas in the mayhem unleashed in the Gaza strip, Lebanon and the wider Middle East.Some questions need answering. How do we increase the audience for an internationalist position that opposes imperialist war? How do we give practical solidarity to those directly effected by war, to the war resisters, conscientious objectors, draft dodgers and deserters who have risked much, whether in Russia, Ukraine or Israel? How do we sabotage the war efforts? This and other questions raised by the drive to war will be addressed at an online meeting with a speaker from the Anarchist Communist Group as well as a range of guest speakers There will be plenty of time for discussion.As well as a speaker from the ACG, there will be speakers from Old Moles Collective- Old.moles.collective @gmail.com ,Alex Alder, author of https://libcom.org/%E2%80%A6/british-anarchism-succumbs-war-feverand Jan, an antimilitarist activist

The Border Patrol conducted unannounced raids throughout Bakersfield on Tuesday, descending on businesses where day laborers and field workers gather. Agents in unmarked SUVs rounded up people in vans outside a Home Depot and gas station that serves a breakfast popular with field workers.“It was profiling, it was purely field workers,” said Sara Fuentes, store manager of the local gas station. Fuentes said that at 9 a.m., when the store typically gets a rush of workers on their way to pick oranges, two men in civilian clothes and unmarked Suburbans started detaining people outside the store. “They didn’t stop people with FedEx uniforms, they were stopping people who looked like they worked in the fields.” Fuentes says one customer pulled in just to pump gas and agents approached him and detained him.Fuentes has lived in Bakersfield all her life and says she’s never seen anything like it. In one instance, she said a man and woman drove up to the store together, and the man went inside. Border Patrol detained the man as he walked out, Fuentes said, and then demanded the woman get out of the vehicle. When she refused, another agency parked his vehicle behind the woman, blocking her car. Fuentes said it wasn’t until the local Univision station showed up that Border Patrol agents backed up their car and allowed the woman to leave.Fuentes says none of the regular farm workers showed up to buy breakfast on Wednesday morning. “No field workers at all,” she said.“They were stopping cars at random, asking people for papers. They were going to gas stations and Home Depot where day laborers gather,” said Antonio De Loera-Brust. “It’s provoking intense anxiety and a lot of fear in the community.”The Fresno Bee reported that, “Immigration advocates [stated that] they’re hearing from families that their loved ones are located at the Golden State Annex Detention Center in Kern County as well as a detention in Imperial County near the U.S.-Mexico border.” The Golden State Annex has been the site of ongoing hunger and work strikes by detainees, in protest of unpaid labor and horrific conditions.Large protests have quickly spread in response to the raids last week. In Bakersfield, “[s]everal hundred Kern County residents gathered at the corner of Ming Ave. and Wible Road to protest Border Patrol’s three-day operation.” The Rapid Response Network, a coalition of groups in the Bakersfield area, state that they will also continue to hold Know Your Rights trainings. One protester stated, “We’ve always been here, and we’re going to stand up for our students, our families, our workers. We stand by them and we’re not afraid. We’re not scared.”The protests then spread to Fresno, one of the state’s largest cities, with hundreds rallying against the raids. One protester was quoted as stating, “We are not going to sit back anymore. All the youth, all these people that are here today and all these people across the country are going to fight back against deportation, against family separations, because enough has been enough.”In 2006, massive student walkouts and wildcat strikes by immigrant workers beat back draconian anti-immigrant legislation. With the threat of mass deportations under Trump, the possibility of a new strike wave and growing protests is escalating.

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/31043595

The Office of Independent Investigations is a state cabinet-level office tasked with reviewing law enforcement’s use of deadly force. The agency was activated on Dec. 1 and was notified by the Vancouver Police Department about Gunderson’s killing at 11:31 p.m. on Dec. 4. The first OII investigators arrived at the scene shortly after midnight, with 15 ultimately joining the initial response.

But OII isn’t yet responding to police killings in most of the state. Instead, the agency that’s been four years in the making is rolling out in phases.

Having broken up Washington into six regions, OII will, for now, solely respond to killings in Region 1, stretching from the state’s southwestern border with Oregon to the northernmost tip of the Olympic Peninsula. The split is based on the historical frequency of police killings. Region 2 covers Pierce County and Region 3 covers King County.