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UK: Update on the situation of anarchist comrade Toby Shone

Dark Nights.

Toby’s trial began on 6th October at Bristol Crown Court. The charges for administration of 325.nostate.net, funding of terrorism through the website and dissemination of and collection of material useful to terrorists have now been dropped due to lack of evidence.

The other charges of possession of Class A and B drugs with intent to supply, producing a class B drug and a further count of class AA drug possession are still being pursued. At this present time we understand this could carry a jail term of 3-6 years imprisonment.

The Operation Adream that has been unleashed by the British state is an attempt to destroy 325 & its publications, an attack on counter-information that is connected to the repression that has been ramped up on this island since the pandemic and resulting lockdowns, a repression that has always existed, an attack on any form of active revolt here.

We do not believe in guilt and innocence, neither in passivity, only in solidarity that contributes to the continuation of the conflict against the existent.

Strength & Solidarity to anarchist comrade Toby Shone!

Nothing is over, the conflict continues!

Dark Nights Collective

Kill The Bill: Solidarity with Bristol Protesters!

Derry Anarchists

The Derry Anarchist Collective stands in solidarity with our comrades in Bristol and other cities in their continued resistance to the Police Bill.

The Government says that this Bill “will allow the police to take a more proactive approach in managing highly disruptive protests causing serious disruption to the public.

The bill will “widen the range of conditions that the police can impose on static protests, to match existing police powers to impose conditions on marches”. And “Broaden the range of circumstances in which police may impose conditions on a protest.

What this means is that the police will have increased powers to oppress the freedom of assembly and our right to protest introducing lengthy prison sentences.

The Tories have brought this Bill in under the cover of COVID, but in reality, it is a reach to protect the status quo against legitimate protests ranging from organising for workers’ rights, Black Lives Matter protests, to the successful tactics used by Existence Rebellion in protesting climate destruction.

This is an appalling piece of legislation but an unsurprising one coming from the cowardly Tories, as the Bill went through a second reading after the brutal suppression of a peaceful vigil commemorating the life of Sarah Everard and the raising awareness of women’s safety and rights.

The media, as per usual have sided with the ruling class, by demonising the protesters in Bristol and other cities. Also there is no real opposition to this bill in parliament. So, it is up to us to stand up in solidarity with our comrades to resist this Bill, and protect the rights of women, minorities and other disenfranchised voices to organise and protest without the threat of lengthy prison sentences.

The Derry Anarchist Collective stands in solidarity with our comrades in Bristol and other cities in their continued resistance to the Police Bill.

*Fundraising to support Bristol defendants*

Fundraiser to support people who have been arrested in connection with the protests in Bristol recently. Money to be used for court fees, travel fees to court, legal cases against the police, and personal support if necessary. By Bristol Defendant Solidarity – they have supported IWW members before, financially and by showing up to things in person, so any donations would be greatly appreciated. Link here

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His Master’s Voice – police violence and the media

Anarchist Communist Group

If one was to base their understanding of how the police in Britain operate on how the mass media report it, then the police are a fine bunch of people, currently under siege from the forces of anarchy, and mindless hooligan elements, who are bent on needless violence. And last weekend’s demo in Bristol against the policing bill, according to the BBC, ITN, Sky News and every single national newspaper, told exactly that story. According to them, parroting the cops’ narrative, officers suffered broken bones and punctured lungs. However, a few days later, it became apparent that this was a made up story. In fact, the local hospital treated multiple victims of police violence and… ahem… zero injured police officers.

Midweek, when the police violently attacked a peaceful travellers’ demonstration in Bristol and wrecked the shrine to Sarah Everard in the process, again the same story was repeated by a mass media, increasingly unified as the voice of the ruling class. Then this weekend, when police went on a violent rampage again in Bristol, brutally attacking demonstrators, bystanders and journalists… and yes, you guessed it, the media continued to sing the praises of the poor old police officers, and condemned those evil anarchists, outside agitators and hooligans bent on violence.

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TOP TEN BRISTOL RIOTS: THE OFFICIAL LIST

The Bristolian

THE LIST THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO READ!!!

To celebrate last night’s small riot, here’s one list the local media will not print. Lovingly compiled by our Violent Disorder Correspondent, we give you Bristol’s Top Ten Riots
Now, next time you hear some poncey local liberal politician pronouncing on a local riot and claiming that “This isn’t Bristol” or “We don’t don’t do this” you can tell ’em, “Oh yes this is us. This is exactly what we do. The problem is that you are not us”.

10. 1090 Slave Riots

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The Burning of a Police Van is the Lighting Up of a Beacon of Hope

The Bristolian

In a country that every month lurches ever further into Right-wing authoritarianism with nary a whisper being raised, where queues at foodbanks become ever longer, where homelessness is accepted as being normal, where huge swathes of workers are one pay day from destitution, where nurses are clapped then slapped, where foreign aid is slashed and spending on nuclear defense multiplied, where police attack and kill women, where protest is criminalised, and where its government presides over 127,000 Covid-19 deaths – with nary a whisper being raised and all with the tacit support of Labour – for people then to express shock and outrage at the “horrendous and disgusting” scenes in Bristol is fucking lamentable.

The burning of a police van is the lighting up of a beacon of hope that’s going to be seen all over the world. Welcome back, Bristol, it’s been a long time.

5G and the Myth of a Green Transition

rethinking security

Far from absurd conspiracy theories about spreading coronavirus, Jo Baker argues that the rapid and seemingly unstoppable spread of 5G is happening without consultation or due consideration of the economic, environmental and climatic impact of such technologies.

5G infrastructure is currently being rolled out in many of our towns and cities. In Bristol, where I live, there has been a spate of planning applications from telecom companies for 20-metre-high monopoles in just a few weeks. A local campaign has resulted in hundreds of objections and Bristol City Council has so far refused sixteen applications on grounds of unsuitable siting and dominant appearance. There is a sense that something is being imposed from above without consultation or consent.

Bristol is well-known for its status as a ‘green’ and ‘smart’ city. It was the European Green Capital in 2015; in 2017 it overtook London as the leading smart city in the Huawei Smart City index; and it was one of the 100 Rockefeller Foundation Resilience Cities. Bristol was the first city in the UK to declare a climate emergency, followed, earlier this year, by an ecological emergency. And herein lies the conundrum. Can a city be both green and smart? Will wireless technology deliver a green transition or will it push us further towards ecological disaster?

A Fourth Industrial Revolution

According to the World Economic Forum, 5G is a necessary expansion of wireless technologies which will underpin the Fourth Industrial Revolution. It goes far beyond telecommunications – enabling the digitalisation of the global economy, energy systems, manufacturing, health, education, security, food production, and so on. It is expected to add £13.2 trillion to the global economy by 2025. It will pave the way for autonomous vehicles, remote surgery, 3D printing and military applications such as hypersonic weapons and drone targeting.

Although this digital high-tech future is sold to us as a means to a socially just and sustainable world (smart cities, energy efficiency), it is essentially about economic growth and is already having a devastating environmental impact. The fact is that digital technologies demand unprecedented amounts of mineral extraction, create large amounts of toxic waste, and

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