“I hope one day somebody brings the guillotine and kills all of you motherfuckers.”
These are words from Riddhi Patel, an Indian-American protester, who is currently facing 21 felony counts for threatening council members during her speech for Palestine. “Regardless of whether you elect people into office, they’ll backstab you, they’ll let you die. And for that reason – you guys want to criminalize us with metal detectors, we’ll see you at your house. We’ll murder you.”
People on the right, center, and even left spoke out to condemn Riddhi Patel’s speech. People claiming to be “pro-Palestine” said the cause would be smeared because of her.
But truthfully, the cause was being smeared before her speech, anyway. Riddhi Patel broke the law with her words, but she spoke to these politicians the way they deserve to be spoken to. These people have blood on their hands and should have fear in their hearts. It wasn’t respectable of her, it wasn’t polite. But it was just. It was needed.
I’ve spoken extensively before about how capitalism is criminogenic, how the law is crafted by the ruling class to protect its bourgeois interests. I’ll remind everyone again: legality is not a marker of morality. And the law is NEVER neutral.
Fascism isn’t coming, it is already here. Honestly, it’s been here for a while. Ask unhoused Black and Indigenous folks. Ask working-class disabled folks. The only people who would still deny this are either those who benefit from fascism, or those who will realize too late that they won’t be protected from it. There are multiple ongoing genocides globally, and where there isn’t genocide there is still occupation, violent exploitation, ethnic cleansing, eugenics, proxy wars, concentration camps, mass incarceration, and more and more and more. Palestine. Haiti. Sudan. Congo. Philippines. Kashmir. Hawai’i. All of occupied Turtle Island where I reside. Puerto Rico. Kurdistan. Chiapas. And more. And more. And more.
There is no good reason to appeal to optics and respectability. The situation is dire. You say “no justice, no peace” and then work with the police? You want to #ShutItDown and resist, but will only engage in peaceful demonstrations? You say “from Turtle Island to Palestine” but then still legitimize the settler-colonial state of Canada? Really?
I don’t care if the protest is peaceful. I don’t care if the protesters are “good” or “bad.” None of us should. I care that the protests are effective. We are far beyond the point of the optics mattering. Fighting to win looks very different from fighting for “positive” press coverage. If people continue down the path of the peaceful demonstration, we will face defeat.
Arrest is not a badge of honour. I’ve seen countless videos by now of peaceful demonstrators allowing angry counter-protesters to drag them off the streets, pile them up for mass arrest. People on social media hyping up arrest photos. What is mass arrest doing aside from shuffling politically engaged youth into the prison system?
On the other hand, I have also seen videos of successful de-arrests, and videos of students (shoutout Cal Poly Humboldt students!) clashing with riot police and winning. I want to see more and more and more. Study, evade, dearrest, resist.
People keep saying that our oppression is connected and that our liberation is bound together (which is true) but won’t integrate their protests with the larger anti-imperialist struggle. That doesn’t work. A movement will die if it does not expand. Extending this movement to the struggle for LandBack on Turtle Island, for Sudan, against the police, etc., requires people to be principled.
This means no collaboration with police, no passing the mic to politicians. Nothing could kill a movement faster. This is both because it is an act of betrayal to the very people we need, and because it also allows the State to swoop in and de-escalate. A friendly ‘progressive’ politician would love nothing more than to repair young people’s attachment to the imperialist project. A normalizer, or someone who condemns the armed resistance would love nothing more than to “calm” the waters and shift the focus to a ceasefire and two-state solution. And then they would love for you to move on. These people are infiltrators and opportunists. A politician is the State. Police are the State. Maybe they haven’t brutalized you personally before, but they kill, incarcerate, beat, and oppress countless others, and they will turn on you and do the same if you let them.
The world is burning, but that also means it can start anew. Capitalism, colonialism, and imperialism were all created, meaning they can all be destroyed. Revolutionary optimism is a responsibility we all must hold firmly on to. Mao called imperialism a “paper tiger” and we are seeing that this is true. Paper catches fire. Empire is fragile. The ruling class cannot compare to the global majority. What is holding you back? Your degree? Taxes? A 9-5? The most oppressed, with the least to lose, will lead.
No policing protesters, no de-escalating their tactics because you think they’re too “radical” or “bad PR.” No condemning people like Riddhi Patel. No condemning the resistance.
Learn from the resistance fighters of the past. Learn from the protests and riots around the world. Cover you face, even if it doesn’t look cute. Don’t leave community behind, and take extra care to protect Black and Indigenous protesters who are the most likely targets for arrest and violence. Stand together. Step into the future.
Protest and Action Guides
Protest Tactics and Staying Safe
Understanding the “Crossbow” Tactic
Militant Street Tactics: Pushing and Pulling
Resisting Fear, Arrest, Repression (Ontario-based, SUPER IMPORTANT)