An announcements-only Signal thread in Chicago for the DNC and beyond
Submitted Anonymously
Pesky Parakeets Signal Thread
Month: August 2024
Leaked internal memo from the March on the DNC Coalition
Repost from @ChiRiverOtter
A leaked internal memo from the March on the DNC Coalition shows that Coalition organizers (CJP, PSL, etc.) plan to hand disruptive protestors over to the cops. We’ve reproduced it here in full.
Don’t let protest marshals convince you to betray and endanger those willing to escalate for Gaza—cooperation with protest marshal instructions means cooperating with cops. This is about limiting and controlling protestors, NOT diversity of tactics.
Think before you listen to what someone in a vest tells you to do. Protect those who escalate. People who are willing to assume risk deserve your cooperation & trust.
Submitted Anonymously
Update 3 on Casey Goonan
Update from the Casey Support Committee
August 12, 2024
On July 23rd Casey was indicted by a federal grand jury on three charges all relating to the same incident. Two of the charges allege destruction of property by fire/explosives and carry a 5-20 year sentence each if convicted. The third charge alleges possession of an unregistered firearm and carries a maximum of 10 years (note: “firearm” here is referring to the alleged destructive device, not a gun). Casey’s lawyers have officially agreed to represent them in federal court.
Casey is back in Santa Rita in federal custody and expects to remain where they are for the time being. All the transfers and changes in custody were jarring and Casey will hopefully be able to finally settle into a routine. Alongside their already rigorous usual studies they have been pursuing their own legal self-education in preparation for their ongoing case.
In observance of Black August, Casey will be participating in FLEA days along with one other person from their pod- 24 hour fasts in commemoration of New Afrikan revolutionaries on the days they were assassinated. Here is more information about the history of Black August for those wanting to learn more!
People across the country have been putting out beautiful statements of support! These are so important as they demonstrate the incredible love people have for Casey for their years of commitment to community, solidarity, and mutual aid.
Statement of Solidarity with Casey Goonan by Stevie Wilson
Message of Support to Free Casey Goonan: Free Them All! by Hybachi LeMar of Black Autonomy Federation – Chicago
The support team has also been working on launching a crowdfunding campaign for Casey, so please stay tuned and start thinking about how to mobilize your networks or throw a fundraiser yourself! Updates will come soon. We can currently already accept large donations from individual donors in the form of checks, please reach out for more information to make this happen.
If you would like to write Casey, you can do so at:
Casey Goonan #UMF227
Santa Rita Jail
5325 Broder Blvd
Dublin, CA 94568
Casey is still excited to receive mail including updates on news and current affairs as they have been feeling cut off from the world.
As a reminder:
- Do not discuss the case. Casey is still pre-trial and receiving mail concerning their case can seriously endanger them.
- Do not valorize Casey. They are a person and a member of our community, not a symbol or martyr. Casey isn’t looking for praise, but rather to maintain correspondence.
- Do not write anything you wouldn’t want Fox News, a cop, or a judge to see. Assume that intelligence and law enforcement agencies are reading your letter.
- As you correspond with Casey, they may send requests aside from books or commissary. Please coordinate directly with Casey’s Support Committee regarding additional asks.
If you wish to help keep money on Casey’s books, there are several ways to do this:
- At the jail via the TouchPay kiosk in the lobby.
- Sending a money order in the mail. The money order must be made payable to “Casey Goonan #UMF227” and there must be no other material in the envelope. No cash or personal checks will be accepted.
- Online with a credit card via one of the vendor platforms run by GlobalTel such as accesscorrections.com or connectnetwork.com. You will have to create an account. If the platform offers different fund options, the fund you want to get Casey money for commissary is called the “Trust Fund”.
Your ongoing support is so needed and appreciated. To receive these updates by email, message cscommittee@proton.me
Stay strong! Stay tuned!
Love & Struggle from the Casey Support Committe
Learn from our mistakes: an uninterrupted IOF gala
This communique describes an attempt by a crew of fiends in Chicago to coordinate a disruption for a fundraising event benefitting the Illnois Friends of the IDF in March. This attempt ultimately failed to achieve its goals. The organizers hope to share what they learned during this attempt, as well as some information on the FIDF & its connection to the genocide of the Palestinian people, in hopes of inspiring & aiding the continued effort to disrupt this group.
As enemies of the IOF and the zionist state of israel, an autonomous crew began organizing against the “Friends of the IDF” Illinois Chapter. The Chapter planned to host its annual Young Leadership Bar Night & Fundraiser in the River North neighborhood of Chicago on Saturday night. They were disgusted at the thought of zionists safely gathering in bar in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Chicago to celebrate the genocide of Palestinians and raise funds to futher the genocide.
In deciding to disrupt a party to raise funds for the IOF’s bloodsoaked 35th Paratroopers Brigade, the crew identified 2 primary goals:
No money to the IOF. Materially prevent and/or disrupt the ability of zionists to make donations to the IOF (eg. ideally by shutting it down and/or ensuring the event does not take place as planned.)
Make zionists afraid. Instilling fear in zionists particularly to be public with their support, feel any comfort in gathering together, etc.This crew thought about their experience with past actions to disrupt similar fascist events, and concluded that a passive sidewalk protest was unlikely to acheive either of these goals. The FIDF is very aware that it has enemies in Chicago, so having to walk past some people holding signs was unlikely to dissuade the type of people who will attend this fundraiser. In fact, it would probably contribute to their persecution complex. A public-facing call to action would also probably result in a large NGO call for a counter-protest, and the resulting peace-policing would prevent truly disruptive action from being taken.
Based on this assessment, they decided to try and coordinate a disruption only within the group, and to keep the project off social media & out of big chats unless mass support became necessary. It seemed likely that something could be done in the building where the fundraiser was going to be held, with a small number of people, that would close down the location or otherwise force them to cancel the fundraiser.
The initial advertisement said the fundraiser would be at “a River North nightclub,” and the actual address was only available to those who purchased a nearly $100 ticket. The group made a list of River North nightclubs with party spaces and did some internet sleuthing. Certain locations were ruled out due to size and other factors. The group then emailed these spaces, posing as a group inquiring on booking the space on the same day during an overlapping time. Spaces that responded and said they were available were ruled out. A different fake persona reached out to all the spaces on the list, posing as a clueless zionist mother wanting to buy her son a ticket to the gala. “I heard you’re hosting the event. Can I buy a ticket directly from you?” One of the spaces, Bodega Imports, responded, “How did you know we were hosting the gala?” And from there the crew got to work.
The process of deciding on, researching, & preparing for a disruptive plan ended up being riddled with dead ends. Supplies were unavailable, difficult to acquire in non-traceable ways, or tactics proved ineffective in test experiments. The biggest hurdle was when the event seemingly changed venues 4 days before — something that would not have been discovered if a group member hadn’t been following the social media of some FIDF admin. A story post boasted the number of tickets sold (over 650), which vastly outpaced the capacity of Bodega Imports. The apparent location change, and lack of scouted information on the new location, sent the group back to the drawing board impossibly close to the event date.
Someone floated the possibility of coordinating a group to be on stand-by for an above-ground disruption if the other routes of action failed, and the group agreed. They still wanted to cancel the fundraiser, but didn’t want it to go completely un-disrupted if that plan failed. They reached out via DM to some friends, and formed a chat with people who agreed to go to River North on the night of the event.
Despite continued ambitious investigation attempts, right up until the start time of the event, the location was discovered way too late. One group member found out through social media sleuthing that the event was at a bistro and nightclub called Tao. Unfortunately, this information was revealed only after the fundraiser ended.
Of course, the crew was devastated that this celebration of genocide went off without disruption. They met to discuss what could be done differently in the future, and came up with the following points:
The investigation of possible locations could have been kept open longer, alongside the process of preparing tactics.
A group could have been formed to focus on preparing above-ground disruption tactics such as bird-dogging, protesting, or blockading the club. The group could be separate from, but in communication with, the original crew.
The examination of the social media of FIDF admin & associates could have started earlier, as this was a very useful source of information.
Some method of accessing FIDF's internal comms, such as by infiltration or purchasing a ticket to the event, could have been done early in the process.
The above plans would have required additional people to be brought in, as the group was at capacity with investigating the first location and preparing tactics. More people would involve having a nimbler vouching process. Of course, it was only in hindsight that the need for these plans was indentified -- but, bringing in more people may have helped generate these ideas & more.While the crew doesn’t generally regret their underground approach, they agreed that if they knew how tight the FIDF’s infosec was going to be, they would have moved differently from the beginning. Namely, they would not have counted so much on being able to identify & access the location, and in their ability to get the event canceled. They believe that having a larger group pursuing a wider array of investigative & disruptive tactics would have increased the likelihood that the event could be disrupted, and also, may have catalyzed a bigger movement to counter the FIDF’s operations. There was not general knowledge amongst Chicago anti-zionists, whether above- or below-ground, that the event was even happening, and having a media strategy to address this would have benefitted the organizing by adding more capacity. In the end, an over-reliance on below-ground organizing was a weakness of this particular project.
The rest of this document provides information about the FIDF, and about the particular brigade of the IOF that it financially supports. The crew hopes that this communique will be disseminated to anyone interested in continuing to organize against the FIDF and any similar groups funding of the genocide of the Palestinian people.
Where does the IL “Friends of the IDF” Chapter’s Blood Money Go?
The IL Chapter of the Friends of the IDF (ILFIDF) sponsors the 35th Paratroopers Brigade – an “elite airborne infantry” brigade. This level of sponsorship goes beyond what is typical for most chapters of FIDF which is to “adopt a battalion”. The 35th consists of three battalions, and like their benefactors at ILFIDF, they too are overachievers — when it comes to war crimes. Service is voluntary, and admission is highly competitive with 4 out of 5 applicants rejected in an average year.
As a result the Brigade has played a critical and leading role in the ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Formed in 1955, the 35th’s first commander was Ariel Sharon, and they were responsible for the theft of the Western Wall and Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1967. They have been involved in every major military operation since their formation including suppression of the Second Intifada, both invasions of Lebanon, and the invasion of Khan Younis in 2014.
Today the 35th Brigade is once again invading Khan Younis. Self-reported troop movements by the IOF have placed them in the vicinity of the Al Amal and Al Nasser Hospitals during the siege and subsequent invasions of each hospital. Whether directly responsibly or not, they are at the very least implicated in the shellings, assassinations, kidnappings, torture, disappearances, and forced displacement of patients, refugees, and medical/humanitarian workers, and destruction of aid, medical equipment, and public health infrastructure at these locations and throughout western Khan Younis.
The Brigade, along with the larger 98th Division with whom they are embedded, has also called in airstrikes to the Israeli Air Force on multiple occasions. While we cannot definitively link any one bombing to them, we can establish that the 98th is “the unit that is leading the offensive in Khan Younis” according to Brig. General Dan Goldfuss. The overwhelming majority of the targets and deaths have been civilian including strikes on the Khalil Al-Rahman and Khalid bin Al-Waleed Mosques, the Ahmed Abdelaziz school, as well as countless homes and dwellings. In addition to the unmitigated slaughter, this coordinated campaign of terror has forced hundreds of thousands to flee to Rafah, many of them people who had already fled to Khan Younis from the north.
We hold ILFIDF responsible for their enthusiastic and vicarious participation in the 35th Brigade’s atrocious conduct, and as such call on all people of conscience in the greater Chicagoland area to disrupt their operations by whatever means appropriate to the task at hand.
Submitted Anonymously
Message of Support to Free Casey Goonan: Free Them All!
Via Free Hybachi LeMar, audio recording available on the original post.
“Revolutionary Greetings.
My name is Hybachi LeMar and I’m a member of the Black Autonomy Federation Chicago Local Organizing Committee. I’m sending this message to support the release of scholar activist dedicated community organizer and friend Casey Goonan.
When I was houseless, he let me eat and sleep in his home. Each morning we asked each other, “What’s your positive affirmation for the day?” We take a meaningful moment before sharing a positive truth, both of us knowing it’s significance in our lives when we internalize it as an instrument of our liberation. More often than not, for the years I’ve known Casey, he’s neglecting his own needs to prioritize those of others, has led me to ask him instinctively, if he’s taken his meds yet. And I’ve lost count how many times he thanked me for reminding him before asking if I remembered to take mine too.
With barely anything in his pocket, I watched him fill a perfect stranger’s diabetic medication prescription. He’s loved, and I don’t mean by me, but by street walkers and other commoners throughout Chicago.
He’s organized fundraisers in one particular area of the city on several occasions. We’d pass out $20 bills he prefilled in envelopes, for every single houseless person on the street, or asking for change. From one corner to the next, up one gentrified block and up another, not letting him know the contents, or lingering around for thanks; often with the clenched fist of unity and a solidarity smile.
It was heartwarming to hand out gloves, masks, hygiene supplies like cases of hand sanitizer, chips, and other community needs for free, under the el train one blistering winter amidst the pandemic from a makeshift warming center he’d open each weekend. A smile on people’s faces glow from appreciation, from those of us who know him, to the newcomers asking ‘And this is for free?’ when glancing at the fold-out tables, not far from the turnstile.
“Mm-hmm! Yep! Help yourself,” Casey responds, wishing them a good day and to take care, which is substantial to folks rendered socio-economically invisible in the city.
Free, the root word in freedom, has been top priority as an agenda item for Casey from dusk til dawn every day of every year that I’ve known him.
He likes to remind everyone how special we are in this world, by showing how easy and necessary it is to care for each other, and to help a world that could certainly use it, offering a space and a table of togetherness, and free education.
As a publisher, he provides an invaluable resource for writers. With freedom inspired by billions of us, it speaks not only to our conscious, but to our collective benefit to know we’re substantially freer in this world with him inside it. We, particularly poor folk throughout the city, appreciate him.
The socio-economically engineered gentrification spiraling genocide by poverty in Chicago’s northside has been as politically protracted as an alienated southside housing he helped me leaflet. His spirit of spending his last to buy insulin for the diabetic outside the electric doors at Walgreens is the same one alive in the Holy Land 5 that sends medicine and food supplies to orphans in Palestine.
Casey Goonan is a walking model of our aspired-after ideals as Human Beings. A genuine listener, whose aura is evident in the integrity of compassion. His ideals against genocide are shared by me and each of us around the globe who envision a world released from it’s grip.
Free Casey Goonan! Free Jack Mazurek! Free the Cop City 61! Drop the charges against the Merrimack 4 and the Mountain Valley pipeline defenders! Free the Holy Land Foundation 5! Free Leonard Peltier! Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Free Cletus C Rivera! Free them all!
In solidarity with the Columbia University Hinds Hall demonstrators and the CUNY 22.
Love and soli.”
Statement of solidarity with Casey Goonan by Stevie Wilson
Many years ago, while imprisoned at SCI-Smithfield, and struggling to keep our study groups afloat, I received an e-mesage from Casey Goonan. I had no clue whom he was. He said he reached out because he heard about the work I was doing inside and wanted to offer any assistance he could. He did, and he continued to do so. Casey has been one of the most consistent and ready allies/accomplices of imprisoned people. Whether producing zines that center imprisoned voices, mailing zines to imprisoned people at no cost, coordinating phone zaps to combat repression by prison officials, raising funds for mutual aid, building social media presence for imprisoned folx or just lending an attentive ear to the concerns of imprisoned people, Casey has been unstinting in his support of anyone, anywhere, who is being oppressed.
My friend, my comrade, my brother, is currently being held in a county jail in CA. I wish I were out there to do more for him, to manifest by love and solidarity for him. What I want everyone to know is that Casey Goonan is an amazing ally/accomplice of oppressed people everyone. In this, his time of need, he should be supported and cared for. I ask people to keep close tabs on the situation, show up for Casey and make sure that while he is inside, jail officials do not harm him or exacerbate his condition. I don’t ever claim to speak for all imprisoned people, but I feel confident in saying that thousands of imprisoned people across this land have benefited from Casey’s efforts. We ask you support our comrade and care for him.
Always,
Stevie
Via In The Belly Zine.