In celebration of May Day—International Worker’s Day—actionists defaced the McKinley monument in McKinley Park, Chicago.
William McKinley, the 25th president of the so called “United States”, was a violent colonizer who orchestrated the colonization & annexation of Hawaii in 1898, and oversaw the US takeover of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Phillippines & Cuba. McKinley, whose reign focused on expansionism, protectionism & US imperialism, was assassinated by anarchist Leon Czolgosz in 1901. Czolgosz’s final words prior to his execution by electric chair were “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people– the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.”
The monument to US imperialism was covered with messages of “Topple Colonizer,” “Land Back,” “Fuck you from Hawaii, Ceasefire Now,” “Free Palestine,” “End Every Empire,” “Solidarity Forever,” “End US Imperialism” & “Leon Czolgosz we love you.” The statue from 1904 is made from the melted down bronze sculpture of Christopher Columbus—fuck McKinley, fuck Columbus, and fuck every president and settler colonial entity. We must topple and attack US occupation & violence and the monuments and institutions that glorify it. Decolonization Now, from Turtle Island to Palestine. SOLIDARITY FOREVER!
On Sunday, an autonomous crew targeted and redecorated a US Army Recruitment Center in the Avondale neighborhood of so-called Chicago.
One week ago, Aaron Bushnell self-immolated outside the zionist embassy in so-called Washington DC. He follows an unnamed self-immolation outside the zionist embassy in so-called Atlanta. In addition, in 2023, a man self-immolated in Kinshasa, DRC in protest of the genocide in Congo over capitalist green and resource extraction of cobalt and copper for the world’s technology.
As such, comrades took the following actions against the recruitment center for the 33,000+ Palestinian martyrs since October 7, for Aaron Bushnell, and for all those struggling against the US imperialist machine:
Painted Avenge Aaron, Gaza will Haunt You, and Free Gaza across the military machine recruitment center windows
Smashed windows of the main army recruitment office
Covered surveillance cameras with spray paint
Poured red paint on windows of the Marines recruitment office
As US imperialism and capitalism abound, we target the US military in its enforcement of imperialism from Haiti to AFRICOM to Palestine and beyond. We reject the US airdrops of “aid” in Gaza with one hand while it uses the other to provide logistical, materials and political support to the ongoing Nakba.
We encourage all in the heart of empire to escalate tactics against the US military weapons manufacturers and entities complicit in genocide – from the BDS list, to zionist groups in Chicago and beyond, to those engaging in the predatory recruitment of individuals to the military – often targeting Black high schoolers. We encourage all military personnel to de-enlist and let the shame of your colonial service push you to radical action.
All it takes is a small group of people experimenting, building trust, and taking action together. Make a plan, gather your tools, go out, and attack. Remember to bloc up and leave your phones at home! There’s a Navy recruitment center and crisis pregnancy center/fake clinic next door to where this attack happened.
We remember Aaron’s last words:
“I will no longer be complicit to genocide. I am about to engage in an extreme act of protest. But compared to what people have been experiencing in Palestine at the hands of their colonizers – it’s not extreme at all. This is what our ruling class has decided will be normal.”
May we commit to escalated action such that US militarism crumbles into the abyss. Glory to al the martyrs.
We took it upon ourselves to redecorate a gym on the North Side that is commonly frequented by zi0nists. Our crew left two messages on the second story walls of the outdoor bleachers reading: ABOLISH “ISRAEL” and فلسطين حرة (Free Palestine in Arabic). May those zi0nist cowards be reminded with every breath, in every space, that their genocidal project is coming to an end. May every zi0nist coward never know a moment of peace for the rest of their miserable lives. May every prison wall fall and every prisoner know freedom and justice– from Chicago to Palestine: abolish these blood-soaked empires, and free them all!
Early on January 27th, comrades gathered to honor Tortugita by wheat-pasting posters on the building and gluing the card reader outside the bank shut (although the tap function remained available, for anyone who was wondering). A belated day of the Forest Defender, may the pigs never expect us when we are always late. Viva Tortugita, may Bank of America stop funding ATL or cumble, and long live the struggle.
Bank of America branch locked in response to BOA funding: Mountain Valley Pipeline, Cop City linked to Tortuguita’s murder, and the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
Chicago, Illinois — A Bank of America branch was locked and windows wheatepasted with flyers containing links to the bank’s abhorrent acts of cruelty. People are calling on BOA to drop its funding of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a 303-mile pipeline described as “a scar across Appalachia.” The MVP will supply fuel to the Radford Army Ammunition Plant. RAAP is operated by BAE systems, which supplies the Israeli government with weapons used to murder Palestinians. BOA also funds Cop City, the 85-acre militarized police training compound that the Atlanta Police Foundation is attempting to build in Atlanta, GA. Construction for Cop City desecrates and bulldozes the Weelaunee Forest, the largest urban forest in the United States, dubbed one of the lungs of Atlanta.
“While I do not live in Appalachia, as a descendant of Appalachian migrants, the destruction of mountains, communities and ecosystems in Appalachia for the purpose of supplying fuel to an ammunition plant that supplies the Israeli Occupation Forces with weapons used to kill the indigenous people of Palestine enrages and disgusts me. The struggles of ordinary people across the world are interconnected, and Bank of America funds so many causes of environmental destruction and human suffering and death.” an anonymous Midwesterner said.
This action was taken in solidarity with Appalachian’s Against Pipelines, a direct action campaign of pipeline fighters opposing MVP construction on the ground. Block every path! No pipelines through Appalachia, or anywhere! Solidarity forever! Stop Cop City and Free Palestine!
P.S. IMPORTANT ADDITION:
Some of the flyers used in this action state “SHUT ELBIT DOWN!” This is due to Bank of America’s documented financing of a $500 million dollar loan to Elbit Systems, an Israeli weapons manufacturer. Elbit Systems Ltd. has been the centerpiece target for the direct action campaign led by Palestine Action, which has produced hard hitting actions that have included lots of red paint, smashed up offices, and other creative tactics. Palestine Action’s bold attacks have resulted in some very clear successes in England, where they have forced Elbit to shut down two of their facilities through these sustained direct actions.
The bank BNY Mellon has recently been identified by the U.S. offshoot of Pal. Action as a target and has seen some similar clever tactics deployed against it in recent months. However, BNY Mellon offices are often tucked away in suites or skyscrapers. It can be more difficult, by design, to interrupt their business of death dealing and capitalist $$$ swapping. Bank of America, on the other hand, perpetuates its business in much more accessible locations and exists almost everywhere: in small towns and cities, in skyscrapers and surrounded by the cul-de-sacs of suburban sprawl. One can easily imagine BOA as a supplemental target to BNY Mellon because of its similar financing of Palestinian genocide through Elbit. One can also easily imagine actions like this one, or with other tactics in play, could be taken at BOA branches all over Turtle Island.
QR code on the wheatpasted flyers leads to this link for more info:
At this anarchist assembly we will strategize ways to be more proactive in anarchist interventions. In addition to continuing the discussion of palestinian solidarity and strategizing for anarchist activity we will also be discussing the DNC and other topics attendees may be interested in. We will be focusing on what our role is in Chicago to deepen a global rupture and what proactive anarchist intervention looks like.