It’s going to be fun watching the boneheads throw a temper tantrum over this! SCISSON is urging support for the five arrested during the clash with white supremacists in Tinley Park, IL. They are set to appear in court on June 12, and there is a call from the International Action Center to get people to come out in support for them.
SCISSON
If you have ever seen my Facebook page, you will find the following quote associated with it, “Just ask, what would John Brown do.?”
I think five guys in Indiana asked themselves that question when they heard a bunch of crumbs associated with the white nationalist, white supremacist movement would be meeting just across the state line in Illinois.
Then they went and did it.
I posted an article on facebook about these guys last week and lots of people were upset with the news of ant-racists taking things seriously and pouncing on a group of unsuspecting white supremacist.
I wasn’t.
Maybe you will be.
That’s life in the big city.
It’s political prisoner Friday and these guys are political prisoners.
The first article below about what happened and why comes from Workers World. The second comes from the Tinley Park 5. It asks for some support, especially if you live in the area.
Note: I do not agree with the statement from WW, “The IEHA is not isolated from the repressive capitalist state; it is an appendage to it..”
I believe fascists, white supremacist groups operate autonomous of the State, and often in opposition to it.
Tinley Park Five: Fight fascism
On May 19, one day before the 15,000-person protest against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Summit in downtown Chicago, another kind of protest took place in a suburban community of Chicago known as Tinley Park. Eighteen anti-racists, allegedly with weapons in hand, confronted members of the Illinois European Heritage Association. Ten people were reportedly injured, mainly with head wounds.
The IEHA, which is associated with Stormfront, the so-called “Nationalist Socialist Movement” and the Knights Party, was holding an “economic summit” at the Ashford House restaurant. It was the fifth such summit organized by white supremacists in the Midwest since 2010.
The group is part of the “Pioneer Little Europe (PLE) movement, which seeks to establish mutually supportive white supremacist enclaves throughout the United States,” according to the Anti-Defamation League’s website. The ADL is pro-Israel and against the Palestinian right to return. Stormfront has a forum with “over 6 million posts, 490,000 discussion threads, and 170,000 members.” Beside English, its discussion threads include “Croatian, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, French, Russian, and other languages.” (www.adl.org)
It is noteworthy that while the Department of Homeland Security, the Chicago police and other federal, state and local agencies were working overtime to wiretap, arrest and spy on anti-NATO activists, they allowed neofascists who openly promote the extermination of people of color and Jewish people to meet publicly in a restaurant. To think that these agencies were unaware of this meeting is to be naive.
The anti-racists, all of them white, are supported by the Hoosiers Anti-Racist Movement/”Indiana Antifa Support.” HARM has relations with Anti-Racist Action, which was founded during the mid-1980s to confront racist and fascist organizations. ARA’s main ideology is anarchism. Chapters exist in various cities.
Just recently, HARM held a fundraising event for CeCe McDonald — the African-American trans woman who was a victim of a racist, anti-trans attack by white bigots in July 2011. She was subsequently charged with second-degree murder. McDonald, who was exercising her right to self-defense, is facing more than three years in prison after agreeing to the prosecution’s offer to plead guilty to a reduced second-degree manslaughter charge.
Five members were captured immediately by the police on May 19. The other 13 escaped and are still being sought by the cops. Calling themselves the Tinley Park 5, three of them are brothers, Jason W. Sutherland, Cody L. Sutherland and Dylan J. Sutherland. The other two are Alex R. Stuck and John S. Tucker. Four out of the Five are in their 20s.
The Five are scheduled to be arraigned on June 12. The bond is $175,000 each for three of the Five, $200,000 for the fourth and $250,000 for the fifth. Each bond is more than the one set for George Zimmerman, who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old African-American youth on Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman remains free (Editor’s Note — this article might have been written before Zimmerman was returned to custody following revelations that he and his wife may have lied about being indigent when his legal defense fund raised over $200,000–OPP).
According to the HARM Website, the Five have declined to make any public statements due to death threats their families are receiving from racists.
The right to preemptive strike
The May 19 incident should be viewed within the broad context of the global economic crisis that fuels the racist profiling of oppressed peoples, especially if they are Black and Brown. One only need utter the names of Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant, Ramarley Graham, Anastasio Hernández Roja
s, Rekia Boyd, Darrin Hanna, Bo Morrison, Alan Blueford, Aiyana Stanley Jones and many others who have been killed by police or vigilante terror. Earlier this year, neo-Nazis randomly killed four Black men in Tulsa, Okla.
s, Rekia Boyd, Darrin Hanna, Bo Morrison, Alan Blueford, Aiyana Stanley Jones and many others who have been killed by police or vigilante terror. Earlier this year, neo-Nazis randomly killed four Black men in Tulsa, Okla.
There are mass incarcerations, no jobs, attacks on education and virtually no bright future for young people under capitalism, no matter their nationality. The economic crisis is felt acutely throughout the U.S., but it has hit the Midwest especially hard.
In light of this unprecedented crisis, the Tinley Park 5, as well as many whites involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, are consciously choosing to side with the oppressed youth and workers and not succumb to racist demagogy by neofascists. No matter one’s view of the Five’s choice of tactics, the main question is: Don’t the workers and oppressed have the right to independently strike back, by any means necessary, when their rights are being threatened or denied by forces of political reaction?
WW says yes.
During the 19th century, the great militants John Brown and Nat Turner did not wait for approval from the abolitionist movement — whose leadership was dedicated to pacifism — to use organized violence to strike a blow against the barbaric, genocidal system of slavery.
There is no equal sign between the violence of the oppressed and those who stand with the workers and oppressed against the violence of the oppressor. The same principle should apply to any righteous struggle of an oppressed people against imperialist war and occupation, no matter what ideology may dominate that struggle. This is what communists refer to as self-determination of oppressed people.
The IEHA is not isolated from the repressive capitalist state; it is an appendage to it. It is an extra-legal terrorist force that does not have any legal standing, including any First Amendment rights. What the Tinley Park 5 did on May 19 was to carry out a preemptive strike to help expose the real danger that extremist groups pose to the movement and the masses here and worldwide. The Five heroically showed that these groups have to be crushed sooner than later.
Free the Tinley Park 5!
For more information on the case, including legal defense information, go to twitter.com @TinleyPark5 and @IndianaAntifa and tinleyparkfive.wordpress.com.
Call to Action: Pack the courtroom for June 12 appearance
The Tinley Park Five have a court appearance 9am June 12 at the Bridgeview Courthouse (10220 South 76th Avenue Bridgeview , IL 60455). The white supremacist community is threatening later violence against anyone in attendance as can be seen in this thread from Stormfront. The International Action Center has posted a short article about the court date located here. The Tinley Park Five and their support network hope to gather a large group of people to attend, in order to prevent their friends and family from being targeted by violent fascists.
We realize that many activists in the Chicago area might not be supportive of the tactics the Tinley Park Five are accused of. Keep in mind, they have not been convicted of anything at this time. We ask that you consider attending this court date even if you’re uncomfortable with militant actions as a show of support to their families. We need a large group of people for the families to be able to blend into. If you’re not comfortable showing solidarity with the Tinley Park Five, we ask that you consider attending as a show of solidarity to their families and friends who have never participated in any direct action and just want to be able to see their sons, brothers, and partners without fear of being murdered by fascist thugs.
Those willing to participate in this show of solidarity are asked to seriously consider the potential risks of walking into the cross-hairs of these racist lunatics.
If you are willing to come, we ask that you adhere to the following guidelines in order to protect the families and loved ones of the Tinley Park Five as well as to not jeopardize the legal outcome of the case:
- Do not bring cameras.
- If asked to comment by media, or anyone claiming to be a journalist, say only two words: “NO COMMENT“
- Be respectful and cooperative with all law enforcement and court officials
- Do not engage in debate or discussion with any racist elements
- Do not confront or posture against white supremacists at the courthouse. They will be there trying to provoke a response.
- Do not assume that anyone you do not personally know is a supporter. White nationalists do have plans to `infiltrate’ their supporters as well as pose as journalists, bloggers, and curious activists
- Do not wear any clothing that shows allegiance to any anti-racist or anti-fascist cause.
- Be aware that the Chicago Tribune and other main-stream media outlets have already jeopardized the safety of Tinley Park Five supporters. They are desperate for any chance to portray the Tinley Park Five and their supporters as crazy fanatics. Don’t give them this ammunition, even though both reporters and white supremacists will be doing their best to bait you into behaving in a militant fashion.
- This is serious business. If you don’t think you’re capable of holding your tongue when hearing Nazis and Klansman call supporters things such as “race-traitors”, “niggers”, “anti-white terrorists”, “mud-babies”, and every other ethnic slur imaginable we ask that you show your support in one of these different ways.
The overwhelming support the Tinley Park Five continue to receive has become a life-altering experience for those of us working on jail support. Thank you for considering to help. Solidarity.
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