Atlanta: A Few More Words Against Rats

no cameras

From Scenes from the Atlanta Forest
March 7, 2023

After reading A Few Words Against Rats (see below), we wanted to address a point that is not specifically mentioned: anarchist or anarchist-adjacent journalists. No one should be filming or photographing riotous moments, no matter who is holding the camera, without exception.

‘A Few Words’ links to the text “In Defense of Smashing Cameras”, which makes an exception for photographers who are “trusted”, and provides some very inadequate guidelines that do not address the fundamental problem – that footage is being recorded in the first place. It isn’t possible for all participants in a riot to trust a certain individual, such guidelines would only be relevant for an affinity-based action where all involved can actually have input in the process.

It should go without saying that a photographer can be arrested and their footage seized before they have an opportunity to blur the contents. This is what happened at the J20 demo back in 2016, where one of the arrestees handed over massive quantities of material that were then used in the investigation. Even if footage is published with lots of blurring, however, it’s impossible to blur enough to avoid contributing to an investigative effort. After the riotous and brave actions of 3/05, SubMedia published a video with countless moments that will undoubtedly be used to identify individuals from their (poorly masked or unmasked) faces, their identifying clothing characteristics that can be matched up with other footage, or with the clothing found in the possession of arrestees. This footage also gives the state less concrete information that is nonetheless useful to their investigation – people’s gait, their body shape, how many individuals participated in which moments of action. If a rioter is ultimately identified, footage like this also allows feds to reconstruct who was doing what, when (even if only by the abundant clothing characteristics that are left unblurred). Unicorn Riot’s coverage is also replete with treasures for the investigation, like an unblurred high definition photo of the entire crowd that they posted to their social media.

Why didn’t these two projects just blur everything that could potentially be useful to our enemies? Because then the video wouldn’t be watchable, and spectators wouldn’t be able to gawk at the ninja heroes lighting shit on fire. Videos or photos are ALWAYS a problem in a demonstration that might involve riotous activity, and the spectacularization of revolt doesn’t actually contribute to the revolt. It is sufficient for people to find out about what happened through report-backs. There is no other way that doesn’t endanger anyone.

Quick tips: spraying the lens of a camera with spraypaint (using a fat cap) can be much faster and less involved than smashing it. This flyer can be distributed before a demonstration starts to serve as a warning to all camera holders, without needing to get bogged down confronting each one.

The blurry lines created by ‘acceptable guidelines for trusted journalists’ endanger everyone. No recording device is acceptable, regardless of trust, intentions, or promised editing practices. Sexy riot porn, or a social media post, are not worth risking the freedom of those who are putting everything on the line.

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A Few Words Against Rats
From Scenes from the Atlanta Forest
March 6, 2023

today, as fires spread and rocks flew, some rats scurried among the brave…

“journalists”, or whatever those professional snitches call themselves, recorded photos and videos of forest defenders from positions within and around the crowd. with their fancy lenses and closeup angles, this footage reveals a much higher level of detail than APD’s own camera towers, and will inevitably become a tool of the coming police investigations.

we smash security cameras without a second thought. the ones that happen to have two legs should be treated no differently.

providing evidence to the police is incidental to the journalist’s main job: reducing us to a picture and a few sentences, turning our attacks into caricatures stripped of all context, more “content” to sell ads and lies.

today some journalists in the woods were confronted with threats, but this is not enough. defend the forest means defend each other. fight back. smash cameras.

https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anonymous-in-defense-of-smashing...

There are 27 Comments

"the spectacularization of revolt doesn’t actually contribute to the revolt. It is sufficient for people to find out about what happened through report-backs. "

This just isn't correct. Unless revolt is going to only include the subcultural specialists who participate in the networks of those who know of and care to look for and read droll and easily faked written report backs, there is an important place for video and image. I think there's no way around pointing out how videos of Target and the police precinct contributed to the more generalized revolt of 2020.

There's no easy solution, but outside the cadre-cell system of the E and the A of yore, public and generalized revolt needs to find a way to relate to photos and videos that will inevitably be involved.

i agree with them that the spectacularization of revolt makes people want to live the revolt vicariously thru media instead of directly living it. but i also think that given the prevalence of cameras, whether security cams or people with smartphones, that people should adjust accordingly and plan actions so as not to get recorded. i don’t think an appeal to snitches and journalists for your own safety is effective. when doing something that can get you in trouble, the onus is on you to take precautions, and you are the one responsible for the risks you choose to take.

submedia and unicorn riot are singled out as anarchist and anarchist adjacent (a contrived euphemism for liberals?) journalists in order to badjacket the only anarchist adjacent presence there. they already got the alleged token anarchist there killed.

only normies (the people!) and commies are allowed to self-snitch by posting pictures on social media to be used in compilations by IGD and Crimethinc. Not to mention talking to the press and posing for photo-ops on various mainstream outlets, like vice or the guardian.

.... who got who killed? if your writing was more coherent, think i might be disgusted?

I was trying to answer but you seem very knee-jerk reactive about whoever criticizing your tendency at blaming state repression victims for their agency, so my reply was removed. Perhaps think your own shit a bit more instead of blaming people?

Footage is useful for identifying and documenting brutalization by authorities. Protestors should be fully obscured, blacked out or removed with AI: blurring retains identifying data like muscle habits in color change frequencies. Recording of people who do not consent is not okay. Major figures at an action may be expecting or hoping to be recorded to make their point. Others may record simply for public safety and historic record during threat of dangerous atrocities.

the reality of the times we are living in is that barely anybody reads text only report-backs, add to that a lot of people are suspicious of report-backs / action claims that provide no proof that what is being written about actually happened - it is pretty easy for bad actors to write up fake actions etc using text only. I haven't seen the unicorn riot video in question but I have seen the submedia one - wouldn't it have been better to get in contact with them and explain the problems with the video and get them to blur out the scenes of concern rather than writing an essay that quite frankly comes across as being ultra paranoid?

Actions that can draw felony charges that could actually stick require special rules and are very different from the usual public marches and civil disobediences with rows of media cameras welcomed. I suggest "no humans, only cops and objects" in the frame when things are this hot but media is being permitted at all.

Here is one way to get footage that may actually be useful, and which should be safe to posess on the way out (except maybe to the camera person as it proves their presence):

1: Tell folks in advance what you plan to do with the camera, and if they prefer no video at all (even with nobody in it), do something else.. Some actions may be "no electronics at all." In a large but spicy action, watch what other photographers are being allowed to do openly, and pay close attention to any objections. If a "media meeting" is called before the march, make sure to be there.

2: As the action approaches the target, move to the front. Get ahead of the crowd and treat your camera as though it was a firearm: point it at the enemy. Do not get so far ahead of the crowd that short-thrown rocks or molotovs can fall on your position: people will be throwing over your head. You are filming "rounds on target" whether its rocks crashing through windows, paint bombs on police shields, or molotovs incinerating dozers. Special case for anti-Fascist actions: your camera itself is an effective weapon there, shooting zoomed in closeups of the faces of the fash.

3: When the crowd swarms the target or otherwise gets ahead of you, PUT THE CAMERA DOWN, but keep it ready for whatever comes next. Drop it into the sling if you are wearing one. If cops draw or fire weapons of any type or a car seems about to ram protesters, get the camera back up fast. Position yourself so you can shoot this sort of shit with only the cops in frame if at all possible. Know in advance whether hand to hand assaults by police should be filmed or not, most people will say yes to that but this may vary with the crew involved and "spiciness" of the action. Anything can happen, be ready for it. You are there for them, not the other way around. Note that calls of "cameras up!" and "cameras down!" may be made in some actions but may be hard to hear if things are loud. If you hear either one, follow it and repeat it loudly for others.

4: Stay with the target until everyone else is clear of it, even if just by a few yards. Film the rising flames and smoke, the broken windows or whatever, but again make sure nobody is in frame. Make sure of this as you shoot, in case you don't make it out. Be ready to shoot these final clips fast and then get the hell out of Dodge, all the way out of the area.

5: Make sure prior to publication that the factual amount of damage done to the targets is not something defense attorneys are likely to dispute. On the other hand (whether you publish or not) if prosecutors try to inflate the damage (common in Washington DC), your footage may be useful to defense attorneys to disprove that.

Predictable tactics have predictable drawbacks: if you use a bunch of liberals as cover, don’t be surprised when they act like liberals (anymore than they should be surprised when you start breaking stuff). If your philosophy calls for “propaganda by the deed,” you can weigh the risks and benefits of what you’re presenting.

Rats AND journalists.
Submedia AND Anews.
Shut BOTH the fuck DOWN!

The full truth is even funnier but you'll never see it here before it's deleted. Cheers to your authoritarian wank fest heavily moderated by rich elites in the Bay

So that only Reddit or the local PD's Twitter are held as valid sources. It sucks your colleagues got exposed for their murderous violence on protesters. One day... maybe one day we'll be able to Saud/Iran/Russia/China our way into crushing revolts!

Riiiight because anarchists need journalists and moderators to share communications. GTFO, bootlicker.

You're repeating the same "GTFO bootlicker" that was FIRST thrown at you, for being the actual bootlicker (i.e. pig, or pig defender). What a GROSS lack of originality.

You wanna have FREE SPEECH media? Then just go whine to momma on 8kun? Or whine to daddy state at your local PD... no wait, you're there already...

Regardless, the Atlanta forest is cop city as it stands: a stage set for cop’s to cut their teeth in contemporary counterinsurgency operations, to play around in a mixed terrain, getting the best of both worlds in urban warfare and a forested environment simulation. The protest occupation and ongoing activities enable their training, not obstruct it. They’ll soon learn how to close a damn fence under distress, while the protesters don’t seem to learn a damn thing, throwing rocks at cops while getting shot, by bullets and on camera. Getting arrested for mindlessly following the crowd and the mob under the illusory protection of wishful thinking.

Civilization is characterized by the development of the state, social stratification, and urbanization. As its etymology suggests, it is a concept originally associated with towns and cities. There are no cities to love. All cities are cop cities.

There were already several attacks and actions that were unmanageable, other than through the vengeful terrorist response of the police and the city government. I can only presume that your better alternative is do more sitting down on the philosophy couch and maybe publish more pseudo-academic papers? Like it's been so effective the past few years...

I'm personally not in a position to advocate more action, but those attempting to give more life to this opposition movement are to be respected for what they do... not moralized from the height of some idealist, disconnected ivory tower, prof.

There's no perfection even tho people partaking better be looking into how to further destabilize, as *destabiization works*, even if it's never an exact science. Analysis of every situation needs to be made and wits gotta be used. But for sure, marches led by magic-thinking won't go anywhere and may be a waste of time and energy. Just like a living room talk.

In France, for example, energy infrastructure is being attacked all over the place. If all cities have energy infrastructure and police departments, to mention just two targets, why do
activists from all over the country have to gather round for a symbolic protest around this particular forest? Why not attack where it’s not expected, where the media spotlight is not shining its 15min of fame? There are many other forests that can be occupied and defended proactively ahead of time, rather than scrambling to squat it after its demolition has been announced. Instead people follow media cycles, turn to reactive routine activism, feed burnout cycles.

one of the worst videos i saw of this (from a slightly different angle) featured a figure in the foreground chucking a large rock at a piece of machinery that was already on fire (why?), what's worse - apparently not noticing that another hooded figure was running behind the machine at the same moment. i'm afraid the finer points of security culture may be lost on insurgents who can't be bothered not to crack each other's skulls!

Yeah, the cops edited/spliced demonstrators throwing rocks at demonstrators, an old fascist propaganda trick!

During the police assault on the March 5 music festival in Weelaunee Forest, cops threatened to SHOOT anyone who did not surrender after they fired tear gas into the words. Someone at the scene got video of the forest and the lights of the police-with audio of the cops saying "you're going to get shot." THIS is one reason for having cameras on hand even at an action where you don't intend to film the participants

DefendAtlForest is promoting this Twitter (Birdchan) post containing the video in question:
https://twitter.com/defendATLforest/status/1634340561048989697

I'm all for riot porn being freely shown everywhere with free popcorn provided thanks.

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