Barcelona: 15 injured in riots against eviction of the expropriated bank

seeding mutual aidThe ‘Expropriated Bank’, a self-managed occupied social center in the beautiful Gracia barrio of Barcelona, has finally fallen. Symbol of resistance to repression and austerity , colleagues called for the occupation of 1000 more banks.

Seeding Mutual Aid against Capitalism

The eviction was not an easy task, it took police more than eight hours, using metal cutters, etc., to extricate the last heroes. The police struggled all day to get them out of a barrel of cement, itself inside a safe, inside the basement with metal barricades.

Meanwhile, reinforcements gathered and marched from several pre-organized points in the city until by 9.00 pm at least 2000 filled the narrow streets, but the entire front of the Bank had been welded shut with iron plates.

An army of very aggressive riot police, masked and without ID plates and with a helicopter, moved into the crowds of young people. Only for good luck no one was killed. [Read More]

London: Scumoween squat party turns into a riot

Last night (31 October) there was rioting in Lambeth, central South London, after cops tried to block hundreds of ravers from getting into the Scumoween halloween free party. Riot cops attacked the party-goers with dogs and baton charges, and the people fought back with whatever weapons came to hand. According to the police, this included fireworks, gas canisters, and a “suspected petrol bomb”. One thing Londoners will still fight for is the “right to party”.

Scumoween famously kicked off back in 2010 when the Met tried to shut down that year’s rave in Holborn. Clashes at free parties in central London are pretty regular these days, as the state tries to maintain our city centre as a sterile corporate zone, all profit no fun. [Read More]

Milan, Italy: Corvetto eviction of the Corvaccio Squat and clashes against eviction and police

Riots are back in the town! Violent clashes erupted in 2 different popular suburbs ‪”Giambellino”‬ and “Corvetto”‬ against eviction and police militarization (and by Carabinieri too).

On Monday [17th November], in Giambellino eviction of 2 families from flats. Many people has joined the barricades from the popular houses of the area: barricades, clashes, teargas (head height), cops and people injured, cops run to beat people too!

2 people of the neighbourhood were imprisoned (now free!). After this, demonstration of all people started then (in heavy rain) in the suburb of Giambellino. [Read More]

Riots in Barcelona after Can Vies eviction

DAY ONE

[Days two and three below]

On Monday, May 26, police from the Mossos d’Escuadra evicted the 17-year-old squatted social center Can Vies, starting at the atypically late hour of noon, perhaps due to heavy morning rains. Can Vies had an open eviction date, but the choice of day was to be expected as Sunday was elections for the European Parliament (which, incidentally, saw a sharp increase in the presence of far right and far left parties). The party in power never wants to start unpredictable conflicts in the weeks before an election, and the day after an election, the media is full of related news.

[Read More]

Hamburg: update on Saturday’s protest

2013-12-21_Hamburg_Solidaritätsdemonstration_police_attack

The main demo was scheduled for 2pm, starting at the Rote Flora squat, located on Schulterblatt street in the Schanze district, but there were a couple more calls for street protest before and after this one.

More than 7,000 participated in Saturday’s protest (others estimate a total of 10,000 people) against attempted eviction of the Rote Flora squat, a building occupied for over 24 years, threatened to be sold by owner Klausmartin Kretschmer. Additionally, the mobilization referred to the right to stay for refugees and the Esso houses at the Reeperbahn, but was also directed against gentrification, daily surveillance, and repression within the “danger zones” (authorities are calling parts of Hamburg danger zones, like the area where the Rote Flora squat is located). Meanwhile, in the early hours of Sunday, December 15th, the Esso houses were evacuated by police and municipal authorities on the pretext of danger of collapse. [Read More]

Hamburg: Activists attacked by riot cops during the Rote Flora Squat demonstration

2013-12-21_Hamburg_Solidaritätsdemonstration

Riot police clashed with 8,000 protesters in Hamburg over the eviction of a social centre in Hamburg on Saturday 21st. Barricades were built and petrol bombs hurled as locals took a stand against gentrification.

This was the culmination of a long running state campaign to shut down the Rote Flora (Red Flower) social centre. Originally one of the few undamaged buildings after the Second World War, The Rote Flora centre was squatted on the 1st November 1989. Over the years it became an alternative cultural centre and a hub for political and artistic endeavours. It was used as a convergence space during the anti-G8 protests in Germany in 2007. The centre hosts flea markets, parties and other events on a regular basis. It also holds meetings for leftist and anarcho movements. It stands for immigrant rights, anti-nationalism and the resistance of the privatisation of public spaces. [Read More]

Bloomington (USA): No justice, only fire

Ian Stark, a 24 year old man experiencing homelessness, froze to death Tuesday night in Bloomington, IN. In response, 50-70 people took the streets on Friday night with torches, banners, spray paint and fireworks to express rage over Ian’s death. The unruly mob, mostly masked up, was comprised of anarchists, anti-prison activists, students, homeless folks, social workers, and others who knew Ian.

The march held the streets for nearly two hours, covering almost all of downtown. Participants in the march disabled several dozen parking meters, wrote graffiti, paint-bombed banks, popped tires, and distributed hundreds of fliers about Ian’s death, homelessness, and policing in Bloomington. Participants also took the opportunity to run into several yuppie restaurants and rain fliers on the passive diners.
[Read More]

UK: Why did the Bristol Stokes Croft Riot Happen? A Community-Based View of Events

Why did the Bristol Stokes Croft Riot Happen? A Community-Based View of Events (April Bank Holiday, 2011)
We attempt to tell the story of what happened through the eyes of local people building up a picture of the chain of events which led to a riot close to the centre of Bristol. As well as testament filmed over the subsequent days we also include footage from the unrest. We also hope this will help in the understanding of why it happened.
https://vimeo.com/22968797

Bristol riots: Police tactics questioned after second night of violence in Stokes Croft

Questions are being asked as to why a peaceful protest descended into violence on Thursday night in Stokes Croft.

From around 9pm onwards crowds had gathered for a previously-cancelled protest against alleged police brutality during the riots a week earlier before violence broke out at around 1am.

Protesters stood outside the Telepathic Heights squat – the scene of a police raid which sparked last week’s violence – playing music while several police vans waited cautiously nearby.

According to police reports, mounted officers and riot police moved in at around 1am after a small group began throwing bottles at officers. [Read More]

Bristol (UK) – Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat

Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat

April 21, 2011. 10pm. A riot starts after a 160 strong multi-regional police force coordinated assault shuts down a district and breaks down the door of a squat named ‘Telepathic Heights’ in Bristol.

The cops then violently harass local people and get attacked in return. Telepathic Heights is in the busy cultural area of Stokes Croft, Bristol, where there are many bars, cafes, squats, community projects, etc. 300 people fight the police for hours and hours in response to the police occupation of the neighbourhood. A corporate supermarket is looted and destroyed, whilst none of the other (independently-owned) shops on the streets are touched in the disturbance.

[Read More]

Zaragoza: Reclaim the Streets

Last saturday, 10th of june, several riots took place in Zaragoza against cars in the city and asking for a free public transport. About 20 people were getting into the buses for free and giving brochures to the people…