I first met Thadeaus in 1999, at various protests and
demonstrations to save community gardens, squats and CHARAS/El Bohio
Community Center, among other anti-gentrification campaigns. At that time, he was a kid, sweet, soft spoken and already a deeply
committed activist. Though he is older now, his manner
nor commitment have changed. I am honored to call him a friend. In my 30
+ years as a woman activist, I have seen many activists targeted, and I
have been targeted a number of times myself. Activists, like Brad Will,
was targeted by a group of fellow activist women and by members of his
own squat community, before he was murdered by possible agents of the
state in Oaxaca in 2006. The motivations and assassin are still unknown.
Activist Armando Perez, murdered in April in 1999 at the age of 51, was the target of political opponents and I and others believe, developers. Accusations of racism, sexism, of being an informer or a cop are all standard COINTELPRO fare and have been used against every major successful movement, in order to undermine and ultimately destroy them, and to prosecute the activists if at all possible. There are hundreds of political prisoners incarcerated today. The list is too long to begin naming names. Some activists are turned after being brought up on trumped up or heightened charges and threatened with real jail time. These activists go on to be informants. Who knows how Brandon Darby turned, or if he was a cop all along.
The trumped up bullshit charges against Thadeaus, whether made by imbecilic naive would be activists/anarchists, or unfriendlies, must be brought into the light of day and not allowed to persist. No matter how naive or gullible someone is, no 'activist' should be allowed to bully someone out of their community. No one should stand by and let someone be beaten or allow their house to be burned to the ground, making half a dozen people homeless. No one should be banned or removed from society because they have been accused of doing something so wrong that it is claimed to be 'irreparable'. And to accuse someone who calls the 911 under the threat of violence a 'snitch' is to allow someone to be beaten without defense. For those same 'activists' to also claim they are against the criminal industrial complex, that throws people behind bars and removes them from any standing in the community is the height of hypocrisy and only shows the similarity between the would be activists/anarchists and the government.
If I had been in Thadeaus's shoes, not only would I have called 911 if someone threatened my life or tried to forcefully remove me from my home, but I would have called everyone of my friends and allies and would have ousted the testosterone filled white boys from the house and pulled the masks off the faces of the would be "crazy bitches" and showed them all up as the privileged posers they really are. Informants or not, I would dare Dave Solidarity Segal, Andrew Flowers and anyone else, to show up at my house and I would stand with Thadeaus against those so cowardly as to bully their way into being. That's not activism, that's criminal assault, battery, robbery, arson etc.
They certainly deserve to be exposed, whether the motives are ego based, material based or state based makes no difference to me. The activist community cannot continue to stand by and allow fellow activists to be targeted. We must show courage in the face of accusations of behavior that is considered taboo within the community. If we recede because we are afraid of being associated with the accused, or that our own credibility will be sullied, then we not only become part of the mob, we become the next target and allow our movements to be continuously destroyed, from the inside out.
Activist Armando Perez, murdered in April in 1999 at the age of 51, was the target of political opponents and I and others believe, developers. Accusations of racism, sexism, of being an informer or a cop are all standard COINTELPRO fare and have been used against every major successful movement, in order to undermine and ultimately destroy them, and to prosecute the activists if at all possible. There are hundreds of political prisoners incarcerated today. The list is too long to begin naming names. Some activists are turned after being brought up on trumped up or heightened charges and threatened with real jail time. These activists go on to be informants. Who knows how Brandon Darby turned, or if he was a cop all along.
The trumped up bullshit charges against Thadeaus, whether made by imbecilic naive would be activists/anarchists, or unfriendlies, must be brought into the light of day and not allowed to persist. No matter how naive or gullible someone is, no 'activist' should be allowed to bully someone out of their community. No one should stand by and let someone be beaten or allow their house to be burned to the ground, making half a dozen people homeless. No one should be banned or removed from society because they have been accused of doing something so wrong that it is claimed to be 'irreparable'. And to accuse someone who calls the 911 under the threat of violence a 'snitch' is to allow someone to be beaten without defense. For those same 'activists' to also claim they are against the criminal industrial complex, that throws people behind bars and removes them from any standing in the community is the height of hypocrisy and only shows the similarity between the would be activists/anarchists and the government.
If I had been in Thadeaus's shoes, not only would I have called 911 if someone threatened my life or tried to forcefully remove me from my home, but I would have called everyone of my friends and allies and would have ousted the testosterone filled white boys from the house and pulled the masks off the faces of the would be "crazy bitches" and showed them all up as the privileged posers they really are. Informants or not, I would dare Dave Solidarity Segal, Andrew Flowers and anyone else, to show up at my house and I would stand with Thadeaus against those so cowardly as to bully their way into being. That's not activism, that's criminal assault, battery, robbery, arson etc.
They certainly deserve to be exposed, whether the motives are ego based, material based or state based makes no difference to me. The activist community cannot continue to stand by and allow fellow activists to be targeted. We must show courage in the face of accusations of behavior that is considered taboo within the community. If we recede because we are afraid of being associated with the accused, or that our own credibility will be sullied, then we not only become part of the mob, we become the next target and allow our movements to be continuously destroyed, from the inside out.
by Susan Howard