This is day six of the Week of Solidarity to support defendants arrested protesting the inauguration of Donald Trump on January 20. Here, we will share reports from a couple solidarity actions on other continents; later, we will offer an overview of actions and events throughout the week.
Today is also the international day of solidarity with anti-fascist prisoners, an appropriate occasion to draw connections between the struggle against Trump’s administration and the struggle against fascism in general. In addition to the below actions, screenings of No Justice Just Us, Submedia’s excellent episode on the repression against J20 defendants and other opponents of tyranny, have taken place in Montreal, Hamilton, Brighton, and Amsterdam.
Solidarity from Bristol, England!
Solidarity from Slovenia: Freedom for J20 defendants!
A Communiqué from Ljubljana, Slovenia
The accusations against the J20 defendants are an example of the brutal witch-hunt to find a scapegoat to punish for all the resistance that has taken place against Trump’s presidency. It is an attempt to frame a couple hundred people who dared to break the illusion of a peaceful transition to even more oppressive government policies, in order to make an example of them. The authorities hope that if they demonize these 200 people, others will be too intimidated to resist.
But no matter how hard they try to repress J20 defendants, they will never erase the fact that the actions on Inauguration day inspired people to reclaim the streets, blockade airports, and fight fascists around the United States. It also inspired people all around the world.
For this struggle is not limited to the US alone. The rise of the extreme right through elections and throughout society in general is taking place on European soil as well. The coordinates of the wars that the authorities are carrying out against their own populations are shifting. The battle lines are drawn, and we have to take a stand whether or not we are prepared. The far right is trying to renegotiate the structures of privilege in society, promising that those privileges can be preserved inside gated communities at the expense of large swathes of the population. These privileges are being defended with brutal force against anyone who dares to question private property or the terms on which our communities are being looted—what some call “austerity,” but we prefer to call social devastation.
From Washington DC to Hamburg, people are showing that the more they try to militarize our lives, the more we will resist. In solidarity with J20 defendants, a banner was put up in front of the residency of US ambassador in Ljubljana, Slovenia, as well as over one of the main roads in the capital city.
Comrades, your struggle inspires us!
Love and solidarity from Ljubljana
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Solidarity with J20 Defendants: Support from Indonesia
Meanwhile, in Indonesia, Antifa Jakarta carried out a banner drop and an action at the US embassy to support those arrested in Washington, DC, posting a video tutorial.
Tutorial pembuatan banner. Aksi langsung propaganda drop banner solidaritas narapidana antifasis internasional. JakSel. #J20 #J25Antifa pic.twitter.com/IGr5JL3sTV
— Antifa Jakarta (@antifaJKT) July 24, 2017
To learn more about the arrestees and how to support them, visit defendj20resistance.org.