Midwest Action Network

An account of the actions surrounding the fifth anniversary of the occupation of Iraq.
In the week leading up to the fifth anniversary of war in Iraq (and the one year anniversary of the M19 angry mob attack on the Milwaukee Army Recruitment center), the recruiters were attacked again. An individual (or individuals) clandestinely smashed in the glass door of the center and vandalized the windows. The attack came after a long weekend of “mass rallies” that have happened every year in the same place, using the same tactics and rhetoric. Clearly, nobody was satisfied with (or pacified by) such mundane and ritualized protest. Following the attack, the recruiters boarded up their windows in shame and fear. The center is at present under constant guard by police officers.

The vandal’s spray paint foreshadowed the events to follow; the words “expect resistance” adorned the windows of the recruitment center. While the law’s enforcers were busy defending the precious windows, a group of anarchists from around the Midwest (Milwaukee, Chicago, the Twin Cities, and elsewhere in Wisconsin) had a surprise in store for the city’s downtown business district. On Thursday the 20th of March, in the midst of the evening rush-hour cluster-fuck of capital, dozens of unapologetic dance-party enthusiasts took over the intersection of Water and Wisconsin. The ruckus of the jubilant street party (and the blaring horns of the furious motorists) could be heard from twenty stories up and blocks away. With bikes, mobile sound systems, drums, pink and black flags and banners reading “End War, Dance More” and “Dance, Dance, Revolution”, the anarchists and anti-authoritarians brought the dreadful flow of capital to a screeching halt. They held the intersection while the police hopelessly blared their sirens blocks away, unable to contain the chaos.

Upon growing tired of the intersections, the rowdy party turned into a spontaneous march. The march went on for blocks and further disrupted business as usual. Chain-link fences, dumpsters’, and other obstructions were dragged into the road, leaving debris in their path and keeping the cops at bay. Several suited businessmen, infuriated with the anarchic defiance of their rules, almost came to fisticuffs with the rabble-rousers. By the time the march dispersed, the police were caught unawares and wholly confused; entirely unable to remedy the mess. After dispersal, four people were arrested (two of whom were assaulted by the unprovoked and bewildered buffoons). Currently all arrestees have been freed from jail and face charges (all of which will surely be dropped).

Two conclusions need to be drawn from the past week’s events. Firstly, that the police are growing ever more incompetent in their desperate attempts to defend capitalist order. Meanwhile we grow ever better in our war against it. And secondly, that it is still on – Now more than ever.

“Forward everyone!
And with arms and hearts,
Speech and pen,
Dagger and rifle,
Irony and blasphemy,
Theft, poisoning and fire,
Let us make...war on society.”