ONE YEAR OUTSIDE LA'S CONCENTRATION CAMP
365 days of resistance. The fight isn't over.
The resistance against ICE in Los Angeles has been going stronger than the majority of cities in the United States.
Since June 6th of last year, they’ve put constant daily pressure on ICE and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Detention Center, the concentration camp in the heart of downtown LA.
Owl Media’s own Jose Mejia traveled to the city of angels this June 6th to bear witness to the anniversary protest through his singular lens. Picked up by American Opposition founder Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos with a couple of gas masks in tow, they headed downtown to meet up with the crew that has been holding it down outside the concentration camp for a year.
Organizer and fellow Antifa comrade, Toby (aka Resistdacoup on Instagram) is one of the heads of the constant presence outside MDC.
I spoke to Toby about the June 6th protest and what one year of resistance looks like.
“For the past year we have made sure that we had a 24 hour presence,” Toby said. “The people made a decision back then that we would occupy the detention center and never let up. I can’t imagine that we all thought a year would go by and we would still be doing this.”
But as ICE’s reign of terror has grown across the country, people fighting against it is of the utmost necessity, now more than ever.
LA definitely knows how to show up and show out. For the one-year anniversary of fighting against the presence of a concentration camp and a private military with unprecedented budget that kidnaps innocent people and has murdered civilians on the street with impunity, that’s exactly what LA did.
With Chelsea Gods. With Robby Roadsteamer. With a firetruck parked in the middle of the street.
“Robby comes up to me,” Toby told me. “and whispers in my ear: I got a fire truck.”
That gave me a nice laugh and an inquiry on how Robby made that happen. But I should know better than to ask, because when Robby has a vision for something he reaches out to the universe and the universe obliges.
“I still never even asked him where he got it from exactly,” Toby continued. “but that thing pulled up and was absolutely the perfect stage. It made a huge impact and was beautiful. The city even tried to impound it at one point but we all surrounded it and the truck driver was able to get it out of there somehow.”
And what a sight to behold. Because whose side would you rather want to be on? The one where rockstars who are fighting for human rights speak to truth and power on the top of a firetruck or the side of the modern day Gestapo armed to the teeth with less-than-lethal rounds and chemical weapons that would be a violation of the Geneva conventions if used in war, but in America, a staple when dealing with its own civilians.
A whole lot of righteous protestors against a gaggle of impotent ICE and DHS agents.
And as always - from their inability to handle the pressure - ICE, DHS, and the local law enforcement that protects them escalated with violence. Not caring to distinguish between protesters and press, they target anyone in the vicinity who has the audacity to question or even document their fragile authority.
In the midst of it, Jose Mejia ended up getting sprayed with bear mace by a DHS agent while capturing images of their escalation.
It took him out of commission for a little, but after the effects wore off, he went right back to documenting the moment. Because that’s what Owl Media does.
And this is what we’ve experienced every time we’ve covered ICE and the concentration camps they operate. While they keep innocent people inside in inhumane conditions, the inhumanity continues out on the street. A constant brutalizing of protesters and press in egregious violations of first amendment rights.
“They knew we were coming,” Toby said. “They looked a little surprised and definitely were rattled during the speeches (on the firetruck). I think that day they got a huge idea of the power we have. Even the LAPD came and we were able to swarm them and push them back.”
It’s an inspiring display. Something that could be repeated everywhere. After being at Delaney Hall and seeing the dichotomy of the crowd dying down each day with the absolute riot that happened just over the bridge after the Knicks won in NYC, it’s clear that American’s have their priorities all wrong.
If people have the will and the numbers they can push back ICE and the police that protect them and keep them from brutalizing protesters and infringing on first amendment rights.
If people show out with numbers then we have the opportunity to actual shut these concentration camps down.
Instead of crowds dwindling down from the escalation of fascists, we need the opposite response. We need the LA response or the Minneapolis response. We need constant pressure. We need shock and awe.
ICE’s concentration camps are all over this country, filled with innocent people. Some of them have families with children and even babies detained inside in inhumane conditions. All for the profit of private corporations.
There’s no reason there shouldn’t be a mass sustained presence of protestors outside every single one of them every single day.
Go to concentrationcamps.us to find the one closest to you. Take a page out of the LA crews book and stand up for what’s right.
Toby and his crew will be joining us in Washington DC for 7 Days in DC.
If you’d like to donate to a crowdfunding campaign that is working to get groups like these to DC, please click here.
 | A guest post by
|
 | A guest post by
|