We wish to inform the public and especially our supporters that we are in no way endorsing or supporting the counter demonstration against the ‘March Against Far-Left Violence” taking place August 18, 2018, organized by “ATX Resistance Action”. No Communist will attend; no Partisans and no front-line defenders will be present. Our decision to abstain and discourage participation is a political decision. It is the line of opportunism that declares “friends” only on the basis of a shared enemy. We cannot encourage participation in the counter demonstration due to the politics of the people who organized it. The way we see it there are nothing but anti-Communist organizers on both sides, police collaborators, and apologists on both sides. We cannot in good faith encourage anyone to put themselves in a situation where the so–called antifascist side is led and organized people who are a liability. This bears further explanation, with two main groupings to identify:
1.) The 99% White Hippie “anarchist left”: A loose outfit of life-style anarchists and liberals are the main organizers we take issue with. In recent history they have participated in harboring fascist sympathizers and Trump supporters in local movements, as well as siding with federal informants against local Maoists. This poses a serious security risk to any antifascist who wishes to attend—the organizers of the counter demonstration are friends with people on the far-right who claim to be “libertarian” and have given traction and “emotional support” to two local informants. Out of sectarianism and their mutual anti-Communism the informants and “anarchists” stuck together until it became clear that people were being arrested on the basis of the lies the “anarchists” believed and defended, they have now backtracked on their position.
2.) The White-Hippie Pacifist “left”: these are the secondary organizers we take issue with. Through their backward adherence to “non-violence”, these people are looking to get themselves hurt for publicity and they will put you and your comrades at risk too if it helps them get attention. Their ideology places a monopoly on violence squarely in the hands of reaction—they are severe anti-Communists who use red-baiting and bad-jacketing tactics which again only help to serve the violence of the state and reaction. They are in favor of a mentally and physically disarmed “antifascism”. They are washed up from the anti-war movement and Occupy Wall Street type activism. They are dinosaurs too stupid to figure out they are extinct.
These two main groups will try and opportunistically play up the past successes of the counter-demonstration to the White Lives Matter rally of November 19, 2016, and the counter demonstration against the anti-Sharia law demonstration held on June 11, 2017. While it is true these two organizing types attended those actions, they were not leading in organizing them. Networks of revolutionaries were the driving forces behind both of those actions. The biggest difference is that these two actions were supported and endorsed by the local Maoist movement, which brought out the most militant and numerous organized fighters. It is these forces which will be taking the political position of non-endorsement.
If the organizers of this event wish to use red-baiting, anti-Communism and other tactics year round that objectively assist fascists, if they want to claim that the glorious hammer and sickle “triggers” them – then let them stand on their own against the assortment of vermin who come to our city to confront “antifa”. Our forces operate in the spirit of the guerrilla. We see antifascist action as a paramilitary question—we are elusive and will not be baited to enemy terrain. When the fascists come to fight “antifa” they will not find antifa, they will only find these assorted liberals and the cycle will continue. Fascists want to hit people and pacifists want to get sympathy from being hit. It is a dance we plan to sit out.
Should these liberal bad elements wish to once again be protected by our numbers, training and weapons, then they should reach out and begin discussion and self-criticism. Until then we are not going to defend one group of reactionaries from another. When we fight fascists, we will always fight to win and not embrace stupid losing tactics of the White Hippie left.
Due to the fact that the opportunist organizers behind the counter demonstration are actively insinuating that we will be there in secret offering protection, when this is completely false, they have forced our hand in addressing the general public, sympathizers and supporters. Nether Antifascist Austin, nor Red Guards Austin, or any revolutionary mass organization has been contacted by the organizers who have been engaged in reckless and irresponsible gossip for some time. It is with a heavy heart that we issue this statement.
We owe it to the masses and our supporters to be clear on our intentions. We firmly stand behind the call to bring antifascism to the masses and go lower and deeper among them, to educate them in revolutionary violence and continue accumulating forces which are decisive in battle. We stand against both the forces of the right and the white-hippie left. Should the later wish to resolve the contradiction which has forced our decision they should 1.) Cease and desist in all anti-Maoist activity, including gossip and insinuation. 2.) They must respect our movement and its ability to carry our concrete and successful antifascist actions 3.) Reach out to the proper organizations and individuals to establish participation in planning actions which can prevent their reckless and ineffective mistakes from harming the overall cause of antifascism.
In the words of Chairman Mao Zedong: Without a People’s Army the people have nothing. Without our defense militias and Partisans these organizers have nothing. We will unite with whoever can be united with and until these “left” reactionaries can be united with we will not endorse their actions even with our silence.
Performative “resistance” is a liability!
Antifascism is always concrete!
Apply the principles of guerrilla war to antifascism!
Red Guards Austin, July 2018
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