On October 7th, an individual working alone emptied a mink shed at the Myhre Mink Farm on Highway 16 in Grand Meadow, Minnesota. At least 250 fur-bearers ran to the lake directly behind the property. These animals needed very little help to freedom. As the cages were being unlatched, many of the individuals pawed it open themselves to make a dash. They are not domesticated and their spirits are not broken. Many of these mink screeched loudly at the sight of human hands, having only known the murderous hands of Einar Myhre. The only thing keeping these animals imprisoned is our own fear and a simple latch on a cage. A wild existence for them is only feet away. Make animal liberation a reality.

This is the ninth U.S. fur farm raid of the year. This level of activity has not been seen for nearly twenty years.

To the fur farmers of the world, we have nothing to say to you. We offer only this prayer: The rest is secrets. Silence now. If night has fallen, sleep well.

Two windows smashed, in addition to locks glued, at Ribnick Fur and Leather on the night of August 22.

William Ribnick, be warned: As long as you continue to profit off of the captivity, electrocution, and gassing of wild animals, we will be back time and time again.

We would like to dedicate this action to [Marius] Mason, serving a 22 year prison sentence for trying to stop the real criminals.

Animal Liberation Front

The following report comes from some comrades in Minneapolis:

On November 16, 2012, David Irving, renowned Holocaust denier and Hitlerite disciple (though he prefers the phrase ‘controversial historian’) attempted to hold an event on his speaking tour, “Hitler and I,” at the Graves 601 Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. The Twin Cities, which has decades of successful antifascist and anti-racist organizing behind it, was ready for him. In a display of mass, disciplined, and coordinated action, we stood in defense of our fellow human beings.

Irving’s events have long been focused on four goals: the talks provide Irving with a venue at which to profit heavily from his work, both the books and movies he sells as well as from ticket sales for the event. Additionally, and of greater concern, these events legitimize fascism in the public eye, provide networking opportunities for local white supremacists and fascists, and provide infusions of cash to local fascist groups. The antifascists of Minneapolis and St. Paul recognize the real and present danger such events pose to our communities and loved ones, and organized to disrupt Irving’s event.

Having gotten past the lobby and up five floors of hotel elevators, we entered the room approximately 60 strong. While some antifascists videotaped attendees to help us identify local fascists, others seized the opportunity to destroy his books and dvds, depriving both him and his fascist sympathizers of much-needed funds for their violence and hatred.

Irving and his cronies are attempting to research members of the antifa crowd, posting their photos on his page, comparing to Facebook and other social and local media, and offering rewards. Their attempt to intimidate the people on the basis of their hateful property points out the common collusion of the fascists with law enforcement and the principle of capitalist profit. But not to worry: for the most part, their ‘intelligence’ is at the quality you’d expect of people often referred to as ‘boneheads,’ and has amused the local community, which long ago overcame its fear of fascists.

On January 28th over 50 people met at Stevens Square Park in Minneapolis and marched to an abandoned historic building for a dance party and foodshare. This event coincided with a similar event in Oakland, and other solidarity actions around the country.

People blocked 3 lanes of traffic en route to the downtown Minneapolis building where they dismantled the plywood from the front doors, before seizing the government repossessed church. Having stood vacant for a decade, the neglected building was cleaned and redecorated for the purpose of this day.

Although there was a police presence, no arrests were made. The group marched safely back to Stevens Square after the dance party.

This occupation was temporary as it was a capacity-building action to grow the possibility of a squatting movement in Minneapolis as well as to inform the public of neglected buildings that the government has left to rot. As their movement gains strength, occupiers plan to indefinitely hold a building in the future and turn it into a social center/community space.

On October 9th, 11th, 20th, and 22nd, 2011, noise demonstrations emerged from the Occupy Minnesota encampment to march on the Hennepin County prison in solidarity with the California Hunger Strike.The march was organized by local anarchists and carried a message of attack against all prisons and systems of social control.

The U.S. uses prisons and policing as a failed “solution” to social problems.As a result, our communities are being destroyed. In the past two decades, the number of people in prison in the U.S. increased 400%. Prisons are filled with 68% people of color.These statistics can’t even begin to convey the misery that a prison society entails.

In neighborhoods where people are most affected by mass imprisonment and policing, we see the direct impact of our annual $50 billion investment in prisons and policing: closed schools, homelessness, basic health care is out of reach, and poverty remains a reality in the richest country on earth.

Supporting prisoner-led resistance throughout the state of CA or in any prison across the country is about supporting those who are living and fighting through the most expansive and sophisticated prison system in world history. The fact that people can resist at all from inside US prisons is a testament to the struggle of life against the forces of death and disappearance. This deserves our solidarity, dedication and support.

As George Jackson said:

“The point is…in the face of what we confront, to fight and win. That’s the real objective: not just to make statements, no matter how noble but to destroy the system that oppresses us. By any means available to us. And to do this, we must be connected, in contact and communication with those in struggle on the outside. We must be mutually supporting because we’re all in this together. It’s all one struggle at base.”

Although the Hunger Strike is paused while the participants evaluate a new offer from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in regards to their demands, it is clear that this strike is only one of many ongoing acts of resistance against the Prison Industrial Complex. From Georgia <http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/01/naacp_retaliatory_abuse_of_georgia_prison_inmates.html> to Pelican Bay, the struggle continues.

Here in the Twin Cities, we march in support of:

-Prison rebels in California (currently on a hiatus from their hunger strike: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com)

-Local friends and comrades arrested at an anti-foreclosure demonstration on October 20th . (http://www.occupymn.org)

-All targets of state repression and the prison-industrial complex, including two Somali women recently convicted in Minneapolis, of 15 counts of “material support for terrorism” for sending blankets and food money to their homeland. (http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/132239033.html)

During the demonstrations, we can often see the raised fists and waves from inside the jail and juvenile detention center. Our response is more resistance: Our passion for freedom is stronger than their prisons!

The noisy, march of 50-100 people traveled from Chi-Lake to Lyn-Lake and back again, making a stop at the police station at Nicollet and 31st. Although the cops were caught off guard, eventually a few squad cars and two bike cops trailed – but the march picked up more passersby than pigs. The militant anti-police message was well received by bystanders on Lake Street, much more than, say, the average antiwar march in Minneapolis. Nobody was arrested and the event ended after a little over two hours. No one organization was behind the unpermitted action.

Minnesota
Spring 2010

A hunter’s stand has been destroyed.
Because of this simple, low risk action, thinking, feeling beings will survive next hunting season.
There is no excuse for inaction. Get out and fight!
Enemies of the animals: Stop or be stopped!

Animal Rights Militia

In the early hours of November 9, 2009, the museum at the Whitestone Hill Battlefield Site in southeastern North Dakota was gutted by flames. The museum was built at the site of the Whitestone Massacre, where General Alfred Sully and the U.S. Cavalry murdered 750 Dakota people. Until recently, re-enactors were employed by the site, including soldiers who performed military drills.

The state fire marshal said that the fire that destroyed the museum was intentionally set. The building contained no electricity. The locks on the museum doors were cut, and artifacts had been removed. The building was completely in ruins except for a few stone walls.

After the imprisonment and exile of Dakotas in Mnisota following the 1862 war, Gen. Sully and the U.S. Cavalry was commissioned for the genocidal extermination of Dakota people both in the border of Mnisota and beyond. On September 3, 1863, the Sixth Iowa Cavalry found a camp of Dakota and Lakota people on Whitestone Hill. Sully and his troops encircled the camp before launching an attack.

Many women and children were murdered or captured in the initial attack. The Dakota warriors of the village, including Inkpaduta, rallied in defense against their attackers. The warriors held their line long enough to allow the surviving women and children to escape. They were then hotly pursued until after dark, exchanging gunfire only long enough to keep the Cavalry at bay. Sully set up camp on Whitestone Hill and sent troops out over the next two days to hunt down fleeing Dakotas. He ordered the destruction of all homes, food caches, and supplies of Dakota people, including over 400,000 pounds of buffalo meat.

While 72 U.S. soldiers had been killed by the Dakota defense, an estimated 100 to 300 Dakota and Lakota warriors were killed. The remainder was 750 murdered women and children. The hundreds of captured Dakotas were exiled with the other survivors of 1862 to Fort Thompson at Crow Creek, South Dakota. While Sully’s massacre dealt a massive blow to our people, it did not temper our resistance on the plains.

The North Dakota State Historical Society says it plans to rebuild the stone-walled museum as soon as possible. But funds need to be allocated, and construction might take a couple of years.

Re-enacted military drills are no longer performed at the site, and the museum is no longer able to stand in celebration of the U.S. massacre of 750 Dakota people. All that remains are the scorched black walls of another icon of imperialism.