Fellow Worker and GDC Member Shot at anti-fascist protest in Seattle

On the evening of Friday, January 20th, a comrade of ours was shot in the stomach in the most public place on the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle – a place called “Red Square” for the color of its bricks rather than its politics.

This Fellow Worker (what members of the IWW call ourselves) and Defender (for GDC members) is a longtime anti-fascist and dedicated activist, a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) and the General Defense Committee of the IWW. He’s currently in critical condition at Harborview Hospital in Seattle. They have a Level One Trauma center, so it’s likely he is receiving the best quality care available, for which we are deeply grateful.

Edit: A Fascist group is attempting to gather information on the victim and those who donate. As a precaution the fund is advising people to donate anonymously. A statement by the GDC treasurer on the issue is here.

How do we respond? We are building an expanded anti-authoritarian, anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-fascist presence in Seattle, and this person was spearheading that effort. Are others willing step up and replace his effort while he heals? Our response will help determine that.

There is a limited amount of time for us to make clear to the world what is clear to us: we are under armed attack. The fascist right knows where to find us – protests such as anti-Donald Trump events, or actions against police brutality. In the Twin Cities, the trial has just begun of Allen Scarsella, one of the white supremacists who came to the Fourth Precinct in Minneapolis in November, 2015 and opened fire, shooting multiple people.

We don’t have confirmation that the person who shot our comrade was a counter-protester angry at those protesting Milo’s hateful white nationalist misogyny. We do know that he turned himself into the police several hours later, claiming ‘self-defense.’ This, of course, is exactly what Scarsella did as well.

Our friend will have enormous hospital bills and undoubtedly some legal costs as well. There will be a significant loss of income. Let’s raise him so much that he won’t have to worry about that angle of things. Please give. All money will be controlled directly by them and their partner; none will go to any other cause, excepting any fees associated with the fundraising service used.

Click here to go to the official IWW General Defense Committee fundraiser for this fellow worker.

Please don’t just give; please tell your friends and families and organizations to give. That may sound daunting, but here’s why they should:

This isn’t just about one guy. Your friends and families know that the situation has changed dramatically. They know that things are changing fast, and have heard the word fascism a lot since Trump was elected. They may even suspect that the breakneck pace of media revelations and executive decisions is intended to distract them and make them feel helpless.

This is about protecting those who have already been putting themselves on the line protecting us. Who have been organizing for us and got there even before Donald Trump was elected. This is about protecting them. This is about emboldening OUR side to organized to protect ourselves, rather than simply beg for protection from fascists and racists. Some of whom are now in political power.

We need to ensure widespread support for them, and we need to do it in the name of organized anti-fascism. We must demonstrate that no matter our own political analysis or identity – progressive, liberal, leftist, radical, etc. – we support anti-fascism, and we support antifascists. We will not leave our own behind. We will support antifascist efforts, most of all because they are needed more than ever, and not supporting them at this crucial point would be a disaster.

Thank you for reading all the way to the end. It’s hard to hear that a comrade has been shot. We may not have expressed everything in the most organized or best way above, and if that is the case, please accept our apologies.

We hope you will consider making a contribution, and perhaps writing letters or calling to the President of the University of Washington and expressing support for the victim of the shooting and the protesters, and criticism of the UW administration for permitting an event they knew was going to promote violence against minority groups. Now they’ve gotten what they should have known was coming. Call or write the County Attorney and demand aggressive prosecution. Call Seattle City Councilors and ask them to issue a public statement of condemnation of violent attacks on anti-racist and antifascist protesters, and support of our Fellow Worker.

Tell your neighbors the truth. Change the narrative that they will try to spin on the media.

https://iww.org/de/content/fellow-worker-and-gdc-member-shot-anti-fascist-protest-seattle

Coverage in German language at the FAU website:

The fundraiser is to be found here

This fundraiser is now also being shared in Sweden. Good luck to our FW.

Jesus Fuck. Solidarity.

I don't understand why a full 24 hours later, there is still no info on the shooter who was apparently released without charges? Anyone Seattle folks know what's going on?

jesuithitsquad

I don't understand why a full 24 hours later, there is still no info on the shooter who was apparently released without charges? Anyone Seattle folks know what's going on?

I don't have any info but it's wild how different the response is to any other school shooting, which pretty much always result in a campus-wide lockdown & manhunt

Yup that or the liberal outrage that * shock! horror! * a literal fascist got punched.

jesuithitsquad

I don't understand why a full 24 hours later, there is still no info on the shooter who was apparently released without charges?

Obviously the IWW doesn't know either. This is there offical press release from tonight. After the initial goal of the fundraiser (USD 30.000) gathered in less than one day with the help of more than 600 people all over the world, it has been raised tonight to USD 40.000.

The shooter apparently told police the anti-fascist he shot was a white supremacist. Clearly false, but fuck knows if they believe that, or if it's some bullshit from a Milo fan trying to make it look like friendly fire.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/police-release-man-arrested-in-uw-shooting/

Italian coverage here! and lots of solidarity
http://www.inventati.org/radiolina/spari-a-manifestazione-di-protesta-gravemente-ferito-compagno-delliww

I saw this on DN. Why do they allow that Milo guy to speak at universities? This is the sort of stuff that happens when you give a far-right bigot a platform to speak.

Joseph Kay

The shooter apparently told police the anti-fascist he shot was a white supremacist. Clearly false, but fuck knows if they believe that, or if it's some bullshit from a Milo fan trying to make it look like friendly fire.

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/police-release-man-arrested-in-uw-shooting/

Yup, sounds like fash spinning a lie:

SPLC

Hatewatch’s eyewitness version of events is precisely the reverse: The shooter was a Trump-supporting man who had been acting as a provocateur in the crowd all night, while the victim was an anti-fascist liberal who had been acting as a peacekeeper in the moments before he was shot.

https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2017/01/23/alt-right-event-seattle-devolves-chaos-and-violence-outside-truth-twisting-inside

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/uw-shooting/

The man who told police he shot and wounded another man during a violent demonstration over the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos at the University of Washington sent a social-media message to the Breitbart News editor just an hour before the shooting.

“Hey Milo,” the 29-year-old former UW student posted to Yiannopoulos’ Facebook page at 7:24 p.m. “im outside in line to your UW event.

“I got sucker punched (he was a bit limp wristed) and someone jacked my #MAGA hat,” he said, referring to the ubiquitous red and white “Make America Great Again” caps worn by supporters of President Trump.

“Anyway for me to get a replacement signed by you?” the man asked

Yiannopoulos did not respond, and the man went on to be caught up in a raucous confrontation between those trying to get inside the UW’s Kane Hall to see Yiannopoulos and protesters trying to keep them out.

Sometime just before 8:30 p.m., the man — who at this point was wearing a yellow hat — was involved in a scuffle with several people, and he allegedly shot and wounded the other man.

Well there you fucking go.

Chilli Sauce

Well there you fucking go.

yyyup

jfc

Just an update, a Fascist group is attempting to track down those who donated and are donating to the fund.

Clarification Update

Yesterday, the GDC received a message that an alt-right Facebook page was encouraging followers to "help track anyone donating to" our fundraiser, and to "help ID" the victim of the attack. The reason the update was sent out was to warn donors who did not donate anonymously that this group was attempting to collect names.

To be perfectly clear, the ONLY thing that can be seen publicly are the names that individuals used to donate, and any message the donor wrote to accompany their donation. The real names of any donors that used a name other than there real one or chose to donate anonymously names cannot be seen by anyone other than the fundraisers admin. Additionally, Crowdrise does not give any personal information to the admins.

Our account has NOT been hacked.

In the current political climate and with the alt-right's use of the internet to harass and intimidate those who oppose their ideology, please consider, for personal security, donating anonymously to any online fundraising.

We apologize for any confusion or panic that yesterday's update might have caused, but we were in a rush to warn our donors. We want to express our appreciation to everyone that has donated.
Solidarity!

https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraiser/campaign-updates/1173948#!/status/4

The member has given a 30 minute interview on the protest and his shooting.

https://twincitiesgdc.org/2017/03/04/interview-with-iwwgdc-survivor-of-uw-shooting/

Fellow Worker and GDC Member Shot at anti-fascist protest in Seattle

McGuckin, Henry - Memoirs of a Wobbly

Paterson's Italian anarchist silk workers and the politics of race - Salvatore Salerno

For A Union Of 10,000 Wobblies

The Brotherhood of Timber Workers 1910-1913: A radical response to industrial capitalism in the southern USA