here.

First, in terms of numbers, at least 50 or so people participated in the march to and occupation of the building at 201 N. Greensboro St., not “20.” While a number of people were inside the building, cleaning up broken glass, building furniture, setting up a gas generator, setting up food and literature tables, and painting the walls, many more were outside engaging the public about the occupation itself. This included distributing hundreds of flyers and letters to neighbors, nearby workers, and businesses which advertised a general assembly the following day, at which people could discuss possible alternative uses for the building (other than the highly unpopular CVS).

Second, on a small, humorous note: no one ever asked for or “demanded” ice cream–this was a basically condescending attempt by the Mayor to get people out; it was more or less ignored.

Third, on the sentence “Yet neighbors doubt that the anarchists’ method is more effective…”  This is beyond inaccuracy – this is just bad, lazy journalism, with the agenda right on the table. A responsible journalist (and editor) would at least try to hide their bias and write, “Yet SOME neighbors….” Did the Independent go and talk to ALL the neighbors surrounding the CVS? I doubt it. Occupiers, however, DID go to door to door that day, and had lots of conversations that were supportive alongside those that expressed concern. Even a Daily Tar Heel reporter managed to find one such supporter for her article printed on Feb 8th, quoted as saying, ““I was walking by and I was intrigued,” he said. “To me, it opens up discussion points and that I think helps their cause.” Several of these supporters came in spite of rain and cold and eviction the following day to participate in an assembly that decided on the gardening action. Yet the Independent seems to have missed this, too. What they did manage to find was the one neighbor (Jeff Herrick) who has been outspoken against the action, primarily because occupiers bypassed a political process he feels beholden to.

Fourth, and probably most important, is that the basic narrative arc of this article is fundamentally flawed- that this action created divisions in an otherwise whole community of occupiers, anarchists, neighbors etc. is inaccurate at best. The article asserts that “…the tactics have factionalized the anarchist and Occupy movements.” This is completely ridiculous. This action has NOT created any noticeable conflict within those active anarchist or occupy milieus, at least that this active participant has seen. At the assembly which took place on the lawn of the building the day after the action, the overall mood was enthusiastic, the main complaint towards the action being that the building wasnt held long enough. (The media was even there to observe this – where was the Independent?) This was not officially an Occupy Chapel Hill meeting, its true, but many “occupiers” were there. Either way, not exactly the factionalism this article implies!

A few more points on this issue: Occupy Chapel Hill has been on the whole very supportive of both the building takeovers. This can be seen in multiple marches supporting those arrested and condemning the police eviction, the fact that some of those arrested at the Yates building were themselves outspoken participants in Occupy Chapel Hill, and by the fact that Nomadic Occupy set up a camp and helped support the occupation at 201 N. Greensboro St.

This article could just have easily pointed these things out, along with pointing out the the “Carrboro Commune” participant it quotes (Maria Rowan) was ALSO vocal with Occupy Chapel Hill. If these facts are pointed out, suddenly the entire narrative of this article shifts. But of course the Independent article omits them.

On the note about divisions with neighbors – there are many, many different people opposed to the CVS, for many different reasons. This action didn’t create these differences; if anything it exposed them. Some believe in the town government process to an almost obsessive degree, others believe this process is fundamentally rigged, or hopeless, or too slow, or illegitimate, and would prefer to see non-governmental, open assemblies make decisions about the space. Some would prefer something like a small business to be located there instead; while others would prefer some kind of social center (a free clinic, a radical library, a community garden, the possibilities are really endless) run by and for community members. Some believe in the private property rights of corporations and absentee landlords, some simply do not. All of these differences existed prior to last Saturday; one could argue that exposing such differences with actions like this, fighting them out, if you will, IS part of political and civil discourse. It is at least more honest than simply pushing them under rug, as Mayor Chilton would seem to prefer.

On this subject of division: To some extent, it’s logical to expect some level of difference in perspective between some of the neighbors opposed to the CVS on NIMBY-ist, logistical (parking, lighting, etc.) grounds, vs. those opposed to it for reasons of class anger and political perspective (a critique of the power of corporations, the wealthy, and private property in community relations, etc…). In general the Occupy CH and anarchist camps (which are and have always been overlapping groups) fall in this latter category; probably many of the nearby neighbors fall in the former.

But it is also very easy to imagine how this occupation, as well as future actions like taking over the lawn of the building for a community garden, can benefit the less political, more “logistical” cause of the neighbors opposed to the CVS: certainly this has lit a fire under the seats of the aldermen, and it is already starting to cost CVS extra money (with talk of a fence, security, etc.) that they would rather not spend. The most obvious course for these neighbors, regardless of their political perspective on private property or corporate power, or even their feelings towards occupiers and anarchists, would be to use this added tension and attention to press their cause further. The MLK to the Malcolm X, if you will.

On the subject of the various groupings of neighbors, occupiers, and anarchists, it is amazing to me that the Independent did not take the time or flex the intellectual muscle to point out the obvious: That the opposition of many Carrboro residents to a CVS, and their preference for some kind of community-benefiting space, only begins to make sense in the broader national and international context that characterizes the politics of the Occupy movement (and its anarchist wing).

For how else can we really come to understand a small town mayor TWICE evicting a group of peaceful occupiers from an empty building with armed police, but by understanding the origins of an almost religious devotion to private property and capitalism in the US? How else can we understand opposition to the corporate control of public space, even if such opposition appears “apolitical” in character, but by having some kind of critique and understanding of how 21st century global capitalism has developed? It is the same forces that are attempting to bring a new corporate megastore to 201 N. Greensboro St. that birthed the various perspectives of the occupy and anarchist movements – to not draw these obvious connections and opt instead for a sensationalized story about largely non-existant in-fighting is intellectually lazy. Why not just have the Independent endorse Carrboro’s political class outright, and be done with it? (Oh wait, they do that…)

To further emphasize my original point: None of the “divisions” mentioned in the Indy’s article were “created” by Saturday’s occupation, as this article would seem to suggest. They already existed, just as vast divisions in class, race, and political access already exist in our town. The mayor, the police, CVS, and much of the wealthier, liberal political class in our town fall basically on one side of these preexisting divisions — regardless of their personal identities, we have now repeatedly witnessed that their roles are to preserve the status quo as it exists in our town. The question remains for those who do not fall on this side of these divisions, what we will do. Because, while the occupiers may have been evicted, it looks like they’ll be back.

“On March 17, 2012, join us in Carrboro to grow plants and community through guerrilla gardening! The Carrboro Commune, an open affiliation of community members concerned about the corporate domination of public space, will collaborate with other local organizations to transform the unused lot at 201 Greensboro Street into a vibrant garden providing edible, medicinal, and beautiful plants for the general public.

201 Greensboro Street and surrounding properties are currently slated to be the site of a widely unpopular twenty-four-hour CVS megastore. Activists occupied the building on February 4, distributing a brochure explaining that, “Local residents have repeatedly expressed that the site should serve some kind of community interest rather than corporate profits… [Yet] the channels at Town Hall offer no meaningful way for affected community members to determine what should be here.” On March 17, in solidarity with a worldwide day of action against Monsanto and the worldwide movement for social and economic justice, we will oppose the power of corporations here in our community by reclaiming this space.

Carrboro Commune representatives will attend the neighborhood meeting at Carrboro Town Hall on February 8 to announce this Day of Action.

Press Contact:

Maria Rowan

919-360-5500

maria.wolery@gmail.com”

Within minutes the crowd had taken over the building, hanging banners from the roof and windows, erecting tables outside with free food, and handing out welcome packets to passersby.

Others arrived with carpentry equipment, wood, furniture, a literature distro, and tools, and began building benches and tables. Some painted a large, cursive “Carrboro Commune @” and large squat symbols on the walls.

Still other supporters spread throughout the neighborhood, announcing the occupation and advertising an open neighborhood assembly in the building the following day.

The takeover, claimed by “anti-capitalists and occupiers” and done under the rubric of the “Carrboro Commune,” was aimed at holding the property permanently and building some kind of community or social center.

Eager to avoid the negative press and angry public backlash of an armed eviction of an occupied building late last year in neighboring Chapel Hill, police and the mayor were initially restrained. Unfortunately, the openness of the occupation towards random passersby also meant the Mayor himself was even in the building.

The occupation continued till around 7:30, after which police entered the building and began threatening arrests. A crowd of masked protesters left the building through a side door, chanting and carrying a banner to meet the crowd in front of the building. There were no arrests.

A bizarre scene then ensued in front of the building, where a large crowd of masked protesters, supporters, police, press, and local politicians packed together, screaming at each other in front of cameras. The mayor repeatedly tripped over his words, while some protesters cursed him and others gave speeches, chanted “ACAB”, and loudly vowed to return.

The Mayor’s sleek attempts to command the narrative of a peaceful de-occupation slowly started to slip away, eclipsed by the near violent hatred and frustration of a screaming crowd. The scene, which occurred in the busiest intersection of town in front of half a dozen cameras, was a bizarre shift for the supposedly tranquil and politically “conflict-free” small liberal town.

–

This is only a brief account by one participant. As of right now, we are still recovering from the last few hours, trying to figure out what went right and what went wrong. Certainly there will be a much more thorough account and analysis to come later; right now we would send our love and rage to all our comrades around the US and the world also struggling to reclaim a world that has been stolen from us.

We hope that our small efforts can inform and inspire others, and in particular offer some encouragement to our friends and comrades currently in jails on the West Coast, kidnapped for trying to also take back a future that has been stolen.

-some friendly neighborhood NC anarchists…

Pictures can be found at www.carrborocommune.wordpress.com or at http://s1247.photobucket.com/albums/gg635/carrborocommune/

For more info:

http://carrborocommune.wordpress.com

@carrborocommune

carrboro commune at livestream.com

Welcome Back!

The end of 2011 saw a blossoming of self-organization and struggle across the US,as the Occupy movement illuminated people’s anger, imagination, and desire. Issues that had been simmering below the surface of political discourse exploded onto the public stage. From Oakland to New York, from Seattle to Chapel Hill, we started to find each other, to find that we are powerful. None of the tensions that catalyzed the movement have dissipated. Bosses, bankers, politicians, and police still hold our communities hostage—no armed evictions, government cover-ups, or election-year sloganeering can hide this. We have occupied this building in the spirit of this growing movement. This is not a temporary protest, but a permanent occupation intended to establish a social center in the heart of Carrboro, instead of the CVS that would have been here.

The proposed CVS has faced near-unanimous local opposition. The building would be out of proportion for the location and a logistical nightmare for nearby neighbors. Local residents have repeatedly expressed that the site should serve some kind of community interest rather than corporate profits.Yet outside the zoning process, where at best we can delay the inevitable, the channels at Town Hall offer no meaningful way for affected community members to determine what should be here. We aim to provide such a venue by occupying this site and holding open assemblies.
This will allow local residents to come together, roll up our sleeves, and share a sense of real ownership over the site. This would be impossible were a corporate drug store to be located here.
This isn’t just about CVS. It’s about an economic system that prioritizes profit over people, a legal system that violently defends it, and a political system that rubber-stamps it. North Carolina is in the midst of a deep recession and budget crisis: education, libraries, healthcare, unemployment benefits, food and housing support, and other services face drastic cuts. Rather than wait for politicians to fix the problems they’ve created, we should be occupying the holdings of corporate profiteers so that people hurt by this crisis can directly decide how to use such resources for community benefit. Corporate and banking interests created this crisis; this occupation is one way of responding while creating something positive at the same time. The space, resources, and activities of our town should benefit everyone. We should have direct decision-making power over the resources of our neighborhoods and workplaces, rather than live at the mercy of speculating absentee landlords, out-of-state drug corporations, or town bureaucrats and politicians.
“Occupy” Squat, Seattle 2011
75 River, Santa Cruz 2011
Rachel Corrie Center, Olympia 2011
The violent eviction of last year’s peaceful Yates Building occupation demonstrates that the governments of Chapel Hill and Carrboro are willing to use potentially lethal armed force to protect the “right” of the wealthy to profit on empty buildings. We are here to show that we are not intimidated by armed police or their bureaucratic defenders. We will not live our lives in fear merely to relieve the political anxieties of a mayor who sips tea and quotes Gandhi while evicting demonstrators at gunpoint.
To that end, we once again encourage residents—in particular service workers, the unemployed and underemployed, the homeless, and those displaced by racist gentrification and outrageous housing prices—to imagine what this “really really free building” could be, free from the stranglehold of rent and the profit motive. A free health clinic? A mutual aid center to help people find work when the economy has failed them?
A community library or media center? A place for free childcare or a free school? Through open assemblies, we can decide together, rather than being forced to accept the decisions of an out-ofstate corporation guided only by profit.
Please join us, not just in supporting this occupation, but in making it your own. We have a world to win, and this is just the beginning. Imagine what this “really really free building” could be, free from the stranglehold of rent and the profit motive:
• A free health clinic?
• A mutual aid center to help people find work when the economy has failed them?
• A community library or media center?
• A place for free childcare or a free school?
Through open assemblies, we can decide together, rather than being forced to accept the decisions of an outof-state corporation guided by profit.

Aproximately 40 protesters marched from the site of Occupy Chapel Hill, at the Post Office on Franklin St., taking up two lanes of traffic, banging on drums, and waving black flags. One banner, in reference to what police claim to have found inside the occupied building, read, “We are all flammable materials, our hearts are bags of rocks.”

When the group reached Town Hall, people surrounded the windows of the meeting room and plastered them with taped-up banners and signs denouncing the armed police raid. Protesters yelled speeches against the police and capitalism, and called the police advisory committee “a farce.”

Others filled the room itself, waiting their turn to rail against the council members and mayor.

The fresh wave of anger was largely spurned by the “review” of the eviction just finished by Town Manager Roger Stancil. The review was a whitewash of the police action, barely acknowledging the public outrage over the incident and containing several falsities, for example omitting the fact that occupants were never once told they were trespassing or asked to leave the building.

In an interview with the News and Observer, Carrboro Town Alderman Dan Coleman brings up this omission, and criticizes the report.

The Town Council refused to consider numerous calls for an independent review of the police action, despite the controversy.

More media articles as well as pictures can be found here:

News and Observer: http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/01/09/1766088/loud-protestors-greet-review-of.html

NBC17: http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2012/jan/10/occupy-chaprel-hill-protesters-call-independent-re-ar-1797431/

ABC11: http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8496741

Daily Tar Heel: http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2012/01/yates_building_raid_to_be_further_investigated

“We feel these are modest demands and will not quit until they are met. They include but are not limited to:

1. We demand the removal of the mesh covering segregation windows, which restricts long-distance vision and causes sensory deprivation.

2. We demand to be free to recreate on excercise hour without full restraints. Exercising in full restraints is physically impossible and inhumane.

3. We demand to have our desk, metal seating bench, and book shelves put back in our rooms.

4. We demand adequate food and full portions on our food trays, which includes nutritional meals.

5. We need more psychologists for prisoners. The facility only has two psychologists for a 712-bed prison.

6. We demand for all prisoners on control status (I-Con, M-Con, and H-Con) that are not indigent to be able to purchase paper and envelopes from the canteen.

7. We demand for all segregation prisoners to be able to purchase any type of pharmaceutical item from the canteen as stated in policy, including for example vitamins, tylenol, muscle relaxer cream, foot fungus powders, etc.

8. We demand adequate and equal cleaning supplies on clean-up days as regular population, including brushes and toilet bowl cleaner.

9. We demand shower mats outside of showers to prevent slipping and injuries.

These are just the demands agreed upon by the comrades.  We would greatly appreciate any assistance you can offer on short notice. We will all stand strong against enemy forces and be victorious in this small problem surrounding the entire prison-industrial complex.”

The prisoners on strike at Morganton ask outside comrades to call in to the prison in support of the strike. The contact information is below:

Superintendant Lance Corporning , Asst. Superintendant Larry Williams

5150 Western Ave.

Morganton, NC 28655

(828) 438 – 5585

We will do our best to keep people informed about updates with the strike and ways that outsiders can act in solidarity.

until every cage is empty,

some NC anarchists against prisons

OUTSIDE OF THE L. PREYER FEDERAL COURTHOUSE
324 WEST MARKET ST. IN DOWNTOWN GREENSBORO

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13th:
10am & 2:30pm

(from the capitalist press…)

PROTEST POLICE STATE CHAPEL HILL!

*MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21
*6 PM AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS
*7 PM AT TOWN HALL

Why are we protesting?

*The police and mayor value profit over people.*  Occupiers peacefully entered and cleaned up an unlocked building that had been abandoned by its absentee owner for over a decade.  They danced and celebrated, presented plans for a free community space, shared free food, and held open meetings to discuss possibilities.  In response, a paramilitary squad threatened their lives while the mayor trumpeted the need to defend private property at any cost.  We demand that human need take precedence over private greed.

*The police were prepared to use lethal force.*  The SERT officers did not wear riot gear or carry weapons intended to disperse crowds, such as tear gas and batons, nor did they attempt to negotiate or deliver warnings.  They entered carrying assault rifles and handguns with live ammunition and extra clips, prepared to kill people ? even though no one in the building had weapons of any kind, as the police admit.  We demand that paramilitary police units never threaten our lives and communities again.

*The intensity of the repression was based on political beliefs.*  The police department’s press release justified the potentially lethal force used in the raid by claiming that ?known anarchists? were involved in the occupation.  They also claimed that the presence of ?literature? prompted them to attack and arrest the unarmed occupiers.  When the state declares the presence of literature and the alleged political beliefs of a group of people a legitimate basis to repress and threaten to kill them, fascism has arrived.  We demand an end to state repression based on literature or political beliefs.

*Sunday’s raid showed the brutal reality of policing in Chapel Hill.*  The assault rifles and SWAT gear didn’t arrive to town brand new on Sunday.  These violent tools and tactics are used all the time in Chapel Hill, mostly against poor people and communities of color.  Sunday was only unique in how obvious and public the repression was, and in its targeting of a diverse group based on presumed political beliefs rather than along the familiar racist and classist lines.  We demand an end to the daily violent police repression that goes on in our community.

*The mayor and town council are complicit.*  Despite massive public opposition and international media coverage embarrassing Chapel Hill, Mayor Kleinschmidt and nearly all town council members have lined up to support this inexcusable police action.  They have praised the absurd and potentially lethal use of force against their own constituents, including reporters, legal observers, passersby, and peaceful occupiers.  We protest any effort to excuse a police state, and condemn the police chief, mayor, and town council for their reprehensible conduct.

*This raid connects to repression of the Occupy movement across the country.*  Chapel Hill police shared strategies and coordinated with law enforcement agencies across the state and nation in an effort to crack down on the Occupy movement everywhere.  As this social movement grows and begins to threaten the privileges of the 1 percent, their armed defenders are working together to prevent us from becoming powerful.  They try to label us ?good? or ?bad? protestors to divide us, and when that fails they simply obliterate our occupations with brute force.  We protest to defend all Occupy actions against the wealthy, the police and the politicians.

**We stand united with occupations everywhere against all state repression.**
**Let’s show that we won’t stand for a police state in Chapel Hill!**

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21
6 PM AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS
7 PM AT TOWN HALL