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Quebec Cops Raid Anarchist Milieux
The past few days have witnessed dramatic repression of
Quebec anarchists, following a mass riot in Quebec City on June
24th, St-Jean Baptiste Day (this is a very popular Quebec
holiday, and has often been a good excuse to riot in the past).
Thousands of people smashed windows and expropriated goods during
the riot, as well as trashing the National Assembly (the place
where the government meets), breaking its windows and trying to
set it afire.
Initially the Quebec police chief claimed that the riot had
been instigated by an unnamed "extreme right wing" group.
However, a State-controlled "anti-fascist" watchdog group, the
"World Anti-Fascist League" was quick to set them right. WAL
leader Alain Dufour, publicly fingered anarchists in general, and
the newspaper Demanarchie in particular, as having instigated the
riot.
Following Dufour's "revelations" a comrade was arrested for
selling Demanarchie at Place Youville, the popular youth hangout
where the riot had started. The comrade's house was subsequently
raided and his computer seized, and then twenty police raided the
Food Not Bombs in Quebec city (FNB is an anti-authoritarian
anti-poverty group). A total of four people were arrested, three
of whom were charged with growing pot. The comrade who had been
arrested for selling the paper has been released but is under
surveillance, and the FNB comrades will be appearing in court
tomorrow. That evening the chief investigator for the Quebec
police revealed that several dozen copies of Demanarchie had been
found at one of the raided houses, and held up a copy for
reporters to oogle, as if this was proof of anything.
The situation has not stabilized yet, and the government is
promising a through investigation, which means added heat and
surveillance on the radical left in Quebec. It is important that
comrades across Canada and the United States, and indeed around
the world, pay attention to what is happening to us. We'll try
and keep you posted as things progress. In the meantime, it
should be taken for granted that money will be needed to defend
our comrades, but as of yet I can't give any address for it to be
sent. What people can do is telephone the Victoriaville Police
Department and demand that the Quebec City police lay off of the
radical Left and cease engaging in all of this post-riot
repression. The phone number is: 819-752-4545.
In closing, today the Montreal Section of Demanarchie
released the following statement to the bourgeois media:
Why You Have Understood Nothing Of The St-Jean Riot
The Demanarchie collective rejects all claims of authorship
and ownership of the St-Jean riot at Quebec City. Bear unto
Caesar that which is Caesar's: the riot belongs only to those who
participated in it.
As we explained quite clearly in our editorial, the one that
you find so controversial: "The Riot is a spontaneous
phenomenon." This is to say that the accusations of a conspiracy
and premeditation are nothing but lies meant to criminalize us on
the basis of our political beliefs.
The hunt for scapegoats is an attempt to disguise the
authorities' responsibility for the ever-worstening social
climate which is making more and more young people feel like they
have less and less to lose.
If you really want to find those responsible for the damage
done on the St-Jean, go check out the cops and the mass media.
Policies of zero tolerance and sensationalistic blather provoke