LBC Tabler Physically Attacks Anarchists, in Defense of Eco-Extremism

At the Seattle Anarchist Bookfair on Saturday, August 26, several anarchists confronted Little Black Cart about their decision to publish and distribute Atassa: Readings in Eco-Extremism. For those unfamiliar, eco-extremism is an anti-political tendency that arose in Mexico around 2011 with the group Individualists Tending Towards the Wild, or ITS, and has since morphed and spread to other areas. Its practitioners believe in and carry out indiscriminate murder and violence against any humans in supposed defense of “wild nature” and have threatened anarchists in Mexico and other countries with death, going so far as to place a bomb in an anarchist squatted social center. They also claimed the May 3 femicide of Lesvy Rivera in Mexico City, citing the fact that she was drunk among their motivations. Atassa is not ITS, but as a journal and blog applauds their actions, publishes/translates their writing, and is unequivocally of the eco-extremist tendency. Two relevant critiques of ITS here and here, both by Scott Campbell, who himself has been threatened by them for his condemnations.

After voicing these concerns and being met with smug indifference, one comrade ripped Atassa in half. The LBC tabler responded immediately by grabbing this person by the throat from behind the table, pushing through the table, putting them in a chokehold, and taking them to the ground in an attempt to choke them unconscious. A second comrade punched the attacker in the face in an attempt to get them to release the first. In response, an associate of the LBC tabler jumped on the second comrade from behind in defense of the choking attack, taking them to the ground and punching them repeatedly in the head until they were pulled off by bystanders. The physical conflict ended after the attackers were pulled off and both parties were told to leave by bookfair organizers, as per the bookfair policy. The comrade who was choked was fine, the one punched suffered a mild concussion. Both have received overwhelming support.

LBC escalated the conflict to physical violence extremely quickly. Many people in the immediate vicinity had no idea what was going on: all of a sudden, someone was being choked, another was being beaten, and no one really knew why. It was over quickly and people looked on in shock. Another LBC tabler, after witnessing the beatdown, expressed outrage about the property destruction when they found out their $7 book had been ripped in half. The person who put the comrade in the chokehold, after complaining about being kicked out because the other side had “started it,” was asked if the book was worth as much as the comrade’s neck and stated “Yeah it is.”

The publishing of this book and its distribution in anarchist spaces was a move designed to provoke. It provoked. We leave it up to you to decide what anarchism is better off with: a commitment to anti-authoritarian ethics, or post-modern cheerleading of indiscriminate murder committed by those who refute anything to do with anarchism.

Rest In Power Lesvy Berlín Rivera Osorio

Solidarity with Mexican anarchist comrades, especially those facing threats and intimidation from ITS