Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

After Bailout Remember, after you've bailed your friends out of jail, the most significant part of their struggle with the legal system remains ahead. Awaiting trial can be terrifying; provide as much emotional and practical support as you can through the entire process. Often, the trial will be postponed over and over, as a means of keeping the accused paralyzed. When planning actions that may result in lengthy legal proceedings, factor in the energy and effort that it will take to support arrestees; everyone who gets caught should have such a positive experience being supported by their community that no amount of intimidation can shake them from their revolutionary commitments. Go with them to every single appearance in court, bake them treats, raise money to offset their legal costs, be there for them as emotional support. Don't gossip about what happened to them?if the police beat your friend into unconsciousness, she probably doesn't need to answer questions about it all the time, and she might not be comfortable feeling that everyone is talking about it behind her back. Don't unthinkingly belittle anyone, either?"I can't believe they beat her, she's so small and gentle." After the legal struggles are over, don't forget about them: if they're in prison, write to them and visit often, and if they're free, don't assume that means they're over the trauma. People willing to risk arrest to make the world a better place are heroes, all of them, and should be made to feel that they are.

Account when one of our members got arrested at a small demonstration at the United Nations,

her legal support person got the word that she had been nicked and rode his bicycle to

j_ j Support ^^ precinct. He persuaded the sleepy desk sergeant that he was her fiance, and got a

3J4 note into the jail for her saying supporters were outside and providing the name and

phone number of a lawyer she could call. She spread the word to the others in her cell who had also been arrested at the action that supporters were outside and that they had a lawyer. Meanwhile, her contact person was able to find out her docket number and where she was on the list to be arraigned, so when she talked to her lawyer, she knew when she would be up. He also arranged to get her house keys so that her cat could be fed. When she was finally arraigned, her contact person and other members of her affinity group were waiting with hugs, support, and Chinese take-out.

Legal Support 335

Instructions

Marches, from Permitted to Unpermitted

336

Permits are basically a scam by which the powers that be charge you for your right to freedom of assembly, enlisting you in the process to inform them of what to expect and when to expect it?and also to monitor what happens on their behalf, since they now have you as a hostage. Indeed, it is typical of the permitted march organizer that he develops an authoritarian obsession with regulating the behavior of everyone in "his" march, since he can be held responsible for whatever happens by the next people up the chain of command. The permit system also helps the powers that be limit the option of engaging in public activity to those privileged enough to speak the language of bureaucracy. All the more reason for us to buHd up enough social power to march whenever we want, permits be damned.

Still, it's worth doing things to spice up permitted marches, since the poor organizers have their hands tied. At the very least, you can hand out leaflets informing other participants of more radical alternatives. Better, dress up in costume, and make your statement with humor or theater; this can also be an unthreatening way to disguise yourself, which you may want to do for any number of reasons?^just make sure your costume doesn't greatly hinder your vision or mobility, if any of your "reasons" require these. Puppets, too, can be festive and expressive, and they can function as shields, obscure police vision, or smuggle in useful resources, according to your needs and ingenuity.

A percussion bloc equipped with drums can really add atmosphere to any march. Drums can be made by affixing string shoulder straps to empty water cooler jugs, or to