Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

Tliis doesn't necessarily mean you should avoid the mainstream media. The militant antifascist perspective should be articulated as widely as possible. Pick articulate spokes-people to speak for your group, but be carefiil that they protect their identifies. Fascists and police watch the news, too. Use fake names and wear masks.

Be aware that media will often go out of their way to interview fascists, providing them with opportunities to spread their ideology. Interfere with this whenever possible If you get the opportunity to interrupt such an interview, be disruptive and make sure your counterpoints are delivered.

Antifascist Action 4f

Scenario #7; Following Up on Fascist Actii^ity in the News

Antifascist Action 42

Vandalism on a synagogue or mosque. An attack on a mixed-race couple. Racist leaflets dropped on hundreds of lawns overnight. A cross burned outside of a black family's home. Perhaps you've heard something like this in the news recently.

First, collect as much information from the source as possible. Get the date, time, location, and names of people involved or arrested.

Second, check similar sources. Look in other newspapers?especially the police blotters of smaller, local, weekly papers. Watch the news. Dig around online.

Next, get in the car and go check out the area of the incident. Look for signs of other fascist activity?graffiti, bumper stickers, nationalist flags. Note any places that fascists might hang out nearby?bars, parks, pool halls, etc. Talk to people in the area, particularly convenience store clerks and kids. Ask about skinheads or incidents involving race. Be prepared in case you run into some Nazis on the street.

If you have the address of a fascist involved in the incident, check it out, same as above. Hang around the area. If it's at night, you have the time, and you won't look suspicious, sit in your car and watch the address to see who comes in and out. Follow anyone who looks suspect. If you get the chance, take their trash and examine it elsewhere. You may score all sorts of personal information on the Nazi, or possibly even some fascist literature or correspondence.

If you have a phone number, caU and pretend to be a reporter?but be careful where you're calling from, as it can be traced back. Ask about the incident, others involved, any groups the person works with, and so on. Pump them as much as you can. Alternatively, call and pretend to be from a large fascist group like the National AlHance. Say that you heard about the incident and wanted to see if they needed any kind of support. Try to get the names and information of other fascists. See Injiltration (pg. 306) for more information about such tactics.

If a fasast was arrested, find out about the hearing and attend it. Take careful note of fascist supporters that show up; try to foUow them when they leave. If you're a known or recognizable antifascist, you'll risk getting harassed or jumped out on the street so be careful. Don't go alone. Tone down your look, or roll in as a large and visible antifascist presence, let them know you're watching, and do your best to intimidate them

Another approach, though a trickier one, is to caU up the victims of the incident This needs to be handled with extreme tact Say, "Hello, my name is (alias) and I work with an antiracist youth organization called Anti-Racist Action (or whatever your group is caUed) and we heard about what happened. We do research and education to expose racism and racist violence. Could we ask you some questions about the incident.?" Again be carefiil the phone number from which you call can't be traced to you. The person may be up for talking, or he or she may be freaked out If they don't want to talk, apologize, thank them for their time, and hang up.

If the incident is part of a rash of fascist activity, then you may want to organize some sort of public community response (see Scenario #3). If nothing else, you now have information about the people behind the fascist threat in your area, and you can make an mformed decision about how to respond to their efforts. You may also want to pass the mtelligence you have gathered on to a national antifascist organization.

You've heard rumors that Nazi boneheads are hanging around a local high school Is this just a case of someone wearing offensive and reactionary patches, or is there something deeper happening? Better find out

First approach any contacts you have at the school: friends, younger relatives a sympathetic teacher. Ask them what they know Second, go to the school and hand out anti-racist fliers, stickers, and other cool free stuff. Make it known to the local kids that you are part of an antifascist group and you're following up on reports of local Nazi activity.