Recipes for Disaster: an anarchist cookbook

other serious protection from heat, and that you have a good enough throwing arm and aim to get them out of the area entirely. Don't pick them up until they begin releasing gas?^they may explode and injure you. Horses may balk at approaching an area where things are on fire; a less confrontational mass can deter a horse charge by all sitting or lying down.

Police will endeavor to disperse unwanted crowds when they are not prepared to arrest them. Tear gas, concussion grenades, horse charges, stun guns, rubber bullets, etc. may be employed first, if the mass seems particularly rowdy; then, when they deem it safe, the officers will move in. They will probably do so in lines, charging and falling back to regroup and consolidate their gain before charging again. Violent arrests of individuals vidll take place at this time to intimidate the mass, unless the side of the throng facing them is tight-knit and protected by barricades or united by linked arms at the least. While the crowd seems volatile and daring, the police may well keep a distance; if the crowd is confused, passive, or disintegrating, they may move in to form lines in its midst, to speed the process along. At no point should you panic and run?^this can only increase your chances of charging into trouble, and endanger others in the process; if others start running, shout out "Walk, don't run!" At the same time, keep moving quickly, keep things chaotic to prevent the poHce firom getting a sense of where their opponents are or what to expect. Never let police come together inside the mass.

If you are on the street, they will attempt to force you onto the sidewalk: this thins the crowd, lowers morale, and puts you a step closer to being cornered. If you are forced onto the sidewalk, you can use a street crossing or turn onto a side street to retake the asphalt; banner-carriers can rush forward and block the space to be taken while it is filled with people, as can bicyclists. The same goes for other lanes of traffic, if they are endeav-Bhcs, Black and Otherwise °^^^S ^ limit you to the one you have seized. If the police cannot get everyone onto the 148 sidewalk, they will at least try to scare the less militant in the crowd into moving onto

it and adopting a spectator role, so they can then deal with the hard-core contingent; in this case, try to keep moving and circulating so the "spectators" can be absorbed again, though of course if you are moving in a tight bloc you don't want to lose your cohesion in such a situation. In an urban environment, it can be possible for an organized, alert group to move more quickly on foot than even mounted police officers; always keep moving and stay ahead of your foes. Sudden bursts of speed and changes in direction can keep them particularly confused?just make sure your group can engage in these without itself becoming confused or divided. To coordinate simultaneous action in large groups, you can shout out a countdown from ten to one.

PoHce snatch squads can be sent into a crowd to grab individuals the police consider leaders or dangerous (or who have been observed committing a crime). Sometimes you can clearly see the commanding officer point out an individual to be snatched (this can also be the case if there is an officer firing rubber bullets?another officer may be picking out the targets for him, and by watching you can tell who is about to be targeted). The squad will attempt to surround the target, while keeping an open corridor back to police lines. To protect against this, keep a close watch on police movements?they may form a straight line perpendicular to the mass before pushing in. If you know who the target is, get them out of the area and into different clothing. Put your body between approaching officers and the target; keep moving and obstructing their path, while making it seem as accidental as possible, so as not to become a target yourself If a group can isolate and surround individual officers that have entered a crowd, these will back off if they don't feel in control.

Others can attempt to unarrest individuals who have been nabbed. The time to do this is as soon as the police strike, before they have made their way back to their lines. You'll need a few people to break the officers' grip and others to block their path. As soon as your comrade is free, link arms and disappear immediately into the crowd. The squad

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