Pro-Palestine student protesters are being smeared as puppets of shadowy “outside agitators.” The presence of community members and experienced activists in the protests is nothing to be ashamed of: we need outside agitators to build a better world.
At the April 29 protest at #UTAustin, I witnessed the police wheeling a zip-tied arrestee in a office chair. The police apparently smacked his head while dragging him out of the encampment:
Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results may not be the correct definition of insanity, but it is the definition of American #protest culture. You can’t defend someone if you refuse to actually defend. Fighting for what’s right is just that; a fight.
If there’s one lesson we should have learned over the past two decades, it’s no amount of playing by the rules will protect you from being portrayed and punished as a #anarchist.