It allows for more than you have demonstrated here.

You brought this upon yourself by beginning the conversation with a falsehood followed by three exclamation marks, then refusing to engage with the evenhanded responses presenting evidence that contradicted your claim.

Erik, everyone sees you posting one false allegation after another, citing no sources whatsoever, while flatly ignoring concrete evidence that undermines your claims.

If you do not wish to engage with us, that is your choice, but it will not increase anyone's faith in your arguments.

Many of us who mobilized against the World Trade Organization and other transnational capitalist institutions in the 1990s knew many of the participants personally and were impressed with their selfless efforts.

If you think that you can prove your allegations, show us your evidence, please.

Your false allegation—that the participants in the black bloc did not participate in planning or promoting the mobilization—was addressed in a statement from some participants in the WTO mobilization (and the black bloc) on December 4, 1999.

Citation:

theanarchistlibrary.org/library/acme...

Arguably, it's better not to come in hot like this. That applies to Erik at least as much as anyone else.

But there is more at stake here is than the public perception of specific historic events. It's about how we relate across political differences, how we represent each other when we disagree.

Some of those who participated in the vandalism were well connected in the movement.

If you'd like to learn about their intentions, here is a statement from some of them:

depts.washington.edu/wtohist/Rese...

This documentary includes interviews with some of them:

crimethinc.com/videos/break...

Taking you at your word that you are a historian @erikloomis.bsky.social, you must know that your account of the causal chain of events is false—which means that you know that you are willfully misleading people about what happened and why it happened, rather than helping them to learn from history.

In the linked zine, you can read the analysis of the WTO protests that RAND corporation later republished. If it's good enough for the capitalist ruling class, it's good enough for us.

The screenshots here show how false—if not mendacious—your account is.

crimethinc.com/2006/11/30/s...

Your account is outright dishonest.

First—anarchists participated in constructing the coalitions between labor, environmentalists, and other activists.

More egregiously—the police violence began many hours before the black bloc. You are misrepresenting the causal chain of events. Citations below.

One hundred percent.

In making this the top news story and concealing the fact that USCIS had halted all immigration requests involving Afghan refugees *before* the shooting, the @nytimes.com is assisting the Trump administration in crafting a xenophobic narrative that will justify more military on our streets.

By making this the top news story and concealing the fact that USCIS had already halted all immigration requests involving Afghan refugees *before* this, the @nytimes.com is helping the Trump administration to craft a narrative that will justify more military on our streets.

Deeply irresponsible.

This week's raid in St. Paul is part of a recent uptick in ICE assaults in the Twin Cities.

As long as ICE exists, it will be a weapon serving any aspiring autocrat who aims to consolidate power.

Abolish ICE, the police, and the authoritarianism they exist to preserve.

crimethinc.com/StPaul2025

For more background on how the United States government created the catastrophe in Afghanistan that Donald Trump is now capitalizing on to promote his xenophobic agenda, which will in turn generate further tragedies that they will seek to capitalize on:

crimethinc.com/Afghanistan2...

Here is the image from the St. Paul Police Federation again, this time with alt text.

Since 2020, what has changed? Democrats doubled down on support for the police, enabling them to continue escalating their racist violence, paving the way for today's ICE raids.

crimethinc.com/antipolice2025