Let’s play compare and contrast. Before we do, I’m talking this week about all sorts of horrible things: police violence, xenophobia, racism, etc. so if you’re not feeling up for that feel free to sit this one out.
Last week there was a lot of “urging” going on in the United States. Biden “urged nonviolence” in anticipation of the release of a video of Tyre Nichols being beaten by police after which he died in police custody. He also said he “was really pleased” that Nichols’s mother RowVaughn Wells called for nonviolence, the way you would praise your kid for keeping their elbows off the dinner table. Governors and attorneys and mayors urged nonviolence as they shut down transit hubs and declared states of emergency, preemptively chastising their constituents for action they urged us not to take.
Two days later, those same officials were pleasantly surprised that people did not resort to violence, and like, of course they fucking didn’t. People are hurt, they are mourning, they are upset but protests for Black lives have never been violent. Protestors have burned cop cars and tagged walls but crimes against properties are only violence if you give property personhood. The violent offenders in these protests and the murders that trigger them have always been police. So what had Biden & Co. so worried?
Yesterday evening I passed a group of protestors blocking Aungier St. to protest against the housing of asylum seekers in a nearby building. In a news briefing, local councillor and human pustule Mannix Flynn said the protests weren’t about not wanting asylum seekers, but that the neighborhood wasn’t consulted in advance of the refugee housing being established. “I hope that the far right elements and those who are hell bent on racism do not hijack this event and turn it into some sort of circus.” Flynn said, “They are not welcome.” As I passed by the protest I saw a sign reading “NO UNVETTED MEN,” in reference to the asylum housing system in Ireland which stupidly groups people in shelters for “women and families” and “single men.”
Later last night on the other side of the Liffey a building caught fire near the Royal Canal. A false rumor had spread that the building was being refurbished to house refugees and, to add to the confusion, Twitter user @BligheDerek mistakenly identified the burning building as a refugee housing facility in Artane as he celebrated the act of arson. In the replies one user pointed out the mistake, saying “We are the Artane Coolock community peaceful protest group and don’t associate with that. Thanks.” Another person replied with a gif of Light My Fire by The Doors, captioned “Things you love to see…. #CommunityActivism.”
The self-identification of these anti-asylum protestors as “nonviolent” and “community activists” is infuriating to me, but I’m not sure it’s inaccurate. Given my earlier categorization of burning cop cars as nonviolent, setting fire to an empty building is the same—the owners will still get their insurance check. No, what really upsets me is nonviolent action being used to mask violent ideas. I have to imagine that when folks like Flynn and the ArtaneCoolockCommunityPeacefulProtestGroup, which I assume goes by ACCPPG, say their protest is about the housing crisis or democratic decision making they do so while putting on a rainbow wig and a big red nose. These clowns, even the most accelerationist of them, couch their bigoted beliefs under the guise of #CommunityActivism and it works. Property owners are more hesitant to contract with the government to house refugees, especially single men, because of this “nonviolent” backlash.
So why is Biden so scared of protestors? It isn’t because of the actions, nonviolent or otherwise; it is because ideas are powerful and protests, especially ones with burning cop cars, make people think. Protesting refugee housing is easy because it attacks parts of the state that support vulnerable people and serves wealthy folks, property owners, and those who aspire to that station. Protesting police violence is difficult because it attacks parts of the state that violently enforce hierarchies in order to better serve vulnerable and marginalised people. If Biden really wants nonviolence he must recognise that ideas, including his own, are the most dangerous kind of weapon.