00:00:12.012 --> 00:00:16.641
So, it was January 20th, 2017

00:00:16.641 --> 00:00:20.854
the morning of the inauguration

00:00:22.439 --> 00:00:23.982
there was a large group of people

00:00:23.982 --> 00:00:25.025
in a march.

00:00:25.608 --> 00:00:26.693
You’re marching

00:00:26.693 --> 00:00:28.028
things are tense,

00:00:28.486 --> 00:00:29.821
you’re kind of trying to decide

00:00:29.821 --> 00:00:31.656
how to interact with the police

00:00:31.865 --> 00:00:33.366
whether to stay as a group

00:00:33.366 --> 00:00:36.369
or whether to break up.

00:00:51.718 --> 00:00:54.387
We were dealing with pepper spray

00:00:54.387 --> 00:00:55.680
and these flash bangs

00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:57.348
they shoot rubber bullets

00:00:57.348 --> 00:01:00.518
shrapnel… they’re very loud

00:01:00.518 --> 00:01:02.645
they don’t make it hard to see fortunately

00:01:02.645 --> 00:01:04.230
but I guess that’s what the

00:01:04.230 --> 00:01:06.900
pepper spray is for

00:01:07.192 --> 00:01:09.652
So we were dealing with that for blocks

00:01:09.652 --> 00:01:10.904
and there’s a frontline

00:01:10.904 --> 00:01:13.364
a first wave where people are walking

00:01:13.490 --> 00:01:16.034
and then there was a line of officers

00:01:16.034 --> 00:01:18.328
that line up one by one

00:01:18.328 --> 00:01:20.413
blocking the path in front of you

00:01:20.413 --> 00:01:21.998
and you think to yourself

00:01:21.998 --> 00:01:25.835
okay, this is, you know, not great

00:01:26.211 --> 00:01:28.546
I wish there weren’t so many officers

00:01:28.546 --> 00:01:30.381
in front of me

00:01:30.381 --> 00:01:32.425
it’s only when you know you hear

00:01:32.425 --> 00:01:33.593
from the people in the back

00:01:33.593 --> 00:01:37.555
that it’s just… you’re trapped

00:01:42.852 --> 00:01:44.729
A kettle is when a protest

00:01:44.729 --> 00:01:46.272
is moving forward

00:01:46.272 --> 00:01:48.108
and the line of riot police

00:01:48.108 --> 00:01:50.276
stops it from the front

00:01:50.276 --> 00:01:52.112
and another line of riot police

00:01:52.112 --> 00:01:55.115
stops anyone from leaving the back

00:01:55.740 --> 00:01:57.575
trapping everyone

00:01:57.909 --> 00:01:58.952
Oh nevermind!

00:02:04.165 --> 00:02:05.834
They’re not gonna let anybody leave

00:02:10.171 --> 00:02:11.005
Don’t go anywhere.

00:02:11.923 --> 00:02:12.715
They won’t let you out.

00:02:14.717 --> 00:02:16.469
There was an initial burst where

00:02:16.469 --> 00:02:17.762
a lot of people broke

00:02:17.762 --> 00:02:19.305
through the line of officers

00:02:33.194 --> 00:02:36.281
Oh shit! Oh my god! Oh fuck!

00:02:43.371 --> 00:02:45.039
Back off!

00:02:46.207 --> 00:02:47.292
Back up sir!

00:02:48.501 --> 00:02:50.628
Stop! Move all the way down!

00:02:59.220 --> 00:03:00.180
Get up!

00:03:04.767 --> 00:03:07.729
The more you riot the worse it will get!

00:03:14.027 --> 00:03:16.988
Stop rioting! It’s very simple!

00:03:18.865 --> 00:03:21.451
Statement #3 from the ungovernables

00:03:21.451 --> 00:03:22.660
in 12th and L;

00:03:22.660 --> 00:03:23.953
if you agree with what we say

00:03:23.953 --> 00:03:24.954
add your voice!

00:03:24.954 --> 00:03:26.748
If you agree with what we say

00:03:26.748 --> 00:03:27.874
add your voice!

00:03:27.874 --> 00:03:29.709
Well, we’re going to jail.

00:03:29.709 --> 00:03:31.461
Well, we’re going to jail!

00:03:31.461 --> 00:03:33.254
But we aren’t going silently.

00:03:33.254 --> 00:03:35.173
But we aren’t going silently!

00:03:35.173 --> 00:03:36.507
Tide of repression has been

00:03:36.507 --> 00:03:37.967
rising for some time.

00:03:37.967 --> 00:03:39.385
The tide of repression has been

00:03:39.385 --> 00:03:41.137
rising for some time!

00:03:41.137 --> 00:03:42.889
Cops love Trump but to get rid of

00:03:42.889 --> 00:03:44.682
both, we need to get rid of the government

00:03:44.682 --> 00:03:45.600
Cops love Trump

00:03:45.600 --> 00:03:47.352
but to get rid of both we have to

00:03:47.352 --> 00:03:49.145
get rid of the government.

00:03:49.145 --> 00:03:50.939
Our safety relies on building bonds

00:03:50.939 --> 00:03:52.899
with each other outside of state control.

00:03:52.899 --> 00:03:55.109
For freedom, for anarchy!

00:04:00.698 --> 00:04:02.075
People didn’t think they were

00:04:02.075 --> 00:04:04.535
going to face such repercussions

00:04:04.535 --> 00:04:06.746
you know,  I didn’t even think

00:04:06.746 --> 00:04:08.581
I was going to get arrested

00:04:08.581 --> 00:04:11.542
when I was in the kettle honestly

00:04:11.751 --> 00:04:14.879
Everyone got the worst possible charges

00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:16.422
including medics and press

00:04:17.257 --> 00:04:18.758
the DC legal system

00:04:18.758 --> 00:04:20.718
arrested 230 people

00:04:20.718 --> 00:04:23.429
and charged them all with felonies

00:04:26.432 --> 00:04:28.351
A friend of mine said

00:04:28.351 --> 00:04:30.395
“...the process is the punishment.”

00:04:30.395 --> 00:04:32.355
The idea of having felonies

00:04:32.355 --> 00:04:33.606
I mean that’s my main thing

00:04:33.606 --> 00:04:35.024
that I’m scared of

00:04:35.024 --> 00:04:36.943
more than jail time

00:04:36.943 --> 00:04:38.611
it’s more than anything else

00:04:38.611 --> 00:04:40.697
Like it’s a dark cloud

00:04:40.697 --> 00:04:42.699
over my head throughout the day

00:04:42.699 --> 00:04:44.117
but I mostly try and you know

00:04:44.117 --> 00:04:44.951
brush it away

00:04:44.951 --> 00:04:46.786
like there’s not very much I can do

00:04:49.414 --> 00:04:50.081
You know you go through

00:04:50.081 --> 00:04:51.582
thirty minutes in a protest

00:04:51.582 --> 00:04:53.626
and it changes your prospects

00:04:53.626 --> 00:04:55.920
between being a normal citizen

00:04:55.920 --> 00:04:57.964
to facing court cases

00:04:57.964 --> 00:05:00.133
to having an FBI file

00:05:00.133 --> 00:05:02.885
having your name appear in a Google search

00:05:03.136 --> 00:05:06.139
to being targeted by right wing extremists

00:05:08.474 --> 00:05:10.143
I’ve gone through most of this journey

00:05:10.143 --> 00:05:11.561
trying to be, like

00:05:11.561 --> 00:05:13.813
okay it’s out of my hands

00:05:13.938 --> 00:05:15.273
you know the government hasn’t really

00:05:15.315 --> 00:05:17.233
found more evidence on me

00:05:17.817 --> 00:05:19.819
I feel I just have to wait

00:05:21.112 --> 00:05:22.989
If I were letting this rule my life

00:05:22.989 --> 00:05:25.491
to a degree in which I was, incapacitated

00:05:25.491 --> 00:05:26.826
like I couldn’t do anything

00:05:27.076 --> 00:05:29.329
I’d be self-imprisoned for over a year now

00:05:30.621 --> 00:05:32.915
On one hand, I’m trying to live life

00:05:32.915 --> 00:05:34.334
as full as I can

00:05:34.667 --> 00:05:36.836
and I definitely have restrictions on me

00:05:37.962 --> 00:05:39.297
on the other hand

00:05:39.839 --> 00:05:42.008
when I glimpse a life outside of this

00:05:42.175 --> 00:05:44.635
not having to be scared about my future

00:05:45.470 --> 00:05:47.180
just made it so much better.

00:05:48.431 --> 00:05:50.433
I can’t wait to have a future

00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:52.018
where I don’t have to care so much

00:05:52.018 --> 00:05:53.436
about my future

00:05:56.647 --> 00:05:58.524
There were a lot of transitions between

00:05:58.524 --> 00:05:59.609
being booked

00:06:00.026 --> 00:06:01.027
processed

00:06:01.027 --> 00:06:01.694
holding

00:06:01.986 --> 00:06:03.446
waiting to see the judge

00:06:03.988 --> 00:06:05.948
all of us spent the night in jail

00:06:06.115 --> 00:06:07.784
some jail, one jail or another

00:06:08.826 --> 00:06:10.703
someone is screaming

00:06:10.953 --> 00:06:12.372
in the cell next to us

00:06:14.791 --> 00:06:15.875
Early in the morning

00:06:16.042 --> 00:06:17.794
we’re taken out of our holding cells

00:06:17.794 --> 00:06:19.545
and placed into paddy wagons

00:06:22.173 --> 00:06:23.633
so we’re in the paddy wagon

00:06:23.633 --> 00:06:25.885
and a cop is listening to some

00:06:25.885 --> 00:06:27.720
pretty good R&B actually

00:06:28.304 --> 00:06:29.389
it’s a little pleasant

00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:31.682
You can kind of see out the window

00:06:31.682 --> 00:06:32.892
of the paddy wagon

00:06:33.226 --> 00:06:34.894
through the barred glass, or whatever.

00:06:36.020 --> 00:06:37.021
It’s taking a long time

00:06:37.021 --> 00:06:38.231
to get to the courthouse

00:06:38.231 --> 00:06:39.524
because it’s driving through

00:06:39.524 --> 00:06:41.067
the women’s march in DC

00:06:41.150 --> 00:06:41.901
yeah, I mean

00:06:41.901 --> 00:06:42.860
I tell people I was

00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:43.903
in the women’s march

00:06:43.903 --> 00:06:45.071
but I was obviously

00:06:45.071 --> 00:06:46.406
in the paddy wagon

00:06:46.406 --> 00:06:47.573
going through it

00:06:47.573 --> 00:06:49.075
to be placed in a holding cell

00:06:52.078 --> 00:06:54.247
We were in gendered holding

00:06:54.372 --> 00:06:56.499
not accurately gendered holding

00:06:56.499 --> 00:06:57.417
of course

00:06:58.084 --> 00:07:00.253
I understand that I’m in the male

00:07:00.253 --> 00:07:01.587
holding tank

00:07:01.712 --> 00:07:04.340
I wish I wasn’t in the male holding tank.

00:07:04.757 --> 00:07:06.843
The pressure to perform masculinity

00:07:06.843 --> 00:07:08.761
was still there, even if you’re not

00:07:09.095 --> 00:07:10.680
around anyone who

00:07:11.013 --> 00:07:12.432
is threatening you

00:07:12.598 --> 00:07:13.933
You know, the sense of being in jail

00:07:13.933 --> 00:07:15.518
is a threat enough itself

00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:19.897
We couldn’t see any people who were

00:07:19.897 --> 00:07:22.108
in the gendered female

00:07:22.108 --> 00:07:22.900
holding tank

00:07:23.192 --> 00:07:24.527
but we could hear them when they sang

00:07:24.777 --> 00:07:26.362
and it was actually one of the only ways

00:07:26.362 --> 00:07:27.864
that we could communicate with them

00:07:27.864 --> 00:07:28.781
is that if we all

00:07:29.198 --> 00:07:31.284
sang a song over here they could hear us

00:07:31.284 --> 00:07:32.952
And it was another way we could interact

00:07:32.952 --> 00:07:34.954
with each other like on a personal level.

00:07:38.207 --> 00:07:40.877
Luckily DC courts don’t have a bail system

00:07:41.586 --> 00:07:42.628
and we were all let out

00:07:42.628 --> 00:07:44.255
into the general public the next day which

00:07:45.256 --> 00:07:46.466
thank god they did

00:07:49.635 --> 00:07:50.887
If I were to tell

00:07:50.887 --> 00:07:52.096
the generation

00:07:52.096 --> 00:07:53.931
that has just now come into the world

00:07:53.931 --> 00:07:56.976
why it’s important to express dissent

00:07:56.976 --> 00:07:57.977
I would say

00:07:57.977 --> 00:07:59.979
that this world isn’t perfect

00:07:59.979 --> 00:08:01.814
and it’s not going to be perfect

00:08:01.898 --> 00:08:03.232
and the only way

00:08:03.232 --> 00:08:05.818
that things change and become better

00:08:05.818 --> 00:08:07.487
and worth living

00:08:07.487 --> 00:08:08.613
is through difference

00:08:08.613 --> 00:08:10.990
and through experimentation.

00:08:11.991 --> 00:08:14.660
If I were to go back and tell myself

00:08:14.660 --> 00:08:16.245
how to be in the world

00:08:16.245 --> 00:08:17.163
I would say

00:08:17.163 --> 00:08:18.623
you have to listen to your heart

00:08:18.623 --> 00:08:20.166
you have to listen to others

00:08:20.166 --> 00:08:23.336
and be open to almost anything

00:08:26.339 --> 00:08:28.174
I was 15

00:08:28.591 --> 00:08:30.176
You know, I went to a

00:08:30.176 --> 00:08:31.469
collective house

00:08:31.469 --> 00:08:32.345
and they were political

00:08:32.345 --> 00:08:33.971
you know, they were all anarchists

00:08:34.096 --> 00:08:36.641
They had a Food Not Bombs in the basement

00:08:36.641 --> 00:08:39.268
and a free bike co-op

00:08:39.268 --> 00:08:41.103
and had punk shows

00:08:41.437 --> 00:08:42.939
Anarchism to me

00:08:43.439 --> 00:08:44.649
on a day to day basis

00:08:44.649 --> 00:08:46.692
looks like trying to live with as little

00:08:46.692 --> 00:08:48.653
possible repression as you can

00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:51.489
It looks like sharing and giving

00:08:51.489 --> 00:08:52.823
without expectation.

00:08:53.282 --> 00:08:54.951
You have to find your friends

00:08:54.951 --> 00:08:57.703
and try and share as much as possible

00:08:57.703 --> 00:09:00.540
share your food, share your ideas

00:09:00.540 --> 00:09:01.874
and care for each other

00:09:01.874 --> 00:09:04.210
and share your lives together

00:09:05.044 --> 00:09:07.880
I share unconditionally

00:09:07.880 --> 00:09:09.632
with my friends

00:09:09.632 --> 00:09:11.133
but I also don’t put limits

00:09:11.133 --> 00:09:13.010
on who could possibly be them

00:09:13.553 --> 00:09:14.720
You know, some people

00:09:14.720 --> 00:09:16.973
feel that anarchists are idealists

00:09:17.014 --> 00:09:20.226
and some people feel that it’s impractical

00:09:20.518 --> 00:09:22.186
It’s not about what’s practical

00:09:22.186 --> 00:09:24.897
or what works or what doesn’t

00:09:24.897 --> 00:09:27.400
it’s actually about where you stand

00:09:27.400 --> 00:09:28.484
in your heart and like

00:09:28.484 --> 00:09:30.403
what your actual desires are

00:09:36.492 --> 00:09:37.493
People who could say

00:09:37.493 --> 00:09:38.661
anarchism doesn’t work

00:09:38.828 --> 00:09:40.580
I mean the main flaw is

00:09:41.330 --> 00:09:43.708
what does working mean in this situation

00:09:44.417 --> 00:09:46.377
Those who think that anarchism can’t work

00:09:46.377 --> 00:09:48.337
are trying to fit it into a framework

00:09:48.337 --> 00:09:50.006
that it’s explicitly against

00:09:50.423 --> 00:09:51.757
How is power

00:09:51.924 --> 00:09:54.218
and control monopolized

00:09:54.218 --> 00:09:56.512
or how is it gathered from

00:09:56.512 --> 00:09:58.264
one area or one person

00:09:58.264 --> 00:09:59.724
how does one person have

00:09:59.724 --> 00:10:02.768
more or less control over

00:10:02.768 --> 00:10:04.687
their life and the life of others

00:10:05.938 --> 00:10:07.440
You're taking away this framework

00:10:07.440 --> 00:10:09.025
to have unlimited freedom

00:10:09.025 --> 00:10:11.110
to organize in ways that you see fit

00:10:13.446 --> 00:10:16.032
Anarchism to me is the immediate practice

00:10:16.032 --> 00:10:17.450
of freedom

00:10:17.450 --> 00:10:20.286
And, I feel like that happened for me

00:10:20.286 --> 00:10:21.704
on January 20th

00:10:22.204 --> 00:10:23.956
It was immensely freeing, you know

00:10:23.956 --> 00:10:26.125
it was one of the most free spaces

00:10:26.125 --> 00:10:27.126
I’ve ever been in

00:10:28.127 --> 00:10:29.629
Dealing with a court case

00:10:29.920 --> 00:10:32.131
I am less free now than I was

00:10:32.798 --> 00:10:35.551
prior to, and I feel that.

00:10:37.428 --> 00:10:39.096
I promise you that no one

00:10:39.096 --> 00:10:41.807
within the Black Bloc on January 20th’s

00:10:41.807 --> 00:10:44.310
ideal utopian society

00:10:44.310 --> 00:10:46.562
is that where they get to break windows

00:10:46.562 --> 00:10:47.772
and throw rocks.

00:10:49.315 --> 00:10:51.734
I’m not saying that what happened on

00:10:51.734 --> 00:10:53.277
January 20th was violent

00:10:53.277 --> 00:10:55.655
violence is just a monopoly of power

00:10:56.072 --> 00:10:58.824
violence is a term that is only relative

00:10:58.824 --> 00:11:00.743
to who gets to use power

00:11:00.743 --> 00:11:03.120
and who has power used against them

00:11:03.454 --> 00:11:05.998
and which power is justified

00:11:05.998 --> 00:11:08.834
and which power is not justified.

00:11:16.509 --> 00:11:17.802
When we talk about violence

00:11:17.802 --> 00:11:19.970
in the sense of property destruction

00:11:20.012 --> 00:11:21.847
what we’re actually talking about

00:11:21.972 --> 00:11:23.099
is the erasure

00:11:23.099 --> 00:11:25.351
of the time it takes to earn enough money

00:11:25.351 --> 00:11:26.811
to own property

00:11:27.978 --> 00:11:30.356
Time is all we have on this earth

00:11:30.856 --> 00:11:32.108
but since we don’t know

00:11:32.108 --> 00:11:33.317
how much of it we have

00:11:33.317 --> 00:11:35.319
we couldn’t possible trade it equally

00:11:35.319 --> 00:11:35.945
for money

00:11:36.487 --> 00:11:38.447
Capitalism is a framework

00:11:38.447 --> 00:11:39.699
that quantifies what is

00:11:39.699 --> 00:11:41.325
impossible to quantify

00:11:41.701 --> 00:11:42.785
and turns lives

00:11:42.993 --> 00:11:44.954
in very fluid experiences

00:11:44.954 --> 00:11:47.707
and abilities and very fluid ways of being

00:11:47.707 --> 00:11:48.708
into static

00:11:48.708 --> 00:11:49.792
consumable

00:11:49.792 --> 00:11:51.210
trade-able entities

00:11:57.216 --> 00:11:58.884
When they were arresting people

00:11:59.343 --> 00:12:01.053
they didn’t know who broke windows

00:12:01.345 --> 00:12:02.388
who threw rocks

00:12:02.888 --> 00:12:04.140
who was on the sidewalk

00:12:04.140 --> 00:12:05.391
who was in the street

00:12:05.683 --> 00:12:07.476
The probable cause in this case

00:12:07.476 --> 00:12:09.395
is not whether you were wearing black

00:12:10.146 --> 00:12:12.314
or whether you had anything on you

00:12:13.023 --> 00:12:14.984
the probable cause was being around

00:12:14.984 --> 00:12:16.152
or part of the group

00:12:16.485 --> 00:12:17.486
or part of a protest

00:12:17.486 --> 00:12:18.904
or even on the same block

00:12:19.864 --> 00:12:21.574
It was only after the arrests

00:12:22.074 --> 00:12:23.993
that each individual was charged

00:12:23.993 --> 00:12:25.411
with blanket charges

00:12:25.745 --> 00:12:27.913
of every single individual crime

00:12:27.913 --> 00:12:29.915
that was committed during the protest

00:12:30.750 --> 00:12:32.168
it wasn’t a matter of whether they

00:12:32.168 --> 00:12:33.753
thought you committed a crime

00:12:34.211 --> 00:12:35.838
it was whether they thought they could

00:12:35.838 --> 00:12:38.257
piece together with footage or anything

00:12:38.424 --> 00:12:39.550
after the fact

00:12:40.760 --> 00:12:41.761
Basically

00:12:42.219 --> 00:12:44.180
what the government was doing here

00:12:44.597 --> 00:12:45.598
was casting a net

00:12:45.598 --> 00:12:47.558
against all the protesters

00:12:47.892 --> 00:12:48.768
journalists

00:12:49.435 --> 00:12:50.936
National Lawyers Guild

00:12:51.854 --> 00:12:54.064
everyone who was between the blocks of

00:12:54.064 --> 00:12:56.692
L and 12th and L and 11th

00:12:57.359 --> 00:12:59.779
If any of the J20 lose their case

00:13:00.029 --> 00:13:01.447
it means that you can be arrested

00:13:01.447 --> 00:13:03.532
for being in the vicinity

00:13:03.532 --> 00:13:05.075
of property destruction

00:13:05.075 --> 00:13:06.786
and you can be tried with every single

00:13:06.786 --> 00:13:09.121
crime that could possibly be thrown at you

00:13:09.121 --> 00:13:11.123
whether they think you are

00:13:11.123 --> 00:13:13.292
individually guilty of it or not

00:13:13.459 --> 00:13:15.878
Even if you didn’t do anything

00:13:17.463 --> 00:13:18.631
People ask

00:13:18.631 --> 00:13:20.966
why would someone need to cover their face

00:13:20.966 --> 00:13:23.219
if they weren’t going to do anything wrong

00:13:23.552 --> 00:13:25.805
well, we as people

00:13:25.805 --> 00:13:27.932
don’t get to decide what’s legal

00:13:27.932 --> 00:13:29.975
and as governments change

00:13:29.975 --> 00:13:32.937
so do the definitions of right and wrong

00:13:34.647 --> 00:13:36.315
In our case itself

00:13:36.315 --> 00:13:38.442
there was a white supremacist group that

00:13:38.442 --> 00:13:39.819
infiltrated one of the meetings

00:13:39.819 --> 00:13:40.986
about January 20th

00:13:40.986 --> 00:13:42.738
which I myself was not at

00:13:43.072 --> 00:13:45.115
and gathered video on the meeting

00:13:45.908 --> 00:13:46.992
This video

00:13:47.451 --> 00:13:48.619
that was gathered by

00:13:48.619 --> 00:13:49.954
a white supremacist group

00:13:50.246 --> 00:13:52.665
was used by the government against us

00:13:53.290 --> 00:13:54.416
and not only

00:13:54.416 --> 00:13:56.502
was it used by the government against us

00:13:56.502 --> 00:13:59.004
the prosecutor held parts of the video

00:13:59.004 --> 00:14:01.507
that were beneficial to the defense

00:14:01.507 --> 00:14:02.842
from the defense

00:14:02.842 --> 00:14:04.134
it’s a violation called

00:14:04.134 --> 00:14:05.594
the Brady Violation

00:14:05.803 --> 00:14:07.513
The government broke the law

00:14:07.513 --> 00:14:09.682
in order to pursue people

00:14:09.682 --> 00:14:11.350
who did not break the law

00:14:12.852 --> 00:14:14.353
The term Antifa

00:14:14.353 --> 00:14:16.272
was kind of brought into light

00:14:16.647 --> 00:14:19.191
in a lot of ways from January 20th

00:14:19.608 --> 00:14:21.151
and the inauguration

00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.321
as people who were against fascism

00:14:24.488 --> 00:14:26.031
and people who saw Donald Trump

00:14:26.031 --> 00:14:28.117
as a symbol for fascism

00:14:30.202 --> 00:14:31.954
Yes, I think he’s sexist

00:14:32.538 --> 00:14:33.873
and racist

00:14:35.040 --> 00:14:36.333
and that’s terrible

00:14:36.876 --> 00:14:38.002
and that’s not the kind of person

00:14:38.002 --> 00:14:39.211
I want to have as a president

00:14:40.963 --> 00:14:42.172
but also

00:14:43.215 --> 00:14:46.218
Trump drops bombs on people

00:14:48.012 --> 00:14:49.680
Every president before Trump

00:14:50.055 --> 00:14:51.849
and every president after Trump

00:14:52.391 --> 00:14:55.394
has or will drop bombs on people

00:14:57.813 --> 00:15:00.065
The role of presidency is bad

00:15:00.065 --> 00:15:01.650
regardless of

00:15:01.650 --> 00:15:04.236
whether or not it is Trump in office

00:15:05.070 --> 00:15:07.072
however Trump in office

00:15:07.531 --> 00:15:08.741
has emboldened

00:15:09.074 --> 00:15:12.912
white nationalists, fascists, xenophobes

00:15:12.912 --> 00:15:14.496
the list goes on

00:15:15.247 --> 00:15:16.749
When we talk about dissent

00:15:16.749 --> 00:15:19.376
how we’re expressing how we feel

00:15:19.376 --> 00:15:22.588
about the current government

00:15:23.005 --> 00:15:24.423
what happened on J20

00:15:24.423 --> 00:15:26.258
was a response to everything

00:15:26.258 --> 00:15:28.052
this political regime stands for

00:15:28.218 --> 00:15:30.429
...anywhere, and everywhere.

00:15:30.429 --> 00:15:32.723
So you’re gonna have to get used to it.

00:15:32.890 --> 00:15:34.016
You’re gonna have to get used to

00:15:34.016 --> 00:15:34.934
the alt-right

00:15:34.934 --> 00:15:36.435
You’re gonna have to get used to

00:15:36.435 --> 00:15:37.603
white identity

00:15:38.103 --> 00:15:39.855
You will not replace us

00:15:39.939 --> 00:15:42.232
You will not replace us

00:15:44.068 --> 00:15:46.195
J20 was an act of passion

00:15:46.362 --> 00:15:47.863
and it was an act of joy

00:15:48.697 --> 00:15:50.074
I know that might be confusing

00:15:50.074 --> 00:15:51.075
for most people who see

00:15:51.075 --> 00:15:52.201
what happened on J20

00:15:52.201 --> 00:15:53.452
as violent

00:15:53.452 --> 00:15:55.287
and aggressive

00:15:55.287 --> 00:15:57.206
and a riot.

00:15:57.206 --> 00:15:58.916
I mean, one thing that we can learn from

00:15:58.916 --> 00:16:00.125
after the Super Bowl

00:16:00.626 --> 00:16:02.127
is that not every form

00:16:02.127 --> 00:16:03.879
of riotous expression

00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:05.547
comes from a place of hatred.

00:16:07.883 --> 00:16:10.219
I feel like what happened on J20 was

00:16:10.219 --> 00:16:13.305
a practice of anarchist ideals

00:16:13.305 --> 00:16:14.473
in the street

00:16:16.976 --> 00:16:19.561
Not only was it an aspect of dissent

00:16:20.145 --> 00:16:21.313
but it was

00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:24.108
almost an utopian event

00:16:30.948 --> 00:16:33.909
My vision of utopia is not riots

00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:36.453
it’s not the destruction of property

00:16:36.453 --> 00:16:38.622
I don’t like the destruction of property

00:16:38.622 --> 00:16:40.290
I don’t like that people

00:16:40.290 --> 00:16:41.750
might have been scared

00:16:41.750 --> 00:16:43.252
by what they saw

00:16:46.463 --> 00:16:47.589
I don’t really know

00:16:47.589 --> 00:16:49.800
what a utopian society is going to be like

00:16:50.509 --> 00:16:52.177
I don’t even think there’s a

00:16:52.177 --> 00:16:54.638
possibility for a utopian society

00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.142
you can’t package a utopian future.

00:17:00.436 --> 00:17:02.187
Because our desires are based on

00:17:02.187 --> 00:17:03.355
what we lack

00:17:03.605 --> 00:17:05.774
utopia looks like having our needs met.

00:17:06.942 --> 00:17:08.944
Not our needs as individuals

00:17:09.528 --> 00:17:10.821
but our collective needs

00:17:10.821 --> 00:17:12.781
that are intrinsically bound together

00:17:15.993 --> 00:17:17.703
I was out to dinner with a few friends

00:17:17.870 --> 00:17:19.038
and we were at this dumpling spot

00:17:19.038 --> 00:17:21.040
ready to dig into our dumplings

00:17:21.373 --> 00:17:22.833
and I got this text from my lawyer

00:17:22.833 --> 00:17:23.709
that said

00:17:24.334 --> 00:17:26.879
“Charges are dropped, have a nice weekend”

00:17:30.049 --> 00:17:31.717
A thirty minute protest

00:17:32.051 --> 00:17:34.553
can lead to a year and a half of stress

00:17:35.012 --> 00:17:36.055
over something that could affect

00:17:36.055 --> 00:17:37.306
the rest of your life

00:17:37.639 --> 00:17:40.559
in a mere text message it can be all over

00:17:42.686 --> 00:17:43.687
I will say

00:17:43.896 --> 00:17:45.564
that it was a lot less stressful

00:17:45.564 --> 00:17:47.066
than going to trial for me

00:17:47.066 --> 00:17:48.567
While I’m very happy I didn’t have

00:17:48.567 --> 00:17:49.818
to go to trial

00:17:50.694 --> 00:17:52.529
it was kind of anti-climactic

00:17:52.529 --> 00:17:54.865
to have my life on hold, in a lot of ways

00:17:54.865 --> 00:17:55.908
for over a year

00:17:56.575 --> 00:17:58.202
and just have everything back

00:17:58.410 --> 00:18:00.245
just because the prosecutor

00:18:00.245 --> 00:18:02.831
decides not to keep going with the charges

00:18:03.415 --> 00:18:04.416
There was no real

00:18:04.875 --> 00:18:05.876
conclusion

00:18:08.837 --> 00:18:09.588
And you know

00:18:10.089 --> 00:18:12.049
they didn’t have enough to convict us

00:18:12.591 --> 00:18:14.426
and what they did have they misused

00:18:14.426 --> 00:18:16.011
in ways that made it unlikely

00:18:16.011 --> 00:18:17.429
for them to get a conviction.

00:18:18.430 --> 00:18:20.099
The only thing that they could do

00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:21.934
was punish us

00:18:22.267 --> 00:18:24.436
by forcing us through these legal hoops

00:18:25.270 --> 00:18:27.439
forcing us to be available to their system

00:18:28.273 --> 00:18:29.775
But at the same time

00:18:30.067 --> 00:18:31.276
what I’ve learned since having

00:18:31.276 --> 00:18:32.736
my court case dismissed

00:18:32.945 --> 00:18:35.114
is that arrest isn’t the start

00:18:35.114 --> 00:18:36.281
of the process

00:18:37.449 --> 00:18:39.284
the process is going on around us

00:18:39.284 --> 00:18:40.744
at all times.

00:18:49.962 --> 00:18:51.380
It’s only when you are arrested

00:18:51.380 --> 00:18:52.798
that you start to realize

00:18:53.132 --> 00:18:55.467
how many times you interact with police.

00:18:56.135 --> 00:18:57.594
How many cameras are on you.

00:19:00.097 --> 00:19:01.640
How everything could go against you

00:19:01.640 --> 00:19:02.724
in a court case.

00:19:06.478 --> 00:19:08.438
Once the J20 charges are dropped

00:19:08.772 --> 00:19:09.982
it’s not like the information

00:19:09.982 --> 00:19:11.567
that they’ve taken goes away

00:19:12.276 --> 00:19:13.318
It sets a precedent

00:19:13.318 --> 00:19:16.071
for information gathering on protesters

00:19:16.280 --> 00:19:17.614
Whether it be legal or not

00:19:18.574 --> 00:19:20.075
as a citizen of this country

00:19:20.075 --> 00:19:21.660
despite everything

00:19:22.119 --> 00:19:23.579
I don’t think it’s just

00:19:23.579 --> 00:19:24.997
regardless of whether or not

00:19:24.997 --> 00:19:27.291
it’s deemed legal by the prosecutors

00:19:27.291 --> 00:19:28.417
the judge

00:19:28.417 --> 00:19:29.960
the United States government

00:19:30.502 --> 00:19:32.087
Time will tell whether or not

00:19:32.087 --> 00:19:33.463
these things become legal

00:19:33.922 --> 00:19:35.007
if they aren’t already

00:19:35.507 --> 00:19:36.842
but another thing is

00:19:36.842 --> 00:19:39.303
that even if it was legal to arrest

00:19:39.303 --> 00:19:41.847
en masse without any probable cause

00:19:42.181 --> 00:19:44.016
and only justify probable cause

00:19:44.016 --> 00:19:45.184
after the fact

00:19:45.184 --> 00:19:47.102
whether or not that becomes legal

00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:50.022
it is not just as it stands.

00:19:51.023 --> 00:19:52.482
Regardless of

00:19:52.774 --> 00:19:54.443
what you think of the politics

00:19:54.443 --> 00:19:56.195
of what happened on January 20th

00:19:56.820 --> 00:19:58.197
there is something beautiful

00:19:58.197 --> 00:20:00.324
to be said about believing in something

00:20:00.699 --> 00:20:02.201
enough to risk your freedom

00:20:03.785 --> 00:20:06.705
enough to risk your livelihood and

00:20:07.623 --> 00:20:09.124
risk your safety

00:20:11.376 --> 00:20:12.961
It’s because of these risks

00:20:13.795 --> 00:20:15.797
that make dissenting beautiful.

00:20:17.549 --> 00:20:19.051
We’re going to see more people

00:20:19.051 --> 00:20:20.385
whose basis of life

00:20:20.385 --> 00:20:21.553
their sheer existence

00:20:21.553 --> 00:20:23.555
is a form of resistance

00:20:23.847 --> 00:20:25.224
and through resistance

00:20:26.475 --> 00:20:28.727
is how we will have a life worth living

00:20:31.688 --> 00:20:33.565
Oh, they’re throwing tear gas

00:20:34.066 --> 00:20:35.984
I think that January 20th, 2017

00:20:37.236 --> 00:20:38.528
was one of these moments

00:20:41.573 --> 00:20:42.866
moving forward

00:20:44.076 --> 00:20:45.369
we have to resist repression

00:20:45.827 --> 00:20:46.745
as much as we can

00:20:47.746 --> 00:20:48.914
and live as though the state

00:20:48.914 --> 00:20:49.915
is not always looming over us