It’s been widely reported over the last day or so that Freedom Press was subject to a ‘firebomb attack’. What seems to have happened is that some scumbag managed to force open one of the outside window covers with a crowbar or some-such and lob in a Molotov cocktail or pour petrol in and set it alight. Whatever they did the effort was amateurish and the shop survives to agitate another day, thank fuck no one was hurt, and a lot of the damage apparently came from the chemicals used to extinguish the fire, what is apparently normal in these situations. It looks like the fascist scum that creep around hiding their beliefs from everyone they know & try to care about are to blame, but once again the actions of a couple of pricks looks likely to give a shot in the arm to anti-fascists, and those on the left who have sat on the fence for too long. As the antifash movement grew following the surprise attack by fascists on an Irish march in Liverpool a year or so ago, more people again seem to be joining the movement to stamp out UK fascism.
Freedom was last attacked in 1993 by Combat 18, during that attack they sprayed C18 on the wall as they left, but in the age where every fascist posts their poisonous ideas on the net it is unlikely that any of the fuckers will admit to this one. The pigs as well as antifascists know who a lot of these people are. (The police are involved as they were called by the fire brigade, although we shouldn’t expect anything from that line of inquiry).
After the Tower Hamlets EDL march was scuppered last year, and the embarrassment they suffered in Walthamstow (twice) recently, there was chatter on EDL facebook pages about attacking the anarchist book fair, with some of them posting links to Freedom Press. Another candidate could be the ‘British Golden Dawn’ who got humiliated the other weekend by London antifascists, and as they are a tiny group of nutters this could be the kind of cowardly stuff they could sink right into. We may never know if it was organised or just a lone dickhead, needless to say whoever it was probably identifies with most far right wannabe street movements. The Kebele Club in Bristol also had it windows put in a couple of days before, although the prime suspects for that locally seems to be the toff lads from the local hunt. It’s also worth noting that the Neo-Nazi group Blood and Honour hosted a secret gig in London last week, although there does not seem to have been any talk about it from them so far.
Help has already been offered by many people, today saw a great turn out by folk volunteering to help clean up so the shop can get back to running as normal asap. Other anarchists and antifascists have quickly organised events to raise money for Freedom with events planned from Newcastle to Brighton (and everywhere in between).
Report on the 1993 attack, 4.25 mins in: C18
Iron Column Records is looking for artists to donate to a benefit CD for Freedom – here’s the link: Iron Column
Poets can get involved here – Poems
And anyone wanting to make a donation can do so by ordering a book on line but stating that the money is for a donation: Freedom Press
Freedoms online books are still available as normal as obviously not all stock is stored in the shop and the upstaris area is fine apart from electrical damage.
Here’s the amazing story of the clean up so far: Clean me!
So it looks like a near tragedy could turn into a positive for the antifascist and anarchist movements, and no doubt whoever did it may curse the day they kicked the hornets nest. Solidarity With Freedom Press, Always Antifascist.
Anti-Fascist Network 