US

‘Don’t Turn Yourself In’: Blue City Anarchists Offer Workshop On Hiding From Law Enforcement

Antifa flag (Gregor Wunsch/Wikimedia Commons)

Left-wing anarchists are planning a workshop event in Pennsylvania on how to be a “fugitive” from law enforcement.

Fringe leftist websites are advertising an “Annual Philly Skillshare Convergence” from Oct. 3-5 that will teach skills such as “hiding from drones,” “practices to resist state coercion” and how to take oneself “off-grid.” The scheduled event shows how some on the far-left are taking precautions as the Trump administration promises swift law enforcement action against activists driving organized political violence.

Similarly titled “skillshare” workshops have been advertised online in recent months in cities around the country — but information for the October event reflects a more explicitly militant tone than others.

“Don’t turn yourself in, be fugitive: repression preparedness material/prefigurative practices to resist state coercion,” a portion of the event’s description reads. Similar topics on the online flyer include “Invisibility for Cyberpunks: hiding from drones, thermal, & night vision,” “Running/Hitting Da Bricks” and using a “one-time pad” to encrypt digital communications.

Other items on the flyer appear to address living without trackable technology, such as “Off-grid Basics: A Discussion & Workshop for Short-Term & Medium-Term Outdoor Living” and “Power Anywhere: Introduction to 12v Electricity and Solar.”

Online announcements of the workshop do not name a specific location, individual organizers or formal groups behind it, instead asking viewers to contact an encrypted email address for more information.

“We respectfully request that you do not write an article about our event,” an anonymous user of the email address told the DCNF when asked for comment. “You do not have our consent and will not be answering your questions. Thanks!”

The event is also featured on the website “Philly Anti-Capitalist,” which states on its “About” page that it “does not condone illegal activity.” Philly Anti-Cap did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.

Instruction at the workshop even extends to “Building Abortion Care Networks & Reproductive Autonomy,” “Meditations on Drug Use & Liberation” and “Safety Planning for Parties, Orgies, and Actions,” according to the online postings.

Violent leftist radicalism has repeatedly captured national attention in recent months, with left-wing suspects leading law enforcement on multi-day manhunts over a July 4 terrorist attack at a Texas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) building and the Sept. 10 assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Benjamin Song, an Antifa-style or “antifascist” activist, ran from the FBI and Texas police for over a week — after authorities say he opened fire on the Alvaredo ICE facility during an ambush by black-clothed agitators with whom Song had arrived.

Song became one of the Texas’ top ten most wanted fugitives until his July 15 arrest. Authorities later charged two co-defendants with working together to help Song flee from justice via meetings and conversations on Signal, an encrypted text messaging app. More than a dozen people face charges in the July 4 attack, which officials have linked to the anarchist Antifa movement and its goal of overthrowing the U.S. government, according to WFAA.

Federal and Utah authorities also spent two days searching for Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old accused of fatally shooting Kirk at Utah Valley University (UVU) in Orem. His family eventually convinced him to turn himself in on Sept. 11 after recognizing him from photos the FBI released to the public, officials have said. Robinson wrote political phrases such as “hey fascist! CATCH!” on gun cartridges, according to prosecutors.

After Kirk’s murder, President Donald Trump issued an executive order designating Antifa a “domestic terrorist organization” and a memo directing officials to consider racketeering charges and other measures against those driving “organized political violence.”

“This political violence is not a series of isolated incidents and does not emerge organically. Instead, it is a culmination of sophisticated, organized campaigns of targeted intimidation, radicalization, threats, and violence designed to silence opposing speech, limit political activity, change or direct policy outcomes, and prevent the functioning of a democratic society,” Trump’s memo reads. “A new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources, and predicate actions behind them — is required.”