Today in Seattle in solidarity with Simos Seisidis--on the day his trial begins and the day of international solidarity with him--a group of anarchists dropped a banner off the roof of a shopping center and strung another across the street. The rooftop banner read, "Total Freedom for Greek Anarchist Simos Seisidis. Anyone who defends a bank is either a fool or a cop!" The other read, "Not out of pity nor out of duty but because we are anarchists solidarity is our weapon" Flares and smoke bombs were thrown into the intersection to disrupt rush hour traffic and over twelve-hundred leafleats were thrown from the roof and in the street. We did this in spite of the presence of a police cruiser parked at the intersection. A crowd of pedestrians gathered, picking up leaflets and talking excitedly about what they had seen, as the anarchists disappeared in seconds. People were heard commenting positively about the "anarchist flash mob," and one even climbed up to the roof, looked down at the banner, and then raised his fists in the air in excitement.

Below are photos from the action and the text from the flier. (Click the images for full-size.)

Freedom for Simos

If we attack banks, it is because we recognize money as a central cause of our misery.

In Seattle, as in Athens, many people live in poverty, under a daily misery where life becomes merely survival, as the bosses and banks rob us of our time and dignity. Police, courts and prisons exist for all those who dare to confront that misery. More and more people are persecuted, beaten or murdered at the hands of the police and the State. Prisons function to destroy passion, to serve as a warehouse of undesirables, to spread despair, to kill rebellious spirits; to execute, plain and simply.

But in the U.S., as in Greece, as everywhere, there are those who do not kneel down to this system of exploitation. There are those who put despair and fear behind them. Those who grab life. Those who take action. Today, March 30th, 2011, the trial begins for "the robbers in black" in Athens, Greece. It involves the January 2006 National Bank robbery in Central Athens, as well as six other bank robberies. It is the same case for which the anarchist Yiannis Dimitrakis was sentenced to twelve years of prison.

Today our comrade Simos Seisidis is in the place of the accused. He was on the run for four years, and when captured was shot in the back of the leg which led to its amputation. Regardless of the crimes he is being charged with, the endless struggle for freedom is the crime that he has always committed. We are deaf to their moralistic sentences. We hear instead loud and clear the cry of freedom and the strength of passion as they try to bend those who will never break.

Solidarity is our weapon! Death to the Greek State! Death to all States!

The Spectacle wished to make us appear dreadful. We intend to be much worse.

For more info, check: http://actforfreedomnow.blogspot.com