[News] Anarchist Activist Killed in Tacoma for Fighting US 'Concentration Camps'

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Anarchist-Killed-Fighting-US-Concentration-Camps-20190715-0027.html 



  Anarchist Activist Killed for Fighting US 'Concentration Camps'

Published 15 July 2019
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United States Anarchist and anti-fascist activist, Will Van 
Spronsen, was killed Saturday by the police in the state of 
Washington while trying to take direct action against a migration 
concentration camp, by setting up migrants deportation buses on fire.

The killing occurred a few hours after a peaceful demonstration against 
the migrants’ detention camp when four police officers shot the 
69-year-old campaigner in the head. Van Spronsen is likely the first 
person to be killed trying to directly fight against detention 
facilities and to help migrants.

Anarchists from the U.S. and friends of Van Spronsen paid him tribute on 
Monday saying that the long-time activist was a kind and loving 
person as well as a militant devoted to his ideas, always fighting to 
help those who have no way to defend themselves or who are completely 
vulnerable in the face of State brutality.

They also stated not knowing what had exactly happened as the unique 
information they got were from the police which, they said is 
“notoriously corrupt and unreliable sources for such a narrative.”

“The story that we do have is that Will attempted to set fire to several 
vehicles, outbuildings and a propane tank outside the Northwest 
Detention Center in Tacoma which houses hundreds of immigrants awaiting 
hearings or deportations,” adding that “he successfully set one vehicle 
on fire and then exchanged gunfire with Tacoma police officers who 
fatally shot him. He was pronounced dead on the scene.”

    #WillemVanSpronsen
    <https://twitter.com/hashtag/WillemVanSpronsen?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
    is a hero & the rest of us Cowards. Any radical who seeks to
    liberate children women and men from Camps should be hailed as a
    champion. Rest in Power and may your fellow comrades never let your
    death be in vain. pic.twitter.com/JsX3USiCiK <https://t.co/JsX3USiCiK>

    — #WillemVanSpronsen☭ ���� (@DarkoftheWeb) 14 juillet 2019
    <https://twitter.com/DarkoftheWeb/status/1150423997588357120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>


Another statement made by La Resistencia, a group led by undocumented 
migrants and U.S. citizens based in Tacoma and dedicated at fighting the 
detention and deportation of migrants, noted that “Van Spronsen actions 
sadly reflect the level of desperation people across this country feel 
about the government’s outrageous violence against immigrants, which 
includes the use of detention centers to cage migrants both currently 
living in the US and those seeking asylum.”

The private immigration prison run by GEO Group, a company specializing 
in privatized corrections and detention, on behalf of U.S. Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is known for frequently falling short 
on human rights and has seen various protests demanding for its closure 
​​​​.

The center, along with deporting migrants, also detains parents who have 
been separated from their children under Donald Trump’s migration policies.

“We are grief-stricken, inspired and enraged by what occurred early this 
morning. ICE imprisons, tortures and deports hundreds of thousands of 
people and the brutality and scale of their harm are only escalating. We 
need every form of resistance, solidarity, and passion to fight against 
ICE and the borders that they defend,” a statement from the U.S. 
anarchists read.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 https://freedomarchives.org/
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