Anarchist Black Cross Federation - Government Attention

Government Attention

Even at its early beginnings, the ABCF has been the target of government attention. In 1992, the Paterson Anarchist Collective, the precursor of the NJ ABCF chapter, had their bookstore shot up. Earlier in the day local police roughed up members of the group and threatened to shut the shop down. The next day members arrived at the shop only to discover the front door of the shop had been shot up. (It is believed that local police department was responsible for the incident.) On January 12, 1996, the Jacksonville chapter was raided by a 22-man swat team. Twelve days later all but one member of the organization were arrested. Since then several members have been investigated, harassed and detained by numerous government agencies, including the FBI.

In 2005, because of perceived threat of Tactical Defense Caucus (which advocates self-defense training for Leftist and Anarchist), the ABCF received additional government attention. In his testimony before the Senate Committee on Intelligence in February 2005, Robert Mueller, Director of the FBI, identified the ABCF as a potential threat to national security:

"The potential for violence by anarchists and other emerging revolutionary groups, such as the Anarchist Black Cross Federation (ABCF), will continue to be an issue for law enforcement. The stated goals of the ABCF are "the abolishment of prisons, the system of laws, and the Capitalist state." The ABCF believes in armed resistance to achieve a stateless and classless society. ABCF has continued to organize, recruit, and train anarchists in the tactical use of firearms."