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The Responsibility of Criminals by Roadkill Revolt

2025

Obviously, you don’t run around telling everyone you’re under investigation, anyone who has been investigated, or in close relation with someone who has, knows this well. So how do we ensure we keep those around us safe while under this type of pursuit?

To start this:

Is this an inflammatory title? Kind of. Kind of not. This is not a blanket statement, not by a long shot. So in what context is this meant? Firstly, Political criminals, specifically if they’ve been caught, specifically if they are anarchists.

Secondly, there will be no answers here. There will be questions posed and pondered, things suggested and condemned – but none of these are answers. This is to encourage thought on the issue and hopefully illuminate a needed conversation. I have opinions and surely my opinions will reflect here, figure out yours. Finally, everything is hypothetical. Always.

So lets propose a hypothetical:

A person, a political criminal, let’s call them elderberry, is under surveillance of a federal agency and actively under repression of the courts in trial. Aware of this, elderberry continuously involves themselves in political situations that require discretion. Some of their close affiliates are aware of this, but they regard themselves as an “organizer” as well as
find themselves going to discrete anarchist gatherings. They engage in political activities, with varying risk levels, and often coexist in sensitive, political spaces, both with individuals that are aware of their surveillance status and with those who are not.

Is this okay?

Those who are aware of elderberry’s status are able to address that within their risk assessment when deciding to involve themselves. What about everyone else? Let’s say elderberry goes to a gathering, 4 days in the forest. At an anarchist gathering you can expect the surveillance of local law enforcement, but, suddenly, because of elderberry’s attendance, federal surveillance is now targeted at the gathering. Feds have authority, access, and equipment that is not available to local kops. Most others at the gathering will not have viewed being under the federal gaze as a likely possibility. Even with the increase of left-wing political repression in recent years, for most anarchist gatherings, federal agencies are barely, if
at all, aware and do not care. Yet elderberry changed those odds. Depending on the gathering, depending on the frontline, there’s a damn good chance of high-risk individuals being there: other political criminals who have evaded being investigated, migrants, “illegal” workers, people on the run, etc… . None who anticipated the feds watching them. Although they were not the subject of the investigation, due to the increased abilities of the agency surveilling elderberry, flags may be raised, or, they may plainly investigate everyone. Given the current RICO case against Weelaunee forest defenders, which is attempting to set precedent of left-leaning communities and, specifically, anarchist (or those who they choose to label as such), working together being labeled as “organized crime” and “racketeering”; this is plenty of incentive for said federal agency to take note on everyone at that gathering.

Elderberry arrived with 1 or 2 close comrades, there are 30ish people at the gathering depending on the day. Elderberry, attempted to be diligent (or maybe they didn’t) to make sure their stuff wasn’t bugged or tracked, but maybe they missed something. Turns out their phone is bugged, and although they don’t have it on them while having sensitive conversations, it’s on them enough during casual moments and a few things slip through. They also mostly turn off their phone when they are partaking in sensitive activities, some of which are group activities – a pattern that may or may not be noticed. Nobody but elderberry and the comrades they came with know that they are under federal surveillance.

Can anybody else there give informed consent to participating? Fooling local kops is a lot easier than fooling the feds. Evading local kops is a lot easier than evading the feds. You’re playing a very different game when you are dealing with 3 letter agencies.

Obviously, elderberry can’t go around telling everyone at the gathering that they are under surveillance or being investigated – that would leave them vulnerable. Obviously, people often tend to try keeping a low profile while under surveillance, but that is an individual risk one must make for themselves. When making that personal assessment should you actively be considering those around you? Is it ethical not to? Even outside of spaces with explicitly active political criminals, would it be ethical for elderberry to volunteer at a soup kitchen that has a lot of “illegal” migrants that go there?

This is a question of are others informed enough to make proper risk assessments to gauge their willingness, and therefore consent, and do we owe each other that? Is it fair to put others at that risk? Is it worth it? Could it be harmful?

Personally, i believe it is the feds’ job to try to find political criminals, and leading the feds to hotspots for their investigations is doing their job for them. We owe each other a lot, even if we are not in direct community.

Not even necessarily for each other but for Liberation. When we are fighting alongside each other, even if on different fronts, it is in our best interest to protect each other.

Again, these are not answers, only opinions. And, although hypothetical, a very real concern, especially lately. We need more political criminals, not more political prisoners. We keep us
safe.

Or at least we probably should

We had some adjustments, some new people join the collective, and others that left. As the dust settles and we get back to doing it (full disclosure, i was never apart of the old COLA crew, and we are a completely new group of folx, with the same mission), we thank you for your patience.

The goal is to get the word out about anarchist insurrection and revolutionary action. When folx around us know of the actions we take, it makes it easier for them to also take action. getting the word out in a secure and safe manner has been a part of the anarchist tool box for a long time, This is just a continuation.

A WORD OF CAUTION WHEN COMMUNICATING:

• ALWAYS USE A VPN and TOR WHEN COMMUNICATING ANY ACTION
• USE A SECURE EMAIL PLATFORM (PROTON OR RISE UP)
• ALWAYS SCRUB EXIF DATA FROM A PHOTO
• ALWAYS MAKE SURE NO IDENTIFYING INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND IN PHOTOS OR TEXT
• WE ARE YOUR FRIENDS AND FELLOW ANARCHISTS BUT YOU DON’T KNOW US, TREAT US THAT WAY
• THIS LIST IS NOT COMPREHENSIVE, BE SMART
• STAY SAFE, SO YOU CAN REMAIN DANGEROUS!

If we don’t fight back, the state will automatically win!

This report back was submitted anonymously. If you would like to share report backs, analysis, calls to action, art, or anything else, check out our submissions page.

If you are reading this, you are likely deeply aware of the great and ongoing damage inflicted upon humanity by Capitalism and its twin pillars, Liberalism & Fascism. They lie at the root of every crisis – the occupation of Indigenous lands, ecological devastation and global warming, and the inability of the state to ensure the most basic components of public health, housing, education, food, and water. They impose artificial borders to separate us from each other, tearing apart families, stealing resources from colonized nations and hoarding them in the imperial centers, stoking xenophobia and nationalism to distract from their failures.

And in the so-called United States, under conditions that historically and internationally would lead to widespread rebellion, the people face oppression and suppression at every turn. Economic exploitation keeps us tired, desperate, and working, while alienating us from our own labor. And a vast system of police and prisons, descended from slavers and plantations, waits to destroy and sweep away any who do not comply, to rob and assault marginalized and vulnerable people.

Joining our comrades in other states, we are calling for a day of action on May Day – Saturday, May 1^st – to deliver a message to those who harm us. We have compiled suggested lists of methods to express this message and recipients to deliver it to, but by no means should you limit yourself to our suggestions. There are many people and institutions in Colorado that are complicit in the murder and brutalization of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people, the exploitation of workers, the criminalization of poverty & homelessness, the demonization of trans people, the oppression of immigrants, and state violence in many forms – incarceration, surveillance, policing.

We urge you all to find a crew and follow the guidelines of security culture, and strike at the infrastructure of power, not at its empty symbols. Directly obstruct the machinery of Capitalism & the police state, and/or directly aid your community in ways that the state disapproves of. Avoid the trap of downtown Denver, and keep the police confused and spread thin. Be creative. Be brave. Be ungovernable. Have fun and take care of each other. We keep us safe.