Several radical left-wing Marxist groups joined in a Zoom conference call to coordinate training and tactics in preparation for pre-planned violence in the streets of Washington, DC, on election night and further on into the week.
A collective of groups, orchestrated by Black Lives Matter and Shutdown DC, was outed as having held training sessions for protesters who will join in a pre-planned large-scale protest using Antifa tactics across the street from the White House on the night of November 3. The assembly is expected to draw thousands.
Leaked documents and, principally, Zoom call recordings showed group leaders sharing protesting tactics and goals for the loosely coordinated network of Marxist activists to achieve not only in the nation’s capital but in urban areas across the country.
The instruction and shared plans included shutting down federal buildings – including the White House, and to confront members of Congress at various points in the city as they make their ways to reconvene in Washington after the election.
The goal of the collective of anarchist and Marxists groups is to facilitate ongoing and continued civil unrest from Election Day until at least later this week. There was some talk about the violence, protests, riots, and looting lasting until the presidential inauguration in January.
A recording of one Zoom training session, hosted by the “Sunrise Movement,” featured Lisa Fithian, who the Maxist publication Mother Jones describes as “as the nation’s best-known protest consultant.”
In the video, Fithian displayed a target map pinpointing all the police stations, key government buildings, media outlets, and buildings occupied by “Trump boosters” in the Washington, DC, area. She instructed the attendees on “what would it take to surround the White House.”
“We’re facing an administration and a potential coup and a potential insurrection,” Fithian said in the training session. “Is there going to be a war? Are people gonna get killed? Like is that on anybody else’s mind? I’m guessing it is. We’re going to see potential fighting all over the country or in some hotspots, and we’ve already seen that, so how do we work together across the country to help support each other no matter where we are and to maximize our impact by doing similar things on similar days at similar times?”
Protesters are planning to “start this next phase of the election cycle in the streets” by staging at Black Lives Matter Plaza by 4pm on Election Day.
