Our collective formed originally out of an "oh shit" moment when 15+ people were arrested at a mayday demo in seattle in 2015. We operated as an ad hoc group until 2019 when we developed more structure. Our collective was cemented throughout the George Floyd uprising in 2020. 1/

Mayday has a long tradition in the PNW in both festive and forceful street demos, often accompanied by political repression. Regardless of the kind of action or demo one thing we have learned is the importance of Security Culture.2/

Whether it's during a Grand Jury investigation like the one that followed mayday 2012 or large (for the time) otg arrest numbers like In 2015, when practiced holisticaly, security culture keeps everyone safer. 3/

Having a culture of security is not the same as having a rule book. It's about creating a community-wide code of ethics that makes everyone's involvement in struggles for liberation and against the state safer. 4/

A great SC resource: https://crimethinc.com/2004/11/01/what-is-security-culture
some basic takeaways:
*Everyone has to practice it for it to work. Our interconnected web of political action (from demos to anti-repression work and beyond) is vulnerable if one part is left open for attack by the state....5/

...having good security culture helps keep the more vulnerable parts of our community safer, even if you are not engaging in risky activity yourself. Good SC is more a set of ethics to help make good decisions and less a list of rules, but here are some general guidelines: 6/

Don't brag about an action you took or you know someone else took. Keep your organizing to yourself and don't make info sharing groups larger than necessary. Technology is both an important organizing tool and a data collecting monster —use it appropriately only when needed. 7/

*Infiltration + snitches (comrades giving info to the state to aid in an investigation) are a real concern, and both have been seen in the PNW over the last 10+ years. But the conflicts and public infighting that accompany them are also a concern...8/

Making non-hierarchial community safety-based dialogue internally within groups will help keep conflicts from becoming tension points that can be manipulated + help good info be shared. It's necessary to address problematic behavior in community w/out snitch/cop-jacketing. 9/

*Good SC is intergenerational. It allows for newer generations of political activists to engage in the movement while not having to repeat mistakes of older generations. Everyone has a lot to learn from one another as state tactics have both stayed the same since COINTELPRO...10/

...but have also changed in application and appearance. Assume that there is experience inside your community going back years or decades, and create channels of communication so info about past state repression and bad actors can be known. 11/

Have a great mayday, keep yourself, your crew and your community safer by engaging in good holistic security culture practices. We'll see you in the streets!