Burning River Anarchist Collective

05/31/2026

"Liberals are well aware that no historic State has ever been based on a contract, and that they have all been founded by violence and conquest. But they need this fiction of the free contract as the basis of the State, so they grasp it without further ado." ---Mikhail Bakunin

05/04/2026

We wish we could be on Kent today. Here's something we wrote awhile back touching on the importance of today...

What happened at Kent State on today's date [56] years ago is especially relevant in these times. There are protests happening across the country. Both those with political power, and those that lead universities have been unleashing the violence of the state against students who dare to dissent. Those in government have unleashed the full fury of the state against not only people who are documented, but also against immigrants as a whole. Trans folks are being legally erased from our society. The environment is under attack. Community after community is under attack from these fascists. Niemöller's poem is especially relevant right now.

Being located in NE Ohio, May 4th has always had a special meaning for us. It was on this day in 1970 at Kent State University that the National Guard opened fire on an anti-war protest. They fired indiscriminately, shooting not only the students involved in the protest but also students who were just trying to make their way to class. In the end 4 students were killed, and 9 were injured.

We have walked those sacred grounds many times. There are still scars present from that day such as the bullet holes left in a sculpture. We've been present for the memorials that happen every May 4th. We've spoken to and worked with those who survived that horrible day in 1970.

We spend this day honoring those murdered on this day : Allison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, William Schroeder

We hold in our hearts those who were wounded: James Russell, Douglas Wrentmore, Joseph Lewis, John Cleary, Dean Kahler, Thomas Grace, Robert Stamps, Alan Canfora, Donald MacKenzie

We remember Phillip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green who were killed at Jackson State on May 14th, 1970, along with those wounded that day: Fonzie Coleman, Tuwaine Davis, Climmie Johnson, Leroy Kenter, Gloria Mayhorn, Andrea Reese, Patricia Ann Sanders, Stella Spinks, Lonzie Thompson, Vernon Steve Weakley, Fred Wilson Jr., Willie Woodard, Gladys Dinkins Johnson and Gaylia Porter.

We also remember Samuel Ephesians Hammond Jr., Delano Herman Middleton, and Henry Ezekial Smith who were killed at the Orangeburg Massacre on the South Carolina State University campus on February 8, 1968 along with the 27 people who were injured: Herman Boller Jr., Johnny Bookhart, Thompson Braddy, Bobby K. Burton, Ernest Raymond Carson, John Carson, Louise Kelly Cawley, Robert Lee Davis Jr., Albert Dawson, Bobby Eaddy, John H. Elliot, Herbert Gadson, Samuel Grant, Samuel Grate, Joseph Hampton, Charles W. Hildebrand, Nathaniel Jenkins, Thomas Kennerly, Joe Lambright, Emma McCain, Richard McPherson, Harvey Lee Miller, Harold Riley, Cleveland Sellers, Ernest Shuler, Jordan Simmons III, Ronald Smith, Frankie Thomas, Robert Watson, Robert Lee Williams, and Savannah Williams.

May 4th is also the day of the Haymarket Massacre, where in Chicago in 1886 police murdered several workers and wounded dozens. We hold those unknown workers in our hearts as we also remember the Haymarket Martyrs: Albert Parsons, August Spies, Louis Ling, George Engel, Michael Schwab, Adolph Fischer, Samuel Fielden, and Oscar Neeb

What happened on May 4th in Kent has had a profound impact on this collective and has helped shape who we are, both personally and politically. The events of that day exposed to many the true nature of the State. It is not some benevolent entity but rather an entrenched power structure based on violence that will do whatever it can to maintain it's control.

05/01/2026

Reclaim May Day as a Day of Resistance!

Immigrants, labor and anarchists have a long history of struggling together for a better world. In this country, it can be traced back at least to the fight for the 8-hour day.

On May 1st, 1886, hundreds of thousands of workers across the country went on strike to demand the 8-hour work day. An estimated 340,000 men and women walked off the job. Chicago alone accounted for nearly a quarter of the strikers.

On the third day of the strike, at the McCormick Harvester Works, workers were attacked by 200 police officers with clubs and a hail of gunfire. At the end of it, at least 4 workers had been killed and many more were wounded.

A rally was called at Haymarket Square for the following evening to protest this attack. Over 3000 were in attendance. The speakers at this rally were well-known labor leaders who also happened to be anarchists. The mayor attended to observe, and as he was leaving told the police that there was nothing to worry about, as it was a peaceful rally that was winding down.

Defying the mayor, 180 police moved in to break-up the gathering. A bomb exploded killing one officer. To this day, it is not known who threw the bomb. In the confusion, the police widely opened fire, inadvertently killing seven of their own. An unknown number of workers were killed and over 200 injured.

Repression was swift. Eight well-known anarchist labor leaders were rounded up and accused of the bombing. Most were not present at Haymarket at the time the bomb was thrown, and the two who were there were on the speakers platform in full view of everyone.

The focus of the trial was not about the bomb. Instead, they were tried for who they were: labor leaders, anarchists, and six of the eight were immigrants. Because of this they were convicted. One was sentenced to 15 years and the rest were sentenced to death. Two of the seven had their sentences eventually commuted to life. One committed su***de on the eve of the ex*****on. The remaining four were hung.

It is widely accepted that all these men were, in fact, innocent.

Presently, we are all threatened by the rising American fascism. Immigrant communities are threatened with deportation and violence. The very existence of unions is in danger. Anarchists continue to face repression.

Invoking the spirit of the Haymarket Martyrs, Burning River Anarchist Collective calls on these communities to recognize that these are not separate struggles. It is part of one struggle to create a more liberatory world. Let us work together and reclaim May Day as a declaration that we will fight together for the future we dream of.

Burning River Anarchist Collective
PO Box 27376
Cleveland, OH 44127

https://www.facebook.com/BurningRiverAnarchistCollective/

https://burningrivercollective.org/

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04/06/2026

Statement from the Anarchist Front in Iran and Afghanistan 🏴

𝕮𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖆 𝖙𝖔𝖉𝖔 𝕰𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖉𝖔, 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖆 𝖙𝖔𝖉𝖆 𝖌𝖚𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖆

For more than a month, American and Israeli bombs have been falling on Iran. Civilians die, hundreds of them children. Over a million people have been displaced. Internet is down since February 28th. The war has already spread throughout the region.

But we want to say something that the media keeps quiet.

We do not mourn the Islamic Republic. We've been fighting her our whole lives. He has tortured our comrades. He has put our sisters in jail. He has massacred our people for forty seven years.

But imperialist bombs are not our liberation.

Trump himself said it. He doesn't fight for democracy. He doesn't fight for the women of Iran. Fight for American strategic interests, to destroy military potential, to control the region. Washington doesn't bomb for freedom. Just ask the people of Iraq. Or the people of Afghanistan.

While bombs fall outside, the Islamic Republic wages a war from within. Protesters are being executed. Political prisoners are locked up without food. Our comrades are disappearing. The regime uses prisoners as human shields on military bases.

The Iranian people are trapped between two forms of violence. She wears a turban. The other one, I suit.

To those in the diaspora who wave the Shahs flag, we want to tell you with all clarity: We did not survive forty-seven years of dictatorship just to hand over our country to the son of another dictator. Crown and turban are not two sides of the same coin. And we reject this coin.

What we want is simple. We want a society from the grassroots. Without kings. No mules. Without Shahs. Jobs in the hands of those who actually work for them. Self-organizing and self-governing communities. Everyone free to decide their own future.

Elbow with the Iranian people. Not in Washington. Not in the Islamic Republic . Not with the crown.

With the people.

Against imperialist war!

Say no to the mules! No to Shah !

03/11/2026

Iranian anarchists: “We continue to organise and resist”
News, Mar 10th
Second interview with Anarchist Front on repression and resilience, regional war, and internet shutdowns
~ Gabriel Fonten ~
https://freedomnews.org.uk/2026/03/10/iranian-anarchists-we-continue-to-organise-and-resist/

02/24/2026

A bunch of recent additions to our lending library. We currently have 2,607 titles in our lending library. We really need to get it out of the private residence that currently houses it, and relocate it to a more public location to allow easier access to it for folks.

To help us accomplish that, please sign up for Red Triangle CLE's patreon, which can be found at: https://www.patreon.com/c/redtrianglecle When Red Triangle CLE finally is able to acquire a space for an activist community center, the library will move there. Here's hoping the market for buildings/houses crashes soon to make it more affordable!

Tiers start at just $5/month. They have some great swag for perks. One of the perks is also being able to borrow books from our well-stocked lending library.

01/24/2026

Federal agents in Minneapolis have shot and killed another person. They shot him multiple times at point blank range. This is their response the day after the general strike.

A Bring Me The News reporter was near the scene, and recorded multiple gunshots.

01/16/2026

01/12/2026