Over the past fifteen years, people in the United States—and dissidents in particular—have witnessed a steady escalation of the National Security State, including invasive surveillance and infiltration, indiscriminate police violence, and unlawful arrests. These concerted efforts to criminalize dissidents and undermine meaningful social change are made more repressive by the coordination of numerous local, state, and federal agencies often operating at the behest of private corporations.

Join activist and PM Press author Kris Hermes on Wednesday, February 24th at 7pm for an event sponsored by the Los Angeles chapter of the National Lawyers Guild discussing his new book Crashing the Party: Legacies and Lessons from the RNC 2000. Hermes will focus on how free expression in the streets has been stifled by police, and how activists can come together collectively to engage with the legal system in ways that politicize the courtroom and advance social change movements while mitigating harm to activists being targeted by the state.

Hermes will be joined by local organizers Hamid Khan of Stop LAPD Spying Coalition and Pete White of the LA CAN (Los Angeles Community Action Network) to discuss issues of political repression in Los Angeles and the innovative ways activists are resisting the legal system.

The Stop LAPD Spying Coalition rejects all forms of police oppression and works to dismantle government-sanctioned spying and intelligence gathering. The Los Angeles Community Action Network organizes and empowers community residents to work collectively to change the relationships of power that affect their community.

There will be copies of Crashing the Party available for purchase and signing following the discussion!