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.

Activist and PM Press author Kris Hermes will discuss his new book Crashing the Party: Legacies and Lessons from the RNC 2000 on Thursday, March 17th at 6pm. The event, which is being co-sponsored by The Big Idea Bookstore, the Pittsburgh chapter of the National Lawyers Guild, and the Student Anarchist Graduate Group, will be held at the University of Pittsburgh, William Pitt Union 548.

Hermes will be joined by National Lawyers Guild attorney Rachel Rosnick, who will speak on the police response to Occupy Pittsburgh and how activists creatively engaged with the legal system.

As an award-winning legal worker with the NLG and a member of multiple radical law collectives, Hermes will discuss how repressive policing developed during the 2000 Republican convention protests are still used across the U.S. today. Hermes will also discuss ways in which activists can employ radical, innovative and confrontational forms of resistance to the legal system.

Copies of Crashing the Party will be available after the talk for purchase and signing.