Roswell NM paper's headline: Dems' Headquarters hit

[punpirate]

Local rag goes on to say: "The letter 'A' within a circle, a known sign of white supremacists police say, was sprayed across the windows of the Chaves County Democratic Party headquarters Friday in black paint."

The article goes on to say that someone described as a "skinhead" opened the front door last week and yelled at volunteers inside.

[jeff30997]

1. Why would anything weird happen in Roswell ?

:shrug:

[punpirate]

2. Yeah, yeah, I know...

... the "A" in the circle is for "alien." :P

[featherman]

3. LOL

[ret5hd]

4. none of the anarchists i know are white supremacists...

so unless this symbol is used different in different regions, i'd say this police spokesman was talking out his ass in that particular matter.

[punpirate]

6. Well, this is southeastern NM...

... which is almost the same thing as saying, "west Texas," and there may be some lack of sophistication in making the distinction between the current crop of anarchists and white supremacists.

I've never heard of the use of the symbol, and certainly not in the context of, say, anti-globalism anarchists. But, then, I don't get out much. :)

For the most part, the local police understand this sort of stuff in the context of local gangs.

[Tempest]

5. Link to story

http://www.kobtv.com/index.cfm?viewer=storyviewer&id=13932&cat=NMTOPSTORIES

[NWHarkness]

7. The sherriff is a nitwit

The A in a circle has been the international sign for anarchism for generations.

[Spinzonner]

8. Isnt there something Antithetical

about organized anarchists ?

[punpirate]

9. Perhaps a little more recent than that...

... I always thought it was a black flag, so I checked. Here's a little history I found:

http://anarchism.net/symbol_ca.htm

Usually in red, but the one depicted in the story is close.

However, local gangs do on occasion co-opt symbols, and the "A" in a circle is pretty close to that used by the American Front.

Oddly, though, I do find this, which suggests that some white supremacist groups have been trying to "piggyback" onto anti-globalism anarchist movements:

http://www.rickross.com/reference/alliance/alliance20.html

In this article, there's mention that the ADL considers it to be a "general racist symbol," although I don't find mention of that elsewhere.

Given the tenor and tone of this particular county, though, I don't see it as a gathering place for anarchists.

Cheers.