Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, is set to host a three-day event titled the Transformative Action and Abolition Symposium, “Bad Trouble,” running April 13 to April 15. The program is organized by the school’s Prison Abolition Club, which identifies with Antifa-aligned anarchist activism. It’s scheduled to bring together a mix of panels and workshops focused on protest strategy and organizing, reports The Post Millennial.
The event flyer circulating online shows imagery including a burning police vehicle, shattered windows, a gas can, flames, bolt cutters, and barbed wire. It also instructs attendees to “wear a mask please,” a line repeated in promotional material tied to the event.
Journalist Andy Ngo highlighted the symposium in a post on X, calling it “Antifa terrorism and radicalization training.” Ngo said attendees are instructed to wear masks and described one session as involving readings from anarchist blogs that include claims of responsibility for past actions, alongside discussions on helping “comrades” avoid arrest.
The symposium’s overview includes a series of guiding questions. Among them: “How can we critically evaluate the efficacy of our direct action decisions and strategies?” “How does neoliberal co-optation and monopolization of organizing and resistance affect direct action?” “How can we fight back against it?” “What can we learn from risk takers who have come before us?” “How can we gain risk assessment skills?” “What place does violent direct action have in social justice organizing?”
Scheduled panels include a Queer Activist Roundtable, Anarchist Communique Readings where participants review anarchist blog posts containing claims of responsibility for attacks and discuss resistance narratives, and Grab Your Comrades Back Training, described as instruction on interfering with lawful police arrests to “de-arrest” individuals targeted by law enforcement.
The Pacific Northwest, including Portland, has long been associated with anarchist and far-left protest movements, and the region has repeatedly seen organized demonstrations linked to Antifa-aligned groups.
