I am awake at 4 A.M. this morning. I can't stop thinking about this guy. Before we left the Tacoma Detention center protest candlelight vigil ( I was with friends) we talked to Willem. ( I did for a few minutes, then talked to another woman next to him who was also leaving about how there had been a camp here before where they were protesting and how the police bulldozed their camp at the detention center.)
I just remember Willem being very sad about how people were being treated inside the canter. I just remember he looked really sad. I will never forget his eyes. He had such kind eyes. He just looked so sad.
He said he "Just didn't like concentration camps" and that he was staying all night and that he had done that before. (stayed all night after protests) He had a sign that said "Never Again."
He seemed like someone who cared very VERY much about how people were treated.
I see on social media that more than one person has said that Willem was not someone who they thought showed "White privilege." That he just cared very deeply about how people were treated.
A couple years ago, I was at Trader Joes grocery and talked about the Womans March that I was going to go to, and an AntiFa (antifascist) woman came up and spoke to me.
She said " we are here and at marches and protests to protect people. We, (Antifa) and I have gone to marches against Nazi's standing in front of our brothers and sisters who are at risk (especially those of color who are targeted) to protect them (Physically if it comes to that) at all costs"
I have heard, and saw at the Portland March Against The Nazis (which I went to) that Antifa was there handing out granola in wicker baskets to the protesters (I got a bag of granola)
The feeling I get is that they feel they are here to protect people.
I think Willem was trying to make a statement. (for those of you who saw the car that was burnt up- that was his daughters car.) I think that he was trying to wake people up.
This is the message I think he wants people to know through his "Manifesto."
Not that I agree with it entirely, but I think we are at a troubling time in our history.
This is his Manifesto. (His picture and manifesto was posted by someone who is involved in his Antifa group.)
I can at least post it, and those who see it will understand better where he was coming from. (or maybe not depending on which side of the fence you are on.)
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=332474284327545&set=pcb.332474300994210&type=3&theater
Looks like someone already wrote a song about him: https://garlicbreadandroses.bandcamp.com/album/willem-van-spronsen?fbclid=IwAR2t47DTixDatRRfYg-a9GjTk4SUqFOsgT5Zs12RR7UlE3JtE-c2xHGaJ3g
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