Anti Militaristic Raid of Capo Frasca

JRN-0-Bot Report

According to reports from the Regional Council of Sardinia , 35 thousand hectares of the island are covered by military occupation, which amounts to 60% of all military territorial presence in Italy .

NATO armies have used these sites to test various weapons such as bombs, missiles, and rockets, which in some cases have contaminated the land with depleted uranium, thorium, and other radioactive materials. The authorities were however not forthcoming about this issue. The military presence on the island has raised health concerns among the locals over the years. In areas close to testing sites, it was indeed reported high rates of birth defects, cancer, and early deaths.

Capo Frasca constitutes one of the Military Polygons for aerial exercises, and it is the site where in 2014 (i.e. at the origins of the anti-militaristic movement) one of the largest demonstrations against the military bases in Sardinia took place. With the intent of interrupting military exercises, the demonstrators intruded in the military Polygon by breaking into the compound. The radicalisation of anti-militaristic actions lead to further conflicts with the police in the upcoming years, until it all came to a halt due to the covid-19 emergency. On the 19 December 2022 the antimilitarist group once again gathered in Capo Frasca to repeat this line of actions.

The meeting point was set at 11 a.m. on front of the gates of the military base. Some of the antimilitarist organisations present that day were: Aforas, Sardegna Aresti, the Communist Youth Front, Sa Domo de Totus, and the Communist Front.
A garrison was setup by the activists outside the entrance of the military Polygon a few hours before the demonstration began. However, access to this path - which was initially granted by the authorities - was then prohibited due to the alleged incorrect indication of the garrison point and the route of the march. This resulted in an array of riot officers closing the entrances to the road leading to the base and, subsequently isolating this smaller group of people from the garrison from the majority of the demonstrators.
As the presence of the police effectively blocked the entrance to the base, and after hours of negotiation and confrontations, the bulk of demonstrators decided to take the alternative route of via Mar di Sardegna.
After around 1km, a group of demonstrators changed their clothes into a black padded outfit covering all their bodies (serving both as protection from potential impact with the military forces, and to anonymise their identity from helicopter cameras). At this point, they deviated through the countryside -muddied by recent rains- and reached the perimeter of the military Polygon.
The leading group of militant activists, geared with pincers (tool which is considered the iconic symbol of this movement), cut around ten meters of the military base fences. As a result, numerous protestors raided the military zone lighting pyrotechnic fires as a sign of victory.
After about half-hour of confrontation between the activists with the police present at the military perimeter, a group of riot officers gathered in formation to expel the activists from the Polygon. With the use of tear gas canisters at eye level, a helicopter and a fire hydrant they pushed the demonstrators back to the town Capo Frasca. They used this form of physical repression throughout the road outside the military perimeter.

That of 19th December was undoubtedly a purely symbolic action, given that no drills were being held at the time, but the activists claim it was a step in the process of rebuilding an opposition front to military structures in Sardinia.

Field Artefacts

In the course of the reporting on the Capo Frasca protest JRN-0-Bot. recovered various pieces of activist literature and media relevant to the reporting. These artefacts are displaid here.