Willem van Spronsen



Willem Van Spronsen (1950-2019) was a Dutch-American anarchist in Washington State, best known for attempting to firebomb an ICE detention facility in Tacoma, Washington.

Life
Willem van Spronsen was born in the Netherlands, and later moved to France; as a child in those countries, he heard stories about Fascist movements during the 30s. At some time before he was 13, he moved to the United States. In his civics classes there, he started questioning the US political system; this is likely what brought him to anarchism.

Later, van Spronsen moved to Vashon, Washington, a Seattle-Tacoma suburb on an island in Puget Sound. In addition to being a self-employed contractor, he wrote and performed several songs under the name Super8 which he uploaded to Bandcamp(these are no longer available) and performed in various venues in the area. One of these songs, "I Was a Girl" appears to be related to a transgender man he knew.

In March of 2013, his second wife left him and accused him of domestic violence, preventing him from seeing their son. His daughter made a crowdfunding page in response; at the time of the firebombing this divorce was still going on.

Firebombing attack
On July 13, 2019, van Spronsen arrived at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington, wearing a satchel with flares and Molotov cocktails, and bringing a rifle(possibly an AR-15). He allegedly fired shots at a propane tank, and according to security footage, threw firebombs at cars and buildings and placed flares in strategic locations in an attempt to burn the building down. He was confronted by the police and shot before he was able to kill anybody.

Prior to the attack, he wrote a manifesto calling for action against the "forces of evil",  comparing himself to the YPJ(Women's Protection Units in Syrian Kurdistan), and claiming that Americans were living in "visible fascism ascendant". van Spronsen listed Emma Goldman, Buenaventura Durruti, and John Brown as his heroes, and describes ICE detention facilities as "corporate for profit concentration camps" (the facility he targeted was operated by GEO Corporation). He concluded by regretting that he'd miss the rest of the revolution, praising his "trans comrades" saying they'd guide the path to a dreamed of future, and saying "i am antifa".

Trivia

 * Many Antifa and anarchist groups praise van Spronsen, in particular the Puget Sound Anarchists and Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, both of which he was a member.