The guide advises activists to create 'independent local cells', 'identify a target', and 'ensure your target can be hit repeatedly until they desist' from what the group considers 'transphobic' activities. Potential targets include MPs, organizations, and political party conferences. It warns that actions would be 'rarely legal' and could lead to charges including criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon, and aggravated trespass. The guide includes advice on how to escape justice after attacks, such as cleaning tools with alcohol and disposing of them in 'unsurveilled residential bins', and encourages activists to steal tools to avoid being caught.
Specific tactics detailed in the guide include a list of suitable equipment, including a hammer, and advice on using encrypted messaging services like Signal and pink paint to link attacks to Bash Back. The front page of the guide features a masked figure in a hoody holding a hammer with the slogan 'choose your weapon' beside pictures of a hammer, balaclava, and fire extinguisher.
Don't want action? Don't kill kids.
Bash Back was created after a Supreme Court ruling last year that concluded the definition of a woman in the Equality Act is based on biological sex. Its first public attack was on Wes Streeting's Ilford North constituency office in July last year, where it painted 'child killer' and smashed windows. That attack followed puberty blockers being banned for children on medical advice and the Cass Review of gender identity services. Bash Back also targeted the offices of the Equality and Human Rights Commission and vandalized a feminist conference in Brighton last year.
A security briefing reported by The Mail on Sunday revealed Bash Back has gone to extensive lengths to hide its identity, including removing internal metadata from public documents and using ultra-secure email systems.