Orlando, FL – On Monday, Nov 4, despite the rain, ten students gathered in front of the Ferrell Commons building on the University of Central Florida campus to demand UCF’s Office of Student Conduct & Academic Integrity (SCAI) drop their conduct charges against Chris Gibson, a UCF student, a member of Students for a Democratic Society and the Divestment Coalition.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University.

On October 7, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University joined the National SDS Student Walkout to remember one year of genocide, resistance, and student struggle against our administrations all over the country. We hoped to be able to protest without the threats of repression and violence by the Wayne State Police Department (WSU PD). However, this was not the case. 

Outrageous indictments and arrest warrants issued for APSP leadership

Minneapolis, MN – On April 18, the Department of Justice announced new indictments and arrest warrants for the leadership of the African Peoples Socialist Party (APSP) and the Uhuru movement. The Department has alleged that Omali Yeshitela, Jesse Nevel and Penny Hess conspired to act as unregistered foreign agents, in violation of the 18 U.S.C. § 951 – a statute related to the little known Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

Tampa, FL – On Thursday, March 9, students, and community members gathered for a press conference to demand justice for the four protesters who were brutalized and arrested at the University of South Florida (USF) on Monday, March 6. The press conference was hosted by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and consisted of statements of solidarity from numerous organizations at USF and across the Tampa Bay community.

Appleton, WI – On June 29, a group of Fox Valley activists led by members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization gathered together to demand that Appleton Mayor Jake Woodford take action against the renewed abortion ban in Wisconsin and to hold local police accountable for their response to weekend demonstrations. Others joining FRSO included Food Not Bombs, Appleton Students for a Democratic Society, and a handful of community members, all of whom were present at the rallies since the decision came down on June 24.

Columbus, OH – On the morning of May 30, Columbus residents gathered in large numbers downtown to demonstrate against anti-Black police violence. The protest is one of many across the U.S. that have come after the extrajudicial public killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by Minneapolis police. By the scheduled start time of 10 a.m., nearly 2000 people had congregated outside the gates of the Columbus Statehouse, where the previous night's broken windows had been boarded up, with the grounds patrolled by Columbus SWAT personnel.

Nine years ago, on September 24, 2010, the FBI raided and subpoenaed Midwest anti-war and international solidarity activists in a bogus attempt to discover “material support of terrorism.” The FBI’s campaign of repression ordered more than 70 FBI agents to raid seven homes and two offices of leading activists in Minneapolis and Chicago. The FBI subpoenaed those raided, and that same morning subpoenaed others in those cities as well as Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Tucson, AZ – On July 16, Colombian paramilitaries with possible connections to the government murdered six social movement leaders. Two of those murdered were union leaders affiliated with the country’s largest union, FENSUAGRO, which organizes agricultural workers. They were brutally beaten to death with rocks. One of them was nearly decapitated and barely recognizable to family. These murders mark an escalation of violence against the left in Colombia since the election of Ivan Duque on June 17, as the political killings have averaged more than one a day. Ivan Duque is the protege of ex-Colombian President Uribe, who oversaw some of the worst state human rights abuses in the war against the FARC.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee

In a surprise to many observers, on August 19 Puerto Ricans resoundingly voted “no” on two proposed constitutional amendments that had been championed by conservative Governor Luis Fortuño of the New Progressive Party. Fortuño is also a member of the U.S. Republican Party leadership, and will be a featured speaker at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida next week. The “no” vote is a blow to his agenda.

On July 30, Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño signed a highly controversial and sweeping new penal code into law that includes sharp restrictions on a broad range of civil liberties and rights. It’s slated to go into effect on September 1. A week after Fortuño signed it, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit to stop the new law, calling it unconstitutional. “The statute is evidently intended to suppress speech, to stop people from protesting against government policies,” William Ramirez, local ACLU director, said in the Washington Post.

Movement calls on Governor Luis Fortuño to veto it

On June 30 the Puerto Rican legislature approved a new Penal Code that includes sharp restrictions on a broad range of civil liberties and rights. Supporters of civil liberties refer to it as essentially a ‘wish list’ of many regressive laws the right wing has dreamed of passing. It now awaits either the approval or veto of Puerto Rican Governor Luis Fortuño, who is from the New Progressive Party (PNP) of Puerto Rico, and is also a member of the U.S.’s Republican Party.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article from Workers World.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression:

San Salvador, El Salvador – El 30 de julio marcharon mas de 2,000 personas para conmemorar el 36 aniversario de un masacre de estudiantes salvadoreños el 30 de julio 1975. La marcha salió de la Universidad de El Salvador (UES) y marchó hacia el puente donde en 1975 los cuerpos de seguridad y del ejército reprimieron una manifestación pacifica en que los estudiantes marcharon para exigir sus derechos y defender la UES que en este tiempo sufrió represión constante de las fuerzas militares y policiales.

San Salvador, El Salvador – On July 30 more than 2000 people marched here to commemorate the 36th anniversary of a massacre of Salvadoran students on July 30, 1975. The march started at the University of El Salvador (UES) and marched to the bridge where in 1975 the security forces and military violently repressed a peaceful protest where students were marching to demand their rights and to defend the UES. At that time the UES suffered from constant repression from the military and police.

The U.S. government is stepping up its surveillance and harassment of U.S. activists in an attempt to intimidate them and dampen their spirits for the change we believe in. International solidarity activist James Jordan was returning from a two week trip to Haiti, on Jan. 7, five days prior to the terrible earthquake disaster. When his flight touched down in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, flight attendants called out for “James Patrick Jordan” and asked him to come to the front of the airplane. Homeland Security came on board the airplane to escort him off.