Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 27, over 100 people turned out to the federal courthouse in Minneapolis for the latest hearing for Minnesota 15, the group of anti-ICE protesters who have been indicted on bogus federal conspiracy charges for their alleged activities during Operation Metro Surge.
Recently, documents were released by the courts which detailed the Trump administration’s massive surveillance operation in Minneapolis targeting anti-ICE activists, labor unions and community groups. It included tactics such as sending undercover agents to public meetings and protests, using AI facial recognition software to track individuals, and recording suspected activists’ license plates in public parking lots.
Minneapolis, MN – On August 22, at 11:30 a.m. the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) organized a counter-protest to the Jake Lang hate rally. More than 100 protesters showed up in opposition to Lang’s white supremacist hate speech, aimed this time at the Black community. Lang has also called for the reinstitution of Jim Crow laws, calls to deport all immigrants from the U.S., and anti-Muslim hate speech.
When counter-protest organizers arrived at city hall, Minneapolis Police Department officers threatened to tow away their sound and medic vehicles. But when Jake Lang and his band of less than ten supporters showed up with two vehicles, MPD allowed them to drive onto the sidewalk. Officers surrounded Lang’s vehicles as they moved forward, effectively providing them with an armed escort.
From August 9 through August 17, Chrisley Carpio of the Central Committee of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization took part in the Jaju Solidarity Brigade, the first international delegation to attend the annual August 15 Korean Liberation Day March, in what is known as the Republic of Korea. The Jaju Solidarity Brigade visited U.S. bases and sites of historic importance to the progressive movement in Korea and learned about various fronts of struggle for Korean peace, sovereignty and reunification.
Fight Back!: Can you briefly summarize the political situation on the Korean Peninsula? And its relationship to the United States?
Chrisley Carpio: The people of the Korean Peninsula were once a united people. Today, its people are divided by U.S. imperialism at the 38th parallel. The North, known as the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, is a liberated, socialist state that is in charge of its own affairs, including its government, military, economy and society. In the DPRK, every person is guaranteed a job, a place to live, and groceries such as rice and soy sauce, no matter the state of the economy.
Seoul, SK – On August 15, the Jaju Solidarity Brigade, led by Nodutol, joined 10,000 people marching in Seoul, Republic of Korea to demand “U.S. out of Korea.” This was the first international delegation to ever join the annual National Liberation Day protest in South Korea, which has historically brought together the country’s most progressive trade unions, student organizations, women’s groups, and other civil society organizations to oppose the Ulchi Freedom Shield war drills.
June Colcol, the secretary general of BAYAN USA, explained the purpose of the delegation at a press conference for the delegation, “We aim to contribute to uplifting the Korean national liberation struggles against U.S. militarism by raising the people's resistance and linking our efforts to kick out the U.S. from our homelands. U.S. military presence continues to place our people in danger.”
21 international anti-war and progressive organizations, from the U.S., Hawai’i, Puerto Rico, Guåhan (Guam), the Philippines and India, participated in the Jaju Solidarity Brigade. The brigade spent a week visiting sites of U.S. military occupation, including Gusan Air Base, Camp Casey and Camp Humphreys. The delegation also met with people’s resistance leaders from across South Korea to learn about their fightbacks to U.S. occupation.
