FRSO DC holds People’s State of the Union address at U.S. Capitol building
Washington, D.C. – On Tuesday, February 24, a group of organizers and activists from Freedom Road Socialist Organization – DC (FRSO DC) and the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR) gathered in downtown DC within earshot of the U.S. Capitol building to protest Trump’s State of the Union address.
With a single mic in hand and the capitol framed in the background, the group denounced Trump’s racist policies including attacks on immigrants, workers, Black people, LGBTQ people, and countries like Venezuela, Cuba and Iran.
The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) had all of the roads within a few miles of the capitol blocked off, but the group was stationed right up to the barricades. They were met with droves of police, the press, supporters from the public, and one increasingly irate man who continuously screamed, “I love ICE!” His cries were deafened by the sound of the people chanting, “Chinga la migra!”
The program started right before and continued through Trump’s State of the Union address.
Merawi Gerima, a DC native, and organizer with DCAARPR, stated, “We are here tonight because Trump is in that rotunda tonight lying to the American people about all the things he’s doing. He’s claimed to be the bringer of peace to the world, he’s claimed to be bringing jobs to the United States, he’s claiming to be bringing peace to the streets of DC, and we know that’s a lie!”
Gerima continued, “It is our duty, and it is our right, to do everything in our power to make this country ungovernable. To make it impossible for them to continue to exploit us, and kill us, and brutalize us and everyone else around the planet. To [make it impossible] to crack open these countries for their profits. We have every right and every duty to stop that from happening, and that’s exactly what we’re doing right here in Washington, DC”
Christina Murdoch, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke on the Trump administration’s attacks against the LGBTQ community, explaining a backwards policy they are trying to institute with the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Murdoch stated, “The new policy aims to strip the over 2200 trans people currently held in federal prisons of their access to medically necessary healthcare. They would be subjected to constant misgendering by staff and have all of their gender-affirming items such as binders, bras, and makeup confiscated. First off, fuck you Donald Trump. If you think for a moment that any of us are going to stand by and let you do this to anyone in our beloved trans community, you are wrong.”