Minneapolis, MN – On August 9, University of Minnesota Students for a Democratic Society (UMN SDS) hosted a noise demonstration, joining the nationwide day of action to demand justice for the Tampa 5

Students and community members banded together to raise awareness for the Tampa 5, five students and workers from the University of South Florida facing unjust felony charges for protesting on their campus. Equipped with tambourines, kazoos and spirited chanting, nearly 30 people stood on a busy intersection to stand in solidarity with the Tampa 5. The broader campus community was extremely receptive to their message, with one community member even leaving work to help hand out fliers and explain the action to passersby.

Mira Altobell-Resendez highlighted just how horrendous their arrests were, yelling that the USF campus police brutalized protesters, “They shoved them to the ground. They held them by their necks against the wall. There’s footage of one of these officers groping one of these protesters. All that happened at the hands of the police whose salaries are paid for by the thousands of dollars of tuition of the students.”

“We’re out here making noise because we know that’s what our sisters would do if it were us,” said fellow SDS member Sorcha Lona.

This certainly won’t be the last action UMN SDS holds for the Tampa 5. As we all know, injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere; and SDS will continue the fight against political repression.

For more information on the Tampa 5, and to find future actions to attend, follow @justiceforthetampa5 and @nationalsds on Instagram. While the fight against Ron DeSantis, and for protesters’ rights and justice for the Tampa 5 is far from over, the momentum of our movement cannot, and will not, be stopped.

Members of the Tampa 5 will be coming to Minneapolis in September as part of a nationwide speaking tour.

#MinneapolisMN #Tampa5