Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Occupy movement won a victory in their battle against the Minneapolis city attorney’s office, July 30. Four protesters got their charges reduced to only petty misdemeanors for an October 2011 civil disobedience action at U.S. Bank. This came about despite the Minneapolis city attorney office’s efforts to escalate the charges to crack down on the use of civil disobedience in the fight against home foreclosures.
Anaheim, CA – Hundreds marched on the Anaheim Police Headquarters, July 29, to protest police killings of young Chicano men. The protesters confronted the police with chants, shouts and banners denouncing these brutal and racist killings. The Anaheim Police Department (APD) has carried out a rash of killings this year, far more than previous years. Two people have been killed in the past week.
Kick-off event held at Ramsey County welfare office
St. Paul, MN – About 20 members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) gathered at the Ramsey County welfare office, July 26, to announce a campaign to raise the welfare grants in the state of Minnesota.
Anaheim, CA – Manuel Diaz, a 25-year old Chicano, was shot in the back and in the head by Anaheim police in the afternoon of July 21. The police killing took place in a Chicano working-class community, where most people live in apartments and where families know, get along with and hear each other. Diaz was murdered while standing in his front lawn. The police have given no reason or probable cause for attempting to stop him.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 people rallied inside City Hall here, July 24 to demand all charges be dropped against members and supporters of Occupy Homes who were arrested defending the Cruz family home. In recent weeks, city prosecutors added the charge of third degree riot – a gross misdemeanor which carries a sentence of up to one year in prison and a $3000 fine – to the original trespassing charge. The 14 were arrested May 30 in a peaceful protest at the Cruz family home.
Los Angeles, CA – Immigrant rights organizations staged a press conference here July 12, to demand that Sheriff Lee Baca stop cooperating with the ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ‘Secure Communities’ program. The Secure Communities program has resulted in the repression of thousands of immigrants. The press conference was organized by the National Day Labors Organizing Network. Participants included representatives from CARCEN Day Labor Center, ACLU, Pomona Day Labor Center, Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) and CHIRLA.
Fight Back! interviewed Newland Smith, a member of the Committee Against Political Repression in Chicago, the local affiliate of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Smith led a campaign within the national convention of the Episcopal Church to take a stand for civil liberties in the face of repression of Arabs, Muslims, Palestinians and peace activists. The convention adopted a resolution expressing concern, which will become part of the Episcopalian legislative agenda. There are 30 to 40 members of U.S. Congress who are practicing Episcopalians.
Reporting from Damascus, the Syrian News Agency states that Minister of Defense General Dawood Rajiha, Deputy Minister of Defense General Asef Shawkat and Assistant Vice-President General Hassan Turkmani were killed in a terrorist explosion targeting the National Security Headquarters, July 18.
Chicago, IL – Members and supporters of the Committee Against Political Repression gathered here July 15 to celebrate the legal victory scored by Carlos Montes in June. Montes faced many years in prison for his political activism, with trumped up legal charges thrown at him by the Los Angeles District Attorney. He is one of the anti-war and international solidarity activists under attack by the FBI.
Milwaukee, WI – More than 50 people came together here, July 12, for a Solidarity Dinner, followed by a mass picket to support the striking Palermo’s pizza workers. The Solidarity Dinner, held at United Lodge 66, brought together Palermo’s workers and members of Students for a Democratic Society, Voces de la Frontera, the Machinists, Occupy and other supporting organizations. More than $700 was raised to support the strike.
Tampa, FL – The Coalition to March on the RNC successfully obtained permits to rally and protest in Tampa, Florida. The permitted rally and march on the Republican National Convention will start at 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 27, at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, 1200 North Orange Avenue, in Tampa.
Chicago, IL – Joe Iosbaker, a leader of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and one of the main organizers of the massive march on the NATO summit, gave an important speech June 30, summing up the some of the lessons of the anti-NATO protest.
Chicago, IL – Activists from Occupy Chicago, the Chicago Committee Against Political Repression and Hammerhard Media met here, July 9, to discuss the police and FBI attacks on protests here and across the country.
Chicago, IL – One month after the historic protests against NATO, activists from across Chicago and even Milwaukee gathered in the shadow of the McCormick Place, site of the NATO summit, on June 30, for a discussion on the lessons of the NATO protests. The event was held at Trinity Episcopal Church and sponsored by Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).
Los Angeles, CA – Several hundred people joined a spirited rally at the Westwood Federal Building, June 30, to demand “No U.S./NATO wars on Syria or Iran.” Several groups joined the International Action Center-initiated rally, including Arab Americans for Syria, who brought families to the rally to denounce the CIA supported terrorist attacks on the people of Syria. Several groups spoke, such as Bayan USA, International League of Peoples Struggles – U.S. (Los Angeles), Southern California Immigration Coalition and Latinos Against War.
Chicago, IL – “Not another Libya! Hands off Syria!” chanted the crowd as they picketed against war June 26. The protesters mobilized in response to the events of recent days, such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s lie about Russia sending attack helicopters and then Turkey’s convening of a NATO meeting after a Turkish fighter jet was shot down over Syrian territory.
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) condemned the Aquino regime and the US government for the docking of another US submarine in Subic Bay a few weeks after a similar docking by another American nuclear submarine roused nationalist opposition and protests from various sectors. The docking took place amid US government efforts to increase its military presence and strengthen its hegemonic domination in the Asia-Pacific.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 75 people joined an emergency protest here, June 26 at the Federal Building, to speak out against the growing danger of new U.S. wars and military interventions. The protest was organized under the call: “No New Wars – No U.S. War in Iran and Syria – End the Drone Wars.”
