Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

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Sydney Loving of Freedom Road Socialist Organizations's Central Committee.

Minneapolis, MN – But wait there’s more! After the final count, we kept climbing and obliterated our goal. $181,000 was raised in the Freedom Road Socialist Organization $100K fund drive. That means we can put even more money into paying down the mortgage than we had planned. This victory belongs to all of us and is a loud and proud declaration that we are building something real and can exceed even our own expectations.

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Protest against police crimes in Santa Ana, California.

Santa Ana, CA – On Sunday, May 18, about 30 protesters marched on the Santa Ana Police Department to demand the jailing of officers Luis Casillas and Isaac Ibarra for the murder of Noe Rodriguez and for SAPD to immediately make public any ICE and DHS alerts they receive.

Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC) independently obtained the names and body camera footage of the officers who killed Noe Rodriguez through a Public Records Act Request since this information was never shared with the family of Rodriguez. In that footage it can be seen that officer Casillas shot Rodriguez 18 times and officer Ibarra shot him 11 times.

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Graduate Assistants United bargain for new contract at University of South Florida.   

Tampa, FL – On Friday May 16, the University of South Florida (USF) and the Graduate Assistants United (GAU) had their second round of negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement. Media and supporters from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society were in the audience as the GAU team bargained and argued against USF’s counterproposals and as they introduced their own.

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Denver protesters face off with riot cops at Nakba protest.

Denver, CO – On the afternoon of May 15, in honor of Nakba Day, several dozen pro-Palestine and anti-war activists held a rally at the headquarters of Palantir in downtown Denver. The rally condemned the technology company, which develops artificial intelligence programs to assist Israel in the surveillance and mass slaughter of Palestinians.

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Protest against police killing in Aurora, Colorado.

Aurora CO – On Saturday, May 17, a dozen community members gathered in front of the Aurora Police Department Headquarters for an emergency rally to protest the killing of another Black man by the APD, and the subsequent cover-up that is still unfolding.

It was on May 12, Monday evening, that the APD received calls about a “suspicious person” wandering a private Park-and-Ride near the Denver International Airport.

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Eureka, CA – Over the past two months, a community members have been voicing their serious concerns over Bill No. 1040-C.S., a bill that would make camping and resting in public spaces punishable by misdemeanor. It would also put law enforcement in charge of a “rehabilitation” program called LEAD, or Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion, which could lead to the misdemeanor being dropped if the arrestee completes the program.

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Nakba Day march in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN — On May 17, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), American Muslims for Palestine — MN (AMP), and the Free Palestine Coalition held a march to remember Al Nakba. They were joined by more than 250 community members in a march that shut down several of Minneapolis’ busiest downtown arteries. The action was a part of the Anti-War Action Network’s week of action.

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Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday May 4, hundreds of Milwaukee area trade unionists and community members took to the streets to commemorate the 139th anniversary of the Bay View Massacre—one of the bloodiest moments in Wisconsin labor history. Over 14,000 Milwaukee workers, about 5000 of them immigrants from Poland, participated in the 1886 general strike wave demanding the enforcement of an eight-hour workday.

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Al Nakba protest in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Grand Rapids, Mi – On Wednesday, May 14, 30 people gathered near Rosa Parks Circle. in Grand Rapids, MI, to commemorate the 77th anniversary of al-Nakba and honor the generations of Palestinians who have struggled against Israeli occupation.

77 years ago, armed Israeli settlers launched a genocidal campaign of violence which displaced over 750,000 Palestinians from their homes – committing hundreds of massacres in the process. These armed gangs quickly reorganized to become Israel’s formal military. In the decades since, Israel has built cities, national parks and public infrastructure atop of the 531 Palestinian villages ethnically cleansed in 1948.

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The final numbers are in, and the results are truly something to be proud of. All in all, we raised $173,000! Thanks to the contributions from comrades and supporters, we didn’t just meet our $100,000 goal—with discipline and determination, we blew way past it.

This tidal wave of support comes at a critical moment. Trump and the billionaires are escalating their attacks on workers, immigrants and oppressed people. We are not only building the struggle, but at the same time protecting what we’ve built, expanding our capacity, and gearing up for even bigger fights ahead.

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A group of protesters march behind an FRSO banner at a protest commemorating 77 years since Al-Nakba. New York, NY – On May 15, over 500 New Yorkers rallied at the Nakba Day protest called by Within Our Lifetime.

Nakba Day commemorates the victims of the Palestinian Nakba in 1948, during which Israeli settler militias ethnically cleansed over 750,000 Palestinians from their homelands, depopulating 531 villages, and massacring over 15,000 Palestinians to establish the state of Israel.

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May Day march in Tacoma, Washington.

Tacoma WA – Around 1000 people took to the streets of Tacoma on May 1, to rally for immigrants and workers’ rights. The crowd gathered around 4 p.m. and began chanting with messages such as “Stand up and shut it down, Tacoma is a union town!” and “Power to the people! No one is illegal!” Energy was high, and the mood of the event was angry but also celebratory.

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Washington DC cookout in support of family that survived police crimes.

Washington, DC – Over 100 community members and organizers from the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR) gathered on Saturday in Ward 8 to enjoy a cookout in support of the Butler Family. The cookout, hosted by the DC Alliance, featured activities for the kids (such as a bounce house), along with music, dancing, games and plenty of food.

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Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement of the ILPS on the commemoration of the Nakba.

The International League of Peoples’ Struggle joins Palestinians all over the world in commemorating the 1948 Nakba, or catastrophe, which dispossessed, displaced, and murdered hundreds of thousands of people in the name of an imperialist and Zionist project—the manufacture of “Israel “as a “Jewish State” in Palestine in order to establish a Western imperialist outpost in West Asia and North Africa.

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Tom Burke of FRSO speaking in Denver.

Denver, CO – On May 9, about 40 activists and community members from around Colorado met at the Washington Community Center for an event hosted by the Freedom Road Socialist Organization entitled “Political Repression – How We Fight and Win!”

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Student activist Ryan Spalt leads chants at Baton Rouge's May Day rally in front of the state capitol.

Baton Rouge, LA – On Sunday, May 4, Baton Rouge held a May Day rally at the State Capitol building, taking the fight for worker and immigrant rights directly to the seat of the state government. Demonstrators united on the steps of the capitol with signs and banners in hand to voice their support for the working class movement and their opposition to the Trump administration’s attacks.

Protesters chanted, “Trump, hear us loud and clear! Immigrants are welcome here!” and “The workers, united, will never be defeated!”

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A group of people listen in as someone gives a presentation in Spanish about the Haymarket Massacre.

Santa Ana, CA – About 25 people gathered on the afternoon of May 3, at Community Service Organization Orange County’s (CSO OC) May Day teach-in in downtown Santa Ana. Steph Dorantes introduced the event: “We are excited to have you here together for International Workers Day so we can strengthen our understanding of how we are impacted by police in our communities and how we are impacted by immigration status and what we can do to fight back against repression.”

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Die-in at the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council \[WDIC\]’s conference in Pewaukee, Wisconsin.

Pewaukee, WI – On the afternoon of May 13, dozens of anti-war and pro-Palestine activists held a rally outside the Wisconsin Defense Industry Council (WDIC)’s inaugural conference at the Ingleside Hotel in Pewaukee, a suburb of Milwaukee. The rally spoke out against the WDIC’s stated mission, to increase the influence of defense manufacturing in Wisconsin.

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May Day in Atlanta.

Atlanta, GA – Labor organizers, students and community members gathered for a May 4 panel commemorating May Day and bridged the gap between organized labor and the fight against deportations. Reflecting on the origins of May Day in the Haymarket Affair and its subsequent revival in the U.S. with the 2006 Day without Immigrants mega marches. Attendees left the event charged up and ready to fight the anti-worker and anti-immigrant agenda of the Trump administration, both on the shop floor and in the streets.

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May Day in Oakland, California.

Oakland, CA – On the afternoon of Thursday, May 1, more than 2000 community members took to the streets of Oakland in celebration of May Day.

Themes of international working-class solidarity ran through the event, starting with a youth rally in Fruitvale Plaza followed by a march to San Antonio Park where a closing rally and resource fair took place. 25 unions, grassroots organizations, and nonprofits united behind Oakland Sin Fronteras’ call, “All Power to the Workers.”

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