News and Views from the People's Struggle
Eureka, CA – Around 25 protesters gathered outside the Humboldt County Courthouse on April 20 to demand that charges be dropped against student activist Rick Toledo, who is facing repression from Cal Poly Humboldt after a Palestine solidarity protest.
Washington, D.C. – The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) President Sara Nelson, representing Spirit flight attendants, released the following statement, April 23, on federal relief for Spirit Airlines:
Los Angeles, CA – On the morning of April 20, the movement against police crimes in Los Angeles won a major victory as a judge ruled that Joseph Perez’s civil case against the City of Los Angeles would proceed. Dozens – mainly Chicanos, African Americans and even Koreans who have experienced police violence and are on the ground in Los Angeles fighting back – packed the Stanley Mosk Courthouse to demand justice for Joseph Perez.
In 2020, Joseph Perez was brutally beaten by sheriff deputy gang members using the name “Indians” and who operated out of the City of Industry Sheriff's Station. A deputy gang is made up of police officers who participate in beatings, planting of evidence, and even extrajudicial executions. The deputy gangsters identify each other with a deputy gang tattoo, which they earn by committing crimes in the furtherance of their gang. Some deputy gangs like the “Banditos” out of the East Los Angeles sheriff’s substation and the “Executioners” out of Compton substation are known nationally and even internationally for their crimes. The Industry Indians are well known to those who they terrorize but are one of the newer deputy gangs.
LA County wanted this civil case to be dismissed but Vanessa Perez, the mother of Joseph Perez, and their supporters struck a blow to the county. The judge ruled that the case will move on to trial in September of 2027, a big win and what Vanessa Perez wanted.
Fight Back! interviewed Vanessa Perez on the courthouse steps immediately after the ruling.
Fight Back!: We’re outside the courthouse with Vanessa Perez, can you let us know what happened today?
Vanessa Perez: The judge went ahead and agreed that we will move forward to the next step and we’re coming back to court for Joseph. The next step we’re going to end up getting is the discovery and we will find out what they did to Joseph.
Fight Back!: What you want is that that Los Angeles County and the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department be put on trial for what they did to Joseph?
Perez: Yes, pretty much. We want the truth.
Fight Back!: What does justice look like to you?
Perez: What we asked the judge today is to allow the case to move forward so that we can understand better what happened to Joseph. Joseph is a person of brown skin with development issues and mental health issues. He is the exact kind of person who is statistically more likely to experience police violence in his lifetime. The justice system should be flexible with people like Joseph so these cases can be heard and the police can be held accountable for abusing vulnerable people like my son. Today we are fighting for Joseph so something might go differently for others like him, so that the next mother who calls 911 seeking help for their child in crisis doesn't have to be afraid that something terrible will happen like what they did to Joseph. We will continue to fight in and out of this courtroom until we see that world become a reality.
Fight Back!: Is there anything else you would want to add?
Perez: We have been trying our best to get justice for Joseph Perez but the system is not built for people like him. Instead of getting physical and mental healthcare that he needed, he spent two years incarcerated for the beating that was done to him while these deputy gang members are beating other kids out here.
Deputy Shawn Merrick and Deputy Adam Nelson are both confirmed Industry Indians deputy gang members. Together with their trainees Jake Adamo and Sabastian Pombal, they beat Joseph Perez. They also beat young teens outside of a Montclair bowling alley where the deputies were arrested and Merrick and Nelson admitted to being part of a deputy gang. These four deputies were later fired. Vincent Rodriguez, Paul Saldana and Abraham Rivera are other deputies who beat Joseph Perez and are still on duty.
Centro CSO – a community organization that fights back against police crimes in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles – has supported Vanessa Perez in her fight for justice. In December of 2025, they made history together by having the first protest outside of the Industry Sheriff’s Station. To stay updated with this fight for justice, follow @JusticeforJosephPerez and @CentroCSO.
#LosAngelesCA #CA #JosephPerez #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #KillerCop #LASD #CentroCSO #CSO
To mark the April 22, 1870, birthday of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin, Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article he wrote in 1906, “Lessons of the Moscow Uprising.”
Lessons of the Moscow Uprising
The publication of the book Moscow in December 1905 (Moscow, 1906) could not have been more timely. It is an urgent task of the workers’ party to assimilate the lessons of the December uprising. Unfortunately, this book is like a barrel of honey spoilt by a spoonful of tar: most interesting material—despite its incompleteness—and incredibly slovenly, incredibly trite conclusions. We shall deal with these conclusions on another occasion; at present we shall turn our attention to the burning political question of the day, to the lessons of the Moscow uprising.
St. Paul, MN – At 7 a.m., April 20, over 300 nursing home workers from five nursing homes walked off the job and began a three-day strike. The striking workers are represented by SEIU Healthcare Minnesota and Iowa and have been in negotiations for their next union contracts.
Fight Back News Service and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression are circulating the following call to action from Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network.
On May 27, 2025, three organizers, including two Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network members, were unjustly arrested by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) after being targeted during a city council meeting. Conor Cauley was violently attacked by JSO officers, and is facing up to 10 years in prison for felony charges of resisting arrest with violence and battery of a law enforcement officer. Activists Leah Grady and Dragon Belloit were also arrested.
Los Ángeles, CA – Durante las primeras horas de la mañana del 1 de abril, oficiales del Departamento del Sheriff del Este de Los Ángeles le dispararon y mataron a Erik Torres, de 29 años, mientras él atravesaba una crisis de salud mental. Aunque Torres no estaba armado y necesitaba ayuda, los oficiales lo asesinaron.
Justin, TX – En una muestra audaz de unidad, los trabajadores del Centro de Distribución de Piezas de Volvo en Justin marcharon ante la gerencia el 13 de abril para exigir el reconocimiento sindical, intensificando su lucha por el respeto, seguridad y una voz real en el trabajo.
New York, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression held a speakout outside New York City Hall on Friday, April 18, to protest the dramatic rise in police violence against Black men across the city since the beginning of April.
Washington, DC – On Monday, April 13, a man was found hanging from a tree behind the 4th District Police Station in Washington, DC. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers unceremoniously cut him down from the tree and carted him away.
San Francisco, CA – El miércoles 8 de abril, cientos de residentes del Área de la Bahía se reunieron en la estación de BART de la calle Powell para protestar contra Trump por las amenazas que él hizo el 7 de abril, de que “una civilización entera morirá esta noche” si Irán no reabría el estrecho de Ormuz.
Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of April 16, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) won the first part of their 18-month campaign to implement a restrictive police vehicle pursuit policy.
Garland, TX – A coalition of Dallas Fort Worth antiwar organizations including DFW Anti-War Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and others, rallied in the city of Garland’s Freeman Heights neighborhood outside of the Paligen Technologies facility, formerly REPKON USA.
Normal, IL- On Wednesday, March 25, student activists from New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois at Chicago made the three-hour car trip to Normal, Illinois to table at Illinois State University.
Tucson, AZ – On Tax Day, April 15, more than a dozen organizations in Tucson united against Trump’s war on Iran. Organized by the Tucson Anti-War Committee (TAWC), the rally outside the Federal Building downtown drew a crowd of around 80 people and lots of honks in support.
Milwaukee, WI – Community members gathered for a screening of Preconceived on April 12 to learn about the dangers of crisis pregnancy centers.
Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee (RJAM) hosted a screening of the documentary followed by a discussion as a part of their Crisis Pregnancy Centers Out of MKE campaign.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression.
The New Orleans Alliance stands with Pro-Palestine student activist Rick Toledo. We demand no charges be filed against him for standing up for Palestine. On February 27, 2026, students held a sit-in at Cal Poly Tech Humboldt to demand the university divest from Israel. They bravely occupied a university building for 14 hours. We believe standing up against genocide and demanding divestment is the right thing to do.
Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, April 8, students at the University of North Florida gathered to protest Florida gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, a vehement racist and xenophobe, who was allowed to speak on campus.
Jacksonville, FL – On April 14, dozens of community members gathered on the steps of Jacksonville City Hall to demand the establishment of a permanent professional mental health team to respond to mental health crises, instead of police.