Chicago, IL – An energetic crowd of protesters gathered in Federal Plaza in downtown Chicago to celebrate Earth Day, April 21, and protest the construction of a mega-warehouse in South Tacoma, Washington. The mega warehouse is currently under construction by the Chicago-based real estate company Bridge Industrial.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The English translation appeared on the Resistance News Network on Telegram.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine condemns the repressive practices of the administrations of universities in the United States and affirms its support for the struggle of the student movement in support of Palestine.
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, April 18, about 30 members of the Minnesota Cuba Coalition gathered at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s Minneapolis office, under the banner of “Minnesotans love Cuba,” to call for an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement by the New Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
While standing in solidarity with Palestine, the student movement has once again escalated protests on campus with the campus encampment movement. Students are calling out their universities and its administrators for their decades’ long support of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians and are demanding that our universities divest and cut all ties to Israel! University administrators have no right to ignore the students as university administrators continue to support the genocide in Gaza and maintain support for Israel.
To mark the 154th birthday, April 22, of the outstanding revolutionary V.I. Lenin, Fight Back News Service is circulating his famous article “Letter to American Workers” written in 1918.
Chicago, IL – On April 18, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, alongside other organizations in the Black liberation movement, called a rally at Chicago Police Department Headquarters ahead of the police board meeting to demand that the five officers who fired 96 shots and murdered Dexter Reed, Jr. be fired, indicted and convicted.
200 activists and supporters from all corners of the movement in Chicago, from torture survivors to family members of those killed by police violence, as well as those from the Palestinian liberation movement, converged on CPD HQ to make clear to the powers that be that Chicagoans will no longer stand for police terror.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from University of Central Florida Students for a Democratic Society.
On April 1 , UCF Students for a Democratic Society was informed that the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity was moving forward with charging one of its members with several violations of student conduct in addition to filing legal charges for criminal mischief, in response to pro-Palestine activism.
Chattanooga, TN – The United Auto Workers made American labor history Friday, April 19, with its biggest organizing win in decades, when workers at the Volkswagen Chattanooga plant in Tennessee voted decisively to unionize.
Tacoma, WA – On April 14, in Tollefson Plaza, approximately 30 protesters gathered in Tacoma to demand “U.S hands off Iran” at a rally called for by several Students for a Democratic Society chapters (SDS).
Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, April 17, dozens of students and community members gathered on the University of Minnesota campus to rally against war with Iran. On Saturday, April 13, Iran launched a series of attacks on Israel in retaliation for the recent Israeli attack on the Iranian embassy in Damascus, Syria.
Milwaukee, WI – On Sunday, April 14, the Milwaukee Anti-war Committee (MAC) marched from Walker Square to Ivy House in the Walker’s Point neighborhood of Milwaukee, where local congressional Representative Gwen Moore was holding her birthday party.
The spirited crowd of about 100 supporters joined the emergency action and marched toward the Ivy House, chanting “Hands off Iran!” and “Free free Palestine!” the whole way over. Meanwhile, two MAC members mingled inside Moore’s birthday dinner. Despite the birthday party costing a pricey $100 per person to attend, serving as a fundraiser for Representative Moore, the two MAC members had secured complimentary tickets and sat patiently.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Communist Party of the Philippines.
The patriotic and peace-loving Filipino people, together with the American people, must condemn and reject the US government’s plan to provide the Philippines with $500 million in annual military aid for the next five years, in order to dump and preposition US war matériel in the Philippines.
Chattanooga, TN – More than 4000 workers at a Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee began voting on Wednesday, April 17, in a union election set to determine whether or not they join the United Auto Workers (UAW) union. The vote is taking place across three days and is being conducted by the National Labor Relations Board.
New Orleans, LA - On April 15, activists and community members in New Orleans gathered in an emergency rally at the Harol Boggs Federal Building to voice their support for Iran’s calculated and warranted retaliation against Israel’s illegal attack on the Iranian embassy and officials in Damascus, Syria. The protesters further highlighted the need to oppose any U.S. military involvement in the region that could result from Iran’s retaliation.
Denver, CO – On April 11, members of Denver Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied and held several disruptions outside the University of Colorado Denver board of regents meeting to further Denver SDS’s demands for the University of Colorado to divest from companies tied with Israel.
New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.
Chicago, IL – More than 450 people representing 75 organizations gathered in Chicago, April 13, to plan a massive march at the Democratic National Convention, which will stand with Palestine and promote a people’s agenda.
Kobi Guillory of the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression told conference participants, “We will counterprotest the DNC starting on August 19 to demand an immediate end to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide, and that no more of our tax dollars are used to fund the massacres of Palestinians.” Guillory also talked about the fight to get permits for a large-family friendly protest, but said that organizers were going to march to within sight and sound of the convention, permits or not.
Los Angeles, CA – On April 11, the family of Christian Escobedo continued their fight for justice as they pursue accountability for his tragic murder on January 14, 2018 by LAPD Officer Edward Artiaga from the Hollenbeck Division.
Six years after Escobedo’s murder, there are court hearings for his family’s civil lawsuit against Officer Artiaga, a display of the unwavering determination of his loved ones.
In 2018, Escobedo, a 22-year-old Chicano, was walking home at 6:30 a.m. with a friend when they stopped to rest on the sidewalk for a moment. LAPD arrived and shot him four times without provocation. With the support of Centro CSO, a community organization that fights against police crimes in East LA and Boyle Heights, Escobedo's family began organizing to demand accountability.
Orlando, Fl – On April 4, over 25 students gathered at the University of Central Florida to participate in a vigil honoring Hind Rajab and the many other martyred children of Palestine.
Gresham, OR – On April 9, PDX for Palestine staged a demonstration, effectively blocking access to Boeing, a major weapons manufacturer. They voiced their demand for an immediate end to U.S. aid to Israel.
“Boeing has directly contributed to the death of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestine by supplying bombs since and long before October 7,” stated Kacey DeSantis, a member of PDX for Palestine.