News and Views from the People's Struggle
By Gabriel Quiroz Jr and Sol Márquez
Boyle Heights, CA – On October 23, a heavily militarized police force of close to 100 Los Angeles Police Department officers surrounded a residential home in Boyle Heights. The raid would result in the death of a Chicano man.
Denver, CO – On October 27, Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5 continued her speaking tour with a stop in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the tour is to combat political repression in the form of the felony charges that would put her and her fellow Tampa 5 organizers in prison for five to ten years.
These felony charges come against the Tampa 5 after they were shoved to the ground, brutalized, groped and arrested by police officers during their protest against Governor Ron DeSantis’ attacks on diversity and equity programs at the University of South Florida.
Rodriguez addressed a crowd of 50 community members, union organizers and student organizers.
The event consisted of two panels. The first panel highlighted different organizers and their own perspectives when it comes to the different barriers they have faced in education and organizing. The panel featured Jacob Marshall of SDS; Miah Ntepp, Denver NAACP vice president and leader at MSU’s Black Student Alliance; and Candi CdeBaca, a tireless advocate for Denver communities and former city councilperson.
Kat Draken, a shop steward for Teamsters Local 455 in Denver and former student organizer in Tallahassee, Florida talked about her experiences when her fellow organizers were arrested for protesting a few years before, “You have to be persistent and annoying, you have to keep holding events and keep up the pressure, if they figure out that they can just wait you out and let the momentum die, that’s what they are going to do.”
The second panel featured organizers who have themselves faced political repression or whose work surrounds political repression in some way. Shaine Carroll-Frey from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke on the repression the organization experienced in 2010 when prominent leaders of the FRSO were raided by the FBI in a coordinated attack aimed at destroying the organization. Other speakers included Ryan Stitzel, a community organizer with Denver Aurora Community Action Committee, who organizes against police terror in the Denver Metro area, and Eliza Lucero, a community organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Denver, as well as a labor organizer with the Colorado Education Association. Lucero was a leading local organizer of the mass demonstrations against the overturning of Roe v. Wade and in the 2020 uprisings was one of the local leaders targeted by the Aurora Police Department and charged with multiple bogus felonies.
During the keynote speech, Rodriguez stated, “When they asked us to apologize to the police who had beat us up, to apologize to the people who brutalized our friends right in front of our faces and we said, ‘No thank you.’ And then we were charged with additional felonies. So now I face ten years in prison for standing up for what I know is right.”
This event comes at a time when organizers around the country are facing arrests and other forms of suppression surrounding the mass support for Palestine. Just a couple days before, Ron DeSantis’ administration took steps to ban the pro-Palestine group Students for Justice in Palestine from campuses in Florida. This fact was brought up continuously throughout the second panel because of the connection between the political repression the Tampa 5 is facing and the political repression against pro-Palestinian organizers.
The high energy event ended with chants and a sing-along banjo rendition of Free the Tampa 5 by SDS member Jake Newman. Many different organizations attended and participated in the event, including Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Students for Democratic Society, Party for Liberation and Socialism, Boulder Young Democratic Socialists of America, and the Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee.
Los Angeles, CA – On October 28 two events were held to educate and fundraise for five women who were brutally arrested on University of South Florida (USF) campus for protesting against Governor Ron DeSantis’ attacks on public education and diversity. These women, who are now facing felony charges for their activism, are called the Tampa 5.
Orange County, CA – On Friday, October 27, over 30 students and community members gathered across two events to listen to Gia Davila of the Tampa 5 on her stop of the Justice for the Tampa 5 speaking tour. The Tampa 5 are a group of students, workers, and community activists who were violently arrested while protesting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ racist attacks on education at the University of South Florida. They are facing up to ten years in prison and are on a speaking tour to call for these unjust charges to be dropped.
Salt Lake City, UT – On October 23, members of the Salt Lake City community filled a room on the University of Utah campus for a panel against the repression of progressive speech on campus. Chrisley Carpio of the Tampa 5 was the keynote presenter and was joined by MECHA at the University of Utah and Armed Queers SLC.
Seattle, WA – On October 23, Gia Davila of the Tampa 5 spoke before an enthusiastic crowd of 50 people at the University of Washington’s Ethnic Cultural Center. The Tampa 5 are charged with felonies for protesting against Governor Ron DeSantis’s assaults on education. The five, three student organizers, a union member, and a community activist – are currently on a tour of the United States to raise awareness of their case, and how to resist political repression.
Austin, TX – Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5 came to the University of Texas at Austin on Tuesday, October 24, to speak about political repression, defending diversity programs and ethnic studies in schools, and the call to drop the charges on the Tampa 5.
New Orleans, LA – On Monday evening, October 23, close to 100 people gathered in a lecture hall at Loyola University of New Orleans to listen to Laura Rodriguez of the Tampa 5. The Tampa 5 are three student organizers, a community leader, and a union member facing up to ten years’ imprisonment on felony charges. The charges came after their brutalization and the arrests of four of them, while they participated in a protest against DeSantis’ attacks on education at the University of South Florida. The state later charged a fifth. Members of the Tampa 5 are touring the U.S. to raise support for their case.
New York, NY – Around 300 students and community members gathered outside the steps of the CUNY grad center in Midtown, October 18, to protest CUNY's involvement with Israel and to support the Palestinian resistance.
Organized by CUNY 4 Palestine, the energetic crowd was loud in their chants and vocal in their support for the Palestinian cause.
Madison, WI – On Tuesday, October 10, nearly 100 concerned Wisconsinites came together in Madison, joining Wisdom Wisconsin, a non-profit organization bridging the faith community with prison reform efforts, in order to demand an end to inhumane lockdowns that have been enforced in correctional facilities across the entire state.
Jacksonville, FL – The Jacksonville Community Action Committee rallied alongside concerned community members to demand justice for 24-year-old Le’Keian Woods. Nearly 100 people gathered in front of the Police Memorial Building on Sunday, October 1.
Milwaukee, WI – On Thursday, September 28, the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors held a Committee of the Whole meeting. Among the agenda items for discussion was an informational report by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) regarding conditions in the County Jail and a possible audit.
Aurora, CO – On September 27 community members and activists gathered to support the family of Jor’Dell Richardson, who was murdered by police. The crowd demanded accountability for his killing at a meeting with officials of the city of Aurora and Arapahoe County.
Jefferson, LA – On November 4, Jefferson Parish resident Arleen Robertson, mother of police murder victim Daviri Robertson, will speak out at a community forum at Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church. Robertson is fighting to appeal the qualified immunity of the police officer who murdered her son. Fight Back! spoke with Ms. Robertson to share her story.
Chicago, IL – On Tuesday, September 26, a coalition of unions, students and community organizations kicked off the Chicago leg of the Justice for the Tampa 5 Tour. These five activists are facing serious prison time in Florida for the crime of standing up to the DeSantis agenda. On March 6, a group of students at Tampa’s University of South Florida walked into an administrative building to defend diversity, equity and inclusion. They wanted to meet with the university president but were instead attacked by 15 campus cops. The state attorney is now charging the five with multiple felonies, and they face up to 10 years in prison.
Grand Rapids, MI – On Thursday, September 28, the IASTE Local 26 West Michigan Stagehands Union hosted a speaking event featuring two Tampa 5 protestors in a show of solidarity. The speakers, Lauren Pineiro and Chrisley Carpio, are in the midst of a countrywide tour, spreading the word about their struggle against political repression by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' administration. IATSE Local 26 hosted the event to help mobilize labor activists to rally support for dropping the charges against the Tampa 5.
Milwaukee, WI – In the lead up to the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors Committee of the Whole meeting, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference on Wednesday, September 27. The press conference called attention to the report by the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) about certain conditions inside the County Jail and the need for transparency and accountability from both the MCSO and the Board of Supervisors.
Appleton, WI – On Saturday, September 23, students, faculty, and other members of the Fox Valley community gathered at Lawrence University’s Warch Cinema in defense of the Tampa 5. In their second stop on their national tour, Lauren Pineiro and Chrisley Carpio of the Tampa 5 spoke to the LU community. Opening with chants of ‘drop the charges now!’ and ‘fight back!’, the Tampa 5 representatives spoke in detail of their case and its repercussions to the group of 35 people. For some, it was their first time hearing of the infuriating case, where the five protesters are facing five to ten years in prison on false charges.
Milwaukee, WI – More than 30 activists, organizers and supporters gathered at ZAO Church in Milwaukee on the evening of September 25 to listen to the Tampa 5's Chrisley Carpio and Lauren Pineiro talk about the situation in Florida and what led to their current struggle.
Seattle, WA – Over 20 community members and activists brought together by the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (SAARPR) gathered at City Hall on September 26 to deliver public comment and demand justice for Jaahnavi Kandula, who was killed by Seattle Police officer Kevin Dave on January 23, 2023.