News and Views from the People's Struggle
St. Paul, MN – The MN Peace Action Coalition and Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) co-sponsored a vigil on the Marshal/Lake Street bridge over the Mississippi River on June 12 to draw attention to the role of the U.S, in Haiti. 30 people attended and they received many positive honks from rush hour drivers.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 8, 75 people gathered to protest President Biden’s executive order closing the border and restricting asylum. Immediately after Biden issued the order on Tuesday, June 4, the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) called an emergency protest to oppose his action.
Biden’s executive order closes the U.S./Mexico border and severely restricts asylum. It is a continuation of Donald Trump’s repressive immigration policies and is a copy of the ban Trump tried to put into effect before he was blocked by the federal courts. During his presidential campaign of 2020, Biden sharply criticized Trump’s immigration policies and decried his efforts to restrict asylum. Biden is openly breaking his campaign promises and shifting U.S. immigration politics to the far right.
Susana De León, an immigration lawyer and community organizer, talked about the politicians’ hateful rhetoric: “Everything continues to be blamed on Black and brown bodies, indigenous people, and people who have been left out of the system by the same corporations that are now enjoying the highest profits while we have to get food at the highest prices ever.”
The location of the protest was significant. Protesters rallied in a predominantly immigrant neighborhood, a block away from where dozens of day laborers gather daily in desperate search of jobs to feed themselves and their families. The majority of the day laborers are immigrants who recently arrived from Ecuador, driving home the stark reality that President Biden is taking only repressive actions against immigrants while national pressure builds for Biden to grant Temporary Protective Status to Ecuadorian immigrants.
Adriana Cerrillo, speaking on behalf of the Minnesota Interfaith Coalition on Immigration, told the crowd her story and why it was difficult but important to her to be at the action: “It is very difficult for me to be here today, because my own trauma and my own experience from this fucking system is really hard, it’s really difficult. This system has taken so much from me, and yet it is my obligation to stay strong, and the way that I stay strong is by being with and surrounding myself with people like you here today.”
Asylum is a human right protected under international law. Both Democrats and Republicans are using immigrants in a political game. Biden’s closing of the border and nearly total ban on asylum is dangerous and must be opposed.
We must take a firm stance against racist and repressive anti-immigrant policies regardless of which political party is in power. MIRAC will join immigrant rights groups from around the country to protest both the Republican and the Democratic National Conventions this summer. Stand with MIRAC to demand no more attacks on immigrants and legalization for all.
#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #USMexicoBorder #MIRAC #Asylum
By Charlie Berg and Joe Vital
Minneapolis, MN – Residents of the East Phillips neighborhood and organizers with the Climate Justice Committee rallied outside of Smith Foundry on Tuesday, June 4, after an announcement from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it had reached a settlement with Smith, with the most significant provision requiring that the heavy-polluting foundry shut down its furnace within 12 months.
Minneapolis, MN – On June 6, hundreds of protesters unwelcomed former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, who came to downtown Minneapolis to speak for the Center for the American Experiment, a conservative think tank based in the suburb of Golden Valley.
The Center has supported a number of Republican-led political initiatives and regularly features right-wing speakers at its events. Ticket prices for the event ranged from $300 for individual seats to $30,000 “diamond sponsor” tickets that included special VIP access to Bennett.
Bennet is known as a war criminal who in 2013 said, “I’ve killed a lot of Arabs in my life and there’s no problem with that.” Bennett was the prime minister during 2021-22 and represented the New Right political party, which opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state and demands Israeli sovereignty over all of Palestine. He describes himself as more right-wing than even Netanyahu. After Israel’s assault on Gaza began in October, Bennett mocked concerns for Palestinian lives, saying in an interview, “Are you seriously asking me about Palestinian civilians?” and “I am not going to feed electricity or water to my enemies.”
The police stood alongside Zionist ticket holders, who heckled the crowd with racist and Islamophobic slurs, flipping off community members, including young children, while cops took no action.
Over the course of three hours, hundreds of Minneapolis police officers, including SWAT and riot teams, joined the racists in antagonizing the demonstrators.
One protester was violently arrested by riot police armed with rifles as he was peacefully walking away. Four others, including three Muslim Twin Cities residents – two of them minors – were arrested later, violently picked off the street by a large, black SWAT BearCat vehicle.
Wyatt Miller from the Anti-War Committee said, “The supposedly progressive city of Minneapolis helped facilitate the visit of an Israeli leader who helped lay groundwork for the current genocide, invited by a right-wing think tank to speak at a major downtown venue. We call on elected officials to denounce this hateful event and the fact that MPD was allowed to set up an apartheid-like militarized area on its behalf.”
The juveniles were released later that night, but the other arrestees were held until the evening of June 7.
#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #MNAWC #MNFreePalestineCoalition
St. Paul, MN – On Saturday, June 1, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) members had their 17th annual Walk Against Weapons of War. The day was sunny as 125 WAMM members and supporters rallied at Langford Park within a residential community. They then continued with a march to Forward Edge ASIC, a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin.
Duluth, MN – On June 1, between 300 and 400 people from across the state protested the Minnesota DFL State Convention at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (the DECC).
It was a show of broad geographic support for ending the U.S. support for Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza, and against the stances of DFL (the name of the Democratic Party in Minnesota) politicians like U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar and Governor Tim Walz, who have shown strong support for Israel.
Columbia Heights, MN – On May 21, over 100 members of the Palestinian community and supporters held a spirited bannering and rally to draw attention to the dire situation in Gaza. The action was organized by the Free Palestine Coalition in response to the ongoing bombing of Rafah and slaughter of over 100 people in Gaza in their tents in a supposed “safe zone.” The event took place at a busy commercial intersection during rush hour.
Minneapolis, MN – An estimated 300 Twin Cities residents came out in a downpour of rain to participate in the Free Palestine Coalition’s emergency rally to show solidarity with Rafah, May 27. The protest took place outside of U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office near downtown Minneapolis.
Protesters wore keffiyehs and pro-Palestine apparel, held signs favorable to Palestinian liberation, and bellowed chants like “From the olive to the sand, Palestine is our demand,” demonstrating their commitment and continued support of Palestinian liberation.
St. Paul, MN – On May 23, members of the Hamline University Students for Justice (HUSJ) held a gathering at West Hall after their pre-hearing meeting with the Dean of Students, Patti Kersten. The meeting was about the students’ code of conduct violations, charged against them about two weeks after their building occupation and Palestine encampment, even though the university granted them amnesty for the occupation.
St Paul, MN – On May 21, the Minnesota State Board of Investments (SBI) held its second quarterly meeting of 2024. The meeting began with an extensive discussion on “ethical investments” related to green energy and combating the ongoing climate crisis. What was not brought up by board of investors was how much Minnesota annually invests in companies and shareholdings connected with the ongoing genocide in Palestine.
St. Paul, MN – On May 16, Hamline University Students for Justice (HUSFJ) rallied outside of the Old Main administration building, announcing they would end their 20-day encampment for Palestine.
Minneapolis, MN – On May 15, over 1000 people marched in the Free Palestine Coalition’s march for the 76th anniversary of Al Nakba, “the catastrophe” in Arabic. Protesters started at U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar’s office demanding an end to U.S. aid to apartheid Israel and calling on her to stop her support for the ongoing second Nakba, the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide currently occurring in Gaza.
Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, May 10, members of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) and their supporters protested outside of First Care Pregnancy Center, an anti-abortion “crisis pregnancy center” known for using deceptive tactics and spreading medical disinformation about abortion.
Minneapolis, MN – On May 9, 200 community members rallied with students and staff at the University of Minnesota outside of the McNamara Alumni Center. The rally was called by the Free Palestine Coalition to draw attention to Israel’s genocidal attacks on Rafah and to put pressure on the University of Minnesota’s board of regents who were meeting the next day to hear from the Divest UMN Coalition’s demands at their public meeting.
Minneapolis, MN – Minneapolis city government placed a roadblock in front of the ballot measure to establish community control of the police, May 9. Community members say the fight will continue.
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, May 2, 500 people gathered outside the University of Minnesota Humphrey School to celebrate the wins that the UMN Divest coalition had made the previous day.
St. Paul, MN – On the evening of April 27, the Hamline Students for Justice (HSJ) announced President Kathleen Murray and other college officials had agreed to meet with them, after their April 26 occupation of the campus’ administration building and holding an encampment outside.
Minneapolis, MN – On May 1, over 500 people took to the streets on International Workers Day to march for immigrant and workers’ rights. The rally and march was organized by a coalition initiated by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and MN Workers United (MWU).
Each year, International Workers Day is celebrated around the world with a call for solidarity with all workers and for union rights. International Workers Day has its origin in the fight for an eight-hour workday in the United States, where there were massive strikes and sharp confrontations in May of 1886.
Linda Hoover, a longtime member and former interim director of Women Against Military Madness, died on April 20, 2024. She was a longtime anti-racist, anti-war activist and a leading member of MPAC (Minnesota Peace Action Coalition) formerly the IPAC (Iraq Peace Action Coalition).
St. Paul, MN – As of April 27, Hamline Students for Justice (HSJ) continue their occupation for Palestine inside the administration building on campus. The students sent out a call to supporters to join them throughout the day. Students and community members heeded the call and came with Palestinian flags, signs, blankets, food and tents.