News and Views from the People's Struggle
St. Paul Park, MN – On January 21, nearly 200 members of Teamsters Local 120 who work at Marathon Petroleum Refinery in Saint Paul Park walked off the job, beginning an unfair labor practice strike.
Withdraw the National Guard from the Twin Cities!
The brutal police killing of George Floyd has sparked a powerful uprising that will settle for nothing less than justice. It is a case of murder. George Floyd, an African American man, was killed in broad daylight in front of witnesses who videotaped the crime. The crime was carried out by Officer Derek Chauvin and three accomplices from the Minneapolis Police Department. And everyone knows that the Minneapolis Police Department has a history of killing Black people for being Black.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J).
Minneapolis, MN – On August 8, a settlement was reached in the case of Jamar Clark. The city of Minneapolis awarded $200,000 to Jamar Clark’s families.
Minneapolis, MN – The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was denied a platform to defend their cover-ups of police killings, including their current ‘investigation’ of the police murder of Thurman Blevins, on July 12.
Milwaukee, WI – On May 20, the revolutionary forces of Venezuela won a great victory with the re-election of Nicolás Maduro as president, who received a landslide 67% of the vote. The reactionary opposition parties, stumbling over themselves, ran a sub-par candidate that they could not even unite behind. For the foreseeable future, the political forces of the comprador bourgeoisie are defeated, and they and their imperialist partners will need to explore other means to try to defeat the Bolivarian Revolution. Now is the time for the revolutionary movement to advance, and that is what they are doing.
Minneapolis, MN – The Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) and other endorsing community organizations will gather at Minneapolis Police Department’s Fourth Precinct, 1925 Plymouth Avenue N, Minneapolis, July 1, at 2 p.m., to demand justice for Thurman Blevins.
Minneapolis, MN – Standing in the front of U.S. Bank Stadium, leaders of the Super Bowl Anti-Racist Anti-Corporation Coalition (SAAC) announced their plans Jan. 11 at a press conference for a Feb. 4 rally that will start at Peavey Park, at 3 p.m., followed by a march on the stadium on Super Bowl Sunday. Organizers say they are uniting to protest racist police brutality and the sellout of the city to greedy NFL owners and corporate sponsors.
Demonstrators to march on Republican headquarters
Minneapolis, MN – On the One-year anniversary of Donald Trump’s inauguration, protesters will gather at 1 p.m., Mayday Plaza (301 Cedar Avenue S.), to say “Trump out now! No wars! No Muslim ban!” The rally will be followed by a march to the Republican party headquarters.
Minneapolis, MN – Over 60 people joined a Minneapolis protest on Oct. 8, organized under the call of ‘Stop Endless U.S. Wars.’
Minneapolis, MN – On Aug. 20, Jesus Chucho Garcia, the Venezuelan Consul in New Orleans, spoke in Minneapolis at May Day Bookstore about the current situation and the future of Venezuela. The store was packed with activists from the peace movement, the Latin American solidarity movement and Venezuelans living in the U.S.
Minneapolis, MN – Today at Noon NAACP head Nekima Levy-Pounds and hundreds of people held a press conference in front of the Minnesota Governors mansion to protest the police murder of Philando Castile on July 6, 2016. The aftermath of the shooting and death of Philando Castile was livestreamed by his partner Diamond Reynolds. Philando Castile had been driving while black when he was pulled over for a broken tail light. When asked by the officer for his license and registration he informed the man that he was a concealed carry permit holder and had a gun on his person. This is in compliance with Minnesota law and the procedures permit holders are instructed to use. The officer opened fire upon hearing that he had a gun, shooting him 3-5 times in the arm. Officers held Ms. Reynolds and her daughter in the car at gunpoint while Philando Castile bled to death in front of them. The livestream broadcast brought people to the scene who protested the murder throughout the night, eventually occupying the street in front of the MN Governors mansion. Philando Castile is remembered as a kind man who gave out extra graham crackers to the kids at J.J Hill school in St. Paul where he was a lunchroom supervisor. He was a 15 year member of Teamsters Local 320. This is at least the second police murder of an African American man this week
#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #MN #BlackLivesMatter #PhilandoCastile
Minneapolis, MN – AFSCME 3800 members – clerical workers at the University of Minnesota – joined nurses of the Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) on the picket lines June24 to show their solidarity.
St. Paul, MN—Dozens braved near zero temperatures to demand “Justice for Philip Quinn”, a 30-year-old White Earth Ojibwe man killed by St Paul police last September.
Minneapolis, MN – In an unprecedented attempt at halting the upcoming Black Live Matters Minneapolis gathering, the Mall of America has sued eight activists to compel them to immediately” post messages on social media and send out a mass text message announcing their Dec. 23 event is cancelled.
Minneapolis, MN – Chanting, “If Jamar don’t get it, shut it down!” hundreds of people marched Dec. 19 in frigid weather from the Fourth Police Precinct in north Minneapolis to city hall demanding justice for Jamar Clark. Clark, a 24-year-old African American man, was shot in the head and killed by the Minneapolis police on Nov. 15 on Plymouth Avenue in north Minneapolis, sparking an 18-day encampment at the Fourth Precinct to protest his killing. Today’s march was the largest protest since police dislodged the occupation in front of the Fourth Precinct on Dec. 3.
St. Paul, MN – 150 people protested at the Twin Cities marathon here, Oct. 4, to call attention to police violence on Black and Native people. Organized by Black Lives Matter-Saint Paul, the #BlackMarathon protest focused on the cases of Phill Quinn, Tyree Tucker and Marcus Golden. The protest began with a rally in Boyd Park featuring speeches by members of the Quinn, Tucker and Golden families, continued with a march through the community and was followed by a die-in at the Twin Cities marathon finish line.
National day of action for Ayotzinapa
Saint Paul, MN – More than 100 people protested in front of the Mexican Consulate on Dec. 3, calling for an end to ‘Plan México’ and all U.S. aid that goes to the Mexican military and police, because of their rampant repression and human rights abuses against the people of Mexico.
St. Paul, MN – Members of the Welfare Rights Committee (WRC) gathered outside Governor Mark Dayton’s mansion here, Sept. 4, to demand the governor, along with the Minnesota state government, provide public assistance to everyone who needs it and that they increase the welfare grants.
St. Paul, MN – The Wednesday peace vigil on Aug. 13 had 50 people on the Lake Street/Marshall Avenue Bridge over the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and Saint Paul protesting new U.S. military intervention in Iraq.