Minneapolis, MN – On August 5, around 80 people gathered outside the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Walker Art Center for an anti-war protest organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition. The protest memorialized the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which, according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, killed approximately 210,000 people.

The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II constitute one of the United States government’s greatest crimes against humanity. The creation of the atomic bomb was a pivotal moment in the development of the U.S. military-industrial complex, and its use against Japan was an unprecedented act of global terrorism intended to assert U.S. imperial hegemony on the global stage.

While propaganda like the recent Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer still seeks to justify the creation and utilization of the atomic bomb and obscure its catastrophic consequences, activists in the streets of Minneapolis spoke out against the current dangers of nuclear warfare.

“Today the U.S./NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine raises the danger of nuclear war. The U.S. is in what amounts to a cold war with China that could explode into a new war,” protest organizers with MPAC explained in a press release. “These wars and war threats and the unending U.S. military interventions around the world have nothing to do with protecting human rights. They are attempts by the U.S. government to control the distribution of resources around the world.”

Speakers at the protest talked about the global injustices produced by U.S. imperialism. “The average American is kept in the dark about how much our military terrorizes the entire world,” said Elizabeth McLister, a member of the Anti-War Committee. “Cozy relations between the defense industry and mainstream media outlets ensure that news headlines prioritize American exceptionalist fantasies over objective reality. Since 9/11, U.S. initiatives in war zones like Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have killed at least 4.5 million people and displaced 38 million more.”

The protest was endorsed by the Anti-War Committee, Black Alliance for Peace Midwest Solidarity Network, Climate Justice Committee, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Mayday Books, Minnesota War Tax Resistance, Party for Socialism & Liberation – Minneapolis, Socialist Action, Socialist Party USA – Twin Cities Local, Tsuru for Solidarity Minnesota, Twin Cities Assange Defense, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 – Minneapolis, Welfare Rights Committee, and Women Against Military Madness.

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