Cambridge, MA – Forty people, Harvard Law students and Boston anti-war activists, heard Tom Burke speak at Harvard Law School on April 20. Burke, a spokesperson for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke on the topic of “Building the movement against Trump’s agenda and opposing political repression.”

Burke said, “We need to build our movements at a national level to stop Trump’s attacks. The airport protests opposing the Muslim ban are a good example of how we can win victories. The airport protests, like the one in Chicago, showed the people have a lot power. In NYC when the cab drivers acted in solidarity by not driving fares to JFK airport, it showed how labor can shut things down and make a difference.”

In another example Burke said, “The Milwaukee Coalition Against Trump, MCAT, forced Trump to cancel his visit to the Harley Davidson plant in Menomonee Falls. The Harley workers contacted MCAT leaders and the stage was set for thousands of people to protest Trump’s appearance. Trump was forced to cancel, just like during the primary when 10,000 shut Trump down at the University of Illinois at Chicago.”

In terms of political repression, Burke said, “Trump’s Muslim ban is political. It targets the Middle East countries the U.S. is at war with. The seven countries the U.S. bombs, drone attacks, or sends in Special Forces to kill people, like the 8-year-old girl in Yemen who was an American citizen. No arrest or trial for her.”

He continued, “This is also why Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh is being targeted for deportation. This is why Simon Trinidad, the Colombian revolutionary, is in solitary confinement in the Florence Colorado Supermax prison, a casualty of the Colombian peace process. The Jacksonville Five in Florida were beat up by police for holding an anti-war rally. We are seeing more of this under Trump.”

The lunchtime lecture was hosted by Unbound: Harvard Journal of the Legal Left and the Harvard Chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild.

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