Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is calling on organizations across the US to join a National Day of Action on August 7 and to demand that the charges on Alejandro Orellana be dropped. There is no crime in protesting ICE and deportations, protecting protesters, and speaking out against Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
Denver, CO – On the evening of June 27, Aurora Unidos CSO, Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee (DACAC), and rank-and-file Teamsters gathered outside the Byron Rogers Federal Building to demand that charges be dropped on Los Aneles immigrant rights activist Alejandro Orellana.
Chicago, IL – On Friday, June 27, allies of the Los Angeles group Centro CSO gathered at noon in downtown Chicago for a press conference and rally in support of CSO immigrant rights activists Alejandro Orellana and Verita Topete. Orellana and Topete have been targeted by the FBI in the weeks since the Los Angeles protests against ICE raids.
“We’re here to demand that the federal charges against Alejandro Orellana be dropped,” Joe Iosbaker of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, said. “Raids and federal grand juries are attacks on progressive movements, on our freedom to speak, to assemble, and to tell the government that their actions and their policies are wrong.”
Tampa, FL – On a loud and busy intersection in front of Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse on Friday morning, June 27, members of three groups – Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society – gathered to rally in solidarity with two Los Angeles activists targeted by the FBI for their political beliefs and for standing with their communities. They read statements in in solidarity with Alejandro Orellana and Verita Topete.
Minneapolis, MN – Immigrant rights protesters gathered at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue in Minneapolis June 27. This action was part of a National Day of Action called by the Legalization for All Network and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.
Jacksonville, FL – Chants of “Drop the charges!” echoed outside the federal courthouse Thursday, June 27, as dozens of protesters stood in solidarity with Alejandro Orellana, a Los Angeles immigrant rights organizer facing politically-motivated federal charges. The powerful demonstration coincided with Orellana's first scheduled court hearing since his June 12 arrest by FBI agents targeting his activism against ICE raids.
“Drop the charges on Alejandro. Stop the FBI witch hunt,” declared one speaker at the rally. “We just wanna be out here fighting for the same things that other people are fighting for.”
