News and Views from the People's Struggle
Chicago, IL – On May 11, over 30 Arab and Muslim community members and their allies joined a Palos Township online meeting to continue demanding the resignation of the racist trustee, Sharon Brannigan.
Case brings up memories of the past police crimes
Milwaukee, WI – Three weeks ago, on the morning of April 19, an off-duty Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) officer named Michael Mattioli was arrested for beating someone into an unresponsive state at a party hosted at his, the cop’s, house on Milwaukee’s South Side. Mattioli was booked at Milwaukee County Jail on tentative charges of first-degree reckless injury and strangulation. He was released on April 23 after posting the $50,000 cash bail. Mattioli was placed on administrative duties and formally suspended by MPD after his arrest. He has a court date set for June 10.
St. Paul, MN – Saturday, May 9, on the fourth anniversary of Jaffort Smith’s death at the hands of police, community members joined his family for a socially-distanced caravan protest and balloon release to honor Smith’s life. They met in Cayuga Park, where speakers Monique Cullars Doty and mother Matilda Smith addressed the crowd. Balloons were released, and Minister Toya Woodland led the group in prayer. They then set out in cars, passing the nearby site where police officers Michael Tschida and Mark Grundhauser murdered Smith with at least 49 shots. The group proceeded to the Saint Paul Police Department Eastern District station, where they lined the block, posted signs on the building and chanted.
#StPaulMN #OppressedNationalities #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #SaintPaulPoliceDepartment #Antiracism #JaffortSmith
“Trayvon Martin, Emmett Till. How many Black lives will you kill?” This was one of many chants heard across downtown Tampa on Saturday, May 9, as protesters gathered to demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery. The South Georgia resident was murdered by two white supremacist vigilantes, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, while he out for a jog.
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns the brutal murder Ahmaud Arbery, a young African American man in southern Georgia, who was killed by racist vigilantes on February 23.
Chicago, IL – 500 cars from around Chicago converged on the State of Illinois Building as Governor J.B. Pritzker held his daily COVID-19 press briefing May 7. The horns could be heard clearly from inside the building.
Los Angeles, CA – The violent attack happened on April 27. The video released was not caught on LAPD Hollenbeck patrol vehicles, nor on body cameras. Instead the video was recorded by a neighbor witness in Boyle Heights.
Chicago, IL – While the U.S. Navy aggressively patrols their coast, another U.S.-inspired attack on Venezuela failed during the morning of May 3. Venezuelan military and police captured two, and killed eight, armed mercenaries during the confrontation. Traveling by speedboat from Colombia, the invaders’ plan was to join local accomplices near the port of La Guairá. La Guairá is next to Venezuela’s international airport and only 20 miles from Caracas.
Los Angeles, CA – On Friday, May 1, a car protest of over 40 vehicles driven by workers, teachers and activists took to the streets for the sixth consecutive year to celebrate International Workers Day, May Day, in the Boyle Heights neighborhood. Organized by Centro CSO, this year’s May Day protest focused on Trump’s attacks on immigrants and called for free healthcare for COVID-19 patients, support for public education, jailing killer cops and community control over the police.
Chicago, IL – The headline in the Chicago Tribune Wednesday, April 19 blared: “Two charities have bailed scores of felony defendants out of Cook County Jail. Some were soon charged with new crimes.” The headline could have said, with equal validity, that “Millions of Chicagoans were not arrested last year. Some were charged with new crimes.”