Salt Lake City, UT – On Tuesday, August 25, members of the Utah Anti-War Committee met with Salt Lake District 1 Councilor Jiro Johnson. Johnson’s county council district covers a Raytheon facility, which the UAWC has been campaigning against since May. The anti-war activists demanded that Johnson publicly condemn the Raytheon facility in his district.
The meeting was secured after activists packed Salt Lake County Council earlier in August, calling on Johnson to introduce legislation against the facility. At the meeting, Johnson at first did not commit to issuing a written and public condemnation of Raytheon, citing concerns around Republican backlash to his policy agenda.
Philadelphia, PA – On Wednesday evening, August 26, over 80 protesters gathered outside the entrance of the Pennsylvania Convention Center to protest the war profiteers attending the Defense Industrial Base Accelerator, a convention centered around building the U.S. industrial base for greater war production.
It is not surprising that Philadelphia would be chosen to host such a convention. There has recently been a bipartisan push at local and national levels to bolster the position of the defense industry in Philadelphia.
St. Paul, MN – Amid a nationwide wave of outrage against Flock automatic license plate readers, community members packed city council chambers on August 26 for a public hearing on police surveillance technology and data privacy. Dozens of community members testified to their opposition to the city’s use of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras made by Flock and Axon, as well as autonomous drones manufactured by Skydio.
New Orleans, LA – On August 27, about 30 people gathered for a demonstration against Palantir, a data analytics corporation notorious for its use in mass surveillance and the Palestinian genocide. New Orleans Nurses United led the protest alongside National Nurses United (NNU) locals in seven other cities.
“We nurses are outside the federal building in New Orleans today because one in four people detained by ICE are taken to Louisiana detention centers,” said Hannah Miller, an ICU nurse and NNU member.
The crowd chanted “Purge, purge Palantir!” and raised picket signs that read “Palantir Out!”.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Utah Anti-War Committee.
On Tuesday, August 25th, members of Utah Anti-War Committee met with Salt Lake District 1 Council member Jiro Johnson.
We demanded that Johnson formally and publicly condemn the Raytheon AST weapons facility located in his district in West Valley City. Raytheon makes bombs and guided missiles for the Israeli and U.S. military. These weapons are used in well-documented war crimes in Iran and Palestine.
San José, CA – On August 20, the second day of the fall semester, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a protest on the San José State University Campus. SDS has been leading a “No Tech for Genocide” campaign for several years, demanding that university administration cut all ties with weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin. San José State University has maintained ties with Lockheed for decades, including hosting specific engineering master’s programs tailored to send students straight to working as weapons designers.
Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, dozens of community members attended a panel titled “How MN Money is Funding Palantir’s Deadly Surveillance Network” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel, organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), discussed divestment from the AI surveillance company Palantir. Palantir facilitates human rights violations against Palestinians, as well as immigrants in Minnesota.
Tucson, AZ – On August 20, members of the Tucson Anti-War Committee (TAWC) hosted a call-in event to tell war profiteer Howmet Aerospace that companies that profit from endless wars and genocide are not welcome in their community.
Jacksonville, FL – On Saturday, August 15, community members and leaders of Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN) rallied to demand an end to the U.S.-Israeli continued murder of Palestinian journalists.
The event was just five days after the anniversary of the martyrdom of Anas Al-Sharif, an award-winning frontline Palestinian journalist. Al-Sharif was murdered by a targeted airstrike on August 10, 2025, by the Israeli occupation forces.
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 13, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) hosted a panel titled “To Hell With Honeywell” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel shared the history of Honeywell’s production of weapons parts in Minneapolis, and local resistance efforts to its complicity in U.S. war crimes.
San Francisco, CA – On the afternoon of August 15, 100 people gathered in front of the San Francisco Federal Building for a national day of action to demand, “U.S. out of Korea” and “No to a Pacific war.”
Protesters chanted, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!” and “From Korea to the Philippines, stop the U.S. war machine!”
Grand Rapids, MI – On the morning of August 19, activists walked into the Grand Rapids Retirement System board meeting with one goal in mind: “What will it take for the city pension plan to divest from Israeli companies?”
The ongoing “Grand Rapids Divest from Israel” campaign started when Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests confirmed the existence of a $1.1 million investment from the retirement system in an Israeli AI company called NiCE.
NiCE makes AI-powered software for use in anything from business management to police surveillance.
From August 9 through August 17, Chrisley Carpio of the Central Committee of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization took part in the Jaju Solidarity Brigade, the first international delegation to attend the annual August 15 Korean Liberation Day March, in what is known as the Republic of Korea. The Jaju Solidarity Brigade visited U.S. bases and sites of historic importance to the progressive movement in Korea and learned about various fronts of struggle for Korean peace, sovereignty and reunification.
Fight Back!: Can you briefly summarize the political situation on the Korean Peninsula? And its relationship to the United States?
Chrisley Carpio: The people of the Korean Peninsula were once a united people. Today, its people are divided by U.S. imperialism at the 38th parallel. The North, known as the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea, is a liberated, socialist state that is in charge of its own affairs, including its government, military, economy and society. In the DPRK, every person is guaranteed a job, a place to live, and groceries such as rice and soy sauce, no matter the state of the economy.
Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, community members gathered at Mayday Plaza to honor the 81st anniversary of Korean Liberation Day. The event was held in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, right outside of Mayday Books.
The action was emceed by Trent Fast from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Leo Del Rio from About Face, who began with the acknowledgement of the U.S.’s ongoing presence and occupation in Korea.
New York, NY – On August 15, over 100 people gathered in the heart of Times Square, near the Army Recruiting Office, to mark Korean Liberation Day. The protest was organized by Nodutdol and Bayan USA.
Korean Liberation Day is a celebration of the Korean resistance rising up and overthrowing Japanese imperialism on August 15, 1945. Since that day, it has become a yearly celebration to remember the militancy of the Korean people against imperialism and occupation.
For this protest, Nodutdol and Bayan demanded “U.S. out of Korea” and an end to the Pacific war. The United States has long engaged in violent meddling and intervention in South Korea to oppose North Korea. Additionally, weapon trade and war games in the region have escalated deaths of civilians.
Pittsburg, PA – Ten students at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) are facing repression from campus authorities, after displaying messages in solidarity with Palestine on the campus's so-called “free speech fence.”
[Ladson, South Carolina rally demands drop the charges against pro-Palestine protesters. ]
Ladson, SC – On Tuesday, August 11, more than two dozen community members joined the Elbit Out of South Carolina (EOSC) coalition’s first mass rally outside Elbit Systems of America in Ladson since the arrest of three picketers, collectively known as the Ladson 3.
The rally began with a reading of a speech written by Haley Sabados, a member of the Ladson 3, who has been barred from the premises of Elbit since her arrest and is actively fighting her trespassing charge.
New Orleans, LA – On the evening of Friday, August 7, around 30 people gathered at the downtown Hilton hotel to protest the local Democratic Party’s decision to platform Vice President Kamala Harris. Protesters demanded that Harris take a stance against the genocide in Palestine that started under her administration.
Jacksonville, FL – On Wednesday, August 5, Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network held their first class in a series of free educational sessions, inspired by the popular education that arose as a form of resistance in the First Intifada.
Approximately 30 community members attended this teach-in to learn about the phases and effects of the First and Second Intifada, and the history of popular education in Palestine, which was necessitated by the closing of schools by Israeli occupying forces.
Chicago, IL – On Sunday, July 26, over 100 Chicagoans gathered downtown at the Philippine Consulate for the annual People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) to demand accountability and transparency from the Filipino government, an immediate end to political repression and forced migration, and funding for essential services like jobs, education, healthcare and food.
[Ladson, South Carolina rally demands drop the charges against pro-Palestine protesters. ]
