Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director, of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

Leonard Peltier, renowned Spirit-Warrior of the Dakota people, symbolizes the courageous centuries long resistance of the Indigenous peoples against racism, genocide and national oppression. In the spirit of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, Leonard has maintained his innocence and fought for his freedom for five decades.

The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression has stood in unconditional solidarity with Leonard Peltier, the oldest and one of the longest held political prisoners in U.S. history.

The reason the federal government held Leonard in captivity and behind bars for half a century is not because he was guilty of any crime but because the FBI agents who were killed were white men. Leonard himself said “When a white is killed, even if he brought it on himself, all Indians are guilty. Isn’t that the way it’s always been?”

Yes, that is the way it’s always been. However, with Leonard the situation is even more aggravated by the fact that he is a freedom fighter for his oppressed people.

Decades ago, Leonard’s lawyer, Ramsey Clark (former Attorney General of the United States) said, “I think I can explain beyond serious doubt that Leonard Peltier committed no crime whatsoever.”

We now know that the government knew what Ramsey Clark knew, yet they refused to release Leonard.

Leonard was accused of murder in 1975 and in 1985 the government prosecution admitted, “We did not know who shot the agents...” he was accused of killing. Forty-nine years later a government prosecutor repeated this admitted truth to President Biden. Apparently, Biden listened, and in response to the demands of the people, at the age of 80 and after 50 years of torturous imprisonment, Leonard is coming home.

It’s definitely a people’s victory and we celebrate it as such. It is not “Justice at Last.”

We acknowledge and salute the Indigenous people’s movement, Leonard Peltier’s family, and his decades long standing Defense Committee. It was the mass movement of the people demanding justice that moved President Biden to issue an order of Executive Clemency.

Based on the evidence, Leonard deserved an apology and a pardon of innocence. The sober reality is that the U.S. government continues its genocidal policies against the Dakota people and all the Indigenous people of America.

We stand in unconditional solidarity with the first nations indemanding their sovereign rights and their struggles for freedom.

#LeonardPeltier #Clemency #ExecutiveOrder #Biden #IndigenousSovereignty #Dakota #RamseyClark #NAARPR

New Orleans, LA – On August 13, pro-Palestine activists rallied to protest President Biden as he visited Tulane University. About 50 people came together outside Tulane’s campus, including locals and university students. Many stayed home out of fear of the dozens of local and federal police cars that were watching the area.

The protest was organized by students and their allies in less than 48 hours. Tulane tried to prevent a response to the visit by slyly calling it a “scheduled event” in communications with students. The protest focused on Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. It is estimated that more than 186,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since October 2023.

Protesters also pointed out the hypocrisy of Biden’s support for cancer research while expanding oil and gas usage in the U.S. “My great-grandfather died of cancer. My grandfather died of cancer. My uncle is dying from his fourth time with cancer. I will die of cancer someday, because we live in Cancer Alley, a toxic region of Louisiana created by the oil industry that Biden supports,” said Jack Saucier, speaking for the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

LGBTQ liberation activists also came out to protest Biden. “We will not see trans and queer liberation here while our president is eradicating our queer siblings in Palestine,” said Blu DiMarco, speaking for the Queer and Trans Community Action Project. Protesters wore shirts that read “Queers for Palestine” and held signs with slogans like “End U.S. aid to Israel.” Security volunteers handed out water to keep people safe in the 100-plus degree heat.

Before Biden arrived, police officers made metal barricades two rows deep. When people saw Biden’s car, the crowd burst out with energy, booing and chanting, “Genocide Joe has got to go!”

After about an hour of chanting and making noise while Biden was on campus, the action ended with a collective shaming. The crowd shouted “Shame!” in unison three times. The cry was audible a block away, while the president was in a building less than 150 feet away.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Biden #FRSO #QTCAP #

Atlanta, GA – Hundreds of community members gathered June 27 to protest the presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in Midtown Atlanta. The event was sponsored by a broad coalition of Atlanta and Georgia-based activist groups united around the demand for a free Palestine.

The protest began shortly after 7 p.m. and ran at the same time as the presidential debate. The event featured reps from a large number of organizations who spoke against the bipartisan support for Israel and its genocide of the Palestinian people, the need for divestment and an end of all U.S. aid to Israel. They tied the local people’s struggles in Atlanta to the fight against U.S. imperialism.

“What we all know is that neither Trump nor Biden is going to resolve the issues that have brought us out into the street. Neither of them can even fake empathy for the ongoing genocide in Palestine, much less do anything to stop it,” said Erica Schneider, a member of the Atlanta Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “Neither of them has any interest in putting a stop to mass incarceration and closing the Atlanta jails where we've seen dozens of preventable deaths in the last few years.”

The Atlanta Alliance is currently running a campaign to shut down the Fulton County Jail, stop the construction of a new $2 billion jail, and grant immediate compassionate release of inmates to prevent further deaths. The Fulton County Jail at Rice Street has gained national notoriety in recent years as inmates continue to suffer from inhumane conditions. Over a dozen inmates have died at the jail in the past year alone.

“We're here protesting because we want a ceasefire now. We want a ceasefire now” said Geovani Serrano, a community organizer from Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. “But at the same time, we're here because there is so many connections between what is taking place in Palestine and what is taking place at the border.”

Serrano continued, “When I say ‘take back tech’ I say ‘take back’ for a reason, because the U.S. currently is taking all this technology that has been used to surveil Palestinian people and they're using it to surveil immigrants here in the United States. They’re using it to create profiles to criminalize them. And not only just that but profiles also for entire families. It is a close connection that we have.”

Immigration has become a hot-button issue during the 2024 presidential election as racist right wing rhetoric against undocumented people continues to escalate. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp recently signed HB 1105 into effect, a state law requiring local and state police to identify, arrest and detain undocumented persons.

Alex Carson, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and one of the recently arrested Emory University protesters, spoke about the need for solidarity in the fight against political repression, stating, “The monopoly capitalist class and their police happily tear gassed, brutalized and jailed us for resisting their genocide of Palestinians at the Emory encampment. Our solidarity is always stronger than their repression. Instead of scaring people they have awoken a strong tide of internationalism in Atlanta and the whole country.”

#AtlantaGA #GA #PeoplesStruggles #RNC #DNC #Biden #Trump

Fight Back! is circulating the following statement by the Legalization for All Network (L4A).

Legalization for All Network Statement on Biden Executive Order

The June 17 Biden Administration Executive Order to facilitate the legalization of spouses of U.S. citizens affects up to 500,000 undocumented people. The Legalization for All (L4A) network considers the order a positive step towards the goal of legalization for all of the undocumented.

At the same time, this positive action does not absolve the Biden administration of adopting a Trump-like policy on the U.S.-Mexico border. On June 4, 2024, Biden issued an effective ban on those seeking asylum. The ban goes into effect when the daily average of border arrests tops 2,500.

This spring, the average daily number of border arrests was 4,300. In other words, as many as 1,800 people a day attempting to cross the U.S./Mexico border now face quick deportation or being turned back to Mexico without starting an asylum claim.

Shortly following the ban, immigrant rights groups took to the streets around the country and in Washington D.C. demanding that Biden remove the ban and expand Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).

Undocumented immigrants need much more concrete and secure immigration policies that are not at the mercy of an upcoming election. The newly announced executive order does the following:

• Allows undocumented people married to US citizen for ten years to legalize their status while remaining in the United States. This would benefit about 500,000 undocumented.
• Gives temporary status to undocumented children of US citizen parents, aiding about 50,000.

While L4A views this as a victory for our movement, Biden’s executive order applies to less than 5% of the undocumented.

President Biden and the Democrats have lost a considerable amount of voter and public support due to their role in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. At the same time, the Republican Party has made it clear that anti-immigrant measures are a centerpiece of their political agenda. Trump continues calling for mass deportations, more detention centers, and for other bigots, like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, to buildemergency facilities to further militarize the Rio Grande.

Rather than fall for the Biden administration's cynical political moves, L4A has endorsed both the march against the Republican National Convention and the Democratic National Convention. We ask all people and organizations who are part of our network or follow our work, to do the same and march with us in our immigrant rights contingents.

Send us a message now to notify us about your attendance at either the march on the RNC or DNC: Legalization for All on X, Instagram, Facebook or https://legalizationforall.wordpress.com/

#LegalizationForAll #Legalization4All #MarchOnTheRNC #MarchOnTheDNC #Biden #ExecutiveOrder #ImmigrantRights #Immigration #UndocumentedRights