Charleston, SC – Over 500 people gathered at Marion Square in Charleston, South Carolina on January 25 for an emergency protest after ICE shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis the day before.

“This is the third time this month that we’ve had to organize an emergency protest,” Erica Veal, of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Lowcountry Action Committee, remarked. “The violence of the Trump administration doesn’t let up but every time we rally together, more people show up and want to get involved. Their actions will be their downfall.”

The emergency protest was organized by a newly formed the District of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, the Lowcountry Action Committee, the Charleston Community Service Organization, Charleston Democratic Socialists of American, College of Charleston Students for a Democratic Society, the Charleston Climate Coalition, Indivisible Summerville, and others in another showing of the broad, united front against Trump in the Lowcountry.

Speakers at the action repeated their demands like “ICE out of our communities,” “End 287(g),” “Justice for Renee Good and Alex Pretti,” and “Legalization for all.”

The Charleston Community Service Organization led the crowds in chants alternating between Spanish and English and gave moving speeches about the immigrant rights movement in Charleston.

“Filming ICE is not a crime. We must continue to stand up in solidarity with our immigrant brothers and sisters. We are not domestic terrorists, they are,” organizer Lucia Peña said.

During the rally, which was surrounded by nearly 50 police, one attendee was arrested for violating South Carolina’s anti-mask law by wearing a keffiyeh over her face. As law enforcement led the woman away, some of the attendees confronted police, who were unable to hold the line against the people advancing until officers on horseback arrived. The woman arrested has since been released.

“The law isn’t meant to protect us, it’s meant to hurt us and keep us down,” event organizer Matt Colburn told the attendees. “If ICE agents were at this protest, they’d all be hiding their faces with masks and the police surrounding us right now wouldn’t do a damn thing about it. You have to remember whose side they’re on!”

During her speech, Syd Loving, standing committee member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, reminded the crowd that they’re joined in protest by hundreds of thousands across the country. “Trump and his racist gang have done everything to snuff out the waves of protest against his anti-immigrant agenda, up to deploying the National Guard. But there's not less and less protests, there's more.”

Loving continued, “There's not less and less people taking the streets. There’s more! In spite of the danger, in spite of the fear because in our unity there's strength and we are going to build that unity against each and every attack. We are not going to stay home and be quiet like they want us to.”

Throughout the protest, speakers stressed the need to get involved with the organizations who helped plan the emergency rally.

“All of our struggles are connected,” said Nate Hubler, organizer with the Elbit Out of South Carolina Coalition and the Lowcountry Action Committee. “Whether you’re organizing for immigrant rights, fighting against Elbit Systems, building the campaign against our city’s unconstitutional First Amendment Ordinance, rallying to keep Dominion Energy out of the Santee, or working to end police violence, you need to be a part of an organization fighting for the liberation of all of us.”

#CharlestonSC #SC #ImmigrantRights #AlexPretti #ICE #KillerICE #LCAC #FRSO #CCSO

Ladson, SC – On Monday, September 22, organizers with the Charleston Community Service Organization (CSO) hosted a rally demanding an end to racial profiling.

The Legalization for All network’s call for a national Weekend of Action and protests were planned across the country in response to the September 8 SCOTUS decision allowing ICE to implement racial profiling tactics.

The Charleston CSO rally was held in front of Elbit Systems of America, an Israeli-owned weapons manufacturer located in Ladson, South Carolina, as a show of solidarity with the Elbit Out of SC coalition (EOSC), which hosts weekly pickets there every Thursday. Organizers from Charleston CSO, EOSC and the Lowcountry Action Committee (LAC), an official branch of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression doing work to stop deaths at the Charleston County jail, all gave speeches and led chants to a diverse crowd of about 40.

“I am speaking up for those that are scared to go grocery shopping because they can be killed or kidnapped while grocery shopping or going to work,” said Lucía Peña, co-founding member of Charleston CSO. “We say no to racial profiling whether it's happening in California, New York City or South Carolina because it’s a denial of our human rights” one organizer said.

Charleston’s Latino community knows what it feels like to be racially profiled by law enforcement. In the early morning hours of June 1, ICE raided El Alamo, a popular Latino-owned night club in Ladson. “They let out all the ‘Americans’ without doing background checks, yet took any Latinos not caring of legal status,” one club patron said. “How was it not racially profiling?” she asked. About 80 people were arrested and transported to ICE facilities across the Southeast in the aftermath of the raid that night.

Regarding the rally, Lowcountry Action Committee co-founder Erica Veal said, “One thing everyone should take away from today is there’s power in solidarity.”

Veal continued, “The same systems that are kidnapping our Latino brothers and sisters off the streets are allowing our Black brothers and sisters to die in the Al Cannon Detention Center.” Approximately 20 people, mostly Black, have been killed by police at Al Cannon Detention Center or died from medical neglect incurred at the jail in the last decade.

“These same systems allowed Elbit to build a weapons factory in our community and take money away from our public schools,” stated Veal, referring to a fee in lieu of taxes (FILOT) agreement Elbit signed with the Charleston county council. The FILOT allows Elbit to operate without paying property taxes, the revenue from which is typically used to support the Charleston area public schools and their primarily Black and Latino student bodies.

Attendees chanted to the rhythm of African drums as they marched back and forth across the road in front of the Elbit factory, holding signs written in both English and Spanish. All the while, off-duty North Charleston police officers, paid $60 per hour by the company to serve as security, looked on.

Dozens of passersby honked in solidarity and two trucks attempted to antagonize the group. One with a Trump flag flying high drove back and forth yelling at the crowd and another deliberately spewed exhaust fumes on the activists as he passed. Despite this, messages of solidarity continued. “The people united can never be defeated. When we unite, we can win. We will not live in fear.”

#LadsonSC #SC #ImmigrantRights #CCSO #ICE #L4A