Minneapolis, MN – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization Fall membership drive is exceeding expectations. The campaign, which began on October 15, has resulted in 189 new general members as of October 29. In San Jose, CA, 29 people have joined FRSO.

Across the country, FRSO members have been setting up tables at protests and asking people to join. FRSO groups in many places have outreach plans to enlist new members.

Tom Burke, the Organizational Secretary of FRSO stated, “Now is the time for us to grow in a big way. Monopoly capitalism is declining, and the situation is excellent for us to build revolutionary organization.”

Burke continued, “We have set the goal of 300 new general members, and we do exactly what we say. We are going all out to build FRSO and we are determined to replace capitalism with socialism.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #SanJoseCA #CA #FRSO #PeoplesStruggles #Socialism #Feature

On Tuesday, October 27th, University of Utah student Amber Grace was the victim of a transphobic attack by the Utah College Republicans. She was accosted by College Republican members after speaking out against the transphobic rhetoric they were pushing at their table. After she left the table, she was followed and harassed with transphobic attacks and recorded without her consent. Even though the College Republicans began this harassment, Amber is now facing misdemeanor charges of assault and property damage for resisting transphobia. Amber is a dedicated member of the Salt Lake community as an anti-war activist, and she did nothing wrong by speaking against hateful Republican rhetoric.

The UAWC calls on Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill to refuse the charges on Amber Grace! Speaking out against transphobia is not a crime.

Call and email Salt Lake DA Sim Gill and demand he refuse the charges:

DistrictAtty@saltlakecounty.gov

385-468-7600

“My name is ____. I am calling to demand that you refuse the charges on Amber Grace. Amber did nothing wrong by speaking out against a transphobic attack.”

The UAWC also calls on University of Utah president Taylor Randall to finally listen to his students and to ban the College Republicans from harassing marginalized students on campus.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #LGBTQ #AntiWarMovement #UAWC #Feature

Burkhardt was not home at the time, but her roommate confirmed that she lived there. The FBI gave the roommate an information card with the name and number of the agent but was unsuccessful in getting the roommate to answer other questions. The agent was not let inside. Burkhardt stated of the encounter, “Where’s my freedom of speech?”

On the same day, activist Collin Grannis had his door knocked on by FBI agent Nick Zollinger and his partner. His roommate answered the door. The roommate got the contact information from them, and the pair of agents left.

Then later, after the visit to Grannis’ apartment, Chase Barrett arrived home to find a pair of agents sitting inside. His parents had let them in before he was around. Grannis states, “As a result of my involvement with the local grassroots movement People of Provo Against ICE, I was approached by two FBI agents at my home.”

The FBI’s investigations into People of Provo Against ICE are meant to intimidate activists. Protesting is not a crime, and PoPAI will not stop fighting back against ICE.

Chrisley Carpio, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression states, “Activists should not talk to the FBI. We need to meet them with a wall of silence.”

#ProvoUT #UT #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #FBI #StopFBI #CSFR #ImmigrantRights #Feature

New York, NY – Over 60 community members and activists rallied outside of the Brooklyn Central Court for over 14 hours after the NYPD arrested two organizers with the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR) in the early morning hours of October 20. They were released at 12:20 a.m. the next day.

The crowd initially gathered at 9:30 a.m. and continued to rally until midnight, with their numbers growing stronger over time. Members of the crowd chanted, “Free Jamie Kowalski! Free Daniel Koh!” and demanded the immediate processing and release of the two arrested activists.

Jamie Kowalski was arrested from his home at 5:30 a.m. on October 20; an hour later, Daniel Koh was arrested, also from his home. Both activists have been charged with misdemeanors of stalking and harassment, which was not made clear to either of them at the time of their arrest.

Speaking outside the courthouse, Shivani Ishwar, NYAAPRR chair, said, “We have been out here all day demanding the release of our friends, and proving that the NYPD's attempts to scare us will not work! We will get these bogus charges dropped, and this will only make us fight that much harder for justice for Eudes Pierre!”

NYAARPR members, including Kowalski and Koh, have been picketing in front of the 71st Precinct in Brooklyn for several months, demanding justice for Eudes Pierre, a young Haitian man murdered by Conrado Abreu-Gerez and Peter Lan in December 2021.

On September 19, NYAARPR held a speakout and posted notices in Sunset Park, near Abreu-Gerez’s apartment, warning his neighbors that a killer cop lived nearby. After NYAARPR’s monthly picket at the 71st Precinct on September 24, Koh, Kowalski, and a third activist from the New York Alliance were followed and stopped by the police, although no summons was issued at that time. Two days before the arrest, on October 18, the New York Alliance again posted flyers near Abreu-Gerez’s apartment. This is what the organizers believe is the real cause of the arrests.

At the courthouse, the supporters of the two activists included a broad front of progressive organizations such as Brooklyn Against War, We the People, UFT MORE Caucus, NYU Students for a Democratic Society, BAYAN NE, JUPI, International League of Peoples Struggle NE, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, friends, community members, and the family members of Eudes Pierre.

Things got heated around 7:45 p.m., after ten hours on the street, as the NYPD tried to intimidate protesters outside the court building, but it didn’t work. The police tried to say that the protest was “slowing things down” in the court building. The protesters stood their ground, shouting “speed it up” and called their bluff. The police then forced protesters to the other side of the street, threatened arrest and erected barriers around the building as the crowd chanted “Cowards!” Protesters from across the street only grew louder and were heard for blocks around.

Michela Martinazzi, member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization Central Committee, said, “The NYPD has a bloated $11 billion budget and cares more about protecting their killer cops than keeping the community safe. Daniel and Jamie are heroes amongst the people; they're fighting for true community control and justice for Eudes Pierre and his family. However, no matter how much the NYPD tries to intimidate our friends, we will be here to fight back!”

Zaara Ahmed from NYU Students for a Democratic Society said, “As students, we know we need to be part of community struggles, and an attack on one is an attack on all. Meaning, when any one of our community members, of our activists, our organizers, is under attack we all need to show up, show out, and fight back. These were bullshit charges put on people trying to shed light on a murderer in the NYPD, and we’re not going to stop until we see Daniel and Jamie free.”

Both Kowalski and Koh were finally released at 12:20 a.m. on October 21. Addressing the crowd of their supporters, Koh said, “These charges are bogus. They know they don't have shit, and they're only doing this because they feel pressured and feel like they want to get away with shit, and we’re not going to let that happen!”

While Kowalski and Koh have been released, the fight for justice continues as organizers will mount a hearty defense campaign to get the charges dropped.

NYAARPR plans to continue to protest the 71st Precinct and fight for justice for Eudes Pierre. The next picket is scheduled for October 29 at 6 p.m., and they are calling on all progressive-minded people and allies to show up and show that NYPD intimidation will not get in the way of their fight for justice.

#NewYorkNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #KillerCops #NYAARPR #NAARPR #feature

Brooklyn, NY – In the early morning of Tuesday, October 20, the NYPD arrested two organizers with the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression in their homes in Brooklyn.

Jamie Kowalski was arrested at 5:30 a.m. and, an hour later, Daniel Koh was arrested from his home. As of right now, charges or reasons for their arrests have not been disclosed by the NYPD.

However, organizers with the New York Alliance have an idea of why the arrests happened. Shivani Ishwar, NYAARPR chairperson, said, “The NYPD is trying to intimidate our activists, who have done nothing more than fight for justice alongside our organization and the family of Eudes Pierre. But justice will not be silenced! We will continue to fight against NYPD repression, and against the brutal violence that continues to plague Black and brown communities across the city. Free Daniel and Jamie! Justice for Eudes Pierre!”

The New York Alliance has been holding monthly pickets outside of the 71st Precinct, where killer cop Conrado Abreu-Gerez works, demanding justice for Eudes Pierre.

On September 19, the New York Alliance posted notices and held a speak-out near where Abreu-Gerez lives to warn his neighbors of his involvement in the murder of Eudes Pierre.

September 24 was the most recent monthly picket outside of the 71st Precinct. After the picket, three New York Alliance organizers, including Kowalski and Koh, were approached by officers of the 71st Precinct. The officers took their IDs and talked about potential violations of littering and amplified sound, but no summons was issued.

On October 18, organizers put up new flyers near the officer’s home.

Organizers with the New York Alliance believe that the most recent flyering was what spurred the arrests.

Michela Martinazzi, a Central Committee member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, commented, “The NYPD is the largest, most violent gang in the city. They don’t like to be pressured, and the New York Alliance is the one pressuring them. Kowalski, Koh and the members of the New York Alliance have done nothing wrong. They are brave for standing up to the NYPD!”

NYAARPR will continue to host its monthly picket outside the 71st Precinct. The next is on Thursday, October 29 at 6 p.m. It is more important than ever that many progressive-minded people show up to demand justice for Eudes Pierre and to show the NYPD that organizers will not be intimidated!

The New York Alliance is hosting a call-in and will be holding a jail support rally. Please review their social media pages for the most up-to date information.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #NYAARPR #PoliticalRepression #KillerCops #Feature

Chicago, IL – On October 15, students mobilized to the University of Illinois Chicago’s (UIC) University Hall to deliver an open letter demanding an end to UIC’s “open expression” form and a stop to the university’s restrictions on free speech for student organizations. The protest was put on by Students for a Democratic Society at UIC (SDS) as a part of the SDS’ National Day of Action and to fight back against recent attacks on progressive student organizations.

The “open expression” form requires UIC students to fill out paperwork through the dean of students when rallying or speaking out on campus.

“The administration thinks this university belongs to them but it doesn't. It belongs to the students! it belongs to the workers! To the community! To the people!” said Sanele Stewart, a member of SDS. Stewart continued, “The students of the past had to fight to make this university what it is now, and we aren't just going to fight to protect those victories, but to win new ones!”

“We should not have to fear consequences for peacefully challenging decisions made by those in power,” said Maria Perez of Mexican Students de Aztlan

Amir Hartt, a member of SDS and Students for Justice in Palestine at UIC (SJP), told the crowd, “If we face enough constant obstacles, admin thinks that we’ll either give up our organizing, scale it down, or something else that’ll shut us up for the semester. Our campaigns at their core are hostile to admin. Divestment from genocide is hostile to admin, it makes their investments into child-killing devices a sunken cost.”

In its open letter, SDS at UIC wrote: “We demand an end to the so-called Open Expression Policy, which has repeatedly been used by UIC to restrict the speech of political student organizations on campus. In particular we want an end to the policy of prior registration and administrative approval for free speech and assembly.” The letter also states: “We wonder what the point of being a registered student organization is if it only means handing over personal contact information which is then used by administration to discourage students from being active on campus?”

After hearing speeches from SDS and MeSA, the students headed inside University Hall to deliver their open letter to university administration, specifically UIC Chancellor Dr. Marie Lynn Miranda.

While the group of students planned on taking the University Hall elevator to the 28th floor and delivering their letter, administrators from UIC’s dean of students, without reason, told the students that they could not take the elevator up. The students pushed back against this, and, after negotiating, two students took the elevator up to Chancellor Miranda’s office and delivered the letter, not to the Chancellor herself, but to Elizabeth Fulmer from the chancellor’s office.

Students for a Democratic Society at UIC and their allies were able to successfully deliver their letter, but the students are not planning on giving up the pressure. Keep an eye on @sdsatuic on Instagram for more updates.

#ChicagoIL #IL #StudentMovement #SDS #MeSA #Feature

Portland, OR – On Tuesday, October 13, organizers with Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD) rallied to oppose the recent surge of ICE detentions in the Portland area and demand justice for Oscar Bergal, shot by ICE in New York just days prior.

Bergal is one of 39 or more people shot by immigration agents during the second Trump administration, including Portlanders Luis David Nino-Moncado and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, who Customs and Border Patrol targeted and shot in January of 2026.

Just this week, between October 6 and 10, 48 ICE detainments in Oregon were reported to a hotline, meaning the actual number of detainments is much higher. This is more than double the average number of detentions per week in the prior months.

This comes after a DHS announcement of a surge of ICE activity in sanctuary cities like Portland.

PDXCD speaker Cass Cano spoke at the anti-ICE rally: “Immigration status should not be a death sentence. Our people are under attack, and we will not back down. We have to stand up to Trump and keep fighting ICE until we have won legalization for all, an end to the deportations, and ICE out of everywhere.”

Protesters chanted “ICE out of Portland!” “Killer ICE off our streets!” and “Revoke the permit!” to demand that local officials take action to shut down the detention facility in Portland, which is a key instrument of ICE’s operations in the area.

Despite the growing support for the campaign to revoke the permit, Portland city councilors and some “progressive” forces argue that the facility, leased to ICE by wealthy landowner Stuart Lindquist, should remain open so when immigrants are detained for processing, lawyers can get in contact before they are moved to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma.

However, a recent congressional oversight visit to the Portland ICE facility revealed immigration agents are no longer using the facility for processing. Instead, they are deploying all agents to the field to grab people off the streets and sending them straight to the Northwest Detention Center by “processing” detainees in the field.

These findings, along with the recent upsurge in abductions, negate the crumbling assertion that the Portland detention camp benefits immigrants by providing detainees an opportunity for legal intervention prior to transfer – a long-empty argument that city officials continue to hide behind.

Cami Saunders of PDXCD noted the contradiction in the “progressive” rhetoric against revoking the permit, stating, “We don’t want or need a concentration camp in Portland, and it’s time for our elected officials to stop pretending like we do. What we actually need is for our legislators to stop siding with Trump and protecting ICE.”

The embattled ICE facility heads back to court November 20, as landlord Stuart Lindquist challenges a land use violation for holding detainees over a 12-hour limit in court. PDXCD is calling on Judge Steffan Alexander to strike down the case.

#PortlandOR #OR #ImmigrantRights #ICE #Feature

New York, NY – On October 8, protesters gathered outside of the Southern District Court to demand the release of Cilia Flores. Chants of “Cilia, listen! The people are resisting!” rang throughout the courthouse plaza.

Participating organizations included Brooklyn Against War, Workers World Party, Code Pink, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The small but steadfast rally of around 30 people lasted from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m., closing with a press conference.

Briony Smith, an organizer with Brooklyn Against War and an Anti-War Action Network steering committee member, witnessed as the motion for Cilia Flores’ release to home detention was denied.

Smith stated, “Cilia Flores is facing immense gendered violence. What I witnessed inside the courtroom was a room full of men making medical decisions for a woman.”

Smith continued, “We heard in the arguments today that she has suffered a probable heart attack. Now the judge seems to be under the impression that a heart attack, a heart catheterization, and the procedures that will follow are something that can be recovered from in general population detention among 40 other women, when Cilia is getting three to hours of sleep.”

Tom Burke of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization was also in the courtroom Thursday morning. Burke stated, “Trump is trying to kill the first lady of Venezuela here. He doesn’t care about her life. He doesn’t care about President Maduro. Trump doesn’t care about the Venezuelan people! He just wants their oil. If you think you’re going to find justice in a U.S. federal courtroom, you better think again.”

Speakers at the press conference continued to emphasize the inability of the Trump administration to grant Flores a fair trial.

Not only was Cilia Flores’ motion to be released on house arrest denied, but U.S. prosecutors also brought forward new charges of “conspiracy to commit torture” against Flores and Maduro. The original indictment of narcoterrorism conspiracy, for which there is no evidence, was used by the U.S. government to justify the illegal kidnapping of Flores and Maduro on January 3.

The conspiracy to commit torture indictment alleged torture of U.S. citizens. Five of these citizens include oil executives who were arrested for corruption, and two of them were U.S. special forces members who attempted to raid and overthrow the Venezuelan government. They were all freed later in deals with the U.S.

Ignoring this important context, the court is content to paint Maduro and Flores as dictators who torture U.S. citizens, all while the U.S. is subjecting them to a notoriously inhumane prison and refusing medical treatment to Cilia Flores. It is the goal of the prosecution to obscure who Flores and Maduro really are – leaders who refuse to sell out the resources of their country to the United States.

Despite the second indictment and the outcome of the motion for house arrest, activists remain ready to take to the streets to defend Flores and Maduro, and plan to be at the Metropolitan Detention Center on November 3, for the tenth month in a row, to demand their release.

#NewYorkNY #NY #NYC #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #CiliaFlores #NicolasMaduro #Feature

San Jose, CA – The San Jose district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization is launching their FRSO General Membership drive with an ambitious schedule of 30 tabling events in 30 days. Each week, members will set up FRSO tables throughout the community to educate people about FRSO and recruit them to General Membership. FRSO San Jose plans to table regularly in diverse locations including East Side San Jose, San Jose State University campus, the nearby city of Gilroy, and more.

Going into the first official day of the General Membership drive on October 15, FRSO San Jose has already held many lead-up tabling events to train and prepare. In the pre-drive lead-up period, San Jose has already surpassed 10% of its ambitious district goal for the entire month-long drive.

FRSO San Jose will be releasing weekly calendars on Instagram that detail the dates, times and locations for tabling events in the upcoming week. FRSO literature, including copies of the FRSO program, FRSO pamphlets and various other books, will be available for purchase at all tabling sessions.

The first week's schedule of tabling will include Monday, October 12, from noon to 2 p.m. at San Jose State University; Wednesday, October 14, from noon until 2 p.m. at San Jose State University; Wednesday, October 14, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Backesto Park in San Jose; Thursday, October 15, 5 to 7 p.m.at the intersection of Story & King in San Jose; Thursday, October 15, from 6 to 8 p.m. in front of San Jose City Hall; Saturday, October 17, from noon until 2 p.m. at the No Kings protest at Saint James Park in San Jose, and Sunday, October 18 from 4 to 6 p.m. at El Roble Park in Gilroy.

Speaking about the importance and timeliness of the General Membership drive, FRSO San Jose member Drusie Kazanova stated, “More and more people are becoming disillusioned with monopoly capitalism and politics as usual with each passing day. Now is the time to win people over to socialism and build revolutionary organization. We have a world to win!”

To join FRSO, go to https://frso.org/join/

#SanJoseCA #CA #FRSO #PeoplesStruggles #Feature

Anderson, IN – Teamsters at Coca-Cola Consolidated's distribution center in central Indiana have been on an unfair labor practice strike since September 2, and their fight has spread well beyond Madison County.

On September 22, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) announced that the strikers had extended their picket lines to Coke Consolidated facilities across Ohio, where more than 300 Teamsters refused to cross the line. Strikers from Anderson, Indiana have effectively shut off the company's Ohio operations at locations in Akron, Toledo and Twinsburg. A week later, members of Teamsters Local 377 in Youngstown began honoring the picket line as well.

The strikers are drivers and merchandisers for Coca-Cola Consolidated, represented by Teamsters Local 135. This is the first strike at the company's Anderson facility.

“These workers have made it clear that they won’t settle for an agreement that does not respect what they are worth,” said Dustin Roach, president of Local 135, in a press release. “With the support of hundreds of their Teamsters brothers and sisters, our members are prepared to continue their work stoppage until they get a fair deal. Management needs to stop their games and get people back to work.”

The workers' previous four-year contract expired on August 29. Members voted down the company's offers, saying they did too little to bring wages and health benefits up to industry standards. Bargaining for a new agreement collapsed after Coke Consolidated management committed many unfair labor practices, including sending company representatives to the table with no authority to bargain, failing to bargain in good faith, and making unilateral changes.

Teamsters Local 135 says that some workers at Coke Consolidated's Anderson facility earn less than the living wage for Madison County, which MIT's Living Wage Calculator puts at $28 per hour for a household of two working adults and two children. Coca-Cola Consolidated can afford a fair deal. The company is the largest Coke bottler in the United States, reporting $2.05 billion in net sales and $158.8 million in net income for the second quarter of 2026 alone.

Picket line extensions happen when striking workers set up picket lines at other locations of the same employer they are striking. Because the pickets target the struck company itself, they are lawful primary picketing.

The power of the tactic comes from union contracts. Many Teamster agreements contain “Protection of Rights” language that guarantees members the right to refuse to cross a picket line. When Local 135 strikers showed up in Akron, Toledo and Twinsburg, the Teamsters there, working under their own separate contracts, used their legal and contractual right to refuse to cross and stayed off the job.

The result: a strike of 48 workers in one Indiana town became a work stoppage of more than 300 Teamsters across two states.

In an IBT press release, Jeff Padellaro, director of the Teamsters Brewery, Bakery, and Soft Drink Conference, said, “As long as management refuses to offer a fair contract, we will remain on the picket line. Teamsters around the country have Local 135’s back, and these extended picket lines prove our solidarity is as strong as ever.”

In Youngstown, Local 377 President Steven Anzevino told WKBN news that his members would stand with Local 135. “It's not our strike,” he said, “but we are honoring their picket line.”

Picket line extensions are not new, and Teamsters have used them for decades. However, since Sean O'Brien's election as Teamsters general president in 2021, the tactic has become a central part of the union's strike strategy. In the past five years, Teamsters have won strikes against US Foods, Breakthru Beverage, DHL, and other companies after making use of the tactic.

#AndersonIN #IN #Labor #Teamsters #Strike #Feature

Indianapolis, IN – September saw the revolution in Yemen enter a new stage. The Ansarallah movement, known in the Western press as the Houthis, secured sweeping victories all along the Red Sea coast and dealt a mighty blow to imperialism and its puppets in the region.

Beginning on September 3, Ansarallah launched a general offensive in Yemen's coastal regions to wrest control of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait from the Presidential Leadership Council (PLC), the name for the U.S. and Saudi-backed puppet regime.

Days later, on September 9, Ansarallah fighters positioned in the country's highlands descended roads and riverbeds to the coastal plain and captured the port of Mokha. The Saudi-backed mercenary troops occupying the city, already battered by a month of missile and drone strikes, called for reinforcements but could not hold the line. By September 10, their troops had all run off and the port was liberated.

A day later, Ansarallah took both the Hanish Islands and Perim Island, a volcanic outcrop two miles off the Yemeni coast that narrows the shipping channel. In less than a week, the entire Red Sea coast of Yemen passed into the hands of the revolution. Ansarallah now holds the southern gate of one of the most important trade routes in the world, closing it entirely to Saudi and Israeli shipping.

Since this breakthrough, the fighting moved inland and south. Ansarallah now battles for the Kahboub mountains, which look down on both the Bab-el-Mandeb strait and the road to the key southern city of Aden. The city of Marib, which is both the center of Yemen's oil industry and the puppet regime's last stronghold in the north, has entered the revolution's crosshairs.

The offensive was Ansarallah's answer to a war Riyadh chose to restart. A UN-brokered truce had largely frozen the front lines of battle since 2022. In early July 2026, Saudi Arabia barred an Iranian plane carrying senior Ansarallah officials home from the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei from landing in Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, and later bombed the airport runway. Ansarallah declared a naval blockade of Saudi ports on July 20 and has struck Saudi tankers and Aramco facilities in the months that followed.

Riyadh begs, Washington balks

Ansarallah's Red Sea offensive comes at a time of serious weakness for the Saudi oil economy, which is already pressed as a result of the U.S. war on Iran and the subsequent closure of the strait of Hormuz. On September 10, drones launched from Iraqi territory struck pumping stations along the Saudi East-West pipeline, which carries crude oil from the kingdom's eastern fields to the Red Sea port of Yanbu. Without the strait of Hormuz, the pipeline is Saudi Arabia's only export route that avoids the Persian Gulf entirely, moving between 4 and 5 million barrels per day, representing roughly 5% of the world's oil supply. The damage forced Riyadh to shut it down. Subsequent attempts to re-open the pipeline have encountered further attacks.

The U.S. war on Iran, along with Ansarallah's revolutionary breakthrough in Yemen, has sent oil prices to the moon. Brent crude, which sold for $60 per barrel in January, climbed past $108 per barrel after the attacks. In August of 2026, Saudi Arabia reported its lowest level of crude oil production in over 35 years. These effects have spread across the world, causing fuel prices, particularly for diesel, to skyrocket. A gallon of diesel fuel is approaching $6.50 in the United States, hitting as high as $9.99 per gallon in some parts of the country.

The news of Ansarallah's lightning advances arrived as a terrible shock to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who called U.S. President Donald Trump to demand intervention after the fall of Mokha. Trump refused the Saudi request, though he promised intelligence and targeting data on top of the roughly 200 U.S. military personnel already in the kingdom.

This refusal by the U.S. was not easily accepted by the Saudis, whose existence as a regime is largely premised on the backing of Western imperialist powers. According to the New York Times, Trump ordered the Pentagon to prepare strikes on Yemen before calling them off on September 20. Even pleas by the PLC to reconsider fell on deaf ears.

European imperialists stepped in where Washington hesitated, no doubt motivated by the fuel crisis that has gripped the continent as a result of the U.S. war on Iran. British Prime Minister Andy Burnham committed on September 21 to use the Royal Air Force for refueling Saudi warplanes. France, for its part, pledged to guard Saudi energy infrastructure. On September 22, the G7 foreign ministers demanded that Ansarallah halt its attacks on Saudi Arabia.

Yemen and the camp of resistance to imperialism and Zionism

The revolution in Yemen is part of a camp of resistance to imperialism in the Middle East. Ansarallah leads the struggle in Yemen, but this united front is anchored by the Islamic Republic of Iran. This front also includes the Palestinian liberation movement, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and progressive and patriotic forces in Iraq.

When the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran in February, Ansarallah entered the fight in late March with missile and drone strikes on Israel's Ben Gurion airport.

Ansarallah and the Yemeni people have shown consistent solidarity with Palestine and paid dearly for it in blood. In November 2023, the movement seized an Israeli-linked ship and closed the Red Sea to shipping tied to Israel entirely. Over the next two years, Ansarallah targeted more than 100 merchant vessels and sank four. Container traffic through the Suez Canal fell from about 80 ships per week before the fighting to just 26. Israel's only Red Sea port saw its revenue collapse in this period before eventually shutting down. When Washington offered Ansarallah a separate truce in May 2025, the movement accepted but refused to let it cover Israel. Yemen would not trade Palestine for its own safety.

The Zionists answered with terror, with Israeli warplanes striking Sanaa and killing Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi, along with much of his cabinet, in 2025. Military chief of staff Muhammad al-Ghamari was later killed as well, along with his 13-year-old son. Today, Israel remains under blockade by Ansarallah for its ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

The Red Sea offensive has opened a second chokepoint against U.S. imperialism. With Hormuz shut and Bab-el-Mandeb now in Ansarallah's hands, both sea lanes that carry Gulf oil to the world are choked by the camp of resistance. Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, called the coastal campaign a “resounding victory,” and responded to Saudi warnings to rein in Ansarallah by rightly noting that Iran does not control the actions of Yemen's leaders.

Washington is currently stretched thin by its war on Iran. Still stinging from its 2025 defeat in Yemen, the Trump administration is reluctant to reengage Ansarallah, even at the urging of its close ally. For its part, Ansarallah has shown great strategic discipline in its fight with the Saudi occupiers while maintaining its robust presence in the united front against U.S.-Zionist aggression. They have followed the terms of the ceasefire by confining the blockade to Saudi Arabia and Israel, something even Trump has publicly acknowledged. That has left Riyadh to fight alone.

Ansarallah and the National Democratic Revolution in Yemen

Ansarallah is a liberation movement that leads the national democratic revolution in Yemen today. Its base is among farmers, tribesmen, soldiers, and the urban poor of the country's highlands. Its enemies are imperialism, chiefly the U.S. and its Saudi and Emirati clients, and the comprador and feudal forces that sold Yemen out to them.

Ansarallah's ideology is based on the liberation theology of Ayatollah Khomeini as well as Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah, the former leader of Hezbollah. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, who founded the movement, admired the Iranian revolution for its anti-imperialist character, as well as Iran and Hezbollah's resistance to U.S. and Israeli wars in the region. He was killed by Yemeni armed forces, backed by Washington, in 2004 after calling for a boycott of American and Israeli goods. His brother, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, has led the movement ever since and maintained its anti-imperialist, popular character.

While imperialist and Zionist propaganda disparagingly paints Ansarallah as a tribal or sectarian militia, the movement's program is national, democratic and unifying. Its National Vision calls for a modern, democratic, unified Yemeni republic, committed to elections, and equal rights for citizens regardless of tribal or religious identity. Ansarallah leaders, for their part, have said openly that an Islamic Republic along the lines of Iran cannot work in Yemen, owing to the population's religious diversity. In turn, the movement draws recruits across sectarian lines, confirmed in a 2015 Middle East Institute study that found Ansarallah fighters from every region and sect. Its ranks have grown from an estimated 100,000 members in 2011 to 350,000 in 2024.

Ansarallah grew out of the poorest parts of Yemen. Saada, the birthplace of the movement, carried longstanding economic and political grievances stemming from decades of marginalization, neglect, and repression by a neocolonial government loyal to Riyadh and, in turn, the United States. For three decades, Ali Abdullah Saleh ruled Yemen as a client of foreign powers. Between 2004 and 2010, his army waged war on Ansarallah's home province of Saada, backed by the U.S. under the banner of the so-called global war on terror. He was forced out after a series of mass protests in 2011, handing power to his deputy, Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi.

Ansarallah's road to power ran through a fight over the price of fuel, which erupted in July 2014 when Hadi's government cut subsidies and sent costs soaring. Mass protests demanded relief for the broad masses as well as the resignation of the government. Ansarallah entered Sanaa on September 21, 2014. Less than a year later, Hadi had resigned, fleeing to Aden and then to Riyadh, where the former regime and its supporters (wealthy sheikhs, generals, and financiers) enlisted Saudi Arabia to wage war on their own people.

When Saudi Arabia, with full U.S. backing, began its brutal genocidal war on Yemen in 2015, Saleh, the ousted leader, temporarily found himself antagonistic to his former master's interests and joined an uneasy alliance with Ansarallah. This fell apart in 2017 when Saleh switched sides again, leading to his elimination by patriotic forces in Yemen. The Presidential Leadership Council that survives today as the puppet rulers of Yemen is what remains of that old order, governing from hotel suites in Riyadh.

Today, Ansarallah leads the real government of Yemen, which administers the areas of the country where about 70% of Yemenis live. It governs from the capital, Sanaa, through the Supreme Political Council, which includes figures from outside the movement. It aims to liberate the rest of the country by driving out the Saudi-backed mercenary forces concentrated in the south and east.

Partition: The imperialist-Zionist fallback option

As the Saudi puppet regime collapses further, the old scheme of partitioning Yemen hangs over the war. It is a reactionary demand, and the class forces pushing it reveal its true purpose.

Until recently, a third force claiming to govern part of Yemen existed. The secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC), built and paid for by the United Arab Emirates, seized Hadramawt and Mahra regions in December 2025. This area accounted for roughly half of Yemen's territory and almost all of the former south. As the closest Gulf partner to Israel and a regional rival to Saudi Arabia, the UAE hoped to partition Yemen into a northern and southern state once again. Riyadh, fearing an Emirati and Israeli foothold on both sides of the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, turned its own forces on the STC and crushed it in a matter of weeks, forcing Emirati forces to exit Yemen.

From 1967 to 1990, Yemen was divided into two countries: the Yemen Arab Republic in the north and the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY) in the south. For more than two decades, the PDRY was led by Marxists, socialists, and progressives and operated as a significant counterweight to imperialism and Zionism in the Middle East. It carried out land reform and mass literacy campaigns, and armed the revolution in neighboring Oman's Dhofar province. Palestinian organizations like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) sent fighters for training in the PDRY and received material support from the government. The country was unified in 1990 amid the collapse of socialism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, bringing an end to the PDRY and putting the country under the sway of the Gulf monarchies.

The STC waves the flag of the PDRY, but its politics are its exact opposite. Its vice president, Hani bin Breik, was a Salafi cleric who offered STC aid to reactionary Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar, who aided NATO in overthrowing Muammar Qaddafi in 2011. Its military was built almost entirely with Emirati money around Salafi religious fundamentalists. The STC's leading figures are Emirati clients, not the veterans of the National Liberation Front who drove the British out of Aden in the 1960s.

While antagonistic to Emirati attempts at extending its influence, Saudi Arabia's only consistent goal for over six decades has been keeping Yemen weak. It armed the reactionary Zaydi monarchy in 1962 to fight the revolutionaries and later worked with the U.S. to isolate and undermine the PDRY. After reunification, Riyadh cynically backed secessionist forces in the 1994 civil war to re-divide Yemen.

Today the Saudi puppet government officially defends unity, but if the Presidential Leadership Council is reduced to a rump in the oil-rich south and east, partition is possibly what the imperialists and their attack dogs will reach for.

As the vanguard of Yemen's national democratic revolution, Ansarallah has opposed dismemberment of the country consistently. They rejected an imperialist-backed scheme for a federalist political system, calling it a plot to divide Yemen into poor and wealthy regions to the benefit of foreign powers.

U.S. hands, Saudi crisis

The war on Yemen has been an imperialist project of the United States from the jump. Washington supplies the bombs, the intelligence, and, until 2018, the aerial refueling that has allowed the kingdom to rain death down on hundreds of thousands of Yemenis. A UN estimate at the end of 2021 put the death toll for the war at 377,000 Yemenis, with 150,000 directly killed in fighting and the remainder, mostly children, through resulting hunger and disease. The World Health Organization found that Saudi warplanes and their mercenaries on the ground deliberately targeted Yemeni water and public health infrastructure to maximize terror on civilian areas. No full count or estimate of casualties has been released since fighting resumed after a nearly four-year ceasefire.

In 2024 and 2025, the U.S. bombed Yemen directly. Trump's Operation Rough Rider savaged Yemen with 339 airstrikes on more than 1000 targets for 52 days, In April 2025, a U.S. strike on the Ras Isa fuel port killed 80 civilians, mostly port workers. A little over a week later, another U.S. air strike on a migrant detention center in Saada killed 68 African migrants. The Pentagon officially admits over 150 civilian deaths, while independent monitors put the number higher.

Operation Rough Rider was a failure. On May 6, 2025, Trump called it off and accepted a ceasefire with Ansarallah despite vowing to annihilate the movement at the outset of war. Even as it has resisted rejoining combat operations out of fear, the White House still backs the Saudi counter-offensive to the hilt. May 2025 saw a $142 billion arms deal announced between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, including the sale of F-35 jets.

Ansarallah's sweeping Red Sea offensive is bringing the internal crisis in Saudi Arabia to a head as well. The U.S. is losing its criminal war on Iran, which has opened all of the Gulf monarchies up to sweeping retaliation. Riyadh is under fire from all sides. Its alliance with the UAE turned into open war in southern Yemen. Its oil exports are cut off at both ends of the peninsula. Recent Saudi attempts to reverse Ansarallah's gains along the Red Sea have also failed, and its forces in Marib are besieged.

The most decisive moment in Yemen's revolution for over a decade is unfolding. Its successes strike a mighty blow to both imperialism and Zionism, and the liberation of the whole country will strengthen the camp of resistance.

#International #Yemen #Ansarallah #Houthis #SaudiArabia #Palestine #Feature

New Orleans, LA – On October 3, over 200 students and youth rallied for Nicolas Maduro and Celia Flores at the New Orleans Healing Center. The protest called by the Anti-War Action Network (AWAN) condemned the horrific treatment of Cilia Flores, who is currently experiencing a life-threatening heart condition. New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports (NOSHIP), an AWAN affiliate, organized the demonstration alongside Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

“When I met farm workers, indigenous organizers, and trade unionists in Venezuela, all of them denounced the Yankee imperialist attacks on their sovereignty!” cried Ebtesham Ahmed, a member of New York University SDS. Ahmed visited Venezuela mere weeks before the kidnapping of Maduro and Flores. They lifted their fist to the crowd, sharing a chant they learned in Venezuela: “¡Yo solo sé tres palabras en inglés, Yankee go home!”

Protesters held signs that read “Free First Lady Cilia Flores!” and “Stop U.S. war on Venezuela!”

Maduro and Flores have been held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York for over 200 days. Their capture on January 3 resulted in the death of 100 people in Venezuela. During their imprisonment, the United States has maintained suffocating sanctions on the country.

Trump has openly bragged that taking Venezuela’s resources and labor will bolster the U.S. economy, but student activists rejected this exploitation. “My enemy is not the people of the world, they're our allies. I stand with the people of Venezuela as they stand with us, against our true enemy, Donald Trump and the ruling class of the United States,” shouted Khalid Hamu, National SDS secretary.

Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Chris Maldonado connected the struggle to his family’s fight against sanctions in Cuba, stating, “Whether it's my country or Venezuela, it is important that we don’t sit idly by while the U.S. monopoly capitalists plot to murder revolutionaries, strangle sovereign countries, and profit off of exploitation. We must stand up and fight back!”

As the rally ended, NOSHIP organizers made sure to give everyone in attendance a call to action for Maduro and Flores. “The Anti-War Action Network will be at every single court hearing that they have, demanding their freedom and an end to the attacks on Venezuelan sovereignty. We ask that you join us in signing our petition, and rally in your city every time AWAN calls a day of action,” said NOSHIP member Cristine Farah.

People interested in supporting Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores can sign AWAN’s petition at tinyurl.com/awanfreemaduro and follow their Instagram @antiwaractionnetwork for days of action in solidarity with Venezuela.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #AntiWarMovement #Venezuela #CiliaFlores #NicolasMaduro #AntiWarActionNetwork #SDS #Feature

Flagstaff, AZ – After their September 4 “ICE out!” protest, members of the Flagstaff chapter of Students for a Democratic Society received identical Code of Conduct charges from Northern Arizona University. The charges meant the students were facing potential suspension or expulsion.

After holding a march, a sit-in, multiple call-ins, posting statements on social media, and sending a cease and desist notice from a lawyer, suspension or expulsion was avoided for all three students, and SDS Flagstaff declared victory over the university on September 28.

On Friday, September 11, SDS Flagstaff Vice President Sarah Rogala received an email informing her she was being charged with violations of the following Code of Conduct policies: “Other Rules,” “Failure to Comply,” and “Disruption.” Rogala was already on university probation due to similar charges stemming from SDS’s April 10 “ICE out” protest.

“Considering suspension was brought up as a possibility in that first hearing, when I had nothing on my record, I was thinking suspension was the most likely outcome of the hearing,” said Rogala.

On September 13, Claire Wagoner, president of SDS Flagstaff, received a notice from Jeffery D. McKay, NAU’s vice president for capital planning and campus operations. The letter stated that she is permanently trespassed from campus property for the repeated use of amplified sound equipment (megaphones) which were not registered with the university in advance. If Wagoner were to step foot on or drive through the NAU campus, she could potentially face several months in jail for trespassing.

“SDS is currently discussing our options with lawyers for rescinding this unconstitutional trespass order, which was served to restrict our First Amendment rights,” said Wagoner.

After Wagoner’s trespass order and the charges against Rogala, SDS Flagstaff organized a protest on September 18. Thirty minutes before the protest, two more SDS members, including Judah Francabandera, received the same charges as Rogala, with hearings scheduled for September 23.

The protest on September 18 started with a rally at NAU’s First Amendment Plaza and was attended by an estimated 80 to 100 people. At the rally, an SDS member read a speech written by Claire Wagoner, who could not attend due to the trespass given to her. Wagoner wrote, “Since the formation of our SDS chapter, we have been dealing with constant retaliation from NAU admin. They have made it abundantly clear they would rather target and punish student protesters than protect NAU students from ICE.”

Wagoner continued, “We can see clear as day that NAU is deeply afraid of the students rising together to demand better policies. They are doubling down in this fear, trespassing me for simply using a megaphone. They can and will arrest me and put me in jail for up to six months if I were to walk on campus, but we aren't scared!”

After the speech, the gathered crowd of students marched around the Student Union with the demands that the charges be dropped and NAU protect its students from ICE.

After being rescheduled multiple times, Rogala’s hearing was ultimately held on September 25. A sit-in and a call-in were held in support of Rogala. Lawyers were also contacted, and a cease and desist letter was emailed to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and NAU President Cruz Rivera. The letter was also emailed to the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Access, whose program director, Bernadine Lewis, filed the charges against Rogala. These actions culminated in Rogala being told in her hearing with Julia L. Czekaj that the school was not considering suspending or expelling her, which were two of the most severe possible outcomes.

After Rogala’s hearing, and the hearings of the other students, SDS Flagstaff released a statement on social media on September 28 declaring victory and reaffirming their goal of fighting for “sanctuary campus” policies at NAU, which would restrict ICE officers’ presence on campus and ensure that campus staff do not cooperate with ICE.

“We have faced many challenges in the last two weeks, but we have not let ourselves get demoralized, we have fought back hard, learned lessons from the struggle, and won! So please join us as we resume our fight for a sanctuary campus at NAU! Because when we fight, we win!” the statement said.

#FlagstaffAZ #AZ #StudentMovement #NorthernArizonaUniversity #ImmigrantRights #FreeSpeech #Feature

Joliet, IL – Dozens of nurses and their supporters rallied in the pouring rain September 30 to call attention to Prime Healthcare’s closing of the Obstetrics and Special Care Nursery departments at Saint Joseph Hospital in Joliet, Illinois. Prime Healthcare is a nationwide “for-profit” corporation that is known for eliminating services that are not making enough money. These cuts affect working-class poor people the most.

Since acquiring Saint Joseph in March 2025, Prime has closed the inpatient pediatric unit, closed a 30-bed acute care for the elderly unit for a year, closed the post-surgical unit and is seeking to permanently close pediatric inpatient services.

According to 35-year Saint Joseph Hospital Registered Nurse Kim Craig, the matter is made worse, “because as doctors retired, they never replaced them.” Saint Joseph Hospital is licensed to 489 beds, but according to the Illinois Nurses Association (INA) they operate at 195 to 225 beds per day because of Prime Healthcare cuts.

But a core of registered nurses, members of the INA, are not taking it. On Wednesday, September 30, they rallied with community members calling for Prime Healthcare to not leave the 153,000 residents of the fourth-largest city in Illinois without critically needed healthcare.

“This is the last day for our unit to be open, we are officially closed as of tomorrow morning,” said Kim Craig, who works in the Special Care Nursery, “It’s horrible; half of our staff has not been placed. But the biggest part is, what are we going to do with all our moms and babies now? There is nobody in the Joliet area.” Prime Healthcare is making major cuts to the only hospital in Joliet.

Warehouses moved into Joliet, staffed by non-union subcontractors for Walmart, Amazon and other corporate giants. 4000 union employees at U.S. Steel and the 7000 union Caterpillar workers have lost their jobs, as both of those plants closed. Joliet Township Supervisor Cesar Guerrero talked about the union spirit in Joliet which lives on inside this core of INA leaders, who are fighting to preserve decent jobs, but also fighting for access to healthcare for Joliet.

The rally also heard from former INA staffer Michelle Couturier who was involved in organizing the INA strike against Saint Joseph Hospital in the early 1990s. This strike led to INA’s first contract with Saint Joseph Hospital. Couturier talked about the militant tactics and innovative strategies that the mostly women nurses used to win the contract.

The day before the rally, INA showed up at the hospital to bargain the effects of the most recent cuts. Even though Prime is legally required to bargain, they instead called the police on the union. Fortunately, the police that showed up did not make arrests and told Prime to work it out with the union.

“This community and our patients deserve a hospital within Joliet to serve Joliet. The mothers and babies of Joliet deserve to be able to deliver in a place that is safe, close to home and easily accessible,” concluded Christina Vanoskey, a Labor and Delivery Unit registered nurse.

#JolietIL #IL #Labor #INA #Nurses #SaintJosephHospital #Feature

Los Angeles, CA – On Sunday, September 20, a group of 30 rank-and-file members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) union met at Magic Johnson Park in South LA. The Teamsters work for Republic Services and met to discuss strike preparedness for their upcoming contract expiration.

On September 30, the union contracts of roughly 3000 Teamsters Local 396 sanitation employees across different companies and yards will expire. These Teamsters haul waste across a large geography of cities in LA County, Orange County and the Inland Empire.

Over the past year, the workers have participated in organizing boot camps to give people the training to organize and prepare to strike; shop floor Teamster Thursday union huddles to build unity at work; and Sunday morning meetings at the park to prepare for contract negotiations and the possibility of going on strike. At this last Sunday park meeting, the rank and file discussed the importance of remaining united and in solidarity.

Shop steward and negotiation committee member Marcus Ford stated, “I thought the meeting went well and I’m feeling good about where we at. The rank-and-file members are solid and are ready to keep pushing forward and fighting for change!”

Members were angered after finding out the company intentionally allowed two weeks to go by with no negotiation sessions scheduled. Instead, they chose the final few days before the old contract expires, with much of the new contract still not negotiated. Rank-and-file member Sammy Carrera said, “We understand very well that the company is hoping to use this as a tactic and strategy against us. They hope to pressure us into the first offer thrown at us, but they are very mistaken. The members are activated and ready to mobilize. If the company doesn’t pay up, the trash will pile up!”

In July 2025, over 400 Teamsters at Republic Services in Boston were on strike for 82 days. Trash piled up all around Boston for nearly three months until the company finally gave in to the workers’ demands, including a 46% pay increase over the five-year contract. There has been lots of talk about how the company, in the case of a strike, has already begun making preparations for bringing in the Blue Crew. The Blue Crew is a group of Republic Services’ professional scabs who are ready to fly around the country to act as strikebreakers. They are brought in from out of town or sometimes out of state.

The members have been very clear with the company regarding an expired contract; no contract extension will be given, and members will only continue to work beyond the contract expiration date if negotiations continue in good faith. As of now, it is not looking too promising.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #Teamsters #Labor #Teamsters396 #RepublicServices #Strike #Feature

Grand Rapids, MI – On the evening of Thursday, September 24, a group gathered for a vigil on Century Avenue at the site where Mario David Coronado Juarez lost his life in a fatal car crash just days before.

Moments before the crash, federal agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) stopped Mario’s vehicle on the side of the road. Coronado Juarez sped away from the agents, which led to the crash that took his life. Mario’s death comes just two days after Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez was shot in the back by ICE agents in Austin, Texas.

Present at this vigil were community members, local activists, politicians and Coronado Juarez’s own family, who were grieving the loss of their loved one. In his memory and honor, attendees prayed and sang. Chants echoed throughout the crowd: “Justicia para Mario.”

Helping to organize the vigil were members from the non-profit organization Movimiento Cosecha, an immigrant rights group which has been fighting for the establishment of sanctuary policies in Grand Rapids. An organizer with Movimiento Cosecha, Gema Lowe, called for attendees to support Mario’s family during this incredibly difficult time.

Lowe further demanded justice for Mario and for the immigrant community who have suffered the pain and brutality inflicted on them by ICE. She told the crowd, “We should be able to walk without fear. We want all agents responsible to be brought to justice.”

As the vigil continued into the night and the sun set on attendees, the Grand Rapids community remained in solidarity to remember the life of a man who was taken from them by ICE’s terror.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MarioDavidoCoronadoJuarez #OppressedNationalities #Feature

Portland, OR – Multnomah County issued an arrest warrant on September 22 for right-wing extremist Thomas Allen for the assault of immigrant rights protester Holly Brown.

The warrant came after a campaign demanding Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez press charges.

Allen is a right-wing influencer known for showing up at anti-Trump and anti-ICE protests in Portland to harass and assault progressive activists. Despite many instances of assault and using chemical weapons on protesters in front of police, he was only arrested once, in October 2025, for punching an anti-ICE protester at the Portland ICE facility. He pled guilty then to a charge of disorderly conduct.

On September 1, during a press conference at Multnomah County Courthouse to demand the closure of the Portland ICE facility, Allen violently shoved Brown into a concrete pillar, causing a head injury and whiplash. Police were on site, witnessed the assault, and did not arrest Allen. They formed a line to protect Allen from the immigrant rights protestors who had just been assaulted.

Brown filed a police report for the assault stating, “The police allow Allen to do their dirty work of silencing and repressing immigrant rights protests. We must put pressure on the police and district attorney to arrest and charge these violent MAGA extremists so we can continue our important work of fighting ICE terror.”

A video by PDXCD describing the assault and asking viewers to call and email the DA amassed almost 1 million views on different social media platforms, with thousands of comments stating they contacted the DA.

Allen then held hate rallies two weeks in a row at a local queer-friendly bar, the Sports Bra, for its support of trans rights. The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) held counter-protests and ran Allen and his transphobic group away from the bar. This garnered a large amount of media attention and trans rights activists pointed out the lack of police action when Allen and his group assaulted more protesters and used large amounts of chemical weapons in a residential neighborhood.

After the second hate rally, PDXCD called a press conference at Multnomah County Courthouse for September 21 to highlight the lack of action by the police and DA on September 1 and how it allowed Allen to continue to enact more violence in the following weeks.

The morning before the press conference, the district attorney notified the media they were moving forward with charges on Allen for his assault of Brown and that a warrant for his arrest was in process.

PDXCD continued with the press conference. Allen showed up to the event and harassed attendees as they spoke with three news stations. The immigrant rights protesters then marched to the police station with the media to demand answers as to why the police are allowing right-wing extremists to attack progressive activists with no consequences. Allen followed the group into the police station, yelling insults regarding people’s identities.

While inside the police station, KOIN news reporter Ariel Salk approached Allen on camera and told him there was a warrant for his arrest. Allen, shocked and confused, stated he was unaware and that it was “bullshit.” He immediately left the police station rather than risk arrest, ended his livestream and rode away on a Lime scooter.

There is now an active warrant for Allen’s arrest. PDXCD is urging anyone who sees him to contact the non-emergency hotline at 503-823-3333 to report his location and demand police arrest him.

Allen is facing four misdemeanor charges: class four assault, two counts of harassment and one count of disorderly conduct. As a condition of his charges, Allen is not allowed within a two-block radius of Brown. He is also barred from the Multnomah County Courthouse, outside of his court appearances. He was on probation for his arrest last October and will potentially face consequences for probation violation.

“It is about time Allen faced consequences for his attempts to stifle anti-ICE and anti-Trump protests,” said immigrant rights activist Omar Gill. “The issue remains that it took thousands of phone calls and media attention to get the police and district attorney to do the right thing. Many others who’ve been assaulted by Allen are still without justice. It is clear we must continue to place demands on the city and county to take action against these MAGA extremists.”

#PortlandOR #OR #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #MAGA #ThomasAllen #PDXCD #Feature

Austin, TX – Around 200 people protested outside the Texas Capitol on Monday evening, September 21, to demand justice for a Venezuelan man, Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, who was shot by ICE and left in critical condition in Austin on Sunday.

After several rounds of energetic chants from the crowd, Selena Jurado of La Frontera Unida gave a speech. Jurado explained that within hours of the shooting, ICE took Garcés Pérez into custody, stating, “They denied his lawyer access. They denied his wife access to her husband. This is modern-day terrorism.”

Jurado continued, “La Frontera Unida raises these three demands. Primero, Wilber must be released from ICE custody immediately. Segundo, the ICE agent who shot him must be arrested and prosecuted. Tercero, there must be a real independent investigation. La Frontera Unida is not interested in another federal cover-up!”

Jesse Valdelamar, the emcee of the rally, said, “We will never support ‘reforming’ ICE into a more humane version of itself. As long as there exists a permanent body of second-class citizens, there will always be immigration enforcement, and there will always be la migra. This is why La Frontera Unida supports legalization for all as the real solution to the immigration question!”

Cynthia Treviño, another member of La Frontera Unida, spoke on the coming expiration of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Salvadorians. She said, “The expiration of TPS for Salvadoreños is setting the stage for hundreds of thousands of our raza to suffer the same fate as Wilber. As a Chicana, I understand this history intimately. My ancestors didn't cross the border, the border crossed us. The Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo promised my people property rights, language rights, cultural rights. What we got instead was centuries of violence and displacement.”

Treviño continued, “Terrorism is what awaits those who do not stand up and fight back. Today's immigrants, whether from El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua, or Venezuela, face the same terror. And just like my ancestors, they are fighting back.”

Sofie Gomez of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) urged, “When people migrate here, they are uprooting their whole lives out of desperation, but they live here in the states as second-class citizens, continuing to be exploited as cheap labor. This is the U.S. capitalist machine’s playbook. That’s why we need a new system, socialism, where we can actually address immigration rather than exploit those who immigrate here. Legalization for all is the way forward!”

#AustinTX #TX #ImmigrantRights #ICE #OppressedNationalities #TPS #Venezuela #Shooting #WilberRafaelGarcesPerez #Feature

Baton Rouge, LA – On August 27, Louisiana State University Students (LSU) marched to the school’s administrative office to demand the university’s cultural centers be restored.

Over the summer, the LSU administration consolidated all four cultural centers under the Office of Academic Affairs. This move effectively shut them down. Additionally, all student and administrative staff were removed without warning.

“These centers were won in the 60s and 70s through political struggle and public pressure, and so we will continue the struggle students on this campus have waged in the past,” said Ziad Eissa, vice president of LSU Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

LSU SDS President Margo Wilson and Secretary Gabriela DeJean joined the march and attempted to hand-deliver the students' written demands to LSU Chancellor James Dalton. Upon arrival, Wilson and DeJean were met by several police officers and denied entry for a prolonged period. They were eventually allowed to pass their demands to Dalton’s secretary and demand a meeting with the chancellor to discuss these unjustifiable cuts.

“They want us to think that the world is unchangeable, but we know that when the people dare to fight back, we can change the world,” said Ashley Schmittle, member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Students at LSU are determined to keep up the struggle to reopen the cultural centers.

#BatonRougeLA #LA #StudentMovement #SDS #LSUSDS #Feature

Dallas, TX – 400 people took to the streets of Dallas on September 10 to protest the Republican Party’s midterm convention and demonstrate opposition to the Trump agenda. Organized by the Dallas Against the Trump Agenda (DATA) Coalition, the protest brought together workers, community activists, socialists, immigrant-rights organizers and others who marched to bring their opposition to the Republican convention directly to the streets surrounding the American Airlines Center.

The action began at Pike Park. Demonstrators marched toward the convention. Hundreds of protesters participated in the march, which made its way toward the security perimeter surrounding the convention.

Riot police and mounted units were deployed as the protesters approached the convention center. Despite the police presence and attempts to limit the march’s movement, protesters reached the security checkpoint and held speeches within sight and sound of the convention. The crowd responded enthusiastically, chanting and cheering as speakers addressed the demonstrators.

The police presence intensified as right-wing counter-protesters confronted people participating in the march.

Two protesters were arrested during the action. They were attempting to keep right-wing counter-protesters away from the main crowd when police moved in, tackled the two to the ground and arrested them.

The arrests did not stop the demonstration. Protesters continued marching and maintained the energy of the action as they approached the convention.

Jake Holtzman of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization said, “It was inspiring to see hundreds march against the Trump agenda. Even in the face of harassment from the cops and a few counter-protesters, everyone kept the energy high and marched within sight and sound of the convention. There was clearly a great degree of unity among the people against our common enemy: Trump and monopoly capitalism.”

Toni Jones of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) stated, “I’m marching with the over 20 cities in our National Alliance Against Racist And Political Repression fighting for community control of the police. I’m marching with all of you who did what you needed to be here today, and I’m marching with men like my friend Darrin Robinson, who can’t be here because they are being tortured while serving unjust sentences. And all of us, we are going to make sure the Trump agenda, ‘SAVE America Act’ racism never gets passed, and the GOP gets dumped in the trash heap of history they so desperately worship!”

The September 10 action was the first major public demonstration organized under the banner of Dallas Against the Trump Agenda. The coalition formed around the Republican Party’s decision to hold its midterm national convention in Dallas, but its organizers have emphasized that the coalition is intended to be more than a one-day protest.

DATA is working to establish a continuing center of organizing in Dallas against the Trump agenda — bringing together people involved in labor, immigrant rights, racial justice, community organizing and other struggles.

The next task is to build on the momentum that has already been established. DATA is organizing in Dallas. The fight against the Trump agenda continues.

#DallasTX #TX #Trump #PeoplesStruggles #ImmigrantRights #FRSO #NAARPR #DATA #OppressedNationalities #Feature