Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

GainesvilleFL

By Fern

In a dramatic development Aug. 11 surrounding the Justice for Kofi! campaign, the University of Florida fired police officer Lt. Stacy Ettel. Ettel was the commanding officer at the scene of the shooting of University of Florida graduate student Kofi Adu-Brempong. Another officer, Keith Smith, shot Adu-Brempong in the face when campus police broke into his on-campus apartment on the night of March 3.

Read more...

By Justin Wooten

Gainesville, FL – There is progress in the case of Kofi Adu-Brempong, the University of Florida graduate student shot in the face by campus police after they invaded his apartment on March 2nd. Kofi is still recovering after a white policeman shot his jaw off with an assault rifle at close range. One week ago State’s Attorney Bill Cervone agreed to drop charges against Kofi, an African immigrant. Fernando Figueroa of Gainesville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) said, “When these racist police put criminal charges on Kofi, they really added insult to injury. We are relieved the charges were dropped, but there should not have been any in the first place.”

Read more...

By Jared Hamil

Students and community members joined a third rally, April 20, demanding justice

Gainesville, FL – Students and community members joined a third rally, April 20, demanding justice for Kofi Adu-Brempong, the African student shot in the face by university police. Over 120 people showed up at the protest, which started in the Plaza of Americas, on the University of Florida campus, and ended at the State Attorney’s office. This took place after several meetings between the Coalition for Justice Against Police Brutality and the University of Florida administration – including the chief of the university police department, Linda Stump and the president, Bernie Machen.

Read more...

By staff

Video of shooting of Kofi Adu-Brempong

Gainesville, FL – The video of the March 2 shooting of Kofi Adu-Brempong has finally been released to the public. Students of the University of Florida and members of the community have been outraged about the shooting and have held demonstrations demanding justice for Adu-Brempong.

Read more...

By Jared Hamil

Administration building occupied

April 6 protest in Gainesville.

Gainesville, FL – 250 people rallied here, April 6, to support Kofi Adu-Brempong, the University of Florida student who was shot in the face by police. This rally follows two meetings with the University of Florida administration as well as the chief of the University Police Department. Both meetings proved to be a stalling tactic against both the Coalition for Justice Against Police Brutality and Students for a Democratic Society. During the rally, the anger at administration's stalling was expressed many times.

Read more...

By Jared Hamil

Administration building occupied

April 6 protest in Gainesville.

Gainesville, FL – 250 people rallied here, April 6, to support Kofi Adu-Brempong, the University of Florida student who was shot in the face by police. This rally follows two meetings with the University of Florida administration as well as the chief of the University Police Department. Both meetings proved to be a stalling tactic against both the Coalition for Justice Against Police Brutality and Students for a Democratic Society. During the rally, the anger at administration's stalling was expressed many times.

Read more...

By staff

Gainesville, FL – There are widespread reports that Kofi Adu-Brempong, a graduate student who was shot in the face by a member of the University of Florida Police Department, will be moved to jail.

Read more...

By Jared Hamil

Community members speak out on the University of Florida campus

Gainesville, FL – Over 400 angry protesters – a coalition of students, local residents and university professors – rallied and marched to protest the racist police shooting of Kofi Adu-Brempong.

Read more...

By Justin Wooten

Students, community groups to demand justice

Gainesville, FL – Graduate student and teaching assistant Kofi Adu-Brempong was shot in the face with an assault rifle by officers of the University Police Department, March 2. Adu-Brempong was mentally distressed, and the police had been called in response to reports of a scream coming from his on campus apartment.

Read more...

By Fern

Protestors holding signs and listening to speeches at the protest.

A group of about 150 people, including farmworkers from Immokalee, Florida, students and community supporters, rallied on Oct. 24 to fight for better wages and working conditions for the farmworkers. Members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) traveled to Gainesville to build their ongoing campaigns against Aramark, a major food service provider on many college campuses, and Publix, a popular supermarket chain in the South.

Read more...