Minneapolis, MN – On a rainy Tuesday evening, October 14, folks gathered at the Hennepin County Government Plaza to commemorate what would have been George Floyd’s 51st birthday.

Angela Harrelson, the aunt of George Floyd, kicked off the program and asked for everyone to stay united in fighting for justice and that she was grateful for the folks who showed up to celebrate her nephew’s birthday.

Myrka Zambrano, an organizer with Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), noted that it took almost 32 years for Martin Luther King’s birthday to be a national holiday, and 150 for Juneteenth to be recognized as a national holiday, but only nine days for Congress to recognize Charlie Kirk’s birthday as a National Day of Remembrance

This action was in response to a decision by congress to designate October 14 as a National Day of Remembrance for Charlie Kirk, a right-wing podcaster, who was shot during an appearance at a Utah University last month.

Simone Hunter spoke on the failures of the police department to take seriously the threats to her sister Mariah Samuels, who was killed by her ex in September. She had called the police several times and even had an order of protection from him, but was not taken seriously by Minneapolis police. This is similar to what happened to Allison Lussier. Lussier was an indigenous woman who was allegedly killed by her ex as well, but MPD Chief O’Hara falsely told media she died of a drug overdose, despite the medical examiner saying otherwise.

Jae Yates, an organizer with Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, pointed this out in their speech, that these women were dehumanized by the Minneapolis Police Department, and their deaths like so many others could have been prevented. Yates demanded that Minneapolis put control of the police department in the hands of the people of Minneapolis, with their campaign to establish an all-elected Civilian Police Accountability Commission.

Ebony Dobbins spoke of how MPD “played ding dong ditch” at her home, then climbed through the window of her seven-year-old son’s bedroom and terrorized her family under the guise of a child and animal welfare check. Dobbins believes that she was targeted by police for a case involving her grandmother over 23 years ago, in which she was shot and killed by MPD.

This rally was put on by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #GeorgeFloyd #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #TCC4J

Dallas, TX – Organizers from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression-Dallas (NAARPR-Dallas) commemorated the fifth anniversary of the death of George Floyd and protested unjust deportation of a family from Austin.

A small crowd of community members and organizers gathered on Margaret Hunt Hill bridge at 7 p.m. on a Sunday evening, June 1, to demand an end to the police killings, community control of the police and to stop ICE.

Josue Garcia a member of NAARPR-Dallas said, “We are living in a time of immense repression. We are now over 150 days into the second Trump term and killer ops, like the murderer of George Floyd are expected to be pardoned by the current administration. What a damn shame. We have witnessed the horrifying kidnapping of immigrants by masked ICE agents, the suppression of free speech at colleges and universities, and here – in our own city of Dallas – the attempted intimidation of protesters by officers on motorcycles as well as unmarked vehicles.”

Several onlookers and passersby stopped and listened to the speeches being made and clapped and nodded to the calls for stopping the deportations and community control of the police.

NAARPR-Dallas is currently running a campaign in defense of the local vendors who congregate at Margaret Hunt Hill bridge, many of whom are Chicanos, Latinos and Mexicanos. The police frequent the bridge at late hours and drive these vendors away, oftentimes beating and arresting them.

The vendors from the local area were supportive of the action and pleased by the chants and speeches made by the organizers.

#DallasTX #TX #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #GeorgeFloyd

Los Angeles, CA, – On Sunday May 25, over 35 protesters gathered in front of the East LA sheriff's department. May 25 marked the five-year anniversary of George Floyed’s murder by Minneapolis Police Department killer cop Derek Chauvin. Protesters demanded “No Derek Chauvin pardon!” and “Legalization for all.”

Centro CSO (Community Service Organization) organized the protest. Activists held signs reading “Jail killer cops” and “Boot the Banditos.”

The East LA Sheriff's Department (ELASD), long criticized for its violence and ties to deputy gangs, continues to terrorize Chicanos in the community. The event was also in solidarity with a week of action called by the Legalization for All (L4A) Network to demand legalization for all, as well as a stop to all deportations. Recent deportations have included U.S. citizen children and attacks against Chicano U.S. citizens, who are racially profiled.

Terry Navarrete, who is a member of Centro CSO said, “As first timers protesting with Centro CSO at the sheriff’s station, it was an unforgettable and moving experience for my husband Art and myself. The stories of the families of victims killed by shameful acts of the ELA Sheriffs were truly heartbreaking!”

Deputies at the station continue wearing and waving flags with the “Fort Apache” logo – widely seen as a symbol of national oppression, violence and brutality. The logo is a police boot outline, the number 2 within the heel, and the words “Una patada en los pantalones” or a kick in the pants in Spanish. The logo carries a dark legacy in East LA; it debuted in 1970 after the killing of journalist Rubén Salazar during the August 29, 1970 Chicano Moratorium.

In addition to concerns over deadly force, protesters condemned the department’s ongoing collaboration with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during recent immigration raids. Brandon Cho, speaking on behalf of L4A, stated, “We’re here to demand an end to the collaboration between sheriff’s deputies, local law enforcement, ICE and federal agents. If ICE wants to break laws, then they don’t get to hide behind law enforcement. If ICE wants to kidnap our mothers and fathers, let them come alone – without protection from law enforcement – to witness the full strength of our communities.”

United Families for Justice, a grassroots organization founded and led by families impacted by police violence, were in attendance. They demanded justice for their murdered loved ones. Also supporting the event was the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). Protesters gathered in front of the station, chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”

Speaking on behalf of FRSO was Carlos Montes, a longtime Chicano revolutionary, who stated, “We will always remember George Floyd and all the other young Black and Chicano men killed by police, and continue fighting for justice!”

Despite years of public pressure to investigate deputy gangs and the banning of the Fort Apache logo, the Sheriff’s Department has failed to take meaningful action. Centro CSO remains committed to the fight for community control of the police, a demand echoed by many East LA residents who want safety without fear of law enforcement, as well as the legalization of all undocumented immigrants.

For more information on how to join Centro CSO, please reach out to them on social media @CentroCSO.

#LosAngelesCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #GeorgeFloyd #ImmigrantRights #CentroCSO

Jacksonville, FL – On Sunday, May 25, at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office headquarters, the Jacksonville Community Action Committee (JCAC) garnered over 100 community members to recognize the five-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Jacksonville was one of many cities that answered the national call by National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, “All Out for May 25” to remember all victims of police terror and the heinous signing, April 28, of President Trumps Executive Order 14288.

“Executive Order 14288 specifically promotes, ‘aggressively policing communities.’ You tell me this, what is more aggressive than holding your knee on the neck of a man for nine minutes while he begs for his life? Was what we saw with George Floyd not aggressive?” said Ash Chatmon, communications committee member of JCAC. “When Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home, was that not aggressive? When Jacksonville’s Charles Faggart was beaten and killed by officers in that jail, when his family was brushed aside and relegated to finding out about their loved one through the media, was that not aggressive?”

Sunday’s demands included justice for all victims of police crimes, that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, and community control of the police nationwide. The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office has killed more people this year than the officers had in all of 2024. Dozens of people have told their stories to JCAC about the consistent and unchecked abuse and torture that continues in the Duval County Jail, all while the mayor and city council field proposals for a $1 billion jail.

“These patterns have to be recognized and addressed. We have to learn from each other the way these agencies so clearly learn from each other. And we have to make our voices heard for all those who have had their voices robbed from them from these white supremacist, nationalist agendas!” said Gonzalo Kleinick, from the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance.

The event was organized by Jacksonville Community Action Committee, and co-sponsored by Take ‘Em Down Jax, The Red Alliance, Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network, Jacksonville Immigrants’ Rights Alliance, Jacksonville Students for a Democratic Society, 50501 Northeast Florida alongside a coalition of 10 other local grassroots organizations in the city.

Organizers and community members chanted as the rain fell, “Transparency now, we won’t back down” and “If we don’t get it shut it down!” with signs reading “Justice for Charles” and “We remember.”

“There is a movement growing in this city and we must continue to build it stronger than ever,” said Michael Sampson II, the co-chair of NAARPR. “Those in power should fear the people more than they fear the Sheriff or the interests of the ruling class here in Jacksonville.”

#JacksonvilleFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NAARPR #JCAC #GeorgeFloyd

Milwaukee, WI – March 25 marked the five-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Derek Chauvin and the Minneapolis Police Department. In 2020 Floyd’s murder sparked the largest uprising against police in decades in the United States, and even five years later his life brought together 250 Milwaukeeans to rally, march and eat as a community to honor his memory.

The Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) and All People’s Gathering Church (APGC) cohosted the afternoon events in order to commemorate Floyd as a person, give voice to the lives of the many Milwaukeeans murdered by police and jails, and recommit to the struggle to end police crimes.

At the opening rally, speakers from the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement and Black Leaders Organizing our Communities connected the fight to end police crimes to the immigrant rights movement, the labor movement and to Palestine. This connection was reflected in the crowd, as dozens of unionists and anti-war activists cheered.

Families of people murdered by police and jails in Milwaukee took the stage. Tracy Cole and Kerrie Hirte recounted the experiences of losing their children to the police and sheriffs, and it was clear why Floyd’s death was still able to draw so many people out five years later. The pain and suffering that the entire world watched over nine long minutes as Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck was matched by the realities that these mothers, two of many, had to live through in Milwaukee. The crowd was clearly ready to recommit to struggle long and hard for Community Control of the Police to end police crimes.

There was a proud march through one of Milwaukee’s historically Black neighborhoods, past murals depicting many people killed by the police including Floyd and Milwaukee locals like Sylville Smith.

Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake who was brutalized by the Kenosha Police Department, riled the crowd up by once again connecting the struggle against police crimes to many different struggles. The final speech, from Lo Cross of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, summed up the theme of the day, “We aren’t just gathered here to remember the George Floyd Rebellion as some distant memory, we’re gathered here to recommit to the struggle for workers’ rights, gender liberation, immigrant rights, and Black liberation because the struggle continues and we need to join forces to finish the job!”

After the demonstration, the community gathered to cook out, listen to music, and celebrate the lives of all victims of police murders. Neighbors expressed gratitude to have the chance to come together in remembrance of lost loved ones. MAARPR co-chair Aurelia Ceja expressed that the organization had celebrated George Floyd day for several years now and has no intention of stopping. While some across the country feel hopeless, it is clear that in Milwaukee people are optimistic and ready to commit to the struggle!

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #InJusticeSystem #GeorgeFloyd #KillerCops #MAARPR #NAARPR

Organizations like UCF Students for a Democratic Society, Orlando for Peace, Veterans Against the Machine and 50501 Orlando united with OAPC to slam the Trump administration’s latest attempt to undo all restraints put on police departments after the George Floyd rebellion.

Several organizers spoke out about the many local examples of police killings, including the Derek Diaz, who was killed by Orlando cases of Luis Lopez – an Orlando man who was killed by police in his home in February – and police in 2023 while sitting in his car.

OAPC organizer, Tony Renzetti, remarked that Trump’s executive order would further embolden racist police in Orlando, stating, “This executive order means more death and repression, and less accountability. I can’t imagine what an ‘unleashed’ police force looks like when they are currently routinely murdering members of our Orlando community in cold blood.”

#OrlandoFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #OAPC #NAARPR #GeorgeFloyd

New Orleans, LA – New Orleanians hit the streets on Sunday evening, May 25, to honor George Floyd on the five-year angelversary of his murder in 2020 by killer cop Derek Chauvin.

The rally began at City Hall around 5 p.m., demanding an end to Trump’s racist attacks. In particular opposing Trump’s Executive Order 14288 which seeks to strengthen policing, while anti-immigrant “Project Homecoming” puts more police power towards deportations. The demonstration also demanded justice for victims of police crimes, an end to attacks on immigrants, and called for community control of the police.

Founder of Black Lives Matter Grassroots NOLA, Sabrina Foster, spoke on the experience of losing her son to police violence. Alabama’s Pickens County police killed Foster’s son, Glen Foster Jr., in December of 2021. Police claimed Foster Jr died of heart failure while in custody, but an independent autopsy showed signs of strangulation and torture.

Foster said, “When George Floyd died May 25, 2020, I said to myself: ‘That could happen to Glen,’” She continued, recalling the horror of watching Chauvin crush Floyd’s neck. “I thought, “If he can get away with this, what could happen to my son?””

The Foster family will celebrate their late son’s 35th birthday this Saturday, May 31, with a fundraiser to help with legal fees as they continue to fight for justice.

Another speaker, Yareli Andino, a volunteer with Union Migrante, stated, “When George Floyd cried out ‘I can’t breathe’ he wasn’t just speaking for himself, he was representing all of us – people living under constant fear just for existing. Black folks are targeted by police violence every day. Immigrants are afraid to go to work, to drive, to show up for their immigration appointments because ICE agents are waiting for them.”

Organizers emphasized the need to keep the consent decree over the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) in place, a measure of federal oversight that Black residents fought hard for in the years after Katrina. The decree ensures that NOPD does not enter into agreements with ICE agents, which is a temporary relief for immigrants in the city. However, Trump’s Executive Order 14288 leaves the future of this consent decree uncertain. In light of the federal “flip-flopping,” as NOCOP organizer Toni Jones put it, the demand for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) is building steam in New Orleans.

After a march from City Hall to the Federal Building downtown, Belden “Noonie Man” Batiste spoke on behalf of the New Orleans United Front organization. He underlined the need to fight back against Trump’s attacks and tirelessly fight for community control over the NOPD.

Batiste shouted, “We are going to tell Mr. Orange Head and Elon Musk: ‘We ain’t scared!’”

He continued, “We not going to bow down. I’m a Mardi Gras Indian, we say ‘No Humba’. ‘No Humba’ means you don’t bow down and you don’t run away from a fight!” The crowd erupted into cheers.

New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police (NOCOP) initiated the protest alongside a coalition in response to the George Floyd Day of Action called by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NOCOP #GeorgeFloyd

Tallahassee, FL – On Sunday, May 25, 20 people rallied outside City Hall against Trump’s Executive Order 14288 on the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder. Between chants from the crowd, local organizers spoke out against Trump’s policy.

“Donald Trump’s Executive Order 14288, a racist dog whistle, is not just another policy. It’s a declaration of war against our movements for justice,” said Nicole Soza, speaking on behalf of 50501 and Voices for Florida. “This is not about public safety. It is about protecting those who maim and kill with a badge and giving them more tools to silence dissent simply because they have that badge.”

Executive Order 14288 empowers police through increased funding and decreased accountability. Along with expansions for prisons, the order seeks to provide officers with greater access to military equipment and calls for the prosecution of officials who stand against Trump’s regressive policies.

Addressing the anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, speakers also criticized the failure to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing act.

“Around this time five years ago, about 10 to 20 percent of the country participated in protests against the horrific murder of George Floyd and police brutality in this country,” said Joelle Nuñez from the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance (TIRA).

Nuñez continued, “It’s clear this is an issue people care about, and yet, in the time since, we haven’t seen policies put in place to reduce police murder. In fact, we’ve seen an increase in police murder.”

Speakers then drew attention to victims of police brutality in Tallahassee, as well as the attempted murder of Jingo Johnson, a Black man in nearby Greenville, Florida. Located less than an hour east of Tallahassee, residents of Greenville have long been subject to aggressive policing. On April 27, an officer with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office shot Johnson in the back of the head, pinned him to the ground, and attempted to lie about Johnson having a weapon in his hand.

Using a call and response to engage the crowd, Tito Leadon, a member of Tallahassee Community Action Committee, asked, “Are the police protecting innocent citizens? Are they protecting anybody? Did the police protect George Williams? Did the police protect Tony McDade? Did the police protect Raheem Reeder? Oluwatoyin Salau? Mychael Johnson? Jingo Johnson? No! They brutalized, abused, killed, neglected countless others, and we are going to stop them from abusing more people in the future!”

“We are here today because Trump and the ruling class are afraid of us! They remember 2020! They remember the George Floyd Rebellion! They remember millions of people rising up, from Minneapolis to Miami, from Portland to Tallahassee, and they are terrified that we will rise up again”, said Regina Joseph of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization to close the rally.

The Tallahassee Community Action Committee is an affiliate of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR). NAARPR called for the National Day of Action opposing Trump’s Executive Order 14288 and to remember George Floyd and all victims of police violence.

#TallahasseeFL #FL #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NAARPR #GeorgeFloyd #Trump

Minneapolis, MN – Just days before the five-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, rumors swirled that Trump planned to pardon former police officer Derek Chauvin on his federal conviction for violating Floyd’s civil rights. While critical of a pardon, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told reporters he was preparing for the possibility.

Instead of waiting for bad news, organizers from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice and Black Lives Matter Minnesota called an emergency protest on Monday, May 19. Nearly 100 people gathered outside the Hennepin County Government Center – the building where killer cop Derek Chauvin was convicted – to say, “No to a pardon!” and “No to all of Trump’s attacks!”

The protesters view a pardon, in the same way they see Trump’s Executive Order 14288, titled in part, “Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement,” as a shameful attack on the movement that demanded accountability for George Floyd’s murder.

“Trump’s threats send a message to cops that they have even more of a license to kill. We were not silent five years ago, and we sure as hell won’t be silent now,” said Angel Smith-El, of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice.

Monique Cullars-Doty, of Black Lives Matter Minnesota said, “Trump and his administration have expanded the traditional American integrated networks of oppression and capitalism, with DOGE and Project 2025.”

Cullars-Doty continued, “America has arrived at a time in history where unrestrained, coddled, wealthy, incompetent, hard-hearted, criminalized white privilege has secured the highest positions of leadership in a horror version of a Lemony Snicket-style series of unconstitutional, rule of law defying, detrimental, malicious events. The waves of such events are hitting people in America and abroad like a tsunami, destroying practically everything and anyone in their paths.”

Despite the pardon rumors, and law enforcement preparation, no presidential pardon came through this week. If Trump decides to pardon Chauvin’s federal charges, the 22-year, 6 month state of Minnesota sentence for murder and manslaughter will stand.

Minneapolis marked the five-year anniversary of Floyd’s murder, and the uprising to demand justice, with a weekend-long “Rise & Remember Festival” at George Floyd Square. The National Alliance for Racist and Political Repression organizers held demonstrations across the country for the anniversary, and there will be Minneapolis demonstration on Sunday, June 1.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #GeorgeFloyd #Trump #TCC4J

Washington, D.C. – A crowd of 50 activists and community members gathered in Lafayette Square on Sunday – the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd. They protested the Trump administration’s new Executive Order 14288.

The action, hosted by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression DC (NAARPR DC), called on attendees to “Fight the Trump Agenda!” Leaders demanded that the U.S. Congress overturn Executive Order 14288, pass the George Floyd Act, and establish community control of the police in Washington DC.

The protest began with chants of “One! Four! 288! We reject your police state!” and “When killer cops are on patrol, what do we need? Community control!” as protesters gathered and circled the square. Emcee Kristen Bonner of NAARPR DC then gave an introduction that highlighted the seriousness of Executive Order 14288 and the need for the community to fight it.

“The thing that we have is our numbers,” said Bonner, “That’s why it’s so important for us to stand together and stand united!”

Speakers touched on how wide-reaching the consequences of Trump’s executive order are, including internationally, and community members spoke on their experiences with police brutality locally.

“No one should have to choose between grieving for their son and fighting for justice,” said LaToya Benton from Life After The Impact. Her son, Xzavier Hill, was murdered by two Virginia officers at age 18 in 2021.

David Black, a DC native who was wrongfully incarcerated for 26 years, spoke on his experiences in prison. “I don’t wish this on nobody, no one at all,” he said, “but it's coming out that this is happening more and more each day; that this is happening to not just me, but people of all races. 26 years I can’t get back; what about the ones that didn't make it?”

“Being in this fight for justice took more than passion, it took strategy,” said Terra Martin of the Raise One, Teach One Delaneo Martin foundation. Terra Martin’s son Delaneo was murdered by park police in March of 2021 while he was asleep in his car. “Donald Trump sees us as animals that need to be controlled by 14288. But we are not, and we'll get out here into these streets and start taking back our community!”

“The best way to lead the people is to learn from them,” said Amber-Jane Jones of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization DC, “when we go into the community and talk to them about their experiences with the cops, they're not telling us how protected and safe they feel. They’re saying they feel overpoliced and underserved!”

“We are stronger when we’re fully united,” said Sara Roslyn from the International League for Peoples’ Struggle Baltimore-DMV, “it’s up to us to fight back against imperialism. We must bring the fight to the heart of the empire!”

Bonner called out, “Indict, convict, send these killer cops to jail! The whole damn system is guilty as hell!” and “MPD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same!”

Bonner closed the action by explaining, “What we require and need for change is more than just protesting. It’s about getting people to understand the power that they have, and that person links up with someone else who understands their power, and on and on!”

#WashingtonDC #InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #GeorgeFloyd #NAARPR #DCAARPR

Fuerzas reaccionarias se están uniendo para permitir violencia policial y socavar la rendición de cuentas que se ha logrado tras una ardua lucha. Las autoridades de Minnesota ahora piden calma si Trump decide indultar a Derek Chauvin, el asesino condenado de George Floyd.

La idea de un indulto federal para Chauvin, cuya condena solo se logró después de que millones de personas inundaron las calles en 2020, sería escupirle en la cara del movimiento que obligó un ajuste de cuentas con los crímenes policiales. Todos quienes defienden la justicia y creen que las vidas negras importan deben estar alerta. Si esto sucede, este indulto debe ser enfrentado con resistencia masiva.

La reciente orden ejecutiva de Trump titulada “Fortaleciendo y Liberando a la Policía de Estados Unidos” busca eliminar la supervisión policial, proteger a policías asesinos con mayor inmunidad y defensa, y empoderar al Departamento de Justicia para perseguir y atacar a funcionarios locales que intenten limitar los abusos policiales.

La jueza de Milwaukee, Hannah Dugan, y el alcalde de Newark, Ras Baraka, ya han sido arrestados por oponerse a los ataques de Trump contra inmigrantes – y las colaboraciones entre ICE y la policía siguen aumentando, desafiando medidas de santuario locales.

Por eso debemos movilizarnos. El 25 de mayo, en el quinto aniversario del asesinato de George Floyd, la Alianza Nacional Contra la Represión Racista y Política y sus aliados saldrán a las calles en un día de acción para exigir: “¡Justicia para George Floyd y todas las víctimas del terror policial! ¡Revoquen la orden ejecutiva de Trump sobre el Estado policial y carcelero! ¡Aprueben la Ley de Justicia Policial de George Floyd! ¡Control comunitario de la policía ahora!

Aunque el gobernador de Minnesota, Tim Walz, afirma que la condena estatal seguirá vigente, un indulto federal representaría un respaldo inaceptable a la brutalidad policial. Sería un mensaje claro a policías racistas y asesinos que ellos estarán protegidos. Este mensaje resuena en la orden ejecutiva de Trump, que está diseñada para intensificar y expandir la violencia policial y carcelaria. También asigna decenas de miles de agentes adicionales para cumplir las operaciones y detenciones de ICE que están separando a familias.

La rebelión del 2020, y la reacción contra ella, demostraron nuestro poder. Para derrotar la agenda de Trump, necesitamos un movimiento que una a todos los que puedan ser unidos, y que esté listo para alzarse y luchar. Si los rumores del indulto se vuelven realidad, encuéntranos en las calles. Únanse al llamado a acción de la Alianza Nacional el 25 de mayo.

#InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #GeorgeFloyd #DerekChauvin

Reactionary forces are rallying to enable police violence and to undermine the accountability that has been hard won through struggle. Minnesota authorities are now appealing for calm if Trump decides to pardon Derek Chauvin, the convicted murderer of George Floyd.

The idea of a federal pardon for Chauvin, whose conviction was only secured after millions flooded the streets in 2020, would spit in the face of the movement that forced a reckoning with police crimes. All those who stand for justice and believe Black lives matter should be on alert. If it happens, this pardon must be met with mass resistance.

Trump’s recent executive order titled “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement” aims to strip away police oversight, shield killer cops with expanded immunity and defense, and empower the Department of Justice to target and attack local officials who attempt to limit police abuses.

Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka have already been arrested for standing against Trump’s attacks on immigrants – and ICE collaborations with police continue to escalate, in defiance of local sanctuary measures.

This is why we must mobilize. On May 25, the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and its allies will take to the streets for a day of action demanding: “ Justice for George Floyd and all victims of police terror! Rescind Trump’s police and prison state executive order! Pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act! Community control of the police now!”

While Minnesota Governor Tim Walz claims the state conviction will still stand, a federal pardon would represent an unacceptable endorsement of police brutality. It would be a clear message to racist killer cops saying they will be protected. This message reverberates in Trump’s executive order, which is designed to escalate and expand the violence of police and prisons. It also deputizes tens of thousands of additional officers to enforce the ICE operations and detainments that are tearing families apart.

The 2020 rebellion, and the reaction against it, proves our power. To defeat Trump’s agenda, we need a movement that unites all who can be united, and is ready to stand up and fight back. If the pardon rumors become reality, meet us in the streets. Join up with the National Alliance’s call to action on May 25.

#InJusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #GeorgeFloyd #DerekChauvin #KillerCops #PoliceCrimes #NAARPR #Feature

Tampa, FL – On July 27, close to 100 members of the community came to a vigil remembering Sonya Massey. Sonya Massey was a Black woman murdered in her home by a police officer.

Since then, the officer was charged with three counts of first-degree murder, but that is not enough, as the murder of Black folks at the hands of the police is an all too common occurrence. As the community honored her life with a table of flowers and sending candles down river, they also called for a change in how policing is handled.

The Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (TAARPR), Andrew Joseph Foundation, Poor Minority Justice Association (PMJA), and more came out. They called for protection of the Citizens Review Board (CRB) and bringing it further by establishing a Community Police Accountability Council for more oversight of the police.

The Tampa Police Department is pushing the city council to dissolve the CRB due to a House Bill 601, a law passed by Governor Ron DeSantis preventing cities from establishing civilian oversight of the police. House Bill 601 is a law in a long list of laws passed by DeSantis to repress protesters and freedom of speech in the wake of the George Floyd uprising.

Gareth Dawkins, a member of TAARPR at the vigil, stated, “The police will always push back against any form of accountability, which is why institutions like the CRB must be protected.”

Another demand pushed by the community was to bring an end to qualified immunity. This fight is personal to the Andrew Joseph Foundation and the Joseph family, as qualified immunity protects from being charged the officer whose actions resulted in the death of their son, Andrew Joseph III.

With these demands the Tampa community shows that they will not stand for police murders in Tampa or anywhere across the country.

#TampaFL #TAARPR #GeorgeFloydRebellion #GeorgeFloyd #SonyaMassey #PMJA #CRB #CPAC #PoliceCrimes

Milwaukee, WI – Thursday, May 25 marked the three-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by killer cop Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis. George Floyd’s murder sparked a rebellion in which millions took to the streets in the U.S. and around the world. His murder resonated in Milwaukee, a city with countless victims of police crimes. To commemorate George Floyd and all victims of police crimes in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR) organized a vigil.

“May 25, 2020 was a day that changed many of us,” said Femi Akinmoladun, member of the Milwaukee Alliance. Tens of thousands of people in Milwaukee poured into the streets to demand justice for George Floyd and other victims of police crimes in the city. Milwaukee has a long history of police crimes, many of which involved officers or racist vigilantes choking a Black or brown man to death.

Speaking to this history, Brian Verdin, education chair of the MAARPR, said, “When I saw the footage of George Floyd’s murder, I couldn’t help but think about the people in Milwaukee who have been killed in similar ways – choked to death. I think about Ernest Lacy in 1981. Derek Williams in 2011. Corey Stingley in 2012. Joel Acevedo in 2020, one month before George Floyd.”

Three years have passed, and although the streets aren’t filled with thousands of people, the organizing has not stopped. As Lo Cross, co-chair of the MAARPR, stated, “There’s a lot of work to be done. It’s a long struggle. It has been three years since George Floyd was murdered, but the struggle continues. We’re only going to win what we’re organized to take. We can’t wait for the next spontaneous event to set off another wave of struggle. We must build up our organization and be ready.”

The struggle continues, and in Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Alliance has been diligently building partnerships with other community organizations to push for progressive changes. Speaking to this, Donyae Robinson, organizer with Black Leaders Organizing Communities, said, “If we stand up together, I feel like nothing can stop us.”

#MilwaukeeWI #OppressedNationalities #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #GeorgeFloyd #MilwaukeeAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression

Tampa, Fl – On May 25, students and community members of Tampa Bay rallied to demand Derek Chauvin receive maximum sentencing for his murder of George Floyd. The protest was held by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a part of a national day of action to demand Chauvin get the sentencing appropriate for his crime.

Eithne Silva, member of SDS, stated, “We participated in this national day of action to demand that Derek Chauvin get a maximum sentence for the murder of George Floyd and that the other police officers who stood by and watched the murder get jailed for their complicity.”

The event was held in preparation for the sentencing of Chauvin, which is said to be sometime in June. There are multiple dates that have been presented for Chauvin’s sentencing, but the most recent one is said to be on June 16.

“The sentencing is being dragged out because the police hope that the people will forget so Chauvin can get a light sentence, so it's all the more important for us to continue having protests to put pressure on the police and the court to get true justice,” Silva stated.

Protesters also highlighted the fact that the chokehold that Chauvin used on Floyd is a common tactic of Israeli soldiers against Palestinians. Chauvin and other police officers often learn Zionist soldier tactics through conferences held in the U.S. or by traveling directly to occupied Palestine. Protesters demonstrated international solidarity with the people of occupied Palestine through chanting, “From Palestine to Chicago, occupation has got to go!”

The event also had community members who spoke about local cases of police crimes in Tampa.

Will Blake, member of Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC) stated, “After numerous cases of police brutality, misconduct, and murders, our local officials like the mayor and state attorney have shown that they have no interest in holding officers accountable. This is why we need community control of the police, because our officials and police do not at all represent the Black, brown and working people of this city.”

SDS will continue to call for justice for George Floyd and all victims of police brutality. If the courts attempt to give Chauvin a light sentence, SDS will demand that he receives the sentence he deserves.

Silva stated, “It’s important for us to reiterate the people's demand for community control of the police and our own demand to defund our university police.”

#TampaFl #TampaFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TampaBayStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #GeorgeFloyd #DerekChauvin

On May 25, 2020, the world watched in horror and anger as George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. This was the spark that ignited uprisings and massive protests across the United States and around the world. While a hated symbol of the police went up in flames, people from coast to coast were confronting the police, who tried and failed to repress the protest.

Again and again, America has sacrificed the lives of Africans and African Americans on the altar of profits. Millions of Africans died in the slave trade that provided the captive labor that enriched southern plantation owners and northern financiers on Wall Street. Even after emancipation, Jim Crow segregation bound African Americans to the land as tenant farmers, sharecroppers and farm laborers. This forged a new nation, the African American Nation, centered in the Black Belt South, a rich agricultural area reaching from Virginia to Texas.

But even as the African American freedom struggle broke the back of Jim Crow segregation, national oppression – the economic, political and social oppression of African Americans – continues. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of Black Americans: “Of the good things in life he has approximately one-half those of whites; of the bad he has twice those of whites.” To this very day, more than 56 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964, African Americans have more than twice the poverty rate, and have less than half the medical doctors relative to whites. George Floyd was not the first African American killed by the police; the names of all the victims, from Breonna Taylor to Eric Garner are far too many, and almost all have not seen any justice in their cases.

The protests after the murder of George Floyd brought people of all nationalities, and many young people, into the streets. Just as the fight for Black liberation in the 1950s and 1960s sowed the seeds for militant Chicano and Latino, Asian American, Native American, women’s, and LGBTQ movements of the 1970s and beyond, so has the protest movement for justice for George Floyd ignited the same. That can be seen in the large protests by Asian Americans against the surge of anti-Asian violence, and Palestinian and other Arab Americans around the brutal Israeli bombing of Gaza.

The struggle of African Americans in the 1960s helped train early anti-war activists from the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). The most recent upsurge in strikes by the U.S. labor movement happened in the 1970s, as the U.S. capitalists were on the defense against both people’s movements here in the United States as well as national liberation struggles abroad. The 1970s also saw the emergence of the modern environmental movement. We look forward to the future growth of the anti-war, environmental and labor movements as we fight against the same enemy: the richest of the rich the one percent, or the monopoly capitalists.

For decades, the ruling class has been taking more and more of the wealth of this country, leaving less for the rest of us. At the same time, more and more money has been poured into police departments, which are half the entire budget for cities across the country. The ‘war on drugs’ and ‘war on terror’ have gone hand in hand with more racist policing. At the same time ‘deaths of despair’ are rising and ravaging poor communities, both Black and white.

To do away with the national oppression that African Americans and other oppressed nationalities such as Native Americans, Chicanos and Latinos, and Asian and Arab Americans face, and the growing economic inequality and class exploitations of the working class, which most Americans belong to, socialism is needed. Every victory of the people, be it the conviction of Derek Chauvin for murder, community control of the police or legalization of the undocumented, is a step towards this goal. We are building revolutionary organization to order to achieve revolutionary change. We invite all of you who wish to fight for the people and struggle for socialism to join us.

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #GeorgeFloyd

The lynching of George Floyd sparked an uprising that transformed the Black-led movement against police terror in this country. Fight Back! interviewed several activists who found their places in this movement in the past year – four newer members of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) and the Executive Assistant for Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence (FSFAPV). TCC4J is a chapter of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. FSFAPV is a group of Minnesota families who have lost loved ones to police violence.

Fight Back!: What did you see and do during the uprising?

Taren Vang: George Floyd was a light that guided us in how we amplified the voices of other stolen lives in Minnesota. Helping to get justice for George Floyd meant that there would be a greater possibility for other cases to be revisited in this state.

During the uprising I helped organize events with the founder of Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, Toshira Garraway Allen. We knew that we had to put a spotlight on the governor, mayors, elected officials, Bureau of Criminal Apprehension [the state agency that investigates most police homicides], and legislation in order to make actual change.

Organizing events with families who have lost loved ones to police violence can be very difficult. Relationships had to be made and trust had to be formed. These families are traumatized and weary of outsiders who said they would help but never followed through.

We had to learn the truth of what really happened to these stolen lives and the false narratives the media chose to report. It is important to learn the facts of how they were murdered but even more important to honor who they were as a person. People needed to hear directly from impacted families. There is so much pain, grief, and hope for change!

DeShaun McDonald: After George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight and watching a video that evening, the next day I went to 38th and Chicago to mourn with the rest of the community. After listening to folks speak, we left on a protest march to the 3rd Precinct – the start of a long awakening experience I never thought I would experience in my lifetime, or in this country.

Upon walking to the 3rd Precinct, we were met with police in riot gear ready to attack members of the community. They stood around their building as if ready to go to war with those who they were supposed to serve and protect, with their flash bangs, and whatever kind of military equipment to disperse the crowd. For the next few nights, police overused rubber bullets, flash bangs and gas.

Kelly Thomas: During the uprising, I saw a lot of people who were out in the streets for the very first time. There were so many people who just weren't able to stay at home doing nothing or almost nothing anymore. We showed up nervous but driven, confused but focused, and untrained but determined to learn and contribute. A lot of us showed up alone because we didn't have anyone in our lives to show up with. A lot of us were afraid, but we weren't willing to let fear control us and keep us from fighting.

When George Floyd was murdered, I basically stopped showing up to work. I helped with clean up in the streets, made supply runs, and attended marches, often during the workday. Shortly after, I started marshaling and helping at an encampment and was often leaving early and getting in late. Most of my coworkers had no idea how to support me, but they tried, and many even contributed money to various supply runs.

Wanja Kuria: During the uprising, I saw the community come together to demand justice in a way that moved the world. I saw people feeding and hydrating protesters, medics and marshals keeping us safe, new friendships emerging in the midst of trauma, and the terror that the police inflict on people who dare to hold them accountable.

The night the 3rd Precinct was burned down, two friends and I rented Nice Ride bikes and cycled from East to West Lake. It was amazing to see people show up in such a powerful and unified way. Some neighbors were taking care of protesters and supporting their efforts, there were little dumpster fires on every residential intersection, and people were exhilarated. The energy was palpable and it showed me the power that protesters have when we organize, utilize a multitude of tactics, and refuse to relent.

Jae Yates: Before I joined TCC4J for Taking Back Pride, I was doing mutual aid with a group of friends and fellow interns. I and a few others were first aid-trained, so we would buy groceries and supplies to distribute to various sites during the first half of the day, then go out to medic at night.

I remember we were out a little earlier because we had just seen the semi-truck run through the protest on Interstate 35W. We headed to the highway near campus to see if we could help anyone who had been hurt and help the people getting gassed by cops on the exit ramps. We were on University helping someone who had gotten scraped up climbing up the barrier when someone started yelling that the National Guard was there with live rounds. We heard some popping noises really close by and we couldn't tell if they were gunshots, so we were hiding in the alley between the apartments and a cafe, a bit freaked out with an injured person. And then we see this girl who looked like a student pop her head around the wall like, “Hey, you can hide in my apartment, cops and National Guard have been fucking with medics, I want you guys to be safe.” So we just hid in this person's apartment until it felt safe to get back to our car and drop off the injured person at home.

It was a really good moment that reminded me that there were people on our side, that the community around us believed in getting justice even if that meant letting dirty, tired medics come into their studio apartment.

Fight Back!: How did the uprising shape events over the past year?

McDonald: I believe the uprising finally opened the eyes of the world (as we were on lockdown) to what POC folks have been experiencing with police in our country. Showing how white supremacy has been alive and well, living in all aspects of life in this country. It has brought the community together to demand changes within so many systems to combat white supremacy.

Thomas: Minnesota has a long history of the community turning up to demand justice, like the occupation of the 4th Precinct in 2015 after the murder of Jamar Clark and the marches for Philando Castile in 2016. The community has always been able to turn up fast and hard when needed. But this last year, I think we've seen steady growth in the number of organizations who can quickly mobilize resources. When Dolal Idd was murdered [December 30, 2020], within two hours we had medics, marshals, the sound truck with speakers and microphones, protesters, wood, fire, handwarmers, extra socks, and the street shut down.

It's feeling like the state is finally starting to recognize the power of the people. Kobe Heisler was murdered by Brooklyn Center police two years ago. Daunte Wright was murdered by police last month. Already they've [Brooklyn Center city council] passed the Daunte Wright and Kobe Dimock-Heisler Community Safety and Violence Prevention Resolution.

Kuria: I think the uprising gave momentum in many ways to those who have been fighting for other stolen lives at the hands of police. In the last year I have met the local families whose loved ones were murdered anywhere from one to 20 years ago. Because the whole world was watching Minnesota, a lot of those families were given a greater platform to demand justice for their own family members.

After the guilty verdict, I was able to hug DelShea Perry, the mother of Hardel Sherrell, and watched as she gave an interview with tears in her eyes and hope in her voice. She felt that there might be a chance for her son too and was invigorated to continue fighting.

And while it’s hard to be optimistic that anything will come from it, the federal government is investigating the Minneapolis Police Department, which is historically significant.

Fight Back!: Tell us about one or two things that were built, accomplished or transformed because of the uprising.

Vang: The most impactful event that I organized last summer was for my boyfriend Travis Jordan. He was murdered by the Minneapolis Police Dept on November 9, 2018, during a wellness check. Not many people knew of his murder because it was not video recorded and did not go viral.

I organized a protest for him on his 38th birthday in front of the MPD 4th Precinct. A spotlight needed to be on this precinct. To bring awareness to how corrupted this precinct was, I tried to connect with other families that had lost loved ones by police officers from the same precinct. In attendance were the families of Travis Jordan, Jamar Clark, Fong Lee, and Chiasher Fong Vue. I wanted people to know that these murders were not an isolated incident in North Minneapolis.

There were people murdered in Minneapolis before George Floyd. If there would have been accountability for them, George Floyd would still be alive!

I witnessed a lot of love and support from the community for this event. Allyship was built between complete strangers. Whenever there was a request for something, someone always came through to help. The youth in the community really stepped up and showed what they were capable of accomplishing not only for Travis but other stolen lives. They truly amplified the voices of those who were forgotten! They made such an impactful statement that is still being talked about today.

Kuria: While it’s certainly a work in progress, it has been amazing to see different ethnic communities coming together to fight for liberation. I have seen some of the distance between the local African and African American communities growing smaller as Africans have realized that they are not exempt from police brutality. As an African, it’s been healing to see other Africans who had never identified as Black see themselves in the struggle for Black liberation. It was such an important part of my journey to unpack internalized racism, so it’s been incredible to see that happening on a community level.

Yates: The mass arrests of 646 people on November 4 were a pivotal moment in terms of people really understanding that protests were being criminalized, but only certain protests and only ones deemed dangerous by an arbitrary standard. Armed white supremacists had been showing up to the governor's mansion, having rallies in the streets near the capitol but had never once met the same overwhelming show of force we had been shown the whole summer. Those arrests felt like a crystalizing moment where people saw the contradictions; we were getting felony charges for laser pointers while white supremacists were all but welcomed by police in public space.

Despite frustration at the time, for a lot of people in attendance and the bystanders who were brutalized by the cops, that was really the last veil for folks who still thought that police exist to protect the public and it gave us an opportunity for political education. That is something we've worked to build in the movement that is so critical to liberation.

When people understand why they're engaging in political struggles beyond just slogans and individual events, I think that's where real meaningful coalition-building can begin. I'm proud to work with people who believe in collective power and think that we will only continue to build in the future.

One of the big accomplishments of TCC4J this year was getting our Civilian Police Accountability Commission (CPAC) legislation and charter language finalized. it’s been amazing to see how many people in the community see CPAC for what it is: a revolutionary path toward justice and self-determination that puts power back in the hands of the people. This is the first time that the police corruption will be meaningfully challenged and, with the momentum we’ve built from the uprising, I believe we can gain community control in the very near future.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TwinCitiesCoalition4JusticeForJamarTCC4J #GeorgeFloyd

Chicago, IL – The murder of George Floyd and the massive rebellion and protest that followed are the most remembered images of 2020. Unfortunately, images of Black people being lynched and murdered by white people in and out of uniform have been the most haunting images of American history. But the images of rebellion in 2020, of millions of people throughout the USA and the world rising up against racist police repression – and the system of oppression that police tyranny serves and protects – have inspired new hope and courage in the struggle for Black liberation.

The George Floyd and Breonna Taylor rebellion happened within the context of a pandemic with massive unemployment, poverty, death and all forms of social misery stalking the land. It occurred at a moment of crisis when the government was refusing to address the sickness, death and gaping inequality exaggerated by the pandemic. It occurred at a time when neither the government nor the police were keeping anyone safe. In this moment, while we were already living in a state of siege, Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd in the blast of day.

On that fateful day of May 2020 when George was murdered while begging for his life, we saw in a flash the stark reality that it is our oppression that lies at the root of police repression; we were all feeling Chauvin’s knee on our necks. Then the people’s rage and anger erupted like a fire rocket lightening up the night of our ignorance, showing us that a principal block in the road to liberation is the police who protect and serve not the people but the status quo.

We have learned in the dirt and blood of battle that through organization and struggle we must lead our people out of frustration. Before, during and after the uprising we have advocated that the way out of this politically imposed nightmare of police tyranny is to heighten like never before the struggle for community control of the police. We must understand that the demands to defund and abolish the police are a reflection of the fundamental fact that the police as they presently exist cannot be reformed. They must be replaced in accordance with the needs of the people effected by the dictates of community control.

Our comrades in Minneapolis, Chicago, Florida, Los Angeles, Dallas, Salt Lake City, Washington, D.C. and around the country are taking new legislative initiates and ballot initiatives, to establish community control of the police.

In Chicago the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor rebellion heightened our financial and people resources to the extent where our organizing capacity quadrupled. As a result, we now have the broadest community-based, labor-based and faith-based movement for community control of the police in the history of our movement. We now have a majority of the city council supporting our people’s ordinance – Empowering Communities for Public Safety.

On the national level there are two bills in Congress that clearly come in the wake of the 2020 Black-led uprising and they are the George Floyd bill and the House Bill opposing voter suppression. Two sacred democratic rights are at stake here: the democratic right to end police tyranny in our communities and the democratic right to vote. These have historically been fundamental demands of the Black Liberation movement.

In commemorating and celebrating the 2020 rebellion let us recognize that it is precisely this rebellion that has given us the tail winds for change in the coming period of struggle for freedom, justice and equality. We are on a path. A path we are determined to follow all the way to liberation.

#ChicagoIL #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #PoliceBrutality #GeorgeFloyd

Tears of joy and cries of justice spread from the family of George Floyd in the Minneapolis courtroom to people across the country and around world upon hearing the news that Floyd’s killer, Derek Chauvin, was convicted on all counts of murder.

This rare event, that a police officer was charged and convicted of murder, was a result of the millions upon millions of people who took to the streets following the killing of George Floyd. The prosecutors did their job, but not from a commitment to justice. They were afraid of the anger of the righteous masses who burned down the police station and confronted police last May. The armored vehicles, barricades, and National Guard troops showed the fear and weakness, not the strength, of the system.

Even as Derek Chauvin was on trial, we heard of the police killing of Daunte Wright in Minnesota as he tried to drive away. We saw the video of the police killing of Adam Toledo, a 13-year-old who turned with his empty hands up right before being shot down in Chicago. For almost 100 years, racist vigilantes, many of them local police or sheriffs, put on their hoods and sheets to lynch African Americans to enforce a system of Jim Crow segregation. Jim Crow is gone, but the system of national oppression – the economic inequality, de facto segregation in housing, separate and unequal schools, lack of political rights, and police terror remain.

We of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization understand that at the root of national oppression is the system of monopoly capitalism where a handful of billionaires dominate the economic and political life of this country.

The United States was founded on the genocide and theft of the lands of Native Americans. The slave trade and southern slave plantations sucked the blood, sweat and tears of millions of Africans, creating both a new African American people and profits for Wall Street.

After the Civil War, the Rockefellers and other robber barons, who monopolized the oil, steel and other new industries, preyed upon immigrant workers from Europe to enrich themselves and the financiers of Wall Street. They unleashed the police and militias, now the National Guard, on striking workers, to try to crush their efforts to fight back. When federal troops we taken out of the South after reconstruction, the white planter class regained power – while the departed troops and state militias were used to suppress workers in the North.

The rollback of the post-Civil War reconstruction led to the formation of an African American nation in the Black Belt South. Around the same time Mexicans in the Southwest were forged into a new Chicano nation. And as the U.S. monopoly capitalists joined the race for colonies by European and Japanese imperialist nations, it overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii and brought into being another oppressed nation in our borders, the Hawaiian nation. We uphold the right to self-determination, up to and including political secession for oppressed nations in the United States.

The FRSO believes that an alliance of African Americans, native Americans, and other oppressed nationalities such as Chicanos, Latinos, Asian and Arab Americans, as well as other indigenous peoples such as native Hawaiians and Alaskan natives on one hand, with the multinational working class on the other, is needed. This strategic alliance will be at the center of a broad united front to topple the system of monopoly capitalism and bring about socialism.

But we can only win this fight by struggling side by side with all those who fight for justice, including the families of those taken from us by police crimes, and those fighting for community control of police. We unite with those fighting deportations and the incarceration of Central American children at the border – we support Legalization for All! We fight with Asian American communities being hit by a wave of racist violence; with workers on strike, fighting for a living wages and safe working conditions; with the unemployed and urban poor, with women, with queer and trans people, with students, with Arab Americans and Native Americans. And we fight in solidarity with countries, nations and peoples around the world who are struggling to be free of U.S. economic, political and military domination.

We fight for justice for all, we fight for socialism.

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #Socialism #GeorgeFloyd #DerekChauvin

New York, NY – At approximately, 5 p.m. Eastern time, April 20, Derek Chauvin, the cop who fatally jammed his knee on George Floyd’s neck for over to nine minutes, was found guilty on all three charges. The murder of George Floyd caused millions of people to take to take to the streets demanding justice.

Many organizations throughout the country had protests planned for the day of the verdict. In Brooklyn, the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression called for a “Justice for George Floyd and NYPD Victims” rally for 6 p.m. in the plaza opposite the Barclay’s Center.

The organizations that gathered under that call were: New York Community Action Project, Declaring Justice for Dominique Alexander (Justice for Domo), Uptown for Community Justice, New York Boricua Resistance, G REBLS, BAYAN USA Northeast, Struggle – La Lucha for Socialism, Socialist Unity Party, and the New Abolitionist Movement.

Many organizations gathered to not only mark the announcement of the guilty verdict, but what the next steps are in police accountability. These organizations also brought attention to local cases of NYPD brutality such as those of Allan Feliz, Dominique Alexander and Sofia Gomez Aguilon.

Jessica Schwartz from New York Community Action Project spoke to the crowd, “This is not a victory of the system, but of people power. We must fight back against the NYPD and demand justice for Dominique Alexander, who was found hanging from a tree in Fort Tryon Park last year – and the NYPD spent 66 minutes investigating the case before ruling it a suicide; Allan Feliz, murdered during a routine traffic stop in the Bronx, and Sofia Gomez, who was struck and killed by an NYPD van also in the Bronx.”

Ralph Poynter, of the New Abolitionist Movement, also emphasized the role protests and organizing have played in making the Chauvin verdict a reality, telling the crowd: “You are the witnesses who made this verdict possible because had you not been here; had you not been around the world, had you not been in the streets, the verdict would’ve been different.”

What many of the organizations in the New York Alliance have in common is the demand for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC). This council would put control over the police into the hands of the community. A CPAC would also give the power to the people to defund, abolish and generally control all aspects of policing.

When the rally ended, the organizers joined hundreds who had gathered at Barclays Center to march across Brooklyn. The majority of those in attendance knew that while this was a victory for the people who had marched tirelessly for the past year, there was more to be done, and more justice to be won.

#NewYorkNY #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #GeorgeFloyd #NewYorkAllianceAgainstRacistAndPoliticalRepression