New Orleans, LA – On Monday morning, March 18, about 40 protesters gathered in front of the City of New Orleans Municipal and Traffic Court to defend activist Toni Jones. The previous Saturday, police arrested Jones at a protest against Tulane University’s ties with Israel. Jones faces trumped-up charges of battery on an officer, obstructing a public place, interfering with a lawful investigation and resisting an officer.

New Orleans – On March 16, 13 courageous members of Tulane Students for a Democratic Society carried out a die-in on campus to protest the school’s partnership with Israel. The demonstrators occupied the school’s central building during the nationally attended and Tulane-hosted New Orleans Bookfest. The festival is hosted by the university once a year and brings in thousands of attendees to watch panels and talks by well-known authors and public figures.

New Orleans, LA – On Wednesday, March 13, angry New Orleans residents disrupted this year’s New Orleans Entrepreneur Week (NOEW) on its busiest day. Hosted by Idea Village, NOEW is a major networking event for tech startups, with the founder of Waitr as the featured keynote this year. Protesters disrupted this event 17 times, condemning Ideal Village’s sponsorship of the “Innovation Embassy” – a technological and trade partnership between the Port of New Orleans and the Port of Ashdod in Israel.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-New Orleans, Tulane & Loyola Students for a Democratic Society, and New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports.

New Orleans, LA – March 16, around 12:30 p.m., at a protest against Tulane’s aid to Israel, local activist Toni Jones was arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following March 14 statement from Tulane Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

Official Statement on Battery of Tulane Student by Professor Walter Isaacson

On March 13th, a Tulane student and member of Students for a Democratic Society, Rory Macdonald, was assaulted by Walter Isaacson, a Tulane professor and board member. Macdonald was protesting a Tulane-sponsored New Orleans Entrepreneurship Week panel titled “Energy Innovation at Scale” featuring Louisiana State University, ExxonMobil, and Halliburton. Isaacson, an audience member, grabbed Rory and cursed at them, battering them and leaving them with bruises on their arm and scratches on their back. The encounter was captured in multiple videos. Tulane has done nothing to protect Arab students and members of SDS from repeated harassment and threats from Zionist students, and now one of our members has been assaulted by a member of the faculty.

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, March 9, over a 100 people rallied in front of the gates of Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans to mark International Women’s Day. Over eight organizations united to demand that people everywhere stand with the women of Palestine as they witness genocide and struggle against Zionist occupation.

Lafayette, LA – On September 15, over 30 protesters from all across southern Louisiana gathered outside the state’s second governor’s debate. While the night’s debate gathered the race’s top seven candidates to discuss policy, the demonstrators came to make one thing clear: Republican frontrunner Jeff Landry and his attacks would not be tolerated.

Los Angeles, CA – On July 23, hundreds of protesters marched down Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles for the People’s State of the Nation Address. The PSONA is an annual protest to counter the Filipino president’s state of the nation address and expose the real struggles of the Filipino people. This year it highlighted the issues under the Ferdinand Marcos Jr. presidency, including record high inflation and miserable wages, intense political repression with prosecution and killings, and increased U.S. military presence.

Los Angeles, CA – Chants of “Who are we? Teamsters!” and “Union power!” filled the street on July 19 at the UPS Olympic hub during a strike solidarity rally.

Los Angeles, CA – On June 30, the Boyle Heights community turned out in mass at a Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council’s (BHNC) special meeting to protest and demand the neighborhood council vote no on a big market rate housing development project by Tiao LLC. Proposed in the heart of Boyle Heights on the Cesar Chavez Avenue and Chicago Street block, the six-story 50-unit housing complex would evict and displace many local tenants and businesses, one of whom is a family of four generations who have been living there for 30 years.

Los Angeles, CA – Workers at a local McDonald's went on strike June 9, as part of a weeklong struggle by employees to bring to light the heinous working conditions they have been forced to endure. The strikers called for an end to harassment from management, for union representation, and justice for Berta Montes, a McDonald's employee whose death many coworkers attribute to management's negligence and overall lack of interest in their worker's health and safety.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Real Name Campaign

New Orleans, LA – On March 8, killer cops Derek Chauvin and Michael Mattioli’s original trial date, the New Orleans Freedom Road Socialist Organization hosted a socially distant march for George Floyd and Joel Acevedo. Twenty protesters and four community organizations gathered in solidarity at Duncan Plaza.

Los Angeles, CA – On March 7, Centro CSO: Community Service Organization hosted a celebration of el Día Internacional de la Mujer (International Women’s Day), filled with poetry, singing and political discussion at the Benjamin Franklin Branch Library in Boyle Heights. This year’s event, the third that Centro CSO has put on, honored the women of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles who have fought back against the privatization of public education, police terror, sexism and transphobia.

Los Angeles, CA – Eight months after the LAPD killing of Jose “Peruzzi” Mendez – the 16-year-old killed by LAPD, and four other police killings of young Chicanos in Boyle Heights, an Oct. 6 call-in day action was organized by Centro CSO.

Los Angeles, CA – In front of media cameras and surrounded by family and supporters, Teresa Dominguez, the mother of Jesse Romero, demanded justice for her son. The Oct. 6 press conference announced the filing of a government claim against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD for the killing of Romero. Lawyer Humberto Guizar pointed out that recently released videos contradict the police version of the killing. He blasted the LAPD for lying, saying that were was no way the police version can be truthful.

Los Angeles, CA – Facing intense pressure from the community, the Police Commission and Chief Beck fled a June 21 ‘community’ meeting.’ They could not take the heat and left out the back doors.

Los Angeles, CA – Veteran Chicano and immigrant rights leader Carlos Montes commented today, April 18, on the presentation of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on DACA+ (Deferred Action for Children Arrivals extension) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans).

Los Angeles, CA – Family, friends and supporters of Edwin Rodriguez united to protest his murder by Sheriff’s Deputies of East Los Angeles, Feb. 20. Rodriguez was pulled over by East Los Angeles (ELA) Sheriffs, beaten and shot to death on Feb. 14th. He was shot over ten times. The sheriffs claimed that Rodriguez was in a stolen car. However, the car was not stolen; it belonged to the driver’s mother. Antonio Rodriguez, the family's attorney said, “There was no reason to pull them over.”