Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, September 5, over 50 people converged on Minneapolis’s urban lakes to pressure Minnesota’s presumptive governor Amy Klobuchar to take a stand against sulfide mining. While the majority of those assembled took to canoes and kayaks, another contingent marched alongside the flotilla on the lakeshore.

Chants of “Hey hey! Ho ho! Sulfide mining has got to go!” and “Water is life!” could be heard across the water as the protesters navigated the chain of lakes in vessels bearing flags with slogans such as “Defend MN waters” and “No sulfide mining.”

Several weeks before, Minnesota's current governor, Tim Walz issued executive order 26-10, prohibiting non-ferrous mining in the Rainy River watershed, which feeds into the Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Area, and, ultimately, into Hudson Bay. This measure was welcomed by many, after the April repeal of a federal mining ban in the area. Those assembled Saturday, however, felt the executive order did not do enough to protect the wetlands, which are dear to the hearts of many Minnesotans.

The protesters expressed concern that Walz’s order would not be followed up by action from the incoming legislature, nor from Amy Klobuchar, who is widely expected to win her gubernatorial bid this fall. Furthermore, the executive order leaves open the possibility of sulfide mining in Minnesota's other 79 watersheds, such as the Lake Superior and Mississippi River basins. Of additional concern was Klobuchar’s position on sulfide mining, which remains unclear as she has yet to take a stance on the environmentally destructive practice.

Despite Klobuchar's recent insistence that further studies need to be done to confirm whether sulfide mining can be done safely, to date not one sulfide mining operation has taken place without polluting the land with toxic runoff. With sulfide mining, the remains left by the extraction process turn into toxic liquids such as sulfuric acid when exposed to air and water, even in relatively arid landscapes. When left exposed in a wetland, the damage is likely to be thorough and immediate, threatening natural habitats and drinking water for human populations.

Speaking for the Climate Justice Committee, Ben Sullivan-McKone stated, “In a city named after water, in a state named after water, we take having fresh water for granted. The watersheds in Minnesota are upstream of everywhere from the Mississippi River to Hudson Bay. If Minnesota's watersheds are polluted, it will have effects across the country.”

Sullivan-McKone continued, “If we don't fight to protect our fresh water, we very well may have to face a future where that is not a possibility anymore.”

Minneapolis’ urban lake system is a popular recreation destination for canoe enthusiasts who value the of Boundary Waters. Conversations were had between protesters and the general public, many of whom had previously assumed Walz’s executive order had offered the embattled wetlands a greater measure of protection.

The highly visible protest was organized by the Climate Justice Committee and joined by other local groups such as Save the Boundary Waters, Friends of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Minnesota 50501. Despite the gravity of the situation, the mood on the water was jubilant, and many of the attendees expressed a desire to see similar actions in the future, as “our waters are constantly under attack,” as one attendee put it.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #BoundaryWaters #ClimateJusticeCommittee #SulfideMining

Minneapolis, MN – On August 30, T-Mobile and AT&T disclosed that they had sent the phone records of several Twin Cities activists to ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents after receiving a summons filed by Homeland Security on April 12, 2026. These included the telecommunications data of Jess Sundin, Steff Yorek and other anti-ICE and anti-war activists, such records for the phone line for Minnesota Council for American-Islamic Relations.

T-Mobile and AT&T complied with the summons even though none of the three were charged with any criminal charges, nor were they notified or asked to consent to such disclosures. Given the fraudulent nature of the summons, other companies, such as Google, declined to disclose any data.

These summons came as part of an ongoing federal investigation of the activists who protested on January 18 in Saint Paul against the preacher in Cities Church, David Easterwood, who is the acting field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations, known as ERO St. Paul. 39 Minnesota activists, including Black community activists Monique Cullars-Doty and Nekima Levy Armstrong, were arrested in connection to this action, along with the high-profile journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon.

Sundin and Yorek are anti-war activists whose record of international solidarity activism goes back decades. They were included in FBI raids in 2010 and subsequent subpoenas to a grand jury, with which they refused to comply. They were not present at nor involved with the planning of the Cities Church protest. The Minnesota Council for American-Islamic Relations phone line also lacks any discernible connection to the Cities Church action.

One important aspect of the summons is that they are not court-issued search warrants. Listed on the summons as one of the recipients of the data is HSI Special Agent Timothy Gerber, who worked for the IRS before moving over to ICE in 2026. He attempted, first in February 2026 and then again in March 2026, to secure search warrants to seize electronic data for five defendants in the Cities Church case but was struck down by Judge John Docherty for failure to establish probable cause. Twice.

Since then, Gerber, Grayson Cooper and Special Agent Steven Schrank have resorted to ICE summons to retrieve this data. The summons cites a law that mandates the disclosure of data related to fees paid to customs and other customs business. The City Church investigation is not related to this at all. The ICE summons has received widespread disdain from lawyers and civil liberties organizations.

These summons come as the next step in the saga of political repression launched against anti-ICE activists in the Twin Cities. Apart from the Cities Church protest, 15 anti-ICE protesters, known now as the Minnesota 15, have been indicted on bogus federal charges and face up to over a decade in prison for their activism at the federal Whipple Building in Minneapolis. The charges include felony conspiracy to impede a federal officer, assault of a federal officer, interstate stalking, interstate threats, and more.

In spite of protests involving over 100,000 people over the course of subzero winter months, Jonathan Ross, the ICE agent who killed Renee Good, and Jesus Ochoa and Raymundo Gutierrez, the ICE agents who killed Alex Pretti, are walking free and have not been charged for any crimes.

“Many of the Righteous 39 Cities Church protesters are my friends and movement colleagues,” said Jess Sundin, one of the Anti-War 23 and one of the Twin Cities activists whose phone records were seized. “They are being prosecuted for doing the right thing – standing against ICE's brutal attacks on immigrants. The idea that the government would use a bogus summons to get records of their communications with me is a desperate attempt to make a case out of nothing. Instead of dividing us, or silencing us, the government's actions are only strengthening our solidarity and commitment to keep fighting for justice.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #PoliticalRepression #ICE #DHS #InjusticeSystem #Featured

Minneapolis, MN- August 26, 50 protesters rallied to demand an end to Palantir’s catastrophic violence in Gaza and terror campaign here in the United States. The action included three banners on the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, which connects Loring Park to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden over Interstate-94. The banners read, “MN money funds AI weapons: divest MN from Palantir,” “Divest Minnesota from apartheid Israel! No tax $$$ for occupation” and “Divest MN from Palantir! Israel and Palantir out of Palestine!”

Organizers explained how Palantir has a long, dark history, made worse under the Trump administration. Founded 23 years ago during the so-called War on Terror, the company marketed itself as a software start-up. “Palantir isn’t just another technology company sitting in an investment portfolio,” said Alissa Washington from Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN (WIAOFC-MN).

According to Vincent O’Connor from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), Palantir is a “tool used to commit countless crimes against humanity with the funding and support of the U.S. military and a plethora of agencies like the CIA and the FBI that have an interest in surveilling and controlling entire populations.”

Miki Pensec from Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) pointed out that Palantir is not only a Republican problem, but in fact, “the first Palantir contracts were signed under Obama.”

Organizers highlighted U.S. regime change plots around the world, intensified with Trump in office, in support of its imperialist intentions. O’Connor said that Palantir allows the United States government to “commit this violence more quickly and more efficiently, or, in other words, on a larger scale than ever.”

It’s not just the U.S. government that uses this technology, but also the Israeli government. According to Nadiyah Salawdeh of U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), in 2024, “Palantir entered into a ‘strategic partnership’ with Israel. This partnership has allowed the cowardly Israeli military to hide behind screens, remote controls, and AI models to commit genocide in Gaza and Lebanon.”

O’Connor added that the Israeli occupation forces “use Palantir to recommend bombing targets, generate kill lists, and even track Palestinians so they can bomb them when they’re in their homes with their families.”

“Palantir CEO Alex Karp said in February 2026 that Palantir’s ‘weapons software is in every combat situation I’m aware of’,” said Salawdeh. “It looks like double-tap strikes on hospitals. It looks like hundreds of bullets fired at Hind Rajab. It looks like hundreds of thousands of dead kids. It looks like mass murder and displacement in Lebanon.”

Salawdeh continued, “What we have allowed to happen to Palestinians has come back to roost. These same technologies that have been tested on Palestinians for over a decade are being deployed in our communities.”

Within the U.S., Palantir is an integral tool used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). In Minnesota, Palantir’s AI surveillance technology reportedly was used directly during Operation Metro Surge. O’Connor said this allowed for “racist policing and mass deportations” by thousands of agents who were “brutalizing, killing, and abducting our own community members.”

Pensec explained how during Operation Metro Surge, “ICE agents photographed MIRAC members, observers, and ordinary bystanders, called them out by name and told them they knew where they lived.” This was likely aided by Palantir’s technology.

Activists drew attention to the fact that the Minnesota State Board of Investment still has $57 million invested in Palantir. “Minnesota cannot claim to protect immigrant communities and civil liberties while our public money is invested in infrastructure being used to surveil and target people,” said Washington.

The organizers spoke to an upsurge of protest against Palantir around the country and called on the community to rise up and demand accountability and justice. “We are tired of politicians creating another advisory board, another task force, another committee that can make recommendations and then be ignored,” Washington added.

Pensec concluded, “They are starting with immigrants, with people of color, with trans people, with activists. But the endpoint is a profile on every one of us.”

The action included a rally at the nearby busy Hennepin/Lyndale Avenue interchange, where the banners were visible. The rally featured speakers from several groups, including the US Palestinian Community Network, Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN, Minnesota Anti-War Committee, MN 50501, and the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palantir #Surveillance #ImmigrantRights #ICE

Minneapolis, MN – On August 30, the newly-formed U.S. Out of Africa Committee of Women Against Military Madness hosted its first event, “Understanding the Tools of Empire: A Panel on Mass Incarceration, Police Violence, and Extraordinary Rendition.” 

Dozens of community members packed the main room of the Lucy Parsons Center. They wanted to learn about the relationship between racialized policing and mass incarceration inside U.S. borders, and U.S. intervention and state-sponsored abductions in Africa.

Khrys Wetzel, a founding member of the U.S. Out of Africa committee (UOA) and volunteer with the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC), opened the function. Wetzel grounded attendees in a brief history of Black August. In 1979, the Black Guerrilla Family, a group of revolutionaries incarcerated in San Quentin State Prison started it. Black August is a month to commemorate persecuted and slain Black freedom fighters. It is also an opportunity to strengthen organized resistance to racial injustice and state repression of Black people and other oppressed nationality peoples. 

Panelist Jae Yates of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) explained, “North American policing has its roots in the slave patrols responsible for capturing escaped slaves and forcibly returning them to plantations.”

Yates continued, “Post-Reconstruction, these militias were formalized into modern police departments that funneled Black people into prisons for crimes that boiled down to taking up space in public.”

Panelist Alissa Washington, the executive director of Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council (WIAOFC), said, “These struggles aren’t identical, but they’re connected through systems of power that decide whose lives deserve protection, whose suffering matters, and whose lives can be treated as disposable.”

Washington highlighted the sprawling nature of the U.S. prison system, which now comprises 20% of the global prison population. This, in spite of the fact that U.S. residents only make up 4.2% of the world’s population. The U.S. prison system is by far the largest on earth, with Black, Chicano, indigenous and other oppressed nationalities jailed at higher rates than whites.

One of the primary campaigns that WIAOFC has championed is the call to free Washington’s fiancé Cornelius Jackson, known as Corn. Jackson was sentenced to life without parole at the age of 19 for being present at the scene of a crime he did not commit. Panel attendees listened with rapt attention as Washington described Jackson’s case, then joined her in chanting “Free Corn!”

Nicholas Tolliver, another founding member of UOA emphasized that the same system that surveils, represses, incarcerates, and kills Black and other oppressed people across the U.S. also inflicts horrific violence on civilians in Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. 

Over the past quarter-century, the U.S. has used the “War on Terror” as a pretext for expanding military intervention in countries across the African continent. This causes regional instability, rampant corruption, and bloody counterinsurgent aggressions funded and directed by the U.S. government and the Pentagon.

The strategic command center of the U.S. military in Africa, AFRICOM, carries out lethal drone strikes and summary executions with impunity. Companies including Honeywell and Palantir reap enormous profits manufacturing equipment and planning for this military violence. Meanwhile, the shadowy state-sponsored kidnapping practice of extraordinary rendition continues to transfer people to foreign countries. Prisoners are detained indefinitely and subjected to extrajudicial torture.

While racist domestic police forces brutalize, criminalize, incarcerate, and kill people inside U.S. borders, the U.S. military-industrial complex invests in militarized violence across the countries of Africa and beyond. 

Panelists closed by encouraging audience members to join groups like UOA, TCC4J and WIAOFC in order to build the collective power needed to effectively combat the oppressive U.S. state and its imperialist appendages overseas.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #BlackAugust #AFRICOM #AntiWarMovement

MIRAC member Mira Altobell-Resendez introduced the film, saying, “The reason the Chicano people were particularly angry about the U.S. waging war against Vietnam was because even though we made up 10% of the American population, we made up 20% of American casualties.”

These shocking statistics, along with discrimination in housing, education and employment, created conditions for Chicanos to fill the streets in the tens of thousands. They were demanding the reallocation of U.S. resources and full racial equality. During the peaceful protest in 1970, LAPD officers started attacking the crowd with batons, tear gas and rubber bullets, ultimately killing three people. Police murdered two Brown Beret members, Lyn Ward and Angel Diaz. Police also murdered well-known and respected LA Times journalist Ruben Salazar.

20 Years, ¿Y Qué? was produced by the National Chicano Moratorium Committee in 1990. Only 28 minutes, it covers the Chicano struggle for self-determination through interviews with organizers and others who participated in the commemorative Chicano Moratorium march. Taking the same march route, youth and elders of the movement called for solidarity with all oppressed people and justice for the victims of police violence.

After the documentary, members of the audience reflected on the state of the movement for the rights of Chicanos, Black people and other nationalities facing oppression within the U.S.. One Chicano elder expressed gratitude for events that keep the radical roots of the Chicano identity alive decades after the beginning of the movement.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #MIRAC #ChicanoMoratorium

St. Paul, MN – Amid a nationwide wave of outrage against Flock automatic license plate readers, community members packed city council chambers on August 26 for a public hearing on police surveillance technology and data privacy. Dozens of community members testified to their opposition to the city’s use of the artificial intelligence (AI)-powered cameras made by Flock and Axon, as well as autonomous drones manufactured by Skydio.

The public hearing was initiated after the previous week’s city council meeting, when activists with the Free Palestine Coalition (FPC) interrupted the proceedings to demand transparency around the city’s contract with Skydio and a process to end it. Organizers explained that Skydio was complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza, supplying cutting-edge drones that use AI to surveil urban areas and identify potential targets.

“Skydio is a U.S. company, but the reason it scaled up its sales to institutions started when it sold hundreds of drones to the Israeli military for its genocide in Gaza,” explained FPC organizer and Saint Paul resident Wyatt Miller in his comments to the council members. “If it wasn’t necessary before a genocide, it shouldn’t be necessary now.”

In June, the FPC initiated a campaign against a proposed Skydio contract with the nearby city of Minneapolis. Hundreds of community members mobilized to urge Minneapolis not to contract with a genocide-complicit company and raised concerns around the technology’s use in the hands of the city’s infamous police department. Minneapolis City Council ultimately caved to community pressure and voted to reject the proposed Skydio contract.

The coalition then teamed up with anti-surveillance group Eyes Off Saint Paul to address the issue in that city. Advocates learned that the Saint Paul Police Department (SPPD) had quietly adopted a similar Skydio drone program without a public hearing, claiming the drones constituted an expansion of an existing contract, allowing it to bypass normal public process.

“We can’t find any public record of the contract. We don’t know how much money is being spent,” Miller told the council. “The only dollar amount that’s been published publicly comes as an ‘estimate’ to the media from the police department itself.”

Many speakers expressed outrage over expenditures on new surveillance tools at a time when Mayor Kaohly Her’s budget includes significant cuts and the closure of the public library in the Dayton’s Bluff neighborhood.

Anna Madison is a member of Eyes Off Saint Paul as well as Families Against Military Madness. “Militarized AI-powered technology continues to advance at a pace that is increasingly difficult to keep up with,” Madison explained to the council. “The only way we can ensure that this technology is not used to harm us is to end these contracts and ban AI-powered mass surveillance immediately.”

Much of the popular outrage has focused on Flock, with high-profile instances of communities destroying the stationary AI cameras around the country. At the regular Saint Paul City Council meeting that took place just before the special hearing on surveillance, the council passed a nonbinding resolution announcing the removal of two city-operated Flock cameras. However, the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office reportedly continues to operate Flock cameras in Saint Paul.

Activists vowed to continue the fight, looking beyond just Flock to other city contracts with AI-powered surveillance companies. They said the oppressive nature of these technologies were demonstrated by their use during the federal anti-immigrant crackdown as well as by Israel in its oppression of Palestinians.

“Corporations cannot be trusted not to share data and recordings with immigration enforcement like what we saw with Operation Metro Surge,” Cedar Larson of Women Against Military Madness told the council. “We know that Axon recently acquired Israeli company Carbyne, which makes AI-powered emergency communications used by police. This props up Israel’s tech sector, which makes up 20% of the apartheid state’s GDP and about half of its annual exports.”

Sana Wazwaz is a Palestinian American and chapter lead of American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota, part of the FPC. “Our coalition firmly believes that no fantasy of stopping crimes is worth the greater crime of being complicit in fascism and genocide,” Wazwaz told the council. “Skydio has an active contract with the very entity that terrorized our community just this last winter. In the words of Minneapolis Council Member Aurin Chowdhury, ‘To contract with Skydio in light of what happened during Metro Surge is nothing short of morally bankrupt.’ ”

Speakers also argued that crimes committed by SPPD and other police departments showed they could not be trusted with new surveillance technologies. Officers in several states have been accused of using Flock data to stalk ex-girlfriends. An officer in Texas allegedly used the system to track the movements of a woman seeking an abortion.

Wazwaz concluded, “What we have seen with the murder of Marcus Golden here in Saint Paul, with the murders of Philando Castile, George Floyd, Jamar Clark, that law enforcement without community control over police must not be given surveillance tools.”

#StPaulMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Skydio #Palestine #Surveillance #Flock

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 27, over 100 people turned out to the federal courthouse in Minneapolis for the latest hearing for Minnesota 15, the group of anti-ICE protesters who have been indicted on bogus federal conspiracy charges for their alleged activities during Operation Metro Surge.

Recently, documents were released by the courts which detailed the Trump administration’s massive surveillance operation in Minneapolis targeting anti-ICE activists, labor unions and community groups. It included tactics such as sending undercover agents to public meetings and protests, using AI facial recognition software to track individuals, and recording suspected activists’ license plates in public parking lots.

This hearing was around a motion by the defense to get the government to release more of its evidence in the case against the 15, a move the Trump-appointed prosecutors are resisting.

The courtroom quickly filled up, but the plaza outside the building remained packed with supporters throughout the hearing.

Meredith Aby, director of Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), a member organization of the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump, was one of the people who managed to get into the courtroom. She stated, “The courtroom was filled with supporters because people are outraged that community activists are being targeted by the Trump administration for standing with our immigrant neighbors.”

After the hearing, some of the defendants spoke at a press conference, including Isaac Sant, who stated, “They were spying on us from day one. In fact, five days before Operation Metro Surge was declared, they began spying on our organizations. They had a directive to get out there and find ‘Antifa.’” Sant continued, “If it wasn’t us on trial, it was going to be one of you.” He concluded, “This is a politically-motivated prosecution, and I believe we’re going to win, and this is going to be thrown out.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #PoliticalRepression #MN15 #ICE #OperationMetroSurge #Feature

Minneapolis, MN – On August 20, dozens of community members attended a panel titled “How MN Money is Funding Palantir’s Deadly Surveillance Network” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel, organized by the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), discussed divestment from the AI surveillance company Palantir. Palantir facilitates human rights violations against Palestinians, as well as immigrants in Minnesota.

The panelists explained that Palantir arose from U.S. wars on Iraq and Afghanistan in the 2000s. Palantir’s surveillance technology exists as a tool to direct violence against vulnerable groups. Palantir’s programs parse vast amounts of data on the lives of many people, streamlining the process by which intelligence agencies, militaries and police forces choose who to target. This includes recent U.S. strikes on Venezuela and Iran, and Israel’s attacks on Gaza.

Palantir’s technology also enables federal agents within the U.S. to surveil Americans, especially targeting immigrant communities. During the past winter, Minnesota faced an occupation by thousands of ICE agents who acted violently and killed protesters.

Palantir is also utilized by the Israeli military for rapid mass targeting of Palestinians. “Having a computer program that orders execution amounts to a very thin moral pretext for a conscious act of genocide,” said Joe Yamine, speaking for the AWC.

The Minnesota State Board of Investment currently has $57 million invested in Palantir. Panelists stressed the importance of getting the SBI to divest that money, much of which comes from public worker pensions, as well as taxpayers.

Palantir is now facing significant opposition from many groups across the country, including divestment campaigns. Panelists highlighted the successes of public pressure on politicians, universities and hospitals to cut ties with the company. These successes are a result of community actions, which will continue to gain ground as more groups organize around the cause. Under pressure from anti-war activists in Denver, Palantir recently moved its headquarters to Miami, Florida.

As Kenny Morris from the American Friends Service Committee explained, “Divestment is possible. It’s happened before, and I’m sure it will happen in your state too.”

Speakers included members of the American Friends Service Committee, the Palestine Justice Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, and Minnesota 50501.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Surveillance #Palantir #MNAWC

Minneapolis, MN – On August 22, at 11:30 a.m. the People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) organized a counter-protest to the Jake Lang hate rally. More than 100 protesters showed up in opposition to Lang’s white supremacist hate speech, aimed this time at the Black community. Lang has also called for the reinstitution of Jim Crow laws, calls to deport all immigrants from the U.S., and anti-Muslim hate speech.

When counter-protest organizers arrived at city hall, Minneapolis Police Department officers threatened to tow away their sound and medic vehicles. But when Jake Lang and his band of less than ten supporters showed up with two vehicles, MPD allowed them to drive onto the sidewalk. Officers surrounded Lang’s vehicles as they moved forward, effectively providing them with an armed escort.

MPD can be seen on video pushing and hitting protesters, ensuring Lang’s hate speech could continue. Mayor Jacob Frey stated to the press that MPD arrested Lang after he was run off by the crowd. But there was no reason to not arrest Lang for driving on the sidewalk. This unequal treatment of left and right-wing protest is nothing new to PACAT organizers.

MPD also arrested an anti-Lang protester who dressed as Spider-Man and adopted the hero’s persona by facing off with Lang and his ilk directly. MPD threw Minneapolis’ Spider-Man to the ground and stomped on his head before forcing him into a squad vehicle. The protester was released later the same day and received medical care after leaving the jail. PACAT and other community members are organizing a support action around Spider-Man’s September 4 court appearance on bogus assault charges.

A statement from PACAT notes, “If it was not clear before where the priorities of the Minneapolis police, and the mayor with sole authority over them, lie, it should now be clear to every Minneapolis resident who considers themselves anti-fascist and anti-racist that we are not the people they serve or protect. After the complete failure of Mayor Frey and MPD to protect residents from ICE during Metro Surge, and years of violence against Black, native and immigrant communities, we must understand them as ineffective at best and capitulators to the far right at worst.”

The People’s Action Coalition Against Trump and its member organizations are calling for the immediate resignation of Mayor Jacob Frey and interim MPD Chief Bill Peterson, as well as systemic reforms like community control of the police.

The PACAT counter-protest was supported by Black Lives Matter MN, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, the Wrongfully Incarcerated & Over-sentenced Families Council-MN, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, TC Democratic Socialists of America, Minnesota 50501, and MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #RightWingers #JakeLang #Fascists #WhiteSupremacists #PACAT #JakeLang #SpiderMan #Feature #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #ImmigrantRights

Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, August 13, the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC) hosted a panel titled “To Hell With Honeywell” at the Lucy Parsons Center. The panel shared the history of Honeywell’s production of weapons parts in Minneapolis, and local resistance efforts to its complicity in U.S. war crimes.

Honeywell is a prominent U.S. weapons manufacturer with a major facility operating right in the backyard of the Northeast neighborhood. Honeywell’s own website shows that in 2025 roughly 40% of its profits came from “Defense and Space,” with half of those profits coming from sales to the U.S. government.

The panelists condemned the new $500 million contract that Honeywell currently has with the Department of Defense. Under a separate defense contract, the Minneapolis Honeywell location was given over $30.8 million to accelerate production of technology in support of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, specifically, production of 1890 Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range (AARGMER) inertial measurement units (IMUs). These parts, used in missiles and military drones, are integral to the navigation of these weapons towards their targets.

The panel also featured organizers from the historic “Honeywell Project” in Minnesota spanning back to the 1960s. This decades-long campaign pressured the Minneapolis Honeywell location to stop the local production of cluster bombs used to commit war crimes in Southeast Asia and Lebanon.

During the presentation, images of IMUs found in Palestine after bombings showed production labels, “Honeywell, Inc. Mpls, MN.” Both Lockheed Martin and Boeing use these specific IMUs from Honeywell in a number of their fighter jets, missiles and bombs. Furthermore, the General Atomics company uses them in its infamous MQ-9 Reaper Drones. These weapons have been used by the U.S. and Israel to target people in countries across the globe, including Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, Venezuela, Somalia and Yemen.

In the case of this new Department of Defense contract, the Honeywell location in Minneapolis is unique, as the department states that these specific IMUs can only be produced at the Minneapolis Honeywell location without there being a significant delay in production.

Protesting Honeywell over the decades

Twin Cities residents are no strangers to disrupting production at Honeywell and telling war profiteers that they are not welcome. Longtime local organizers Sarah Martin, of Women Against Military Madness and the Honeywell Project in the 1980s, and Cindy Doll, also of the Honeywell Project and a Minnesota Nurses Association member, shared lessons. They explained how organizing led to the massive actions and extensive engagement that created roadblocks to Honeywell’s production and damaged its reputation over the years.

The panelists talked about the founders of the Honeywell Project, including anti-war and civil rights activist Marv Davidov, and 25 others who started meeting in 1968, when Honeywell’s corporate headquarters was located in Minneapolis. They shared the devastating impact of the 90 million cluster bombs, many made by Honeywell, that were dropped over Southeast Asia during the U.S. war on Vietnam. Unexploded ordinance is still killing civilians, many of them children, and farm animals decades later in places like Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Honeywell Project led leafleting campaigns, bannering actions outside of the homes of Honeywell executives, meetings with company leaders, vigils, civil disobedience actions, and demonstrations outside Honeywell headquarters and shareholder meetings.

Some of these actions included thousands of demonstrators. Martin said, “At an October protest in 1983, 575 people were arrested!”

Martin continued, “The people formed a chain around the headquarters,” adding, “These protests closed the headquarters down several times.” Panelists estimated there were 2200 arrests between 1980 and 1987.

Demonstrations continued against landmines, as the “Alliant Action” campaign in the 1990s, when Honeywell formed a new company, Alliant Techsystems, to include its defense division.

Describing years of direct action protests at the Honeywell headquarters in Minneapolis in the 1980s, Cindy Doll shared, “Being part of the Honeywell Project for me meant a great deal of learning about weapons, about the history of war, about protest movements, about government involvement in war at home and abroad” and “I learned how to talk to my city council representative, my employer, my family.”

Reflecting on the power of workers and organized labor, other panelists highlighted the role that activists and organized labor have in resisting Honeywell’s production of weapons parts.

Amber Mathwig with About Face: Veterans Against the War shared, “These IMUs are manufactured by unionized labor – Teamsters, specifically, here in Minneapolis. And I think that’s a really important aspect of challenging the military-industrial complex because so much of our organized labor is within the military industrial complex.” She explained, “There are challenges there in pointing out to people, ‘Hey, your lifestyle, your good union benefits, come at this huge expense to the cost of life around the globe.’ And that is one thing that About Face has been uniquely positioned to talk about.”

With such a strong local history of opposing U.S. militarism and Honeywell’s production of weapons in Minneapolis, advocates said that rich history can teach future generations.

Lina Jebara of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee said, “We know disruption to Honeywell’s IMU production would be disastrous,” pointing out that, “With increased shortages, we really are particularly positioned in Minneapolis to affect the ability to which the U.S. and Israel are able to actually create these munitions and carry out these crimes against humanity.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #MPAC

Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, community members gathered at Mayday Plaza to honor the 81st anniversary of Korean Liberation Day. The event was held in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood, right outside of Mayday Books.

The action was emceed by Trent Fast from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and Leo Del Rio from About Face, who began with the acknowledgement of the U.S.’s ongoing presence and occupation in Korea.

One occupation replaced by another

Fast explained to the crowd that the first liberation day in Korea was in 1945, after World War II ended. This marked an end to decades of Japanese colonial rule. Soon after, however, the United States military “showed up and established its own, brand-new occupation.” Thus, the Korean War began.

From 1950 to 1953, the U.S. government killed over two-and-a-half million Koreans and nearly decimated every major North Korean city. At the end of those three long years, the Mutual Defense Treaty was signed. Even though the war had “ended,” the U.S. remained in Korea as an imperialist force, occupying newly-designated South Korea. This occupation still lasts today. On average, there are about 28,000 U.S. troops that are living in Korea, and South Korea has the largest overseas U.S. Army base in the world.

Cedar Larson, representing WAMM, educated the crowd around the Mutual Defense Treaty and other similar agreements, calling them, “political tools to increase U.S. domination and control” over the land. They said the treaty gave the U.S. the “opportunity to threaten their enemies” and had “disastrous effects on the lives of the people.”

Forced prostitution

Larson also drew attention to the human rights violations that have been occurring since the 1960s. For example, the governments of the United States and South Korea established areas around military bases known as “special tourist zones for foreigners” – meaning soldiers. In these designated areas, South Korean, American and United Nations troops introduced forced prostitution. Women and girls, as young as 15, were “deceived, kidnapped, and forced into sex labor,” said Larson.

These crimes have continued to the present day. Even though laws have been put into place, they are rarely followed. The areas discussed above are often now branded as “tourist stops” but have a dark underbelly.

Ecological consequences of imperialism

Liz McLister from FAMM brought up the ecological effects that the U.S. occupation has had in Korea. McLister said that from “contaminating water supplies and arable land” to “disrupting wildlife habitats,” the U.S. has only brought destruction to the country. As climate change continues to worsen, the Pacific region is experiencing extreme heat, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and severe storm systems.

U.S. activities in the region are accelerating ecological damage and leaving its communities traumatized by decades of systemic abuse. Emily Newberg from WAMM stated, “Occupation is wrong. To occupy another’s land to take away their sovereignty and their self-determination. It leads to catastrophe in almost every way: economically, environmentally and nationally as the people are torn apart by propaganda and false promises.”

Not only does this occupation affect the communities living in Korea, but also U.S. citizens. U.S. tax dollars are being used to maintain around 80 military bases in Korea, using “$6 billion to maintain U.S. bases and troops in South Korea,” according to Larson. McLister pointed out that the “Korean peninsula is of immense strategic value to U.S. military operations.”

Korea’s proximity to China and other strategic locations makes it the perfect target for the U.S. military and imperialist interests.

Simulated invasion

Along with the maintenance of military bases, the United States also engages in staged military exercises or “war games.” Since 2021, the U.S. government has stolen $60 billion from U.S. taxpayers to fund war games like Ulchi Freedom Shield, RIMPAC and Balikatan. These military exercises are conducted in “preparation” for a war with other countries in the area, such as China and Japan.

Fast noted that during the upcoming week, the United States and South Korean militaries were planning to hold “one of the largest annual war drills on earth.” This exercise is named Ulchi Freedom Shield.

During these drills, tens of thousands of troops are deployed to the border with the North, simulating an invasion. Fast said that these war games could quickly escalate to actual war if there is a simple misunderstanding by either side, and have a heavy psychological toll on the people of Korea, who fear an uncertain future.

The day after the protest, President Donald Trump announced a reduction of the scope of this year’s Ulchi Freedom Shield, in apparent reaction to depleted U.S. military capacities stemming from the ongoing U.S. war on Iran.

As Naveen Borojerdi from MPAC put it, Korea is a “country that has paid a massive toll for its right to self-determination.”

A speaker from Anakbayan asked rhetorically, “For whom? For whom was the United States liberating countries across Asia? It was not for those people.”

Organizations were represented at the action, included About Face: Veterans Against the War, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Families Against Military Madness (FAMM), Minnesota Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), Anakbayan Twin Cities, and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC).

#MinneapolisMN #MN #International #AntiWarMovement #Korea

Minneapolis, MN – On August 15, around 20 people gathered on a rainy afternoon in downtown Minneapolis to raise awareness about proposed mining in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness by a company called Twin Metals.

Sophie Kampmeyer from the Climate Justice Committee told the crowd, “The proposed mines near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness would be sulfide mines, a byproduct of which is sulfuric acid, AKA battery acid, polluting the lakes and rivers. As the acid makes its way through the environment, it leaches other toxic metals from the ground, including mercury, arsenic, cadmium and lead. These contaminants would pollute crops and wildlife throughout the state,” adding that it would be, “permanent pollution for less copper and nickel than we’d get from recycling e-waste that already exists.”

Activists’ chants of, “When the water we drink is under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, toxic mines have got to go!” echoed for blocks, including at the busy downtown farmers market, where activists handed out information to market-goers. Cars honked and people joined in chanting to show their support for protecting the Boundary Waters region.

Emma Scherrer from Minnesota Workers United, stated, “We cannot ignore the climate crisis for short-term profit. If we don't do something now, there won't be anything left to protect. The mining interests are pitting people who want good paying jobs against those of us that want clean water and clean air! Now I don't know about you, but I don't just want clean water and clean air or a good-paying job. I want all three. This is definitely possible.”

Ulysses Dolan from the AWC made the connection to environmental and anti-war fights around the globe. “The State Board of Investment is investing in companies that fuel the genocide in Palestine and Twin Metals. We need to call on our governor to divest!”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #BWCA #Mining #CJC

St. Paul, MN – Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) responded to the Legalization for All Network’s call to protest against Trump’s racist attacks on Haitian immigrants. Dozens of protesters gathered on the Marshall Avenue/Lake Street bridge at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, August 5 to stand with the Haitian community against Trump’s latest racist anti- immigrant attack.

In Ohio, Hattian immigrants are being summoned by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and are being forced to wear ankle monitors until their deportation hearing – or be deported immediately.

On June 25, the Trump administration terminated Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which provides work authorization, travel permission and protection from deportation for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. This came after a far-right ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court (Mullin v. Doe), where six of the nine judges voted to allow Trump to terminate this status for the two immigrant communities.

Within a day, 300,000 Haitian and Syrian immigrants became undocumented and at risk for deportation.

Protesters held signs that read “We say no to Trump’s mass deportation of Haitian immigrants! End U.S. intervention in Haiti!” and waved as passing drivers honked, bikers rang their bells, and a runner clapped on her run in support.

The rally ended with a brief program where the crowd heard from Mira Altobell-Resendez, an organizer with MIRAC, told the crowd, “This most recent rug-pull, taking TPS away from workers and families who have been in the U.S. for years, has already resulted in thousands of Haitians in Ohio being put into deportation proceedings and forced to wear inhumane ankle monitors.”

Altobell-Resendez continued, “There is not a single person who benefits from mass deportations like these, or what took place in the Twin Cities during Metro Surge, except for the same people who always make money from human suffering: the white supremacist ruling class!” They ended with calling on Governor Tim Walz to “spend his last months in office fighting tooth and nail to create ICE-free zones and ban collaboration between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement.”

WAMM holds a vigil on the Marshall/Lake bridge every Wednesday and this week’s action was co-hosted with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC).

#StPaulMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #Haiti #TPS #ICE

Minneapolis, MN: On July 30, 35 people protested at Loring Park in Minneapolis to demand an end to the U.S. oil blockade on Cuba. The protest was called by the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) and Women Against Military Madness’ HOLA (Hands Off Latin America) Committee as a part of the Anti-War Action Network’s call for a week of action in solidarity with Cuba.

An increasing amount of international attention is focused on the consequences of President Trump’s tightened blockade on the island. Since the U.S. kidnapped Venezuelan President Maduro, the Trump administration has imposed a six-month-long U.S. oil blockade on the island, which is causing a humanitarian crisis. Electric water pumps frequently sit idle due to lack of power, leaving major cities like Havana struggling with running water. Hospitals and medical manufacturing have also slowed down due to the lack of electricity.

Ben Golden, an organizer with the MN Anti-War Committee, emceed the protest. He explained, “The U.S. has engineered a deadly economic crisis so that they can manufacture an excuse for regime change in Cuba, but we won’t stand for it! Warfare is not always waged in bombs and bullets, and the U.S. is waging a reprehensible war on Cuba in the form of this embargo. We are here to say that we stand with the sovereignty of the Cuban people; end the embargo, and down with the U.S. war machine!”

Sarah Martin, a founder of the Hands Off Latin America committee, was the first speaker at the protest. Martin has traveled on solidarity trips to Venezuela and Cuba, which are both being threatened by the Trump administration. She said, “Both countries, Cuba and Venezuela, asserted their sovereignty and independence and broke free from the hold of U.S. imperialism and began to build societies which put people first, especially the poor. The U.S. did not take kindly to this, and both countries have been in the crosshairs of the U.S. empire no matter what administration was in power.”

Martin concluded, “The peoples of both countries are resilient and committed to their revolutions. It is up to us in the belly of the beast to do everything we can to interfere with Trump and Rubio’s plans. So, we’re here today and we’ll continue to come out until the U.S. backs off and ends the war threats, ends the oil embargo, and ends the blockade on Cuba.”

During the protest, two banners were hung from the bridge from Loring Park to the Walker Art Center over Interstate 94 demanding “End the blockade on Cuba” and “Let Cuba live! End the embargo on Cuba!” Thousands of drivers saw the banners and honked and waved to show support.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Cuba

St. Paul, MN – Eastside Neighbors will breathe clean air come January 1. After a years-long struggle, Eastside neighbors are celebrating the closure of industrial polluter Northern Iron Tool and Machine. On Thursday, July 30, the foundry announced that it will close by the end of the year. Northern Iron was a constant source of pollution that harmed the Eastside community.

Just last week, on July 18, Eastside residents with the Minnesota Climate Justice Committee packed a Saint Paul courtroom and held a press conference to demand Northern Iron’s air permit be revoked.

Kalani Matus of the Climate Justice Committee stated, “Don’t get it twisted – community action took down this polluter. Just like with Smith Foundry in Minneapolis, everyday people organized together around their common interests to shut down Northern Iron. Right now, it can feel like the world is attacking regular people left and right. But we have the power to change our circumstances. When we organize, great things can happen.”

Brittney Bruce bought a house directly across the street from Northern Iron. When she moved in, she had no idea her house, her windowsills, and her car would be covered in black dust from Northern Iron. Upon hearing the news of Northern Iron’s closure she said, “My kids can go outside. Kids in the school won’t have to breathe the pollution anymore. By next year our kids will be able to breathe clean air.” Bruce had never organized against an industrial polluter like Northern Iron before. She said, “By yourself your voice is small. But when we get together we are loud. I’m so glad we were able to hold Northern Iron accountable.”

Last year, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) initiated a lawsuit to revoke Northern Iron’s air permit after years of noncompliance, unacceptable pollution, and neighborhood demands for clean air. For decades, Northern Iron shirked accountability. The polluting foundry has air permit violations and other citations dating back to the early 2000s. As recently as 2023, Northern Iron was fined $41,500 by the MPCA for inadequate pollution control equipment and installing new equipment without a permit. These violations led to increased air pollution for Eastside residents.

Neighbors of the foundry continually reported air quality issues to the MPCA and they rallied against the foundry. Eastside residents also sued Northern Iron in a class action lawsuit that demanded the polluter take responsibility for the harm it caused to residents’ health and homes. A judge has yet to rule on either the permit revocation or the class action lawsuit against Northern Iron.

Whitney Wildman of the Minnesota Climate Justice Committee said, “The Climate Justice Committee congratulates the residents of Eastside on their victory against Northern Iron. This victory shows when we fight back we can make huge gains for our communities. We stand in total solidarity with Eastside in their fight for clean air and a safe, healthy community. And we will be watching to ensure no other polluters replace Northern Iron.”

Eastside resident and lawyer Melissa Lorentz said, “The Eastside has worked so hard for this victory. I can't count the number of community members that showed up to meetings, wrote letters, door knocked, and rallied to hold Northern Iron accountable. My neighbors are crying tears of joy right now, not just because we won, but because we did it together.”

Sarah Degner Riveros, who is an Eastside resident, said, “This victory sends a message to all polluters that Minnesotans won't tolerate harm to our environment. This is a win that will have lasting impacts far beyond the East Side of Saint Paul.”

#StPaulMN #MN #Environment #CJC

Three days earlier, Corey Ruiz was fatally shot in Madison, Wisconsin. Nine days before that, Joan Sebastian Guerrero was brutally murdered by ICE in Maine, in front of his one-year-old daughter. And just the night before, word came through that the “drugs” DHS had used to smear Lorenzo Salgado Araujo had tested negative, too late to undo the damage of the accusation. This is the backdrop against which the riders gathered: a rolling body count that never seems to pause long enough for anyone to catch their breath.

The day's program opened a block from George Floyd Square.

Tiffany Dunlap, defendant number 17 of the Righteous 39, took the mic first, speaking of the repression being brought against activists, followed by Michelle Gross of Communities United Against Police Brutality (CUAPB). Then came Jeanelle Austin, the Square's lead caretaker, who tied together the history of police oppression in South Minneapolis. She said, “We have to keep organizing, we have to keep standing, we have to keep fighting for each other, for our neighbors. We have to keep shouting from the rooftops to make sure we organize more people to stand with us so we can end the state-sanctioned violence.”

From there, the ride carried the crowd to Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, an intersection that holds real weight in the history of Metro Surge, as the site of the first mass ICE action in Minneapolis under Donald Trump’s second administration. Isavela López described the ties between historical oppression of indigenous Americans and modern police repression of immigrant communities. She faced charges for nothing more than standing up for her neighbors during that raid.

López reminded the crowd, “It's more than me at this point. These are people that want to just help their neighbors; that have honest hearts; that want to learn more; that want to be advocates. I know at the end of the day there will be justice.” López's case is not an outlier. The same repression shows up in the cases of the Righteous 39 and the Minnesota 15, and in the century-long sentences being handed to activists in Texas.

A member of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles spoke after her about the atrocities families are facing every day.

The ride's next stop carried a different kind of weight, the memorial for Alex Pretti. Anusha Ramaswami of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) led a moment of silence here, honoring Pretti alongside the latest life lost in Madison.

Then there was a stop at the memorial for Renee Good. Here, Alissa Washington, the director of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council, spoke of her childhood friend Terrence Franklin, murdered by police in May 2013. She also spoke of her cousin Stephen Washington, who died in prison because of officer negligence, days before he was set to walk free.

Washington spoke of her own ongoing fight – 20 years spent trying to win freedom for her wrongfully incarcerated fiancé, Cornelius “Corn” Jackson, locked away for a crime he never committed. On July 2, Washington’s 72-year-old uncle was detained by ICE. As the group gathered that Saturday, he was being processed for deportation. Washington is now raising his four children, and she asked the crowd for donations of school supplies for those kids, which people can arrange through the Instagram page for the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (@tcc4j).

Washington stated, “When I say these struggles are personal, I mean every word. I had mourned my childhood friend because of police violence here in Minneapolis. I have buried my cousin because of police negligence here in Minnesota. I fight every day for the freedom of the man I love. And now, I am helping raise my uncle's children because ICE decided to tear another family apart. This movement isn't something I clock into, this is my life. This is my family!”

The ride closed where it began. Angie Cisneros Rosero of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) took the mic for the day's final word, “Let us remember the strength in our broken hearts. They see us united. They see people who continue to fight even with tears in their eyes. The problem is not that people don't care. We need collective power. Power so strong that the system can no longer govern in the same way. The only way we will see justice, is if we the people organize and make it happen.”

MIRAC currently has a campaign to get Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and all gubernatorial candidates to sign an executive order regarding a number of issues discussed here. If you are interested in signing a petition to pressure these politicians to act, please go to https://c.org/kCzgWPgx48.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #AlexPretti #ReneeGood

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, July 18, more than 50 community members rallied on the corner of Loring Park in Minneapolis to demand Minnesota take tangible steps to be a real sanctuary state for trans people. Loring Park is a historically queer neighborhood in Minneapolis and hosts Pride every year.

The rally was called by the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee to demand Minnesota become a true refuge state for trans people relocating here by providing concrete support and resources that help people safely build their lives.

Minnesota has built a reputation as a safer place for trans folks. The state already has the highest percentage of trans adults in the country, and, since the trans refuge bill passed in 2023, OutFront Minnesota says it has helped hundreds of families relocate here from states where their care and their safety are under attack. Out Front estimates the real number of trans newcomers is five or six times higher.

Relocation for families is not an easy or simple task in itself and moving can put people at increased risk of homelessness, job loss and gaps in medical care. These are risks trans people already face more than most. Minnesota has become a refuge state in name, but the support systems people need once they get here need further development.

Natalie Dalbec, an organizer with the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee spoke about how “the forces of bigotry are working to crack down on our existence as trans people,” naming states like Florida, Texas, Arkansas and Idaho as states that have elected officials who are particularly cruel to trans people.

“Because of this,” Dalbec stated, “more trans people are moving to Minnesota than any other state, in search of a safe haven where they can live as their true self without fear of oppression.” Dalbec went on to explain that the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee demands that the state provide more funding for services such as gender-affirming care, name changes and more.

River Townsend, a non-binary parent of a trans youth and member of the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee, stated, “We escaped Texas in 2015. That very year, Houston's effort to become more progressive in a sea of red hit a major roadblock.”

Townsend described many anti-trans policies that Houston implemented, such as bathroom restrictions. They concluded their speech by stating “As citizens of a sanctuary state we have the honor and duty to our trans family across the country to create a safe landing. We demand support for housing, jobs, transportation and healthcare.”

Over the past several months, the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee has been collecting testimonies from trans people who have moved to the twin cities to understand the conditions trans people face when they leave and what barriers they face when they move to Minnesota. The emcees read off a few of these to the crowd to share these insights and exemplify the need for more support.

One of the testimonies read off was from Issac, a 34-year-old trans person who moved to Minnesota from Kansas City in 2023. “I moved from Kansas City to Minnesota after the trans sanctuary bill was passed, seeking access to gender-affirming care and employment opportunities. I have found it much easier to access gender-affirming care here, but still notice disparity in other areas, like employment. It is incredibly difficult to find work right now, and even more so for trans and gender nonconforming people. As the cost of living continues to increase, I see more and more of my trans friends struggling to have their basic needs met. There are more gender-affirming care clinicians in Minnesota, but the demand is so much higher as we see more people coming here from neighboring states. Long wait times to schedule and see clinicians, combined with high medical costs (even with insurance), result in care that remains out of reach for many trans folks.”

As the rally came to a close, the protestors lined the streets with signs calling for the protection and support of trans people. Drivers honked in support as organizers led the crowd in chants of “No hate! No fear! Trans people are welcome here!” and “We’re not here to compromise! Hands off trans lives!”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #LGBTQ #Trans

St. Paul, MN – The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) joined East Side Neighbors for Health to pack the courtroom for the administrative hearing, July 21, regarding the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s (MPCA) action to revoke Northern Iron’s permit to pollute, due to noncompliance and noncooperation.

Before the hearing started, extra chairs were needed for the nearly 40 people who had come out on a Tuesday morning to witness the hearing. The small administrative court is unaccustomed to bystanders.

Tracy Molm from the CJC stated, “We're so happy to be here standing with Eastside Saint Paul residents as the Minnesota Pollution Control is taking the step of pulling Northern Iron, AKA Lawton Standard's, air permits. While we applaud the MPCA for working to pull their permits, we know this is happening because the people of Eastside have stood up and said, ‘No more!’”

Tim Marino, a resident in the area, declared, “Alex Lawton, the CEO of Northern Iron's parent company, publicly stated, ‘I certainly wouldn't move into a residential area and build a foundry.’ If that is true, why is it acceptable for a working-class neighborhood of color to be forced to live with decisions made decades ago that wouldn't be allowed today? This is environmental racism and classism under the guise of business as usual.”

Sarah Degner Riveros, an East Side resident, stated, “We demand transparency about the toxins in our air and soil. As neighbors, we are counting on the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to protect us. For years, our community has been dealing with the soot, noise, lead exposure and the uncertainty that comes with not knowing what years of exposure may mean for the health of our homes.”

While no decision was given at this hearing, the CJC and the community have vowed that they will continue to fight no matter the decision. Molm continued, “In the CJC we have seen firsthand how communities standing up against polluters can win. When the CJC joined with the East Phillips and Little Earth communities in Minneapolis, we were able to stop the Roof Depot demolition, close Smith Foundry and Bituminous Roadways allowing the community to thrive. We will continue to organize and rally because when the air we breathe is under attack, what do we do?! Stand up, fight back!”

#StPaulMN #MN #Environment #Pollution #NorthernIron #ClimateJustice

Minneapolis, MN – On Saturday, July 18 the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) held a protest at the intersection of University and Central Avenues at Chute Square Park. The committee demanded an immediate end to the U.S. war on Iran and Israel’s ongoing attacks and occupation of Lebanon. Over 50 community members and activists attended the action, holding signs, flags and banners to demonstrate solidarity with the people of Iran, Lebanon and Palestine. Commuters honked in support as they drove by, while passengers yelled “Free Palestine” out the window.

Since the signing of the U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding in June 2026, Israel has violated the shaky ceasefire agreement on a daily basis, leveling entire city blocks and killing thousands with impunity. According to organizers, Israel’s violence was the original impetus for this action – until early in the second week of July, when President Trump ordered U.S. escalations against Iran.

The U.S. launched multiple strikes across Iran, including near Qeshm Island, Jask, Sirik, and Bandar Abbas, allegedly because of strikes on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. In response, Iran struck U.S. military bases in the region – including UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain – and announced the closure of the strait. Now the U.S. has reinstated its “blockade of the blockade,” preventing ships from leaving Iran's ports

The Strait of Hormuz is responsible for allowing travel of around 20% of the world’s liquefied natural gas and oil trade. Closing it even for a day costs is expensive and severely limits global access to crucial energy. What seemed to be a war on the wane has restarted and once again threatens to throw the region into total chaos.

One of the emcees for the event was Yossi Aharoni, a Persian Jew and longtime member of the AWC. In a powerful opening speech, Yossi said, “I’m against this war not just because my tax dollars pay for it, I’m against it for the same reason that anyone with a heart and conscience is against it. This is an immoral, illegal war of aggression and it sickens me to my very core.”

The first speaker of the event was Lina Jebara, a Lebanese-American member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). Jebara declared, “Israel has used the war on Iran as a smokescreen to expand the tactics it’s been using in its genocide of Palestine and Lebanon. Since the last ceasefire went into place, Israel has destroyed over ten thousand homes in Lebanon’s south and continues to target critical civilian infrastructure, razing all that it can. These acts of depravity seem to be devoid of any real strategic objective, seemingly more analogous to hapless flailing, and that’s because they are. The Israelis have failed to secure any tactical victories since the war on Iran began, and are now grasping for anything that can be framed as a victory for their own people who need to believe in an image of superiority to tolerate living in a land that is not their own.”

The last speaker for the day was Maamoun Slayhi of the Minnesota chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP-MN). A Lebanese-American political organizer with nearly two decades of activism under his belt, Slayhi reflected on the devastation Israel and the U.S. have caused, saying, “More than 4100 people have been killed in Lebanon, and more than one million have been driven from their homes. In Iran, at least 3400 people have been murdered since this war started, 3.2 million people have been displaced, and renewed American strikes are killing more people again.“

Slayhi continued, “Behind every number is a mother, a father, a child, a paramedic, and a family whose home became a target. Neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. Villages have been emptied. Hospitals, roads, homes, power systems, and water infrastructure have been damaged. The United States and Israel opened the war against Iran. Israel expanded its assault on Lebanon. Then Washington told us that every new strike was necessary because of the consequences of the previous strike. Different maps. Same empire. Same weapons.”

The action was endorsed by AMP-MN, Families Against Military Madness, Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Twin Cities, Free Palestine Coalition, Let Iran Live, Minnesota 50501, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, and Women Against Military Madness.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #MNAWC #AMPMN #WAMM #FAMM

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, July 17, around 200 people gathered in a majority-immigrant neighborhood in scorching 95-degree heat to demand justice for four men who were murdered by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in just seven days.

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was shot by ICE on July 7 during a traffic stop in Houston, Texas. He had built houses for over three decades, worked hard while putting his three sons through college, and was simply driving his construction crew to work that morning.

Joan Sebastian Guerrero, 26, was killed on July 13 in Maine. He was working two jobs in order to support his wife and their three-year-old daughter. His daughter was in the car when ICE agents shot through the window.

Both men were killed because ICE agents were looking for someone else.

Also on July 13, Jesus Manuel Arenas-Silva, a 45-year-old Venezuelan man, was killed in ICE custody while being transferred by bus from a detention center to an ICE processing center in Georgia. ICE ignored his family's repeated pleas to allow him to take his medicine while in detention. He was killed by purposeful medical negligence. Killed by ICE.

On July 14, Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran, a 28-year-old Mexican man, was struck and killed by a semi truck while being chased by ICE in Saint Augustine, Florida. He and his coworkers stopped for something to eat when they were racially profiled by ICE. None of them were the subject of any sort of immigration investigation.

The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) organized the rally as part of a broader movement that demands accountability and justice. Since the beginning of the second Trump administration, ICE agents have shot and killed at least 11 people. The pattern is consistent: traffic stops, warrants for the wrong person, ICE with guns.

Rally attendees held out their signs demanding justice and chanting “Aqui estamos y no nos vamos” and “Say it once say it twice, we will not put up with ICE!” A banner read, “Three days since ICE has killed that we know of…” Despite the oppressive heat, the people stayed and ensured their voices were heard.

A MIRAC speaker at the rally told the crowd, “Here’s the thing, neither (Araujo nor Guerrero) was who ICE was looking for. ICE was looking for someone else. But they killed these two men anyway.”

The MIRAC speaker continued, “We’ve been asking for help. We’ve been saying ban 287(g) agreements. Keep ICE out of schools and hospitals. But it keeps happening. So we need a governor who will actually do something. Not just say stuff. Actually do it.”

The Department of Homeland Security has justified the murders of Araujo and Guerrero utilizing the same false claim: that these men were weaponizing their vehicles. It was the same justification utilized when ICE killed Renee Good in Minneapolis in January. Videos that surfaced contradicted the agency’s account. For Araujo’s death, no video has emerged, but there was footage of the aftermath. ICE has used this same justification in dozens of cases that were thrown out by federal courts after their blatant lies were exposed. They are murderers, plain and simple.

The rally was not a plea for compassion. It was not people asking nicely for things to improve. People have been demanding real change for years: Banning ICE agreements, keeping federal agents out of schools and hospitals, charging and jailing agents and all police who kill. Yet nothing has changed. The people will stay in the streets, refusing to accept the normalization of ICE murder.

The protest was part of a national week of action organized by the Legalization for All Network. Minnesota is always ready to fight back. The crowd on Minneapolis’ Lake Street had energy despite the heat. People showed up to shout the names of the victims of ICE terror so they will never be forgotten. Their message was clear: ICE out now and forever.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #MIRAC