Minneapolis, MN – June 28 marked the Taking Back Pride Coalition’s tenth annual protest march that disrupted the Twin Cities Pride Parade in downtown Minneapolis.

Despite a heavy morning downpour that delayed both the march and parade, community members took to the streets with banners reading “Delta deports neighbors” and “Dump Trump donors,” inviting the crowds lined up awaiting the corporate-sponsored festivities to join the protest march into Loring Park.

Many parade-goers were receptive to the messaging and chants, with some heeding the call and stepping out into the street to march alongside protesters, and many others joining in during chants of “No cops, no KKK, no racist Pride today!”

Initiated by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J) in 2017, the Taking Back Pride Coalition (TBP) has organized a protest march for the past ten years to demand that Twin Cities Pride oust police and big corporations from the state’s largest free Pride festival, which they see as antithetical to Pride’s origins in the Stonewall Uprising of 1969.

The contradiction between sponsoring a Pride event and donating to Trump and other right-wing politicians who have been increasingly targeting the rights of queer and trans people across the country is not lost on the organizers of this year’s march. TBP co-chair and member of TCC4J Jae Yates called out sponsors of this year’s event like Delta Airlines, Uber, JP Morgan Chase, and others that have donated to Trump and other right-wing politicians, stating, “We deserve a Pride that is free from corporations that profit off of us for June, and then donate to Trump's campaign the rest of the year.”

The protest marched along much of the planned route for the Pride Parade, with multiple stops where speakers like Khalani Matus of the Climate Justice Committee highlighted for the audience why TBP marches against sponsorship from corporations like 3M every year.

Matus stated, “There is no Pride or Stonewall spirit in companies like 3M who poison our water with ‘forever chemicals’ and fund Republican politicians who are trying to take away our humanity,” referencing 3M’s donations to right-wing politicians and PFAS chemical waste mismanagement. In 2018, the state of Minnesota settled a lawsuit with the company for $850 million for contaminating drinking water and natural resources in the southeast metro area of the Twin Cities.

Other speakers along the march route featured members of organizations from the student organizing to labor solidarity, a song led by Singing Resistance, poetry by Azariah Baker, and words from sex worker activist Mona Notte, who reminded the crowd that Pride itself would not exist without the Black and brown trans folk who resisted police violence at Stonewall.

After the last set of speakers, protesters split into groups to conduct demonstrations in front of two of the booths located inside Loring Park, 3M and U.S. Bank. However, organizers learned that the 3M tablers had left their booth, possibly to avoid protesters. Organizers proceeded to escort a portion of the marchers to the Power to the People Stage to await the remaining demonstrators, who continued on to U.S. Bank.

At the U.S. Bank booth, organizers and supporters gathered in front of the table on either side of the walkway, with speakers on megaphones announcing to passersby why corporations like big banks should not be allowed at Pride festivals.

Festivalgoers were generally receptive to the messaging, and chants of “No pride in ecocide!” and “No pride in genocide” sounded above the music and revelry. A speech written by Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) executive director Meredith Aby was read by Yates, stating that U.S. Bank had no place at Pride due to its financing of the fossil fuel industry and revolving credit for defense companies. “When your ‘customers’ facilitate war crimes with their fighter jets, missile systems, tanks and naval vessels then you need to be called out for who you do business with,” Aby wrote. “Decorating your bank with rainbows can’t clean up the blood on U.S. Bank’s hands.”

The action concluded with an invitation from Yates for anyone who resonated with TBP’s message to join the coalition next summer or one of the many groups that took part in organizing this year’s action, as many work year-round across a variety of struggles.

This year’s coalition included Twin Cities Coalition for Justice (TCC4J), Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC), Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC), Bikers Riding Against Police Brutality (BRAPB),Fury Du Nord, Climate Justice Committee (CJC), MN 50501, Communities Against Transphobia (CAT), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Minnesota Workers United (MWU), Community Aid Network Minnesota (CANMN), Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Sunrise Twin Cities (SMTC), Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Justice Frontline Aid (JFA), Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (TCDSA), Singing Resistance, Healthcare Workers for Palestine (HCW4P), and individuals passionate about queer and trans liberation.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #LGBTQ #TCC4J

Minneapolis, MN – The Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee held a bannering, July 2, to condemn the U.S. Supreme Court’s racist decision allowing the Trump administration to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for immigrants from Haiti and Syria. Cars honked in support as community members held letters that spelled out “TPS 4 Haitians & Syrians,” during rush hour traffic on a busy bridge and chanted “Hands off TPS!” at passing cars.

For 36 years, TPS has allowed hundreds of thousands of people from countries embroiled in natural disasters, wars and other extreme conditions to live and work legally in the U.S. – including some 330,000 from Haiti and 3800 from Syria. When Trump’s DHS attempted to end TPS for these two groups earlier this year, status holders challenged the decision in court on the grounds of racial discrimination.

But on June 25, once again demonstrating their contempt for the truth, Trump’s cronies on the Supreme Court ruled that the administration can end the protected status of Haitians and Syrians, and of any other group he wishes to attack.

TPS has been a narrow but critical lifeline for people endangered by the climate change, conflict and deprivation that the U.S inflicts on the developing world in pursuit of power and profit. Revoking the program is signing a death sentence for thousands of parents and children, for grandparents, aunts and uncles, for teachers, public servants, delivery drivers, artists, cooks, and entrepreneurs, and for healthcare workers, who make up a third of Haitian TPS holders.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN – On July 1, over 200 people rallied in support of the MN 15, a group of Minneapolis community members that were indicted on bogus conspiracy charges relating to ICE resistance in the Twin Cities. 14 of the 15 were due in court to enter not guilty pleas to federal charges.

Rally speakers noted that most of the people indicted were union members, and many union officials spoke of the need to stand up to defend our union siblings, reminding attendees of the longstanding union motto, “An injury to one is an injury to all!”

Speakers included representatives from GLU-UE 1105, Macalester AAUP, MN Nurses Association (MNA), SEIU Local 26, IBEW Local 292 and the MN AFL-CIO, as well as one MFE 59 member facing indictment in this case, and a Black Lives Matter-MN organizer, who was indicted for a January protest calling out David Easterwood, a Cities Church pastor and director of the local ICE field office.

The crowd chanted “We got your back!” while those indicted and family members went to their court appearance. Monique Cullars-Doty, BLM-MN founder and indicted Cities Church protester, told the crowd, “I encourage everyone to stand up for [the Minnesota 15]. Reach out and remind them that they are not alone, to remind them that we stand with them in this fight.”

After the rally, a long line formed out the door, across the large plaza and down the sidewalk, with supporters who wanted to attend today’s court hearing. Most were turned away, despite an overflow courtroom with capacity for 80. After court, defendants came out of the building with their fists in the air, greeted by cheering crowds of supporters.

Montana Hirsh from the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee stated, “We stand in solidarity with the MN 15 because federal agents don’t get to come into our streets and kidnap our neighbors, brutalize our communities and separate families without a militant fight back from the people. Protesting ICE and defending our communities is the right thing to do. We will continue to fight in the streets until all the charges are dropped on anti -ICE protesters. From Minneapolis to LA, protesting is not a crime!”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #PoliticalRepresssion #PeoplesStruggles #Labor #Featured

Minneapolis, MN – On July 24, pro-Palestine and police accountability advocates as well as local media gathered in the Minneapolis City Hall rotunda around a banner that read, “Drones out of MPLS. Drones out of Palestine. Say no to Skydio.” The Twin Cities-based Free Palestine Coalition (FPC) proceeded to hold a press conference calling on Minneapolis City Council to reject a proposal that would enact a trial program of so-called “drones as first responders” supplied by U.S. drone manufacturer Skydio.

Organizers explained that Skydio was complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza for supplying cutting-edge, AI-powered drones that autonomously surveil urban areas and identify potential targets.

In 2024, the FPC successfully mobilized Minneapolis residents to pass a city council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and supporting an end to tax dollars contributing to Israel’s attacks. A campaign against a city contract with Israeli surveillance company ZenCity followed in 2025.

Speakers at the press conference argued that rejecting the Skydio proposal was a logical next step for the local boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement.

“Minneapolis should not be a customer for genocide-linked technology,” said Maamoun Slayhi with American Muslims for Palestine – Minnesota. “Israel is an apartheid state. It is committing genocide in Gaza. It has used surveillance, drones, artificial intelligence and military technology to control and destroy Palestinian life. We should be cutting ties with that system, not creating new ones.”

Wyatt Miller of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee explained how Skydio’s current business model relies on drone sales to Israel. “Before October 2023, Skydio was a small company and its drones were primarily sold to individual civilian consumers,” Miller said, noting that the Gaza genocide allowed the company to pivot to scaled-up contracts with militaries and police departments. “Within hours of beginning its genocidal campaign in Gaza, the Israeli military had reached out to Skydio for expedited orders of autonomous surveillance drones. Hundreds were shipped within weeks.”

Organizers highlighted that the Skydio proposal would also be a dangerous new tool in the hands of the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD). If enacted, the “drones as first responders” trial program would be run out of Minneapolis’s 4th Precinct in the city’s Northside, a heavily Black community with a history of repression at the hands of the police. In 2015, the 4th Precinct was the site of major Black lives matter protests after the murder of Jamar Clark by MPD officers Mark Ringgenberg and Dustin Schwarze.

Jae Yates is an organizer with the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, a group founded in the immediate aftermath of Clark’s murder. “As a Black-led organization, we understand this drone technology would be used on our already overpoliced and heavily surveilled communities,” said Yates. “We cannot trust a police department with a pattern and practice of racist policing to responsibly implement a drone program.”

Yates continued, “If this contract goes through, these drones will be another tool for an unaccountable, racist, and violent police force to increase surveillance and repression on Black, brown, indigenous and immigrant communities.”

Marvina Haynes is the founder of Minnesota Wrongful Conviction Reform, and the sister of Marvin Haynes, a Black Northside resident who spent 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit before his sentence was vacated in 2023. “We are being told these drones are intended for emergency response. But communities across this country have seen surveillance technologies expand beyond their original purpose. Once these systems are in place, residents often have little control over how they evolve, what data is collected, how long information is stored, or how the technology is used in the future,” wrote Haynes in a letter read at the press conference. “I am especially concerned that North Minneapolis could become the testing ground for a program that many residents neither requested nor had a meaningful role in shaping.”

Speakers from FPC member groups Minnesota BDS Community, Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America Abolition and Decarceration Working Group, and Women Against Military Madness also spoke at the press conference.

The FPC urged community members to speak out at a public hearing on July 8 at 1:30 p.m., when the Minneapolis City Council’s Public Health, Safety & Equity Committee of will hold a preliminary vote on the Skydio “drones as first responders” proposal.

At the conclusion of his remarks, Miller asked rhetorically, “Do we really need a new technology that only became available at scale after being developed to facilitate a genocide? Is this proposal the solution to a real problem that we face, or is it a hammer in search of a nail?”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #InJusticeSystem #Drones

These action come in response to the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) call for a National Day of Action honoring the Juneteenth holiday, and in light of the acquittal in the killing of Cyrus Carmack-Belton, the reversal of homicide convictions in the killing of Elijah McClain, the sentencing of Karmelo Anthony, and the police murder of one-year-old Kohen Wiley in Mississippi.

In 2023, Cyrus Carmack-Belton, a 14-year-old Black boy, was fatally shot in the back over suspicion of stealing bottled water. In 2019, Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man, was put in a neck hold by police and then given ketamine by paramedics for “suspicious behavior. He died. In 2025, Karmelo Anthony, a 17-year-old Black teen, was tried as an adult by an all-white jury and, this June 9, was sentenced to 35 years. One-year-old Kohen Wiley was murdered by a police officer in Mississippi, who shot into his mother’s car after she was falsely accused of shoplifting from a Walmart.

“These cases are not identical. The facts are different. The legal circumstances are different. But they all force us to confront the same question: Why must Black communities constantly fight to prove our humanity?” asked Alissa Washington, executive director of WIAOFC-MN, in her statement at the press conference.

The day after the press conference, June 18, TCC4J held a rally outside of the former Minneapolis Police Department 3rd Precinct, which has remained unoccupied since burning down during the uprising after the murder of George Floyd. Speakers included local organizers and activists from Black Lives Matter Minnesota, Families Supporting Families Against Police Violence, Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee, TCC4J and WIAOFC-MN.

“Minnesota has the third-biggest racial wealth gap in the United States,” said Trahern Crews, of Black Lives Matter Minnesota. “Minnesota needs to pay reparations now!” Crews is part of a group of 39 local activists and community members, The Righteous 39, facing trumped-up federal charges after protesting at Cities Church, whose pastor, David Easterwood, was also employed as an ICE field director.

“A lot of people think reparations were paid to Black people,” said Jae Yates, an organizer with TCC4J and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “That is not true. Nobody got compensated for the gerrymandering, for the terrorism of white supremacy throughout the Civil Rights period, for the mass incarceration that tore apart hundreds of thousands of Black people’s families – we have not been compensated for the harm of chattel slavery, and we are still living with the consequences today.”

Dozens of community members gathered outside of the old 3rd Precinct site with signs and chants as many passing vehicles honked in support. The speakers and chants reiterated the demands from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, including community control of the police; reparations now; defend voting rights; free the wrongfully incarcerated; end police collaboration with ICE, and protect Black trans lives!

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #TCC4J

López was charged with four felonies, including assaulting a federal officer, after her participation in a protest against a federal action on June 3, 2025 when ICE, FBI and other agents raided a restaurant in the Latino immigrant business corridor in the center of Minneapolis.

There was no evidence of López initiating direct physical contact with any of the agents on the scene; however, there were multiple videos showing agents brutalizing López during the incident. Later that week, FBI agents abducted López, holding her in jail for several days, during which she was informed of the felony charges that could have had her sentenced to eight years in prison for a crime she did not commit.

Over the course of the following year, the U.S. Attorney postponed López’s trial multiple times due to this lack of evidence, keeping López in an unnecessary state of stressful uncertainty while the Twin Cities remained under attack by the same federal immigration enforcement she resisted. The fight to drop the charges further united the movements for immigrant rights, for indigenous sovereignty, and against political repression. This is a clear example of how the Trump administration’s attacks on oppressed people and the right to protest continually backfire, bringing progressive forces even closer, rather than destroying our organizing momentum.

The movement to drop the charges against López has ended in victory, with the prosecutors offering a plea deal to bring the sentence down to that of a single misdemeanor charge of impeding a federal investigation. López has accepted this deal and will not spend a single day in prison. Her passport, which was confiscated a year ago, has been returned to her, as she is no longer on probation, and there will be no fines beyond the $25 fee she was able to pay right away.

This tremendous victory comes just one week after the indictments of 15 other anti-ICE protesters in the Twin Cities. They now face felonies for their alleged involvement in the mass resistance against Operation Metro Surge. The favorable outcome of López’s case lends renewed optimism to the battle against racist and political repression. Although most of these campaigns are fought with great difficulty, activist organizations and community members in Minnesota and beyond are well-equipped with experience and fervor to keep up the fight for justice.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #InJusticeSystem #FBI #PoliticalRepression

Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, June 17, about 30 protesters gathered at the busy intersection of Lake Street and Minnehaha Avenue to demand U.S hands off Cuba. Passing cars were supportive with many honks and fists out the windows. Chants of “What’s the number one threat to the world today? Donald Trump and the USA!” could be heard down the street. The action was organized by the Minnesota Peace Action Coalition.

In the last year the United States has tightened sanctions on Cuba, resulting in intensified shortages of fuel, medicine and food. Linden Garcia-Torres, a healthcare worker and member of Women Against Military Madness’s Hands Off Latin America committee, spoke about the impact of deadly sanctions on Cuban hospitals.

“When hospitals lose power, medical supplies are accessible to only 3% of Cubans in pharmacies, and infant mortality increases to 148 percent the level prior to Cuba’s reinstatement on the [U.S. government designated] ‘State Sponsors of Terror’ list in 2018. And public water access is strained by lack of fuel,” Garcia-Torres said. He noted that even with deadly sanctions, Cuba still has a lower infant mortality rate than the Twin Cities does for Black and indigenous people giving birth.

Garcia-Torres continued, “An invasion would make visible the corrupt, extortive practices and policies of the U.S. regime.”

Earlier this month, in an attempt to show strength during a failing war in the Middle East, Trump imposed sanctions on Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel. These new sanctions also include attacks on the president’s wife and stepson as well as the son and grandson of former President Raul Castro, brother of Cuba’s former leader Fidel Castro, for whom the U.S. also issued an arrest warrant for last month.

Trump and the U.S. claim that Cuba’s policies of free healthcare, free education, and housing programs are a threat to U.S. security, but speakers at the protest underscored that the real threat to global peace and security is the United States itself.

Liz Bolsoni, a member of the Minnesota Anti-War Committee, spoke about the violence of the U.S. government against foreign countries, saying, “Our government doesn’t want to simply arbitrarily take out people in power, but it wants to take out an idea and the mere possibility of any nation or people that exist in opposition to the U.S.”

“We have a lot to learn from the Cubans who have shown that international solidarity, not power grabbing, is what being on the right side of history means,” Bolsoni continued.

Calls for international solidarity were echoed by other speakers who made connections between Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, Lebanon and Palestine.

Nadiyah Salawdeh, a member of the Minnesota chapter of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, explained, “It is because of this internationalism that the ruling class is targeting Iran, Cuba and Venezuela. Alone, these countries may pose a threat, but together, the ruling class knows that they cannot and will not win. As a movement, we must demand an end to the U.S.’s illegal occupation of Cuba in Guantanamo Bay and an end to its genocidal sanctions. We must demand no war on Cuba.”

Salawdeh continued to speak to the connection to Palestine, where collective punishment has been on full display throughout the genocide, with severe food insecurity reaching alarming levels across the territory, leaving large numbers of families struggling to meet basic nutritional needs. “From Cuba to Palestine, food should be nourishment, not a weapon. Kids should be able to grow up without fear of a bomb dropping on their home or their school. The people of the land should have sovereign control over their own land,” Salawdeh concluded.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Cuba #MPAC

Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of June 15, the Department of Justice announced charges against 15 anti-ice protesters for “conspiracy to impede or injure a federal officer,” and other bogus charges. That same morning 12 out of the 15 protesters had their homes raided and were arrested in relation to the federal indictment.

After the arrests, the DOJ held a press conference, where U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen claimed that the accused had assaulted a federal officer and destroyed government property, among other charges. When asked, Rosen did not respond to any questions regarding the injuries or the number of agents injured by the indicted, or about the investigations of the federal agents who killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

In response to the outrageous charges, the Minnesota chapter of the National Lawyers Guild announced an anti-repression press conference at the same time as the DOJ conference. As part of the press conference, attorney Nekima Levy-Armstrong and other community organizers spoke in solidarity with those arrested.

Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) member Montana Hirsch stated that MIRAC “stands in unwavering solidarity with all anti-ice protesters,” further stating that “protesting is not a crime, and protesting ICE is the right thing to do.”

After the press conference, NLG put out another call for the community to show up at 1:30 p.m. to the Federal Building in Saint Paul to pack the court for the first hearing of the arrestees. Dozens showed up to demand the release of the arrestees.

When the courtroom filled to capacity, the officials refused to offer an overflow room for additional viewing, and the U.S. Marshals deployed chemical irritants on the crowd for trying to enter the building in support the wrongfully indicted. This did not deter the community from remaining steadfast in their solidarity.

The People’s Action Coalition Against Trump (PACAT) and MIRAC held a rally outside the courthouse at 5 p.m. and remained until the arrestees were released. 100 people remained on the plaza of the federal courthouse six hours after the start of the previous action, and after the brutality by the U.S. Marshals.

Drew Harmon, of the Minnesota chapter of 50501 told the crowd, “They want us to back down. This is to instill fear in us, so we have to do the opposite,” Harmon urged the community. “Since Metro Surge officially ended, we’ve been seeing a drop-off on rapid response, in mutual aid, food delivery. People, now is the time to get back involved!”

Jess Sundin from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) spoke at the rally, “The 15 people who were indicted this morning are us. They are rapid responders. They are protesters. They are organizers – They are you, and they are me.” She also went on to say, “They stood with us. Minnesota said no to ICE, no to the targeting of our immigrant neighbors.”

Other speakers included representatives from About Face: Veterans Against the War, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice, MN Anti-War Committee, Sunrise Movement Twin Cities, and Democratic Socialists of America.

Community members chanted until all 12 people who were able to be released the same day were allowed to leave, but with stipulations restricting their further participation in protests and communication with organizers.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #ImmigrantRights

Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, June 10, Twin Cities activists of the Taking Back Pride Coalition (TBP) gathered at Strive Bookstore in downtown Minneapolis to hold a press conference demanding corporate sponsors like Delta, 3M and US Bank get out of Twin Cities Pride.

Now entering its tenth year, TBP organizes a protest march against the presence of police and corporations at the state’s largest free Pride festival, and calls for a return to the explicitly anti-capitalist and anti-police politics of the Stonewall Uprising.

Attendees held signs reading “No capitalism, no cops, no corporations at Pride!” and “No Pride in ICE collaboration! Dump Delta,” highlighting the unethical practices of many of the corporate sponsors of TC Pride. Many of these corporations are guilty of pinkwashing issues like genocide and climate change, and even directly fund Republicans who attack LGBTQ rights.

“We believe that Pride is strictly political, and that superficial representation from companies that slap a rainbow on once a year while they fund politicians stripping us of our rights is not something to be proud of,” explained Jae Yates, member of Twin Cities Coalition for Justice and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Although TC Pride ousting Target as a sponsor of last year’s festival was seen as a win by many, TBP organizers pointed out that the issue is not about a single corporation, and that companies donating to Pride does not erase the negative impact they have on communities at home and abroad throughout the rest of the year.

“We have to ask how much money is enough to undo the harm that companies have caused?” asked Steff Yorek of the Climate Justice Committee, who argued that companies like 3M have no place at Pride. Yorek pointed out that 3M has knowingly hidden the threat of “forever chemicals” released into Minnesota waterways, and its political PAC has funded politicians who voted against the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Area mining ban. “3M funds these politicians that are a threat to both our environment and to our safety as queer people with their homophobic and transphobic platforms.”

The largest TC Pride donors this year include companies like Delta, which was among the GOP’s biggest contributors in 2024 and a million-dollar donor to the Trump Inaugural Fund. The airline’s ties to ICE operations were also made clearer to Minnesotans through Operation Metro Surge just this past winter, as Delta completed hundreds of flights transporting detained neighbors out of the state to be placed in detention centers.

Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) member Aizar Cabrera highlighted these connections between the struggle for LGBT and immigrant rights, stating, “Our rights to education, healthcare, and to simply exist are being threatened” by companies like Delta, that are “making money by helping to separate families.”

Nick Benson of Minnesota 50501 added “They were flying children and families including Liam…down to San Antonio where they would be put into the concentration camps at the Dilly Family Detention Center,” Benson said, referring to Liam Conejo Ramos of Columbia Heights who was detained by ICE along with his father and sent to a detention center in late January of this year.

Speakers also called out sponsors complicit in war and genocide such as US Bank, whose ties to the fossil fuel industry highlight its connection to the U.S. attacks on Venezuelan sovereignty and the war on Iran, which has passed its 100th day mark this past Sunday.

“When your ‘customers’ facilitate war crimes with their fighter jets, missile systems, tanks and naval vessels, then you need to be called out for who you do business with. Decorating your bank with rainbows can’t clean up the blood on US Bank’s hands,” said Meredith Aby, director of Women Against Military Madness.

Anti-War Committee member Maeve Aickin pointed out that Waymo, as a subsidiary of Google’s holding company Alphabet, has connections to the genocide in Gaza, as “at least two of Israel’s state-owned weapons manufacturers, Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aerospace Industries, are mandated to use Alphabet products for cloud computing.”

Aickin went on to describe how these ties to war endanger queer lives, as “machines bearing offensively adorable names that Rafael and IAI manufacture don’t discriminate based on sexuality. They are equipped with shrapnel spray systems, but they are not equipped with gaydar.”

Taking Back Pride organizers emphasized that they would continue to protest corporate sponsorship of TC Pride until their demands are met.

“Pride is not about one weekend. It is a time to honor those before us that have risked their lives and come face to face with state violence in the name of Queer Liberation,” said Nadiyah Salawdeh of the US Palestinian Community Network. “It is a time to recommit ourselves to carrying on that legacy. We must disrupt, not make ourselves palatable to shareholders. From the bricks thrown at Stonewall to the rocks thrown in Palestine, our fight is one fight against capitalist, imperial violence.”

Organizers encouraged community members to join them at events throughout the rest of June leading up to their annual protest, where they invite all who can to hit the streets alongside them to demand cops and corporations out of Pride on June 28.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #LGBTQ

Minneapolis, MN – On the morning of Saturday, June 13, scores of protesters gathered at the corner of Lake Street. and Bloomington Avenue in South Minneapolis to stand in solidarity with people held in immigrant detention centers and against the persecution of anti-ICE protesters. Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the bannering action was held as part of a national weekend of action in coordination with the Legalization for All network.

The rally emphasized local demands aimed at pushing Governor Tim Walz to issue an executive order to restrict all law enforcement agreements that follow state law 287(g).

Although Attorney General Keith Ellison issued a legal opinion restricting individual sheriff's offices from independently entering into agreements with ICE or other federal agencies to perform immigration arrests, seven counties in Minnesota – Cass, Crow Wing, Itasca, Kandiyohi, Freeborn and Jackson – have county commission-approved agreements to hand over detainees suspected of having immigration violations to ICE. But Minneapolis residents showed up to spread awareness of continued abuses under the guise of various federal operations and to demand that Governor Walz use executive powers to end all cooperation with the federal entities who want to kidnap and terrorize Minnesotans.

Chants of “¡No más deportaciones!” and “No one is illegal! All power to the people!” rang through the streets as cars honked in support as they drove by the busy intersection that was witness to the beginnings of increased federal immigration operations since June 3 of 2025, more than six months before the infamous Operation Metro Surge officially began.

MIRAC member Mira Altobell-Resendez spoke to the crowd, “ICE is still here kidnapping our family and neighbors early in the morning and late at night! Governor Walz could end this with a stroke of his pen!”

Alissa Washington from The Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council Minnesota stated, “Too often, the same communities harmed by policing, incarceration, detention, surveillance and criminalization are excluded from the decisions being made about them.”

Arroyo Burns García-Torres of Hands Off Latin America Committee (HOLA) of Women Against Military Madness said, “We know people are dying in detention. We know they are deprived of medical care. We know they’re being punished without fair trials.”

Drake Myers, a rank-and-file member of Minnesota Federation of Educators, remarked, “Every educator has felt the terror of the attacks firsthand in their own families, neighborhoods and classrooms. During Operation Metro Surge students and staff were abducted, even on school grounds, schools were stalked relentlessly and sometimes even teargassed, with classrooms missing more students every day!”

The renewed outrage comes in solidarity with the hunger striking detainees in Delaney Hall ICE Detention Center, New Jersey, where over 70 protesters have also been arrested since May 31.Many media outlets widely praise Governor Mikie Sherill’s use of executive powers to rebuke ICE’s invasion of the Garden State, while grassroots organizers felt betrayed by the use of State Police to control protesters.

Given the threat of the possible reopening of Appleton Prison for ICE use in Minnesota; MIRAC demands that Governor Walz and all state and local representatives work to ban 287(g) agreements, ban immigration enforcement agencies in and around schools, hospitals and houses of worship, ban immigration enforcement agencies using state property, ban face coverings and require visible ID for all law enforcement officers, defend anti-ICE protesters against political repression, provide justice for victims of ICE terror, and implement a statewide eviction moratorium.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #MIRAC #L4A

Minneapolis, MN – On June 5, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) and allied organizations held a rally outside the Minneapolis Convention center to disrupt the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s (DFL) 2026 Humphrey-Mondale fundraising dinner. The dinner is the Minnesota Democratic Party’s annual fundraising event and a strategic rallying point for local Democrats ahead of key elections.

Braving the intense summer heat for a program of chanting and speeches, community members made their voices heard as they demanded an end to state funding of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, an end to the war on Iran and Lebanon, and a return to quarterly in-person State Board of Investment (SBI) meetings.

Cassidy Aickin, member of the AWC and co-emcee for the day, opened the event by saying, “In that building the DFL is hosting their annual Humphrey-Mondale dinner; their biggest fundraising event of the year. The people who have the most institutional power in our state, alongside their benefactors, are coming together to celebrate – another ‘great year’ of shutting out their constituents, ignoring people’s cries for divestment, and directly paying for the bombs that have martyred hundreds of thousands of Palestinian, Lebanese and Iranian people. Shame!”

Aickin continued, “The State Board of Investment, composed of Tim Walz, Keith Ellison, Julie Blaha and Steve Simon, chooses to invest hundreds of millions of Minnesota state employee pension dollars into weapons manufacturers, Israeli companies, and war profiteers like Palantir.”

The SBI had been scheduled to hold its second quarterly meeting of 2026 on Wednesday, June 3, but quietly removed the details from its schedule less than a month before. This effective cancellation continued the SBI’s over year-long trend of restricting community participation in what should be public meetings. But these cancellations have not deterred community involvement and have instead given way for powerful coalitions.

Representing the MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee, Mira Altobell-Resendez reminded the crowd that, “The Minnesota Democratic Party spent all of winter ignoring the calls for protections for immigrants during Metro Surge. Tim Walz can sign an executive order at any time to ban 287(g) agreements that deputize county law enforcement into local ICE agents. The candidates for this year’s gubernatorial election like Amy Klobuchar could commit to creating ICE free zones as soon as they step into office.”

Alissa Washington, founder and executive director of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-Sentenced Families Council of MN, gave an impassioned speech connecting the wrongful conviction of her fiancé, Cornelius Jackson, and the over-policing of communities here and abroad. Washington said, “We’re here tonight because while the DFL dines with donors, we’re out here struggling to survive. While politicians gather behind closed doors, families are torn apart by wrongful convictions and over-sentencing! While they celebrate fundraisers, our loved ones are deported, imprisoned, displaced, and forgotten.”

Washington continued, “The DFL loves to tell us they are the party of working people. Then prove it! Stop shutting the public out of SBI meetings. Stop making decisions that impact our communities without our communities present.”

“What they’re really doing is defining what it means to run as a Democrat: position yourself as the only alternative to the Republican Party when you support genocide, racist tough-on-crime policies, corporate profiteers, expansion of the police state, all at the expense of the same constituents you claim to represent,” said Maddy Schwartz, member of the MN AWC. “The SBI has ignored constant calls from public employees to address this disgusting complicity in human rights violations. This sends a clear message that if you stand against genocide, your voice doesn’t matter.”

Only two days after the SBI was scheduled to meet, workers and allies in the anti-war movement made their voices heard, questioning why DFL politicians have time for their donors but not the taxpayers who pay their salaries. One volunteer working at the dinner stepped out from his role inside the Convention Center and picked up a “Divest MN from Apartheid Israel” sign for a portion of the action, before returning to his duties inside. When asked why he chose to join the voices demanding divestment he said, “It is the right thing to do.”

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #DFL #Palestine #Divestment #BDS

Minneapolis, MN – Under the early summer sun, about 50 people came together on a busy Minneapolis bridge for a double-headed rally addressing the domestic and international sides of the struggle for liberation. A combined bannering took place for two hours, spreading the message to passersby and drivers on Washington Avenue and Interstate 35W.

The first part of the event was organized by the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Family Council (WIAOFC) and marked 20 years since Cornelius “Corn” Jackson, fiancé of WIAOFC founder Alissa Washington, was unjustly incarcerated.

The second protest, organized by the MN Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), demanded an end to U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Washington, stated, “We want you to ask questions. We want you to ask why a man who has spent 20 years behind bars is still fighting for justice. We want you to ask whether Minnesota’s criminal legal system truly believes in redemption. And we want you to ask why so many families are still fighting to bring their loved ones home.”

The first speaker for MPAC was Amber Mathwig from About Face Veterans Against the War, “It doesn’t matter if you’re a cook, turning a wrench, patrolling the base, or pressing the button that launches a Tomahawk into a school full of children – every single job in the military contributes to the end goal of destruction and occupation and every single service member has a right to say ‘No, I do not want to be part of this anymore.’”

Cedar Larson, representing Women Against Military Madness, stated, “Today we are protesting a number of heinous crimes being committed by our government. We’re protesting not only Trump’s continuous attacks on Gaza, in violation of a so-called ceasefire, but we’re also protesting the continuing attacks on Iran and the attempted ethnic cleansing of Lebanon. Writing this speech, I felt a pent-up rage exploding. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, you guys. I am angry. I am tired of writing speeches about something that makes me so pissed off.”

Larson concluded, “I cannot make sense of the fact that billionaires, the ruling class, see nothing more important than a profit while I, an educator who lives paycheck to paycheck and purchases classroom supplies and end-of-year gifts out of her own pocket, see nothing more important than sustaining and educating the next generation who will no doubt recognize this absurdity for what it is and will join with us to destroy it!”

Naveen Borojerdi of the MN Peace Action Coalition and the MN Anti-War Committee spoke on another tragedy that occurred closer to home; the death of AFSCME Council 5 field director Khalid Abdi, a 26-year-old union organizer who was shot and killed on May 27 in Shakopee, Minnesota while observing Eid.

“Khalid’s death is not just a coincidence,” Borojerdi said, “but rather, the symptom of a much larger problem. The normalization of mass murder that we’ve seen in Gaza, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan since September 11, 2001 is what resulted in his unfortunate death. When you spend over two decades since the turn of the century slaughtering Muslims, Arabs and Persians while demonizing them through the production of propaganda films like American Sniper, Argo, and Black Hawk Down, this is what you get. Shame on this country.”

All of the speakers spoke to the critical importance of remaining visible and in the streets to oppose this criminal war.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #InjusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #Palestine #Iran

Minneapolis, MN – On June 3, community members and local activist groups packed a Minneapolis City Council committee meeting to speak about the Law Enforcement Agency Agreement Accountability Ordinance that prohibits new joint powers agreements that allow officers to cover their faces.

The ordinance was introduced by Council Members Chavez, Chowdhury, Chughtai and Osman. Members of the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), MN 50501, the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council MN (WIAOFC-MN) and other members of grass roots, nonprofit organizations and the Minneapolis community were present and gave testimony, speaking in support of the ordinance.

In his testimony, MIRAC member Alvin Sheng said, “We’re still struggling to get justice for Renee Good, Alex Pretti and Victor Manuel Diaz, three Minnesotans who were killed by ICE during Operation Metro Surge. It’s extremely clear that the federal government will do just about anything to escape accountability for their crimes. City council and Mayor Frey, do right by the people that have been terrorized and murdered in your city and pass this ordinance to require mask regulations from any law enforcement agency the city partners with. And that should only be the first step. We need to move forward to banning secret police in our city entirely.”

Sheng went on to mention that in February, Saint Paul passed a similar ordinance banning federal agents from covering their faces and obscuring their identities. He stated that after all of the kidnappings, brutality and murders committed by federal agents in Minneapolis, it is embarrassing that this city has not yet banned masked law enforcement.

The public comments stressed the importance of law enforcement transparency following the Operation Metro Surge and referenced that the date of this hearing fell on the anniversary of the June 3 Lake and Bloomington federal operation, where ICE and other federal agents descended upon an immigrant-owned business and brutalized protesters. The council members unanimously moved the ordinance to be heard among the full council, which is scheduled to take place on June 17 at 1:30 p.m.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #ImmigrantRights #ICE #OppressedNationalities #MIRAC

Minneapolis, MN- Al-Nakba, meaning “The Catastrophe,” is a day of remembrance when communities grieve the over 15,000 Palestinians the Israeli occupation murdered in 1948 and the over 750,000 Palestinians displaced from their homeland. After the Anti-War Action Network called for their third annual day of action commemorating Al-Nakba, the Twin Cities hosted two protests to mark the importance of resisting U.S. funding for Israel.

On Friday, May 15, Women Against Military Madness held their weekly protest at the Summit and Snelling intersection in Saint Paul with a specific focus on the Nakba. Speaker Wyatt Miller from the Minnesota Anti-War Committee (AWC) said, “I’ve given plenty of speeches like this on past Nakba Days. I usually say something about how Palestinians are the bravest people on Earth. I still believe that, but let’s have this year’s Nakba Day be the one where we say, the Palestinians have been brave enough. They have made enough sacrifices. The world can no longer deny the injustice of the occupation. It’s time for the rest of us to learn to find that bravery in ourselves. The Palestinians have taught the world that dignity doesn’t mean mere politeness or etiquette; true dignity means standing up for what is just and refusing to tolerate anything less than justice.”

On Sunday, May 17, over 30 cyclists gathered at Minnehaha Falls for the Gaza Sunbirds solidarity ride in commemoration of Al-Nakba. The Great Ride of Return global bike rides are organized in support of the Gaza Sunbirds, a Palestinian para-cycling team bringing awareness to the ongoing Israeli siege on Gaza and its production of disability under occupation. The cyclists biked through Minneapolis with Palestinian flags attached to their bikes, chanting “Free, free Palestine” over their bullhorns.

The bikers joined hundreds of activists and community members gathered at Chute Square to march along the Mississippi River in protest of 78 years of Israeli occupation in Palestine. The Nakba Day march was organized by the Minnesota chapter of American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) and the AWC.

Nadiyah Salawdeh, co-chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network’s Minnesota chapter stated, “Palestinians had been rebelling against British and Zionist forces for decades,” they said. “Every time a fascist settler murders a Palestinian, it’s a catastrophe. Every time a Palestinian is illegally detained, it is a catastrophe. Every time a child starves to death, it is a catastrophe. Home demolition, poisoned water, burning olive trees—these are all catastrophes. Just as the Nakba was not confined to 1948, it is not confined to the borders of historic Palestine. The Lebanese people and the Lebanese resistance have been on the front lines defending their land from Israeli settler expansion. Since the U.S.-Israeli war was launched on Iran and Lebanon, thousands have been murdered, and over a million have been displaced. That is a catastrophe.”

Joe Yamine of the AWC told the crowd, “Today, the Zionist entity is more callous, more destructive, more depraved, and more afraid than it has ever been.”

Yamine continued, “The Western regimes [that] back it have revealed their utter contempt for their people, who turn out in the streets demanding justice and liberation for Palestine now. In Minnesota, we're confronting our municipal governments as they try to sign contracts with Israeli tech companies like Zencity and Waterfall. We are fighting for an end to our state's complicity in Israeli apartheid and the ongoing Nakba by pressuring the State Board of Investment to divest.”

Alissa Washington of the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice and the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council expanded on the theme of state detention as she discussed the Palestinian right of return.

“The right to resist oppression, occupation and dehumanization is rooted in the struggle of oppressed people across the world,” Washington affirmed. “That is why we also demand freedom for Salah Sarsour and all people targeted, criminalized, or punished for standing with Palestine and speaking out against injustice.” Sarsour, the Islamic Society of Milwaukee’s president and an AMP board member, has been held in ICE detention since March 30.

Washington contined, “Today, let us remember: They want us divided because united people are dangerous to systems built on oppression. From Minneapolis to Palestine, our struggles are connected. From the prison walls to the refugee camps, our people are connected. From the streets demanding accountability to the marches demanding liberation, our resistance is connected. And as long as oppressed people continue to rise together, there will always be hope for freedom.”

Before the protesters flooded the streets to express their grief, hope and rage, Taher Herzallah of AMP articulated Israel’s commitment to dehumanization, breaching international law and fostering a culture of settler violence, concluding, “Israel has absolved itself of its right to exist.” In this spirit, the crowd marched down to the Mississippi River and disrupted business as usual to demand an end to the ongoing Nakba, Sarsour’s release, and a free Palestine.

After two and a half years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and its continued annexation of the West Bank and southern Lebanon, people of conscience know that the Nakba is an ongoing ethnic cleansing project that the U.S. government has funded for over three-quarters of a century. Indeed, Minnesota state pensions are currently funding Israel’s crimes to the tune of $5.5 billion in SBI investments. The SBI canceled two of its quarterly public meetings in 2025, and on Wednesday, May 13, it deleted the details of its previously announced meeting scheduled for June 3 from its website.

The MN Anti-War Committee will demand answers at the 2026 DFL State Convention, taking place in Rochester, Minnesota on May 29.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Nakba #AntiWarCommittee #USPCN #AMP #SalahSarsour

Minneapolis, MN – El viernes, 1 de mayo, una coalición encabezada por el Comité de Derechos de Inmigrantes de Minnesota y el Movimiento de Protectores Indígenas y respaldado por más de 60 sindicatos, grupos de derechos de inmigrantes, y otras organizaciones progresivas salieron a las calles para conmemorar el 20ª marcha annual el Día Internacional de los Obreros.

La coalición exigió que ICE se saque de Minnesota y la legalización para todos, puesto que la marcha siguió meses de lucha intensa contra la ocupación federal de la ciudad por los policías de inmigracion y confrontaciones militantes entre la gente y ICE. 10,000 manifestantes marcharon, cantaron, mostraron pancartas y celebraron durante la marcha del Día Internacional de los Obreros este año.

La marcha llenó la Calle Lako, el corazón de la comunidad inmigrante en Minneapolis del Sur, con grandes banderas, y contingentes de varios sindicatos, grupos de derechos de inmigrantes, grupos contra-guerra, grupos de estudiantes y otros movimientos progresivos. Como tradición para las marchas de MIRAC de 1 de mayo, la bandera principal fue sostenida por jóvenes, este año un grupo de estudiantes del colegio. La enorme marcha tuvo tres camiones de sonido, cada uno con su propio programa de discurso. La gente y las familias bordearon las aceras de la calle Lake para dar elogio a los eslóganes y brindar la marcha, saliendo de los varios negocios de inmigrantes para mostrar su apoyo.

Justo antes del inicio del programa, Consejeros de la Ciudad de Minneapolis progresivos tuvieron una rueda de prensa para leer la resolución del consejo municipal para nombrar al 1 de mayo como Día Internacional de los Obreros, seguido por una interpretación de baile por Danza Unida.

En la congregación inicial, las multitudes escucharon a Diego Guaman de Operación Vuelo Sagrado, un grupo comunitario de las bases que fue creado como respuesta directa a la campana en aumento a los inmigrantes en Minnesota y la necesidad de protegerlos, educar y apoyar a las familias inmigrantes.

“Ser inmigrante no es un crimen, pelear por tus derechos no es un crimen y hacer oír tu voz no es un crimen!” proclamó Diego Guaman.

Manuel Pascual, participante de MIRAC, les contó a las multitudes un poco de la historia de May Day y la importancia de salir a las calles en la 20ª marcha de 1 de mayo de la ciudad, “Cada año estamos aquí el 1 de mayo y cada año queremos decir la misma cosa: este es el dia del obrero. ¡El día de los obreros inmigrantes! El único día de fiesta del mundo que nos pertenece a nosotros!” Concluyó su discurso diciéndoles a las multitudes sobre la campaña actual de MIRAC para convertir Minnesota en Estado Santuario y un fin a toda la colaboración local y en el estado con ICE. “Estamos organizando, estamos presentándonos, y estamos retrocediendo a nuestros vecinos cuando ICE intenta llevarlos. Hoy es la práctica, mañana seguimos adelante!

La marcha se detuvo en la Calle Lake y la Avenida Bloomington, sitio de una gran operación federal en la cual policías de inmigracion estaban presentes el junio de 2025. Las multitudes escucharon a Isavela Lopez, activista que fue brutalizada por policías federales aquel día y ahora enfrenta cargos federales sin validez.

“Yo se que no estoy sola,” dijo Lopez, “En el momento se trata de más que me, y se trata de los niños en Palestina, se trate de la gente de Venezuela, y se trata de la gente que quedan encarcelada en los centros de detención ahora mismo!

Benji Gomez, miembro de las bases de Teamsters Local 638, quien también organizó una despensa comunitaria para las familias inmigrantes ubicado en su garaje durante la Operacion Metro Surge con la ayuda de los otros Teamsters de su sindicato, le dijo a las multitudes, “Soy inmigrante. También soy el primero de mi familia que me inscribí a un sindicato y me ha dado verdadero poder. Los sindicatos existen porque los obreros se presentaron juntos y exigieron dignidad, sueldos justos, condiciones sanas y respeto, y muchas veces esos obreros eran inmigrantes, ¡gente con la menor protección pero con el coraje de organizarse de todos modos! Eso sí es verdad hoy en día.”

En la marcha también aparecieron habladores incluyendo Presidente de AFL-CIO Minnesota Bernie Burnham, Presidenta de Local 59 de MFE MArcia Howard, miembros de Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, MN8, Monique Cullors-Doty con los Honrados 39, el Comité Anti-Guerra de MN, y muchos mas que representaban sus sindicatos y otras organizaciones de las bases.

La Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad también tuvo un contingente grande y visible en la marcha.

La marcha terminó en una tienda Target al otro lado de la calle de la 3ª Delegación anterior (quemada) con un teatro criticando Target y la avaricia corporativa, y también más discursos inspirando a la gente que siga tomando acción. Al final de la marcha, los organizadores pidieron a los manifestantes que coman en los negocios que tienen como dueños inmigrantes en la calle Lake y que asistan a la posfiesta en el Mercado Central para concluir el día.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Trabajo #DerechosdeInmigrantes #1ºdemayo #MIRAC #OSCL #ImmigrantRights #Labor #MayDay #FRSO

Minneapolis, MN – On Mother’s Day Sunday, May 10, the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC) organized a pro-choice Mother’s Day protest across from what was an anti-abortion, Pro Life Action Ministry (PLAM) billboard.

A few days leading up to the protest, members of MNAAC learned the billboard was replaced with a local orthopedic billboard. Despite this change, they continued with the protest with about two dozen attendees to fight for comprehensive reproductive healthcare, oppose abortion restrictions and the attempts of “pro-life” organizations to influence legislation and to shame women.

MNAAC is actively fighting against the existence of “crisis pregnancy centers” (CPCs), or anti-abortion centers, in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, with activists demanding restrictions on the ability of CPCs to spread medical misinformation and demanding state and local regulations to require CPCs to disclose that they do not provide a full spectrum of reproductive healthcare.

CPCs convince unknowingly pregnant people in crisis to not have abortions by using scare tactics and promoting myths about abortion causing depression, cancer and infertility. In Minnesota CPCs outnumber abortion care clinics eleven to one, since there are 90 CPCs and nine abortion care clinics. Anti-abortion attacks continue at the federal level with the recent 5th Circuit ruling that seeks to block remote prescription and delivery of mifepristone by mail.

Activists shared their stories about what it means to have the ability to choose to become a parent and how American imperialism continues to harm mothers.

Jordann Hoff, a member of MNAAC, shared that blocking access to mifepristone via telehealth and delivery by mail will harm nearly two-thirds of people needing to have an abortion, since approximately 63% of all abortions are via medication.

Emily Newberg, a member of Women's Against Military Madness (WAMM) shared how Palestinian women are using tent scraps for pads and, without aid mothers, are continuing to take care of their children alone as the men have migrated away throughout the war.

River Road Townsend, a member of Twin Cities Coalition For Justice (TCC4J), told their story about receiving a lifesaving abortion during their first trimester because they still had children to take care of, and how they later were able to choose to adopt a child into their family. Townsend calls their family a family of choice; and that reproductive healthcare should not have to come through the intersection of luck and circumstance.

MNAAC is a grassroots, volunteer-based organization fighting for reproductive justice. The pillars of reproductive justice are the right to have a child, the right to not have a child, and the right to parent a child in safe and sustainable communities while maintaining personal bodily autonomy as a human right.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #MNAAC #AbortionRights #WomensMovement #LGBTQ

Minneapolis, MN – On Wednesday, April 22, the city of Minneapolis released a long-awaited after-action review examining the Minneapolis Police Department’s failures in the handling of the murder of Allison Lussier and the shooting of Davis Moturi.

Allison Lussier was a Native woman living in the North Loop of Minneapolis who called MPD more than six separate times to protect her from her abuser Chuck Foss. Despite her family and community making MPD aware of Foss’s potential connection to the case, MPD never called a crime scene unit to investigate and failed to interview witnesses or review surveillance footage. Chief O’Hara, without reviewing the findings of the medical examiner, immediately declared she had died of an overdose despite the lack of investigation.

There was similar neglect in Davis Moturi’s case. Moturi logged 19 separate complaints with MPD regarding racist harassment and threats from his white neighbor John Sawchak, and, leading up to the shooting, the Moturi household called MPD at least 38 times according to the report. Officers did not arrest Sawchak until five days after the attempt on Moturi’s life.

The findings confirmed what families, organizers, and community members have been saying for years: the system meant to protect the most vulnerable is failing, and without sustained public pressure, those failures are buried. This review did not come out of nowhere. It exists because Allison’s family and loved ones refused to stay silent. They organized, they pushed, and they forced this city to confront the truth.

Activists and community members listened as the City Auditor presented for nearly four hours to a joint meeting of the Audit Committee and the Minneapolis City Council. What the City Auditor presented was beyond misconduct; the presentation showed MPD engaged in patterns of neglect and indifference toward non-white victims and that these failures show up in every level of the department’s functioning.

The audit revealed that MPD did not request the Medical Examiner’s report in Allison’s case until nearly two years later and only after the Auditor attempted to obtain it. Several officers outright refused to participate in the audit, including Sergeant Heyers, who was the detective assigned to Allison’s case. One officer who took early retirement before the auditor could speak to him reportedly said, “I’m not going to participate in the investigation.” Despite orders from leadership to participate, O’Hara chose not to enforce this order and as yet there have been no consequences for these officers.

When asked whether race played a role in how Allison’s case was handled, Chief O’Hara repeatedly dodged the question. Additionally, coordination between MPD and the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office still had not been established even after months of public scrutiny and promises. O’Hara blamed these issues on understaffing, but a lack of staff does not explain why reports weren’t requested, why officers refused to cooperate and properly file reports, why families were ignored, or why accountability only shows up when the community forces it. MPD received a budget increase of over $5 million in addition to nearly $20 million in approved overtime in 2026, so the issue is clearly not a lean budget but a mismanagement of its resources.

Despite everything revealed in this audit, justice has still not been served. Allison Lussier’s killer has not been charged and MPD has yet to take full responsibility not just for failing her in the investigation, but for failing her before her murder and in how they communicated with the public afterward.

We also stand in solidarity with the family of Mariah Samuels, whose case reflects the same patterns. These are not isolated incidents. This is a pattern of neglect, especially when it comes to indigenous women, Black women, and marginalized communities. The families and community members demand a full direct apology, real consequences for officers who failed to act and investigate these cases, and immediate and meaningful investment in domestic violence response. Twin Cities Coalition for Justice will continue to highlight these cases and push for community control of the police so that cops are held accountable for these egregious failures.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #TCC4J #AllisonLussier #DavisMoturi #MariahSamuels #PoliceAccountability #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, May 1, a coalition led by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC) and the Indigenous Protectors Movement (IPM) and endorsed by more than 60 unions, immigrant rights groups, and other progressive organizations took to the streets in Minneapolis to commemorate their 20th annual march on International Workers’ Day.

The coalition demanded ICE out of Minnesota and legalization for all, as the march came after months of heightened struggle against a federal occupation of the city by immigration agents and militant clashes between the people and ICE. 10,000 protesters marched, chanted, held signs and celebrated at this year’s International Workers’ Day march.

The march flooded Lake Street, the heart of the immigrant community in South Minneapolis, with large banners and flags, and contingents of various unions, immigrant rights groups, anti-war groups, student groups and other progressive movements. As is tradition for MIRAC May 1 marches, the lead banner was held by youth, this year a group of high school students. The massive march had three sound trucks, each with their own speaker programs. People and families lined the sidewalks on Lake street to join in on chants and cheer the march on, coming out of the various immigrant businesses to show their support.

Just before the program began, progressive Minneapolis City Council members held a brief press conference to read the city council’s resolution recognizing May 1 as International Workers Day, followed by a performance by Danza Unida.

At the starting rally, the crowd heard from Diego Guaman from Operación Vuelo Sagrado, a grassroots community group that was created as a direct response to the growing crackdown on immigrants in Minnesota and the need to protect, inform and support immigrant families.

“Being an immigrant is not a crime, fighting for your rights is not a crime and speaking up is not a crime!” said Diego Guaman.

Manuel Pascual, a member of MIRAC, told the crowd some May Day history and the importance of taking the streets on the city’s 20th annual May 1 march, “Every year we are out here on May 1 and every year we mean the same thing: this is the workers’ day. The immigrant workers’ day! The only holiday in the world that belongs to us!” He ended his speech by telling the crowd about MIRAC’s current campaign for a Sanctuary State in Minnesota and an end to all state and local collaboration with ICE. “We are organizing, we are showing up, we are pulling our neighbors back when ICE tries to take them. Today is the rehearsal, tomorrow we keep going!”

The march stopped at Lake Street and Bloomington Avenue, the site of a large federal operation where immigration agents were present in June of 2025. The crowd heard from Isavela López, an activist who was brutalized by federal agents that day and now faces bogus federal charges.

“I know that I am not alone,” said López, “Right now it’s more than about me, it’s about the kids in Palestine, it’s about the people in Venezuela, and it’s about the people that are still in detention centers right now!”

Benji Gomez, a rank-and-file member of Teamsters Local 638 who also organized a pantry for immigrant families out of his garage during Operation Metro Surge with the help of other Teamsters from his local, told the crowd, “I am an immigrant. I am also the first in my family to join a union and it's given me real power. Unions exist because workers stood together and demanded dignity, fair wages, safe conditions and respect, and so often those workers were immigrants, people with the least protection but the courage to organize anyway! That’s still true today.”

The march also featured speakers from Minnesota AFL-CIO President Bernie Burnham, MFE Local 59 President Marcia Howard, members of Asamblea de Derechos Civiles, MN8, Monique Cullors-Doty with the Righteous 39, the MN Anti-War Committee, and many others representing their unions and other grassroots organizations.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization had a large and visible contingent in the march.

The march ended at a Target store across the street from the former (burned down) 3rd Precinct with a theater performance calling out Target and corporate greed, as well as more speeches inspiring the crowd to continue to take action. At the end of the march, organizers encouraged participants to eat at the immigrant businesses on Lake Street and attend an after-party at Mercado Central to finish up the day.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Labor #ImmigrantRights #MayDay #MIRAC #FRSO

Minneapolis, MN – On April 25 Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) and the Climate Justice Committee (CJC) hosted a panel on the environmental consequences of U.S. imperialism.

The panel, held on the plaza right outside of May Day Books, took place a week after the People’s Earth Day March, and was an effort to deepen community understanding on the role of U.S. militarism in exacerbating climate change. April 25 was also Independent Bookstore Day so, in addition to the 30 people who attended, there was a steady stream of people who stopped by on their way in and out of the bookstore.

Liz McLister, representing WAMM’s Families Against Military Madness committee, opened the panel, “The United States boasts the largest military in human history, which is also the world’s largest polluter, gobbling up more petroleum than any institution on earth and emitting more greenhouse gases than some countries.”

McLister continued, “According to Brown University's Costs of War, the U.S. military drives the climate crisis in at least four ways. First by burning enormous amounts of fossil fuels. Second, through emissions-intensive military operations and installations. Third, through the destruction of soil, wetlands, forests and other natural areas that would otherwise absorb carbon. And fourth, by decimating civilian infrastructure and thereby leading to carbon-heavy reconstruction.”

Trish Knous, a member of WAMM’s Palestine Solidarity Committee and the CJC, spoke next about how U.S. imperialism has destroyed the environment in Palestine. “Today it [Gaza] is an area of flat, hard packed land and crushed cement. It is one of many villages, towns, and cities that no longer can support people's lives. When buildings are destroyed, wiring, insulation and asbestos release toxins into the air, land and water. Some of the bombs used penetrate the ground before exploding and release heavy metals such as uranium, lead and arsenic. Some of these metals decay slowly and will affect the composition of the soil and water for decades.”

The panel was closed out by Rebecca Scott from the CJC, who spoke about the environmental devastation from the current U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, “There were 14 million tons of carbon dioxide released in just the first 14 days alone.” She addressed “black rain,” the 14,000 buildings that have been demolished, and the impact of the U.S. bombing Iran’s oil infrastructure.

Panelists encouraged the attendees to protest against U.S. wars and to get involved.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #AntiWarMovement #Environment #WAMM #CJC

Minneapolis, MN – On the evening of Saturday, April 25, 50 members of the Twin Cities community rallied downtown Minneapolis to demand the release of Salah Sarsour from ICE custody. Sarsour serves as president of the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and is a board member for American Muslims for Palestine. He has been an organizer for the Palestine movement in Milwaukee, Wisconsin for decades. Saturday’s protest was organized by the Twin Cities chapter of American Muslims for Palestine and the Minnesota Anti-War Committee.

On March 30, Sarsour outside his home near Milwaukee when he was pulled over, surrounded by ten ICE agents, and taken into custody without cause by ICE and DHS. He was initially held at a facility in Chicago, before being transferred to a detention center in Indiana where he remains in custody. Sarsour is a father, grandfather and husband, and has been a lawful permanent resident of the United States for 32 years.

At the rally, organizers led the crowd in chants of “Protesting is not a crime, free free Palestine” and “When immigrants are under attack what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” The crowd handed out fliers to passersby and to cars stopped at the busy downtown intersection of Washington and Hennepin Avenues to inform people about Sarsour’s abduction and the fight to free him from ICE.

Rani Hamza from American Muslims for Palestine articulated that Sarsour’s abduction is not some attempt at immigration enforcement but in fact an act of political repression against the Palestine movement by the Trump administration. Hamza said, “As they try to strip us of our dignity, we will fight harder to protect it. As they try to strip us of our humanity we will fight harder to preserve it. As they try to silence our voices, we will make them louder. And no matter how long it takes, and no matter what obstacles stand in our way, we will continue to fight for our dignity, our humanity, and our right to speak.”

Freedom Road Socialist Organization member Wyatt Miller laid out successful tactics of past battles against repression stating, “We do it by putting up a fight in court and by mobilizing the masses, by taking to the streets, by raising the banner of ‘Free them all’ without any qualifications and without fear.”

Insisting this is an opportunity to favorably shift the political terrain of the movement, Miller continued, “Fighting back against repression changes the political conditions and can help make what was impossible become possible.”

Alissa Washington of the Wrongfully Incarcerated and Over-sentenced Families Council and the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice spoke at the protest. Washington’s fiancé Cornelius Jackson has been wrongfully incarcerated and over-sentenced in Minnesota for the past 19 years. Connecting Jackson’s case to Sarsour’s she said, “His case is not unique. It is a reflection of a system that relies on informants, hides evidence, and then expects us to just accept it. At the same time, we are seeing that same system expand beyond prisons into our streets, into our neighborhoods, into our immigrant communities. Because today, we are also demanding: free Salah Sarsour from ICE detention.”

Representing the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Alvin Sheng said, “All immigrants and their families have to band together to ensure that our constitutional rights are preserved for everyone in this country.” He called on supporters of the immigrant rights struggle in the Twin Cities to show up this Friday for MIRAC’s 20th annual International Workers Day march. “The biggest opportunity for us to exercise our collective power and unity with immigrant communities is coming up next Friday May 1. The International Workers Day march is starting at Lake Street and Chicago Avenue at 4:30 p.m. Come out to the most important march of the year for immigrant and labor rights!”

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