Largest crowd in weeks to sleep in plaza in defiance of new county ban
Minneapolis, MN – About 400 people rallied at People’s Plaza and marched through downtown Minneapolis on November 14 in defense of OccupyMN. After the march they returned to the plaza and filled it with blankets and sleeping bags for a mass ‘sleep-in’ in defiance of Hennepin County’s new rules banning sleeping in the plaza. As of 10:00 p.m. the County authorities have not moved to clear the plaza.
Minneapolis, MN – About 150 gathered at People’s Plaza, the site of OccupyMN for a rally, Nov. 11, demanding “Money for human needs, not for war.” The protest, on Veteran’s Day, included speakers from Veterans for Peace, the Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness, and others.
Newly released documents show that the FBI has been a major player behind the scenes pushing the 'Secure Communities' deportation program, which is responsible for the deportation of more than 104,000 immigrants identified through the program since 2008. The program, commonly known as S-Comm, uses a massive fingerprint database to try to identify undocumented immigrants for deportation. The FBI sees S-Comm's fingerprint database as one piece of its rapidly-expanding “Next Generation Identification” (NGI) initiative, which seeks to collect and distribute massive amounts of biometric information on citizens and noncitizens alike, in the U.S. and around the world.
Minneapolis, MN – 150 people chanted “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” Nov. 8, at a rally to begin an occupation in support of North Minneapolis home owner, Monique White. White, who lives at 3310 N 6th St, is facing imminent eviction from her foreclosed home. The house and fence around it were hung with banners and signs saying, “Housing is a Human Right”, “25,673 Foreclosures in MN: US Bank Corp CEO Richard Davis 18.8 million dollar/yr salary”, “Foreclose Free Zone.” Six tents were set up in the yard for occupiers to spend the night.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee on the threat by county officials to shut down OccupyMN. On Nov. 8 the Hennepin County Board voted to place severe restrictions on the encampment at People's Plaza, which are slated to go into effect Nov. 14. In addition, Hennepin County Sheriff Rick Stanek has waged a media campaign aimed at discrediting the occupation.
Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 union activists, as well as OccupyMN participants and others, rallied outside the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Alumni Center on Nov. 8 to protest a speech by Wells Fargo CEO Jon Stumpf.
_Protesters denounce new Hennepin County threats to end OccupyMN _
Minneapolis, MN – More than 200 people gathered at People’s Plaza in Minneapolis, Nov. 2, to stand up for the right of assembly and to protest government repression of the Occupy movement around the country, particularly in Oakland, California. Speakers at the rally also denounced a new statement by Hennepin County threatening to end the OccupyMN occupation here in Minneapolis when the temperature hits 25 degrees or at the first snowfall.
Minneapolis, MN – The FBI says they have finished copying the political material and personal papers seized in the Sept. 24, 2010 raids on the homes of Twin Cities anti-war and international solidarity activists. On the afternoon of Nov. 1, FBI agents delivered the last batch of notebooks, family photos, membership lists for anti-war and several other groups, computer backup discs and political documents to the office of attorney Bruce Nestor. The FBI has been returning batches of the copied material seized in the September 24, 2010 raids over the last several weeks.
Minneapolis, MN – According to numerous reports in the press here, Amina Farah Ali, the jailed humanitarian worker convicted of ‘material support for a foreign terrorist organization’ on Oct. 20, is facing religious discrimination in the Sherburne County Jail.
Minneapolis, MN – About 600 people, chanting “the banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” joined Occupy MN, along with labor unions and community groups for a march on the banks here, Oct. 29. The protest coincided with the anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.
