Minneapolis, MN – About a dozen people from Occupy MN/Minneapolis interrupted a Hennepin County Commissioners Board meeting Dec. 13, demanding an end to county attacks on the Occupy movement and the People's Plaza.

Minneapolis, MN – About 100 supporters and participants of Occupy Minneapolis gathered at People’s Plaza here, Dec. 11. They hung signs advancing the demands of the 99%, using clothespins on ropes tied to plaza light poles, pounding staked signs into frozen planters and taping their messages onto poles and benches.

Minneapolis, MN – El 6 de diciembre, fue un día de acción nacional a favor de aquellas familias en peligro de perder sus casas debido a la ejecución hipotecaria. Para ello más de 100 personas se congregaron frente a la casa de Bobby Hull en la 3712 Columbus Ave. Sur, Minneapolis, y anunciaron el inicio de una ocupación de su casa para garantizar que el banco US Bank no le saque de su casa.

Minneapolis, MN – On Dec. 6, a national day of action for occupying foreclosed homes, more than 100 people rallied here in front of Bobby Hull’s house at 3712 Columbus Avenue. They announced the start of an occupation of his home to prevent US Bank from kicking Hull and his family out of their home.

Minneapolis, MN – Supporters of Occupy Minneapolis rallied here Dec. 6 to protest this morning’s raid by Hennepin County Sheriff. They vowed to continue the struggle.

_McDonald asserts self-defense _

Minneapolis, MN – Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald appeared in court, Dec. 5, for the first evidentiary hearing for the charges she is facing after being the target of a racist attack in June of this year. Prosecutors argued that a statement police extracted from McDonald under adverse conditions after her arrest should be admitted at trial, while McDonald’s attorney argued that the police denied her due process rights by extracting the statement after she had been isolated for hours when she was exhausted and in physical and emotional distress.

_Justice for Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan _

Minneapolis, MN – About 100 people gathered for a “Speak Out in Support of the Somali Community” Dec. 3. The organizers were inspired to do the forum after the Oct. 20 conviction of Amina Ali and Hawo Hassan, two Somali American women who raised money for charities assisting Somalia’s poor. The women’s conviction was related to providing “material support to foreign terrorist organizations.” During jury deliberations, supporters of the women made it clear that the situation for people in Somalia was dire and that people required help for basic survival.

_Occupation at People’s Plaza will continue _

Minneapolis, MN – Occupy Minneapolis won a real victory, Dec. 2, when Hennepin County Sheriffs and security guards were forced to abandon their plans to remove the possessions of occupiers, including tarps, bedding, tables, chairs, signs and banners from People’s Plaza.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 400 protesters gathered on People’s Plaza here, Nov. 29, defying the anti-free speech rules imposed by county government. While state Representative Karen Clark spoke to the rally, activists set up 40 tents on the Plaza.

On the evening of Wednesday, November 30 occupiers at Occupy Minneapolis defied the 'no tents' policy imposed by Hennepin County officials by setting up dozens of tents on People's Plaza. The tents stayed up until just after 4:00 a.m. on December 1, when county police dragged people out of the tents, then dismantled and took the tents away. Protesters then decided to set up more tents across the plaza in front of City Hall, until police dragged people out of those tents too and confiscated them, arresting two people in the process. These photos by Kim DeFranco document some of what happened on the night of Nov. 30 and morning of Dec. 1 in People's Plaza in Minneapolis.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement urging support for Occupy Minneapolis.

Steff Yorek is a member of Cooks for a Cause – a group of cooks who do labor-donated fundraising dinners for progressive causes such as Palestine solidarity and immigrants rights.

Minneapolis, MN – Community members, family, friends, and supporters of Chrishaun “CeCe” McDonald held a boisterous rally outside the office of Hennepin County Attorney Michael Freeman, demanding that he drop the charges against McDonald.

Minneapolis, MN – About 50 people rallied here at People’s Plaza, the encampment of Occupy MN, and proceeded to south Minneapolis where they occupied a foreclosed home, November 19. In the early evening Minneapolis police, arrested two participants, and attempted to board up the home. Activists surrounded the home, police left, and occupiers re-entered the home. The occupation is ongoing.

Minneapolis, MN – City Council members here signed a letter to Senators Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken and Representative Keith Ellison affirming constitutional rights of anti-war activists subpoenaed and raided by the FBI last year. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression published the letter on its website Nov. 15.

Minneapolis, MN – About 800 people blocked a major bridge here, Nov. 17 in a march demanding jobs. Police declared the protest to be an unlawful assembly and arrested 11 people who sat down in an act of civil disobedience. The 10th Avenue Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River, was closed for about an hour.

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.