Brooklyn, NY – After the murder of Corey Ruiz by police in Madison, Wisconsin on Wednesday, July 22, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression called a National Week of Action.

In New York, the New York Alliance held their fifth monthly protest at the 71st Precinct on Thursday, July 30, uniting the calls for justice for Eudes Pierre, another Black man killed by police brutality, and Corey Ruiz.

Earlier that day, the New York Alliance had also organized a call-in to demand that one of Eudes Pierre’s murderers, NYPD Officer Conrado Abreu-Gerez, be immediately fired. Hundreds of calls from around the country jammed the phone line. The officers who answered grew increasingly upset, berating callers and claiming that Abreu-Gerez no longer worked at the 71st Precinct. Eventually, they stopped taking calls altogether, effectively shutting down the line.

Also present at the speakout were community members and the family and loved ones of Eudes Pierre. Speeches and chants connected Corey Ruiz’s murder to the murders of Eudes Pierre in 2021 as well as the murder of Óscar Granados Colindres by state and local police in Wappingers Falls, New York on June 27. For Eudes Pierre and Corey Ruiz, the police attempted to dehumanize and criminalize the people they murdered. For Eudes Pierre and Óscar Colindres, 911 sent police instead of healthcare workers.

In all three cases, police escalated to lethal force and have faced no accountability. Sheina Banatte, Eudes Pierre’s cousin and the managing director of advocacy for the Justice for Eudes Pierre Coalition, said, “This is what the NYPD does. They turn a blind eye when officers assault, brutalize, and murder us.” Chapters of the National Alliance work with families who fight similar battles against a system that protects killer cops.

Hannah Healy from the New York Alliance explained the goal of community control of the police as a path to justice. Healy said, “We’ve actually seen community control of the police work before…they drove out the KKK and protected their right to vote against violent counter-revolutionaries! We can achieve this again to serve and protect ourselves.”

Unlike the current toothless CCRB, a Civilian Police Accountability Council would have full control over police budget, staffing, and discipline. CPAC would empower impacted family members to fire and prosecute killer cops.

The New York Alliance will continue to protest the 71st Precinct on the last Thursday of every month. Next month, the protest will take place on August 27th. They will continue to fight until Eudes Pierre’s killers are fired and prosecuted, police are removed from mental health response, and the people win community control of the police.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #NYAARPR

Dallas, TX — Members of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression Dallas spent this past weekend, July 24-25, honoring the life and mourning the death of Santos Rodriguez, the 12-year-old Mexican American boy murdered by Dallas police officer Darrell Cain on July 24, 1973. More than five decades later, his case remains a flashpoint in the fight against police crimes in Dallas, and a reminder that the struggle for the memory of, and justice for, Santos and his family continue.

Who was Santos Rodriguez?

In the early morning hours of July 24, 1973, Dallas police officers Darrell Cain and Roy Arnold responded to a report of an $8 burglary at a Fina gas station in Little Mexico, a Mexican American barrio near downtown Dallas. Acting on a hunch, the officers went to the home of the elderly, largely non-English-speaking foster grandfather of brothers David, 13, and Santos, 12.

The boys were pulled from bed in their pajamas, handcuffed and driven to the gas station for interrogation. While Santos sat handcuffed in the front seat, Officer Cain put his revolver to the boy's head in a game of “Russian roulette,” demanding a confession. Santos's last words were that he was telling the truth. Cain pulled the trigger a second time and killed him instantly, in front of his brother. Evidence later revealed Santos and his brother had no connection to the burglary.

Cain was indicted for murder, but a judge set his bond at a mere $5000. Outrage in the Chicano and Black communities of Dallas boiled over on July 28, 1973, when more than 1000 people marched from Kennedy Plaza to City Hall, torching police cars and smashing windows as police cracked down.

Cain was ultimately convicted of murder with malice but served only two-and-a-half years of a five-year sentence. It would take until 2021, 48 years later, for the Dallas Police Department to formally apologize to Santos's mother, Bessie Rodriguez. Killer cop Darrel Cain ultimately escaped justice and lived out his life quietly until 2019. There was no mention of the murder in his obituary.

July 24: Angelversary and vigil

On Friday, NAARPR Dallas members hosted an Angelversary commemoration for Santos Rodriguez at Pike Park, where a small statue of him sits, bringing together community members to remember his life and to reaffirm the ongoing fight of victims of police crimes still demanding justice. The gathering placed Rodriguez's murder within the broader history of police violence against Mexican Americans in Dallas and across the country, drawing a direct line from 1973 to the police killings communities continue to organize against today.

July 25: Gravesite visit

On Saturday, several NAARPR Dallas members traveled to Santos Rodriguez's gravesite to lay flowers and pay their respects to his memory, to his family, and to the decades-long fight for justice that his family carried on.

Xavi Velasquez, chair of NAARPR Dallas said of the weekend's events, “We attended several events for Santos this weekend, and a common question was, 'What do we do about his murder?' I had the opportunity to talk about community control of the police to many people this weekend, and most people wanted to know more. People want change and are looking for practical and people-powered solutions. This weekend's events solidified to me the need for community control of the police here in Dallas, not just for modern victims of police violence but to hold DPD accountable for police violence that is deep in Dallas history.”

#DallasTX #TX #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – As part of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression’s National Week of Action for Corey Ruiz, the Milwaukee Alliance held a vigil, July 26, in conjunction with Freedom Inc.’s vigil in Madison.

Milwaukee’s vigil gathered families and community members in order to raise the names of multiple victims of police crimes, alongside Corey Ruiz. Ruiz’s execution has been deeply felt by the people of Milwaukee, who are no strangers to police violence and building movements around such cases.

One of the families present was that of Jay Anderson Jr., who was killed by Wauwatosa police Their struggle for justice has been a long one, and along their path to justice, the Andersons have helped out many other families in Milwaukee. Linda Anderson, mother of Jay Anderson Jr., stated, “This happened in broad daylight, and it’s unbelievable how they can do this and think they can get away with this. We are people. We love our kids. It changes our whole lives.”

Angelique Sharpe, sister of Sam Sharpe Jr. (killed in 2024) and education chair of the Milwaukee Alliance stated, “Most of us are taught from an early age that no one is above the law. We are expected to follow the rules, accept responsibility for our actions, and face consequences when we make mistakes. This should apply to all of us, regardless of our title, profession, neighborhood or position of power. If Corey Ruiz’s murderer is not jailed after executing him in broad daylight, what message does that send? What does that say about any ‘fairness’ in law and its application?”

Speaking to this unequal treatment, Chamar Clay raised her friend’s name, Major Artis, and stated that “If one of us go do what they did to Corey, I’d be sitting in jail right now. So he [the officer] needs to take accountability, and they need to put him in jail today!”

The crowd concluded the event by placing flowers for Corey Ruiz on the Sit with Sam Bench, a bench that commemorates Sam Sharpe Jr. in the area where his life was stolen by Columbus PD officers during the Republican National Convention in 2024.

While there was a general sense of grief at the vigil, there was also a lot of hope in the movement to hold the police accountable. Milwaukee has a lot of fighting families and has a lengthy history of movements behind these families. They are raising the demands of justice for their own loved ones, but they also raise the following demands coming from Madison: arrest the killer cop; strengthen the Police Civilian Oversight Board, and community control of the police.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #MAARPR #NAARPR

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

On Wednesday, July 22nd, a Madison Police Officer murdered Cory Ruiz, with an officer firing three rounds into him while he lay down, unable to fight back. The people of Madison are already protesting, fed up with unjust police killings justified with press conferences and proclamations. They know what happens if we sit back and do nothing. The police and their supporters will offer empty promises of investigation and accountability. They will place a few officers on administrative leave and transfer them to different departments. They will say they did their best. They will attempt to wait for the story to leave the limelight, to fade from the public narrative.

The people in the streets of Madison – and the Alliance- refuse to accept that. We won’t wait for empty answers. We won’t sit back quietly while they try to force us to passively support a system that lets cops kill adults, teenagers, children, and even infants through their negligence and aggression. We will agitate and organize and fight until we make the death of Ruiz impossible to ignore. NAARPR branches across the country should mobilize and protest in solidarity and for all victims of police crimes in their cities.

We know exactly what this is: A modern lynching justified with the language of law and order. It's time to hit the streets and demand an end to police terror!

Justice for Corey Ruiz!

Community Control of the Police Now!

End the War on Black People!

Indict and Convict the Killer Cops!

#InjusticeSystem #NAARPR #CoreyRuiz #MadisonWI #WI

Grand Rapids, MI – A historic heat wave hitting Grand Rapids, Michigan on Wednesday night, July 15, did nothing to slow down a mobilization against the ICE murders of Joan Sebastian Guerrero in Maine and Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston.

The protest was held in Garfield Park, in a neighborhood where nearly half the residents are Latino, and featured a diverse lineup of speakers, including Michigan Senate District 29 candidate Ivan Diaz. Alongside calls for justice, the organizers said the main demand was to get ICE out of our neighborhoods.

Stationed near a busy intersection, the crowd began with chants of “El pueblo, unido, jamás será vencido!” and “No hate! No fear! Immigrants are welcome here!” before moving into speeches. The reception from the street was enthusiastic, with drivers cheering and shouting anti-ICE slogans.

Diaz was introduced first, stressing a message of unity to fight back these attacks.

“We have to be able to work together,” said Diaz. “Focusing on petty differences, or differences of opinion or strategy, is not going to help us beat this system.”

Eduardo Montiel, an organizer with the Grand Rapids Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Coalition Against Trump (CAT) – the organizers of the protest – similarly projected a need to join together.

“Both [Joan and Lorenzo] were working class, like the majority of us in this country. Both were just trying to provide for their families,” said Montiel. “This is the common thread that unites all of us.”

The rally portion lasted around an hour, with additional speeches from Lily Cheng-Schulting, a disability rights activist and candidate for State House District 80; Michael Amirault, an organizer with the recently-formed Grand Rapids Opponents of War (GROW); and Julliette Kibby of Palestine Solidarity Grand Rapids (PSGR).

Both Amirault and Juliette Kibby connected the war against immigrants at home with U.S.-led wars abroad, expressing the necessity to fight for our immigrant neighbors while also committing to the fight against imperialism.

The evening closed with a vigil portion, including a read out of every person killed by ICE this year followed by a moment of silence.

#GrandRapidsMI #MI #ImmigrantRights #GRAARPR #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – On July 13, dozens of community members and organizers mobilized to the intersection of 35th and Vliet Streets on Milwaukee’s North Side. This corner was the site of a deadly crash in September 2025 in which a reckless police pursuit killed three residents, the youngest victim being just 15 years old. Almost a year later, a spirited fight for community-led policy has only grown and hopes to win big as it soon goes to vote by city alderpeople.

The evening started with chants and remarks from Brian Verdin, a leader of the original Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (MAARPR). Setting the tone, he named the nine lives stolen by police pursuits, including Pler Moo and her sons Taw and Karlah Ko, killed at that intersection ten months ago.

Veteran MAARPR member Tiffany Stark said, “I want to have a safe police pursuit policy that has restrictions, where we're not chasing people for minor things, only for violent crime.” Stark recently lost a loved one due to causes related to these police pursuits and has been a key player in pushing for policy changes around this: Standard Operating Procedures 575 and 660.

Shortly after, members of Milwaukee Turners and Black Leaders Organizing Communities made brief comments, all stating the necessity for changes around this policy and accountability from the Milwaukee Police Department. Kayla Patterson, co-chair of MAARPR, then closed out the evening with some more chants.

The city of Milwaukee Common Council will be discussing further changes to SOP 575 and 660 on July 30. MAARPR and other community organizations will continue to apply pressure to the alderpeople to vote in favor of the recommended changes pushed by the community.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #InJusticeSystem #NAARPR #MAARPR #PoliceCrimes

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression strongly condemns the Department of Justice’s second round of the campaign of intimidation and repression against Nadia Topete, a proud Chicana immigrant rights activist and member of Centro CSO in Los Angeles. Nadia has been subpoenaed a second time to appear in front of a judge and federal grand jury on Wednesday July 8th, following an FBI visit to her home on May 20th.

This is part of a wider targeting of the immigrant rights movement by the Trump administration and DOJ, which is now circling back to Los Angeles to silence organizers and create an atmosphere of fear that keeps people out of the streets. Our movement will not be silent, and we stand with Nadia, Centro CSO and all those facing repression.

We understand the DOJ’s attacks as a reaction to the powerful rebellion against ICE terror in Los Angeles last February, which sparked a national wave of uprisings across the country. The Trump administration is fishing for charges and unjustly targeting Nadia and other members of Centro CSO over baseless claims, to try and criminalize protest. This is a clear-cut act of racist and political repression. The real criminal entity is ICE, terrorizing immigrant communities kidnapping people off the streets, and unleashing deadly violence in our neighborhoods.

The Trump administration is making it clear they are intensifying their repression, and now is the time for us to stand together and answer the call to defend our movements and activists.

Hands off Nadia Topete!

End the DOJ and FBI targeting of immigrant rights activists!

ICE out of our communities!

##InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression #NadiaTopete #NAARPR #CentroCSO #ImmigrantRights

Chicago, IL – On Thursday, July 25, a press conference was held outside of the monthly Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability (CCPSA) meeting welcoming the two new commissioners, as well as continuing to demand CPD be held accountable for collaboration with federal agents during Operation Midway Blitz. The meeting took place at Benito Juarez High School, in the predominantly Chicano working-class neighborhood of Pilsen. The press conference was held by the Immigrants’ Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (IRWC of CAARPR).

“Commissioner Anjanette Young and Commissioner Guzman, welcome to your new position on the CCPSA. We, the Immigrants Rights Working Committee, have been diligently attending every single CCPSA meeting since the launch of our campaign to end CPD-ICE collaboration,” said Helena Fuentes of the IRWC.

Fuentes added, “We implore you to please, lean into your humanity and compassion, and not only consider our campaign, but please act.”

“Despite months and months of asking this commission to step up, and take an active role, the work hasn't been done yet. Since the commission's last meeting, more evidence has continued to raise serious questions about CPD compliance with the welcoming city ordinance,” said Elianne Bahena, a district councilor who, during the height of Gregory Bovino’s terror in the Little Village neighborhood, was kidnapped by federal agents.

Bahena continued, “Today as two new commissioners, Commissioner Young and Commissioner Guzman, we ask for this to be an opportunity for this commission to reaffirm its purpose. We hope the commission takes this opportunity to truly listen to our communities.”

Lifetime member of the National Alliance Against Racist Political Repression (NAARPR), Frank Chapman, stated, “We can only straighten out this problem by getting rid of the police having the power of life and death over our communities. We take a big step in this direction when we initiate this campaign to put this [Community Power Over Policing] referendum on the ballot.”

After the press conference, community members entered the school and gave public comments. Various community members raised the recent ICE kidnapping in the Albany Park neighborhood, which ended in a car collision.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InjusticeSystem #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #PoliceAccountability #CAARPR #NAARPR

New Orleans, LA – On Monday, June 29, a small crowd of community activists packed the city council audience for the Criminal Justice Committee meeting to keep up pressure for the family of Jace Lee Scott. Scott was a 19-year-old Black teenager murdered in 2019 by Andrew Gant, the son of New Orleans police officer Victor Gant Jr.

Jace’s mother, Shanta Scott, as well as activists from the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, rallied before the meeting wearing t-shirts that read “Justice for Jace Lee Scott” and signs that read “Fire crooked cop Victor Gant Jr.” After a brief rally, the protesters went inside the chambers with paper signs bearing the same slogans.

The Criminal Justice Committee heard reports across the policing and law departments in the city, from the Sheriff’s Office to Juvenile Court and more. Speakers gave public comment on the reports from the New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) and the district attorney’s office respectively.

“Every family deserves confidence that a homicide investigation was conducted fairly without conflicts of interest,” said Shanta Scott to city council members and NOPD officials. “I am asking the NOPD homicide department to release the videos I have been asking for in my public records requests.”

Jace’s murder case is closed as a “negligent homicide” due to a plea deal, yet Shanta Scott reports some of the files in her son’s case are still sealed without any legal reasoning. The CDs she received from NOPD with supposed evidence were completely blank.

“It’s the responsibility of the district attorney’s office to stand up to crime, not just between people on the street, but also crime between police and civilians. We want you to take a real role in helping us look at this case. We’re here because we care, and if you care too we want you to stand with us,” said Toni Mar of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization to District Attorney Jason Williams.

In 2019, Gant Jr. was present during his own son’s interrogation and drove his son along with crime scene evidence to the NOPD station instead of calling 911 and leaving it to other officers to do proper intake. His actions broke several statutes of proper protocol. Jace’s family maintains that even beyond the mishandling of Jace’s murder, Gant Jr. has a history of misconduct, violence and corruption, and they demand he be fired from the force.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #InjusticeSystem #PoliceAccountability #OppressedNationalities #JaceLeeScott #NAARPR

Brooklyn, NY – Community members and the family of Eudes Pierre gathered Thursday, June 25, for their fourth monthly picket at the NYPD’s 71st Precinct. Alongside Pierre’s family, organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR) demanded justice for Eudes Pierre and put up wanted posters of the officers who murdered him in 2021.

The previous day would have been Pierre’s 31st birthday. He was only 26 years old when he called 911 in the midst of a mental health crisis on December 20, 2021. Instead of the care he needed, dispatch sent Officers Peter Lan and Conrado Abreu-Gerez. Pierre’s cousin, Sheina Banatte, described how he was “followed, chastised, criminalized, attacked, gunned down, then dehumanized when his murder was labeled ‘suicide by cop’ after he called 911 for help.”

The NYPD denied wrongdoing. Its Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) ruled Lan and Abreu-Gerez acted “within NYPD guidelines.” New York Attorney General Letitia James declined to pursue criminal charges against them. Killer cops feel emboldened to brutalize and kill Black and brown New Yorkers because the system is built to deny justice to those impacted by police violence.

Joe Wilkins from the New York Alliance outlined a path to justice in community control of the police, stating, “Accountability should not take years of pickets and protests and rallies. It should be built into the system from the bottom-up, through community boards with real power to hire, fire and discipline every single officer in this building, and throughout the five boroughs.”

Participants directly confronted officers from the 71st Precinct with chants such as, “How do you spell murderer? NYPD!” One participant used to 50-a.org database to search the names and badge numbers of officers who stood, laughing, behind their metal barricades. Like Peter Lan and Conrado Abreu-Gerez, several of the officers present had documented histories of brutality and racist violence.

As they build the Justice for Eudes Pierre campaign, the New York Alliance and the family of Eudes Pierre will continue to picket the 71st Precinct on the last Thursday of every month. They will continue to fight until Pierre’s killers are fired and prosecuted, police are removed from mental health response, and the people win community control of the police.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #EudesPierre #NYAARPR #NAARPR

Colorado Springs, CO – On June 24, the family of Alex Martinez-Sarmiento filed a lawsuit against the Colorado Springs Police Department (CSPD) for the murder of their loved one . They held a press conference, along with lawyers Mari Newman and Andy McNulty, at CSPD’s downtown headquarters to announce the lawsuit and demand justice. Alex Martinez-Sarmiento was a 26-year-old “father, son, brother and friend,” said the attorneys in a statement.

Members of the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) were in attendance to support the family. Over a dozen family members and activists stood in front of the press cameras holding banners and signs that read “Justice for Alex Martinez” and “CSPD stop killing La Raza.”

On July 5, 2025, CSPD officer Connor Jacob Wallick shot Martinez-Sarmiento in the back three times, killing him. Since then, members of his family, as well as COSAARPR, have been leading protests demanding that Wallick be fired and charged for murder. Members of COSAARPR view the lawsuit as one step in a protracted struggle.

At the press conference, Alex’s sister Saray Rocha spoke to the lack of accountability CSPD faces, “If an ordinary citizen cannot shoot someone in the back and walk away without consequences, then why should Connor Jacob Wallick? Why should he get to continue to wear a badge if he cannot follow the standards and responsibilities that come with it?”

McNulty’s stated, “We see violence from the police over and over and over again here in Colorado Springs. What we don’t see is accountability. What we don’t see is justice for these families. And today we file a federal lawsuit seeking accountability and justice not just for the Martinez family, but for all the families who have had their loved ones taken by the Colorado Springs Police Department.”

COSAARPR and the family are determined to keep fighting for Alex and accountability for violent police officers.

#ColoradoSpringsCO #CO #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #COSAARPR #NAARPR #FRSO #Featured

Oakland, CA – On June 19, hundreds of Black Oaklanders gathered around Lake Merritt for an annual Juneteenth celebration. The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression put out a call for a day of action to “Defend families impacted by police crimes,” which led the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression to take action.

The Oakland Alliance talked to community members about Jalani Lovett, an Oakland native whose violent death in LA Men’s Central Jail was covered up. They gathered mailing list sign-ups, petition signatures, and GoFundMe donations to reopen his case.

While Oakland's Juneteenth celebrations are normally jubilant and carefree, there was a notable shift in turnout and spirit from previous festivities. A shooting two years ago on Juneteenth gave justification for the Oakland Police Department (OPD) to clamp down. Fences and shut down streets were used to discourage Black people from gathering in large crowds. But the activists mobilized anyway, flyering in response to racist harassment and treatment by OPD. A leaflet read, “This Juneteenth: Fight back against police brutality.”

Amped-up police presence at Black celebrations in Oakland is not new. Recent controversies with violence after monthly “First Friday” festivals in Oakland’s downtown district were met with racist rhetoric against Black people organizing celebrations that draw the “wrong crowd.” This June’s First Friday theme, “Black In Oakland,” drew vendors, performers and dozens of Black residents. Several hours after the event had ended, youth were seen getting rowdy and fighting, and, instead of de-escalating the situation, videos showed OPD tackling and tear-gassing Black children.

The emphasis on police presence is because the perception of Oakland as a Black, crime-ridden city, despite violent crime dropping nearly 30%, hurts the bottom line of property owners and downtown developers. It’s why Kaiser Permanente and PG&E spent nearly a million dollars to reinstate the city's police cadet program. This is not so different from what prompted Mayor Jerry Brown, elected in 1999, to begin using police to “clean up” downtown and make space for luxury projects. He got rid of the city’s first Black police chief, put a narcotics officer in, and unleashed police to attack low-income Black and brown residents.

Members of the Oakland Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression believe that the struggle between African-Americans and OPD will continue to sharpen. They want to remain prepared by meeting the people where they are and building a rapport with them as a police-crime-fighting organization.

#OaklandCA #CA #Juneteenth #OppressedNationalities #InjusticeSystem #NAARPR

Orlando, FL – On the evening of Friday, June 19, around 80 community members gathered from all over Orlando at the intersection of Anderson Street and Division Avenue. They carried signs that read “Defend voting rights” and “Justice for the victims of police crimes” as they marched toward city hall in response to Republican-led attacks on the voting rights of the Black community, as well as demanding community control of the police.

The protest was organized by Orlando Against Police Crimes (OAPC), a grassroots community organization fighting for the victims of police crimes. At the event, OAPC condemned recent attacks on voting rights by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Louisiana v. Callais case. The case made it harder to correct maps that dilute the voting rights of the Black community. It is a decision which also paved the way for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and right-wing legislators to redraw maps that undermine the political power of Black voters.

Gathered at the corner of Anderson and Division, the crowd was set to march across the Anderson Street Bridge as they made their way down to city hall. Community leader Lawanna Gelzer opened the event by talking about the significance of the location chosen. “They named this Division Avenue because it was the segregation line between Black and Caucasian people during Jim Crow. Now, Division Avenue stands for economic disparity and gentrification.”

Gelzer also spoke on the history of the Civil Rights Movement. She gave a particular focus to the historic march across the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Alabama – the site of a brutal attack on protestors perpetrated by police known as Bloody Sunday.

“This march is a reenactment of that moment. They call us radicals when all we’re asking for is to respect the voting rights we fought for and to bring back the police civilian review board they took away from us,” said Gelzer.

Protesters then marched across the Anderson Street Bridge, local activists leading chants such as “Donald Trump you racist clown, tell your courts we won’t back down!” and “Ron DeSantis shame on you, the KKK fear Black votes too!” Protesters sang ballads from the Civil Rights Movement such as We Shall Overcome and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round.

Once the protesters arrived at Orlando City Hall, OAPC member Edmund Anglero told the crowd, “Some of you may be wondering why a group focused on police crimes organized an event around voting rights. Our right to vote is a building block upon which we amass more political power. Those rights were fought for, and earned, in blood. We must defend them with everything we have. The struggle for community control of the police is ultimately about expanding our basic democratic rights.”

Anglero also highlighted the recent murder of Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old child killed by Mississippi police in a Walmart parking lot, and called for justice and accountability.

The Orlando Singing Resistance choir and 50501 Orlando ended the event with songs and speeches while OAPC put out a call to action. They urged members of the community to join OAPC’s campaign in reinstating the Civilian Review Board and getting involved in the struggle for police accountability and community control of the police in Orlando.

#OrlandoFL #FL #Juneteenth #OppressedNationalities #OAPC #NAARPR

Chicago, IL- Activists rallied in Federal Plaza, June 20, to celebrate Juneteenth and raise demands to defend voting rights and stopping police crimes, including wrongful conviction, police torture, and CPD-ICE collaboration. The National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression had called for a day of action in response to the gutting of the Voting Rights Act by the Supreme Court.

Mayor Brandon Johnson made an appearance and asked the crowd, “Are we ready to put an end to racist repression?” He pledged to continue his fight for affordable rents, living wages and to defend public education against politicians putting the interest of corporations over that of the working class.

Johnson continued, “We have to ensure that the voting rights, particularly for Black folks, are protected, because if they undermine voting rights, they undermine labor rights, reproductive rights, civil rights,” he said. The crowd cheered him when he closed his speech, “But we’re not going to allow that in Chicago, are you with me?”

Frank Chapman, NAARPR’s executive director, made it clear in his remarks that the working class can defeat this backwards federal administration, but only through the largest united front possible.

“We are going to exercise our inalienable right to overthrow all institutions, and all government obstacles that stand in the way of our full rights under the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments,” Chapman said.

“We are going to overturn all of those institutions that oppress our people and deny our people the right to vote and the right to exist as equal citizens of this country and equal participants in this democracy. And our people are not a narrow, isolated group – our people are Black, brown, LGBTQ, white and working class.”

Kobi Guillory, a middle school science teacher and executive board member of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, reminded the crowd that the reason slavery ended was because Black people fought back.

“Millions of Black people left the plantation, therefore taking away the labor that the plantation owners relied on, and then took up arms with the union army, and that is what broke the back of the Confederacy,” Guillory said. “And it’s that tradition of struggle that we have to celebrate today.”

Elijah Edwards, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 2858, pointed out in his remarks that there were over 200 slave rebellions during the time of chattel slavery in the United States. “Solidarity existed during slavery, solidarity exists today,” Edwards said. “And only through solidarity will we defeat them.”

Reverend Ciera Bates-Chamberlain, executive director of Live Free Illinois, has organized and led church congregations in the fight against Trump’s deportations. At the rally, she led chants of, “We ain’t free until we’re all free!”

“Juneteenth is more than a celebration,” Bates-Chamberlain said. “Juneteenth is a moment of confrontation. And in that moment of confrontation we are reminding people, declaring, and demanding to set our people free.”

To raise the demand for freedom for the wrongfully convicted, Jasmine Smith of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture called two different currently incarcerated survivors of wrongful conviction on the phone and held the mic up to her phone to allow them to address the crowd from inside prison.

One of the survivors is Samuel Elam, who was wrongfully convicted for a 2011 home invasion and robbery. Elam recently suffered a heart attack in Menard Correctional, where he has been held for over a decade. Despite receiving specific instructions for care from the doctors at the hospital where he was sent, Elam has been denied consistent medical attention, and his family members who have called into the prison on his behalf have been blocked from contacting him.

“They are violating every right and administrative rule in this correctional facility,” he said, over the phone. “What they’re doing is killing us, and they are killing us slowly. This is not rehabilitation; these are torture chambers.” Smith echoed Elam’s statement about the prisons in Illinois: “I call them slave ships!”

Lara Haddadin from the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) stated,

“Our struggles have always been interconnected,” she said. “ICE has come for all of us. Whether it’s a Black man being pulled over and put into a head lock by an ICE agent, a Palestinian protester abducted by ICE after speaking out against genocide, or a Latina rapid response member shot at for attempting to document ICE activity.”

Haddadin pointed out that the attempt to overturn birthright citizenship is “part of a coordinated effort to disenfranchise and limit voters of color. It’s an authoritarian power grab. And now Trump's deportation machine is an extension we see clearly of the prison industrial complex that the American economy relies on so heavily today.”

The protest here was organized by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), with a number of endorsing organizations, including the Arab American Action Network, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, and Good Kids/Mad City.

#ChicagoIL #IL #OppressedNationalities #AfricanAmerican #NAARPR #CAARPR

Brooklyn, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gathered in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn on Friday, June 19, to speak out against police crimes that disproportionately affect Black and brown communities of New York City.

Held on Juneteenth, a holiday marking the day when the enslaved people in Texas were informed of their freedom after the U.S. Civil War, the speakout was a part of a National Day of Action called by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

Speakers from the New York Alliance focused on the struggles of families to demand justice for their loved ones lost to police brutality across the country. In Brooklyn, the Alliance works closely with the family of Eudes Pierre, a young Black man who was murdered by the NYPD while in the midst of a mental health crisis in 2021. Over four years later, the Civilian Complaint Review Board has ruled in favor of the officers, and State Attorney General Letitia James has declined to pursue any charges against them.

“If executing a young Black man during a mental health crisis is ‘within guidelines,’ then the entire institution is fundamentally, structurally criminal,” said Jamie Kowalski, a member of the New York Alliance. “We stand in unwavering solidarity with the family of Eudes Pierre, alongside the families of every person whose life was stolen by police violence.”

The day of action also focused on the erosions of voting rights that the Trump administration and Supreme Court have been steadily pushing, including the recent Louisiana v. Callais, which rolls back protections of Black people’s right to vote enshrined by the Voting Rights Act of 1965, protections that were hard won by the Civil Rights and Black Liberation movements of the 1960s.

Shivani Ishwar, the Chair of NYAARPR, said, “Across the country, the National Alliance is working to defend Black communities from going back to the Jim Crow era. We will not allow this racist system to silence Black voices, to ignore Black communities, or to take Black lives.” As an organization that fights for community control of the police, Ishwar went on, the New York Alliance recognizes that the right to vote is fundamental to Black people’s ability to control how their communities are run.

The New York Alliance also invited community members to join an upcoming protest on Thursday, June 25, to commemorate Eudes Pierre’s 31st birthday and continue demanding justice for his family. The protest will be held at the 71st Precinct, which responded to Eudes’ call back in 2021, and where one of the officers who killed him still works. The New York Alliance are demanding that both of the officers who killed Eudes be fired and prosecuted for murder.

#BrooklynNY #NY #NYC #NAARPR #InjusticeSystem #Juneteenth #EudesPierre

New Orleans, LA – On Juneteenth, June 19, 40 people braved the threatening New Orleans weather and gathered on the bricked pavement outside the federal building on Poydras Street to rally for victims of police murder and Black voting rights.

Just five days earlier, police officers in Senatobia, Mississippi, opened fire on a car in a Walmart parking lot, killing Kohen Wiley, a one-year-old Black baby. In stark contrast, banners for the forthcoming 250-year anniversary of the U.S. decorated the columns of the Hale-Boggs Federal Building. The banners featured the so-called Founding Fathers, many of whom owned slaves.

Sister Shanta Scott, whose own son, Jace Lee Scott, was murdered in 2019 by the son of Police Officer Victor Gant Jr., took the mic first and reminded the crowd that Juneteenth wasn’t just a celebration, it was a call to action.

“Freedom delayed is freedom denied,” Scott said, “and that lesson still applies today.” She detailed the long history of Black struggle and revolt in this country before stressing that it was our generation’s responsibility to fight for justice and accountability. “Political power is not given. Political power is organized. Political power comes from community standing together and demanding accountability.”

Scott concluded with an impassioned rendition of Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come before raising her fist and crying out, “All power to the people!”

Toni Jones of the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NOAARPR) addressed the crowd. She uplifted Kohen Wiley and connected that death to Jace Lee Scott’s murder.

NOAARPR will be hosting a press conference on Saturday, June 27 to call out New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno for her silence and refusal to fire Victor Gant Jr, who is under her direct employ.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #Juneteenth #NAARPR #KohenWiley #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #JaceLeeScott

Chicago, IL – The struggle for justice for survivors of police torture continues in Chicago. June 18 saw another defeat for Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen Burke, who is notoriously known for working hand-in-glove with the Chicago Police Department.

In 1991, Johnny Plummer was just 15 years old when he was beaten into a confession for a murder he didn’t commit. His torturers were Detectives Kenneth Boudreau and Michael Kill. Boudreau has 70 convictions to his name where survivors have accused him of torture; 28 of those men have since been exonerated for successfully proving they had been forced into confessions.

Plummer’s defense has always been that he was beaten into signing a confession by Kill and Boudreau, beaten in the abdomen with fists and a flashlight. He has declared this since the first moment his family came to the Area 3 police station after his two days in police custody. When Plummer saw a doctor at the Audy Juvenile Home, he told the doctor he had been beaten into signing the false confession. The medical examiner recorded Johnny’s account in his notes and, for 35 years, Plummer has been saying that he reported his torture to the doctor.

At his multiple trials since he was wrongfully convicted, that medical report did not surface.

Attorney Karl Leonard with the Exoneration Project explained to the presiding judge for Plummer’s case, Judge Tyria B. Walton, that a special prosecutor took this case in 2022 and requested all medical records from the state’s attorney’s office. “This year (2026) we received those files and finally saw the medical report from August 22, 1991,” Leonard stated.

Judge Walton’s opening question for counsel was to identify the issue at hand before the court. In his opening statement, Assistant State’s Attorney Miles O’Rourke claimed there was no Brady violation in 1991 and spent time showing that in the early years of trials and appeals, Plummer and his attorneys said nothing in court about not receiving medical records.

A Brady violation is when prosecutors fail to disclose impeaching evidence to the defense.

Judge Walton had previously been giving more support to the prosecutors, but as the defense brought out more information, Judge Walton reminded the court of the three things that are needed to establish a Brady claim: One, the evidence must be favorable to the accused because it is exculpatory (tends to prove innocence). Two, the prosecution suppressed or failed to turn over the evidence, even if the suppression was unintentional. And three, the evidence was “material,” meaning there is reason to think that the outcome of the trial would have been different.

State’s Attorney O’Rourke argued a number of times that there was no Brady violation and claimed that the defense had all the medical records. In the dramatic high point of the proceeding, Judge Walton identified that there was a first subpoena filed in 1991 and a second subpoena filed in 2022, and stated that the court was advised by the petitioner that they didn’t have the medical records.

O’Rourke interjected, “We didn’t have it either.”

Judge Walton continued, “Then in 2026, the records surfaced in a file review.”

Addressing O’Rourke’s outburst, Walton explained that the Brady language is unyielding: whether the withholding was intentional or not, there was definite cause for a Brady violation.

She went on to say that with the surfacing of the medical records earlier this year, she concluded the state’s attorney’s office had already been in possession of those records, though it may not have been in the possession of this particular counsel present at court.

After this, the state stopped arguing there was no basis for a Brady finding.

In response to the developments in court, Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stated, “When do facts matter? How can it be that something that happened 35 years ago is just now getting in front of a judge?”

Chapman recalled the words of Johnny’s mother, Jeanette Plummer, who died in May never seeing her son on this side of freedom. She had spoken out against injustice ever since he was wrongfully convicted. In 2012, at a forum on police crimes organized by the Chicago Alliance, she challenged the system of racist policing.

“How could they torture a 15-year-old child?” Chapman said, “Clearly we can’t trust the court system to bring justice. We must trust the movement to do this. Without the movement, we wouldn’t even be getting a hearing and keeping up his hopes for freedom.”

The next hearing for Johnny Plummer will be on Tuesday, June 23 at 1 p.m. at the George Leighton Courthouse (2650 S California Avenue) in room 304.

#ChicagoIL #IL #JohnnyPlummer #InjusticeSystem #OppressedNationalities #Featured #NAARPR #CAARPR

New Orleans, LA – On Saturday, June 6, community members and organizers rallied for a noise demonstration outside the Ogden Art Museum's annual Magnolia Ball Fundraiser. They demanded federal murder charges be brought against Andrew Gant for his role in the 2019 murder of Jace Lee Scott. The demonstrators also demanded Gant’s father, NOPD officer Victor Gant Jr, be fired from the New Orleans Police Department for corruption.

Jace's mother, Sister Shanta Scott, has been fighting to get justice for her son Jace's murder since 2019. Through information requests, she was able to get police records that showed that Andrew Gant called his father, NOPD’s Victor Gant, before 911 as Jace was on the ground dying.

“The last thing we need is police policing the police. And the city council won't listen to us. The mayor has ignored my letters. So now we're here at this fundraising event to make sure they know we won't stop demanding justice for my son and all families impacted by police violence,” said Sister Shanta Scott to the crowd outside the event.

Over 20 people banged on drums and cookware, chanted, and blew whistles to disrupt the event and call attention to the continuing injustice.

Vonne Crandell of the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression highlighted the class discrepancy at play, saying, “While they [city council members, NOPD] are inside having their fancy gala, you know who's out here demanding justice? The people! And it's these same city officials that are supposed to serve us that not only turned a blind eye to this perversion of justice, they aided and abetted in this criminal cover-up.”

A friend of one of the demonstrators attended the fundraiser and informed them that Mayor Helena Moreno had opted to not show up, despite it being on her event calendar.

Moreno has been a target of the campaign since Shanta Scott sent her a letter in April 2026 demanding her to take action and fire Victor Gant Jr. The New Orleans Alliance and Jace Scott’s family plan to continue targeting the mayor’s calendar of events to pressure a response from her on the case.

#NewOrleansLA #LA #InJusticeSystem #NOAARPR #NAARPR

Brooklyn, NY – Community members picketed the front entrance to the NYPD’s 71st Precinct, May 28, the third such recurring protest to demand Justice for the police murder of Eudes Pierre. The New York Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (NYAARPR) organized this protest along with Pierre’s family to demand that the officers who murdered the 26-year-old Brooklyn resident be fired and charged with murder.

Eudes Pierre was a Haitian-American man who called 911 while having a mental health crisis on December 20, 2021. When officers arrived at the scene, they chose to escalate the situation rather than render aid, including following him home from the subway platform where he had placed the call. They then shot him numerous times steps away from the front door of his childhood home, killing him.

The NYPD’s disciplinary board, the CCRB, ultimately ruled that the officers acted within NYPD guidelines. Furthermore, New York’s Attorney General Letitia James declined to pursue any criminal charges against the officers. The outcome of Pierre’s case is all too common for victims and survivors of police brutality – the officers face no accountability or consequences, and families are given no modicum of justice for their loved ones.

“We are out here today at the 71st Precinct, just like we are on the last Thursday of every month, demanding justice for Eudes Pierre,” said Shivani Ishwar, the chair of NYAARPR.

They went on to highlight the NYPD’s role as a repressive and reactionary force within New York City. “We are also here showing up because we know every cop is guilty of upholding this racist and repressive system, and that’s why we’ll be out in Manhattan next week on June 4 protesting the New York City Police Foundation’s Charity Gala,” Ishwar continued.

The militant protest forced the 71st Precinct to barricade its front entrance, with chants of “NYPD kills on patrol! How do we stop them? Community control!” ringing out for blocks. Protesters also used cowbells and percussion instruments to create a noisy atmosphere, amplifying their message and attracting the attention of nearby residents, who shared their own stories of police brutality committed by officers of the precinct.

The New York Alliance and Pierre’s family said they’ll continue to picket the 71st Precinct on the last Thursday of every month in order to demand justice, honor Eudes Pierre’s memory, and advocate for community control of the NYPD.

#BrooklynNY #NY #InJusticeSystem #KillerCops #NYAARPR #NAARPR

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of May 25, a few dozen community members in Milwaukee gathered to pay tribute to the 6th anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by Minneapolis police. The vigil was organized by the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

During 2020, thousands in Milwaukee took to the streets to demand justice for George Floyd and an end to police crimes. In 2026, the community is still coming out in his name to demand an end to police crimes.

Solidarity with the Floyd family is strong in Milwaukee and, unfortunately, the city has its own history of police murders. In the summer of 2024, Sam Sharpe Jr. was murdered by the Columbus, Ohio police department, who were in Milwaukee for the Republican National Convention.

Sharpe Jr.’s sister, Angelique Sharpe, the Milwaukee Alliance’s Education Chair, spoke at the rally and said, “I’m here really to join in solidarity. My brother wasn’t the first killed by those sworn to serve and protect and he won’t be the last.” Sharpe emphasized over and over that the community will continue to fight until there is justice for all victims of police crimes.

#MilwaukeeWI #WI #GeorgeFloyd #PoliceAccountability #InjusticeSystem #NAARPR #MilwaukeeAlliance #Featured