Fullerton, CA – On August 19, 2019, the Buena Park Police Department killed 19-year-old David Patrick Sullivan after a traffic stop in Fullerton. As body cam footage of this murder shows, Sullivan was unarmed and attempting to flee when BPPD Officers Bobby Colon and Jennifer Tran shot him seven times. In June, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer cleared Officers Colon and Tran, but Sullivan’s family is fighting back.

This Wednesday, August 19, the one-year angelversary of his murder, Sullivan’s family, Christian Contreras (one of their attorneys), members of Centro CSO, Carlos Montes, and other activists gathered at the site of Sullivan’s death for a rally. Sullivan’s mother, DeAnna, spoke to the press about Sullivan’s personality as well as the pain his absence has caused his family. She explained how David had already missed out on his brother’s wedding and listed all the different moments in David’s own life that he and his family will now never experience.

Deanna Sullivan said her son was becoming the person he was meant to become. She brought pictures from Sullivan’s childhood and a wooden board with a carved fist that Sullivan had made himself. According to his mother, Sullivan had an emerging political consciousness and had even considered traveling to the #NoDAPL pipeline protests. David was proud of his Chicano heritage. David graduated from high school and was part of marching band and drama class. He was working as a cashier at a local gas station and retail store.

After this rally, Sullivan’s family spoke at Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles’ weekly protest of District Attorney Jackie Lacey held outside of the LA Hall of Justice. While D.A. Lacey wasn’t involved in Sullivan’s case, his sister Samantha told the crowd of the importance of the space for the families of police brutality: “We were able to find our voice by coming to your protest and seeing how impassioned all these families are, who reached out to us to let us know that it’s okay to be angry, that it’s okay to want justice.”

Samantha said about her brother and the more than 600 people killed by police during D.A. Lacey’s term, “None of these people were given the chance to have any kind of fair trial, so every single person who was stolen is innocent and that’s a fucking fact.”

The Sullivan family has now joined forces with the community group Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) and will be leading a march contingent August 29 during the 50th Chicano Moratorium anniversary in East LA. For more information on joining the march: https://www.facebook.com/events/1203790706493709 To join or contact CSO: 323-943-2030, CentroCSO@gmail.com, or @CentroCSO on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

#FullertonCA #PoliceBrutality #DavidPatrickSullivan #CentroCommunityServiceOrganizationCSO

St. Paul, MN – About 48,000 people marched to the Minnesota State Capitol, April 22, at the March for Science. The crowd included kids, adults, teachers, science professionals, environmental activists and numerous supporting organizations to “show support for higher education, and the discovery, access and understanding of scientific information.”

March for Science was a series of rallies and marches that took place across the world on April 22, Earth Day. Under the current Trump administration there have been huge cuts to scientific research and environmental programs. Science and environmental protections are not a priority for this administration.

In partnership with the March for Science was the Kids Climate March. Over 500 kids held a rally at 9:30 a.m. in front of the Science Museum of Minnesota in Saint Paul. Kids Climate March organizers stated, “Young people know climate change is real, they know it is human caused and they know their future is at stake.” The Kids Climate March fed into and led the March for Science from Cathedral Hill Park to the State Capitol.

Meredith Aby-Keirstead, a member of the Anti-War Committee, told Fight Back!, “I really enjoyed the March for Science – especially the Kids Climate March part. It was empowering to be with tens of thousands of people saying science is real, global warming is real, and who were taking a stand against Trump's budget cuts to scientific research and environmental protection.”

As part of marking Earth Day, among the crowd was a vibrant theme of signs focusing on environmental protection reading “Protect Mother Earth!” and “Climate change is real!” Numerous #nodapl and Mni Wiconi t-shirts and signs reading “In solidarity with Standing Rock” were also spotted within the crowd.

#StPaulMN #US #PeoplesStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice #MarchForScience

President Trump issued memorandums Jan. 24 to push ahead construction of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipeline. The memorandums direct the Army Corp of Engineers to expedite the issuance of an easement for crossing Lake Oahe and to rescind the Notice of intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement.

Both of these pipelines endanger the country’s water supply and land resources. The Dakota Access pipeline in particular is in violation of the treaty rights and sovereignty of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota people. Standing Rock has been the site of so far an eight-month-long encampment, prayers and protests against the pipeline.

Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, said, “Americans know this pipeline was unfairly rerouted towards our nation and without our consent. The existing pipeline route risks infringing on our treaty rights, contaminating our water and the water of 17 million Americans downstream.”

Archambault said Trump’s decision appears to be a political payback. “By granting the easement, Trump is risking our treaty rights and water supply to benefit his wealthy contributors and friends at DAPL,” he said. “We are not opposed to energy independence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects, like DAPL, that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water. Creating a second Flint does not make America great again.”

#NoDAPL activists are calling for local mass protests in support of indigenous rights, for clean water and clean energy, and against Trump’s memorandums.

#MinneapolisMN #US #PeoplesStruggles #EnvironmentalJustice #Elections #DonaldTrump #DakotaAccessPipeline

Minneapolis, MN – A broad coalition of more than 40 organizations will join together in the streets of Minneapolis on inauguration day, Jan. 20, to resist the Trump administration’s agenda. There will also be massive protests at the inauguration in Washington D.C. and in cities around the country.

There will be many actions throughout the day, all of which are planning to converge at 5:00 p.m. for a mass rally at Minneapolis City Hall (350 S. 5th Street).

The Resist from Day One March starts at 2:00 p.m. at Lake Street and Nicollet Avenue, Minneapolis. From there it will go to Franklin and Nicollet, where the protest will l be joined by the Black Snake Resistance March (#NODAPL) which gathers at 2:30 p.m. at Chicago and Franklin Avenues.

At 4:00 p.m. they will march from Franklin and Nicollet to Minneapolis City Hall for a mass rally at 5:00 p.m. at City Hall. Other groups will join in at City Hall including students who are planning walkouts. More Jan. 20 activities are in the planning stages.

According to a statement from protest organizers, “Trump’s campaign was built largely on intimidation and attacks against immigrants, Muslims, workers, women and the environment. His cabinet picks are billionaires, military generals and racists, who have an agenda against the interests of 99% of the population. We believe that the people have the power to stop the coming attacks if we unite in solidarity and resist from day one. We are coming together in the streets on Jan. 20, inauguration day, to support our communities and to say we are not intimidated, we will not give Trump a chance to implement the agenda he has promised to implement. We will resist from day one!”

The Resist from Day One Coalition MN brings together Twin Cities groups and individuals, uniting to defend communities against Trump's racist, anti-immigrant, anti-worker, anti-Muslim, anti-woman, anti-environment agenda.

The current endorser list includes: AFSCME Council 5, AFSCME Local 34, AFSCME Local 2822, AFSCME Local 3800, American Indian Movement TC, Anti-War Committee, Augsburg Latin American Students (ALAS), Black St. Paul, Blue Lies Matter, Casket Arts resource group, Center for Immigrant Justice, Communities United Against Police Brutality, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos en Lucha (CTUL), Feminist Student Activist Collective UMN, 15 Now MN, Filipinos for Immigrant Rights in MN (FIRM), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Gang of Voices, Idle No More Twin Cities, IWW General Defence Committee Local 14, James Dewitt Yancey Foundation MN Chapter, Jewish Voice for Peace – Twin Cities, Justice for Native Lives, La Raza Student Cultural Center – UMN, MN Cuba Committee, MN Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), MN Green Party, MN Neighbors for Justice, MN Peace Action Coalition (MPAC), MN Two-Spirit Society, MORENA Minnesota, Native Lives Matter, RadAzns, SEIU Local 26, Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) MN, Sierra Club Northstar Chapter, Socialist Action, Socialist Alternative, Students for a Democratic Society UMN, Students for Justice in Palestine UMN, TC Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, TC Peace Campaign, TC Save The Kids, 350.org, UMAHH Universal Movement for the Advancement of Hip Hop, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27, VoteClimate.org, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), Welfare Rights Committee, and Young People's Action Coalition.

#MinneapolisMN #PeoplesStruggles #ResistFromDayOneCoalition

Canon Ball, ND – A roar of celebration spread through Camp Oceti Sakawin at Standing Rock as the water protectors and their supporters learned that the Dakota Access Pipeline had been stopped in its tracks.

The Army Corp of Army Engineers denied the pipeline company an easement permit and will begin a new environmental impact study. An alternative route will be considered. This occurred a day before the threatened eviction of the camp and the day that thousands of veterans from around the country answered the call to stand with Standing Rock.

Barry Riesch, of Vets for Peace Chapter 27 who organized the Twin Cities veterans’ contingent that traveled to Standing Rock, said, “This is true service to the American people.”

#CanonBallND #PeoplesStruggles #IndigenousPeoples #DAPL #StandingRock #NorthDakota #WaterProtectors #WaterIsLife #NorthDakotaAccessPipeline #NoDAPL