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

New York, NY – Around 800 people gathered at Foley Square, in lower Manhattan, Nov. 15, to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock and protest against the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

Brilliant signs were held by the protesters with the slogans “Water is life” and “Keep the oil in the soil.” After the initial introductions from the organizers, people chanted, “Get up! Get down! Keep fossil fuels in the ground!” and “Street by street, block by block, we stand with Standing Rock!”

Nov. 15 marked a national day of action where over 200 U.S. cities participated and demanded that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers deny Energy Transfer Partners, the company spearheading the pipeline, access to the Standing Rock territory. A small victory was won the night of the Nov. 14, when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made a concession saying that they must have further discussions with the Lakota nation before allowing further work could occur near and in Lake Oahe, a part of the Missouri River.

This concession came after weeks of militant protests, led by indigenous people, at Standing Rock.

There was a heavy police presence at the New York action as approximately squad 30 squad cars lined the square where the protest took place. When protesters tried to take the streets, the cops retaliated immediately and arrested 12 activists. The rest of the people there chanted at them, “Who do you serve? Who do you protect?”

However, the arrests didn't hinder the rest of the protesters and the action continued. One of the attendees, Colleen Baublitz, spoke about why it’s necessary to have actions of solidarity , “It is essential that we stand with them and speak out against growth in fossil fuel infrastructure that risks drinking water quality in the short term as well as long-term public health by exacerbating climate change.”

The crowd left in high spirits at the end of the protest, knowing that while a small concession was made, there would be more organizing to come.

#NewYorkNY #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #StandingRockNation #DakotaAccessPipeline #NODAPL

Thousands of Native people have rallied at Standing Rock, North Dakota, to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This is one of the largest protests by Native Americans in decades, as Native people and their supporters came from across the country stop the ecological disaster that DAPL would mean for Native lands and rivers.

Almost 100 Native American tribes have formally endorsed the protest, and representatives from more than a hundred different Native peoples have gone to Standing Rock. Massive civil disobedience to stop the DAPL is being met with armed force and mass arrests by the National Guard, along with local sheriffs and police mobilized from across the Midwest.

The DAPL is being built to bring oil from the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. This more than a 1000-mile-long oil pipe, like the long opposed Keystone pipeline, is meant to bring oil from the upper Midwest and Canada to tank farms and refineries in the Midwest and Gulf coast of the U.S.

Many environmentalists oppose these oil pipelines, not only because of the danger they pose to the communities that they pass through, but also because they help perpetuate the production, distribution, and use of oil and its products, which is a major source of carbon dioxide, a leading contributor to climate change.

The Freedom Road Socialist Organization urges all progressive activist to take action to support the Native Americans in their fight against DAPL. Those who can provide direct support in person or with financial and material aid to protesters at Standing Rock should do so. Local solidarity protests aimed at local sheriffs and police departments that sent police and weapons to try to suppress the protests as well as the corporations and banks backing the DAPL have brought out thousands of people across the country.

In addition to standing in solidarity with the Native people fighting to protect their lands and waters, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization also supports the return of land, lakes, and rivers to Native peoples so that they can live their lives as they choose, free from the constant threat of giant corporations. Return of natural resources is only right, given that the U.S. was founded on the genocide of Native Americans and theft of their land.

Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline(DAPL)!

Support the struggle of Native Americans to protect their lands and waters from corporate greed!

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #DakotaAccessPipeline #NODAPL

Minneapolis, MN – Nearly 2000 protesters, many Native American, rallied at city hall here, Oct. 28, demanding that Hennepin County Sheriff Stanek immediately withdraw sheriff department personnel from North Dakota, where they have been deployed against demonstrators who are fighting to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

About 30 sheriff department personnel have been sent to North Dakota, where they have been photographed carrying out brutal attacks on demonstrators who are defending water resources and sacred land.

#MinneapolisMN #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #SheriffStanek #StandingRockNation #DakotaAccessPipeline #NODAPL

Steve and Rhiannon Moon live in Saint Cloud, Minnesota with their four-year-old son. Their respective mothers come from Standing Rock Reservation. They were at the encampment on day three, when the DAPL machines were stopped for the first time.

Rhiannon Moon:

“I came here on day three of the front line, with my son and my husband. We came here together. I ended up staying the day, then I had to go back because I had other commitments to keep. I worked that whole week and I was torn, like my heart was ripped. And I told my boss I couldn't be there. I was just in tears, like I have to go, I can't do this. He supported me in it and he gave me the week off. I wish I would've said 'I don't know how long I'll be gone’.

“It was a Friday, and we got here at like 7:00 in the morning. And it was really a small crowd. There was maybe 50 of us, maybe, that's being generous. They were protecting the gates from when the oil companies come in with their vehicles and machinery and things like that. There were a total of seven arrests that day or that morning. We were all singing and praying, and trying to protect the land, trying to stop the trucks from coming in.

“That day was really intense. There were a lot of prayers and a lot of singing. It was really humbling. It was beautiful.

“It is all so beautiful. The last time this happened, the government did not win, and that's what I want to happen here.

“In 1873, I believe, was the last time the Seven Council Fires burned united. So for Standing Rock as a whole, that's huge because that hasn't been the way it's been. Even though we're one, Standing Rock, we each have our own divisions, and it's been separate, have not been united. And that's not just Standing Rock, that goes for multiple nations. It's disheartening because we're losing so much.

“Hopefully this will change everything for the future. It's for my little guy that runs around and raises hell. That's why. Everything I do is for him. And they [future generations] deserve it.

“He earned his first eagle feather on day three. I was so proud of him. And even like the march this week in Bismarck, oh my gosh, he was just there, stone-faced with his fists in the air. A four-year-old knows that this is what should be done. Why is this a question? How do you question something so powerful? Very proud, very proud of him.

“If need be, it'd be worth risking my job for.”

Steve Moon:

“After 150 years, this is all we have left and we can't let that be taken away – an aggressive word, rape – [is] essentially what's happening. So we came up. My wife and I said, 'we have to go.'

“It just sinks in, the community, that you have a purpose – everybody needs that in life. Not just us here, but every color, every race. Once you have that feeling, you can't get rid of it.

“My youngest son is along. He loves it. To watch him be comfortable here is huge. He already has four years of knowledge, where we had to fight tooth and nail just to survive for 30 years before we got here. It's pretty amazing to see all the kids, the feeling that they have here with the community, the oneness. They're going to take that forever. We’re changing these kids' lives. It's amazing. They're not going to be afraid to stand up. Even at school and at home, they're not going to be afraid to say 'no, this isn't right,' and it's okay to stand up. I think that's the greatest thing here so far.

“Day three we broke through, when they said they found remains and they were taking heads home and stuff. We broke through that day. We broke through the fence. The word came through and everybody got pretty worked up. I flanked the side and stood at the fence, waiting for my wife and my boy. My sister said, 'do you wanna go?' Yeah, so we jumped over. A lot of people would look down on that, doing illegal stuff with your kids, but that's standing up for something. That's going to change his life.

“So they actually started breaking earth on Monday when they started bringing trucks in. I'm not sure how the word got through. I mean there were [drones] flying around everywhere, but they said they were disturbing our burial sites. And as soon as that hits the people, everybody's going to go do what they have to do to stop it. The police lined up and people got arrested. The chairman got arrested that day, and some other people. So with all that going on, a lot of people got around the police. If I remember right, the first person over was an old lady. She just hopped right over. She had someone help her get over. 'Help me get over the fence.' So we helped her get over the fence, and she was the first one back there. And then more and more people, they were arresting people, the cops were busy, so a lot of us got over. And we ran back, all the way back, to where they were working, to see exactly what they were doing.

“I'm glad my son got to be there, and my wife. We all went back there. She knows me well enough, she just looks at me and she knows. I'll stand up and chain myself. That's what we do. We stand up for what we believe in and for our families. Even though the water’s not for me, it's my people, it's not even native people, it's everybody.”

#CannonBallND #IndigenousPeoples #EnvironmentalJustice #StandingRockNation #DAPL #NODAPL