New York, NY – On October 3, New Yorkers joined the Anti-War Action Network National Day of Action to demand no U.S. intervention in Venezuela and “Free Cilia, free Maduro.” Waving Venezuelan flags and holding signs that read “Support women’s health! Release Cilia Flores,” 50 local activists and community members rallied outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, in Sunset Park, where Maduro and Flores are being held prisoner on bogus charges of narcoterrorism.
The rally marked nine months since Maduro and Flores were abducted from Caracas, Venezuela during an illegal U.S. raid, which killed over 100 people. It also came only five days before Cilia Flores is due in court for a hearing to decide whether she should be released under house arrest as a result of her worsening health. Since being kidnapped, Flores has experienced increasingly severe cardiac issues, including what her lawyers believe was a heart attack on July 29.
New York, NY – For the seventh consecutive month, organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gathered members of the community, September 24, to protest the NYPD’s 71st Precinct, where killer cop Conrado Abreu-Gerez continues to draw a six-figure salary. Abreu-Gerez and his partner, Peter Lan, shot and killed 26-year-old Eudes Pierre in December 2021.
Before the speaker program, the New York Alliance gathered a crowd flyering at a nearby subway station. Commuters and passersby, including a high school classmate of Eudes Pierre, expressed outrage that Abreu-Gerez faced no consequences for murdering Eudes. Several told stories of officer misconduct, harassment and incompetence at the 71st Precinct and surrounding precincts.
New York, NY – On Saturday, September 19, the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NYAARPR) staged a speak-out outside of killer cop Conrado Abreu-Gerez’s latest address in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.
Speaking through a megaphone, activists informed the community that a killer NYPD officer is now calling their neighborhood home. They also passed out flyers reading “Wanted: Killer cop!” and “Justice for Eudes Pierre!”
The response from the community was one of shock, with numerous passersby thanking the activists for the information on their new neighbor.
Brooklyn, NY- On September 19, a dozen activists joined Brooklyn Against War for a speakout against Trump's war in Iran. The event was part of a National Day of Action called by the Anti-War Action Network, marking over 200 days of war on Iran.
Protesters including members of Brooklyn Against War, Brooklyn for Peace, and community members in the square listened to speeches condemning the war and made anti-war signs.
Brooklyn, NY – On September 14, Brooklyn Against War hosted a documentary screening and letter-writing event in support of its campaign to free Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
At a local Brooklyn bar and community space, the activist group showed Oliver Stone’s 2009 documentary South of the Border. The film centers around interviews with then-Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, alongside many other progressive and left-wing contemporary Latin American leaders, such as Evo Morales. The film challenges the mainstream American media narratives, which vilified these leaders for standing up for their people’s interests against American imperialist exploitation.
New York City, NY – The Alliance of Substitutes and Paraprofessionals (ASAP), a new group of militants within the NYC United Federation of Teachers, held a “Para RESPECT Check Town Hall” over Zoom on Wednesday, September 16.
The meeting was held to hear the voices of paras, the most underpaid education workers in the city, on the new “RESPECT Check” legislation which recently became law and which led to a controversial lawsuit against NYC City Council by Mayor Mamdani’s office.
New York, NY – On September 4, at Washington Square Park, members of the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at NYU rallied to demand, “No ICE on campus!” and “Sanctuary campus now!”
Protesters chanted, “Say it once, say it twice! We will not put up with ICE!” and “When Immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” People passing by the rally took photos and videos of the action, some staying to listen to speeches or chant along. Many offered support to the protesters.
New York, NY – A new, militant group of rank-and-file unionists formed within the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) this week, called “ASAP – Alliance of Substitutes and Paraprofessionals”.
The new group, mainly consisting of members of the union’s reform caucus MORE (Movement of Rank-and-File Educators), was formed to meet a pressing need in the union. In the NYC Department of Education, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals and substitute paraprofessionals are the most neglected workers. So, union members are banding together to change this. In addition, the inequality in pay and conditions takes on a nationality, racial, and gendered character with many substitutes and most paraprofessionals being Black, Latino, immigrant and women.
New York, NY – On August 15, over 100 people gathered in the heart of Times Square, near the Army Recruiting Office, to mark Korean Liberation Day. The protest was organized by Nodutdol and Bayan USA.
Korean Liberation Day is a celebration of the Korean resistance rising up and overthrowing Japanese imperialism on August 15, 1945. Since that day, it has become a yearly celebration to remember the militancy of the Korean people against imperialism and occupation.
For this protest, Nodutdol and Bayan demanded “U.S. out of Korea” and an end to the Pacific war. The United States has long engaged in violent meddling and intervention in South Korea to oppose North Korea. Additionally, weapon trade and war games in the region have escalated deaths of civilians.
Brooklyn, NY – On August 3, at 5:30 p.m., anti-war activists gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center, demanding freedom for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. This rally was part of a picket that takes place on the third day of every month, marking the anniversary of January 3 , when the United States bombed Venezuela and abducted the two political leaders.
The organizations in attendance, including Black Alliance for Peace NYC/NJ,Brooklyn Against War, Code Pink, and Workers World Party, have been on the front lines of the struggle to free Maduro and Flores for seven months.
New York City , NY – Early on the morning of Wednesday, July 22, dozens of anti-war activists and community members gathered facing the courthouse in downtown Manhattan for the federal hearing of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores.
This was the third hearing after the abduction of Maduro and Flores from their home in Caracas on January 3. The Trump administration carried out a bombing campaign that killed around 80 people in their pursuit of the president and first lady. They were brought to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, where they are awaiting a sham trial.
Brooklyn, NY — On the evening of Friday, July 17, community members gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center for a speak-out style protest under the banner “No more ICE murders!”
The action, held in full view of the Gowanus Expressway, was organized by the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which was joined by organizers and speakers from Brooklyn Against War, NYC ICE Watch, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Last week on July 1, Nadia Topete, an immigrant rights activist and organizer with Centro CSO, was issued a grand jury subpoena by police in Los Angeles. By now, it’s clear the purpose of this grand jury is to investigate and harass organizers who mobilized to resist ICE oppression in Los Angeles last summer.
NYC, NY – On June 28, beginning in Union Square, Manhattan, thousands participated in the annual Queer Liberation March.
The event is an alternative to the Pride march and gives the radical and militant activists in the LGBTQ community the opportunity to organize away from the corporate sponsors of Pride.
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.
New York, NY – On June 4, New Yorkers protested outside of the annual New York City Police Foundation Gala at the Intrepid Museum in Manhattan, where billionaires representing some of the top financial, tech and political dynasties in New York City gathered to donate millions of dollars to the New York Police Department.
Brooklyn, NY – on the evening of June 3, around two dozen New Yorkers gathered outside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn to stand in solidarity with Cuba and Venezuela and against the ongoing aggression from the United States.
New York, NY – On Wednesday, May 6, the Movement of Rank and File Educators gathered for general assembly in Midtown Manhattan. More than 40 classroom teachers from across the city met to discuss the presence of NYPD in schools and the police’s role in oppressing the student body of New York and intimidating teachers and staff in schools. The group was joined by the Dignity in Schools organization, which is against scanners and police in schools.
New York, NY – Filipino community organizations and their allies rallied outside of the Philippine Consulate in New York City, April 20, to call for an end to U.S. military involvement in the Philippines.
The protest marks the beginning of the month-long Balikatan joint military exercises between the United States, the Philippines, Japan, Canada, France and New Zealand. The organizers included the New York Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (NYCHRP), Malaya Movement, and BAYAN. Speakers also included members of Anakbayan as well as Filipino residents whose families are still living in the country.
New York, NY – Organizers from the New York Alliance Against Racist and Political Oppression held a speakout outside New York City Hall on Friday, April 18, to protest the dramatic rise in police violence against Black men across the city since the beginning of April.
