News and Views from the People's Struggle
Chicago, IL – Nearly 700 Chicagoans united to celebrate the coming home of over three dozen wrongfully convicted torture survivors during the People Power Weekend, hosted by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression on June 16 and 17.
Minneapolis, MN – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the Trump’s Muslim ban in April and is expected to announce its decision before its summer recess in July. The MN Anti-War Committee and the Council on American Islamic Relations have called for an emergency response protest at the Federal Courts building (300 S. 4th Street in Minneapolis) at 6 p.m. on the day that the court announces their decision.
Minneapolis, MN – Opponents of police crimes blasted the Minneapolis Police Department, June 15, after it was revealed by the Star Tribune newspaper that cops have directed emergency medical personal to use the date-rape drug ketamine on people who were detained or arrested.
St. Paul, MN – Oral arguments were made before a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, June 18, in Saint Paul on behalf of Guled Omar, Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder abroad in 2016. Their lawyers argued today that the jury instructions were grounds for granting their clients’ appeal. Bruce Nestor, representing Daud, argued to the court that the jury instructions conflated wanting to join ISIS with conspiracy to commit murder and that the prosecution had never proven that his client had any intent to kill.
Chicago, IL – People power prevailed over the racist Cook County court system on March 15 as Tyrone Williams, a leader in the movement for community control of the police, was released from jail after being held incommunicado for seven days.
Minneapolis, MN — At the August 8 Minneapolis Public Schools board meeting, directors voted to keep School Resource Officers in the schools. Before the meeting began, a group of young people with the Black Liberation Project, who have spent months speaking with school board members about the impact of having School Resource Officers in the schools, held a rally outside of the district offices.
_ All out for Detroit!_
Fight Back News Service is following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and U.S. Palestinian Community Network.
Minneapolis, MN – Tens of thousands lined Hennepin Avenue to watch the annual Twin Cities LGBTQ Pride parade on June 25. A group of hundreds behind a banner reading “Justice for Philando #NoJusticeNoPride” took the lead of the parade, a few blocks ahead of the police car that was supposed to lead the official parade. The group was protesting Pride’s decision to allow police to lead the parade and be present throughout the festival, despite an epidemic of police violence that particularly targets queer and trans people of color.
Chicago, IL – 500 people gathered in Chicago’s Washington Park June 18 to protest the acquittal of the cop that killed Philando Castile in Minnesota. The marchers began with a rally at the location where Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson was shot in the back by Chicago police in October 2014.
Houston, TX – Assembling at the Guadalupe Plaza, angry family members and supporters marched through downtown Houston, June 7, demanding justice for John Hernandez.
Miami, FL – On June 25, at 5 p.m., protesters will take to the streets of Doral, Florida in front of U.S. Southern Command to demand that Trump shut down the torture prison at Guantanamo Bay once and for all. The march coincides with the International Day in Solidarity with Victims of Torture and will mark the 15th year since the first detainees were sent to the U.S. prison facilities in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since then, 779 men have been sent to Guantanamo Bay without trial and have been jailed without ever having been officially charged with any crime.
Los Angeles, CA – On the blistering hot Saturday morning, May 20, a group of angry activists chanted “Jail killer cops!” and “When Chicanos are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” The group gathered directly outside of the LAPD Hollenbeck police station, in Boyle Heights to demand LAPD officers responsible for the six killings in the last 12 months be jailed.
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Houston, TX – Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 4, a racist anti-immigrant law, amidst massive opposition, on May 7. The law gives law enforcement the ability to ask any person who “looks undocumented” for their identification papers when detained. Specifically, the law is designed to attack sanctuary cities, and is therefore tied to Trump's attacks on immigrants. It is very similar to SB1070, which passed in Arizona in 2010. The law will legalize racial profiling and create an environment of terror in the Chicano/Mexicano communities.
Minneapolis, MN – On May 3, 100 people gathered together for a demonstration remembering Jamar Clark’s 26th birthday. The event was called by the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J) who took up organizing and won the ‘No Grand Jury’ campaign after the Fourth Precinct Occupation.
Jacksonville, FL – The University of North Florida chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) hosted a panel discussion, April 25, titled “Civil Rights in the Era of the Jax5.” The Jax5 are the five anti-war activists who were brutalized by police and arrested on April 7 in Jacksonville’s Hemming Park.
Tampa, FL – On Jan. 27, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States” which bars entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries regardless of whether they have valid visas, green cards or refugee status.
The first call came in to Cameron Clark – the jury would come back in 15 minutes, to say whether the man who shot him would be found guilty for his crimes. Through phone calls, texts and social media, Cameron and friends filled helped filled the courtroom, when Allen “Lance” Scarsella was brought in to face the jury. He was found guilty on all 12 counts against him, for his actions on Nov. 23, 2015, at the protest demanding justice for Jamar Clark, where Scarsella shot and wounded five Black protesters, including Jamar’s cousin Cameron.
Minneapolis, MN – Allen “Lance” Scarsella took the stand again for the entire day, Jan. 30, attempting to convince a jury that he was acting in self-defense the night he fired eight shots into a crowd of Black people on Nov. 23, 2015. The shooting came just after protesters had removed him from the occupation demanding justice for Jamar Clark. Scarsella testified that after most of the protesters turned to go back, he was still surrounded by a handful of “very aggressive” men. He claimed that the one closest to him pulled out a shiny object he believed to be a knife.
Night of the shooting, the men shouted “Race war!” and “Trump 2016!”
The courtroom is expected to be packed for the final days of the trial of Allen “Lance” Scarsella, the white supremacist who shot five Black men at last year’s North Minneapolis protest to demand #Justice4Jamar. The trial started going into its fourth week today, Jan. 30.
Grand Rapids, MI – Between 500 and 600 people protested President Trump's Muslim travel ban at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in West Michigan. The protesters stretched for a quarter mile along the busy entrance road to the airport at 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.
