San Jose, CA – On February 17, a dozen San José State University students gathered outside the administrative building to protest corporate war profiters that were participating in the Career Center’s Job & Internship. Students held signs that read “No war with Venezuela” and “Free Palestine.”

Protester John Duroyan explained that Hewlett Packard Enterprise “readily aid and abet Israel’s apartheid state, providing the Israelis with software and surveillance technologies, to better track and detain Palestinians.”

While students gathered outside, five San José State University students and alumni crowded the upstairs of the Student Union where the university’s career center was hosting the spring jobs fair.

For 20 minutes, the five students chanted, “Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Trump’s crimes” inside the student union and “Cut ties with Lockheed now.” When the students began chanting, university administration attempted to stop the group from taking up space and speaking out against these companies on campus.

University administration eventually shifted tactics from body blocking to holding a measly written note on printer paper. It read, “You are in violation of Time, Place & Manner. Please take your protest outside or you will be referred to university conduct.”

While chanting, the protesters dispersed zines to the students waiting to enter the career fair. The zines read, “General Dynamics has ties to ICE and CBP and makes software to process and store data about your facial and body features or behaviors, an essential tool for CBP and ICE.”

Along with the zines, the protesters held up posters with pictures of Hind Rajab, the five-year-old girl in Gaza who was murdered along with her family members in 2024. They also held up pictures of detention centers where ICE holds people that they have kidnapped.

Eventually, university admin shut down the line into the career fair, and soon students were only allowed to exit the career fair but not enter. The line was shut down for one hour. After the line was shut down, the protesting students inside joined the protest that was taking place outside, merging the two actions.

Together, the students marched around the student union, chanting, “Admin, admin you can’t hide, you’re supporting genocide.” They faced admin once again, but this time admin watched from the inside of the student union, refusing to listen to student’s demands for no jobs for genocide. The action continued for the next 40 minutes before concluding with a call to action for San José State University to cut ties with Hewlett Packard Enterprise, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin.

Later that week students planned on protesting a Lockheed Martin internship information session occurring on campus. However, as a result of the career fair disruption, Lockheed Martin and administration quietly moved the information session online with short notice, a partial victory for students’ “Lockheed off campus” campaign.

#SanJoseCA #CA #SJSU #AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement

San Jose, CA – On January 29, 30 San Jose State University students gathered in front of Clark Hall to protest Trump’s military escalations in Venezuela, threats to invade Iran, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and the university’s ties to the war industry.

The protest was called by the San Jose chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as part of their Week of Action, in which they held an anti-ICE protest and an anti-war protest on consecutive days.

The primary slogan of the action was “No More Forever Wars,” to oppose any new wars being threatened by the Trump administration. Common chants included “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air, U.S. out of everywhere” and “No more blood for oil, hands off foreign soil.”

Megan Sweet, political organizing chair of SJSU SDS, addressed the university’s ties with war profiteers. “I really want to emphasize how SJSU is complicit in this. I want to emphasize that they have ties to Lockheed Martin – a prominent war manufacturer that profits off wars across the globe.”

Ethan Pham, member of San Jose Against War, highlighted the connection between foreign and domestic repression. “Human rights organizations and United Nations special rapporteurs have documented how military doctrines developed in foreign occupations, especially counter-terrorism frameworks, are transferred into domestic policing and immigration enforcement.”

Haddy Barghouti, board member of Students for Justice in Palestine at SJSU stated, “ICE trains with Israeli forces. Police train with the same militarized tactics used in occupied territories. U.S. weapons and political support enable death abroad, while federal enforcement uses that power here at home.”

Finn Albano, organizer with The League of Filipino Students at SJSU, brought attention to U.S. intervention in the Philippines. “The U.S. is giving $2.5 billion to the Philippines military, so that it can try to crush the Filipino people’s aspiration for freedom and sovereignty through violence.”

John Duroyan, president of SJSU SDS, ended with closing remarks. “We want to remind admin that we’re not going to stop until you fully disclose your investments in the Tower Foundation,” and “until you fully sever ties with butchers like Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics.”

#AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement #SanJoseCA #CA #SDS #SJSU

San Jose, CA – On Thursday, February 20, the family of Antonio Guzman Lopez, Students for a Democratic Society, Justice for Josiah, the Aztec Dancers and several other organizations and community members held a vigil honoring the memory of Lopez, an undocumented man killed by San Jose State’s on-campus police 11 years ago, on February 21, 2014.

His murder was caught on body camera footage, where he was shot twice by police sergeant Mike Santos. Santos faced no repercussions for the murder, having been reinstated shortly after the incident.

The vigil began at 6:30 p.m., around the memorial on San Salvador Street. A blessing and prayer were performed by the Aztec dancers. The program then began with Laurie Valdez, who was Lopez’s partner, giving a speech, along with Josiah, her son, who was four years old at the time his father was murdered.

Valdez began her speech by not only calling attention to Lopez’s murder, but also the families of other victims of police brutality. “I’m so glad that [Antonio’s] name is still being remembered,” said Valdez. “As long as we continue to say his name, his memory will never die.”

Josiah then gave his speech, reflecting on the difficulties of growing up without his father, and the trauma of the killing. He ended his speech off saying, “I’m 15 years old now, four when [the murder] happened. I’m still fighting, still getting stronger each day. We won’t forget him, or anyone else that was killed.”

John Duroyan, president of San Jose Students for a Democratic Society, led chants and introduced several other speakers, including Uriel Magdaleno from Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, Oli Harter from SDS and Students against Mass Incarceration, and Romaine Charite, San Jose SDS’s political organizing chair.

Magdaleno drew attention to the ongoing attacks on undocumented immigrants, stating, “What is troubling about Antonio Guzman's case is the rhetoric around it - the rhetoric continuing to accuse undocumented immigrants of being criminals is very harmful rhetoric. The current Trump administration is just increasing that amount of hate against undocumented immigrants, against our community members.”

Harter called back to previous instances of police brutality, and the importance of individualizing and humanizing victims of injustice at the hands of police killings, stating, “The names rotate but the injustice remains. When asked to say their names, we take the time to individualize the martyr.”

The program came to a conclusion with Valdez giving final remarks, and the vigil attendees writing Antonio’s name in chalk all over the street next to the memorial.

#SanJoseCA #AntonioGuzman #StopPoliceCrimes #PoliceViolence #JusticeforAntonioGuzman #SDS #SJSDS #JusticeforJosiah #AztecDancers #SJSUPD #SJSU #SanJoseState

By staff

San José, CA – On MLK Day, upwards of 600 San José residents came out to protest Trump's inauguration and fight back against his anti-immigrant agenda.

The protest mobilized a broad array of progressive organizations in the South Bay, all united against Trump. The Silicon Valley Immigration Committee and Papeles Para Todos coordinated the rally and march.

The rally began at 4 p.m. at the intersection of Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevard, a commercial center where many gather to shop. Before the protest started, a mass of people had already gathered on the sidewalks with Mexican flags, pickets featuring the Virgin Mary, and Huelga flags. Together the crowd chanted, “¡El Pueblo unido, jamás será vencido!” meaning “The people united, will never be defeated!”

Sebastian Salinas, a community organizer with the Silicon Valley Immigration Committee, kicked off the protest with a series of chants shoulder to shoulder with SEIU 2015 union members. Together they chanted, “Who’s got the power? We got the power! What kind of power? Union power!”, alternating the final phrase with chants of “people power” as well.

The program began with the Raging Grannies Action League’s anti-Trump song reaffirming civil rights in the United States. Shortly after, José Rubén from the Comité de Solidaridad con la Lucha de los Inmigrantes Detenidos shared his experience of participating in a labor and hunger strike while being detained in a for-profit prison.

“On the 18th day of the hunger strike, we had a visit from ICE and GEO dressed in military gear, in riot gear, with deadly weapons,” Rubén recalled. Rubén asked to speak to his lawyers,but ICE officials responded by dragging Rubén and throwing him on to the ground. In 2023, Rubén gained his freedom. “It was possible because of the support of the community that I was able to be liberated,” he stated.

The program included moments that reflected on what MLK Day is about and Martin Luther King Jr.’s radical legacy. Allie Yixuan from San José Against War spoke about MLK Jr.’s opposition to the Vietnam War. Yixuan stated, “It is clear that if Dr. King were around today, he would agree that spending enormous amounts of our tax dollars on military aid to bomb civilians and children in occupied Palestine is unacceptable!”

A community organizer with Papeles Para Todos, Verónica Avendano Ibáñez, soon followed, stating, “I have spent 25 years here and have spent more than a decade organizing my community here.” Ibáñez continued, “I learned that it is important that our community is united and that we fight for our solidarity to achieve our goals,” adding, “Everyone has a right to visit their countries of origin and return to their home in the United States of America, because we have grown roots in this community.”

Uriel Magdaleno of the Silicon Valley Immigration stated, “As President Trump is sworn in, many sanctuary cities are wavering on their support for their immigrant communities and pledge to work with ICE, which is why it is important for San José to reaffirm as a sanctuary city, and it will not cooperate with ICE.”

Magdaleno closed by reading an excerpt of the Legalization for All Network’s statement, “It is through the peoples’ struggle and the peoples’ movements that we will resist Trump and the racist institutions that he will try to use to attack us. Our rights and our place in these lands were not given to us, but won through protracted and sharp struggle. Whether we were born here or if we came here as immigrants, we have every right to exist here.”

After the speeches, Sebastian Salinas prepared the crowd to march into the streets. The attendees followed, with SEIU union members leading with their banner and chants. As the march started, cars passing by honked in support. The crowd chanted, “Whose streets? Our streets!” After a block, the march headed directly into the center of Santana Row, one of San José’s busiest shopping centers. The crowd continued to chant, “What do we want? Justice! How are we gonna get it? People power! If we don't get it? Shut it down!”

The march included a number of different contingents including a Filipino contingent made up of Malaya South Bay, PAWIS South Bay and the League of Filipino Students at San José State University.

After the march, Misrayn Mendoza with Amigos de Guadalupe continued the program, stating, “As you have seen during the last couple of weeks, months and years, we have been under attack by the presidency administration that will be entering today.” Mendoza continued, “Beyond the fear that they want us to feel, there's an unbreakable resiliency, courage and valor to continue in community with one another without fear we'll walk together and change the fear for love and justice.”

Tarentz Charite, of the San José State University chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, told the crowd, “Dare to struggle, dare to win!” Charite described their experience as a student activist on campus “constantly in battle of reactionary ideology on campus.” They condemned the university's tolerance of the reactionary group Turning Point USA on campus.

After Charite, Héctor Rincón from La Voz de los Trabajadoresbegan by saying, “Long live the working class struggle, long live the women's rights struggle, long live the trans rights struggle and long live the struggle of all oppressed peoples!”

John Duroyan from the San José district of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization ended the program, saying, “Today marks a moment of vital importance, for many reasons. Firstly, on this day, we honor the memory of a titan, and a hero in this nation’s long legacy of activism.” Duroyan continued, “What better representation of those evils exists than the wretched reactionary Donald Trump, and his gang of bigots and greedy businessmen! Today, Trump was sworn in, an insult to the legacy of Dr. King! Let every organization here, no matter their personal mission, stand united in declaring that the far right’s hatred and greed is not welcome here! And that so long as we have anything to say about it, Trump’s administration will not lay so much as a hand on the people without us fighting back with all our rage and fury!”

#SanJoseCA #Trump #Inauguration #FRSO #MLK #MLKday #TransRights #WomensRights #SDS #SJSU #TurningPointUSA #TurningPOint #SJSUSDS #MALAYA #ImmigrantRights #Legalization4All #SEIU #UnionPower #SiliconValleyImmigrationCommittee #PapelesParaTodos

The protest began with speakers, most of whom were Palestinian-American students. They spoke out despite fear of doxxing and retaliation by the school, faculty members or others. Organizers provided surgical masks for protesters who wished to avoid being identified. The only official university presence was the SJSU police.

The major theme throughout the speeches was the ongoing genocide, occupation and human rights abuses that Zionists have been enacting upon the Palestinian people for over 75 years. Some students raised feeling unheard and unsupported by SJSU administration, and unsafe on campus. The previous day, several members of the university administration attended the “Vigil for the Victims of Terrorism against Israel” that was organized by the SJSU Jewish Faculty and Staff Association.

After the speeches, protesters began marching through campus, chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

They also chanted, “When people are occupied, resistance is justified” and “Intifada, intifada, long live the intifada.” Several students expressed their support as the march passed by them.

They marched back to the starting place, for another round of chanting. Organizers ended the rally by announcing another upcoming protest for Palestine happening in San Jose on Sunday, October 15 at 1 p.m. at the corner of Stevens Creek and Winchester Boulevards.

#SanJoseCA #SJSU #StudentsforJusticeinPalestine