Salt Lake City, UT – On Friday, July 10, more than a dozen people stood together in the record-breaking heat outside of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building in downtown Salt Lake City, demanding a free Palestine and an immediate end to the U.S. government's attacks on Iran.

Cars honked in support as picketers held signs, turning a busy downtown sidewalk into a visible display of resistance to U.S. imperialism and war.

The picket was organized by the 71% Coalition, a volunteer-run, Salt Lake City–based progressive anti-war organization that seeks to empower the people through community engagement, policy advocacy and education. The coalition takes its name from the portion of the federal budget that goes toward militarism and war spending. Over recent months, the 71% Coalition has become a driving force in the local movement for Palestine, organizing town halls, participating in overpass rallies, and ongoing street actions that keep the demand for liberation in the public eye.

Friday's action was part of a weekly picket series the coalition has sustained outside the federal building.

The Utah Anti-War Committee joined Friday's picket in solidarity while encouraging attendees to sign their petition to oust Raytheon Applied Technologies from its office on the west side of Salt Lake County. The committee has been running a campaign targeting Raytheon, a company linked to U.S. and Israeli war crimes, calling attention to how it profits from human suffering worldwide and American taxpayer money.

The Utah Anti-War Committee's ongoing campaign against Raytheon has included protesting outside of Raytheon’s office and holding educational events where Utahns can about the role local war profiteers play in the machinery of death. The 71% Coalition and the UAWC have joined forces for several events, including overpass banner-drop protests.

As long as the U.S. government continues to bankroll genocide and threaten nations like Iran, the 71% Coalition and its allies will be on the sidewalk outside the Wallace F. Bennett Federal Building every Friday, demanding justice and building the struggle.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #Iran

Salt Lake City, UT – On July 4, dozens of protesters gathered to demonstrate at the Raytheon Applied Signals Technology facility located in an industrial area on the outskirts of the city. Raytheon, a company long since linked to U.S. and Israeli war crimes, is the target of a new campaign by the Utah Anti-War Committee.

Protesters began the event chanting, “Not another nickel, not another dollar, we won’t pay for Raytheon’s slaughter!”

Speaking on behalf of the Utah Anti-War Committee, Nova Morra stated, “I am done being complicit in a genocide. I don’t know how I will leave the earth, I don’t know when, and I think I can tell you why, but I know that I will have lived my life with dignity and respect. I will die knowing I stand for the people of Gaza.”

UAWC member Amber Grace, while discussing the genocide of the indigenous population of the U.S., observed that “this dispossession is exactly what is being continued today when we manufacture weapons for land theft by Israel’s settler project.”

Delivering a speech for Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), Sebastian Miscenich remarked, “Last year, Raytheon made nearly $90 billion in weapons sales to the U.S. and its allies, including a $1.25 billion contract for Israel’s Iron Dome system. A Raytheon Tomahawk missile killed over a hundred Iranian schoolgirls in February this year, mostly between the ages of seven and 12. Is this really what we want our public funds spent on?”

Miscenich continued, “250 years ago, the American Revolution won power for the richest white business owners, but today working and oppressed people in America need to take total power over our society.”

Adam Koritz from FRSO talked about the case of Nadia Topete, an immigrant rights activist In Los Angeles recently targeted by a subpoena to appear before a grand jury simply for speaking out against ICE terror in her community. “It is important to stand in solidarity with Nadia right now, as she would for any of us,” Koritz remarked.

While closing out the rally, organizers handed out leaflets and a petition that will be used to demand Raytheon’s removal from the Salt Lake City area.

The energetic demonstration was unfettered by the extreme July heat, as new contacts were brought into a growing coalition. Responses from motorists and cyclists at the rally were overwhelmingly positive.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #Raytheon #Palestine

Salt Lake City, UT – On Thursday, June 25, at Sherwood Park in the Glendale Neighborhood of Salt Lake City, a demonstration and press conference was held in support of a local organizer and father, Julio Irungaray Sr., who was abducted by ICE less than 48 hours before the event.

The crowd chanted “Show me what community looks like! This is what community looks like!” and “Chinga la Migra!”

Over 100 people gathered in solidarity with the impacted family. Members of the Comunidades Unidas, and the SLC Bail Fund spoke alongside the family members of Julio Sr. His two children, Chantal and Julio Jr., gave chilling testimonies of the impact ICE forced on their family.

The family recounted Julio Sr.’s kidnapping and how they were unable to offer his much-needed medication to ICE. By the end of his “arrest,” the father’s blood sugar was recorded at over 300 mg/dl. Julio Sr.’s family also told of how their father was already moved to Wyoming and, at the time of the protest, was still being denied some of his medication.

Speakers denounced the cruel depravity forced upon a hardworking member of the Salt Lake community, who worked two jobs, including feeding patrons of the much-loved Santo Tacos in Salt Lake City. Speakers reported that he was aiding his loved ones, including helping his daughter pursue her nursing degree.

Those with the means are encouraged to donate to the Irungaray family’s legal and survival fundraiser: https://www.gofundme.com/f/justice-for-julio-support-his-family

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #ImmigrantRights #ICE

Salt Lake City, UT – On Saturday, June 20, at an event organized by the Utah Anti War Committee, dozens of community members gathered at an overpass to demand hands off Cuba.

This protest was called after recent escalations in the decades-long effort by the U.S. to destabilize the nation of Cuba through economic strangulation and covert means. The Trump administration recently indicted beloved Cuban leader Raul Castro and has made threats of more direct military confrontation. Other organizations quickly signed on to the protest, including the National Network on Cuba, Armed Queers SLC, The 71% Coalition, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Protesters held a large banner sporting the Cuban flag, reading “Hands off Cuba!” and received overwhelmingly positive reactions to their message from the vehicles passing by.

“The overall general trend in regard to U.S. imperial power is one of decline,” said Adam Koritz of the FRSO of the aggression on Cuba and the ongoing U.S. war on Iran. “However, we know a wounded beast is dangerous and prone to lashing out in its death throes.”

Mustafa Khader of the 71% Coalition condemned attempts to restore a U.S. backed dictatorship in Cuba saying, “You don’t care about the Cubans; you care about your pockets!”

Protesters chanted, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”

An activist with Armed Queers stated, “By being an unknowing accessory to an empire, we are forcefully kept from becoming fully human. This will continue to happen until we stand up, destroy the shackles of capitalism, and prove that we can build a system that does not rely on the subjugation of people based on race, gender, sexuality, or nation, the destruction of the environment, or the impoverishment of workers.”

Nova Morra of the Utah Anti-War Committee then called the crowd to join their July 4 protest at a local Raytheon Applied Signal Technology facility in West Valley City as part of their campaign to shut down the facility and protest Raytheon’s involvement in war crimes carried out by the U.S.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #International #UAWC #AWC #Cuba

Salt Lake City, UT — On the afternoon of May 31, the Utah Anti-War Committee, along with the Freedom Road Socialist Organization held a workshop titled “Anti-War Organizing in the Face of Repression” at the University of Utah Union building. The workshop drew community members, students and organizers committed to defending the movement against escalating political repression. The event also raised funds for Rick Toledo, a student activist and educator who was fired from his teaching position at Cal Poly Humboldt University in retaliation for his participation in a pro-Palestine protest.

Before the workshop, the UAWC had released a statement on Toledo’s case, that stated, “We have watched with outrage and disgust as Cal Poly Humboldt University has escalated its campaign of repression against a graduate student whose only 'crime' was standing up for the individuals and families Palestine whose lives are being not only destroyed, but eradicated.”

Adrian Romero, a local organizer with the Utah Anti-War Committee, delivered a workshop presentation that covered knowing your rights when facing law enforcement and grand jury subpoenas, organizational security practices, and building campaigns to defend targeted organizers.

Romero stated, “Grand jury proceedings are designed to isolate and intimidate people. You still have rights. Go public, mobilize the community in any way that you can and show [the enemy] that you won't be silenced.”

After their presentation, Rick Toledo joined via Zoom to speak directly on his case and the circumstances of his firing. ”We know that when the state wants something, they'll do whatever they can get away with. They like to make an example out of student organizers and protesters to try and scare other people. That's one of the things really at the heart of my case – but you can't let them break you, because that's what they want.”

The event raised approximately $375 through admission donations as well as book, zine and apparel donations contributed by UAWC and FRSO, with pledges still coming in. All proceeds go directly to Toledo's legal defense fees and expenses.

The targeting of Rick Toledo is part of a broader wave of repression facing the movement for Palestinian liberation and the fight against U.S. imperialism. University administrations discipline and expel student organizers and fire faculty who speak out.

As the imperialist war in Gaza continues and the domestic crackdown on dissent escalates, the duty of every socialist and anti-war activist is to build the defenses necessary to protect our ranks and advance the struggle. The ruling class expects us to be silenced; our response must be louder, more organized, and more united than ever before.

#SaltLakeCityUT #UT #AntiWarMovement #UAWC #Palestine #InJusticeSystem #PoliticalRepression