Tallahassee, FL – On Wednesday, March 8, more than 40 people rallied outside the Leon County Courthouse to defend women’s and reproductive rights and to commemorate the 115th anniversary of International Women’s Day. The rally was organized by the Tallahassee Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

Chants like “We won’t go back; we will fight back!” and “Pro-life? That’s a lie! You don’t care if people die!” echoed down the Monroe Street corridor.

For more than 100 years, workers, progressives and revolutionaries all over the world have celebrated International Women’s Day with protests, rallies and marches against gender oppression and for equal rights.

Florida is often the battleground for right-wing attacks on the democratic rights of oppressed peoples, like women and LGBTQ+ people. Prior to the Justice Alito leak and subsequent overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Florida state legislature passed a 15-week abortion ban, despite mass opposition to the bill. This month the Florida GOP continued their assault on reproductive rights by introducing a draconian six-week abortion ban at the start of the legislative session.

Last year, Florida Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) chapters mobilized to the capitol in opposition to the 15-week ban but were met with suppressed public comment at committee hearings and were violently thrown out and were trespassed for vocalizing opposition to the bill.

“We were told from the second we walked in that ‘freedom of speech doesn’t exist here’ [at the Florida House]. The voices of Floridians, from students to the community members, are not valued by our representatives or our government,” said a member of FSU SDS.

As the attacks on people’s democratic rights increase, so too does the political repression against the people’s movements. This week, four members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society were brutalized, arrested and charged with felonies by campus police for demanding a meeting with their university president regarding cuts to diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

While the fight for reproductive rights has taken stage front and center, it is just one aspect of the struggle women are up against. Women workers earn, on average, only 77% of the income of male workers in the workforce. Black women earn about 77% of the average income for all women, and Chicana and Latina women only earn about 70% of the average for all women. Additionally, sexual violence and abuse are massively underreported across the country.

Regina Joseph, speaking on behalf of the FRSO, conveyed an optimistic message: “We know that we have the power. That’s why they are scared. That’s why they throw the police on us. That’s why when we got arrested during #Tally19 there were hundreds of police officers waiting to throw us in jail. Because they’re afraid of our power, because they know we outnumber them, because they know we are tired of the way we are being ruled and it cannot continue anymore.”

The Tallahassee FRSO was joined by several community and student organizations, including the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), FSU Students for a Democratic Society (FSUSDS), Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida (WVSWFL), VegFSU, and Tallahassee IWW.

For more on International Women’s Day, read the FRSO statement here: https://frso.org/statements/celebrate-international-womens-day-defend-reproductive-rights-fight-for-womens-rights/

#TallahasseeFL #InternationalWomensDay

“We need to drop the [felony] charges against the #Tally19. It makes no sense. It’s anti-Black and it’s anti-queer and we need this to stop now. We need CPAC now, we need the People’s Budget now, and we need to drop the charges,” said Ariel Ynovy, a leading organizer for Black Voters Matter. Ynovy referenced the People’s Budget, a project TCAC has been working on to reallocate the police budget to other social sectors, and community control of the police.

Alex Carson, a member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), denounced the Florida State University Police Department for their role in attacking the Tally19, stating, “On September 5, 2020, FSUPD was among the five law enforcement agencies present for the violent ambush of our community members. If you ask FSUPD why they were present that day, standing along cops in riot gear, they will say they were there to keep students safe. As an FSU student who was there, let me tell you, this could not be farther than the truth.”

Others pointed out the hypocrisy of the City Commission in their superficial support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Lauren Brenzel from Planned Parenthood said, “The arrest of peaceful protesters sent a clear message to Tallahassee citizens and citizens all over our state and that was an embarrassing message. But at the same time that we were painting Black Lives Matter in intersections, we were criminalizing defending Black lives.”

Tally19 member Ben Grant talked about his fears and worries about how the charges could affect his future and his life. They won’t just affect him, but his entire family and community. “I worry about if my family will be okay, if going down to a single income, they’ll be able to live. [If we] will we lose our home. If they’ll be able to eat. We have the love and support of our community but that doesn’t pay the bills.”

Students for a Democratic Society, the Florida Coalition For Transgender Liberation, Planned Parenthood, and Black Voters Matter all sponsored and participated in this event.

Speakers reiterated the need for the dropping of all charges but especially an end to the felony charges placed on Ben Grant. TCAC invited members to attend Ben’s pretrial at 1:30 p.m. and his trial, which will take place November 2 or 3 at 8:30 a.m. It will be at the Leon Clerk of Courts Office, Courtroom 2F. No one wearing clothes or apparel supporting the Tally19 or TCAC will be allowed in, and attendees must also wear long pants and professional clothing.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC #Tallahassee19

Community members gathered at the Smokey Hollow Memorial and discussed the ongoing events of the Tally19 cases and their struggle to get the charges dropped.

“It was amazing to see so many faces with warm smiles and big hearts come out and support us in the remembrance of that day. It brought tears to my eyes, receiving the love and care we so desperately needed,” said Trish Brown, community outreach chair of TCAC.

Some of the Tally19 discussed their feelings towards the charges and urged people to continue organizing to get them dropped. “We gathered to acknowledge continuing trauma and political repression, and to re-energize ourselves and our supporters,” Satya Stark-Bejnar, one of the Tally 19, said. “For the past half hour we’ve been playing four corners! All this trauma and repression, but they can’t rob us of our playfulness and our joy.”

Tally 19 and TCAC member Timothy White explained their feelings on the events that transpired last September 5. “The police came in ready for a riot that never took place, with a strawman excuse to quell the protest for Black American lives. Locally and nationally, that is an issue that cannot be allowed to fester any longer.”

TCAC members ended the event with an Assata Shakur quote and passed out materials for future events to support the Tally19. Members urged attendees to come out to the protest on October 28 at 12 p.m. in support of Ben Grant, the only Tally 19 member still facing felony charges. TCAC President Regina Joseph spoke of the effect of political repression on the Black Lives Matter movement in Tallahassee.

“The political repression in Tallahassee exists to stifle the growing movement of working-class Black people and student leaders in our town. It isn’t just the governor trying to attack our movement, it’s also State Attorney Jack Campbell. The implications of our case are statewide. That’s why we have to stand with Tally 19. That is why cannot give up.”

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #Tally19

Since McDade’s murder, TPD has used Marsy’s Law as a legal shield to protect their officers from public accountability, refusing to release the names of the officers involved in the shooting.

McDade’s death, occurring just two days after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis and six days after TPD officers killed Wilbon Woodard, helped spark last summer’s uprising for Black lives both locally and globally. McDade’s name and image appeared in news articles and social media posts, and thousands of people took to the streets of Tallahassee last summer chanting “Black trans lives matter.”

A year later Black and trans people in Tallahassee are still waiting for justice, and still fighting for a world where the police are held accountable through a democratically elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, CPAC, which would have full oversight and authority over TPD policies and budgets.

Speakers at Thursday’s vigil highlighted the correlation between the state sanctioned violence and transphobia he was subjected to, and the systems that overlooked and neglected him despite McDade’s decades-long battle with mental illness. McDade’s tragic death shows the combined violence of white supremacy, transphobia and capitalism. Not only did the criminal injustice system target McDade because he was Black, but it also refused to recognize his trans identity and incarcerated him in a women’s prison for nearly a decade.

Tony McDade’s mother, Wanda McDade, climbed the capitol steps to speak to those in attendance. Wanda McDade expressed that she is not much of a speaker, but because of the love shown to her and Tony by the community, she wanted to say a few words. With tears in her eyes, Wanda thanked TCAC for organizing the event and those who came out to show love and support, and prayed for peace, love and understanding, stating, “Tony loved everyone and would do for anyone, doesn’t matter who you are.”

Delilah Pierre, vice president of TCAC, pointed out the ongoing disrespect by TPD and the media, who continued to deadname and misgender Tony McDade. Delilah spoke specifically of the trauma that Black trans people experience every day at the hands of the police and the community at large: “When I go out somewhere, I look inside of my car and I see what clothes I have. I try to pick out the clothes I think will best disguise me, the clothes I think will best make me seem less threatening to other people, the clothes I think will make me less possible or able to be killed. I have a pocketknife, mace and a taser in my car. I try to protect myself because I know that as a Black trans woman at any time and any moment someone can just decide that they don’t like me. That they don’t like my identity, they don’t like the kind of person that I am and try to kill me, stomp on me, beat me down. That ain’t right.”

Regina Joseph, president of Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) and also one of the #Tally19, made the call for CPAC, and stressed its importance “We need to build a new society, not just in Tony's memory but for everyone else.” She continued, “Be about the work and figure out how we’re going to demand these concrete policies into reality so that another mother does not lose her child.” She closed with a question to the crowd, “What are you going to do after you walk away from this to make sure another Black person isn’t killed by the police? We need community control of the police. CPAC now!”

During the vigil, the people also condemned the actions of TPD for their racist, murderous tactics. Joseph pressed the crowd to remember that it’s important to not let this be just a moment, but part of a movement, exclaiming, “I would be arrested over and over again so Tony’s life would not be taken in vain.” She reminded attendees of the violent arrests made by TPD on September 5, when 19 community members were arrested en route to the capitol in protest of a grand jury’s decision not to indict any of the cops involved in the murders of Mychael Johnson, Tony Mcdade and Wilbon Woodard.

Delilah Pierre called out the inhumane conditions of the prison system, stating the only reason we got to this point is because of a lack of accountability and failure to listen to McDade’s pleas for help. Upon his release, just a few months before his murder, McDade spoke out about his struggles, vowing to take his own life. Pierre explained, “I think Tony was very angry – very, very angry – but you know where that anger came from? I can tell you as a trans person, as a Black trans person, that anger came from fear. From the constant fear of belittlement, the constant fear of death, the constant fear of the way you’ll be treated, the constant fear of not being accepted by anyone in your life. That constant fear that you sit with, that you live with.”

Alongside demands for police accountability and justice, Octavia Thomas of Movement 850 reminded attendees that it’s also important to remember McDade’s life and humanity, stating, “I want us to embrace ourselves in that love that his mother talked about. I want us to embrace that because that is what’s going to move us in the future, if we understand the value of life. If we understand what life truly means when you lose it. Because like Regina said, I don’t want to get desensitized to this.”

#TallahasseeFL #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC #TonyMcDade

Tallahassee, FL – On March 27, around 100 activists from across the Tallahassee community gathered in front of the State Capitol building to commemorate the eight victims from the recent Atlanta shooting, and to speak out against Asian American oppression.

The Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), along with various local organizations such as Asian Coalition of Tallahassee, FSU’s Filipino Student Association, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Dream Defenders and other community members took a stand for the victims of the shooting in grief and healing.

The event started off with Daisy Sim, a Korean American member of TCAC, stating that she hopes the big takeaway for today is how U.S. imperialism functions with the use of the military, ICE and the police. Sim stated, “I hope to call out the true enemy of our community, which is white supremacy and encourage people to further educate, organize and mobilize.”

Regina Joseph, president of TCAC and one of the Tally19, spoke in solidarity with the Asian community, stating, “There is this idea that if you work hard and keep your head down, then you would be protected and that is not the case.” Joseph continued, “You cannot divide the multinational working class.”

Joseph also explained that it was important for African Americans and Asians to strive for solidarity with each other.

Sharry Solis, president of FSU’s Filipino Student Association, continued this theme, noting, “My home country in Philippines is the largest recipient of U.S. military aid in Asia – aid that led to widespread human rights violations.” She also states that “bombings against environmental activists and indigenous people has contributed to them being displaced all over the country.”

Dr. Portia Campos of the Asian Coalition of Tallahassee wanted to share her earliest experience of racism when she was six years old. She ended her speech by chanting “Raise your voice and scream. Raise your voice and shout. Say no to Asian hate.”

Delilah Pierre, vice president of TCAC and member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, pointed out “We have to talk about the extreme devastation the U.S. has brought onto Asian people all around the world. What they did to Korea during the Korean War. One-third of Korean housing was destroyed. They came to destroy your country. And in Vietnam they are still digging up bombs. Still fighting Agent Orange. They came to destroy your country. What’s right about that?! And what they are doing to the Philippines! And what they are doing everywhere to Asian countries! It’s fucked up.”

Activist Roman Le, the communication lead with Dream Defenders, touched on the emotional weight of the loss of the eight victims, stating, “The amount of energy I have spent, silently crying or laughing to create any sense of synthetic happiness so that my body to feel anything, has left my body torn. I often wondered how people cannot be stuck in their bed for days, trying to make sense of the lingering grief. That never seems to leave but instead becomes more layered. I hope no one points out how my dull my eyes were because I don’t have the heart to explain how I spent the previous night trying not to think about how many more white people will murder communities of color while having a ‘bad day’?”

Isabel Ruano, a valued member for the Tallahassee Community Action Committee, sang a song dedicated to the Asian community out of a place of solidarity as a Latina. She mentioned that her husband, who is Asian Indian, faced hardship that mirrored the current state.

Aurora Hansen, founder of Asian Coalition of Tallahassee, told the crowd, “I am so happy that the younger generation is speaking up because when I was growing up we couldn’t say anything.” She continued to share her life experiences coming and living in Lakeland, Florida, and experiencing microaggressions.

Speaking next, Dawn Freo, TCAC Communication Director and FRSO member, wondered about the costs of assimilation for the American Dream. She stated “The American Dream is bullshit. You sell this dream to immigrants searching for better but the reality is that, ‘Is it really that much better?’ I sit here and I don’t think that it is.”

The event closed with Trish Brown, co-founder of TCAC, singing ``If I don’t lift them up, I’ll fall down! and shouting “We have nothing to lose but our chains!”

#TallahasseeFL #AsianNationalities #Antiracism #TCAC #Tally19 #antiasianAtlantaShooting

The Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) and other community members stood alongside the family of Mychael Johnson in grief and healing.

“Somebody’s hurting my people, and it’s gone on far too long,” sang Trish Brown, outreach coordinator for the Tallahassee Community Action Committee at the angelversary that evening.

Regina Joseph, president of TCAC, and a member of the #Tally19 – a group of activists arrested on September 5, 2020 protesting the non-indictment of police who killed Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard and Tony McDade – asked those gathered to imagine what it must have felt like for Johnson’s family to watch the livestream of their loved one’s death at the same time as the general public. Joseph condemned State Attorney Jack Campbell’s refusal to let the family watch the video before anyone else.

Activists touched on both the emotional weight of the loss of Mychael Johnson as well as the way his death has made blatantly evident the white supremacy in the Tallahassee city government.

Delilah Pierre, vice president of TCAC, pointed to how Johnson’s death was not the result of one officer’s decision, but a product of the larger, corrupt system of white supremacy in which chief of police Lawrence Revel (himself a killer cop), City Manager Reese Goad, Mayor John Dailey and all city commissioners, but especially Dianne Williams-Cox and Curtis Richardson, “are all responsible for what was another needless, senseless death in the Black community.”

Tesia Lisbon, an activist with More Than a Name and a member of the #Tally19, continued this theme, noting, “Not a single city official has properly addressed the family of Mychael Johnson since his death. Not a single city official has properly, or at all, acknowledged or apologized for the way that the family was addressed. Nor has the city shown its ability to take any level of accountability by anyone at any position that we vote for.”

Activists lit candles in Johnson’s memory, and held a moment of silence for him. Brown then sang Something’s Got a Hold on Me.

Timothy White, an activist with TCAC a member of the Tally 19, told the crowd, “We cannot win if we do not get to heal. That is why it is so important that we have a moment like this where we come together and stand together and we recognize that we need to heal.” They continued, “We will continue this fight. And we will heal. And we will finally reach a point where we do not have to fight so hard.”

Pierre closed out the vigil by reminding everyone that “We will not lose.” She said, “What pushes us forward is the love we have shown for each other. And I want you to know that’s not something they can ever steal or take away from us.”

As Pierre said, “Mychael Johnson’s life mattered. He was a human being. He was a kind man. He was a father. He needs to be remembered with love. He needs to be fought for every single day.”

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #MychaelJohnson

Tallahassee, FL – On February 26, a group of about 20 students and community members assembled at Wescott Fountain at Florida State University to demand the immediate termination of the contract between FSU and food service provider Aramark on the grounds of their use of prison labor and other worker abuses. SDS also demands the termination of House Bill 1, often dubbed the Anti-Protest Bill, sponsored by Governor Ron DeSantis, and for community control of FSUPD under the supervision of a Civilian Police Accountability Council.

SDS was joined by several coalition partners, including the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), Abolish Aramark at FSU, FSU College Democrats, Student/Farmworkers Alliance, and Science for the People.

Aramark Corporation has been the subject of public scrutiny in the past decade. The company has been the subject of lawsuits over the years due to unsanitary working conditions that prison workers endured and misleading prisoners into working without pay. The company was under investigation by the New York State Health Department in one of the facilities in which they operate.

“We have to hold the university accountable when they deal with companies like these that profit from prison slave labor. We need to abolish Aramark at FSU,” said Trish Brown, board member of TCAC and member of the #Tally19.

Brown also spoke about claims from the university that Aramark was accepting applications from former Sodexo employees, the university’s previous dining services provider, and that FSU would hire “the majority of existing employees.” However, students are already seeing changes in staff.

Students for a Democratic Society is promoting demands for the termination of the Aramark contract and for the university to never again do business with companies that profit from prison labor. They will continue their campaign for a Civilian Police Accountability Council and “abolishing” Aramark at FSU in order to strike a blow against both hands of the carceral state, policing and prisons.

Jonce Palmer (they/them) is an activist in Tallahassee, Florida.

#TallahasseeFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles

A large banner behind the press conference podium read: “#Drop the charges #Tally1419,” reflecting that on September 5, militarized police arrested and charged 14 protest attendees, and in the days after, also arrested four protesters and issued a fill-in-the-blank warrant that still remains nameless. Two of the three Tallyers initially charged with felonies have since had their felonies reduced to misdemeanors. Some of the Tally19 accepted diversion offers requiring community service. Zero individuals among the Tally19 have had all their charges dropped outright, and Ben Grant still faces a felony charge.

Guest speakers Reverend Lee Johnson, Miami-based Trey John of Dignity Power, and Tallahassee City Commissioner Jeremy Mattlow, followed by several of the Tally19, including Ben Grant, took to the mic for two urgent goals: drop the felony charges along with all the September 5 charges and defeat HB1 and SB484, companion bills that would further criminalize nearly all public assemblies while giving a free pass to reactionaries for intentionally killing protesters with their vehicles.

Speakers pointed out that activists in Florida already organize under threat of mass arrest; already experience criminal and political repression by law enforcement and the court system; and already suffer vehicle attacks by reactionary drivers who consistently enjoy total leniency from law enforcement. Speakers called out Tallahassee’s repeated leniency for drivers of vehicle attacks against Black lives matter marches, and simultaneous criminal and political repression against the Tally19 as specifically inconsistent and unjust, and more broadly as a foreboding test case for the rest of Florida.

Trish Brown, press conference emcee, stated, “We are here to demand that State Attorney Jack Campbell and Assistant State Attorney Kathleen Bogenschutz drop the felony charges against Ben Grant, my friend, my community member, and fellow Tally19er. We need all charges to be dropped against all of the Tally19. And we need the community to stand against Governor Ron DeSantis’ anti-protest bills HB1 and SB484.” Brown is a founding member of TCAC, serves as TCAC’s outreach director, ran for city commission in 2020 on a community control of police platform, and was the first arrestee of the Tally19.

In addition to hosting Tuesday’s press conference, TCAC also joined with other local organizations to call in to State Attorney Campbell and Assistant State Attorney Bogenschutz in a mass appeal to drop the felony charges against Ben Grant. A sample script published by TCAC for the call-in day reads:

“On September 5th, community members gathered to protest the unjust grand jury decision which allowed the Tallahassee PD cops who murdered Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard and Tony McDade to walk free. Heavily armed police, who outnumbered protestors 3-to-1, began to brutalize, detain and arrest protestors, with some of them ending up in the hospital. I am calling to demand that State Attorney Jack Campbell DROP ALL FELONY CHARGES against Ben Grant! Protesting injustice in Tallahassee should NOT be criminalized and should NOT be met with militarized brutality from the police!”

Ben Grant is facing a felony charge of up to ten years and $10,000 in fines. His next pretrial is on February 25 and he goes to trial on March 1.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #PoliticalRepression #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommitteeTCAC #HB1SB484 #Tallahassee19

Tallahassee, FL – On February 11, several Tally19ers planned an 11 a.m. press conference downtown at the Clerk of Courts across from the Capitol, in support of Tally19er Ben Grant, who is the only one still facing felony charges. Grant was due in court that morning.

Trish Brown said, “We are here to demand that Jack Campbell, the state attorney, drop the charges against community member Ben Grant.”

Brown continued, “We are coming together to show solidarity, love and support. We also have to remind the city that our fight is nowhere near over.”

Recently, Tally19ers, fellow protesters, and loved ones took some relief in receiving good news that two other Tally19ers facing charges of felony had their charges consolidated and reduced to misdemeanor.

Before the press conference was to officially begin, Leon County Sheriff Officers shut down the formal press conference during sound setup. However, theTally19 did not let this setback deter them from speaking out. Shortly after, they organized in the courtyard, without amplified sound.

They held signs that read, “Free the Tally19!” “End police violence,” “CPAC now!” “Stop SB484 & HB1” and “Drop the charges”

Ben Grant faces a possible sentence of ten years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

Tally19ers and attendees also gathered in opposition to the anti-protest legislation from Ron DeSantis. Brown also stressed the importance of this, “We must also prevent our fascist Governor DeSantis from succeeding in his campaign to silence Floridians, civilians and protesters with these anti-protest bills. Senate Bill 484 and House Bill 1 will destroy our constitutional right to freedom of speech, the right to assemble and the right to rally and assemble.”

“If we held our September 5 event where 14 of us were arrested and charged with unjust attacks under the proposed HB1 and SBS484 we would all still be in jail. We would have all third-degree felony charges, spend a minimum of six months in jail, we would never be able to apply for jobs with the state of Florida or hold office and we would not get bail until first appearance.

“This bill has wide implications, not just for activists at a protest. It spells trouble for people asking for donations on the streets, sign-holding at crosswalks for election campaigns, marching from the church in Soul to Polls, innocent bystanders at rallies, marches at protests – it affects everyone in Florida.

“That is why we continued to speak out at the Clerk of Courts. Even though the press conference was shut down, it was still a success because we [Tally19] stood up and spoke out for what is right,” said Brown.

Ben Grant has a pretrial hearing on February 25 and court starting on March 1.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #Tally19 #Tallahassee19

Tallahassee, FL – Florida State University’s (FSU) Presidential Task Force on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion recently released their recommendation to permanently remove the Eppes statue and change the names of Eppes Hall and B. K. Roberts Hall. On January 27, FSU President John Thrasher approved the task force recommendation. This decision comes after years of campaigning and struggle from FSU’s campus chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

FSU SDS had been organizing around this issue for about five years, and the campaign has seen many victories and losses. In 2016, SDS sponsored a non-binding referendum within Student Government Association to remove the Eppes statue, which failed to a 71% majority of students who voted to keep the statue at Wescott Fountain. When working through Student Government Association failed, Students for a Democratic Society realized that more ground work would be necessary to not only educate the campus community on Francis Eppes’ legacy as a slave owner who helped fund the Confederacy, but also to struggle with the racist culture of FSU and point out the contradictions in the university’s calls for such values as “diversity and inclusion.”

Students for a Democratic Society continued to organize at Market Wednesdays, tabling and passing out flyers and information about the history and legacy of figures like Francis Eppes, B. K. Roberts and Doak Campbell.

B. K. Roberts was a Florida Supreme Court judge whose career includes managing a gubernatorial campaign of then-Ku Klux Klan member Fuller Warren and denying Black student Virgil Hawkins the right to attend law school. The university credits Roberts with the founding of the FSU College of Law.

Doak Campbell was president during the transformation from the Florida State College for Women to Florida State University. He is remembered for his anti-integration views after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, suppressing calls for campus integration, suppressing coverage of the Tallahassee Bus Boycott in the campus newspaper Florida Flambeau and expelling a graduate student who voiced support for a Black city commission candidate.

SDS held rallies and marches on and off campus to speak out against the racism occurring on campus, including things like the decreasing rate of Black enrollment and harassment from the FSU police department and other staff. SDS was constructing a movement, and while the goal was to have the statue removed immediately, members understood that this would be a long-term struggle.

2018 saw a crucial victory for the campaign. After speaking at the President’s Task Force on Names and Recognitions over the course of the 2017-18 fall and spring semesters, the task force recommended to President Thrasher to remove the statue. However, the statue was replaced several yards away from its original spot near Wescott fountain, closer to Eppes Hall, about ten months later. The statue returned along with a new plaque which, according to Thrasher, was meant to “contextualize” Eppes’ role in the founding of FSU.

This trick was not enough to dissuade SDS from picking up the campaign once again, which included a rally on July 4th, 2020 and a successful call-in day. That very day, it was announced that the statue was removed a second time.

Jonce Palmer, SDS member, said “This has been a campaign we’ve worked towards ever since I joined SDS, and I’m not surprised the FSU administration took this long to act. It was our efforts and the uprising of people across the country and in Tallahassee this summer that sent a clear message: white supremacy is not welcome in our communities and in our campuses, and that includes keeping slave owners in a place of honor.”

After the July call-in day, the second, current Presidential Task Force on Anti-Racism, Equity and Inclusion began holding hearings during this past fall semester. SDS took this as another opportunity to mobilize, and members spoke out at several meetings along with campus community members regarding the statue and names along with racist interactions had with staff, professors, other students, and FSUPD.

After weeks of coming to these task force meetings again and again, they got the message. The campus community will not tolerate these symbols of white supremacy. Now that this demand has finally been met, FSU Students for a Democratic Society is focusing on community control of the police at FSU, terminating the student dining deal with prison labor-using company Aramark, and working against political repression in Tallahassee, including the HB1 Anti-Protest bill, and dropping the charges for the #Tally19.

#TallahasseeFL #SDS #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #FrancisEppesStatue

They literally wore custom made t-shirts broadcasting a coup they planned and orchestrated, at the urging of President Donald J. Trump.

Trying to make sense of this situation as I scrolled endlessly on my phone. The more I scrolled, the angrier I became.

I am angry because not only did police arrest 14 people in Tallahassee on September 5, 2020 but because they continued to ambush and arrest protesters, bringing the number of those with warrants for our participation at the September 5 protest up to 19.

I am angry because my wife is facing a felony charge with ten years in prison and $10,000 in fines.

I clearly remember the afternoon of September 5 – across the street from the Old Capitol Building – I was arrested, along with 13 others, by hundreds of law enforcement officers clad in riot gear and equipped with military weapons and canines.

I remember holding on to my wife, surrounded by waves of dark uniforms; it was like being engulfed in a shadow. Batons flailed in the air as the police attempted to break up a peaceful protest against a grand jury decision absolving Tallahassee police officers for the murders of three Tallahassee men earlier in 2020. Police weren’t just trying to break up a single protest on September 5, they were out to hobble the growing movement for Black lives and distract from demands for community control of the police.

I remember holding my wife’s hands, the tears full in their eyes, the tiredness worn on their face and the absolute terror of it all. As our hands slipped, and dozens of others watched in horror as the police broke us up, I screamed as hard as I could, just wishing I could just...hold my wife.

I remember being scared of what would happen next.

What happened next was more police beatings, draggings, mass-arrests, forced and costly hospitalization, misgendering of arrestees, disgusting jail conditions, delayed bail processing, repressive release conditions, additional late-night follow-up arrests, and humiliating diversion offers made to some – but not all – of the #Tally19. There are two Tally19ers still facing felony charges.

Fast forward to January 6, 2021. In what seems like increasingly stranger yet less shocking days, we witnessed a moment sure to be etched in history books. As I write this, hours into an undisrupted racist, reactionary siege of the U.S. Capitol, the hypocrisy is blatant.

I am angry because multiple trucks ran into Black Lives Matter protests in Tallahassee. Yet Democrat State Attorney Jack Campbell let the drivers all go and holds firm on prosecuting BLM organizers.

I am angry because Trump’s ally, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, is crafting legislation to make it legal for drivers to hit and kill protesters.

We have a ‘democracy’ wherein the first Black senator in the South since Reconstruction is finally elected and then the next day, elected far-right Republicans support a literal white supremacist siege of the U.S. Capitol building.

We must demand the end of political repression faced by Black activists across the country.

From the Tallahassee 19, to the Minnesota 646: Drop all charges against those fighting for a better tomorrow in the face of police violence.

If you wish to support the Tally 19, head to our GoFundMe

Additionally, you can send a letter to Tallahassee officials to drop the charges against the Tally 19.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #Elections #DonaldTrump #Tally19 #646Arrestees #TrumpPutsch

Tallahassee, FL – On October 22, more than 40 students and community members gathered at Integration Statue and marched to Wescott Fountain. Students for a Democratic Society held the annual protest at Florida State University in honor of the National Day of Protest Against Police Brutality. The assembly gathered with the demands of community control of FSU Police Department, that State Attorney Jack Campbell drops all charges levied against the #Tally19, and permanent removal of the Francis Eppes statue.

The protest took place in the midst of recent violence towards protesters. On August 29 an assault on a Black Lives Matter protest took place with a white supremacist threatened protesters and police with a gun. The next day, State Attorney Jack Campbell announced that no charges would be levied against the racist, citing Florida’s Stand Your Ground law in saying that his actions were justified as they were in self-defense.

This, among other acts of violence taken against Black Lives Matter protesters, is part of a pattern from both the municipal and state law enforcement agencies and government officials of allowing anti-racist protesters to be the target of violence and using the opportunity to declare assemblies gathered in anti-racist protests ‘unlawful’ and arresting as many attendees and leaders as possible. When local organizations involved with the Black Lives Matter movement gathered on September 5 in response to a grand jury finding the police officers who killed Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard and Tony McDade justified in their use of deadly force, a mass arrest of these organizers occurred, with police outnumbering protesters three to one. Those unjustly arrested by police and charged with misdemeanors and felonies have been dubbed the Tally 19.

Among the speakers at the October 22 protest were two of the #Tally19. President of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee Regina Joseph addressed the assembly, speaking on the targeted attack on organizers by state and municipal law enforcement agencies, including Tallahassee PD and FSUPD. Having marched to Wescott Fountain, she informed the crowd about the little-known history of the spot where protesters stood.

Joseph stated, “Right here where we stand is where they hung Black people, and it is very fitting that they would put Francis Eppes’s statue, the so-called ‘founder’ of FSU, who owned 91 slaves and used money from his slave-catching militia and the Confederacy to fund one of the first police departments in the entire country, the Tallahassee Police Department. FSU is very much tied to the racist subjugation that the people are experiencing.”

Another member of the #Tally19, recent City Commission candidate Trish Brown, addressed the crowd and spoke about the need for community control of the police to combat the ongoing political repression occurring nationwide and particularly in Tallahassee.

Brown stated, “We must unite together. We must strategize, we must organize, and we must come together and take power away from the police and put it into poverty-impacted people’s hands; put it into student’s hands; put it into Black and brown people’s hands where it belongs! It belongs with the citizens and civilians and the people of our community and across the nation. The people united will never be defeated!”

“We need a CPAC; we need a Civilian Police Accountability Council. Having control over the police, like I said, and having money being put back into student’s and civilian’s hands, they won’t come after us no more!” continued Brown

This is the first time a protest has been held since COVID-19 social distancing restrictions, limiting certain gatherings to ten people, were lifted on campus. In the previous months, a protest such as this may have been shut down. Meanwhile home football games, with Doak Campbell stadium filled with tens of thousands of people, many of whom were not required to wear masks or social distance, as during the first home game, were allowed to go on. After a subsequent spike in cases on campus, FSU President John Thrasher and his wife tested positive for COVID-19.

But now that risks of COVID-19 infection are gradually lowering about six weeks after that spike in cases occurred, Students for a Democratic Society plans to continue mobilizing the campus and greater Tallahassee communities to put FSUPD under the community control of a CPAC and drop all charges against the #Tally19.

Jonce Palmer (they/them) is a Tallahassee activist.

#TallahasseeFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #CommunityControlOfThePolice

Police pivot against protesters

Protesters marched on August 29 to the capitol and held the intersection there for an hour, observed by police who did not interfere. As a precaution against reactionary agitators, a caravan of cars made a large stationary circle around the protesters rallying at the center of the intersection. Nonetheless, police allowed a white supremist – who police confirmed was armed – entry to the clearly marked protest space. The racist initiated a fight and, when attendees defended themselves, he drew a gun and aimed it at protesters and police alike. Instead of arresting the gunman, police escorted him away, suddenly declared the protest unlawful, and demanded that attendees disperse, threatening “arrest, use of force and severe injury.” That same day police made changed their stance on the evening news, trading “peaceful” for “unpermitted” as their adjective of choice, and threatened arrest for “unpermitted” protests, especially in cases of blocked streets.

September 5 arrests

One week later, on September 5, nearly 300 officers clad in riot gear from many law enforcement agencies made good on these threats, violently attacking and shoving protesters on a sidewalk across from the historic capitol before dragging 14 people away, causing multiple injuries and sending three arrestees to the hospital. Police did not Mirandize anyone, nor did they inform anyone why they were being arrested. After transporting arrestees to a staging ground beneath the courthouse and then to the jail, officers from different departments took hours to decide among themselves who of the arrestees would be charged with what and which “arresting officers” would sign reports for each protester. The Tallahassee Police Department, Florida Highway Patrol, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Leon County Sheriff Office, and Florida State University Police Department took part – and there may have been more agencies – in the September 5 crackdown against those protesting grand jury decisions that cleared killer cops of any wrongdoing in the killings of three Tallahassee men earlier this year.

According to Trish Brown – a longtime community activist leader and organizer, recent candidate for city commission, and one of the Tally19 – protesters hit the street to “Demonstrate peacefully in solidarity; to demand justice and police accountability for victims, families and our communities who have been impacted by brutal and fatal police force.” Brown continued, “I was out that day to bring hope, power and positive change to our poverty-impacted communities and throughout our nation.”

Charges

Two were charged that day with felonies. Satya Stark-Bejnar was charged with resisting an officer with violence and one count of felony battery on a law enforcement officer, a charge that carries ten years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Stark-Bejnar was released that night on a $1000 bond. Timothy White was arrested on a felony charge of inciting a riot, which carried ten years in prison and $10,000 in fines, and one count of resisting an officer without violence. White was released on a $500 bond.

After-the-fact arrests continue

On September 9, law enforcement tracked down two more September 5 protest attendees using body cam and social media footage, arresting them late at night and with no warning. Police forcibly pulled Ben Grant from his home without showing him a warrant or telling him what his charges were. Police snatched another September 5 protester from a parking lot while she was leaving her gym. Both were released on bond later that night after 2 a.m. Grant was charged with felony count of battery on a law enforcement officer and a misdemeanor resisting without violence. His felony charge carries ten years in prison and $10,000 in fines. The next morning, police issued three more warrants for attendees of the September 5 protest, two of whom were alerted and able to turn themselves in. Both were bonded out later that day. The final, 19th warrant remains nameless, a month and a half later.

Movement response

Local organizers who were not jailed September 5 sprang into action immediately, raising funds for bail and reaching out to local attorneys, eight of whom agreed to represent September 5 arrestees pro bono. The Tallahassee Bail Fund posted bond for 11 of the people arrested, totaling more than $2000. This is in addition to their previous and ongoing decarceration work to reduce jail populations and slow the spread of COVID-19. One individual spent over $1000 of their own money to help just one arrestee bypass the use of a bondsman. Jail support was organized such that crowds of supporters were assembled, socially distanced, in the jail parking lot to cheer each arrestee as they were released, offering encouragement, water, snacks and rides home.

Support for the #Tally19 has taken the form of donations, jail support presence and mass mobilizations. Organizations and individuals from Tallahassee and beyond have applied persistent pressure on the city commission, city manager, law enforcement agencies, and State Attorney Jack Campbell to #DropTheCharges through call-in days, social media blasts, newspaper editorials and public comment during government meetings.

Changes to charges

Last week, several arrestees' charges were reduced and consolidated. Tim White’s felony charge was replaced with a different, lesser charge. State Attorney Jack Campbell announced a ‘Diversion Program’ offer to Tally 19’ers charged with only misdemeanors. A condition of this program is to participate for an unspecified duration of a 12-hour long virtual, city-sponsored Race Relations Summit, including a previously non-existing breakout session on “How to Safely and Lawfully Protest.” Diversion offers and terms were issued with only nine days’ notice before the Race Relations Summit, giving arrestees insufficient time to inform and make arrangements with their students, employers, professors, etc., and to obtain a stable internet connection. Not all Tally 19’ers offered diversion have internet service at their homes, and not all Tally 19’ers even have stable housing, which makes Campbell’s ‘diversion’ patently inaccessible to some, even if they wanted to take the offer. Tally 19’ers with felony charges were excluded from the diversion offer.

Regina Joseph, Tally19’er and president of the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), said, “I will not take this diversion offer while my wife [Stark-Bejnar] and my comrade [Grant] are still collectively facing decades in prison for democratically exercising their so-called First Amendment rights.”

Joseph showed this author a copy of the diversion deal that was offered to her. The document, titled “Diversion Program, Deferred Prosecution Agreement” states, “For the purpose of this program, the Defendant admits his or her guilt of the offense(s) charged, and recognizes that said admission could be used as evidence against the Defendant in the event of the prosecution of the case.”

Joseph continued, “The fact this wasn’t even offered to people with felony charges is awful. It shows those in power Jack Campbell, City Manager Reese Goad, Chief of TPD Lawrence Revell, LCSO, FSUPD and all of the law enforcement agencies involved in September will stop at nothing to vilify protesters and will do everything possible to ‘make an example’ out of us. An injury to one is an injury to all and we must stand in solidarity with those facing felony charges. Every time we refuse to admit guilt, they puff up for the press, but then they reduce charges and make small improvements to the terms of diversion. That said, zero arrestees have had all their charges dropped, and all charges must be dropped. The fight is not over.”

The Race Summit Diversion Program requirement was offered only days before the summit, and elements of the summit itself are almost laughable. Speakers at the ‘race summit’ include multiple members of the same Tallahassee Police Department that not only brutalized protesters on September 5, but is also responsible for killing three civilians in the first few months of 2020, deaths that sparked the last six months of frequent local protest activity in the first place. TPD Chief of Police Lawrence Revell was installed in his position in January, despite vocal community opposition. His ten-month tenure of terror is no surprise to longtime Tallahasseans who recall the 1990s, with then-officer Revell terrorizing the Black and low-income communities of Tallahassee with his all-white “Alpha Squad,” and Revell’s 1996 murder of Black teenager George “Lil Nuke” Williams. The state attorney has yet to offer any diversion programs to, much less file charges against, killer-cop Revell’s present-day killer cops.

Many protesters arrested related to September 5 are dedicated organizers who have for years been leading the fight for a Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) in Tallahassee. These arrests and charge – especially the felony charges – and diversion programs are political repression. The diversion program and the focus on ‘safety’ and ‘perfect lawfulness’ are designed to diminish and dilute public protest activity. Organizers and attendees have been safe at protests in Tallahassee for years, including while consistently taking the streets, even during a global pandemic. Thanks to consistent mask-wearing by attendees, Tallahassee protests haven’t resulted in any known spikes of COVID-19 spread. The only times protesters were hurt this year was when reactionary agitators armed with guns or trucks were allowed, by the police, to threaten and run through protest actions, or at the hands of police themselves.

The police have shown themselves time and time again to condone, as well as be themselves instigators of violence at protests across the country, and yet continuously face no consequences. And it gets worse. When civilians have the courage to stand up against hypocrisy to say, “This is unacceptable; no more!” and demand accountability for murderous and violent cops, they are brutalized and arrested.

Zeke Greenwood (he / they) is an activist in Tallahassee, FL.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #Tally19

Tallahassee, FL – Community activists gathered in front of city hall September 19 for a protest calling for the formation of an elected Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC), and demanding that State Attorney Jack Campbell drop the charges against the #Tally19 – arrested for participating in a protest on September 5 to condemn a grand jury decision that condoned three recent police murders of civilians.

Saturday’s action was organized locally by the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) with the support of Tallahassee Dream Defenders, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, More Than A Name, and Florida Planned Parenthood PAC. The action aligned with a national day of protest initiated by the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) in response to escalating repression of protest in Tallahassee and elsewhere.

Giant banners that read: “Black lives matter,” “Community control of police,” “CPAC now” and “Drop the charges” offered a visually striking backdrop for, and reflected the messaging of, speakers, chant leaders and singers at the midday action.

This year Tallahassee has seen the appointment of killer cop Lawrence Revell to chief of police; the killing of three civilians by Tallahassee Police Department in the span of two months; subsequent grand jury decisions to hold none of those officers accountable; and brutality and repression put on full display by at least five local law enforcement agencies and used against protesters on September 5, and since.

TCAC member Satya Stark-Bejnar said on Saturday, “We need CPAC and not a toothless review board. We need community control of the police because communities are people, and people deserve a meaningful say in how they are policed!”

Speaking on the need for community control of the police, longtime community organizer and recent city commission candidate Trish Brown declared, “I’m tired of the police policing the police, because all it’s doing is killing us! I’m tired of my Black city officials and my Black religious leaders turning a blind eye to what’s going on in the Black community, which is constant racial profiling and now repression for protesting it!”

Tesia Lisbon, an organizer with More Than a Name, called for “CPAC now!” and, citing the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., implored city officials, local clergy, and people watching at home to, “Come sit at the table, come hear what we have to say, because the few are fighting for the many.”

Organizers and attendees drew encouragement from one another locally, and in the knowledge that people in dozens of cities were united in simultaneous protest against police aggression, even in the face of escalating political repression.

Local media may have downplayed attacks by law enforcement against local BLM protests, but this local repression is gaining national attention. At a September 19 protest in Chicago, a huge crowd could be heard chanting in solidarity, “Tallahassee 19, drop all charges!”

Ben Grant (he/him) is a Tallahassee, FL activist.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #TallahasseeCommunityActionCommittee

Jacksonville, FL – On September 19, over 120 people showed up outside city hall in downtown Jacksonville demanding a people’s budget and community control of the police. This action was in response to the call by the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression (NAARPR) national call to action. The Jacksonville Community Action Committee is an affiliate of NAARPR.

Speakers from Jacksonville Community Action Committee, University of North Florida SDS, Take ‘Em Down Jax, Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, ACLU, Mount Sinai Baptist Church and other organizations participated. The demands have been consistent as thousands gathered in the streets over the summer and they are as follows:

-- Community control of the police in the form of a Jacksonville Police Accountability Council (JPAC)

-- Abolish Law Enforcement Officer’s Bill of Rights (LEOBOR; Florida statute 112.532)

-- People’s Budget now (to reallocate half of the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office budget; currently 40% of the city budget)

-- Drop the charges for the #Tally19 (Stop police repression)

-- Withdraw federal troops from our cities

The crowd chanted in call and response, “What do we want? A people’s budget! When do we want it? Now!” and in reference to the Tallahassee 19, the crowd chanted, “Drop the charges!”

This was the last opportunity to demonstrate opposition to the mayor’s proposed pro-police budget before the finance committee takes a vote. The People’s Budget would effectively re-invest and re-allocate funds that currently bloat the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office budget, which currently sits at $481,594,597 and in the wake of summer uprisings, Sheriff Mike Williams is requesting a $6.1 million increase.

The People’s Budget also calls for People’s Legislation that would direct city officials to make a carve-out in the city’s charter to create a civilian police accountability council; a proposal for a union neutrality ordinance for contractors that gets city contracts to allow their workers the ability to unionize without workplace repression; calls to decriminalize marijuana; greater access to city contracts for small Black businesses and vendors; rent controls to combat gentrification in historically Black neighborhoods like Springfield, and the creation of an Urban Core Development Authority which would direct public and private investment to address community blight and poverty in Jacksonville’s Black neighborhoods.

The JCAC called on city council to reject any budget that doesn’t fund communities yet increases the police budget.

Sara Mahmoud, an organizer with the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, addressed the crowd at Saturday’s rally, “After months of ongoing and historic protests, we are pressing upon the city council to say no to the city budget, and reject stealing taxpayer dollars in order to continue funding crooked killer cops in Jacksonville.”

To follow work with the JCAC, visit: https://jaxtakesaction.org/

#JacksonvilleFL #PeoplesStruggles #PoliceBrutality #JacksonvilleCommunityActionCommittee