Tampa, FL – Over 30 University of South Florida students protested the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, Oct. 9. The demonstration occurred at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza on USF Tampa’s campus and was hosted by Tampa Bay SDS. Chants at the protest included “We believe her, we believe Christine!” and “Hell no, we won’t budge! We don’t want a rapist judge!”

Members of SDS gave speeches on topics such as the history of patriarchy and its relation to class society, why people like Kavanaugh should not be in power, the importance of receiving consent, and the consequences of Kavanaugh’s confirmation. Students walking to and from class stopped to listen and joined in chanting.

“We can oppose Kavanaugh’s confirmation by staying diligent and fighting back against the system that oppresses and silences our voices and listens to the 1%,” said SDS member Sanjukta Battacherjee. Taylor Cook, also an SDS member, said Kavanaugh “is a rapist and a liar and rapists do not belong in our government or in any positions of power!”

#TampaFL #StudentMovement #US #PeoplesStruggles #courts #BrettKavanaugh #womensMovement

News of a deal was leaked on Thursday, June 10, and today, the terms were released. Gustavsson pled guilty to one count of 2nd degree riot, and one count of aiding an offender after the fact. The deal means he will serve six to eight months jail time and pay $300 in court costs, followed by five to ten years’ probation.

Defense attorney Robert Jones said he will argue for a sentence that will allow Gustavsson's offenses to be reduced from felonies to misdemeanors after fulfilling the terms of his plea agreement.

“I’m tired of this white supremacy,” said Cameron Clark. Cameron was an outspoken participant in the demonstrations following the murder of his unarmed cousin, Jamar, by Minneapolis police. He was one of the victims of the violent racist attack, and objected to the light charges in this case from the outset. Allen Scarsella, the shooter, was convicted on several counts of assault, and related charges, but not attempted murder and no hate crimes charges. He was also not charged with endangering the lives of the many people present when he emptied his gun into the crowd that night. Gustavsson was not hit with the same charges, despite the fact that, in the words of Cameron Clark, “If it was me and my friend, we would both get charged.” The other two racists with Scarsella and Gustavsson had the charges against them dropped entirely.

Today’s plea was made over the objections of many community members who called in to oppose the deal, as well as Cameron Clark, who was so upset that he hung up on prosecutors when they called to notify him of the deal.

When prosecutors called Cameron to tell him about the deal, he challenged them on the assertion that Gustavsson was “an accessory after the fact.” Gustavsson was with the now-convicted shooter, Allen Scarsella, throughout the attack. Cameron learned that Gustavsson had also come to the protest armed. A text from Gustavsson just days before the attack, read at Scarsella’s trial, also shows his full participation in the events that sent five men to the hospital. He wrote, “Dude, if this shit is going down on Monday, we need to get down there. I could rile so much shit up.”

The shooting came after video threats were posted online, filled with racist language. Videos were made after an earlier trip by Scarsella to the Jamar protest, where he and another racist wore masks, waved guns and heaped racist slurs into the camera in their car before walking through the crowd gathered outside the Minneapolis Fourth Precinct police station. Having watched those videos, Gustavsson went with Scarsella, knowing exactly what his racist friend had in mind. The two shared a love of guns, and a white supremacist outlook. They fled the scene together and Gustavsson admitted today to conspiring with Joe Backman to slow down the subsequent investigation by attempting to hide video evidence of the attack. Gustavsson was a part of the violent racist plan, from start to finish.

When Gustavsson testified for Scarsella in January, he was strident, insisting that they had done nothing wrong, that the armed white men feared for their lives, and that the shooting was justified. Despite this having been in Calguiri’s court room, just a few months ago, she took his willingness accept losing his gun rights as a justification for this lenient deal. The charges in the plea are felonies and would strip him of his gun rights, unless they are later reduced to misdemeanors. Gustavsson did not express any regret or shed any tears in the courtroom today.

Final sentencing Is scheduled for July 19, at 8:30 a.m. Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar will meet this week to plan a response, and support Cameron in the other victims in their demand for justice.

#MinneapolisMN #PoliceBrutality #PeoplesStruggles #InjusticeSystem #Antiracism #courts #Jamar

Appealing the November 2014 federal conviction of prominent Palestinian-American activist Rasmea Odeh, lead defense attorney Michael Deutsch gave a powerful oral argument in front of a panel of three judges – Alice Batchelder, Karen Moore, and John Rogers—in Cincinnati, at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit.

Hammering home the point that Rasmea never received a full and fair trial in Detroit last year, Deutsch deftly addressed the judges’ questions, and made a compelling argument that, at her trial for Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, she should have been able to testify about her state of mind when she filled out her citizenship application in 2004.

The Department of Homeland Security arrested Odeh on October 22, 2013, and charged her for allegedly failing to disclose, in that application for U.S. citizenship, that she was arrested in Palestine in 1969 and tried in an Israeli military court that convicts 99.74% of Palestinians who come before it. Odeh’s conviction in Palestine in 1970 was based on a forced confession that was obtained after she was viciously tortured and sexually assaulted by the Israelis.

Odeh suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of this torture, which according to world renowned psychologist, Dr. Mary Fabri, caused her to suppress the horrible recollection of the arrest when she answered questions in the application. Fabri testified in a pre-trial hearing, prompting Judge Gershwin Drain to initially rule that she can testify at trial. But he almost immediately reversed himself after a prosecution filing, and ultimately disallowed any evidence about the rape and torture. Deutsch was convincing in his claims that this was a legal error, and that Rasmea must be afforded the chance to tell her story.

Prosecutor Jonathan Tukel, who supporters of Rasmea remember as the lawyer who tried to bully her during the trial, continued with his tired arguments, claiming that testimony from a psychologist should be inadmissible and could not stand up to scrutiny. The judges responded by pointing out that the legal precedent he was citing was an unpublished opinion, not any kind of legal precedent the court is bound to uphold.

Rasmea’s supporters were silently thrilled to watch the judges press Tukel, who was unable to offer any reason that she should not be entitled to have an expert testify in her defense. Instead, Judge Rogers’ remarks reinforced the idea that expert testimony could potentially establish reasonable doubt that Rasmea knowingly misled immigration officials.

Following the thirty-minute hearing, Rasmea, her attorneys, and her supporters joined a number of additional followers outside the courthouse for a rally featuring Deutsch, Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Brian Taylor of Black Lives Matter Cincinnati, Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and others. Visibly excited and motivated by what they had heard in the appellate court, the crowd of over 100 held posters, raised chants, and echoed Rasmea’s own determination to beat back this attack on her and on the Palestine liberation struggle.

Chapman, a veteran Black organizer who is extremely popular with Palestinians in Chicago, and who has traveled to almost all of Rasmea’s court appearances, said, “Make no mistake; this is a racist, political prosecution against Rasmea because she is a Palestinian who organizes for her people’s liberation.”

Deutsch thanked the crowd and explained how important it is to fill the courtroom. “It means a lot to Rasmea, and also shows the court that she is loved and respected,” he said.

He then answered questions about the appeals process, saying that a decision could be rendered between one and four months from now. If the court agrees with the defense and overturns the conviction and the sentencing, the case gets sent back to the prosecution to possibly re-file charges, whereupon the entire trial process begins anew. But this time, evidence of torture, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), etc., would be allowed into the courtroom. Also, the court, without reversing the conviction, could simply compel Judge Drain to allow for another evidentiary hearing with Dr. Fabri. Alternatively, if the court upholds the conviction but disagrees with the sentence, the appellate judges send new sentencing guidelines back to Drain for re-sentencing.

In the worst possible scenario, her conviction and sentencing would be upheld, meaning that she would have to serve 18 months in prison and then be deported. If this happens without the decision being unanimous, the defense could ask that all of the 6th Circuit appellate court judges, not just the three panelists, review the case. If this does not work, then a last ditch effort could be an attempt to appeal to the Supreme Court, which hears only 2% of cases filed.

The Rasmea Defense Committee organized two busloads of Chicagoans to Cincinnati, as well as dozens of other supporters from Florida, Georgia, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio. We have succeeded in building a national movement to stand by Rasmea, to protest this attack on her, to stand with her at every court date, and to fully fund her defense. We call on everyone to continue supporting our fundraising, organizing public events, and pitching Rasmea’s story to media across the country and the world.

There is still much more organizing to be done!

The Rasmea Defense Committee is led by United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), and Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR).

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #RasmeaOdeh #courts