Tallahassee, FL – On Jan. 15, the Tallahassee City Commission held a final public hearing on Ordinance No. 24-O-40, which is for the creation of the Citizens Police Review Board (CPRB). The Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC), along with other community members came out to oppose the dissolution of the CPRB ordinance.

The CPRB has existed since the George Floyd movement in 2020, and was originally established by John Dailey, Tallahassee’s mayor. According to the city of Tallahassee website, the Citizens Police Review Board was created to “review completed Tallahassee Police Department internal affairs reports, cases, and issues relating to law enforcement that are important or of interest to the community and the City, and to increase and demonstrate police accountability and credibility with the public.”

After the passing of Florida House Bill 601 by Republican Wyman Duggan, civilian review boards across the state of Florida have been systematically dismantled by city leaderships. Although the city of Tallahassee claims that they are being legally forced to get rid of the review board, organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) disagree. In amemo released to multiple cities in Florida, the ACLU states that “the legislation (HB 601) as enacted has little or no practical effect on existing citizen-review panels in Florida’ and does not require boards to disband.”

Despite this, the Tallahassee city commission decided to hold a final vote on the CPRB, claiming that HB 601 made the CPRB ordinance illegal. About a dozen community members gathered to speak in favor of keeping the CPRB ordinance, including former city commission candidate Dot Inman Johnson and ACLU statewide organizer Madeline Bowman.

“We have seen in Florida a rise in this anti-democratic legislation aimed to suppress free speech,” said Bowman, who argued that the city had no real legal responsibility to disband Tallahassee’s review board.

“The fact that one of the things brought forward is the elimination of accountability in the police department is concerning to me,” said Dot Inman-Johnson, who ran against Curtis Richardson in the recent local election.

Other community members and organizations argued the need for police accountability and civilian oversight, trying to showcase the need for the board to continue to exist.

“The implementation of the CPRB was a demand of the people of Tallahassee,” said Thomas Speirs, a member of TCAC.

Before the final vote on the CPRB, both City Commissioners Jack Porter and Jeremy Matlow spoke about their disapproval of removing the ordinance. Matlow talked about the need for community oversight for not just the public, but also the city of Tallahassee leadership.

After a 3-2 vote, with City Commissioners Porter and Matlow voting to keep the ordinance and Mayor Dailey and Commissioners Curtis Richardson and Dianne Williams-Cox voting to remove it, the ordinance was officially dissolved by the city.

Despite this being a setback for police accountability, Tallahassee activists vowed that they would keep fighting for police accountability no matter what. TCAC intends to center their next campaign on the 2025 police budget, and fight for funding to go to affordable housing, transportation access and social services, instead of increased policing.

“No matter what happens, the community will continue organizing against police brutality. The names and histories of Tony McDade, Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard, and Raheem Reeder will live on. We will keep organizing for Calvin Riley and fight for him to get justice. If we don’t struggle, we won’t win,” said Delilah Pierre, President of TCAC.

#TallahasseeFL #Tally #TCAC #PoliceAccountability #CPRB #ACLU #PoliceCrimes

Orlando, FL – On January 20, organizations from around Central Florida rallied to protest the presidential inauguration of Donald Trump.

Jacob Muldoon, district organizer of the Orlando District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization stated, “We are here to begin the resistance to an agenda trying to take each of us down, from students and labor organizers to women and anti-war protesters.”

The group began with chants of “They say go back, we say fight back!” and transitioned into speeches by local organizers on how they will be fighting against the Trump agenda.

A member of UCF Students for a Democratic Society stated, “Thus, our focus should not be only Trump himself, but how he has emboldened universities, including our own UCF, to limit student rights in order to fit their own agenda. Just this year the UCF board of trustees moved to not only pass anti-trans policies on campus, but also multiple anti-protesting regulations on campus, as a response to the pro-Palestine encampments of Spring 2024.”

“What's particularly insidious about Donald Trump is how much he always has and continues to tout himself as an anti-war candidate,” said Cassia Laham from Orlando for Peace and the United National Antiwar Coalition. “We must continue demanding justice in Palestine, demanding the U.S. stop arming and funding the genocidal Israeli state, and demanding a world without U.S. wars.”

Edmund Anglero from Orlando Against Police Crimes (OAPC) talked about the connection between the Trump agenda and local police agencies, stating, “Racist trigger-happy cops patrolling our community will be more willing to take someone’s life without fear of any repercussions. This is why we need to fight for police accountability, especially after the city dissolved the Civilian Police Review Board.”

The rally ended safely with a final chant of “Hey hey ho ho, the Trump agenda has got to go!”

The protest was led by the Orlando district of FRSO, alongside Orlando for Peace, UCF Students for a Democratic Society, Central Florida Queers for Palestine, American Party of Labor, Orlando DSA, Space Coast DSA, and Revolutionary Marxists of Orlando.

#OrlandoFL #SDS #FRSO #DSA #UCF #QueersforPalestine #Trump #Inauguration #OAPC #CPRB