Chicago, IL – On August 19, hundreds of students from across the country traveled to Chicago to march on the Democratic National Convention. Wrapped in khaffiyehs, holding banners, signs and Palestine flags, they gathered as early as 8 a.m. at Union Park for the noon rally and march.

At 10 a.m., protesters of the student contingent stood at the pre-march press conference.

Victoria Hinckley of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, said, “Come fall, we’re hitting the ground running, ready to defend student protests for Palestine and demanding divestment. We refuse to let our universities get away with funding a genocide and punishing students for standing against this genocide.”

Earlier this year, Hinckley became the first student in Students for a Democratic Society to be expelled for her involvement in the encampments for Gaza movement in Spring 2024. Since June, she has ever since been campaigning for the reversal of her expulsion and for the end of international student Joseph Charry's suspension, which puts his visa at risk.

Then at noon, the rally began in earnest. Representatives from various organizations, including student organizations, came onto the stage.

“Guess what? The student intifada lives on!” stated a leader of National Students for Justice in Palestine to thunderous applause. “We are returning stronger than ever before as we head into the fall semester! And as long as our administrations continue profiting off the genocide of our people, of Palestinians, we will continue to confront them, just as we are confronting the complicit Democratic Party today.”

“On our campuses, we see the administration cut student services, put admin greed over student needs, and are always there ready to increase tuition,” Khalid Hamu said, on behalf of National Students for a Democratic Society. “Admin squeezes all the money they can from us and invests it in the genocide of the Palestinian people. Admin arrests, suspends and expels students for doing what's right and for standing with Palestine. Our detriment as students leads to the detriment of the Palestinian people, and by isolating any administrators who stand with genocide, we can do something real for the people of Palestine.”

Students then marched with over 20,000 protesters to gather across the venue hosting the Democratic National Convention, the United Center. Within sight and sound of the delegates to the DNC, several of whom were delayed as the commotion held up the arrival of several buses, the protesters chanted for a free Palestine and for the Democrats to end their backing of the genocide in Gaza.

#ChicagoIL #StudentMovement #DNC2024 #SDS #SJP #Palestine

Milwaukee, WI – Nearly 200 people marched through the streets of downtown Milwaukee on the afternoon of August 17, demanding an end to the genocide in Palestine and denouncing Democrats like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for facilitating Israel’s crimes.

The crux of the march and rally was that the Democratic Party isn't entitled to peoples’ votes just on the basis that they aren't Donald Trump; they have to earn the votes, and to do that, they need to end aid and weapons to Israel.

Some of the main chants from the day echoed the sentiments of the broad masses of people in this country, including “Bombs or ballots, you decide! We won't vote for genocide!” and “Ceasefire first!”

“Not supporting a genocide is a no-brainer for the vast majority of people in the U.S. Yet, for those in power, for the Biden administration, for Democrats and Republicans alike, this genocide is nothing but a business,” said Audari Tamayo of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “The U.S. war machine sees Israel as a cash cow, just like genocide Joe Biden said since the 80s, Israel has been the U.S. ruling class's prized investment.”

The march served as a good primer for what is to come, being that it came just two days before the mass demonstration being planned for the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, organized by the Coalition to March on the DNC. A host of Wisconsin-based organizations can be counted among the more than 200 groups that have joined under the coalition’s banner.

At least two buses are being organized to bring activists down, totaling nearly 100 people between them, and that's to say nothing of the slew of other activists and progressives who will join them in Chicago. People from across Wisconsin are eager to meet the Democrats at their doorstep with the central demand to end U.S. aid to Israel and to stop the genocide against Palestine.

“FRSO has no illusion about the nature of this system. We’re being asked to pick between genocide or a reactionary Trump. This is a clear indication that this is a failed system that produces nothing but rotten choices. Where something is failed and rotten, the solution is to tear it out by the root. Our goal is to make the U.S. ungovernable by the ruling class and build a revolutionary movement,” said Tamayo.

Tamayo concluded, “As long as a single bullet or a single dollar is being sent to the genocidal regime of Israel, this government deserves nothing but mass protests and constant disruptions of their events. On Monday, join us as we will take the streets of Chicago because we refuse to be silent or still as this genocide continues!”

The August 19 protest of the DNC starts at noon in Chicago’s Union Park.

#MilwaukeeWI #DNC2024 #FRSO

Genocide Joe Biden has stepped down from running for president as the Democratic Party nominee. His decision doesn't change the policies of Democratic Party leadership, specifically their support of the genocide in Palestine, so our movement must continue to apply pressure. On August 19 we will march on the DNC for Gaza regardless of who gets nominated for the presidency.

Democratic Party leadership switching out their presidential nominee does not wash the blood of over 50,000 Palestinians off their hands. Biden’s entire administration, together with high-ranking members of the Democratic Party from all over the country, spent the last ten months wholeheartedly supporting the genocide in Gaza with our tax dollars. It is a matter of historical urgency that all organizations who fight for the rights of working and oppressed people in the U.S. join us in this demonstration to stand in solidarity with Palestine.

We have already united over 100 organizations from all over the people’s movements in this coalition. These diverse groups are not in the coalition just out of a moral obligation. They recognize the links between the Palestinian liberation struggle and their own struggles. They also recognize that Democratic Party higher ups often neglect their communities in favor of serving the rich and powerful. When it comes to police accountability, immigration, labor, reproductive and LGBTQ rights, and many other demands of working and oppressed people, those responsible for the genocide, and not just Biden, are often obstacles to progress in the same movements they paid lip service to in order to boost their campaigns.

Our coalition is making real preparations to march in the tens of thousands. We are negotiating with the city for permits that respect every protester’s right to be within sight and sound of the United Center on August 19th and 22nd. We are printing signs and recruiting volunteers. We are scheduling buses, plane tickets, and carpools. We are raising funds and gathering materials. We will have a family-friendly protest of tens of thousands of people on August 19th because our reasons for marching have not changed. This protest is about more than the name at the top of a ballot. It is about stopping the most horrific crime against humanity we have seen this century.

When it comes to the genocide in Gaza there is no difference between Biden, Harris, or any of the likely candidates for the nomination. They are all complicit. This is why the coalition will still be marching on the DNC in the tens of thousands. We plan to have the largest march for Palestinian rights in Chicago’s history as we demand an end to the genocide and an end to U.S. aid to Israel.

All power to the people! Free Palestine!

#ChicagoIL #DNC2024 #Palestine

Chicago, IL – Preparations for the March on the DNC are well underway, with tens of thousands of people slated to march within sight and sound of the United Center on August 19 to demand that the Democratic Party helmed by Joe Biden end the genocide on Gaza and end U.S. aid to Israel.

Recently, the Democratic Party announced, to comply with shifting Ohio laws, that it will virtually nominate Biden before the convention, meaning that some business of the convention might be resolved before the August in-person convention.

“The Israeli occupation with U.S. weapons has killed over 36,000 people in Gaza. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Democratic Party are sad because their convention won’t be the sensation needed for the uninspiring candidates,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). “Genocide doesn’t upset them; bad TV ratings does. It makes my stomach turn.”

“It makes no difference to us if their convention is partly virtual,” said Kobi Guillory, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “The Democratic Party leadership and their billionaire backers will all still be here, so we will make it a point to march on Genocide Joe, Killer Kamala, and the rest.”

#ChicagoIL #PeoplesStruggles #DNC2024 #USPCN #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #NAARPR #Feature

Chicago, IL – At an April 30 press conference, speakers announced that a motion for a preliminary injunction has been filed in federal court by the Coalition to March on the DNC. They are asking a federal judge to block the city of Chicago from enforcing its ordinance regulating parade permits, as it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Speakers at the press conference included Chris Williams, Attorney; Hatem Abudayyeh, US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN); Faayani Aboma Mijana, Coalition to March on the DNC; and Liz Rathburn, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) – University of Illinois at Chicago.

“The Coalition to March on the DNC believes that this injunction by the court is urgent and time-sensitive,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, USPCN national chair. “We are very likely to win this lawsuit, and if we are forced to wait until after the DNC for a trial to be complete, it will be too late.”

The Coalition holds that the city’s denial of parade permits to protest “within sight and sound” of the DNC, as well as the city’s unilateral decision to propose an alternative four miles away, buried far out of sight and sound, violates the First Amendment. Under the First Amendment protections of political speech, the city must find an alternate route narrowly tailored to meet a compelling governmental interest. The city has made no such effort.

“On arbitrary grounds, the city is violating our First Amendment right to protest,” said Faayani Aboma Mijana, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC. “We’re calling on the court to act fast and to compel the city to the negotiating table with us to ensure that our right to protest within sight and sound of the DNC is protected.”

Attorney Chris Williams said that the city has indicated to him a desire to sit down with the coalition to work out an agreement for their permits to protest.

Student protests against Gaza genocide signal massive protests at DNC

Liz Rathburn noted, “As the encampments being raised all over the country show, students are done being ignored. Our administrations help fund a genocide in Gaza with our investments, but we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

Referring to the violence against students in campus encampments and building occupations against the Gaza genocide, Rathburn said further, “If the city refuses to grant us a permit we have no doubt that the Chicago Police Department will be emboldened to inflict that same brutality on us with impunity. Tens of thousands of young people will be in the streets outside the DNC with or without a permit. I don’t want to see my classmates bleeding in the streets of Chicago come August. To allow a safe and family friendly march, the city must provide a permit.”

CPD past violence against protesters looms

In a public hearing the night after this press conference, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Larry Snelling refused to rule out police tactics including infiltration and entrapment of protest groups by undercover police officers. He also denied that CPD has “black sites,” which were exposed ten years ago in the Manchester Guardian, showing CPD disappeared protesters for 24 hours or longer.

Both these tactics were used by CPD against protestors at the march on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 2012. Like the DNC, the NATO summit was a National Special Security Event, a status applied through the passage of the Patriot Act after the 9/11 attacks. With that status, involvement in policing of protests by the Secret Service, Homeland Security and the FBI in has resulted in numerous violations of democratic rights to protest.

In prior hearings, Superintendent Snelling said CPD’s methods at the anti-war protests against the NATO were a model for his plan for the DNC. At the NATO protests, more than a dozen protesters were hospitalized after being beaten by officers, including at least one with an arm broken with an oversized 21-inch wooden baton, and another whose teeth were broken out when they were felled by a police baton. A police officer was caught on camera by the Chicago Tribune showing the white-shirted cop about to punch a protester in the face.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine #MiddleEast #DNC2024 #USPCN #NAARPR #SDS #Feature

Tampa, FL – Protesters converged in solidarity with the struggle in Gaza to denounce Joe Biden’s visit to the Hillsborough Community College Dale Mabry campus on April 23. Nearly 400 protesters thronged the sidewalks surrounding the entrance, chanting and waving Palestinian flags.

Biden’s visit was ostensibly to speak in support of women’s rights in the face of the Florida abortion ban, a ban Biden and the Democratic Party essentially allowed to happen. Many protesters were quick to point out the hypocrisy of Biden claiming to champion women’s rights while he continues to sell weapons to Israel who have used them to murder tens of thousands of women in Gaza. One major focus of the protest was showing Joe Biden that his adamant support for Israel will cost him the upcoming presidential election in November.

The protest was organized by several groups including the Tampa Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, and the Bay Area Dream Defenders, and drew together mainly college students and Arab American community members.

The event was a major success, with only 24-hour notice as to the location of Joe Biden’s speaking event. The local coalition of organizations working to provide solidarity to the Palestinian resistance is on the move and continuing to put pressure on politicians to end the support the United States is providing to Israel.

#TampaFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #Biden #DNC2024 #NAARPR #DreamDefenders

Minneapolis, MN – On Sunday, April 21, a march of approximately 300 people from the Twin Cities metro area marched, blocking traffic for Earth Day.

The Climate Justice Committee (CJC) and Anti-War Committee (AWC) led the march. It drew attendees from the nearby Little Earth indigenous-preference housing complex, the surrounding East Phillips neighborhood, and Camp Nenookaasi, an encampment of the unhoused which has been forced by the city of Minneapolis to move many times.

The crowd took the street, making its first stop directly in front of Smith Foundry. Speakers from the neighborhood highlighted the impact the metal foundry has on the neighborhood, from increased asthma and heart disease rates in children to the putrid smells that emanate from it.

Evan Mulholland of the CJC stated, “It’s not right that the neighbors and workers are unprotected from pollution while the profit flows directly to the owner, Zynik capital in Canada,” highlighting the OSHA violations Smith had recently been fined for. Mulholland reminded everyone that “green capitalism is not going to fix white supremacy.”

The march then headed to the site that Mayor Jacob Frey wants to develop into a new 3rd Precinct building for the Minneapolis Police Department, despite residents strongly opposing a new site without meaningful police reform. The previous site had been burned during the uprising after the murder of George Floyd. Danielle Korby from Twin Cities Coalition for Justice explained the necessity for community control of the police to prevent developments, which would force neighbors in need of community resources to enter a building filled and staffed with the most violent gang in the city.

Stacey Gurian-Sherman, speaking for Minneapolis for a Better Police Contract, pointed out the deep connections between the Israeli Defense Forces and police techniques in the United States, including Cop City and similar militarized training facilities soon to be erected across the country. The crowd marched on, chanting “IDF, KKK, MPD, they’re all the same!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

At every stop, the Mexica Dancers danced and blessed the area, doing medicine work, expressing their desire for real change for our planet and neighbors, and were received by cheers by fellow marchers.

As the march came to an end, anti-war and workers’ right activists pointed out how monopoly capitalism is the driving forces behind climate change, and thus we cannot stop one without stopping the other.

Tracy Molm of the CJC and Freedom Road Socialist Organization – Twin Cities concluded the event with remarks on the negligence of the Democratic and Republican Parties on climate change and Palestine, rousing the crowd with an invitation to march on the Republican National Convention and Democratic National Convention later this year.

#MinneapolisMN #MN #Environment #EarthDay #ClimateChange #CJC #FRSO #DNC2024 #PeoplesStruggles #Housing #AntiWarMovement #International #Palestine

Chicago, IL – The Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention (DNC) met in Chicago the weekend of April 13. Speaker after speaker testified with fire in their eyes about the need to march against the genocide in Gaza. Along with the speeches, people got down to the tasks needed to bring tens of thousands to Chicago in August to protest the DNC.

The 450 in attendance were overwhelmingly youth. Many are brand new to protest movements, having been thrown into motion by the anti-war and Palestine solidarity movement.

There is growing controversy about the protests planned for the DNC, as voices from the mainstream and right-wing media, as well as from the loyal opposition to the Democratic Party, scold the Palestinians and their supporters for marching against Israel and Genocide Joe Biden.

Those in the packed hall see that a battle line has been drawn. On the one side, the Palestinian people in their resistance, and the majority of humanity standing with them; on the other, the apartheid state of Israel; its imperialist bosses in Washington; and the existing social order they represent.

Hatem Abudayyeh speaks out

Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the United States Palestinian Community Network, and a lead organizer in the DNC march coalition, opened the press conference at the start of the day. His powerful remarks received waves of applause as he spoke for the movements, stating, “The Coalition to March on the DNC was established last summer when we began our organizing in preparation to lead the protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August. But everything changed in October of last year, and now the march on the DNC will be the largest mobilization for Palestine in the history of this city.

“You’ll hear more later about the rejection of our march permits, the violation of our constitutional rights, and our federal lawsuit in response, but we’ll be marching with or without permits, because this DNC is the most important one since 1968, also in Chicago, when Vietnam War protesters and the Black liberation movement organized mass demonstrations that were violently repressed by Mayor Daley the elder and his goon squad of Chicago cops and feds.

“In August, we expect tens of thousands of Palestinian, Arab, Black, Latinx, Asian and other protesters from all across the U.S., to say loud and clear to Genocide Joe, Killer Kamala, and their cabal – ‘Stop U.S. aid to Israel, stop arming Israel; we stand with Palestine, and we support victory and liberation for the Palestinian people. This issue is central to our targeting of the DNC because the Israeli-perpetrated genocide that has already killed almost 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza has been brought to us and paid for by the U.S. government, specifically by Biden and the Democratic Party.

“We all know that Israel's war crimes are not possible without U.S. weapons, money, and political and diplomatic support, and even though the majority of people in the U.S. want Israel to stop the killing, Biden continues to allow it unabated. That’s why the Palestine support movement in this country is mobilizing like never before, shutting down streets and highways and airports and legislators’ offices, and why Biden is in big trouble this November.

“He could have stopped this genocide back in October, could stop it now, but he won’t, because that’s what empire does – destroys, kills, steals and devastates developing nations across the world for its own economic interests. Israel kills with impunity because Biden and the Democrats allow it to.

“The focus of our coalition and the protests in August is Palestine, yes, but this conference has folks here from all across the U.S., representing all the social sectors and movements who want the Democrats to be accountable to the communities that have always gotten them elected, especially immigrant rights, Black liberation, reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights and students. They will address their issues, pledge their support to Palestine liberation, and make concrete plans for the historic march on the DNC.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #USPCN #DNC2024 #NAARPR #Feature

Chicago, IL – More than 450 people representing 75 organizations gathered in Chicago, April 13, to plan a massive march at the Democratic National Convention, which will stand with Palestine and promote a people’s agenda.

Kobi Guillory of the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression told conference participants, “We will counterprotest the DNC starting on August 19 to demand an immediate end to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide, and that no more of our tax dollars are used to fund the massacres of Palestinians.” Guillory also talked about the fight to get permits for a large-family friendly protest, but said that organizers were going to march to within sight and sound of the convention, permits or not.

Among the organization present at the conference were the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression, New Students for a Democratic Society, the Legalization for All Network, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #MiddleEast #Palestine #DNC2024 #NAARPR #USPCN #SDS #L4A #FRSO #Feature

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following April 3 statement from the Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

Palestine solidarity activists are celebrating the success of a protest vote campaign in the Wisconsin Presidential Primary. 48,000 people voted “uninstructed” in the April 2 primary, Wisconsin’s version of “uncommitted,” that has found success in several state primaries.

The Wisconsin campaign more than doubled its goal of 20,682 votes, representing Biden’s margin of victory over Trump in Wisconsin in the 2020 election. The “uninstructed” campaign was led by Listen to Wisconsin, and supported by 60 pro-Palestine, progressive, and left organizations across the state, including Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s Wisconsin District.

The success of the “uninstructed” campaign demonstrates the growing popular support for the Palestinian people in their just struggle for liberation from U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and genocide. Since October 7, mass protests in support of Palestine have reached historic levels, along with the development of a strong state-wide Wisconsin Coalition for Justice in Palestine.

The Democratic Party has tried to downplay the huge number of protest votes in several critical swing states, dismissing concerns over Biden’s support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza, but the numbers are undeniable. In nine states that have an uncommitted/uninstructed option, the campaign has already garnered over 415,000 votes, with more states to come. After six months of marches, disruptions, and boycotts, Biden continues to send billions of dollars of weapons to re-arm Israel’s occupation forces, who have killed over 33,000 Palestinians. Many voters see the protest vote as one of the few options to force Biden and the Democratic Party to face political consequences for continuing to support the genocide in Gaza.

With a Biden vs. Trump rematch on the horizon, the two-party system doesn't offer any solutions for oppressed people. Both the Democratic and Republican parties have been relentless in their support of Israel’s racist, settler-colonial occupation of Palestine for over 75 years. Israel serves an important role for Western imperialist domination of the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. The two capitalist parties want Israel to continue its role as an outpost of U.S. capitalist interests. But the Palestinian people are waging a fight that has the potential to end the Zionist project and limit the influence of U.S. imperialism in the Middle East, and we want them to win.

Over the past six months, millions of people across the U.S. have joined actions in solidarity with Palestine. Hundreds of thousands of protest votes against Biden are one manifestation of the power of the growing movement for Palestine. The movements that are being built have real potential to stifle U.S. support for the occupation of Palestine.

We encourage supporters of Palestinian liberation to continue bringing the demands of the movement to the doorstep of the Democratic and Republican parties by participating in the March on the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on July 15, 2024, and the March on the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, August 19 – 22, 2024.

#WI #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #Biden #Elections #DNC2024 #RNC2024

Chicago, IL – The fight to get permits to march on the Democratic National Convention is heating up. On August 19 to the 22, the Democratic National Convention (DNC) comes Chicago. The massive movement against the genocide in Gaza is preparing to march to the United Center where the convention will be held.

The Coalition to March on the DNC has raised the slogans, “Stand with Palestine! End U.S. aid to Israel!”

Since the start of 2024, groups from the coalition have attempted to secure permits to march. Four applications by different organizations for different march routes and days of the convention have all been rejected.

On Monday, March 18, two of the organizations appeared before the Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings to appeal the denial of their permit applications, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Anti-War Committee (AWC).

Before going into the hearing, the coalition held a press conference featuring those two groups, along with others.

Emcee Hatem Abudayyeh, national chair of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) said, “Tens of thousands of Palestinians – not just from Chicago, not just from the Midwest – are already making plans to be here in August. It will be historic.”

Abudayyeh is speaking from experience about the dimensions of the mobilizations in August. USPCN is part of the leadership of the Coalition for Justice in Palestine in Chicago. The coalition has held mass mobilizations weekly since October, and many of the marches had 10,000, 15,000 and even 25,000 people – just from the Chicago area!

Coalition demands city recognize the right to protest

John Metz of AWC said, “The Anti-War Committee filed a permit to march in protest during the Democratic National Convention this August. We seek to exercise our First Amendment rights to demand within sight and sound of our political leaders that they end their support for the genocidal siege on Gaza. The Chicago Department of Transportation rejected our application, instead proposing that we relocate our protest four miles away, well beyond the sight of any convention delegates. By doing so, CDOT has sent a clear message: They stand with the political elites in Washington and against the people of Chicago. Today we're asking the Department of Administrative Hearings to do the right thing and reverse CDOT’s unjust and undemocratic decision.”

Olan Mijana spoke on behalf of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR), the lead organization in the coalition. Mijana stated, “Black and brown people in Chicago have shown overwhelmingly we stand with the Palestinian people. The ceasefire [in Gaza] ordinance our city adopted had the support of Black and brown members of the city council. And Black and brown people have taken to the streets in mass numbers in support of the Palestinian resistance.”

1968: The whole world was watching

Liz Rathburn, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, spoke for SDS. “In 1968 the DNC came to Chicago, as our government murdered hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese people. SDS mobilized thousands of young people into the streets of Chicago and forced the whole world to see that the people of the U.S. stood with the people of Vietnam. In 1968 the racist mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley, denied people a permit to march, they marched regardless and were met with brutal police repression. The Chicago Police Department (CPD) would love a repeat of 1968, where they can brutalize protesters without consequence. They just got tens of millions from the federal government to do just that.”

The coalition explained that the movement demands a permit to protect the rights of everyone from the danger of police violence, or infiltration of the coalition by undercover CPD to entrap young people, as happened at the protests against NATO when they held their summit in Chicago in 2012.

If the city refuses to recognize the democratic rights of the movement, Abudayyeh said the march would happen “Permit or not.”

Hearing a kangaroo court

Dod McColgan, a co-chair of CAARPR reported after the seven-hou- long day of hearings. “According to Brian Gallardo, the assistant commissioner of Public Way Permitting for CDOT, both permits were denied on the basis of ‘issues of insufficient CPD resources, traffic management and access to emergency services on Ashland Avenue.’”

Asked about what departments gave input, Gallardo admitted he consulted only with CPD to make this decision.

McColgan also noted that after questioning, “Gallardo admitted that the Secret Service is creating a security perimeter which hasn’t yet been determined, but it will be within a few blocks of the United Center. This was also part of the basis of denying the permits to march near the convention.

McColgan continued, “Our attorney attempted to ask about First Amendment considerations in deciding the alternate route, and Judge Dennis Fleming sustained an objection, saying that, ‘The First Amendment is irrelevant!’”

McColgan noted with incredulity, “The city believes that the First Amendment is irrelevant to our right to protest!”

Gabriella Shemash, a deputy chief of CPD in the area around the United Center was called as a witness. Noting one of the several inconsistencies in her testimony, McColgan revealed, “They claimed that marching on Ashland Avenue would be unsafe due to the disruption of access to emergency services in the Medical District. The same deputy who testified today permitted an action we were part of on May Day 2023 to march on one side of Ashland Avenue, which directly conflicts with her testimony today.”

Deputy Corporation Counsel Christine Hake then attempted – after the city rested its case – to introduce a third reason to deny the permit. The application by the AWC is duplicative of the application previously submitted and denied by CAARPR because Joe Iosbaker is a member of both organizations.

McColgan remarked about the absurdity of this. “These are entirely separate organizations in a coalition. So any two organizations that share any one member would have their applications considered duplicative if they were submitted separately.”

“This reasoning poses real problems for First Amendment rights as the city cannot review the member rules for any organization before granting a permit. This is spitting in the face of the First Amendment of the right to protest and the right to resist!”

Coalition prepares legal fight and pressure campaign

Finally, McColgan made two announcements – that the coalition will probably have to take this case to a federal level; and that the coalition will launch a pressure campaign on CDOT and on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

“The testimony today makes it clear that the Secret Service determination of a security zone is at the heart of these denials.”

“We’re asking Mayor Johnson’s administration, elected officials across the country, all the organizations in the people’s movements, and all those who respect the right to protest to stand with us in the fight for this permit.”

McColgan concluded, “Either way we’re marching. There’s no stopping the masses who plan to protest the genocide in Gaza.”

Breaking development: Judge Fleming released his decisions upholding the CDOT denial of permits for both marches.

#ChicagoIL #IL #PeoplesStruggles #DNC2024 #CAARPR #AntiWarMovement #International #MiddleEast #Palestine #SDS #ChicagoAWC #USPCN #Feature

Chicago, IL – The Coalition to March on the DNC hosted a press conference at Chicago City Hall the morning of September 19, calling on the city to issue a previously-denied permit recognizing the right of working and oppressed people to march within sight and sound of the August 2024 Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

“According to the Park District, permits are not being given out for 2024 until November,” said Kobi Guillory, co-chair of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “We do not believe that events like Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, or the DNC don't already have permits for next year. Bringing people together cannot be something only the rich and powerful are allowed to do. The Democratic Party won the 2020 election in large part due to the self-organization of our diverse communities, yet the current administration has yet to fulfill its campaign promises.”

“We condemn in the strongest way possible this attack on our right to protest, because that’s what this is,” said Liz Rathburn, member of Students for a Democratic Society. “This is political repression aimed at the student movement, the movement for community control of the police, the labor movement and everyone else represented in our coalition.”

“The Black and brown communities are constantly being approached by the Democrats about our vote,” said Maggie Lugo, executive director of Casa Michoacán. “It’s time they also listened to us and act on our vote.”

“I joined this coalition because I believe that our communities deserve the things that actually keep us safe like education, housing, good-paying jobs, clean neighborhoods, a healthy environment and access to healthy foods,” said Russel Dahlman, a Starbucks worker. “I want to tell Biden and the Democratic Party: ‘Stop interfering with workers’ right to strike and our communities right to protest.’”

“Almost every single year for the last few decades, the U.S. Gross Domestic Product has gone up. But every year, we have decreased public spending, even as politicians increase spending on the military and police,” said a member of the Chicago chapter of the Black Alliance for Peace. “We are told that the Democrats are better than the Republicans, but their actions demonstrate that they are just as aligned with the Republicans when it comes to war spending.”

“When we say money for jobs, housing, health, and education, we are voicing the demands of the people who are supposed to have a voice in the government that represents them,” said Bev Tang, member of the International League of People's Struggle. “They are basic legitimate needs that we with the March on the DNC Coalition believes everyone across this country and the globe deserves.”

Coalition organizers called for a permit to be granted within the next two weeks as they begin organizing the family-friendly march They stated that they are sending letters to the Parks District and Transportation Department, are prepared to file FOIA requests to view the city's response to other permit applications such as for Lollapalooza and the DNC, and will proceed with a lawsuit if necessary.

Coalition to March on the DNC groups include the Arab American Action Network, Anakbayan, Black Lives Matter – Chicago, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Committee For Human Rights in the Philippines, Federación de Clubes Michoacanos en Illinois, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, League of United Latin American Citizens, Little Village Lawndale High School FightBack!, Malaya Chicago, National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, Pueblo Sin Fronteras/Familia Latina Unida, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, Starbucks Workers United Chicago, and the US Palestinian Community Network.

#ChicagoIL #DNC2024

Milwaukee, WI – Grassroots organization Reproductive Justice Action – Milwaukee (RJAM) proudly endorsed the Coalition to March on the DNC in 2024 and joined several other groups in Chicago on April 18 for the press conference officially launching the effort. RJAM is now a coalition member of both the Coalition to March on the RNC in 2024 (in Milwaukee) and the Coalition to March on the DNC (in Chicago) the same summer, the first in July and the second in August.

“We want to put on display for the country that Chicago is having a new day, and we want to invite everybody in the movements around the country to come and add their voices together with us,” said Joe Iosbaker, coalition organizer and long-time community and labor activist in Chicago.

The Coalition to March on the DNC includes organizations like the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Black Lives Matter Chicago, Students for a Democratic Society at UIC, and many more. RJAM, and the rest of the coalition, is looking forward to using this opportunity to remind the Democratic Party that their actions speak louder than their words. For too long have the people been lied to through campaign promises and then gaslighted once these promises disappear as their rights continue to be stripped away.

“The crisis in democracy at this point is deeper and broader, involving everything from the continued struggle that we’ve been waging around community control of the police, and meanwhile nothing’s been done about the George Floyd bill in Congress,” said Shasta Jones of the Chicago Alliance, reading a prepared statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director of the National Alliance.

“With the attack on abortion rights, there has been a great leap backwards in the rights of women; there are also attacks on the LGBTQ community. There has been no progress in Washington on the rights of immigrants. There is also a renewed struggle for the rights of workers to organize and to strike to change the deplorable conditions under which they work,” Jones continued. “This includes the drive for new unionization, both at Starbucks and Amazon. Also, Biden betrayed the railroad workers unions in their demands for safe working conditions.”

Jones went on: “Finally, we have to march against war. What happened to Biden’s Build Back Better legislation? What happened to the great renewal we were supposed to have after the COVID epidemic? It’s been gobbled up by the war in Ukraine, which is a proxy war that our country is waging with Russia. We’ll march against the U.S.-backed occupation of Palestine, against the U.S. military aid to the dictatorship in the Philippines, and to oppose U.S. threats of war with China. All of these issues have matured and gotten deeper, and so we have to address those issues with the People’s Agenda.”

Lauren Forbush, a leader with Reproductive Justice Action Milwaukee, commented after the press conference, urging others to follow their lead.

“The coalition is just kicking off and planning is in the early stages, but RJAM is calling on reproductive rights activists throughout the country to show up in the streets of both Milwaukee and Chicago to make sure the Republicans and Democrats hear loud and clear that the movement will not stop until the people have safe and legal abortion access and all other reproductive health services!”

#MilwaukeeWI #InJusticeSystem #AbortionRights #reproductiveJustice #DNC2024