New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.

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.

The U.S. and its proxy Israel are provoking a wider war in the Middle East. For the past 6 months, the U.S. has been assisting Israel in the Gaza genocide. Israel and the U.S. have launched repeated attacks on Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and Iraq. Iran is now responding to the deadly Israeli airstrikes on its diplomatic mission in Syria. The possibility of a wider war is here. A response by our movement is needed. All of us who stand with Palestine and oppose the genocide, who insist on peace with justice, need to be ready to hit the streets. We need to add “Hands off Iran!” to our list of demands.

Los Angeles, CA – On April 11, the family of Christian Escobedo continued their fight for justice as they pursue accountability for his tragic murder on January 14, 2018 by LAPD Officer Edward Artiaga from the Hollenbeck Division.

Six years after Escobedo’s murder, there are court hearings for his family’s civil lawsuit against Officer Artiaga, a display of the unwavering determination of his loved ones.

In 2018, Escobedo, a 22-year-old Chicano, was walking home at 6:30 a.m. with a friend when they stopped to rest on the sidewalk for a moment. LAPD arrived and shot him four times without provocation. With the support of Centro CSO, a community organization that fights against police crimes in East LA and Boyle Heights, Escobedo's family began organizing to demand accountability.

Gresham, OR – On April 9, PDX for Palestine staged a demonstration, effectively blocking access to Boeing, a major weapons manufacturer. They voiced their demand for an immediate end to U.S. aid to Israel.

“Boeing has directly contributed to the death of Palestinians and the destruction of Palestine by supplying bombs since and long before October 7,” stated Kacey DeSantis, a member of PDX for Palestine.

Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Community Action Committee along with other organizations rallied at City Hall on Wednesday, April 3, after two-time-killer cop and serial brutalizer and former JSO officer Josue Garriga was arrested by Clay County Sheriff’s office. Garriga was caught engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Josue Garriga had been involved in the death of FAMU student Jamee Johnson and most recently was involved in the brutal beating of Le’Keian Woods.

New Orleans, LA – Workers took to the streets on April 6, successfully blocking traffic throughout the heart of the central business district and French Quarter as they chanted for the rights of unionized public sector workers and all workers’ rights.

The rally began in Lafayette Square, when speakers from local unions such as New Orleans City Workers Organizing Committee (NOCWOC), Starbucks Workers United (SBWU), Fair Trade Musicians, United Teachers of New Orleans (UTNO) and New Orleans Workers’ Center for Racial Justice (NOWCRJ) emphasized the importance of organizing in the context of the political repression faced in Louisiana.

Maple Grove, MN – On April 6, the Free Palestine Coalition held a rally and march of 100 people outside the Arbor Lakes shopping mall in Maple Grove to protest the upcoming installment of BAE Systems in the Twin Cities. Protesters wanted to highlight the role of BAE Systems in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. BAE Systems makes the F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets that Israel uses in their attacks on Gaza.

Fullerton, CA – On March 6, Fullerton Police Department (FPD) killed Alejandro Campos Rios with bean bag projectiles and a taser. Age 50 and homeless, Rios was dancing and apparently under the influence but not posing any threat. One officer fired a taser while another shot five bean bag shotgun rounds at Rios, who collapsed bleeding and clutching his body. Rios was pronounced dead after arriving at a hospital.

Seattle, WA – On March 29, United Auto Workers (UAW) 4121 held a rally in the quad of the University of Washington-Seattle campus to demand a strong contract. With over 1000 attendees at the rally, the UAW made clear that they will not abide by UW administration’s attacks on their healthcare, wages and their international workers.

Minneapolis – On March 30, around 2500 protesters gathered along Lake Street where it crosses a narrow isthmus between Lake of the Isles and Bde Maka Ska in the Chain of Lakes. Organized by the local Free Palestine Coalition, the action marked Land Day, which commemorates the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and land theft.

Chicago, IL – Groups supporting Palestine are suing Chicago to ensure that Joe Biden “can hear us and see us” at the Democratic National Convention in August, sats Kobi Guillory, spokesperson for the Coalition to March on the DNC.

When the convention opens at the United Center, August 19, the coalition is adamant that they get the attention they deserve.

Guillory states, “As the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza continues unabated – with over 32,000 killed, almost all by U.S. bombs and missiles – we must march. This is the party in power, the party of Genocide Joe Biden. Biden could stop the war with one phone call. He refuses to take action, and so we must protest.”

Seattle, WA – On March 16, a crowd of around 40 activists, organizers and community members marched around the King County prosecutor’s office. In February, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion’s office declined to file charges against Seattle police officer Kevin Dave, who over a year ago struck and killed a student at a crosswalk with his car.

Milwaukee, WI – On Monday, March 18, organizers with the Coalition to March on the RNC gathered at Milwaukee City Hall to push back on a repressive ordinance being heard at rushed meeting of the Public Works Committee. The ordinance was meant to derail the coalition's efforts and would have given the Milwaukee Police Department special powers to decide who gets to speak and power over the parade route. Furthermore, it would have restricted the protest to a quarter mile away from where the RNC will be held – far from being within sight and sound of the RNC, and far from being what the Coalition to March on the RNC has been demanding for the last year.

Dallas, TX – On Thursday, March 21, members of Palestinian Youth Movement, DFW Anti-War Committee and other Palestine supporters engaged in a 5:30 a.m. noise demonstration outside President Joe Biden’s lodgings at the Fairmont Hotel, lasting until Biden’s speedy departure at 10:30 a.m.

Demonstrators banged pots and pans, blew whistles, set off air horns, and in one case played a harmonium. The crowd of about 100 chanted, “If we don’t get no justice, then you don’t get no peace!” and “Wake up Biden! You can’t hide! We charge you with genocide!”

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!”

New Orleans – On March 16, 13 courageous members of Tulane Students for a Democratic Society carried out a die-in on campus to protest the school’s partnership with Israel. The demonstrators occupied the school’s central building during the nationally attended and Tulane-hosted New Orleans Bookfest. The festival is hosted by the university once a year and brings in thousands of attendees to watch panels and talks by well-known authors and public figures.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from New Orleans for Community Oversight of Police, Freedom Road Socialist Organization-New Orleans, Tulane & Loyola Students for a Democratic Society, and New Orleans Stop Helping Israel’s Ports.

New Orleans, LA – March 16, around 12:30 p.m., at a protest against Tulane’s aid to Israel, local activist Toni Jones was arrested for standing in solidarity with Palestine.

Seattle, WA – On Wednesday, March 13, Homegrown workers across Seattle voted 100-1 to ratify their contract, after a successful strike to win reinstatement for their fired coworker.

Homegrown workers at the sandwich company’s Redmond and Southcenter cafes have also officially ended their strike and returned to work after the reinstatement of union leader Sydney Lankford, who was fired illegally on October 30.

Last month, the company agreed to a deal that allowed Lankford to return to work with $10,000 in back pay. Her coworkers, who have been on strike for her reinstatement since October 30, have returned to work as well, with their heads held high. Southcenter Mall Homegrown workers are back to work as well, 80 days after joining the strike.

Saint Paul, MN – On March 14, operating on short notice, organizers with the Minnesota Abortion Action Committee (MNAAC), workers from the reproductive justice movement and their supporters held an emergency protest outside a private event where Vice President Kamala Harris was set to speak on reproductive freedom.

Protesters gathered outside the venue with banners and signs, chanting to passersby in an effort to call attention to the ongoing genocide in Gaza, its particular impact on Palestinian women and girls, and Vice President Harris’s role in funding Israel’s military operations.