Flagstaff, AZ – After their September 4 “ICE out!” protest, members of the Flagstaff chapter of Students for a Democratic Society received identical Code of Conduct charges from Northern Arizona University. The charges meant the students were facing potential suspension or expulsion.

After holding a march, a sit-in, multiple call-ins, posting statements on social media, and sending a cease and desist notice from a lawyer, suspension or expulsion was avoided for all three students, and SDS Flagstaff declared victory over the university on September 28.

On Friday, September 11, SDS Flagstaff Vice President Sarah Rogala received an email informing her she was being charged with violations of the following Code of Conduct policies: “Other Rules,” “Failure to Comply,” and “Disruption.” Rogala was already on university probation due to similar charges stemming from SDS’s April 10 “ICE out” protest.

“Considering suspension was brought up as a possibility in that first hearing, when I had nothing on my record, I was thinking suspension was the most likely outcome of the hearing,” said Rogala.

On September 13, Claire Wagoner, president of SDS Flagstaff, received a notice from Jeffery D. McKay, NAU’s vice president for capital planning and campus operations. The letter stated that she is permanently trespassed from campus property for the repeated use of amplified sound equipment (megaphones) which were not registered with the university in advance. If Wagoner were to step foot on or drive through the NAU campus, she could potentially face several months in jail for trespassing.

“SDS is currently discussing our options with lawyers for rescinding this unconstitutional trespass order, which was served to restrict our First Amendment rights,” said Wagoner.

After Wagoner’s trespass order and the charges against Rogala, SDS Flagstaff organized a protest on September 18. Thirty minutes before the protest, two more SDS members, including Judah Francabandera, received the same charges as Rogala, with hearings scheduled for September 23.

The protest on September 18 started with a rally at NAU’s First Amendment Plaza and was attended by an estimated 80 to 100 people. At the rally, an SDS member read a speech written by Claire Wagoner, who could not attend due to the trespass given to her. Wagoner wrote, “Since the formation of our SDS chapter, we have been dealing with constant retaliation from NAU admin. They have made it abundantly clear they would rather target and punish student protesters than protect NAU students from ICE.”

Wagoner continued, “We can see clear as day that NAU is deeply afraid of the students rising together to demand better policies. They are doubling down in this fear, trespassing me for simply using a megaphone. They can and will arrest me and put me in jail for up to six months if I were to walk on campus, but we aren't scared!”

After the speech, the gathered crowd of students marched around the Student Union with the demands that the charges be dropped and NAU protect its students from ICE.

After being rescheduled multiple times, Rogala’s hearing was ultimately held on September 25. A sit-in and a call-in were held in support of Rogala. Lawyers were also contacted, and a cease and desist letter was emailed to the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities and NAU President Cruz Rivera. The letter was also emailed to the Center for Inclusive Excellence and Access, whose program director, Bernadine Lewis, filed the charges against Rogala. These actions culminated in Rogala being told in her hearing with Julia L. Czekaj that the school was not considering suspending or expelling her, which were two of the most severe possible outcomes.

After Rogala’s hearing, and the hearings of the other students, SDS Flagstaff released a statement on social media on September 28 declaring victory and reaffirming their goal of fighting for “sanctuary campus” policies at NAU, which would restrict ICE officers’ presence on campus and ensure that campus staff do not cooperate with ICE.

“We have faced many challenges in the last two weeks, but we have not let ourselves get demoralized, we have fought back hard, learned lessons from the struggle, and won! So please join us as we resume our fight for a sanctuary campus at NAU! Because when we fight, we win!” the statement said.

#FlagstaffAZ #AZ #StudentMovement #NorthernArizonaUniversity #ImmigrantRights #FreeSpeech #Feature

Charleston, SC – On September 8, community members mobilized to the Charleston City Council meeting demanding a repeal of the repressive First Amendment Demonstration Ordinance (1A) and to drop the charges against Lowcountry Action Committee member Matt Colburn, who was charged under the ordinance in June 2025 and has yet to receive his day in court. 

17 people signed up for the public comment section to speak, but were only allowed one minute each, rather than the customary two minutes.

“The 1A ordinance hinders student gathering and activism on campus and in the city of Charleston,” said College of Charleston senior and Lowcountry Action Committee member Izzy Waldner. “Having an ordinance where people can go to jail for protesting is unfair and doesn't lead to safer protest.” 

Charleston Democratic Socialist of America member Mike Jones said, “It's inappropriate that law enforcement is involved in political speech and in regulating and requiring permission for First Amendment protected activity,” referring to a part of the ordinance which gives Charleston police the power to shut down an event, permitted or otherwise, if they deem it jeopardizes public safety. 

The Charleston City Council Safety Committee met for 30 minutes a week before to discuss the ordinance and potential “modifications” to it but rejected a full appeal. The committee cited that the ordinance was constitutional and balanced free speech with public safety, but organizers and activists reject this. They see the inference in ongoing court cases and discussions on modifications as indicators that the city of Charleston is not confident in their ordinances' validity.

“We know the reason you don't want these cases to go to trial is because you can't defend it in court,” said Lowcountry Action Committee member Matt Colburn. “The only reason you're even discussing modifications is the pressure being put on you by the people. But we don't need modifications, we need it repealed. Ordinances and police don't keep us safe. Police are the main instigators of violence at protests,” he asserted. 

After the public comments, the mayor briefly addressed speakers that the ordinance was being “edited” and those edits would be discussed at the next public safety committee meeting. Despite this, organizers say they will continue to push for a full repeal even if it's modified. “As long as the ordinance is on the books, we would love to see the threat of arrest removed, but our ultimate demand is that this ordinance be repealed,” said Erica Veal, co-founder of the Lowcountry Action Committee. 

The city of Charleston's Public Safety Committee is currently editing the ordinance and is set to meet on September 15 to discuss these edits. According to Veal, “Police don't make protests safer. Charleston police violently arrested protesters at an immigrant rights demonstration last year and these have a chilling effect on our rights. Until these bogus charges are dropped and the ordinance repealed, we'll continue to organize against it.”

#CharlestonSC #SC #PeoplesStruggles #FreeSpeech #LowcountryActionCommittee

Pittsburgh, PA – In a partial victory for students, Carnegie Mellon University dropped its case against eight students charged with discrimination and harassment. The students were charged after painting a series of anti-Zionist messages on the university’s designated “free speech fence.”

While the exonerated students and other activists recognize this as a step towards victory, a ninth student involved in the original case, Rosalyn Tosh, is now facing additional charges, including the threat of expulsion.

Aster Lufkin, one of the exonerated students, said, “Our free speech victory is important, but we still have work ahead of us. The university is still persecuting Rosalyn. And, ultimately, securing our right to speak out about Palestine is step zero to organize for divestment and other truly impactful ways of supporting Palestinian liberation.”

Tosh spoke with Fight Back! News about her ongoing struggle with university administration. “CMU is trying to break me. It unilaterally cut my housing contract a week before move-in, which has put me in an unstable housing situation, citing a third charge it added on a whim. It denied my request for permission to schedule times for dining on campus property, preventing me from using financial aid to afford food, after months of documentation of my limited access. I can barely study and my physical health is deteriorating. It is using those as bargaining chips to pressure me to take their deal.”

The exoneration of eight students comes after activists around the city rallied behind the fence painters, with the support of the groups Palestine Legal and Jewish Voice for Peace. Shortly after the charges were levied against the students, a joint letter from activist organizations, including the American Association of University Professors, Coalition for Higher Education, Concerned Jewish Faculty and Staff, Institute for the Critical Study of Zionism, Palestine Legal, the Sunrise Movement, and Jewish Voice for Peace, called on the university to clear the students from all charges.

In August, the charged students worked with the International Solidarity Committee of Pittsburgh (ISCPIT) to lead a call-in action during move-in week. ISCPIT leader Dot Bodwell spoke about her experience tabling near CMU campus during the call-in, “We managed to speak face-to-face with over 120 CMU students and quickly found out the student body does care about this; they don’t want to face repercussions for political speech in these moments when they are first learning and figuring out their politics.”

Marigold Cameron, chair of ISCPIT’s actions subcommittee, went into further detail about the significance of the recent development. “This decision from the administration shows the value of raising our voices to confront repression. The targeted students didn’t hide or go for a quiet legal defense; they showed up at activist meetings, spoke at protests, and helped us organize our call-in where students and community members alike flooded CMU’s voicemail with messages of discontent. It is thanks to pursuing this activist work alongside the defense by Palestine Legal that nearly all of the students are free.”

“The decision also shows the absurd arbitrariness of CMU’s position, by letting only some of the students off the hook despite the original charges being the same,” Cameron added. “Administration is in for a rude awakening if they think we are leaving Rosalyn behind.”

In July of this year, Carnegie Mellon began investigations into the students, barring many of them from campus on the grounds that their anti-Zionist, pro-Palestine statements painted on the fence constituted “threatening,” and “antisemitic” speech, and therefore violated campus anti-discrimination rules.

An earlier Fight Back! News article reported that ten students were facing repression. At this time, one of the original fence painters is no longer being represented within the same defense as the nine others and does not wish for any aspects of their case to be made public.

#PittsburghPA #PA #StudentMovement #PoliticalRepression #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #FreeSpeech

Charleston, SC – On July 29, 2021, Charleston City Council passed a restrictive and repressive First Amendment Demonstration Ordinance (1A). It makes protesting in the city without a permit from the Charleston Police Department (CPD) illegal under threat of arrest and jail time. The 1A ordinance is unconstitutional, restrictive and has -resulted in fewer people protesting; even requests for permits have drastically decreased.

Over 150 permits were requested in the year before the ordinance was passed and a little over 200 have been requested in the five years since the ordinance has passed. Legal experts have noted that the ordinance places time, size and location restrictions on demonstrations which create unnecessary hurdles on people’s right to assemble.

For the first two years of the ordinance, it largely remained unchallenged, effectively chilling protest in the city of Charleston. However, this changed on October 5, 2024, during an unpermitted rally where two organizers were charged specifically with violating this ordinance. Yet when the time came for trial, the city quietly dropped the charges. A string of arrests in 2025, using this ordinance as a pretext, have remained in legal limbo and shown that the very institutions that passed this ordinance can't defend it.

Background to First Amendment repression in Charleston

In May of 2020, George Floyd was murdered by Derrick Chauvin of the Minneapolis Police Department sparking historic rebellions across the entire country. This includes Charleston, where the King Street Business District, a tourist hotspot, became a battleground. People filled with rage fought back against police violence and several were arrested, some on federal charges. Many remain incarcerated.

In the aftermath of the uprisings in Charleston, Jamal Sutherland was tasered to death by Al Cannon Detention Center deputies in January of 2021. Sutherland suffered from schizoaffective disorder and refused to attend his bond hearing after being transferred to the jail from a behavioral health facility the night before. Despite being within his legal rights, two detention officers tased him at least ten times, resulting in his homicide. They were later fired but never charged for the crime. On May 13, 2021, the body camera footage of the Jamal Sutherland murder was released. It enraged the people of Charleston, who took to the streets in protest outside Charleston County Solicitor Scarlett Wilson's office a week later to demand she charge the deputies with his murder.

On July 26, 2021, Solicitor Wilson announced criminal charges would not be brought against Sutherland’s murderers. The next day, community members gathered downtown in Marion Square to protest. They attempted to march and were met with police violence, resulting in three arrests. On July 29, 2021, in an emergency session, Charleston City Council passed the repressive and unconstitutional 1A law, which criminalizes protesting without a police permit under threat of arrest. No public comment was allowed, and two council members abstained from the vote. The ordinance effectively halts protests in Charleston.

On October 5, 2024, this all changed with a protest held in Marion Square in response to the Palestinian Youth Movement’s call for a National Day of Action in solidarity with the people of Palestine and against the ongoing genocide. Organizers of the rally, members of the then newly-formed Elbit Out South Carolina (EOSC) Coalition, did not have a permit, nor did they attempt to get one, due in part to the fact that CPD had routinely denied or stalled permits for pro-Palestine protests and marches in the aftermath of Al Aqsa Flood.

EOSC organizers planned to use the rally to announce the kickoff of weekly pickets outside of Elbit Systems America in Ladson, South Carolina. A police liaison with the coalition spoke to officers, who said there were no issues with the gathering as long as it didn’t get out of control. A march was attempted, but under threat of arrest by officers, it did not proceed. The rally rebounded and continued in the park, but when it ended, police targeted two organizers out of the crowd, Chris Tittle and Matt Colburn, and charged them with violation of the 1A ordinance, specifically for being within, “15 feet of a statue or monument.”

No further protests were held in Marion Square moving forward and the two organizers retained legal counsel, entered not guilty pleas and prepared for their day in court. Over a year later, in November 2025, the charges were ultimately dismissed. These charges are the only known instance, since the passing of the ordinance in 2021, in which anyone was charged specifically with “violating First Amendment ordinance.” For example, in January 2025 in Marion Square, a spontaneous protest was organized and attended mostly by Latino youth, in response to Trump's mass deportation program. Over 200 people attended. CPD declared it unlawful under the 1A law and ordered everyone to disperse. As the protesters followed orders, seven people were brutally arrested and charged with “disobeying lawful orders.” The outcome of the cases is unknown.

Later that year, in June 2025, this scenario was repeated after a No Kings Day rally in downtown Charleston where Colburn was arrested during a spontaneous march. CPD officers claimed his use of a bullhorn, or amplified sound, while chanting was illegal under the 1A ordinance. He was subsequently charged with “disorderly conduct” and his megaphone was seized as evidence. The first prosecutor assigned to the case wanted to dismiss the charges, but the CPD refused to drop them. The second prosecutor, Kevin Hales, has offered a guilty plea for time served on more than one occasion, but Colburn and his legal team have consistently refused and demanded a jury trial. On two separate occasions, and only hours after public calls were made to pack the court, the prosecutor filed for a continuation. It has been over 14 months, and Colburn has yet to receive his day in court.

On January 25, 2026, at a protest against the recent ICE killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, a woman named Julia Tucker was arrested by CPD for wearing a keffiyeh over her face. Police cited the 1A ordinance ban on masks at protests as just cause for the arrest, despite ignoring several students in the crowd who also wore medical masks. Charleston was also experiencing an unusually cold front at the time, which had lowered temperatures into the freezing zone over the weekend. The outcome of Tucker’s charge is also unknown.

The recent continuation of Colburn's disorderly conduct charge in August 2026 brought news that the Charleston City Government allegedly reached out to the presiding judge and acting prosecutor Kevin Hales, requesting to push the trial. It appears that the city and municipal courts are not confident these charges will hold up in court. This ordinance has and continues to have a “chilling effect” on First Amendment rights. The police have made at least eleven arrests in less than two years using this ordinance as a pretext and they appear unwilling and unable to defend or try these cases in court, content to let them lay in limbo. The October 2024 arrests were the one and only instance in which charges were pressed specifically citing “violation of First Amendment ordinance.” Every arrest since then has been for standard misdemeanor charges.

Organizers in Charleston plan to continue to push for the repeal of this law. The unpermitted demonstrations on October 5, 2024, January 29, 2025 and June 14, 2025, have put the city of Charleston and CPD in a position in which they have to defend this ordinance in a court of law.

According to Colburn, “the unwillingness to let these cases go to trial suggest that the ordinance is very weak politically and agitation around it could prove to be its downfall, and forcing them to defend the indefensible is not a battle CPD or the city of Charleston wants to fight. But history shows that when people fight, they win, and this win is exactly what the city of Charleston is afraid of.”

#CharlestonSC #SC #InJusticeSystem #FirstAmendment #FreeSpeech #PoliticalRepressin #LCAC

Charleston, SC – On June 14, 2025, at a spontaneous march immediately following a No Kings Day rally in downtown Charleston, I was unjustly arrested and charged with disorderly conduct for chanting with a megaphone. I have pleaded not guilty and, over a year later, I have yet to receive my day in court.

At the rally before the march, I heard reports from others present that officers with the Charleston Police Department (CPD) were threatening protesters with arrest by CPD for wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) masks, citing the First Amendment Demonstration Ordinance Act, or 1A, ban on masks at protests. Yet, PPE is specifically exempt in the ordinance. It was clear many of the CPD officers didn't approve of the action, which was an anti-Trump protest.

After the rally, I joined a group of community members who wanted to continue to protest with a march down the sidewalk in response to the Trump administration's immigration crackdowns. Before we began our own march, we witnessed two horse-mounted CPD officers attempt to intimidate two individuals for holding their banners up and chanting as they left the park. The officers approached them aggressively on their horses, telling them they couldn't protest. A blatant lie in an attempt to silence dissent.

Undeterred, they joined the group I was with. We all knew we were within our rights, and not even in violation of the repressive 1A ordinance, so we asserted these rights and began our march. We chanted as we marched in solidarity with our undocumented community members and against the Trump administration's racist immigration policies. We had a megaphone, so I offered to lead chants on it as we marched out of the park.

We didn’t make it very far before we were pursued by police officers telling me to stop chanting on the megaphone. They insisted we could march and protest but not with a megaphone. Given this was an unlawful command, not even supported by the 1A ordinance, I refused to acknowledge them and kept leading chants. A few minutes later I was violently arrested by CPD and the so-called “anti-riot” deputies of the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO).

The protesters in my group were understandably enraged by the arrest. One person attempted to shield me as officers moved in to detain me. A mounted officer responded by trying to use his horse to attack the group, but lost control of the animal, nearly trampling them as it smacked into a wall on the sidewalk and went running sideways into the road. All of this was captured on video, but CPD continues to deny this happened. It should be noted, despite my arrest and the continued police stalking of the other protesters, the march continued and was a success.

I was charged with disorderly conduct, my megaphone seized as evidence, and I spent a few hours in the notorious Al Cannon Detention Center where over 20 people have died in the past ten years; at least three of the deaths have been declared homicides. Thankfully, my community supported me and bailed me out the same day.

I retained counsel, pleaded not guilty to the charges, and have been prepared for trial for over a year. Yet, the city of Charleston refuses to grant me my day in court. The first prosecutor wanted to dismiss my case, but the police wouldn't drop the charges. The second prosecutor, Kevin Hales, has offered me guilty pleas for time served on more than one occasion. We have refused every time. We are not interested in anything other than a full dismissal or our day in court. Twice we have made public calls to pack the courtroom and each time Hales has since filed for a continuation. Most recently this happened related to my August 3, 2026 court date.

Additionally, it has come to light that the city of Charleston has allegedly reached out to the presiding judge and prosecutor to push my case because they are not interested in it going to court. In my opinion, city officials know they can't defend the 1A law, and they're feeling the pressure against the ordinance, and the multiple cases brought up using the ordinance as a pretext.

I am not the only person arrested under the law. In October 2024, I, and a fellow organizer, were charged with violating the 1A ordinance in the aftermath of a pro-Palestine demonstration. The charges were dismissed a year later. In January 2025, seven, mostly Latino, community members were arrested for “disobeying a lawful order” when police ordered a spontaneous protest to disperse, again citing the 1A ordinance as grounds for the dispersal. Lastly, in February 2026, a woman was charged for wearing a keffiyeh at a protest in response to the killing of an ICE observer. Again, in this instance, CPD cited the 1a ordinance.

Local organizers have continually spoken out against this law, including a Fight for the First march and rally which was attended by hundreds on July 25, 2026. Our demands remain the same. We want a full dismissal of these bogus charges and the full repeal of this repressive unconstitutional ordinance, because protesting is not a crime!

We are calling on all people of conscience to call the Charleston Prosecutor’s Office at 843-965-4148 and ask to speak to Kevin Hales to demand the disorderly conduct charge against me be dropped immediately.

And stay tuned for a day of action to call for the full repeal of the First Amendment Demonstration Ordinance.

#CharlestonSC #SC #FreeSpeech #PeoplesStruggles #Opinion

Tampa, FL – On Thursday, May 28, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a press conference to announce an update to their ongoing lawsuit against the University of South Florida (USF) Board of Trustees, the USF Police Department, former President Rhea Law, former Dean of Students Danielle McDonald, and Assistant Dean Melissa Graham.

“Our legal team has appealed the lower court’s decision to dismiss our legal case because we are confident in our suit and in our legal claims that USF has violated our rights. Although we do not have a timeline on the outcome of this right now, we are confident that the court will consider our case and protect our rights as students,” said Tampa Bay SDS member and plaintiff Victoria Hinckley.

The lawsuit was filed on October 8 of 2025, because of continued repression against free speech on campus, including expelling Tampa Bay SDS as an organization, creating policies limiting protest, and expelling SDS member Victoria Hinckley along with charging others with conduct violations.

Ending the press conference, plaintiff Vicky Tong said, “The community should have the right to organize on a public campus. Tampa Bay SDS continues to fight for these rights, and we encourage folks to stand by us and to join our movement for free speech on campus!”

In the meantime, Tampa Bay SDS will continue to organize for free speech on campus.

#TampaFL #FL #StudentMovement #SDS #FreeSpeech

Colorado Springs, CO – On November 13, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) will meet at Fire Station 8 for the first time since being denied the public meeting space in September for political reasons.

On September 4, the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) notified COSAARPR that the city attorney had called the CSFD to say that the organization could not meet at fire stations in Colorado Springs. The politics of COSAARPR were described in a letter as “fundamentally incompatible with the Fire Department’s basic public safety mission which includes our partnership with the Colorado Springs Police Department.”

One week later, COSAARPR released a statement online calling the cancellation a “blatant attack on our right to partake in the political life and development of our city” and demanding access to the space. In the following weeks, COSAARPR continued to make reservations to meet at Fire Station 8.

On October 11, COSA