Minneapolis, MN – About 800 people blocked a major bridge here, Nov. 17 in a march demanding jobs. Police declared the protest to be an unlawful assembly and arrested 11 people who sat down in an act of civil disobedience. The 10th Avenue Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River, was closed for about an hour.

Largest crowd in weeks to sleep in plaza in defiance of new county ban

Minneapolis, MN – About 400 people rallied at People’s Plaza and marched through downtown Minneapolis on November 14 in defense of OccupyMN. After the march they returned to the plaza and filled it with blankets and sleeping bags for a mass ‘sleep-in’ in defiance of Hennepin County’s new rules banning sleeping in the plaza. As of 10:00 p.m. the County authorities have not moved to clear the plaza.

Minneapolis, MN – About 150 gathered at People’s Plaza, the site of OccupyMN for a rally, Nov. 11, demanding “Money for human needs, not for war.” The protest, on Veteran’s Day, included speakers from Veterans for Peace, the Anti-War Committee, Women Against Military Madness, and others.

Newly released documents show that the FBI has been a major player behind the scenes pushing the 'Secure Communities' deportation program, which is responsible for the deportation of more than 104,000 immigrants identified through the program since 2008. The program, commonly known as S-Comm, uses a massive fingerprint database to try to identify undocumented immigrants for deportation. The FBI sees S-Comm's fingerprint database as one piece of its rapidly-expanding “Next Generation Identification” (NGI) initiative, which seeks to collect and distribute massive amounts of biometric information on citizens and noncitizens alike, in the U.S. and around the world.

Minneapolis, MN – 150 people chanted “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” Nov. 8, at a rally to begin an occupation in support of North Minneapolis home owner, Monique White. White, who lives at 3310 N 6th St, is facing imminent eviction from her foreclosed home. The house and fence around it were hung with banners and signs saying, “Housing is a Human Right”, “25,673 Foreclosures in MN: US Bank Corp CEO Richard Davis 18.8 million dollar/yr salary”, “Foreclose Free Zone.” Six tents were set up in the yard for occupiers to spend the night.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities-based Anti-War Committee on the threat by county officials to shut down OccupyMN. On Nov. 8 the Hennepin County Board voted to place severe restrictions on the encampment at People's Plaza, which are slated to go into effect Nov. 14. In addition, Hennepin County Sheriff Rick Stanek has waged a media campaign aimed at discrediting the occupation.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 50 union activists, as well as OccupyMN participants and others, rallied outside the University of Minnesota’s McNamara Alumni Center on Nov. 8 to protest a speech by Wells Fargo CEO Jon Stumpf.

_Protesters denounce new Hennepin County threats to end OccupyMN _

Minneapolis, MN – More than 200 people gathered at People’s Plaza in Minneapolis, Nov. 2, to stand up for the right of assembly and to protest government repression of the Occupy movement around the country, particularly in Oakland, California. Speakers at the rally also denounced a new statement by Hennepin County threatening to end the OccupyMN occupation here in Minneapolis when the temperature hits 25 degrees or at the first snowfall.

_Serious FBI violation of civil rights _

Minneapolis, MN – The FBI says they have finished copying the political material and personal papers seized in the Sept. 24, 2010 raids on the homes of Twin Cities anti-war and international solidarity activists. On the afternoon of Nov. 1, FBI agents delivered the last batch of notebooks, family photos, membership lists for anti-war and several other groups, computer backup discs and political documents to the office of attorney Bruce Nestor. The FBI has been returning batches of the copied material seized in the September 24, 2010 raids over the last several weeks.

Minneapolis, MN – According to numerous reports in the press here, Amina Farah Ali, the jailed humanitarian worker convicted of ‘material support for a foreign terrorist organization’ on Oct. 20, is facing religious discrimination in the Sherburne County Jail.

Minneapolis, MN – About 600 people, chanting “the banks got bailed out, we got sold out,” joined Occupy MN, along with labor unions and community groups for a march on the banks here, Oct. 29. The protest coincided with the anniversary of the 1929 Stock Market Crash.

Minneapolis, MN – Following a march on the banks here, October 29, more than 40 people attended a teach-in organized by Freedom Road Socialist Organization. Entitled, “How capitalism works, and why it doesn’t work for the 99%,” the event brought together activists for a serious discussion on what is wrong with the capitalist system.

Minneapolis, MN – About 150 people joined the American Indian Movement, the Indigenous Environmental Network and OccupyMN for a rally and march to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline, Oct. 27. Speaking in front of the Canadian Consulate, Clyde Bellecourt, of the American Indian Movement expressed solidarity with OccupyMN, denounced the oppression of native peoples and urged support for the movement to bock the pipeline.

Minneapolis, MN – Students from colleges and universities across the Twin Cities gathered for the second week in a row, Oct. 19, at the Occupy MN space in downtown Minneapolis.

Minneapolis, MN – Seven people were arrested as over 100 people from OccupyMN protested outside of U.S. Bank Plaza, Oct. 20. The seven arrested set up tents outside the bank and blocked traffic at a major downtown intersection. The protest highlighted the hypocrisy of big banks foreclosing people’s homes while U.S. Bank’s bosses’ pay doubled over the past year and the bank rakes in record profits.

Minneapolis, MN – There were tears and anger at the Federal Courthouse here, Oct. 20, after Hawo Mohamed Hassan and Amina Farah Ali, two Somali American women who raised money for charities assisting Somalia’s poor, were found guilty of providing material support to foreign terrorist organizations.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 60 Somali women assembled outside the Federal Courthouse here, Oct. 19, in support of Hawo Mohamed Hassan and Amina Farah Ali, two Somali humanitarian workers who are charged with providing ‘material support for a foreign terrorist organization.’

Minneapolis, MN – More than 500 people marched here, Oct. 15, to mark the tenth year of the U.S. war in Afghanistan with a call for an end to the occupation and for U.S. troops to be brought home now.

Minneapolis, MN – The Hennepin County Government Plaza – known now as the People’s Plaza – sprouted several tents on the evening of Oct. 15. At this writing, dozens are risking arrest to defend protesters’ rights to have safe and warm shelter for overnight stays at OccupyMN. Since the occupation began on Oct. 7, county officials have said that no tents or shelters would be allowed.

Minneapolis, MN – Over 50 students from around the state gathered at the Occupy Minnesota site here, Oct. 13. They came together to speak to the struggles of students burdened by crippling debts, challenged by inequalities and struggling to get an education in a system corrupted by corporate interests.