Portland, OR – On February 18, immigrant rights organization Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD) held a rally at city hall to demand city council take immediate action to revoke the permit for the Portland ICE facility. The event turned into a violent suppression of protest by the Portland Police Bureau, with multiple arrests.

The night began with high tensions as local right-wingers antagonized protesters at the rally by yelling “I love ICE” in megaphones and the unprovoked pepper spraying of five activists. At the same time, city hall security came out and told Cole Dunahugh, a regular protester at city hall, that he was “trespassed” from the building and not allowed to enter. When documentation was requested, it was not provided. The right-wingers who assaulted protesters were allowed to enter city hall.

Activists were not deterred, continued chanting and refused to allow the reactionaries to silence their message.

After the rally, protesters entered the chambers and provided compelling testimony demanding the council take action to shut down the ICE facility and called out the councilors’ hypocrisy.

“The fact that some of you have the audacity to ride the wave of ‘Abolish ICE’ while you unironically have argued and defended keeping the Macadam ICE facility open for the sake of immigrants might be the worst of your offenses,” said Elijah Thahir, referencing many of the councilors’ claims that the facility must be kept open to “serve” immigrants.

The city administrator was asked to give an update on the ICE facility, which has been issued a violation for holding detainees past a 12-hour limit. The enforcement process was stalled for five months while the city granted the landlord multiple extensions on an appeal. Only recently did the city deny the landlord’s appeal, after PDXCD protested at the mayor’s house and at the office of permitting and development.

As the city administrator gave excuses for the inaction of the city, those in the chambers chanted, “Revoke the permit.”

Susan Anglada-Bartley, the original creator of the petition to revoke the permit, walked up to the desks of the councilors with a printout of all 19,000 signatures on a petition to revoke the permit. She was placed in a chokehold by security and physically assaulted.

At this point, City Council President Jamie Dunphy immediately shut down the meeting, ordered security to remove protesters, and all the councilors left the room to reconvene the meeting online.

Protesters continued to stay in the chambers, chanting for around 30 minutes. At this point around 30 police officers entered city hall and arrested Anglada-Bartley. The rest of the protesters linked arms and refused to move, and were violently pushed down a flight of stairs out of city hall by the police. Madison Delsanter and Henry Roloff were arrested for “trespassing,” despite being confined in a space they could not leave by police.

On the other side of the building, Cole Dunahugh was also arrested for “trespassing” despite the fact he was never allowed to enter the building.

Protesters immediately moved the protest from city hall to the nearby jail and held a rally to demand the release of the four detained activists. Three of the activists were released the same night, and one the next day. All face charges.

Rather than apologize for their use of force to suppress the free speech of Portlanders, city council members and the Portland Police Bureau doubled down the next day.

Councilor Loretta Smith posted on her Facebook calling the protest a “mini insurrection” and told press she is drafting legislation to allow councilors to open carry in meetings with the public, implying she would shoot immigrant rights protesters.

The Portland police held a press conference to justify their use of force where Police Chief Bob Day stated he sent “nearly every available officer” working in the city at the time to attack the protesters. He attempted to blame protesters for this egregious attempt to silence First Amendment rights by stating this was a “drain on the city's resources.”

“Why is Bob Day blaming his irresponsible act of over-policing and violence on protesters?” questioned Kacey DeSantis, “It was completely unnecessary for him to send any police officers to prevent the city council from hearing from its constituents. He should be ashamed.”

PDXCD will hold a press conference and protest on February 20, before the arraignments of Dunahugh, Anglada Bartley and Madison Delsanter. They demand that all the charges are dropped, that the city of Portland stop criminalizing free speech, and take action to shut down the ICE facility.

#PortlandOR #OR #ImmigrantRights #PDXCD #PoliceBrutality #Featured

Anaheim, CA – On December 22, the Anaheim Police Department (APD) released body-worn camera footage from the police killing of Albert Arzola. Rather than providing clarity, the footage has intensified community outrage and reinforced long-standing concerns about APD’s narrative, use of force, and lack of transparency.

The video does not clearly show Arzola pointing or firing a weapon. At no point in the footage is a gun seen in Arzola’s hands prior to officers opening fire. This directly contradicts APD’s repeated claims that Arzola “produced a gun,” a phrase officials have relied on to justify the killing since the incident.

In the footage, APD officers approached Arzola in an unmarked vehicle with no sirens and were not immediately identifiable as police. The officers charged out of the car and chased Arzola as he ran toward his home. Within seconds, the shooting officer grabbed Arzola by the hoodie, pulled him down, and opened fire.

The video shows no sign that officers tried to de-escalate the situation before using lethal force. The lack of audio caused by the camera’s buffering period makes it impossible to tell what commands – if any – were given, and whether Arzola had time or ability to comply.

The body camera footage also corroborates community accounts regarding 18-year-old Emmanuel Cordova, who was also present near the scene. Video shows Cordova exiting the house with his hands raised and his back partially turned when he is struck by a less-lethal round. This directly challenges APD’s claim that Cordova was behaving threateningly. Cordova was later hospitalized for injuries from the encounter.

CSO OC and community members are calling for the immediate release of the full, body camera footage, the names of the officers involved, and an independent investigation into the killing. They argue that APD’s limited release of information has only raised further questions and deepened public mistrust.

As anger continues to grow in Anaheim, community members remain firm in their demands. The release of the body-camera footage has not brought closure. Instead, it has highlighted inconsistencies in APD’s account and strengthened calls for accountability, transparency, and an end to what residents describe as a pattern of violent policing in their neighborhoods, especially on young Chicanos.

#AnaheimCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #KillerCops #PoliceBrutality #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #CSOOC #Feature

City of Industry, CA – On Saturday, December 13, the family of Joseph Perez, Centro CSO, and other allies rallied outside the Industry Sheriff’s Station to demand justice for Perez, who narrowly survived a beating by at least five sheriff’s deputies on July 27, 2020. Perez required 17 staples and 19 sutures to close cuts across his face and scalp, served two years in prison for resisting arrest, and is still recovering from the trauma.

Vanessa Perez, mother of Joseph Perez, opened her speech by highlighting how sheriffs, through their “union” ALADS, have obstructed transparency, oversight and accountability. Perez said, “I am urging the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department alongside the Board of Supervisors to take proactive steps. AB 847 must be implemented without delay. Our community has waited long enough for meaningful change.” AB 847 allows oversight commissions and inspector general offices access to misconduct files.

Perez also connected her son’s beating to a 2023 Montclair bowling incident, in which members of the Industry Indians, a confirmed deputy gang, picked a fight with teenagers. While four officers were fired for the incident, Perez pointed out that her son’s trauma as well as this brawl would have been prevented if LASD allowed transparency and oversight.

Gabriel Quiroz Jr, a co-chair of CSO’s Police Accountability Committee and the rally’s emcee, brought to the crowd’s attention that this protest was likely the first ever at the Industry Sheriff’s station. He led the crowd with chants of “Justice for Joseph!” “Ban Deputy Gangs” and “La policía, la migra, la misma porquería!”

In his speech, Quiroz Jr. said, “I want to uplift the demand of community control of police to be able to once and for give power to the people when it comes to who polices their neighborhoods. We’re here to demand justice for Joseph Perez, a young Chicano who was brutally beaten by City of Industry Sheriffs; some of those same pigs even self-admitted to being tattooed deputy gang members. They should be the only ones facing ‘gang enhancement charges’ and be prosecuted and put in jail!”

Helen Jones, mother of John Horton (killed by LASD at Men’s Central Jail in 2009); Stephanie Vargas, aunt of Anthony Daniel Vargas (killed by ELASD in 2018); Minerva Garcia, friend of Vanessa Marquez (killed by South Pasadena PD in 2018); family of Elisa Serna (who died in police custody in San Diego in 2019, and Sergio Flores, brother of Jeremy Flores (killed by LAPD in 2025) also spoke out against deputy gangs and in solidarity with the family of Joseph Perez.

Carlos Montes, a leader within Centro CSO and Freedom Road Socialist Organization as well as a founder of the Brown Berets, said, “We believe that it is a systemic problem, the police killings of Black and Chicano young men. It’s not a question of bad police or just deputy gangs. For Chicanos after the Mexican-American War, we continued to have mass murders and lynchings at the Placita Olvera. This is a systemic problem that will not go away until we have a new government in the United States.” Montes attended the first protest at the East LA Sheriff’s Station in the late 1960s.

Protesters marched from the sheriff’s station to Hacienda Boulevard where they rallied once again. Many community members honked in solidarity. Motor police who had stopped to engage with protesters left after being drowned out by chants.

At the corner rally, protesters heard from Gilbert Bao, a formerly incarcerated Brown Beret whose brother was murdered by sheriffs. He spoke about how the state uses gang enhancements to lock up African American and Chicano youth while deputy gangs are the true threat.

Verita Topete, speaking on behalf of Centro CSO’s Immigration Committee, tied Perez’s beating to the recent ICE raids that are terrorizing Chicano neighborhoods, stating, “The struggle for legalization for all is inseparable from the struggle for community control of the police. These are not two fights, they are one.”

Centro CSO’s plans to continue fighting for Joseph Perez and other victims of police crimes in Los Angeles. If you would like to become involved with Centro CSO’s Police Accountability Committee (PAC), you can send a message on their social media platforms @CentroCSO or email them at CentroCSO@gmail.com

#CityOfIndustryCA #CA #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #CentroCSO #KillerCops #PoliceBrutality #Feature

Colorado Springs, CO – On December 11, the Colorado Springs Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (COSAARPR) gathered outside of the 4th Judicial District attorney’s office to demand justice for Alex-Martinez Sarmiento.

The main demand was that District Attorney Michael Allen indict Officer