Activists weighing lawsuit against cops

Tampa, FL – According to an August 3 report in the Tampa Bay Times, Major Marc Hamlin, the head of Special Operations for the Tampa Police Department, is boasting about the political spying carried out at the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Activists weighing lawsuit against cops

Tampa, FL – According to an August 3 report in the Tampa Bay Times, Major Marc Hamlin, the head of Special Operations for the Tampa Police Department, is boasting about the political spying carried out at the 2012 Republican National Convention.

Minneapolis, MN – Attorneys appeared in court, August 5, before Judge Peter Cahill for a status conference in the #BlackLivesMatter demonstration case. Notably, Bloomington Prosecutor Sandra Johnson has dropped all substantive trespassing charges against the alleged organizers of the Black Lives Matter demonstration. The move came on the heels of motions to dismiss that were filed by lead attorneys Jordan Kushner and Bruce Nestor, who are representing 10 of 11 individuals identified as ‘ringleaders’ of the Black Lives Matter gathering at the Mall of America last December.

San Salvador, El Salvador – On July 30 students marched here to commemorate the 40th anniversary of a massacre of Salvadoran students on July 30, 1975. The march started at the University of El Salvador (UES) and marched to the bridge where in 1975 the security forces and military violently repressed a peaceful protest where students were marching to demand their rights and to defend the UES. At that time the UES suffered from constant repression from the military and police.

Minneapolis, MN – Twin Cites supporters of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh scored a major success here, July 29, collecting well over $1000 to help her defense effort. About 50 people came together for a “Happy Hour for Rasmea” organized by the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression. The funds will be used to help get people to Cincinnati, Ohio, where it is expected that the oral arguments on Odeh’s appeal will be heard in federal court this fall.

Chicago, IL – On July 20, Rasmea Odeh’s legal defense team filed a new brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, demolishing the July 8 arguments of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel, who is opposing her bid for a new trial.

Washington, DC – The International Peoples’ Tribunal on Crimes Against the Filipino People (IPT) opened here July 16. 250 legal experts, witnesses of human rights violations, and social activists from the U.S., the Philippines and elsewhere came together. The mood in the hall was defiant, yet somber, as one after another survivor appeared before jurors to present the murders and torture committed against loved ones.

Chicago, IL – Federal prosecutor Jonathan Tukel filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, July 8, opposing Rasmea Odeh’s move to overturn her conviction and sentencing on immigration charges. Tukel argues that the lower court was right to deny Odeh her full defense, including its decisions to bar the testimony of a torture expert, to restrict Rasmea’s own testimony, and to allow documents obtained via torture by the Israeli military.

Chicago, IL – 500 people gathered at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, June 28, to support “Justice for Rasmea Odeh.”

Chicago, IL -500 people gathered at the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, June 28, to support “Justice for Rasmea Odeh.”