Chicago, IL – Nearly 700 Chicagoans united to celebrate the coming home of over three dozen wrongfully convicted torture survivors during the People Power Weekend, hosted by the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression on June 16 and 17.
Minneapolis, MN – The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments regarding the Trump’s Muslim ban in April and is expected to announce its decision before its summer recess in July. The MN Anti-War Committee and the Council on American Islamic Relations have called for an emergency response protest at the Federal Courts building (300 S. 4th Street in Minneapolis) at 6 p.m. on the day that the court announces their decision.
Minneapolis, MN – Opponents of police crimes blasted the Minneapolis Police Department, June 15, after it was revealed by the Star Tribune newspaper that cops have directed emergency medical personal to use the date-rape drug ketamine on people who were detained or arrested.
St. Paul, MN – Oral arguments were made before a three-judge panel from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, June 18, in Saint Paul on behalf of Guled Omar, Mohamed Farah and Abdirahman Daud, who were found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder abroad in 2016. Their lawyers argued today that the jury instructions were grounds for granting their clients’ appeal. Bruce Nestor, representing Daud, argued to the court that the jury instructions conflated wanting to join ISIS with conspiracy to commit murder and that the prosecution had never proven that his client had any intent to kill.
Chicago, IL – People power prevailed over the racist Cook County court system on March 15 as Tyrone Williams, a leader in the movement for community control of the police, was released from jail after being held incommunicado for seven days.
Minneapolis, MN — At the August 8 Minneapolis Public Schools board meeting, directors voted to keep School Resource Officers in the schools. Before the meeting began, a group of young people with the Black Liberation Project, who have spent months speaking with school board members about the impact of having School Resource Officers in the schools, held a rally outside of the district offices.
Fight Back News Service is following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and U.S. Palestinian Community Network.
Minneapolis, MN – Tens of thousands lined Hennepin Avenue to watch the annual Twin Cities LGBTQ Pride parade on June 25. A group of hundreds behind a banner reading “Justice for Philando #NoJusticeNoPride” took the lead of the parade, a few blocks ahead of the police car that was supposed to lead the official parade. The group was protesting Pride’s decision to allow police to lead the parade and be present throughout the festival, despite an epidemic of police violence that particularly targets queer and trans people of color.
Chicago, IL – 500 people gathered in Chicago’s Washington Park June 18 to protest the acquittal of the cop that killed Philando Castile in Minnesota. The marchers began with a rally at the location where Ronald “Ronnieman” Johnson was shot in the back by Chicago police in October 2014.
Houston, TX – Assembling at the Guadalupe Plaza, angry family members and supporters marched through downtown Houston, June 7, demanding justice for John Hernandez.