Tampa, FL – On March 28, over 2000 people gathered for the Tampa No Kings protest. The protest was organized by the Tampa Coalition Against the Trump Agenda. It was one of more than 3000 rallies comprising more than eight million people who came out throughout the United States in opposition to Trump's racist reactionary agenda.

Protesters raised concerns about immigration and U.S. intervention, holding anti-war signs and pro-immigrant signs such as “ICE out now!” Protesters chanted “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Ron DeSantis go away,” “Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation” and “When immigrants are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back!” Many passing cars honked in support of the event.

Dave Gonzalez said, “I’m here to show my disagreement with the present government. This pedophile bombed girls at a school in Iran. At home there are also violations of human rights. We have a right to self-determination. What we do with our bodies cannot be ordered by anyone.”

Protester and activist Bianca Melendez stressed, “Because the world is on fire, I want to be able to educate and help influence as many people as possible. I am a member of TIRC-Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee and of a group chat on Palestine. There is a horrible genocide going on there and now in Lebanon and the Zionists are still in Syria.”

The event featured speakers from Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee, Tampa Democratic Socialist of America, Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Tampa Food Not Bombs, Voices of Florida, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, Florida House of Representatives member Michele Rayner, and Tampa Freedom Road Socialist Organization.

To the question “What brings you to the protest today?” Ben Taylor said, “My husband and I believe in democracy and the freedom to live by the Bill of Rights which gives us rights to protest, freedom of speech.”

Nico Baisley from the Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee said, “The more he [Trump] threatens us, the stronger our movements become. His threats have united us against him, and we have everything to win in this fight.” Nico also spoke about the need to end 287(g) in Tampa and condemned Tampa Mayor Jane Castor's lack of support for the immigrant community in Tampa.

The Tampa Coalition Against the Trump Agenda consists of the Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Tampa Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and the Hillsborough Young Democrats.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #TIRC

Chicago, IL- 50 survivors of wrongful convictions and police torture, family members and community packed into a small South Side church for a town hall meeting on police torture and wrongful conviction on the evening of March 21.

The town hall was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST), a campaign of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and featured a panel of survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction and their family members.

Chicago has a unique history of police torture dating back to the 1970s, when disgraced police commander Jon Burge and his “midnight crew” of racist detectives began a decades-long pattern of torture, targeting mostly Black men on Chicago’s South Side. Today, corrupt detectives in CPD and their allies in the Cook County states attorney’s office continue to tear families apart and draw them into conflict with the system.

“I’m in this fight because I was victimized,” said Robert Johnson, who was released from prison last month after serving nearly 29 years for a 1996 murder he had nothing to do with.

“I’m a survivor,” Johnson said in his remarks on the panel. “I think about these brothers that are still locked up every day. It’s hell in there.”

Jasmine Smith, a co-chair of both CFIST and CAARPR, set the tone for the event by asking the panel, “What needs to change in order to stop this pattern of police torture and abuse?”

Clayborn Smith, a wrongful conviction survivor and litigator, said change will not come from the current political parties. “Neither Democrat nor Republican actually want to do anything about [police torture and wrongful convictions],” Smith said. “They never talk about all the wrongfully convicted people locked up while the real criminal is on the streets.”

Adolfo Davis, who was sentenced to life without parole at age 14 and spent 27 years in prison, agreed with Smith about the need for mass action beyond mainstream political parties. “We know who politicians are,” Davis said. “We need us to change anything.”

Davis continued, calling out the racist tactics used by the ruling class to divide oppressed peoples. “They made us believe immigrants are our enemy,” he said. “It was all a plan to control us. Stop being tricked.”

“Change starts from you, the people, “ said Mark Clements, who spent 28 years in prison after being tortured into giving a false confession by Burge and his “midnight crew.” Today, he is an organizer with the Chicago Torture Justice Center and sits on the board of The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC).

Clements called out the economic basis for mass incarceration and racist policing, and called for mass action to fight back. “From the days of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, we saw that when you affect their economics, they are open to change,” he said. “This system operates around money.”

Annette Gomez, wife of Elias Gomez, not only uplifted her husband’s case of 30 years of wrongful conviction, but she also reminded the room that this struggle is larger than just one case. “We have to continue to fight not just for my husband, but for your brother, and your cousin, and your nephew,” she said. “It doesn’t stop here.”

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #CAARPR #CFIST #TIRC

Tampa, FL – On February 6, over 25 high school students from Blake High School in Tampa, Florida walked out to protest Trump's attacks on immigrants around the country.

As students rallied on campus ready to walk out, school administration locked the gates surrounding the campus to stop the walkout. Days before the walkout, Hillsborough County Schools sent out an email threatening disciplinary action against students partaking in walkouts – a clear violation of students’ First Amendment rights. Nonetheless, several students jumped the gates of their school and successfully walked out. More joined the rally at the end of classes.

From off campus, members of the Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee, Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, and community members chanted “Let the students walk,” until students were able to march off campus. Organizers helped lead the students along their march.

Chanting “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state” and “No Trump, no KKK, no racist USA,” students marched around the block and gave speeches. Students spoke against Trump, deportations and ICE. Ashely Garcia said, “They call us illegal but eat from our hands.”

Students who attempted to march back onto campus to join with others who were unable to leave campus were confronted by police threatening to trespass them. Despite this threat, students continued their rally off campus in high spirits, receiving much support from passing drivers.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #TIRC #TAARPR #StudentMovement #HighSchool

Tampa, FL – On January 20, hundreds of people gathered at Tampa City Hall to protest on the one-year anniversary of Trump's second term. The event was organized by the Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee as part of a national day of action called by Legalization for All and 50501 National.

Protesters held signs that read “Stop ICE murders”, “Fight Trump's agenda”, and “Stop ICE terror.” The crowd chanted, “No boots on the ground, no ICE in our streets, end 287(g),” “Money for education, not for war and deportation” and “No Trump! No KKK! No racist USA.” The event received enthusiastic support from passing drivers.

The event had speakers from a variety of local struggles including the immigrants rights and anti-war movement.

In his first year, Trump spent billions everyday while making numerous cuts to programs like SNAP and Medicaid.

Allie Enriquez from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society said, “Trump and his lackeys scramble to start war with other countries to continue lining their own pockets with war money.”

Speakers emphasized the need to organize locally against the Trump agenda, especially around ICE and the need to end Tampa's 287(g) agreement.

“We, here in Tampa, have a mayor and a police chief who have signed on to work with ICE through what’s known as a 287g agreement. That enables police to act as immigration agents, get trained, and paid, to work shoulder to shoulder with ICE in helping them abduct people,” said Joseph Nohava from TampaIRC. “We have taken up a campaign to get that agreement revoked, and this isn’t a theoretical problem, it’s a pressing issue because TPD has already taken $430 thousand to start training its cops to be immigration agents.”

Emma Rice, from the Tampa Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression stated, “With community control of the police, Tampa Police Department would never have been allowed to sign onto the 287(g) agreement.”

Speakers talked about the growing resistance and organizing against Trump's attacks, highlighting the national response to the murder of Renee Good by ICE agent Jonathan Ross and the immediate community response from Minneapolis.

“The resistance from last month alone has shown that people are not willing to take Trump's attacks lying down,” said Lauren Piniero from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. “Everywhere the forces of oppression go, they are met with bravery and defiance.”

TampaIRC ended the event with a call-to-action by passing out flyers directing people to call and email Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw, and Tampa city council to demand an ordinance to end Tampa's 287(g) agreement.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #PeoplesStruggles #AntiWarMovement #Trump #TIRC

Tampa, FL – Several hundred people gathered downtown Tampa in front of City Hall Saturday, January 10, to express their anger at the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis by ICE agent Jonathan Ross and at Trump for unleashing ICE onto immigrants and the vast community who supports them. Protesters gathered as part of the 50501 National Day of Action: ICE Out For Good.

Renee Good was observing a raid when several ICE agents approached her vehicle. As she drove away, ICE agent Jonathan Ros shot her three times, killing her on the scene.

At Tampa City Hall, protesters held signs that read “No due process for one is no due process for all,” “Justice for Renee Nicole Good, and “Chinga la migra.” People shouted “Trump escucha, estamos en la lucha,” “No fear, no hate, no ICE in our state” and “No boots on the ground, no ICE in our streets, end 287(g).” The event received much support from passing by drivers

Speaking about their motivation to attend the rally , Heather Winniestaffer of Indivisible said, “Detentions, deportations and murder committed by ICE; the list is long.”

Yunqing Zheng spoke for the Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee which is Tampa's affiliate of the Legalization For All Network. Zheng began by denouncing the killing of Renee Nicole Good and went on to name several other people assassinated by ICE including Silverio Villegas Gonzalez who was killed during a traffic stop in Chicago; Keith Porter Junior, shot and killed by ICE New Year’s Eve, and the Venezuelan couple who were shot by ICE a couple of days ago in Portland, Oregon.

“We are here to demand ICE out of everywhere,” said Zheng to an enthusiastic audience. They spoke of immigrant mothers in Tampa who have been cruelly and unjustifiably separated from their infant children. They decried Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, Tampa City Council, and Tampa Police Chief Lee Bercaw for signing onto the 287(g) agreement which has the local police functioning as ICE agents. “We’re here to call out the complicity of our local officials in Tampa in the violent ICE arrests that we've seen in our own city,” said Zheng.

This event was the third consecutive immigrants’ rights rally held at Tampa City Hall in response to increased ICE violence around that country.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #ICE #ReneeGood #TIRC #L4A

Tampa, FL – On November 20, students and community members, including members from Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied near the University of South Florida (USF) Tampa campus to demand no war on Venezuela. Slogans and speeches included demands including “Stop the missile attacks now!” “No more U.S. wars for oil!” and “Lift the U.S. sanctions off Venezuela now!” The energy was high, with students passing by taking fliers from the rally, and cars honking in support of the anti-war event.

The call to action from National Students for a Democratic Society was in response to the Trump administration threatening to start a war with Venezuela. The U.S. government has attempted to destabilize Venezuela through sanctions, propaganda, and more recently, criminalizing the current president of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro.

“These countries have every right to choose the way they want to be governed without fear of U.S. intervention or retaliation,” said Saba Indawala, a member of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society. “We will continue to fight and be out on the streets until the U.S. stops meddling in these countries!”

Students also spoke about the USF's ties to the military and how the school’s administration profits off of U.S. interventions abroad, as the USF currently holds an $85 million dollar contract with the U.S. Army.

Tampa Bay SDS was joined by the Tampa Immigrant Rights Committee (Tampa IRC), a local immigrant rights group, who spoke about the termination of Temporary Protection Status for Venezuelans and the demand for legalization for all. Despite Tampa Bay SDS being expelled and prevented from protesting on campus, students were determined to protest the possible war in Venezuela.

#TampaFL #FL #AntiWarMovement #StudentMovement #Venezuela #TIRC #SDS

Tampa, FL – On Wednesday November 12, Tampa protesters led by Tampa Immigrant Rights Coalition (Tampa IRC) rallied in front of the Federal Courthouse to demand Temporary Protected Status (TPS) be upheld for Venezuelans and to stop the deportations. They were supported by groups like Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society, Tampa Food Not Bombs, and the New Era Young Lords.

TPS for Venezuelans was allowed to lapse on Friday, November 7 by the Trump administration, leaving more than 240,000 Venezuelan immigrants without legal protections against deportations and ICE raids, after another 350,000 had lost it earlier this year. A member of Tampa IRC told the crowd, “We of Tampa IRC along with all the organizations here today demand that TPS for Venezuela along with TPS for all other countries be upheld! For an attack on one is an attack on all of us!”

Other speakers also mentioned the military escalation Trump has pushed in the Caribbean and the threatened war with Venezuela. Students and immigrants chanted “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air, U.S. out of everywhere!” and “Money for jobs and education, not for war and deportation!”

There was also mention of the 287(g) agreement pushed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on all Florida police departments, in which they can collaborate with ICE and receive funding for immigration enforcement procedures. Tampa Police Department and the University of South Florida Police have already signed onto the agreement, and the Department of Homeland Security was recently invited by the university on campus for a job fair.

The rally ended with a speech by a member of Tampa IRC who stated, “Tampa IRC not only wants ICE out of Tampa and an end to the 287(g) agreement between Tampa PD and ICE, but we also want to see our immigrant community safe from any federal agency that can detain, deport and separate them from their family!”

Attendees responded with chants of “No ban, no wall, legalization for all!” Follow Tampa IRC on Instagram and Facebook for updates on actions and events.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #Venzuela #TIRC

Chicago, IL- A dozen protesters gathered on Friday, September 19 outside the 50th Anniversary Gala of the Illinois Humanities nonprofit, a celebration for which Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker had been named an honorary co-chair. The protesters rallied and chanted to demand that Pritzker use his executive power to grant clemency for hundreds of petitioners with credible claims of police torture and wrongful conviction.

The protest was organized by the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture, a campaign of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR). Pritzker is a primary target of the CFIST campaign because he has the power to free hundreds of torture survivors, and he has presented himself as a progressive by speaking out against Trump and through association with nonprofits like Illinois Humanities.

Pritzker is aware of the legacy of police torture in Chicago, having commuted the sentence of Gerald Reed, a survivor of torture at the hands of the infamous torture cop Jon Burge. But he hasn’t acted on the pile of clemency petitions on his desk, hundreds of which were written by survivors of torture.

“It don’t make sense for him to have the power with a stroke of his pen to free these people, and yet he does nothing,” said Patricia Williams, a co-chair of CAARPR. “That was one of the first things he promised us, that he was going to pardon those people who were wrongfully imprisoned.”

“I’m calling on the governor to have a heart and stop wasting taxpayers’ dollars keeping people behind bars who are innocent,” said Mark Clements, a survivor of police torture and leader at the Chicago Torture Justice Center. Clements was tortured by Chicago police in 1981 and received a settlement from the city of Chicago as a result of his wrongful conviction.

“There are people who have been locked up for 41 years, and none of their sentences are being commuted,” said Clayborn Smith, who spent 31 years in a maximum security prison as a result of a confession extracted through torture. While incarcerated, Smith submitted a claim to the Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission (TIRC), the only body of its kind in the country, which was created to assess claims of torture and decide whether they merit judicial review.

The TIRC found Smith’s case to be credible in 2013, but it took another ten years for him to be released from what he described as “the egregious, horrific nightmare that the Chicago machine put us through.”

Smith urged the governor to use his power to grant clemency for torture survivors who remain incarcerated, before it’s too late for them, stating, “I could have been one of the many torture victims that died in prison waiting for some justice.”

Protesters chanted “Brick by brick, wall by wall, free our loved ones! Free them all!” as passersby and gala attendees stopped to express support and learn more.

#ChicagoIL #IL #InJusticeSystem #PoliceCrimes #CAARPR #CFIST #TIRC #Torture

Tampa, FL – August 31 was the first celebration of Chicano Liberation Day in Tampa history. Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee marked the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium with a showing of the HBO film Walkout, starring Alexa PenaVega and Michael Peña, directed by Chicano actor and East Los Angeles native Edward James Olmos.

The celebration was held at a local bar, La Cantina. The film depicts the events of Spring 1968 East Los Angeles high school walkouts, or Chicano Blowout, where students walked out of five East LA schools to demand better conditions, like allowing Spanish to be spoken and an end to corporal punishment. People who attended the showing learned about both the walkouts and the history of Chicano Liberation Day.

The history of Chicano Liberation Day begins in 1970, when, as moderator Val Beron of TIRC explained, “over 20,000 Chicanos marched in Los Angeles to protest the Vietnam War, specifically the fact that Chicanos made up 29% of casualties despite being 5% of the total U.S. population. Chicanos felt that the true struggle wasn’t in the jungles of Vietnam, but the barrios at home.” This march, called the Chicano Moratorium, demanded an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam, and an end to oppression at home, such as police violence.

As Florida and the nation experience a wave of anti-immigrant and anti-Chicano repression from the reactionary Trump and DeSantis administrations, the film and the Chicano Moratorium also resonate today. However, just as in the film, when the people organize and fight back, they win – as the concentration camp for immigrants in the Everglades was just shut down this past month due to legal efforts of the Miccosukee Tribe and political pressure from the people holding constant protests.

The Tampa Immigrants’ Rights Committee will be holding a know your rights training in the near future in an effort to further develop a rapid response network to ICE terror in the Bay area. They can be found on Instagram and Facebook at TampaIRC.

#TampaFL #FL #ImmigrantRights #ChicanoMoratorium #Chicanos #OppressedNationalities #TIRC