Minneapolis, MN – On July 18, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Minneapolis to demand justice for women lost to state violence. Organized by the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), the protest focused on Vanessa Guillen and Breonna Taylor. The dual focus on Vanessa Guillen, who was Latina, and Breonna Taylor, who was Black, aimed to build unity between Black and Latino communities as well as other communities in the struggle for justice.

The protest took place in the Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis. After a lakeside rally at Bde Mka Ska, protesters marched to the intersection of Hennepin Avenue and Lake Street, one of the busiest spots in the city, where they held a rally in the intersection for around a half hour.

Several people spoke there about the need for justice for Breonna Taylor and Vanessa Guillen. Then in the middle of the intersection, protesters took turns breaking open two piñatas that were in the shape of pigs, one with a police insignia and one with an ICE insignia.

After the speakers and piñatas, the protesters marched back to Bde Mka Ska for a closing rally, ending just before the skies opened up with heavy rains.

Vanessa Guillen was a 20-year-old Latina U.S. Army soldier who went missing on April 22 from Fort Hood in Texas and was missing for months. Her remains were finally found on June 30, having been brutally murdered and dismembered by a sergeant. Before she went missing, Guillen had told her family that she was being sexually harassed by a sergeant and that complaints by other female soldiers made against him had been dismissed.

Breonna Taylor was a 26-year-old Black woman who was murdered by the Louisville Metro Police Department on March 13, when three plainclothes cops executed a no-knock search warrant on her apartment. Taylor’s boyfriend said they thought that the plainclothes cops were intruders. When they tried to defend themselves in their own home, the cops fired more than 20 rounds, murdering Breonna Taylor.

In addition to demanding justice for Guillen and Taylor, speakers highlighted other cases of women murdered by the police. A speaker from Native Lives Matter demanded justice for the many Native women murdered by the police. An Afro-Brazilian speaker talked about the case of Marielle Franco, a Black socialist woman active against police brutality in Brazil who was on the city council in Rio de Janeiro and was assassinated by right-wing former police officers in 2018.

The protesters made three demands in response to the murder of Vanessa Guillen: shut down Fort Hood (Vanessa’s case is not the only one like this there); stop setting up military recruitment stations in high schools, especially in low-income schools, and a congressional investigation for Guillen.

In response to the murder of Breonna Taylor the protesters raised four demands: that the Louisville mayor and city council address the use of force by the Louisville Metro Police Department; fire and revoke the pensions of the officers that murdered Taylor; arrest, charge and convict them for this crime and ensure special prosecutor Daniel Cameron seeks full transparency and accountability; provide all necessary information to a local, independent civilian community police accountability council, and create policy for transparent investigation process due to law enforcement misconduct.

#MinneapolisMN #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #MIRAc #VanessaGuillén #BreonnaTaylor

Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

The U.S. Army was slow in its investigation, taking over ten weeks to find Vanessa Guillen’s body, despite her mother Gloria’s impassioned pleas. Officials were also dishonest about the events leading up to Guillen’s murder.

Vanessa Guillen reported to her mother that an officer was sexually harassing her on the base, but that she was reluctant to report him. Guillen explained to her mother that the officer’s harassment of women in the past was reported, but no actions were taken to discipline him or stop him.

At Pleasant Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, women and girls wore yellow shirts and the crowd held candles in memory of Vanessa Guillen as they surrounded an alter. Mexican community leader and artist Reyna Garcia read a poem and spoke the words of Vanessa Guillen’s mother, interspersed with chants of “Justicia!” or “Justice!”

In cities and towns across the U.S., people gathered, and neighbors stopped to demand justice for the young Chicana who was part of a military that dishonored her. She was beaten to death, dismembered, and burned like trash while officials covered up and lied about the circumstances.

#GrandRapidsMI #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Michigan #VanessaGuillén

Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

The U.S. Army was slow in its investigation, taking over ten weeks to find Vanessa Guillen’s body, despite her mother Gloria’s impassioned pleas. Officials were also dishonest about the events leading up to Guillen’s murder.

Vanessa Guillen reported to her mother that an officer was sexually harassing her on the base, but that she was reluctant to report him. Guillen explained to her mother that the officer’s harassment of women in the past was reported, but no actions were taken to discipline him or stop him.

At Pleasant Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, women and girls wore yellow shirts and the crowd held candles in memory of Vanessa Guillen as they surrounded an alter. Mexican community leader and artist Reyna Garcia read a poem and spoke the words of Vanessa Guillen’s mother, interspersed with chants of “Justicia!” or “Justice!”

In cities and towns across the U.S., people gathered, and neighbors stopped to demand justice for the young Chicana who was part of a military that dishonored her. She was beaten to death, dismembered, and burned like trash while officials covered up and lied about the circumstances.

#GrandRapidsMI #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Michigan #VanessaGuillén

Grand Rapids, MI – Fifty local people gathered for an emotional vigil to remember Vanessa Guillen, the U.S. Army soldier murdered and disappeared by another soldier at Fort Hood, Texas. The U.S. armed forces are rife with sexual harassment and rape, both on and off military bases. The unrelenting response of Guillen’s family, demanding answers, has top military leaders on the defensive, scrambling.

The U.S. Army was slow in its investigation, taking over ten weeks to find Vanessa Guillen’s body, despite her mother Gloria’s impassioned pleas. Officials were also dishonest about the events leading up to Guillen’s murder.

Vanessa Guillen reported to her mother that an officer was sexually harassing her on the base, but that she was reluctant to report him. Guillen explained to her mother that the officer’s harassment of women in the past was reported, but no actions were taken to discipline him or stop him.

At Pleasant Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan, women and girls wore yellow shirts and the crowd held candles in memory of Vanessa Guillen as they surrounded an alter. Mexican community leader and artist Reyna Garcia read a poem and spoke the words of Vanessa Guillen’s mother, interspersed with chants of “Justicia!” or “Justice!”

In cities and towns across the U.S., people gathered, and neighbors stopped to demand justice for the young Chicana who was part of a military that dishonored her. She was beaten to death, dismembered, and burned like trash while officials covered up and lied about the circumstances.

#GrandRapidsMI #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Michigan #VanessaGuillén

Milwaukee, WI – On the evening of July 8, students and community members rallied at Spaights Plaza on UW-Milwaukee’s campus. They came together to honor Texas’ Vanessa Guillén and others who have lost their lives to sexual violence, and to hold Professor Betsy Schoeller accountable for her harmful comments about the situation, and the administration of UW-Milwaukee accountable for not taking action on hate speech.

Professor Schoeller’s comment implies that she believes sexual harassment and assault is justifiable. After her comment got national attention, she responded that she meant to clarify the sexism present in the military, not to glorify it, or condemn people who try to speak against it. Regardless of her intention, UW-Milwaukee reacted quickly to protect Professor Schoeller on the grounds that they cannot do anything to address it because it would be an infringement on her freedom of speech.

This is not new behavior for UWM, whose administration consistently chooses not to address hate speech, or actively encourages it by punishing students who seek to prevent its spread on campus. For example, in May 2019, UWM student Grae Hosmanek was arrested by campus police after taking and ripping up an anti-Semitic sign that was held by a Nazi at an event organized by a Jewish student organization. She was charged with theft, vandalism, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer. After students at UWM and trade unionists from the Milwaukee Area Labor Council’s Young Workers Committee rallied in solidarity, her charges were dropped.

The organizers of the July 8 event had two clear demands for UWM: to create clear steps and an accountability plan laid out publicly, including a thorough review and investigation of past complaints concerning Professor Schoeller; and that Professor Schoeller must resign or be terminated after making a public apology to Vanessa Guillén’s family and to all the people who she hurt and offended.

“We’re here because UWM took that repulsive comment for what it was, and used the excuse of free speech like they always do,” said Margarita Garcia Rojas, one of the event organizers. “We’re here to celebrate the life of Vanessa, and the thousands of lives that have been killed by white supremacy.”

Around 200 people turned out for the rally, which included several speakers, nine-minutes of silence, an altar to honor Guillén and others who lost their lives to sexual violence, and chalking messages and posting signs all over campus. Speakers included veterans, one of whom shared her story of surviving sexual assault in the military, a UWM staff member, and students, one of whom represented the new UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

“What are you doing to make a change?” Emily Cruz, one of the event organizers, asked the crowd. “What are you doing to make sure what happened to Vanessa never happens again, and comments like Betsy Schoeller’s never go unchallenged?”

By the end of the event, campus was covered in messages of support for survivors of sexual assault and harassment, and demanding accountability from UWM. However, less than 24 hours later, UWM power washed these chalk messages away, answering Cruz’s question, and making their stance on the issue even more obvious.

“What did UWM do when made aware of our demands? They reflexively supported the faculty member. UWM’s immediately aggressive stance in defense of Professor Schoeller’s hate speech should leave us with one question: what are they doing for us?” said SDS member Jack Rongstad. “Either UWM listens to us and transforms, or they drop the pretensions and tell us to go to hell.”

SDS intends to keep the pressure on UWM administrators to ensure that the demands put forward at this action are not ignored. But this is just the beginning. Their goal is to address many of the other problems on campus.

#MilwaukeeWI #AntiwarMovement #OppressedNationalities #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #MilwaukeeSDS #VanessaGuillén #ProfessorBetsySchoeller