News and Views from the People's Struggle
Los Angeles, CA – On May 21, over 50 people gathered in the city of Bellflower, in the southeastern region of LA county, to demand justice for Edgar Ortiz. Oritz, who was 32 years old, was shot and killed by a member of the LA County Lakewood Sheriff's Station on March 3, in front of his family, during a mental health crisis.
Appleton, WI – On Saturday, May 21, the family of Jimmie Sanders – a man murdered by Appleton police in May 2017 – alongside Fox Valley Food Not Bombs, Appleton SDS, Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and United Action Oshkosh organized a rally and march to bring attention to the case, and to crowdfund for the Jimmie Sanders legal team.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following May 20 statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.
Peoria, IL – The Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) brought a dozen activists from Chicago to Peoria, Illinois May 16 for the opening of the federal trial of Anthony Gay. Gay had previously defeated the charges when, in an historic trial, he won a hung jury representing himself. He is facing the same assistant U.S. attorneys and federal judge.
Chicago, IL – Since 2018, Anthony Gay has become a symbol of the struggle against wrongful convictions in Illinois.
Tallahassee, FL – On April 30, Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) hosted a panel discussing Tallahassee’s current city budget and the need for a People’s Budget. The panel was put on at The Bark, a local vegan restaurant in the All Saints neighborhood, and was co-sponsored by the Tallahassee chapters of Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).
Grand Rapids, MI – On Wednesday, April 13, the Grand Rapids Police Department released four videos of Patrick Lyoya’s murder at the hands of a GRPD officer, who they still refuse to name. Lyoya, a 26-year-old Black man, was a Congolese refugee, and a father to two daughters.
_Demand city convict killer cop _
Grand Rapids, MI – A crowd of hundreds marched to the Grand Rapids City Commissioners meeting, April 12, to demand both the release of the raw video showing the murder of Patrick Lyoya and the arrest of the still-unnamed killer cop. Lyoya was a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant executed by the Grand Rapids Police Department last week. In the days after his death, citywide mourning and protests against the police have increased and are expected to surge after the release of the video this Wednesday.
Los Angeles, CA – On March 26, over 50 people gathered at Belvedere Lakeside Park in East LA to support the surviving family of David Ordaz, Jr. The event was led by Emily Ordaz, the 16-year-old surviving daughter of Ordaz, and Centro CSO’s Sol Marquez.
Grand Rapids, MI – Hundreds marched to remember Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old African man murdered by Grand Rapids police in Michigan. Lyoya’s family led a march, April 9, through the Black neighborhood of Boston Square to a vigil for their first-born son.
Tallahassee, FL- On April 2, the Tallahassee Community Action Committee held a vigil for the lives lost by police brutality and violence within the city. The event was held for those who perished in recent killings such as Tony Mcdade, Mychael Johnson, Wilbon Woodard and Oluwatoyin Salau, as well as previous killings such as the murder of George “Lil Nuke” Williams by Tallahassee Police Chief Lawrence Revell.
Chicago, IL – Almost two years after the rebellion that swept the country after the murder of George Floyd, people continue to come forward demanding an end to racist policing and mass incarceration. Despite the law-and-order backlash occurring in Illinois, a group of families from the Woodlawn neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side are fighting for justice for their loved ones in Menard Penitentiary and other prisons in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Austin, TX – On Thursday evening, February 24, students at the University of Texas at Austin gathered at a campus plaza to demand justice for Amir Locke, who was murdered by Minneapolis police earlier this month. The group held signs and chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, these racist cops have got to go!” and “Say his name: Amir Locke.” A few passersby joined the speak-out upon hearing the chants and reading the signs.
East LA, CA — A small tortilla-making store, La Imperial Tortillería, hosted a public event inside of their shop titled “Coffee with a Deputy,” February 23. Inside of the shop were less than a dozen people surrounded by East LA sheriffs who were having coffee. This sad event was a public relations stunt by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department to counter the ever-growing sentiment against deputy gangs and the LASD.
Miami, FL – 20 activists gathered at the Federal Courthouse here, to demand the release of Venezuelan diplomat Alex Saab, who has been detained in Miami since October when the United States government kidnapped him from Cape Verde. Saab’s supporters brought banners and signs with messages of solidarity, chanted “Free Alex Saab” and answered questions from reporters who converged on the courthouse.
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Denver, CO – On February 10, students gathered outside Tivoli Commons on Auraria Campus to demand the disarmament of Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and the end to their involvement in the Pentagon 1033 Program. Denver Students for a Democratic Society began their “Defund, Disarm, Demilitarize” campaign, joining many student and community organizations around the country in the struggle against police injustice.
Denver, CO – On February 10, students gathered outside Tivoli Commons on Auraria Campus to demand the disarmament of Auraria Campus Police Department (ACPD) and the end to their involvement in the Pentagon 1033 Program. Denver Students for a Democratic Society began their “Defund, Disarm, Demilitarize” campaign, joining many student and community organizations around the country in the struggle against police injustice.
Jacksonville, FL – Throughout the months of January and February, there were over 20 bomb threats directed towards historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and Black churches, most of which were in the South. These concentrated actions over the last few months are a microcosm of the extensive history of racism and national oppression that Black people have faced within the United States, particularly its southern region.
New York, NY – Over 80 people rallied in Union Square in New York City on February 8 in honor of Amir Locke and Isaiah Williams, two young Black men murdered by police. Locke was murdered by Minneapolis PD under a no-knock warrant, and Williams by Metro Police near Las Vegas while police executed a warrant for a murder he did not commit.
Minneapolis, MN – Around 5000 people marched in protest here February 5, to demand justice for Amir Locke, a 22-year-old Black man murdered by police on February 2. Police were carrying out a no-knock search warrant on the apartment where Locke was sleeping and shot him three times, nine seconds after they snuck open the door. Protesters demand jail, prosecution and murder charges for the officer who shot Amir and those who planned the raid; an end to no-knock warrants; and the resignation of the Minneapolis Police Chief Huffington and Mayor Frey.
