Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

In-Justice System

By Joint Nationalities Commission of Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Justice for George Floyd! Indict convict the killer cops! Community control

The people of Minneapolis have taken to the streets the past 72 hours, demanding the arrest of the killer cops who murdered 46-year-old African American George Floyd on Monday night, May 25. Eyewitness video was released Tuesday morning showing now former Minneapolis cop Derek Chauvin pinning Floyd to the ground, with Chauvin’s knee directly on the back of his neck – the video shows Floyd’s last gasps for air. You can hear him telling the killer cop that he can’t breathe and calling for his mother before you see his body going limp. Three other cops on the scene stand by, with two other cops actively helping to restrain Floyd on the ground, all ignoring the pleas of bystanders to let him breathe. Since then, tens of thousands in Minneapolis and have taken to the streets, demanding justice and retribution, which prompted the Minneapolis police to immediately terminate the four officers involved with Floyd’s murder and finally to charge and jail Chauvin May 29.

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By Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Minnesota District

Withdraw the National Guard from the Twin Cities!

Protest at Minneapolis police station.

The brutal police killing of George Floyd has sparked a powerful uprising that will settle for nothing less than justice. It is a case of murder. George Floyd, an African American man, was killed in broad daylight in front of witnesses who videotaped the crime. The crime was carried out by Officer Derek Chauvin and three accomplices from the Minneapolis Police Department. And everyone knows that the Minneapolis Police Department has a history of killing Black people for being Black.

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By Luis Sifuentes

Black Lives Matter protesters demands justice for George Floyd.

Los Angeles, CA – More than 1000 people marched here, May 27, to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man who was murdered by Minneapolis police. Protesters were also demanding justice for two others who were murdered by LAPD within the last 48 hours. The action was organized by Black Lives Matter-LA and assembled at the Hall of Justice in downtown. Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey has refused to prosecute police killings, and her office is located at the Hall of Justice.

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By Ryan Hamann

Milwaukee, WI – The police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis not only sparked a 20,000-person protest, but appears to have given rise to a broader uprising the likes of which haven’t been seen since the killings of Michael Brown in Ferguson in 2014, Freddie Gray in Baltimore in 2015, and, albeit to a lesser extent, the killing of Sylville Smith in Milwaukee in 2016.

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By Sol Márquez

Chicanos in Boyle Heights to participate in the National Day of Action May 30

Los Angeles, CA – On Saturday, May 30 at 3 p.m. Centro Community Service Organization (CSO) will be participating in the National Day of Protest to demand the mass release of all prisoners due to COVID-19. The action is called by the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression and CSO is an affiliated organization with the Alliance. We are protesting the murders of Ahmaud Aubery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and George Floyd in Minneapolis because they are outraging, and we must demand justice. This lynch-style, racist terrorism must stop and perpetrators must be punished.

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By staff

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Minneapolis, MN – A major urban uprising has entered its third day, as tens of thousands have taken to the streets demanding to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25.

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By staff

Salt Lake City, UT – The people of Salt Lake City plan to answer the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) call for a national day of protest May 30, demanding justice for George Floyd, Bernardo Palacios and all the people murdered by cops in the U.S.

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By National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

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Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Frank Chapman, Executive Director National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

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By staff

Massive protest in Minneapolis demands justice for George Floyd.

Minneapolis, MN – More than 20,000 people marched here, May 26, to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man who as murdered by Minneapolis police on May 25. The three-mile march filled city streets for blocks and then closed a major four-lane highway. It started at the murder scene at Chicago Avenue and 38th Street and went to the Third Precinct station on Lake Street, where intense clashes took place. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets. Bricks broke some of the stations windows, a police car was demolished, and the slogan “I can’t breathe,” were visible on the station’s wall.

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By staff

Minneapolis, MN – A protest is set for 5 p.m., May 26, at 3759 Chicago Avenue S, Minneapolis, to demand justice for George Floyd – an African American man who as murdered last night by Minneapolis police.

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By Fabiana Casas

Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy (IJLA) response to COVID-19 Chicago

Chicago, IL – Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy (IJLA) is a small two-floor building that rests on the corner of Western and Blue Island Avenues in Pilsen, Chicago. At first glance you would notice the mural that decorates the wall – women of color with fists in the air, “La Lucha Sigue.” You might ask yourself, “Is this a school?” and the first answer is: yes. Though, the more accurate answer is: “It’s a home, a safe haven.”

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By staff

Chicago community groups renew demand for community control of police

Chicago, IL – The Chicago Alliance requested a meeting with Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot regarding the proposal for an all-elected, all-Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) on March 11 on behalf of the 68 community organizations and leaders who support the proposed legislation. They have renewed that request, and demand to know why, as of May 24, she has not acknowledged their request for a meeting.

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By staff

Nakba marked in Chicago.

Chicago, IL – The U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) commemorated the Nakba, “Catastrophe” in English, which marks the ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians, and the massacre of thousands more, by Zionist militia groups in 1948, in the wake of the establishment of the settler colonial state of Israel. Palestinians and their supporters all around the world remember the Nakba every year on or around May 15.

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By National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

National Alliance calls for National Day of Protest:  May 3Oth

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression.

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By staff

Centro CSO leader Carlos Montes talking with LAPD Police Chief Moore.

Los Angeles, CA ⁠- Thursday afternoon, May 21, a contingent of Centro CSO members delivered to LAPD Chief Michel Moore a petition with over 1800 signatures demanding the firing of Officer Frank Hernandez. Earlier this month, the release of a video that caught Hernandez viciously attacking Richard Castillo sparked outrage in Boyle Heights where the incident took place. Chief Moore himself described the video, which clearly shows that Castillo had followed Hernandez’s orders and was not resisting arrest, as “disturbing” during his conversation with Centro CSO outside of LAPD headquarters.

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By Tom Burke

March on the DNC meets with city of Milwaukee

Milwaukee, WI—The Coalition to March on the Democratic National Convention met with officials from the city of Milwaukee on May 21 to discuss the coalition’s permit and plan to protest. The goals of the coalition are to defeat President Trump and to advance a progressive people’s agenda, thus building stronger movements to challenge the Democratic Party. Lawyers for the Wisconsin ACLU arranged the meeting and led the discussions.

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By staff

Boyle Heights protest demands firing of killer cop Frank Hernandez.

Los Angeles, CA – On May 15, over 75 people came together outside of LAPD Hollenbeck Police Station in Boyle Heights to demand the firing of Officer Frank Hernandez and justice for Richard Castillo. After a neighbor released a video of Hernandez’s horrible attack on the defenseless Castillo, Centro CSO began organizing the protest and circulated a petition calling for the firing of Hernandez that’s now been signed by over 1600 people.

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By staff

1000 rally in Brunswick, Georgia demanding justice for Ahmaud Arbery

Brunswick, GA – Around 1000 people took to the streets of Brunswick, Georgia, May 16, to demand justice for Ahmaud Arbery, the young African American man murdered in late February by the racist vigilantes Gregory and Travis McMichael. Organized by a coalition of many organizations, protesters also demanded the resignation of State Attorneys Jackie Johnson and George Barnhill, both prosecutors who originally declined to press charges against the McMichaels for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.

#BrunswickGA #InJusticeSystem #PeoplesStruggles #AfricanAmerican #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #Antiracism #AhmaudArbery #GregoryAndTravisMcMichael #racistVigilante

By staff

Milwaukee, WI – Ryan Hamann, a Wisconsin Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) leader stated, “The Wisconsin Supreme Court – meeting virtually, I might add – voted 4-3 to strike down the 'safer-at-home' order. While this is disappointing, it is not a surprise. The judicial system, much like the government, is intricately tied to the wealthy business owners and their anti-people agenda. What it proves is that the ruling class in this state is willing to sacrifice the lives of the working class just to maintain a higher rate of profit.”

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By Ryan Hamann

Case brings up memories of the past police crimes

Cop involved in the death of Joel Acevedo has yet to be charged with a crime

Milwaukee, WI – Three weeks ago, on the morning of April 19, an off-duty Milwaukee Police Department (MPD) officer named Michael Mattioli was arrested for beating someone into an unresponsive state at a party hosted at his, the cop’s, house on Milwaukee’s South Side. Mattioli was booked at Milwaukee County Jail on tentative charges of first-degree reckless injury and strangulation. He was released on April 23 after posting the $50,000 cash bail. Mattioli was placed on administrative duties and formally suspended by MPD after his arrest. He has a court date set for June 10.

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