Chicago, IL – Two dozen prominent organizations and individuals have urged Gov. J. B. Pritzker in a letter to use “the powers of [his] office to provide long overdue justice to Gerald Reed.” Reed’s deteriorating health puts him at extreme risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has heart failure, and late last year while awaiting a new trial at Cook County jail he had a heart attack.

The National Prison Movement (Movimiento Nacional Carcelario) and other prisoner rights groups called a demonstration in Colombian prisons on March 21, to protest the lack of protection against the COVID-19 virus and the general lack of decent healthcare in the Colombian prisons. Twelve Colombian prisons answered the call for a ‘cacerolazo,’ a protest where one bangs on pots and pans to make enough noise so that the protest is heard.

Chicago, IL – In a statement delivered to Lori Lightfoot. March 13, 31 law professors from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University law schools are calling on the mayor to pass the Civilian Police Accountability Council, or CPAC, ordinance. CPAC would give communities in Chicago the democratic right to elect police accountability representatives with the power to control the Chicago Police Department (CPD), including having final say over discipline in misconduct cases and setting department policy.

Mass pressure and a mayor’s own greed stall a planned power grab

Chicago, IL – In true Chicago fashion, Mayor Lori Lightfoot had expected to easily ramrod through a police reform bill this week that would have affirmed her grip on power. If passed, the “Community Commission for Public Safety and Accountability” ordinance would have left the entire police accountability system in her control, rendering it at the discretion of the executive branch whether to hold itself accountable for abuses of power committed by its police department, rather than giving communities terrorized by police tyranny the power to defend their rights.

Los Angeles, CA – For nearly three years, activists have been trying to get Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey to open her doors to them. This morning, March 2, the front door to Lacey’s house was indeed opened, but with a gun pointed at the activists.

St. Louis Park, MN – Amy Klobuchar supporters couldn’t fill the gymnasium, March 1, at Saint Louis Park High School, even with the help of some 250 protesters demanding freedom for Myon Burrell, an innocent Black teen she sent to prison for life when she was the county district attorney. Myon Burrell’s family, the Racial Justice Network, Minneapolis NAACP, Black Lives Matter Twin Cities, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar, Communities United Against Police Brutality, and Black Lives Matter Minnesota called for community members to mobilize to protest at the Klobuchar rally, two days before the primary vote. For more than a month, they’ve been calling on Klobuchar to drop out of the race. Hours after the protest, she announced she’s doing just that.

Chicago, IL – In an attack on the human rights movement to stop police torture in Chicago, a Cook County judge ordered a torture survivor back to prison for life on February 14. In doing so, Judge Thomas Hennelly ignored irrefutable X-ray evidence of Gerald Reed’s torture at the hands of the infamous Jon Burge “midnight crew,” flouted the findings of the governor-appointed Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission – which affirmed Gerald’s claim of torture – and overturned the ruling of the judge formerly assigned to the case, who vacated Reed’s original conviction before retiring.

Minneapolis, MN – On Friday, February 28, activists will be making noise on Twitter and other social media platforms to demand freedom for Myon Burrell and urging voters to reject Amy Klobuchar, who is responsible for his wrongful conviction. The Twitterstorm is being initiated by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J) using the hashtags #FreeMyon and #NoAmyK to spread their message.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J).

Call Bolivian Ambassador

Call-In to save the life of Facundo Molares! Call Bolivian Ambassador Walter Oscar Serrate Cuellar at 202-483-4410 ex. 4 When: Tuesday, February 25, 2020 between 8 am and 4 pm Eastern time Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Committee To Free Facundo Molares.

Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a rally at the University of South Florida calling for justice and all victims of police brutality, highlighting Jamee Johnson, a Black man who was murdered by officers in Jacksonville. At the February 19 protest, about 15 students promoted the need for community control of the police through police accountability councils. They also demonstrated for their ongoing campaign to increase Black enrollment at USF.

Minneapolis, MN – When Minnesota Governor Tim Walz appeared at the University of Minnesota to reflect on his first year of governing, he was confronted by angry community members demanding that he call for the prosecutions of killer cops across the state. Family members of police murder victims were joined by Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar, UMN Students for a Democratic Society, SMASH students from Minneapolis South High School, and others.

Minneapolis, MN – Minnesota progressives are urging voters around the country to reject Democratic Party contender Amy Klobuchar.

San José, CA – On February 16, the San Jose Day of Remembrance held its 40th annual event with the second-highest attendance ever – more than 550 people. The event started in 1981 as part of the nationwide movement of Japanese Americans demanded redress (an official apology) and reparations (monetary compensation) for their incarceration during World War II.

Free him now!

Chicago, IL – The courtroom was packed February 14. This was my fourth Gerald Reed court hearing. Usually, there is a crowd of folks who show up to support Gerald and his mother, Armanda Shackleford, who has been fighting for her son since he was arrested, tortured and framed in 1990. Shackleford sits in the front row, wearing her Free Gerald Reed t-shirt. Together we sit for an hour, two hours, three, and hear powerful men debate the innocence of a man whose sentence was vacated a year ago.

Impeach Judge Thomas J. Hennelly

Fight Back! News Service is circulating the following statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, the Chicago Torture Justice Center, and Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition and Solidarity.

Minneapolis, MN – In response to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman’s decision to not press charges against the Richfield and Edina police officers who killed Brian Quiñones, the groups Justice for Brian Quiñones, Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar (TCC4J), the Racial Justice Network and others gathered for a spirited picket of Mike Freeman’s residence the evening of February 11.

Chicago, IL – The latest episode in the Jussie Smollett saga continues to unfold as the campaign to rid Cook County of the first honest, progressive, Black woman state’s attorney in county history, Kim Foxx, reaches lower and lower into the barrel of dirty tricks, a la Roger Stone and Donald Trump. And make no mistake about it: this is not about rooting out favoritism to the wealthy in the state’s attorney’s office, as cynically declared by Bill Conway, the billionaire Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) candidate running against her. It’s about getting rid of the first state’s attorney in Cook County history who has actually done something about crooked cops and prosecutors and freed their victims and survivors from unlawful prosecution and incarceration.

Facundo Molares Schoenfeld is an Argentinian photojournalist who was illegally arrested by the Bolivian dictatorship, and who is currently held in terrible conditions in a Bolivian prison. His life is in danger, as he does not receive adequate medical attention for a life-threatening condition.

Milwaukee, WI – People all across Canada, and even in some cities in the United States, are coming together to demonstrate solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en Nation in their fight against the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) pipeline and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) who serve at the whim of the energy corporations behind the project. Actions have been reported in at least six of Canada’s ten provinces.