Fight Back! interviewed Charlotte Kates, International Coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, on the fight to free Palestinian political prisoners in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We ask that all of our readers to support this important effort.

Fight Back News Service urges all our readers to support this event

Minneapolis, MN – In a press conference held by video on April 14, several immigrant rights organizations announced a week of action happening this week to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and elected officials at the state and county level take action now to free all immigrants held in ICE detention in the state.

New York, NY – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced last week that he has increased the maximum fines for not adhering to social distancing orders. Previously $500, the maximum fines suddenly jumped to $1000. The NYPD has also started arresting people for not social distancing, which New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio claims “is about educating people, helping them understanding the new reality.”

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice 4 Jamar (TCC4J).

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of people took their cars to Chicago’s jails and detention centers on Tuesday morning, April 7, to demand a mass release of incarcerated people in the city. Isolated from each other in their cars, they were united in their message: Jails, prisons and detention centers must be depopulated before the spread of COVID-19 turns them into death camps.

Tallahassee, FL – On March 20, Tallahassee Police Department Officer Zackri Jones killed 31-year-old Mychael Johnson. Mychael Johnson was the second person shot and killed by Jones, and the first since Lawrence Revell became chief of police in January. Revell’s nomination in November and his later appointment led to protests due to his killing of George Williams, a Black teenager, in September 1996.

Chicago, IL – Hundreds of prisoners at the Cook County Jail have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 6. Frank Chapman, the interim Executive Director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “Right now, the Cook County Jail is a death trap for the prisoners because it is overcrowded, and the prisoners can't practice social distancing. This jail must be depopulated at once to save lives.”

Interview with Frank Chapman

Frank Chapman, a long-time leader in the Black liberation movement, talks about the November 22- 24 Chicago conference to refound the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. The interview was prepared for the print edition of Fight Back! which is now on hold due to the pandemic.

Milwaukee, WI – A new date is being announced for the March on the Democratic National Convention: Monday, August 17. Organizers are going ahead with the march by discussing ways to make the protest safe and taking into account health guidelines. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the Democratic Party recently changed their dates, as they continue to discuss limiting participation at the convention.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

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).