Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

In-Justice System

By Sol Márquez

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Los Angeles, CA – Eight months after the LAPD killing of Jose “Peruzzi” Mendez – the 16-year-old killed by LAPD, and four other police killings of young Chicanos in Boyle Heights, an Oct. 6 call-in day action was organized by Centro CSO.

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By staff

Lufkin, TX – Students at Angelina College (AC) held a rally and march to protest police crimes against the African American community on Oct. 5. The action began in front of the AC Student Center, with 20 students and faculty.

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By staff

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Los Angeles, CA – In front of media cameras and surrounded by family and supporters, Teresa Dominguez, the mother of Jesse Romero, demanded justice for her son. The Oct. 6 press conference announced the filing of a government claim against the City of Los Angeles and the LAPD for the killing of Romero. Lawyer Humberto Guizar pointed out that recently released videos contradict the police version of the killing. He blasted the LAPD for lying, saying that were was no way the police version can be truthful.

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By Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (CAARPR)

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 6 statement from the Chicago Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (CAARPR). Shame on City Hall as COPA Passes – Movement for CPAC Grows as Justice is Denied

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By Michela

New York, NY – The struggle is building to get justice for long time Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh as her defense attorneys and supports push back against new legal attacks.Odeh’s case began on Oct. 17, 2013 when federal agents arrested her on a trumped-up immigration charge, alleging she failed to disclose her arrest 40-plus years ago in Israel. When Odeh and her defense team headed to trial in November 2014, they presented the presiding federal judge, Gershwin A. Drain, with solid evidence that Odeh didn’t disclose her arrest on the 20-year-old immigration form because she was suffering from PTSD as a direct result of torture by the hands of the Israeli military. However, Judge Drain deemed the evidence inadmissible and Odeh was convicted on these charges.Odeh and her legal team didn’t give up. They pushed for an appeal and Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Judge Drain should have accepted the expert testimony concerning Odeh’s mental state.This Nov. 29, Judge Drain will assess arguments on whether Dr. Mary Fabri’s expert testimony is valid and scientifically sound to accept for the case. Dr. Fabri is a renowned psychologist who has worked closely with torture survivors.Prosecutors are making motions to “examine” Odeh before the Nov. 29 hearing. This move is an attempt to intimidate Odeh. A statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee notes, “Such an examination is irrelevant as to whether Dr. Fabri’s testimony is reliable and applicable. Nothing asked of Rasmea would change Dr. Fabri’s credentials as an internationally recognized expert on PTSD, or her ability to opine on how Rasmea’s PTSD affected her mental state during any of the dates in question.”The Rasmea Defense Committee is carrying out a major mobilization for the Nov. 29 hearing which will take place at the courthouse at 231 W. Lafayette Boulevard, in downtown Detroit, Michigan,

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By Michela

New York activists demand freedom for Leonard Peltier.

New York, NY – On Sept. 24, around 50 activist gathered in a Chinatown loft to organize, stand in solidarity and celebrate Chippewa activist and political prisoner, Leonard Peltier.

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By staff

Texas students protest killings by police

Arlington, TX – About 20 students and supporters marched through the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) campus during the noon hour, Sept. 21, carrying signs and chanting slogans against police brutality. The march was organized by Progressive Student Union.

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By Joe Iosbaker

Demands community control of the police

Bertha Escamilla of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression

Chicago, IL – This week, Charlotte, North Carolina, became the fourth city in the U.S. in the past two years to experience an uprising against the police murder of Black people. The rebellion in Charlotte is a response to the killing of Keith Scott, a father shot while waiting in his car for his son.

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By Noah Killough

Uprising in response to police killing in Charlotte, NC

Charlotte, NC – On the night of Sept. 21 protesters gathered in uptown Charlotte for the second night of militant protests after the murder of Keith Lamont Scott by Charlotte police (CMPD). Protesters called for the arrest of the officers involved and an end to police crimes in the city.

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By staff

San Jose, CA – After the police killing of two more Black men in Tulsa, Oklahoma and Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sept. 21, Masao Suzuki, chair of the Joint Nationalities Commission of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, condemned the epidemic of police crimes and urged people to build the movement.

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By Fabian Van Onzin

Students at the University of Houston protest against police brutality

Houston, TX – Over 30 students at the University of Houston participated in a protest against police brutality on Sept. 16. They began with a rally in front of the MD Anderson library on campus, with signs reading, “Black lives matter,” “End police brutality” and “Stop racist killer cops.”

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By staff

Minneapolis protest against deportation of Cambodian refugees.

Minneapolis, MN – A hundred people rallied in Minneapolis Sept. 14, calling for a stop to the deportation of several Twin Cities-area Cambodian (Khmer) refugees who have been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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By Ian Cox

Students making signs for Black Lives Matter rally at Angelina College.

Lufkin, TX – On Sept. 14, students at Angelina College painted a banner for a Black Lives Matter rally being organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

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By Jess Sundin

_#Attica45MN _

Minneapolis protest on anniversary of Attica rebellion

Minneapolis, MN – Over 75 people demonstrated in downtown Minneapolis Sept. 9 to mark the 45th anniversary of the Attica prison uprising. Community elder Rosemary Williams called together several groups to organize the event, including the Black Coalition for Restorative Justice and Community Defense, the Twin Cities Coalition for Justice for Jamar Clark, and the Twin Cities Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee. After rallying at the Hennepin County Government Center for some speeches, protesters hit the streets, taking over the light rail train tracks and several busy downtown streets. More speeches were delivered across the street at the county jail, and a few blocks away outside the Juvenile Detention Center.

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By staff

Rasmea Odeh

Detroit, MI – Defense attorneys for Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian American icon who was wrongfully convicted in a politically-motivated, federal immigration case, filed a motion yesterday in response to last week’s ruling by Judge Gershwin Drain that Rasmea would have to submit to up to 18 hours of a government expert’s examination of her mental state.

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By Meredith Aby

Burhan Mohumed

Minneapolis, MN – Burhan Mohumed, a Somali-American leader in the West Bank neighborhood of Minneapolis and a member of Minnesotans Against Islamophobia, was visited by law enforcement on July 22. Mohumed refused to speak to them and quickly posted the audio of their encounter online.

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By staff

Chicano Movement veterans Vicky Castro and Rey Andradeand others watch a film.

Los Angeles, CA – In Boyle Heights, on Monday night, Aug. 29, a 100 people, youth and veterans, gathered at the PUENTE Learning Center to celebrate the 46th Chicano Moratorium. Organized by Centro CSO, the event was energetic and empowering.

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By staff

Chicano Movement veterans Vicky Castro and Rey Andradeand others watch a film.

Los Angeles, CA – In Boyle Heights, on Monday night, Aug. 29, a 100 people, youth and veterans, gathered at the PUENTE Learning Center to celebrate the 46th Chicano Moratorium. Organized by Centro CSO, the event was energetic and empowering.

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By staff

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Detroit, MI – Rasmea Odeh, a survivor of vicious torture at the hands of the Israeli military, will be compelled to undergo hours of psychological evaluation by a government forensic examiner, according to a ruling by federal Judge Gershwin Drain. Drain cancelled a Sept. 22 hearing on the matter in Detroit, where supporters from across the Midwest had planned to join Odeh.

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By Redacción

Milwaukee, WI – La comunidad de Sherman Park protagonizó una rebelión parecida a la de Ferguson, después a cque un policía matara a un joven Afroamericano. El sábado 13 de agosto a las 3:30 pm, un oficial de la policía de Milwaukee mató a un joven de 23 años de edad, cerca de la intersección de la 44 St. y Auer Ave. Acusándolo de haber huido, inmediatamente después de lo ocurrido el departamento de policía emitió una declaración afirmando haber recuperado una pistola robada.

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