Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

In-Justice System

By Gabe Miller

Chicago Palestine solidarity movement stands up to repression. | Fight Back! News/Alec Ozawa

Chicago, IL – Thousands of protesters took Michigan Avenue, Saturday afternoon, April 20 and marched to demand an end to U.S. funding for Israeli genocide in Palestine.

Led by the Coalition for Justice in Palestine, this was the 32nd mass mobilization since October 7 and demonstrated that people of Chicago are not intimidated by recent police escalation and repression in Chicago and across the country.

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By staff

Chicago protest demands justice for Dexter Reed. | Fight Back! News/Alec Ozawa

Chicago, IL – On April 18, the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, alongside other organizations in the Black liberation movement, called a rally at Chicago Police Department Headquarters ahead of the police board meeting to demand that the five officers who fired 96 shots and murdered Dexter Reed, Jr. be fired, indicted and convicted.

200 activists and supporters from all corners of the movement in Chicago, from torture survivors to family members of those killed by police violence, as well as those from the Palestinian liberation movement, converged on CPD HQ to make clear to the powers that be that Chicagoans will no longer stand for police terror.

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By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from University of Central Florida Students for a Democratic Society.

On April 1 , UCF Students for a Democratic Society was informed that the Office of Student Conduct and Academic Integrity was moving forward with charging one of its members with several violations of student conduct in addition to filing legal charges for criminal mischief, in response to pro-Palestine activism.

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On March 27, 2024, in a blatant violation of free speech, Meta removed the Freedom Road Socialist Organization’s national Facebook page and restricted the national FRSO Instagram account. Meta’s actions are a direct attempt to silence FRSO’s vocal support of the Palestinian cause in general and of Palestinian women in particular.

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By Tavish Bryan

Cavon Riley speaks against the injustice dealt to his father at the press conference held by TCAC and FRSO. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tallahassee FL – On Wednesday, April 10 people held a press conference outside City Hall and rallied the community in defense of Calvin Riley – a Black man jailed for DUI despite body camera footage showing Tallahassee Police Department officer Kiersten Oliver planting evidence in his vehicle.

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By staff

New Orleans residents at town hall meeting on police accountability at Treme Rec Center. | Fight Back! News/staff

New Orleans, LA – On Tuesday, April 9, around 100 community members filed into the gymnasium of the Treme Recreational Center for a People’s Town Hall on Policing. The town hall meeting, hosted by New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police (NOCOP), interviewed New Orleans Police Department Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick. The superintendent is the local equivalent of a chief of police. Community members spent the town hall voicing their anger with police crimes, abuses of power, civil rights violations, and lack of transparency.

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By staff

Los Angeles protest demands justice for Christian Escobedo. | Fight Back! News/staff

Los Angeles, CA – On April 11, the family of Christian Escobedo continued their fight for justice as they pursue accountability for his tragic murder on January 14, 2018 by LAPD Officer Edward Artiaga from the Hollenbeck Division.

Six years after Escobedo’s murder, there are court hearings for his family’s civil lawsuit against Officer Artiaga, a display of the unwavering determination of his loved ones.

In 2018, Escobedo, a 22-year-old Chicano, was walking home at 6:30 a.m. with a friend when they stopped to rest on the sidewalk for a moment. LAPD arrived and shot him four times without provocation. With the support of Centro CSO, a community organization that fights against police crimes in East LA and Boyle Heights, Escobedo's family began organizing to demand accountability.

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By staff

Jacksonville rally follows arrest of killer cop.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Jacksonville, FL – Jacksonville Community Action Committee along with other organizations rallied at City Hall on Wednesday, April 3, after two-time-killer cop and serial brutalizer and former JSO officer Josue Garriga was arrested by Clay County Sheriff’s office. Garriga was caught engaging in unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Josue Garriga had been involved in the death of FAMU student Jamee Johnson and most recently was involved in the brutal beating of Le’Keian Woods.

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By David Pulido

FPD body cam footage from the night they murdered Alejandro Campos Rios.

Fullerton, CA – On March 6, Fullerton Police Department (FPD) killed Alejandro Campos Rios with bean bag projectiles and a taser. Age 50 and homeless, Rios was dancing and apparently under the influence but not posing any threat. One officer fired a taser while another shot five bean bag shotgun rounds at Rios, who collapsed bleeding and clutching his body. Rios was pronounced dead after arriving at a hospital.

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By Lo Cross

Members of the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression \[MAARPR\] protest at the headquarters of police union.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Milwaukee, WI – On March 29, Judge Brittany Grayson issued a ruling regarding the Milwaukee Police Association’s (MPA) case against the city of Milwaukee over Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) 575. Judge Grayson denied the city of Milwaukee’s motion to dismiss the MPA’s case against SOP 575, but she also ruled against the MPA’s argument that the Fire and Police Commission violated state law or the collective bargaining agreement. The MPA failed to produce the necessary evidence to justify their argument.

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