Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 10 statement from the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS).

Kenosha, WI – When Cyntoia Brown’s case was brought forward to the media, there was a large public outcry for justice. How could a victim of human trafficking be imprisoned for killing her rapist and trafficker? Unfortunately, her case is not novel. Chrystul Kizer, a Milwaukee native, has been charged with multiple counts for defending herself against a sexual predator, Randall Volar III.

Kenosha, WI – Just in time for the new semester, Students for a Democratic Society at UW Parkside came out victorious in their gender neutral bathrooms campaign from the previous semester. Four bathrooms were converted on campus to support the trans and gender non-conforming community, a demand which some students have been proposing for several years.

Washington DC – The progressive Lebanese political party Hezbollah announced early September 9 that its military forces had shot down an Israeli Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) over Lebanon.

Macon, GA – Workers at the Kumho Tire factory in Macon, Georgia, voted to join the United Steelworkers (USW) union, September 7, nearly two years after the initial vote was marred by the company’s numerous violations of workers’ rights.

Arlington, TX – 60 people showed up at a protest organized by the Progressive Student Union (PSU) at the University of Texas at Arlington, September 4, against the Trump administration’s change to of policy on the detention of undocumented children.

Minneapolis, MN – A September 5 press conference at the offices of CAIR MN made public new information in the police murder of 23-year-old Isak Aden. Aden, a breadwinner and caregiver for his younger siblings and disabled grandmother, was surrounded on July 2 by 90 officers for four hours in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, before fatal shots were fired by five cops from the cities of Eagan and Bloomington.

Chicago, IL – Founded in 1973 as an organization that grew out of the movement to free the wrongfully imprisoned Angela Davis and other political prisoners, the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression is set to relaunch this November. This refounding, led by the Chicago Alliance against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) and other organizations, will be taking place in Chicago, Illinois on November 22-24 at the Chicago Teachers' Union Hall.

September 5, 1882

The huge procession began with 400 members of Bricklayers Union No. 6, all dressed in white aprons. They were followed by a band and then the members of the Manufacturing Jewelers union. The jewelers marched four abreast, wearing derby hats and dark suits with buttonhole bouquets. They all carried canes resting on their shoulders (similar to the way infantry officers carry swords when on parade.)

St. Paul, MN – “In 2017, the Trump administration awarded Elbit a contract to work on the expansion of the Mexico border wall. Elbit System’s CEO has said that the company’s current growth can be attributed to increased U.S. border spending,” said Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness. “This last decade has seen the international community divesting from Elbit, including the Norwegian State Pension Fund, Danske Bank. Governor Walz, we Minnesotans refuse to continue to profit from pain, injustice and tragedy at the hands of Elbit. We want you to do what Norway and Denmark did. Divest now!”

Caracas, Venezuela – President Nicolás Maduro spoke to labor delegates from 25 countries August 31. They were gathered at the 1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and its People. The conference consists of labor union delegations from nearly all of Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition, Jared Hamil and Gabriella Killpack, trade unionists and members of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), are participating.

Chicago, IL – On the afternoon of August 28, members of Students for a Democratic Society and AnakBayan Chicago, at the University of Illinois at Chicago, passed out flyers on the quad to oppose the partnership that the university has with the CIA. SDS members held a banner reading “CIA off campus,” the slogan that has been used in past decades by student activists around the country in similar campaigns. Protesters held signs each detailing a different CIA operation and the number of deaths it caused.

In a video released on August 29, 2019, Iván Márquez, former lead peace negotiator for the FARC-EP in the peace talks in Havana, Cuba, announced that a sector of the FARC party (name of the successor party to the FARC-EP that was founded after the signing of the peace agreement in 2016) were returning to the armed struggle under the banner of the revolutionary guerrilla organization the FARC-EP (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia- Ejército del Pueblo). Iván Márquez read the FARC-EP’s new manifesto dressed in military fatigues surrounded by armed companions, including the famous FARC-EP commanders El Paisa and Jesús Santrich. The manifesto was read by Márquez with large, colorful FARC-EP banners in the background, and was filmed in the Inírida forest that is in a remote area of Colombia that borders both Brazil and Venezuela.

Caracas, Venezuela – The Freedom Road Socialist Organization's trade union delegation arrived in Caracas, Venezuela for the “1st International Meeting of Workers in Solidarity with the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, its Government and Its People,” starting on August 29.

Washington, DC – Israel launched a drone attack in Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh, August 24, targeting the media offices of the national democratic political party Hezbollah. Lebanese politicians denounced the attacks as “acts of war,” and Hezbollah stated it will respond.

Los Angeles, CA – A commemoration event honoring the 1970 Chicano moratorium will take place in Boyle Heights, Thursday, August 29, 6 to 9 p.m., at Self Help Graphics, 1300 E. First Street, Los Angeles.

St. Paul, MN – On August 24, protesters shut down a light rail train, blocked traffic and shut down the main entrance to the Minnesota State Fair. The protesters demanded justice for victims of killer cops, an end to ICE raids, concentration camps and family separation, and an end to deadly U.S. interventions and blockades against foreign countries. Trump supporters and racists heckled, filmed and attacked the protesters, but failed to block the protesters’ message, and no serious injuries occurred.

Washington, DC – Five instances of company discipline and unjust terminations of International Association of Machinists (IAM) members at Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner manufacturing facility in North Charleston, South Carolina have been found to be acts of unlawful retaliation against employees for their support of the union, a regional director for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) informed the IAM, on August 19.

Los Angeles, CA – On August 23, over 70 people, including the family of Paul Rea, gathered for a memorial. 18-year-old Rea was shot and killed by East Los Angeles Sheriffs on June 27, after a minor traffic infraction. The East LA sheriff's station is currently under FBI investigation. Since 2014, there have been lawsuits against and reports that there is a Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department gang called Los Bandidos. Additionally, East LA sheriffs have a long history of brutalizing and murdering Chicanos.