Chicago activists act up, speak out on anniversary of FBI Raids
Chicago, IL – One year after the FBI raided two homes of well-known progressive leaders in Chicago, scores of supporters came together in two events to mark the anniversary.
News and Views from the People's Struggle
Chicago, IL – One year after the FBI raided two homes of well-known progressive leaders in Chicago, scores of supporters came together in two events to mark the anniversary.
_Protest on anniversary of FBI raids _
Minneapolis, MN – About 175 people, representing a broad section of the Twin Cities progressive movement, participated in a march and rally here, Sept. 24, to demand an end to government repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) is asking you to build the movement against political repression on the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 24, 2010 FBI raids on anti-war and international solidarity activists. We need your continued solidarity as we build movements for peace, justice and equality.
On Sept. 24, 2010 the FBI launched a series of coordinated raids against anti-war and international solidarity activists in the Midwest. More than 70 agents of the FBI, ATF and Joint Terrorism Task Force were involved. Also raided that day was the office of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee. In concert with the raids, the FBI made attempts to intimidate activists in California, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Fight Back! interviews Joe Iosbaker, the Chicago spokesperson for the United Anti War Coalition, on the protests that will coincide with the NATO/G8 Summit that is scheduled for May, 2012.
Now that ten years are passed since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, we would do well to look back and take note of some of the causes and consequences. We need to sum up and draw lessons. Immediately following the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon, the Bush administration began cynically manipulating events to launch an expansive and ongoing war on the peoples of the world and an escalating campaign of repression here at home under the guise of a ‘war on terror.’ This two-pronged approach to reasserting the power of the U.S. empire at the expense of working and oppressed people is continuing, and in some ways accelerating under the Obama administration.
West Allis, WI – Chance Zombor, of Freedom Road Socialist Organization speaking at huge September 3 counter protest against Nazi rally.
West Allis, WI – On Sept. 3, protesters converged on a planned rally put together by the Nazi ‘National Socialist Movement.’ The rally was planned in response to violence at the Wisconsin State Fair the previous month.
Milwaukee, WI – The fighting spirit of the people of Wisconsin can be seen once again this Sept. 3 as organizers from all over plan to confront a ‘white power’ Nazi demonstration at West Allis City Hall at 1:00 p.m.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the United National Antiwar Coalition
Activists demand: End attacks on anti-war activists – Money for human needs not war – Bring troops home now
Minneapolis, MN – More than 200 protesters met President Obama outside the Convention Center here, Aug. 30, where he spoke to a gathering of the American Legion. The demonstration was initiated by the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression and endorsed by a wide range of local progressive organizations.
Gainesville, FL – The Coalition to End the Meal Limits NOW scored a major victory for homeless and poor people’s rights here, Aug. 25, as the city commission unanimously voted to change the controversial meal limit ordinance imposed since 2008. The ordinance, which limited how many hungry people Saint Francis House could feed to 130 a day, was changed to allow everyone meals during a three-hour period. The poor and hungry will no longer be turned away from Saint Francis House while plenty of food remains simply because 130 people ate before them.
Los Angeles, CA – More than 60 people joined a spirited picket line here at the Criminal Courts Building, Aug. 12, to demand all charges against veteran Chicano leader and anti-war activist Carlos Montes be dropped. Montes previously appeared in Alhambra Court July 6, where he declared himself not guilty of six felonies relating to California’s firearm laws.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression:
The recession ain’t over yet, fears of a ‘double-dip’ rise
San José, CA – On July 29, the Commerce Department released its report on Gross Domestic Product or GDP for the Second Quarter (April to June) of 2011. GDP, which measures the value of goods and services produced in the United States, rose at only a 1.3% annual rate, much slower than most mainstream economists expected. Even worse, the First Quarter (January to March) economic growth was cut from an earlier estimate of 1.9% to just 0.4%.
*Fight Back News Service is circulating the following letter from U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) on the repression directed against anti-war and international solidarity activists.*
St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota government shutdown ended July 20 at 9:00 a.m., after Governor Mark Dayton signed a slew of budget bills – the biggest ones passed in the wee hours of that same morning. Many say that Gov. Dayton compromised too much and too soon, leaving poor and working people paying the price for the $5.2 billion budget deficit.
Detroit, MI – 60 people met at an African-American community center on July 16 to discuss the growing movement for the right to free speech, to organize and for civil liberties for all. The National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) organized the event titled, “Resisting Profiling, Preemptive Prosecution, and Prisoners Abuse – a hearing to confront repression of human rights and civil liberties by the criminal justice system.”
St. Paul, MN – Service Employee International Union (SEIU), Healthcare Minnesota and SEIU Minnesota State Council President Julie Schnell condemned the budget compromise reached July 14 by Governor Dayton and GOP legislative leaders.
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution that was adopted by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) Executive Board in July 2011. More statements supporting the anti-war, international solidarity and trade union activists under attack by the FBI can be seen at StopFBI.net.