News and Views from the People's Struggle
Minneapolis, MN – On Thursday, October 2, organizers from four cities reported on the government’s attempt to occupy their cities and streets since June and how people are continuing to resist and win.
Washington, D.C. – Over 100 activists, faith leaders and immigrants mobilized in the early morning of October 8 at City Hall in downtown DC, to call for an end to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s cooperation with ICE and the Trump administration’s racist occupation.
West Chicago, IL – Hundreds of protesters marched through West Chicago on the morning of Saturday, October 4 to denounce ICE’s attacks on Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, referred to by the Trump regime as “Operation Midway Blitz.”
Demonstrators had planned to converge at a local gas station before rallying at the Mayor’s office, but ICE attacked the gathering activists shortly before 9 a.m., pepper spraying three members of the group who intervened when ICE took two men who were at the gas station.
Portland, OR – On Saturday, October 4, 400 people rallied at Elizabeth Caruthers Park and marched to the ICE detention center in Southwest Portland.
The event was organized by Portland Contra las Deportaciones (PDXCD), Portland for Palestine (P4P), Tesla Takedown, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) to protest against the imminent deployment of National Guard troops into the streets of Portland. The troops are supposed to protect the Portland ICE facility.
Chicago, IL – On September 30, 1500 Chicagoans marched down Magnificent Mile to protest Trump’s threats of using the city as a military training ground. This past week has seen the effects of Operation Blitz in full force, with heavy presence of ICE and other federal agents conducting deportations. Trump’s speech to top U.S. generals the same day showed he intends to escalate the federal occupation with the military.
New Orleans. LA – On Wednesday October 1, a powerful group of about 100 people gathered in front of the Hale Boggs Federal building in downtown New Orleans to denounce Governor Jeff Landry’s request for 1000 National Guard personnel.
The New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression called the emergency protest immediately upon hearing the news which broke Monday night around 9 p.m. The No Troops, No Trump coalition, which consists of about a dozen partner organizations, sprang into action to endorse and hit the streets.
Washington, DC – Over 100 community members, activists and organizers mobilized on September 30, in response to 14 racist bills Congress is trying to pass that strip DC of political power and attack Black youth.
This week, the Senate votes on HR 4922 – DC Crimes Act, HR 5143 – District of Columbia Juvenile Sentencing Reform Act, and HR 5125 – District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Reform Act. These bills aim to further criminalize homelessness, repeal local laws banning police from high-speed car chases, remove the ability for judges to sentence youth offenders below the mandatory minimum, lower the age of eligibility for juveniles to be tried as adults in D.C. for certain violent offenses from 16 years to 14 years of age, and so much more.
San José, CA – On Wednesday, October 1, the federal government began a partial shutdown at 12:01 a.m. About 750,000 federal workers will be furloughed and sent home without pay. About 400,000 will continue to work without pay, while more than 800,000 will continue to work with pay, of which three-quarters do military-related work. Those who are furloughed and work without pay will be paid when the shutdown ends.
Portland, OR – On September 28, hundreds of protesters gathered in front of the Portland ICE facility to stand against Trump’s deployment of federal troops to Portland. The protest was called by Portland Contra Las Deportaciones (PDXCD) in collaboration with other groups such as Portland for Palestine, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and PDX ICE Watch.
Appleton, WI – On September 14, several dozen people gathered at Appleton’s Houdini Plaza in a demonstration denouncing Trump, ICE and the invasion of our cities, including the deployment of the military in Los Angeles, the National Guard in Washington DC, and the proposed deployment of the national guard to Chicago.
Chicago, IL – On September 6, 8000 Chicagoans rallied and marched downtown to demand that no federal troops be deployed in the city.
The demonstration, led by the Coalition Against the Trump Agenda (CATA) in partnership with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), showed broad opposition to the incoming illegal military occupation and made clear that Chicagoans are not afraid to exercise their democratic right to resist.
Washington, D.C. — On Friday, September 5, over 30 activists and community members assembled in Washington, D.C. 's Navy Yard neighborhood for a “mass cop watch” organized by the DC Against Trump Agenda (DCAT) coalition.
This cop watch is just one of many actions that the coalition has organized in weeks since President Trump declared that he would be federalizing DC’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and deploying the National Guard to the city.
Austin, TX – On Thursday, September 4, around 70 students gathered outside the UT Tower to protest Trump’s bigoted and reactionary agenda. The protest was organized by Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as a part of a National Day of Action.
“We’re out here to demand protection for immigrants here at UT and in Texas, and also in acknowledgement that Trump wants to turn the whole country into Texas,” SDS member Daniel Ramirez said, in reference to Trump’s attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion and multicultural programs. “We can’t stand alone in this fight, and we’re proud to kick off this semester standing in solidarity with students all over the country in the fight against Trump.”
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization condemns President Trump’s outrageous attacks upon Venezuela and President Maduro. Trump claims he had the U.S. Navy attack a boat and that eleven Venezuelans were killed. Assuming it so, it is another in a long list of violent attacks by the U.S. against the independent country of Venezuela and its leadership.
The loss of innocent Venezuelan lives with no investigation, evidence, or trial is shameful. It is an act of war. The U.S. needs to seek peace and friendship, not war and intervention.
This time Trump mobilized multiple U.S. Navy missile ships, 4000 marines and sailors, and a nuclear-powered submarine. In response, masses of Venezuelans flocked to join the people’s militias in their communities and at their jobs. The militias are a reserve force of citizen soldiers, the eyes and ears of the revolution, trained under the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela (FANB) to defend their homeland.
While Trump’s attacks are dangerous, the past U.S. provocations and repeated coup attempts against both President Chavez and President Maduro have failed again and again. Instead of hurting the Bolivarian Revolution, the U.S. interventions strengthen it.
The Bolivarian Revolution emerged out of the Venezuelan armed forces, under the leadership of high-ranking military officers sickened by corruption and thievery of the nation’s resources. It spread among working people, farmers and the poor. It is a democratic revolution with broad participation. It is based on the idea that Venezuela belongs to the masses of Venezuela, instead of rich elites who serve U.S. oil companies and Wall Street capitalists.
Ever since Comandante Hugo Chavez won the presidency in 1999, the U.S. has harassed, sanctioned and violently attacked Venezuela. Trump is now intensifying these attacks against the former bus driver and union leader President Nicolas Maduro. The whole world sees the lies and slander of Trump and his media kooks. None of it is worth repeating.
President Maduro continues to build and develop an independent and sovereign Venezuela benefiting the people instead of Wall Street capitalists and U.S. oil corporations. The leadership is provided by the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), which recently won elections in all but one state. The Bolivarian Revolution has broad support, and people’s participation is reaching an all-time peak due to U.S. threats.
As Venezuela builds a new society, a new economy for the people, with steady economic growth for the past couple of years, we can see what it is that Wall Street fears. As the U.S. empire continues to decline at a rapid pace, Trump fears the example of Venezuela. He can try to bully Maduro and Venezuela’s leadership, but it isn’t working. So now the U.S. is escalating toward missile attacks and threatening an invasion.
The FRSO stands in solidarity with President Maduro, the PSUV and the Bolivarian revolution! No to U.S. attacks and war! Bring the U.S. warships and Marines home now!
#Venezuela #Imperialism #AntiWarMovement #International #Trump #InternationalSolidarity
Milwaukee, WI – On Wednesday, September 3, students gathered at the Maryland Street Bridge on the UWM campus, demanding an end to the Trump administration’s attacks on students, DEI initiatives and educational funding. The event was part of an SDS national day of action.
Led by members of the UW-Milwaukee chapter of Students for a Democratic Society (UWM SDS), the banner drop was a response to the ongoing cuts to education, cuts to multicultural and inclusivity programs, and constant student repression by the UWM administration.
As students were about to unfurl the banner around noon, they were confronted by a known administrative agitator part of the Dean of Students Office. Despite her insistence that the students and SDS members were breaking so-called “campus free speech regulations,” the students stood their ground against the intimidation.
SDS chair Chris Van Valkenberg demanded to see what rules they were actually breaking, stating that “unless you can prove we broke any rules, we will continue with the banner drop whether you like it or not.” While debating with the administrator about the legality of the banner drop, students discovered many of these campus freedom of speech policies were added recently by the university administration without notifying the student body. After the brief stand-off, the official could not find any rules that the students were breaking and retreated, and the banner drop continued successfully.
UWM SDS has been fighting consistent attacks on and harassment of its members by the university administration. Students pushing for university acknowledgement of the genocide in Palestine, and who are calling to fix the imbalance of power the university holds over its students, have been suspended, banned from campus, put on disciplinary probation, stalked by administrative officials, and harassed daily by those same officials.
As the Trump administration’s attacks on students continue to grow, students have felt the pressure of this through a losses of educational funding, satellite campuses, research funds, DEI programs, and overall student safety. These losses, combined with an increase in campus police presence and intimidation, strict campus free speech laws targeting student activism, and purposefully deregistering and suspending any detracting student organizations, are a call to action for all students on UWM’s campus to call for its administration to end its complicity with Trump’s anti-education and anti-student policies.
La Comisión Afroamericana de la Organización Socialista Camino de la Libertad condena la ocupación de Washington D.C. por parte de Trump, quien desplegó a la Guardia Nacional y a la policía federal en las calles de DC. Durante la conferencia de prensa del lunes en la que anunció su decisión, Trump invocó la Sección 740 de la Ley de Autonomía de D.C., que permite al gobierno federal tomar control directo de la Policía Metropolitana de DC. En su conferencia, Trump habló de darle a la policía de DC el poder de hacer “ lo que se les diera la gana”
Washington DC, una ciudad en el borde superior del Cinturón Negro, tiene una gran población negra, con la comunidad negra representando el 43% de la ciudad según el censo anterior. La gente de DC ha sido víctima durante mucho tiempo de la falta de autonomía en sus propios asuntos democráticos y de la falta de representación democrática negra en el Congreso. Las demandas sobre la estadidad de DC han sido planteadas y apoyadas por diversos sectores del Movimiento de Liberación Negra, con legislación como la HR 51 estancadas en el Congreso durante años.
La Comisión Afroamericana de la OSCL ve esta ocupación como una escalada en la agenda de terror policial de Trump y una herramienta flagrante de opresión nacional. Si en 2020, los ataques de Trump contra los manifestantes de Las Vidas Negras Importan en DC para una sesión de fotos fue un ensayo general de cómo se vería el terror policial desatado, este podría ser potencialmente el acto de apertura. Esta no es la amenaza del terror policial abierto. Este es el impulso de Trump hacia su implementación.
No podemos ignorar los otros ataques de Trump al Movimiento de Liberación Negra durante su presidencia de 2024. La orden ejecutiva de Trump contra la Ley de George Floyd busca expandir el estado policial y carcelero. Desde federalizar a la policía local para que sean agentes de ICE hasta ocupar Los Ángeles con tropas de la Guardia Nacional, el gobierno de Trump está avanzando en su agenda rápidamente, y esta es otra provocación extrema. La ocupación de Washington DC debe verse como un ataque directo al Movimiento de Liberación Negra y a lo que se ganó con sacrificio y lucha. Estos ataques continuarán y se extenderán a otras ciudades, y la gente tendrá que defenderse. Trump entiende el poder que tiene nuestro movimiento y está haciendo todo lo posible para evitar nuestro avance.
En este momento en Texas, el gobernador derechista Greg Abbott y su legislatura de derecha buscan eliminar más distritos congresionales negros con una manipulación racista de los distritos electorales, un plan de ataque que estados como Florida, junto con Alabama, buscan imitar.
Desde los intentos de implementar aún más impunidad policial en DC, hasta eliminar la representación política negra en Texas, estos ataques están todos conectados, y nosotros nos oponemos a ellos. La Comisión Afroamericana de la OSCL continúa apoyando la demanda del control comunitario de la policía y vemos las acciones de Trump como opuestas directamente a esas demandas, poniendo la vigilancia policial de las comunidades negras directamente bajo su control. Hacemos un llamado a todas las fuerzas del Movimiento de Liberación Negra para que se opongan a estos ataques contra los derechos democráticos de la comunidad negra. Debemos unir a todos los que puedan ser unidos contra la agenda supremacista blanca de Donald Trump.
¡Alto a la ocupación de DC!
¡Estadidad para DC ahora!
¡Derrotemos la agenda racista de Trump!
Tampa, FL – On Tuesday September 2, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society held a protest on 50th and Fowler Avenue against Trump and his policies as part of the National Day of Action called by National Students for a Democratic Society. The event had slogans such as “No deportations,” “Protect cultural groups” and “Stop Trump’s agenda.”
Students spoke up against Trump’s attacks on the student body and education, as they chanted to passing cars and passersby. Standing opposite the University of South Florida, they spoke on how the University is enabling Trump’s attacks, as they are willingly tying USFPD with ICE through the 278(g) program. This program allows USF police to profile and detain international students and immigrants the same as an ICE officer would.
International student and SDS member Joseph Charry said: “Many students have already had their visa revoked by the university, and we’re gonna continue to see these deportations from the university, guided by Trump, unless we stand up and fight back!”
Other topics included the shutdown of cultural programs and clubs because of a 50% funding cut by the university’s administration, due to Governor DeSantis and Trump’s agenda to remove diversity, equity and inclusion from education.
SDS Member Dhanvi Patel spoke about it saying: “We demand funding for our cultural groups, increased enrollment and scholarships for Black students, and protect and expand ethnic studies departments. We demand a sanctuary campus now!”
The message clearly resonated with students passing by, as cars honked in support and a group of students stopped by to give the protesters popsicles and water to help against the heat.
Washington, DC – As the occupation enters its third week, on Wednesday afternoon, September 3, the DC Against Trump Coalition (DCAT) gathered in front of the Wilson Building, home to the mayor’s office and city council, to protest Mayor Muriel Bowser’s latest capitulation to the Trump administration.
Organized in less than 24 hours, DCAT mobilized 50 people to respond to an executive order signed by the mayor that will indefinitely allow local police forces to cooperate with federal law enforcement. This move represents the latest concession to the Trump administration, which ordered the National Guard into the city three weeks ago.
Protesters made their voices heard inside City Hall as they chanted, “We don’t need collaboration, end this racist occupation!” City Hall employees later confirmed that the crowd was heard loudly enough inside the building to disrupt meetings, and that Mayor Bowser was in the building.
“The DC Against Trump Coalition was built to fight back against Trump’s racist occupation of DC,” Merawi Gerima, emcee and member of the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, stated, “and now we see that also means fighting back against Mayor Bowser who is committed to rolling out the red carpet for him and his cronies.”
“DC police agencies are now hooking up with federal [law enforcement] agencies,” said Paige White, DCAARPR member and a leader of the DC Lawyers Against Trump Coalition, “and these federal agencies don’t actually know anything about policing. They don’t know anything about the Fourth Amendment, they don’t know anything about your Miranda Rights, and they certainly don’t want to protect them.”
Attendees were heard by police and politicians inside and outside the building, chanting, “Racist, coward, crooked, cops, get a fucking real job!” and “Bowser and Trump, sitting in a tree, attacking and terrorizing kids in DC!” before marching across the street to wave signs and chant as cars passed by.
“I get it from both sides. I am Black and an immigrant,” stated a protester who has become a regular figure at DCAT actions with a “Fuck ICE/Gestapo ICE 2025” banner mounted on poles. “I was scared at first, but then I realized I have to fight for my people who cannot. I will not be silent and allow the Trump occupation to do whatever it wants!”
DCAT’s next action is a Mass Cop Watch on Friday, September 5 at Navy Yard Metro at 7 p.m.
#WashingtonDC #DC #BlackLivesMatter #ImmigrantRights #Trump #InJusticeSystem #DCAT #DCAARPR #DCLAT
Fight Back! News is circulating the following statement from the New Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Illinois Chicago (New SDS at UIC).
We are calling on students and youth from the Chicagoland area to attend the Progressive Student Conference on Saturday, September 13th from 12pm-4pm at the Chicago Teachers Union Hall (1901 W Carroll Ave).
The conference will bring together student and youth groups from various areas of the movement to talk about lessons and ongoing struggles under the reactionary Trump administration. From Black liberation, Palestine/Filipino solidarity, fights to defend and fund education and cultural centers/studies, labor on campus, and much more!
Since it has taken power, the Trump administration has brought down heavy attacks on the people of Chicago. It has continued to greenlight the genocide in Gaza, find ways to conduct mass deportation in sanctuary cities, and committed to “strengthening and unleashing” police against black communities. Chicago politicians and followers of Trump’s agenda have tried to overturn Chicago’s welcoming city ordinance, restrict free speech on campus, and continue to criminalize black youth with racist curfews.
The attacks on the people of Chicago are heightening. Trump has promised the deployment of the National Guard, and increased ICE raids in the city.
Trump’s particular hatred for Chicago is a reaction to the progress that has been made over the past decades. But in Chicago these things were not charitably brought down to us. It came about through people getting organized, demanding, and fighting back. This same strategy will be used to defend what we have won, and fight back against the Trump agenda!
Students and youth play an important role in fighting back. Our education, our democratic rights, and our futures are under attack. An occupation of the city is on its way.
As society becomes more and more hostile, our action is powerful and necessary to building a better future!
Register for the conference here.
Come out to the Progressive Student Conference!
Build the student movement against Trump!
Denver, CO – On Monday, September 1, over 1000 protesters assembled at the Colorado State Capitol for a Labor Day march. The march was part of nationwide mobilization entitled “Workers over Billionaires!” and was organized by a broad coalition of organizations including the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Denver Anti-War Action, Colorado Education Association, and Colorado 50501.
The program began with speeches from several labor organizers on the power of organizing.
“In 2023, we launched the biggest contract campaign in decades,” said Katherine Draken, a rank-and-file UPS Teamster and member of Teamsters for a Democratic Union, “And we won! We were ready to go on strike and UPS knew it. We got rid of the two-tier system, and we got the biggest wage increase ever!”
After the speeches, the 1000-plus crowd took to the streets and marched to the Denver Federal Immigration Court, where ICE has been kidnapping immigrants who show up for court check-ins. Along the march, the crowd chanted “What’s disgusting? Union busting!” and “When immigrant rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!” Then, the crowd marched back to the capitol building and heard speeches from more organizers.
The crowd then took the streets for a second march, this time to the mansion of Colorado Governor Jared Polis. Polis, a Democrat, has faced criticism for not standing up against the Trump administration. In one example, he even had Colorado law enforcement agencies collaborate with ICE, in violation of a state law against such collaboration.
“Governor Polis's administration betrayed its commitment to the immigrant community by pressuring officials to unlawfully share private data with ICE. This action undermines state privacy laws and erodes trust in public institutions meant to serve and protect all residents. We can't allow our community to be attacked by those in power, the community must fight back and take back power!” said Brandon Gehrke of Aurora Unidos CSO.
#DenverCO #CO #Labor #ImmigrantRights #Trump #NoKings #LaborDay #DAWC #CEA #50501 #CSO