Florida

Tallahassee Demands Release Of US Citizen Illegally Detained By ICE

April 19, 2025 Cas Casanova, Fight Back! News. Resist! Florida, Kidnapping, Legal System, Trump Administration

Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, April 16, about 75 community members rallied at the Leon County Jail to demand the immediate release of Juan Carlos Lopez-Gomez, a U.S. citizen illegally detained by ICE. The emergency mobilization was called by the Tallahassee Immigrant Rights Alliance (TIRA). Lopez-Gomez, who lives in Georgia and works in Tallahassee, was detained by Florida Highway Patrol during a traffic stop after crossing state lines Wednesday morning. Despite presenting his U.S. birth certificate to the court, ICE formally requested that Lopez-Gomez be held in jail for pickup and processing, superseding Leon County Judge LaShawn Riggans’s assessment that the birth certificate was in fact legitimate.

FSU Students Crash President McCullough’s Ice Cream Social

April 6, 2025 Fight Back! News. Resist! Diversity, Florida, Free Speech, Higher Education

Tallahassee, FL – On Thursday, April 3, Students for a Democratic Society crashed the FSU president’s ice cream social, demanding answers about the university's subservience to President Trump’s and Governor Desantis’ attacks on DEI initiatives and free speech. Four members of SDS approached President Richard McCullough with a banner reading “Fight Trump and the GOP agenda! Stand with Palestine! Stop attacks on immigrants! Defend women’s and LGBTQ+ rights!” After waiting in line for ice cream, SDS member JJ Glueck was refused service by McCullough. The president hid behind student volunteers upon seeing SDS.

Jacksonville SDS Rallies Against Israeli Soldiers On Campus

March 30, 2025 Fight Back! News. Resist! Campus Movement, Florida, Israel, Israeli Occupying Forces, Palestine, Student Activism

Jacksonville, FL – On March 27, Jacksonville Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) rallied dozens of students to protest a speaking event which brought two Israeli occupation forces (IOF) troops to the University of North Florida. The soldiers were on campus to justify their war crimes in Gaza during the first wave of the accelerated genocide. The Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network (JPSN) co-sponsored the protest, and several other student and community organizations were in attendance. The rally took place outside the UNF Student Union, where the speaking event was being held.

Florida’s Union-Busting Regime: A Report From The Front Lines

March 20, 2025 Jenn Powell, Labor Notes. Strategize! Florida, union busting, Unions, Worker Rights and Jobs

Organizing in the South has always been challenging, and Florida’s latest union-busting legislation has only made it harder. Public sector unions had successfully fought off these attacks for years, but the tide turned in May 2023. The new law imposed severe restrictions: requiring public sector unions to maintain 60 percent membership, banning payroll dues deductions, and mandating a cumbersome four-page membership form. Notably, police, fire, and corrections unions were exempt. We left the State Capitol before the ink was dry and returned home to start organizing.

Queer Students Fight Back; LGBTQ+ Housing Restored!

February 20, 2025 Fight Back! News. Resist! Florida, Higher Education, LGBTQ Rights, Student Activism

At the start of the Spring 2025 semester, FSU Admin secretly axed LGBTQ+ Housing – which provides much needed accommodations to transgender and queer students living on campus without communicating their decision to any students, or even the Inter-Residence Hall Council (IHRC). This comes amid escalating attacks on the rights and autonomy of queer and trans people by the reactionary Trump administration and the ruling Florida Republican Party. As soon as the student body found out, Tallahassee SDS and other student organizations, including the IHRC and Pride Student Union, condemned FSU Admin for putting queer students in danger by removing this program which was meant to protect them from being forced into potentially unsafe gender-segregated living arrangements that don’t align with their gender.

A Public Model For Home Insurance

January 20, 2025 Moira Birss and MacKenzie Marcelin, Dissent Magazine. Create! Extreme weather, Florida, Housing, Insurance, Public ownership

With every extreme weather event, housing is damaged and belongings are lost. Insurance is supposed to be the safety net that helps people to recover and restart their lives. But as major disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and hailstorms increase in frequency and severity thanks to climate change, more insurance companies are cutting back on policies, jacking up premium rates, or refusing to cover whole areas of the country. This change is leaving people who live in affected homes—including everything from single-family houses to multifamily rental buildings—facing financial hardship and even homelessness, among other ruinous consequences.

The New College Gambit

December 9, 2024 Kathryn Joyce, In These Times. Educate! Florida, Free Speech, Higher Education, Right wing politics

Ever since Jan. 6, 2023, when DeSantis appointed a series of right-wing activists to New College’s board of trustees with the mission to transform Florida’s weirdest, queerest public college into a “Hillsdale of the South” — emulating the Michigan Christian school known for its conservative “classical education” and hard-right politics—it was clear the takeover was meant to be a model. Nearly two years later — after interviews with current and former New College students, faculty and staff, extensive research of news and academic reports, firsthand reporting and numerous documents shared with In These Times—there’s no simple answer as to whether they’ve succeeded.

NAARPR Southern Region Organizing Conference Day One

December 8, 2024 Kristen Bonner, Fight Back! News. Organize! Anti-Racism, Florida, National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), Police, Political repression

Jacksonville, FL – On Friday evening, December 6, the air was electric as the inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference (SROC) of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR) kicked off with a rally outside Café Resistance. Over 200 attendees gathered to connect, reflect and prepare for the intensive days ahead. Florida State Representative Angie Nixon welcomed attendees to the venue, which serves as a hub for activists and community-building in Jacksonville. In light of the recent Trump victory, Nixon remarked that it is up to us to, “keep up the fight. We gotta get back to the basics: Grassroots organizing.”

University Of South Florida Workers Lose Union And Rights

November 18, 2024 Simon Rowe, Fight Back! News. Educate! Anti-Labor, Florida, Higher Education, Tampa, Unions, University Workers, Worker Rights and Jobs

Tampa, Florida – On October 2, 355 University of South Florida (USF) employees discovered they would no longer be working for the state of Florida. Instead, beginning on December 1, custodial, groundskeeping and maintenance workers have a choice to work for a private dining and facilities contractor, Compass Group, or else find another job. In 2023, Senate Bill 256 passed in the state of Florida. SB 256 is among the most anti-union labor laws in the country and effectively decertifies any unionized bargaining unit in the public sector that does not meet a bar of at least 60% dues-paying membership.

Uhuru 3 File For Judgment Of Acquittal In Free Speech Case

October 30, 2024 Fight Back! News. Resist! Black Liberation, Florida, Free Speech, Political repression, Russia, Tampa, Uhuru 3, Uhuru Solidarity Movement, Victory

On Thursday, October 10, Attorney Leonard Goodman filed a post-trial motion on behalf of the Uhuru 3 – Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel – asking Judge William Jung for a “judgment of acquittal on the conspiracy charge” or a new trial on that charge. In September’s contradictory verdict, the Uhuru 3 were found not guilty of acting as unregistered agents of the Russian government but were unjustly convicted of “conspiracy” to act as unregistered agents of the Russian government. Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel declared victory in defeating the government’s claim that their lifelong advocacy for Black reparations, justice and peace was conducted under the direction and control of a foreign government.

Why All Hurricanes Should Be Named ‘Jim’

October 20, 2024 Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Appalachia, Class Struggle, climate crisis, Environmental Justice, Environmental racism, Extreme weather, Florida, Georgia, Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton, Systemic Racism

The devastation effectuated by Hurricane Helene represents yet another elucidation of a quintessential climate crisis that is right here and right now. It demonstrates that climate change is not a conclusion that awaits us, but a set of present day precarities taking and altering lives right now. According to initial assessments, Helene could cost U.S. taxpayers upwards of $175 billion , and of course, there is no way to quantify the estimated 230 lives that were taken, thus far, with the death toll expected to rise. Meanwhile, Hurricane Milton, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 3 storm, continued this season of carnage and calamity with a death toll of approximately 20 people and an estimated $50 billion in damages.

Hurricane Season Rips Into US War-Spending

October 10, 2024 Elizabeth Vos, Consortium News. Educate! climate crisis, Florida, Hurricanes, Israel, Natural Disasters, Palestine, Russia, Ukraine, US Aid To Israel, US Imperialism, Wars and Militarism

Over a week since Hurricane Helene caused widespread devastation in multiple southeastern states of the U.S., Jean Taylor-Todd, a resident of rural Newland, North Carolina, in Avery County, says her town is still waiting for government help. “Our county was hit hard by this storm,” she told Consortium News this week via email. “Roads crumbled, bridges collapsed, road shoulders washed, businesses flooded, trees fell across roads, on power lines, and on buildings and in yards… Not far from me, houses flooded off their foundations and washed multiple outbuildings away. I know of four deaths of people not far from me and of two horses swept away that drowned. Some folks were heavily flooded inside their homes, and at this writing on October 7, are still without power… Some of the flooding… created sinkholes in which traveling cars were swallowed, but occupants [were] saved. I witnessed two cars submerged in sinkholes just minutes from my house.”

The Future Is Named Helene

October 7, 2024 Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee. Educate! climate crisis, Environment, Florida, Hurricane Helene, North Carolina

The messages of Hurricane Helene lie inscribed in the muddy debris of Asheville, North Carolina, and other wrecked towns of Appalachia. Helene, powered by warming waters in the Gulf of Mexico, dumped 700 millimetres of rain in several states over three days. The surreal deluge drenched the ground and then it swelled creeks. The creeks supercharged rivers, and these muddy waters tore like a torrent through the hills, breaking all previous records of mayhem.

Mutual Aid Groups Mobilize In Wake Of Hurricane Helene

October 4, 2024 It's Going Down, Grassroots Economic Organizing. Organize! climate crisis, disaster relief, Florida, Food Not Bombs, Hurricane Helene, Kentucky, Mutual Aid, Natural Disasters, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia

A Category 4 storm, Hurricane Helene, one of the largest storms to hit the Gulf Coast in a century, collided into the Big Bend area of Northern Florida on Thursday, before moving into neighboring states of Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and the Carolinas. According to media reports, upwards of 60 people have already been confirmed dead, although the death toll is expected to rise as many municipalities have yet to release official numbers as cell phone service and internet remains down and millions are currently without power. Extreme flooding has been reported in Atlanta, GA and Asheville, NC, as whole communities are left stranded and lacking proper shelter and access to clean drinking water.

NAARPR Southern Regional Organizing Conference 2024 Call To Action

October 4, 2024 Fight Back! News. Organize! Florida, Indigenous Rights, National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), Police, Political repression, Repression

This December 6th-8th, the National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression (NAARPR) is convening our inaugural Southern Regional Organizing Conference in Jacksonville, Florida. This conference will bring together progressive forces in the South fighting for Black liberation, Indigenous rights and land sovereignty. We are fighting back against police crimes and political repression to free all those unjustly incarcerated as well as defending all progressive movements fighting for a just society. NAARPR, which arose out of the movement to Free Angela Davis, was refounded in 2019 with well over two dozen branches and affiliate organizations nationwide.

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