Free Speech and Assembly

The War On Protest

April 17, 2024 Adam Federman, In These Times. Educate! Congress, Free Speech and Assembly, Repression, Right to Protest, State Repression

Amin Chaoui had been in Atlanta less than 24 hours when things took an unexpected turn. Chaoui, then 31, drove down from Richmond, Va., to attend a March 2023 music festival organized by activists trying to stop the construction of the police training facility known as Cop City. The sprawling compound in one of Atlanta’s largest urban parks would require clearing at least 85 acres of partly forested land that abuts a predominantly Black neighborhood in DeKalb County. It faced growing opposition from racial and environmental justice advocates, including an occupation of the forest that began in November 2021.

New Broad Anti-Colonial Free Speech Movement Demands ‘Free The Uhuru3’

July 24, 2023 Margaret Flowers, Clearing the FOG. Podcast - Clearing The FOG Black Liberation, FBI, Free Speech and Assembly, State Repression, Uhuru 3

Nearly one year ago, on July 29, 2022, the FBI simultaneously conducted a heavily-militarized raid on seven facilities associated with the African People's Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement in Missouri and Florida. The federal government seized computers, phones and archival material. This was later used to fabricate federal charges against three members, Chairman Omali Yeshitela, Penny Hess and Jesse Nevel. Clearing the FOG speaks with Chairman Yeshitela about the raid and prosecution and the new anti-colonial free speech coalition launched this month. Chairman Yeshitela explains why the coalition is specifically anti-colonial and why this broad movement is necessary to protect our First Amendment rights to free speech and assembly. He also urges everyone to support Black is Back's November 4 March on the White House. For more information, visit HandsOffUhuru.org.

Sy Hersh And The Way We Live Now

February 11, 2023 Craig Murray, Consortium News. Educate! Capitalism, Free Speech and Assembly, Nordstream pipeline, Propaganda

It is a clear indicator of the disappearance of freedom from our so-called Western democracies that Sy Hersh, arguably the greatest living journalist, cannot get this monumental revelation on the front of The Washington Post or The New York Times, but has to self-publish on the net. Hersh tells the story of the U.S. destruction of the Nordstream pipelines in forensic detail, giving dates, times, method and military units involved. He also outlines the importance of the Norwegian armed forces working alongside the U.S. Navy in the operation. One point Sy does not much stress, but it is worth saying more about, is that Norway and the U.S. are of course the two countries that have benefitted financially, to an enormous degree, from blowing up the pipeline. Not only have both gained huge export surpluses from the jump in gas prices, Norway has directly replaced Russian gas to the tune of some $40 billion per year.

Minneapolis Promised Change After George Floyd

March 12, 2021 Akin Olla, The Guardian. Educate! Free Speech and Assembly, George Floyd, Minneapolis, Police violence

The George Floyd uprising that began in Minneapolis introduced the demand of defunding the police to the general public, empowered Black-led anti-police violence movements across the planet, generated policy changes in cities across the US, and most importantly built new organizations which have the capacity to fight for systemic change for the long haul. The uprising brought a lot of reforms and positive developments to its birth city, too, including a move to actually defund the Minneapolis police department and redistribute funds to services with a larger potential for eradicating both crime and poverty. Now, however, the Minneapolis and Minnesota governments are in the process of undoing that progress and moving in the opposite direction.

‘Pipe Dream’: Enbridge Escalates Local Tensions

February 27, 2021 Mary Annette Pember, Indian Country Today. Resist! Enbridge, Free Speech and Assembly, Line 3 Pipeline, Minnesota

Palisade, Minnesota – Even in the bitter cold, the pretty little park along the Mississippi River is inviting, a typical gathering spot for community events with its broad trees and public pavilion. But Berglund Park stood empty recently as families and community members huddled around warming fires in an open field nearby, listening to music and eating Indian tacos as they learned about the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline cutting through their community. A group of pipeline opponents known as water protectors from the nearby Honor the Earth camp organized the small winter carnival to provide information about the impact of dependence on fossil fuels and a future built on renewable energy.

Fences, Protesters Return To Berkeley’s People’s Park

February 11, 2021 Don Ford, CBS SF Bay Area. Resist! Berkeley, California, Free Speech and Assembly, Student Activism

Fences and protesters on Monday again returned to People’s Park, a famous site of resistance on the UC Berkeley campus, as the campus again mulls possible student housing on the site. It was just after 5 a.m. when the fences started going up and dozens of protesters mobilized in response. The University of California, which owns the land, wants to build student housing, while protesters are opposed to the plan. A small section of the park was fenced off to allow soil samples before construction. That means several homeless campers had to be moved. “So, they took down a few tents. Students had heard about it and came out and, about 30 or 40 people, and they were ready to mobilize,” said Aidan Hill, a protester and former Berkeley mayoral candidate.

The Right Wing Is Trying To Make It A Crime To Oppose Fascism

August 11, 2019 Shane Burley, Truthout. Educate! AntiFa, Free Speech and Assembly, Justice System, Right to Protest

Conservatives in the U.S. have long sought to reframe grassroots political activism as dangerously radical, but efforts to criminalize protests have rapidly intensified since Donald Trump’s election. Most recently, Senators Ted Cruz and Bill Cassidy introduced a resolution that names “Antifa” as a “domestic terrorist organization.” “This was a move designed to punish dissent against both racist groups and policies of the government,” David Rose, a member of Portland’s Rose City Antifa, told Truthout. “The senators are attempting to open the door to illegalizing any form of dissent against racist institutions or groups.” The resolution, S.Res. 279, uses the recent controversy over the clash between right-wing reporter Andy Ngo and protesters in Portland, Oregon, as the impetus to designate antiracist protesters as a criminal operation.

Man Shot At Anti-Trump Rally

November 13, 2016 Jim Ryan, www.oregonlive.com Resist! Free Speech and Assembly, Police abuse, Trump, Violence

By Jim Ryan of The Oregonian. Portland, OR - The fourth round of mass demonstrations in Portland against Donald Trump's election came to a violent end early Saturday morning when someone shot a protester on the Morrison Bridge. Police said the protester, who wasn't publicly identified, suffered injuries that weren't life threatening. The shooter left the area, likely in a car, Portland police said in a news release. The shooting appears to be the only one reported at an anti-Trump protest nationwide. More than 225 people have been arrested at demonstrations in various cities, the Washington Post reported. Most demonstrations across the country have remained peaceful, but some violence has been reported, the Post said. In Oakland, California, protesters reportedly threw rocks and fireworks at police officers, injuring three.

Lane County Continues to Violate Constitutional Rights

July 29, 2015 Lauren Regan, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Civil Liberties, Free Speech and Assembly, Housing, Human Rights

By Lauren Regan of the Civil Liberties Defense Center. EUGENE, OR: On Friday July 24, 2015, the Assistant City Attorney of Eugene dismissed a criminal case that he filed and prosecuted against Hedin Brugh, a long-time SLEEPS activist who advocated for unhoused people. The Civil Liberties Defense Center’s Lauren Regan had filed a constitutional challenge to the third attempt by Lane County to shut down First Amendment rights at the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza located at 8th and Pearl Streets. Regan and the CLDC had successfully challenged two prior attempts by Lane County to restrict the constitutional rights of SLEEPS protestors who occupied the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza as an integral aspect of their peaceful protest. “Each time the Court ruled in our favor and found that the County had acted illegally, the County would attempt to devise another scheme to unconstitutionally restrict First Amendment rights on the Wayne Morse Free Speech Plaza.”

Baltimore: Arrestees Suffer Human Rights Abuses

May 1, 2015 Marci Tarrant Johnson, www.facebook.com/OccupySantaFe Educate! Baltimore, Criminal Justice and Prisons, Free Speech and Assembly, Human Rights, Police violence, Prison

More than 250 people have been arrested since Monday here in Baltimore. . . The small concrete booking cells were filled with hundreds of people, most with more than ten people per cell. Three of us were sent to the women's side where there were up to 15 women per holding cell. Most of them had been there since Monday afternoon/evening. With the exception of 3 or 4 women, the women who weren't there for Monday's round-ups were there for freaking curfew violations. Many had not seen a doctor or received required medication. Many had not been able to reach a family member by phone. But here is the WORST thing. Not only had these women been held for two days and two nights without any sort of formal booking, BUT ALMOST NONE OF THEM HAD ACTUALLY BEEN CHARGED WITH ANYTHING. They were brought to CBIF via police wagons (most without seat belts, btw--a real shocker after all that's happened), and taken to holding cells without ever being charged with an actual crime. No offense reports. No statements of probable cause. A few women had a vague idea what they might be charged with . . . .

Judge Rules In Occupy Pensacola Lawsuit

March 15, 2015 Staff, www.pensacolatoday.com Resist! Criminal Justice, Free Speech and Assembly, Occupy Movement

Florida - After more than three years of litigation in the Occupy Pensacola v. City of Pensacola case, a federal judge has decided the case in favor of the city. Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson granted the city’s motion for summary judgment on Friday, ruling that the city’s action to limit the time and location of Occupy protests had not violate the protestors constitutional rights. “I appreciate Judge Vinson’s ruling, and I’m relieved to bring this litigation to a close,” said Mayor Ashton Hayward in a news release. “While we have the utmost respect for our constitutional freedoms, the city has an obligation to safeguard public health and safety.” The litigation arose out of local protests, modeled after the “Occupy Wall Street” movement, which began in October 2011. In order to call attention to various political, economic, and social justice issues, the “Occupy Pensacola” group held marches and pitched tents in Martin Luther King, Jr. Plaza, later relocating to the north lawn of City Hall.

Resistance And Transformation

December 28, 2014 Malik Yakini, www.michigancitizen.com Resist! Free Speech and Assembly, Nonviolence, Protest

I applaud the young people who have reinvigorated our movement! I am not among those who will criticize others who are marching, dying-in, walking with their hands up, chanting “I can’t breathe” or setting fires and throwing rocks. It is unintelligent and unhealthy to have a foot on your neck, and not use all means available to remove the foot. All resistance to oppression is healthy for the oppressed. The writings of Frantz Fanon are instructive in this regard. In his classic book, “The Wretched of the Earth,” Fanon, speaking of the oppressed, says, “Once their rage explodes, they recover their lost coherence, they experience self-knowledge through reconstruction of themselves…” I am encouraged by this latest wave of resistance. But, while this activism is encouraging, and protesting is significant, it is clearly not enough. We need a long-term strategy guided by a clear vision of the society that we seek to bring into being. If we are to move this strategy forward, as our revered ancestor Kwame Ture (formerly Stokley Carmichael) advised, we must belong to an organization. “The only way you can help your people is by helping to organize them, and the only way you can do that is by joining an organization.”

Missouri Students Risk Serious Penalties For Walkout Protests

December 7, 2014 Mariah Stewart, www.huffingtonpost.com Resist! Education, Ferguson, Free Speech and Assembly, Police abuse

After high school students across the country walked out of class earlier this week calling for greater police accountability, one school district in the very Missouri county where teenager Michael Brown was killed chose to highlight the repercussions for students who left their classrooms. Hazelwood School District in north St. Louis County also consulted with local law enforcement to increase school security. The stricter security measures made Hazelwood West High School feel like “a prison,” one student said. “At lunch there are officers at every exit, and you can’t leave class to use the bathroom without a police escort,” the student told The Huffington Post. After Hazelwood high school students walked out on Tuesday, Superintendent Grayling Tobias issued a statement noting that the district does "not condone disruptive behavior."

Journalists Must Fight Or Become Irrelevant

October 8, 2014 Amy Cadler, www.centralmaine.com Resist! Free Speech and Assembly, Journalism, Media

WATERVILLE — New York Times investigative reporter and author James Risen on Sunday said it is critical journalists continue to expose government activities, despite a crackdown on the press by the U.S. in the name of national security. “Journalists have no choice but to fight back because if they don’t, they will become irrelevant,” Risen said. “I know what Elijah Lovejoy did.” Risen, 59, was speaking at Lorimer Chapel at Colby College after receiving the Elijah Parish Lovejoy Award for courageous journalism. The award, given annually, is named for Lovejoy, an Albion native and Colby graduate and journalist who was murdered in 1837 while defending his printing press against a pro-slavery mob in Illinois. While Risen said Sunday he could not discuss the case specifically, he said that he will always protect those who give him information.

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