Political repression

Universities Continue To Retaliate Against Staff For Gaza Protests

December 11, 2024 Claudia Gohn, Mondoweiss. Educate! Campus Movement, Freedom of Speech, Gaza, Higher Education, Palestine, Palestine Solidarity, Political repression, student movement

Clara C. began working at Columbia University one month after the start of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023. She was hired in the Germanic Languages Department as a Department Assistant. Like many incoming members of the Columbia community, she had high hopes for her time at the university. Seven months later, the illusion of Ivy League ambition and a rich intellectual environment vanished when she was suspended from her post, ostensibly because of her involvement in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment. By early summer, she was terminated.

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.”

Colorado Activist Shuts The Door On FBI

November 23, 2024 Tom Burke, Fight Back! News. Resist! Colorado, FBI, Palestine, Political repression

Aurora, CO – On November 21, the FBI knocked on the door of Jonce Palmer, a general member of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, and co-founder of Denver-Aurora Community Action Committee. Palmer confirmed their name, but did not answer the FBI’s questions, and then firmly shut the door and the agent left. Palmer explained, “About 1 p.m. I was cooking in my apartment, and I saw a silhouette walk by my window and heard a knock at the door. I opened the door, asking ‘Hi, can I help you?’” “The man asked my first and last name, and I said ‘Yes?’, then he showed a bronze badge around his neck and said they were the FBI.

The Life And Times Of A ‘Russian Propagandist’

November 3, 2024 Jamarl Thomas, Black Agenda Report. Educate! Censorship, Journalism, Media, Political repression, Repression, Russia, State Repression

For the last 5 years, I hosted Fault Lines, the flagship show of radio Sputnik in Washington DC, 105.5FM. Monday through Friday, from 7am to 10am, as Americans drove to work, ate breakfast, got in their morning workout - my voice slid into their ears and infected their minds with strange and subversive words that painted a tapestry of ideas that were internalized by a vulnerable public creating waves of social discontent that challenged the activities and narratives of the state. According to the US government, I am a dangerous man.

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.

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.

UK Police Arrest Journalist Richard Medhurst Under ‘Terrorism Act’

August 20, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. Educate! Israel, Journalists, Political repression, Press Freedom, Richard Medhurst, Terrorism Act, United Kingdom (UK)

Medhurst stated via social media that six police officers were waiting for him as he exited his plane in London on 15 August, adding that he was questioned under the Terrorism Act, Section 12. "I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act. I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist," Medhurst explained. Other British journalists who have reported critically on Israeli, UK, and US foreign policy have also been detained and harassed upon returning to their home country, including The Cradle contributor Kit Klarenberg and Vanessa Beeley, who is well known for her reporting from Syria during the US and Israeli-backed regime change war.

Tampa 5 Make Their First Stop In Wisconsin On Their US Tour

October 1, 2023 Fight Back News!. Resist! Political repression, Ron DeSantis, Tampa 5, Wisconsin, Youth Activism

Appleton, Wisconsin – On Saturday, September 23, students, faculty, and other members of the Fox Valley community gathered at Lawrence University’s Warch Cinema in defense of the Tampa 5. In their second stop on their national tour, Lauren Pineiro and Chrisley Carpio of the Tampa 5 spoke to the LU community. Opening with chants of ‘drop the charges now!’ and ‘fight back!’, the Tampa 5 representatives spoke in detail of their case and its repercussions to the group of 35 people. For some, it was their first time hearing of the infuriating case, where the five protesters are facing five to ten years in prison on false charges.

Georgia’s RICO Law Makes News But Its Use To Silence Protesters Gets A Pass

September 13, 2023 Ari Paul, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! Atlanta, Georgia, Media, Police, Political repression, RICO

Georgia’s RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) law, modeled on the federal statute designed to attack mob bosses, has been in the news a lot, ever since Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis used Georgia’s law to charge former President Donald Trump and his associates with attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election. And with the news has come the inevitable hand-wringing about whether the RICO charges against Trump were a good idea. CNN (8/26/23) published an op-ed questioning whether the indictments were too broad, saying, “Casting a wide net can also raise serious First Amendment issues.”

Condemn The FBI Raids In St Louis, MO And St Petersburg, FL!

July 31, 2022 Committee To Stop FBI Repression and National Alliance Against Racist And Political Repression, Fight Back News. Resist! FBI, Political repression, Russia, Socialism

On the morning of Friday, July 29th, the FBI conducted raids at multiple locations, including the Uhuru House in St. Petersburg, Florida, the private residence of Omali Yeshitela in St. Louis, Missouri, as well as the Uhuru Solidarity Center, also in St. Louis. The FBI employed flashbang grenades and handcuffed Yeshitela and his wife while the house was raided. The FBI says that the raids are connected to the federal indictment of a Russian man, Aleksandr Ionov, alleging that he has been working to spread "Russian propaganda" in the United States. The Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the National Alliance Against Racist and Pollical Repression unequivocally condemn these raids. We oppose all efforts by the U.S. government to target activists in any progressive movement in this country.

Political Repression In Ukraine

March 29, 2022 Phil Wilayto, Popular Resistance. Educate! Political repression, Press Freedom, Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky

In the early morning of March 19, 2022, agents from the federal Security Service of Ukraine, the SBU, showed up at the apartment of Yuri Tkachev, editor-in-chief of the online publication Timer, based in the southern Black Sea port of Odessa. What happened next was reported on Timer’s website (1), quoting journalist and human rights activist Oksana Chelysheva (2), who said she had spoken with Tkachev’s wife: “According to [Oksana], when Yuri opened the door of the apartment, he did not show any resistance. Despite this, the SBU dragged him to the site, laying him face down. They also asked Oksana to leave the apartment. No violence was used against her. “Oksana claims that through the open front door she saw how one of the SBU officers entered the bathroom and stayed there for several minutes. … After this man left the bathroom, the SBU took Yury [sic] and Oksana back to the apartment, where the search began.”

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