Above photo: Tax Day demonstrators, San Francisco. Akubundu Amazu.
Last week, on Tax Day, April 15, thousands of taxpayers took to the streets nationwide to demand: no more tax dollars for war, empire, genocide, and ICE. Coordinated actions took place in New York, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Florida, Texas, Louisiana, Illinois, Minnesota, California, and other states. For a list of the actions, visit Taxpayers Against Genocide.
The nationwide Day of Action was initiated by the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and Taxpayers Against Genocide(TAG) as a Pledge of Action. The Black Alliance for Peace (BAP), the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and other supporting bodies such as the Haiti Action Committee and the ANSWER Coalition organized and mobilized coast to coast for the Day. Dozens of other major civil society and human rights organizations signed the pledge and endorsed the Day of Action. Additionally, individual actions were planned by coalitions of local activists and groups, particularly those organized by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), demonstrating the breadth and diversity of the emerging alliance around this issue. The BAP Solidarity Network produced this flyer for mass leafleting during the protests and beyond. This broad anti-imperialist alliance will continue working together as the popular resistance against the misuse of public funds escalates.
The Pledge combines the struggle against war and genocide with the struggle against ICE terror: “We are deeply angered by our government’s misuse of billions of taxpayer dollars to wage war and commit genocide abroad and oppress, jail, deport and kill our friends and family members at home. From ICE to the IDF, we say no more!”
People around the country recognize that maintaining the U.S.empire and its war machine involves more than bankrolling things like illegal wars, sales of weapons to repressive foreign powers such as Israel, and the maintenance of the approximately 800 military bases throughout the world. Maintaining the US empire also requires the use of taxpayer dollars to fund the U.S. police state including ICE, mass incarceration, and institutions that terrorize and oppress people domestically. In the words of Jacqueline Luqman, the Chair of the Coordinating Committee of the Black Alliance for Peace:
“For decades, bipartisan support has prioritized war, surveillance, and state repression over the survival of our communities. As Dr. King demanded, we must fight for a radical redistribution of power to end class, racial, gender, and economic injustice domestically, and US imperialist militarism globally. While the ruling class finds endless money for war and genocide, they refuse to care for the working-class and poor; the people must rise and demand an end to this criminal neglect through the radical redistribution of power and our money that Dr. King understood was needed 59 years ago.”
A partial survey of the Tax Day protests shows the trend of growing resistance. In Trenton, NJ, protesters gathered in front of the NJ State House.
Mohammad Ali, an organizer with TAG and American Muslims for Palestine, stated:
“I’ve had to personally witness my tax dollars fund the murder and devastation of my own people. If we truly want to see a change, we must continue to raise our voices, mobilize in every city coast to coast, and stand behind candidates who align with our morals.”
In Washington, D.C., Doctors Against Genocide, independently organized a “1000 White Coats on the Hill” mobilization for healthcare workers to speak out against genocide, ICE violence, attacks on LGBTQ+ people, and cuts to healthcare. In the words of Dr. Nidal Jboor, co-founder of DAG:
“As healthcare workers, we are trained to act before death becomes inevitable. Genocide is a preventable crime, not an unavoidable tragedy. This April 15, we go to Washington with a clear demand: our tax dollars must be used to save lives, not end them. Medicine stands for life, and we will not be complicit.”
In NYC, protesters held a picket line in front of the IRS building. As Tabassum Rahman, an organizer with TAG, put it:
“As a New Yorker, in 2024 I paid around $23,000 in federal taxes. Around $5,000, or 21 percent of that funded the war machine. Meanwhile Human Resources such as funding for K-12 schools only received a fraction of that, $411 of my tax dollars. And institutions that are actually meant to keep us safe like the Center for Disease Control received $63 of my federal tax payment. We pay excessively for global escalation and fail to address diplomacy and domestic security. For the past two years, Tax Day has come with enormous guilt. But taking action this tax day has been very therapeutic, and will be my Tax Day tradition going forward.”
In San Francisco, protesters took over the street in front of the Israeli Consulate and then marched to the ICE Field Office. One of the organizers of the protest and the nationwide mobilization, Monadel Herzallah, co-founder of the USPCN and an organizer with TAG, stated:
“Our tax dollars should be building schools, hospitals, and communities—not funding violence and genocide through military support to Israel.”
Akubundu Amazu, an organizer with the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party and participant in the SF action, commented:
“The number of organizations brought together for these Tax Day actions should send a notice to the US government. The people are looking for honest governance, not lies and murderous outcomes. We pledged to continue to work together until we are heard. We also want to emphasize that the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) must leave Africa. There are close to forty US military bases in Africa and their main purpose is the continued theft and destabilization of the African countries—even if some of the puppet leaders don’t know or care. AFRICOM out of Africa!”
In Santa Rosa, California, demonstrators performed street theater in front of the IRS building, followed by a rally downtown and a march that ended with a lively banner drop over the freeway.
In Miami, activists with BAP and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) took to the streets.
In all these protests and many more across the US on Tax Day, participants were clear that both Democrats and Republicans are responsible for funding a war machine and a domestic police state at the expense of fundamental human rights and planetary survival. As Tarik Kanaana, co-founder of TAG, put it:
“For many decades, as long as I’ve been alive at least, the US has prioritized war and destruction over the well-being of the people of the US and of the world, regardless whether there’s a Democrat or a Republican in the White House. After watching my people in Palestine and Lebanon and elsewhere being viciously slaughtered for nearly 3 years by Israel with the full backing of the US, I and so many others around the country have had enough. We are uniting together so that we can effectively force change and are committed to the belief that our tax dollars should serve life, dignity, and the future of generations to come.”
The US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, one of the endorsing organizations, is leading a struggle to pressure Congress to represent the demands of the majority of Americans: No war on Iran. No weapons for Israel. No ICE in our communities. Though the Senate failed to block another massive transfer of deadly weapons to Israel on April 15, an all-time high of 40 out of 47 Democratic U.S. senators voted to block the weapons sale. That’s 13 more senators than the last Joint Resolution of disapproval (JDR) vote in July 2025. Thanks to USCPR Action’s efforts, this struggle is advancing.
This April 15 was a turning point—not an endpoint. These street mobilizations were just one step in the escalation of resistance by this growing united front of organizations and outraged individuals. This movement is committed to fighting for the responsible stewardship of public resources in a way that serves life, dignity, and the future for generations to come.
In addition to TAG, USPCN, BAP, and USCPR, endorsing organizations of the Day of Action include the Council on American-Islamic Relations, American Muslims for Palestine, the Palestinian Youth Movement, AROC Action, the All-African People’s Revolutionary Party, Haiti Action Committee, Doctors Against Genocide, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, the National War Tax Resisters Coordinating Committee, National Jericho Movement, the ANSWER Coalition, the United National Antiwar Coalition, the National Lawyers Guild, the Green Party USA, al-Awda, Bay Resistance, the American Indian Movement-West, the Tribunal Project, CODEPINK, US Boats to Gaza, the International League of People’s Struggle, World Beyond War, the General Union of Palestinian Students, Lifeline for Palestine, Theater Workers for a Ceasefire, the Shaka Shakur Freedom Campaign, Black Lives Matter–LA, and many more.
