Seattle activists rally to defend the Tampa 5
Seattle, WA – On July 12, a crowd of 30 activists and community members gathered in Denny Park to show solidarity with the Tampa 5 on the date of their second court appearance. This demonstration was one of many actions all over the country showing support for the five campus activists arrested in Tampa. The main demand is that all charges be dropped.
The Tampa 5 – Laura Rodriguez, Gia Davila, Jeanie Kida, Chrisley Carpio, and Lauren Pineiro – are four student activists and a union campus worker arrested last March. The arrests happened during a march and rally at the University of South Florida (USF) protesting against Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s racist attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs. Protesters were brutalized by campus police, and four were arrested at the demonstration, with a fifth later arrested.
The five are facing up to ten years in prison on absurd felony charges. The reactionary university administration is claiming the campus activists attacked police, despite clear video evidence to the contrary. Their defense lawyer is gathering evidence and planning for their trial.
The Seattle Alliance organized this event with the help of Progressive Student Union, the University of Washington's chapter of SDS, to stand in solidarity with the Tampa 5. Students across the country are pushing back against this blatant act of political repression perpetrated by reactionary forces in Florida's universities and government.
“If this can be called anything, it can be called an attack on the student movement and the people's movement as a whole. It is not just a physical attack, it is one designed to intimidate us,” said Mantak Singh, president of the UW PSU. “The message the cops sent when beating people to the ground is clear – the state does not want you to be safe protesting. And the message the state’s attorney general sent when filing charges, a month later is clear – the state wants to scare you out of protesting.”
Mantak explained that students from Florida to Washington are organizing to defeat the repression: “The administration attempted to have Gia, Lauren, and Jeanie expelled for their part in the protest. Through a call-in campaign that made their phones inoperable for weeks, Gia and Lauren were able to graduate.” He then chanted, “When we fight, we win!” The crowd cheered.
Lauren Pineiro, a member of the Tampa 5 who spoke in Seattle recently, contributed to this message by a phone in speech, “All of the footage we have seen so far, and more, makes us confident we will be absolved. The more that comes out, the more that is made clear.”
Speakers drew comparisons between the defending of DEI and Florida House Bill 999, to the recent decision by the Supreme Court to end affirmative action. They spoke to how this struggle is by no means restricted to Florida. It is a battle being fought across the entire United States.
This national day of action on which so many stood in solidarity across the U.S. was called by the Emergency Committee to Defend the Tampa 5, alongside the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and SDS. It was made clear that the fight would not end here, and all in attendance displayed their readiness to continue the fight.
The Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression and the Progressive Students Union organized the protest. Speakers at the event included members of SAARPR, UW and Tacoma PSU, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Unite Here Local 8, and the Issaquah Student's League.