Fight Back! News

News and Views from the People's Struggle

police brutality

By staff

Protestors congregate on the stairs in front of a Seattle Police Department Building. They have signs reading slogans like “Jail Killer Cops” and “Justice for Jaahavi”

Seattle, WA – On March 16, a crowd of around 40 activists, organizers and community members marched around the King County prosecutor’s office. In February, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion’s office declined to file charges against Seattle police officer Kevin Dave, who over a year ago struck and killed a student at a crosswalk with his car.

Read more...

By staff

Picket at Milwaukee police union offices demand greater transparency and accountability. | Fight Back! News/staff

Milwaukee, WI – Ahead of Judge Brittany Grayson’s decision regarding Standard Operating Procedure 575, the Milwaukee Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held a press conference and picket outside of the Milwaukee Police Association on Friday, March 15.

Read more...

By Kobi Guillory

Chicago People's Hearing on Police Crimes.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – “You can't throw a stone and not hit someone who is affected by police torture and wrongful conviction here in Chicago, the torture capital of the United States,” said Merawi Gerima, a co-chair of the Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Torture (CFIST.)

Gerima was speaking at the annual People's Hearing on Police Crimes on Saturday, February 24, at the office of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) in Woodlawn neighborhood on the predominantly Black South Side.

Read more...

By Robert Engel

 Seattle rally demands justice for Jaahnavi Kandula.  | Fight Back! News/staff

Seattle, WA — On Friday, February 23, the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression held an emergency rally in front of Seattle's West Precinct police station. Two days before, the office of King County prosecutor Leesa Manion announced that they had decided not to prosecute SPD officer Kevin Dave who, over a year ago, struck and killed 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula with his patrol car while she was walking through a crosswalk.

Read more...

By David Jones

Osiris Bennett. | Fight Back! News/staff

Atlanta, GA – On February 24, family and community members gathered for a vigil in memory of Osiris Bennet, a young man murdered by MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority) police officers a year before. The vigil, held at the North Avenue MARTA station where the incident occurred, was a reminder of the ongoing struggle for justice and accountability in Atlanta.

Osiris Bennett, 23, was approached by two plainclothes, undercover MARTA officers while walking to the train platform, for allegedly smoking a blunt. During the encounter, cops claim that their tasers failed and that Bennett pulled a gun on them, leading them to shoot him several times in the neck and body.

Read more...

By Tavish Bryan

Protesters chant against HB 601 outside of the Florida House. | Fight Back! News/staff

Tallahassee, FL – On February 20, approximately 30 students and community organizers mobilized to the Florida Capitol building to hold a press conference and speak out against HB 601. This bill seeks to prevent any meaningful oversight of police misconduct by making it unlawful to form citizen police review boards or any organized body to review the conduct of police departments.

The mobilization was part of a larger week of action called by National Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR).

Read more...

By Joseph Nohava

 Tampa protest demands justice for Antwan Glover. | Fight Back! News/staff

Bartow, FL – Early on a windy Tuesday morning, February 13, dozens of members of the Tampa Bay community gathered outside the Polk County Courthouse to support a man, Antwan Glover, as he faces 20 years in prison for bogus charges.

Read more...

By Robert Engel

Seattle protest demands justice for Jaahnavi Kandula. | Fight Back! News/staff

Seattle, WA – On Sunday, January 28, a crowd of community members led by the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression gathered on the steps of Seattle's West Precinct. The previous Tuesday, January 23, marked one full year since Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old student living in Seattle, was hit and killed at a crosswalk by Seattle Police Department Officer Kevin Dave.

Read more...

By staff

 Students protest racist policing at the University of Illinois at Chicago. | Fight Back! News/staff

Chicago, IL – On Friday, January 26, over 50 people gathered on the University of Illinois at Chicago’s campus to protest the racist and discriminatory practices of the UIC police department. The protest was called jointly by Students for Justice in Palestine and Students for a Democratic Society in response to two separate instances of racist policing and discrimination at the University.

Read more...

By Robyn Harbison

Car caravan in Saint Paul, Minnesota calls for solidarity with all oppressed peoples. | Fight Back! News/Photo credit: KingDemetrius Pendleton \[studio at the George Floyd Square 3730 Chicago Avenue Minneapolis Minnesota 55407\]

St. Paul, MN – On January 13, about 250 people gathered in below-zero temperatures to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. weekend by participating in a car caravan, followed by a rally at the State Capitol.

Near the Saint Paul Western District Police Department, surrounded by strip malls, protesters called for no business as usual during a genocide, as drivers and passengers decorated cars with signs carrying slogans like “Solidarity with all oppressed peoples” and “Justice for Marcus Golden! Murdered by SPPD nine years ago!”

Read more...