In Portland and Other Cities, the Beautiful Rising Continues Across the U.S.

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Refuse Fascism marching by Independence Mall in Philadelphia.

As July ended and August began, the beautiful rising of people across the country against the police murder of Black people and other injustices of this system continued last week—in Portland, where the Trump/Pence regime has sent in federal storm troopers against the protests, and in other cities and towns. This is taking place as the Trump/Pence regime is moving rapidly, aggressively, and in multiple ways to push forward fascism, including targeting protests with stepped-up repression. 

In a number of cities, Refuse Fascism organized actions and united with others on Saturday, August 1, demanding “No Federal Crackdown in Portland: No more police murder of Black people, No fascist police state, No fascist military war on the people, No federal agents sweeping up protestors. TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW! In a new call that came out this weekend, Refuse Fascism called for people to “stay in the streets in August” and to build for a “UNITED NATIONWIDE MASS PROTEST” on Saturday, September 5.

The Revolution Club led marches in the South Shore neighborhood of Chicago and in South Central LA against the deploying of armed federal pigs to Portland and other cities, to demand TRUMP/PENCE OUT NOW!, and bring alive the reality that in order to bring an end to all the crimes and injustices of this system, “WE NEED REVOLUTION—NOTHING LESS!”

The following are pictures/videos and short accounts of a sampling of the protests this weekend.

*****

 

Portland

City and state officials had announced that they had come to an agreement with the Trump/Pence regime for the withdrawal of the federal pigs that had been deployed to Portland. As of midnight Saturday, the federal agents were still in the federal courthouse—but they did not come out into the streets to wreak violence on the people as they had done over the past couple of weeks. Hundreds of people continued to come out into the streets, at the courthouse and throughout the downtown area. People reclaimed the fence that had been built as a barrier to the courthouse and decorated it with balloons and big Black Lives Matter letters. At a park a couple of miles from the courthouse, a group that called itself Firefighters for Black Lives Matter gathered. Another group, Unemployed Workers for Black Lives, marched towards the federal building. Members of the National Tour to Organize for an ACTUAL Revolution who had arrived in the city earlier in the week were part of protests, including with a banner saying “No Fascist Police State. Revolution—Nothing Less!”

One news report captures the night: “Just after midnight, the crowd had grown to over 1,000 people who remained outside chanting ‘Black Lives Matter’ and shouting the names of Black people killed by police. Groups were also standing together engaging in conversations about social injustice.” Later in the night, the Portland police declared that people gathered outside a police precinct was an “unlawful assembly.” Videos show police charging at the people multiple times. Two people were arrested.

Austin, Texas

Hundreds marched in protest of police brutality, starting from the University of Texas campus and going to the downtown site of a memorial for Garrett Foster—the Black Lives Matter protester who was shot and killed during a protest on July 25. The Statesman reported, “More than a hundred Austin officers, many mounted on horseback and bicycles, and state troopers in riot gear, arrived to face an angry crowd that spilled onto Congress Avenue and Fourth Street in downtown Austin Saturday night.” The police used pepper spray against protesters and arrested several people.

New York City

There were protests through the weekend in different boroughs across the city, including a Saturday rally in Union Square. Spectrum NY 1 quoted Travis Morales of Refuse Fascism saying, “Everybody needs to be out on the streets. If you have an ounce of compassion in your heart, if you can’t stand to see the continuing murder of Black people, you need to be out on the streets. But that’s gotta be part of demanding Trump, Pence out now.”

Albuquerque, New Mexico

700 people marched and took over an intersection. This was organized by the Red Nation, which said the protest was a “rise against fascism.” They denounced Trump’s fascist pigs being sent into cities—in particular, his plans to send 35 federal agents to New Mexico under his Operation LeGend (the same operation that includes deployment of 200 federal pigs to Chicago and other cities to bring down further repression).

Chicago

Hundreds gathered at Millennium Park and marched through the downtown area to demand, among other things, that the city defund the police and stop working with ICE.

Detroit

People marched and rallied against federal pigs coming to the city and for an end to systemic racism and police brutality. An activist with the group Detroit Will Breathe, said, “We need to say in a forceful way, federal agents, out of Detroit now.... What concerns me is how many more black bodies will be shot because federal troops are stomping around in the city, instigating terror.” Congressperson Rashida Tlaib was part of the protest, which also raised other issues like evictions and shutoff of water to poor families. Another activist with Detroit Will Breathe said, “We are not afraid, we are not intimidated, we will not be bullied.... Now is the time to fight.”

Franklin, Tennessee

Four youths, 18 and 19 years old, got together to start a group called Students for Black Empowerment. On Friday, they held a rally and march demanding that a Confederate statue in the middle of Franklin Public Square come down and be moved to a museum. A founder of the group said, “With other protests in the country, it’s kind of laid the groundwork and empowered us as students to stand up for the injustice we see.... We shouldn’t have a monument in the center of town that is honoring ... the issue of slavery.”

Greenville, South Carolina


Photo: Josh Morgan/Staff/GreenvilleOnline

Dozens gathered at the Springwood Cemetery to demand that a Confederate war monument come down. They were met with dozens of white supremacist defenders of the monument. The statue was erected in 1891 and stood in the center of the town until it was moved to the cemetery in 1922.

Emmaus, Pennsylvania


Photo: Gabrielle Rhoads, The Morning Call

Two groups confronted each other in the center of the town at high noon on Saturday, about 100 on each side. One was the visibly armed white supremacist, pro-Trump goons who were out there with their “Back the Blue” and pro-gun signs, wearing no masks. The other group was activists with signs that read “No Justice, No Peace,” “Hate has no home here,” and “Black Lives Matter.”

Syracuse, New York


Photo: Syracuse-no-police-in-schools

On Saturday, a rally in front of City Hall demanded demilitarizing the police and changing the use of force policy by the cops. People want cops to be removed from the school campuses. One educator at the protest said, “You can’t stop criminalizing Black and brown children if you still have police in the building.”

 

Columbus, Ohio

On Friday, people gathered to protest police brutality at the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters and the Ohio Statehouse. Six people were arrested when the pigs threatened to tow a car and then a group of people reportedly surrounded the car to prevent it from being towed. A video shows the pigs tearing off a woman’s mask and goggles and spraying pepper spray directly into her eyes. More police officers arrived, and later they arrested three more people who they were trying to move onto the sidewalk.

Maggie Valley, North Carolina


Photo: Luke Weir

About 100 protesters marched through the center of this town of 12,000 people, from the Town Hall to the town firehouse and back. Lots of cops were deployed for the march, and there were some counterprotesters with the U.S. flag, the Confederate flag, and the Blue Lives Matter flag. Protesters chanted, “No KKK, no racist USA” “No lives matter until Black Lives Matter,” and “What do we want? Justice!” In previous days, a number of pastors had been walking through the community in pairs and praying for understanding and protection for the protest.

Salt Lake City, Utah

A demonstration held by the Salt Lake County Black Democratic Caucus to honor women of color who have been victims of police brutality was attended by a broad array of people. The crowd heard women from Latinx, trans, indigenous and Black communities.

La Mesa, California

On Saturday, protesters gathered to demand justice for women of color. People demanded justice for Breonna Taylor, who was killed by pigs in March in Louisville, Kentucky, and Vanessa Guillén, a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, killed in April by another soldier.

Berthoud, Colorado

Saturday, Black Lives Matter protesters were confronted by white supremacist pro-Trump counterprotesters, some of them armed, across the street. News reports said the whole crowd was about 100-200 people, with the counterprotesters in the majority. People chanted “Black Lives Matter” and repeated the names of people who had been killed by police. Many of those on the BLM side of the street were teenagers and young adults. The counterprotesters were mostly older, with a handful of teenagers. Faith Solter, 13 years old, who lives in Berthoud, said she organized the Black Lives Matter protest because “I just really needed to have some sort of outlet for people who wanted to protest.”

 

 

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