(2021-04-02). Did cops retaliate against this activist? therealnews.com 
As we continue our investigation into overpolicing and mass incarceration in rural America, we return to Pocomoke City on Maryland's Lower Eastern Shore to speak with Michelle Lucas. Lucas is a pizza delivery driver, a proud grandmother, and community activist who asserts that she was railroaded into a felony conviction that could result in up to two years in prison. | Tune in every Thursday at 9: 00 p.m. EST for new episodes of the
(2021-04-02). Extinction Rebellion Sprays Bank Of England With 'Oil'. popularresistance.org City of London – Several people have been arrested as Extinction Rebellion's 'Fossil Fool' protesters sprayed the Bank of England with fake oil to highlight the "societal collapse" the activist group say global financial institutions are driving the planet towards. | XR's latest theatrical protest saw suit-clad activists descend on the heart of London's financial district, demanding the Bank of England regulate the banks which continue to fund fossil fuel companies. | The biodegradable fake oil, a mixture of black pond dye and guar gum extracted from beans, was sprayed from fire extinguishers onto the grand entra…
(2021-04-02). Why Paul Robeson's Voice Still Rings True Today. progressive.org The words and music of the legendary activist and singer are more relevant than ever in the era of Black Lives Matter.
(2021-04-02). Living for the City: Considering a Reparations Of Joy. counterpunch.org "I didn't realize racism was still such a serious problem." My elder brother was quoting an old mutual friend, Sean, when he spoke to me last week. Then came Gary's own confession: he, too had been taken by surprise by the George Floyd murder and BLM protests. He was conveying his surprise at realizing that
(2021-04-02). Edge of Sports: Blinded by 'the Eyes of Texas'. progressive.org Concerns over "The Eyes of Texas" ramped up during last summer's mass demonstrations over the police murder of George Floyd.
(2021-04-02). The Derek Chauvin Trial Is One Battle in a Wider War. thenation.com The Derek Chauvin Trial Is One Battle in a Wider War…
(2021-04-02). Headlines for April 2, 2021. democracynow.org Ex-Supervisor Says Derek Chauvin's Fatal Restraint of George Floyd Violated Use-of-Force Policies , Texas Senate Passes Republican-Led Voter Suppression Bill, Texas Rangers Baseball Stadium to Open at Full Capacity Despite Surging Coronavirus Cases, U.N. Warns Burma Headed for Civil War as Military Junta Continues Brutal Crackdown, At Least 51 Dead, Dozens More Injured in Taiwan Train Crash , Arizona ICE Jail Violated Prisoners' Rights and Failed to Prevent COVID-19 Outbreak, Biden Holds First Cabinet Meeting as Debate over Infrastructure Plan Continues, Unemployment Claims Rise as Pandemic Recovery Remains Uneve…
(2021-04-02). 50 Years of Injustice: Free Black Panther Political Prisoner Ed Poindexter Now! indybay.org In our interview conducted earlier this week, author Michael Richardson discusses the role of the FBI's infamous COINTELPRO in the frameup of the Omaha Two and provides an important update on Ed Poindexter's urgent health situation. Richardson also explains how you can help Ed Poindexter, an elder in poor health who is a 50-year victim of an obvious and well documented COINTELPRO frameup. We highly recommend reading Michael Richardson's book to learn more about this extreme injustice that needs to end immediately. Free Ed Poindexter now!
(2021-04-02). Saturday 4/17: #ExpandTheCourt: Bring Balance Back to SCOTUS National Organizing Call. indybay.org Online action…
(2021-04-02). How an Illegal Employment Policy Contributed to the Death of George Floyd. indybay.org Exploring a nexus of facts, which might insinuate how an illegal employment policy of Minneapolis convenience store Cup Foods contributed to the death of George Floyd.
(2021-04-01). Brutal assault on female Filipino immigrant captured on security camera in New York City. wsws.org Vilma Kari, a 65-year-old immigrant from the Philippines who has lived in the US for decades, was violently attacked in Midtown Manhattan by a man who was subsequently arrested for committing a hate crime.
(2021-04-01). Activists slam UK government commission's denial of systemic racism in the country. peoplesdispatch.org 
The commission was formed after the Black Lives Matter protests rocked the country last year. It said that while there was racial discrimination in the country, it was not systemic or deliberate…
(2021-04-01). In memoriam: Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald lives on! liberationnews.org 
Feature image: Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald. Photo: Freedom4chip.org. Used with permission. After 51 long years persisting in the corrupt California prison system, former Black Panther Romaine "Chip" Fitzgerald passed away on March 29, 2021 at the age of 71. The cause of death has not been disclosed. Fitzgerald joined the Southern California Chapter of the Black …
(2021-04-01). Witnesses who exposed George Floyd's murder by police recount what they saw. peoplesworld.org 
MINNEAPOLIS—In testimony Tuesday, witnesses who were bystanders outside Cup Foods could be seen reliving the trauma of May 25, 2020, the day they witnessed the life fade from George Floyd under the knee of Derek Chauvin. The witnesses included three women in their late teens and a 9-year-old girl, a cousin of one of the …
(2021-04-01). In the News: What Will Happen if Derek Chauvin Walks Free? liberationnews.org 
The panel discuss the trial of Derek Chauvin and other grotesque features of the American police state, protests across the country over the weekend against anti-Asian racism, exciting new developments in the case of the framed Denver protest leaders, and more.
(2021-04-01). Journalism Has No 'Safety Zone' in Myanmar After the Coup. telesurenglish.net Two months after the Feb. 1 coup, being a journalist has become a risk in Myanmar. Many are being hunted down, arrested, or targeted while on coverage. As of 30 March, 57 reporters, photojournalists, and publishers had been arrested. | RELATED: | These days, journalists are working while on the run, even with little or no pay, and using whatever internet they can find. Many too have lost their jobs and have not receive…
(2021-04-01). The trial of Derek Chauvin and the epidemic of police murder in America. wsws.org The testimony over the last three days has confirmed what millions of workers around the world already know: George Floyd's death on May 25, 2020 was a brutal police murder in cold blood.
(2021-04-01). Outraged Bystanders Describe Witnessing George Floyd Death During Chauvin Trial. truthout.org 
Jurors in Minneapolis heard another series of dramatic testimonies during the third day of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. A teenage clerk named Christopher Martin at the Minneapolis convenience store outside which Floyd was killed told jurors during questioning that he felt guilty for reporting the fake $20 bill to his manager, who called the police on George Floyd. Jurors also heard a recording of Charles McMillian, who witnessed…
(2021-04-01). Saudi man arrested as a child could face execution despite reforms: HRW. middleeasteye.net 
Saudi man arrested as a child could face execution despite reforms: HRW | Abdullah al-Huwaiti is still on death row despite a royal decree that ended death sentences for crimes committed as a minor | Thu, 04/01/2021 – 18: 37 | Demonstrators in Washington protest against death sentences given to children in the kingdom (AFP/File photo) | A Saudi man who was convicted following a "grossly unfair trial" for crime…
(2021-04-01). Saudi man arrested as child could face execution despite reforms: HRW. middleeasteye.net Saudi man arrested as child could face execution despite reforms: HRW | Abdullah al-Huwaiti is still on death row despite a royal decree that ended death sentences for crimes committed as a minor | Thu, 04/01/2021 – 18: 37 | Demonstrators in Washington protest against death sentences given to children in the kingdom (AFP/File photo) | A Saudi man who was convicted following a "grossly unfair trial" for crimes…
(2021-04-01). Headlines for April 1, 2021. democracynow.org Witness in Derek Chauvin Murder Trial Breaks Down After Viewing Footage of George Floyd's Killing, Four Killed as Gunman Opens Fire on Office Complex in Orange County, California, Biden Defends Infrastructure Plan as Progressives Push for $10 Trillion to Fight Climate Crisis, Wisconsin Supreme Court Voids Governor's Mask Mandate as COVID-19 Cases Rise Across U.S., Brazil's Cemeteries Hold Nighttime Funerals as COVID-19 Deaths Reach New Highs, Yemen Receives First COVID-19 Vaccine Shipments as Doctors Report Surge in Cases, Global Deforestation Increased by 12% in 2020 with Amazon Most Severely Affected, U.S. Cour…
(2021-04-01). MN groups stand in solidarity with Palestinians around the world on Land Day 2021. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – On March 30, over 50 activists gathered to show solidarity with Palestinians in their struggle against Israeli apartheid and occupation. They waved Palestinian flags and dropped banners on the footbridge over Interstate 94 between the Walker Sculpture Garden and Loring Park – across all eight lanes of traffic – demanding an end of U.S. aid to Israel, an end of Israeli occupation, the right of return for Palestinians, and an end to vaccine apartheid. The response from people passing by was overwhelmingly positive with a lot of honks from cars. | The action coincided with Land Day, which commemora…
(2021-04-01). "The System of Policing Is on Trial": Derek Chauvin Murder Case Is About More Than Just George Floyd. democracynow.org 
After the third dramatic day in the murder trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, we speak with Mel Reeves, who has been following the case as community editor at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the oldest Black-owned newspaper in the state. Reeves discusses the testimony heard so far, and juror selection, and says more is at stake than just what happened to George Floyd. "It is political. The system of policing is on trial," says Reeves. "You can see now how the police operate when they run into Black people." We also speak with Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, who says the…
(2021-04-01). "Check His Pulse": In Derek Chauvin Trial, Outraged Bystanders Describe Witnessing George Floyd Death. democracynow.org 
Jurors in Minneapolis heard another series of dramatic testimonies during the third day of the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd. A teenage clerk named Christopher Martin at the Minneapolis convenience store outside which Floyd was killed told jurors during questioning that he felt guilty for reporting the fake $20 bill to his manager, who called the police on George Floyd. Jurors also heard a recording of Charles McMillian, who witnessed George Floyd's death last year, approaching Chauvin to say, "I don't respect what you did," as Floyd's body was being load…
(2021-04-01). The Police Reform Movement Transcends Derek Chauvin's Trial. zcomm.org The debate over policing in the wake of Floyd's death will last beyond Chauvin's trial and has already been shaped by what happened last May in Minneapolis…
(2021-03-31). On Land Day, Palestine will be free from the river to the sea #AllLandPalestine. samidoun.net 
30 March 2021 marks the 45th Palestinian Land Day, a day of struggle and commitment to resisting colonization, occupation and apartheid, and to achieving victory and liberation for the land and people of Palestine. Land Day commemorates the anniversary of the mass rising in occupied Palestine '48 in 1976 in response to Israeli land confiscation targeting 20,000 dunums of Palestinian land in the Galilee. Palestinians inside occupied Palestine '48, who remained on their land after 80% of their people were expelled in the Nakba, confronted these new Zionist attacks with a general strike and mass popular protests, wh…
(2021-03-31). Firefighter ready to help Floyd was blocked by police. peoplesworld.org 
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis firefighter who wept as she recalled being prevented from using her EMT training to help George Floyd will be back on the stand today in the trial of the fired police officer charged in Floyd's death. Genevieve Hansen, one of several bystanders seen and heard shouting at Derek Chauvin as he …
(2021-03-31). Global solidarity with anti-imperialist struggle in Haiti and other stories. peoplesdispatch.org Today we look at the global actions in solidarity with Haiti, the beginning of the trial of former police officer accused of killing George Floyd, protests against UK policing bill, and mobilizations to commemorate Land Day in Palestine.
(2021-03-31). Former deputies arrested after man dies in police custody. nationofchange.org "While we can never take away the pain of the Ambler family, the grand jury has sent a clear message that no one is above the law."
(2021-03-31). Chicano and Black families speak out at forum to stop Los Angeles Sheriff attacks. fightbacknews.org Los Angeles, CA – Centro CSO and Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles cohosted a March 27 Zoom forum to denounce the killings of Chicanos and Blacks by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, deputy gangs like the Banditos, Executioners, and 3000 Boys that terrorize communities, and against the harassment of families who speak out against Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD). Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Hilda Solis and Holly Mitchell attended the meeting, listened to the families' testimonies, and committed to work with organizations to fight back against LASD and its embattled leader S…
(2021-03-31). Tampa rally demands justice for George Floyd, jail for killer cops. fightbacknews.org Tampa, FL – On Saturday, March 27, the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee (TBCAC) and others rallied at Curtis Hixon Park in downtown Tampa to demand a guilty verdict for killer cop Derek Chauvin. Chauvin is charged with the murder of George Floyd, whose killing inspired an unprecedented uprising last summer. | "We need to come together to stand against any attempt to let this murderer off. We need to do it for the Floyd family, and the families of all others affected by police brutality," said Jhosn Pena of TBCAC. | Protesters called attention to local cases of police brutality such as the case of Josiah Pinne…
(2021-03-31). 'Criminalization Makes the Situation Worse': Victoria Law on Incarceration. progressive.org In an interview about her new book "Prisons Make Us Safer," the prison abolition advocate speaks on the negative impacts of prisons and jails on our communities.
(2021-03-31). Germany: Airport ground workers stage protest at Verdi trade union headquarters. wsws.org The only realistic defense of jobs requires a break not only with Verdi trade union but also with the IGL leadership, which is offering its services to the bosses as the more effective policeman.
(2021-03-31). People v. Derek Chauvin opening arguments protest. fightbacknews.org Minneapolis, MN – Hundreds of people protested on Monday, March 29, to demand justice for George Floyd and conviction of Derek Chauvin. The demonstration took place after opening statements, and the first witnesses testified in court. Many were still reeling from an emotional day in court, where videos of Floyd's murder were replayed several times, and the proceedings were broadcast live. | In opening arguments, special prosecutor Jerry Blackwell told jurors that George Floyd said he could not breathe 27 times while Chauvin kneeled on his neck and back. He played one of the bystander videos taken the day that Flo…
(2021-03-31). Chauvin's Lawyers Are Falsely Implying That Drugs Killed George Floyd. popularresistance.org Drugs have long been used to justify racist police-perpetrated violence, and the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the alleged murder of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street corner last May is, thus far, no different. | In his opening statement in a Minneapolis courtroom on Monday, Chauvin's defense attorney Eric J. Nelson spoke at length about Floyd's health problems and drug use in a clear attempt to cast doubt on the prosecution's central argument: Floyd was killed because Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes as Floyd pleaded for mercy and gasped, "I can't breathe." | The prosecu…
(2021-03-31). Cuban Foreign Minister: US Segregation and Racism Are Endemic. telesurenglish.net "Eighty percent of Americans consider that in the U.S. there is discrimination against blacks, 76 percent against Hispanics and 70 percent against Asians," Rodriguez wrote in a message published Tuesday on his Twitter account, about a recent study by the Pew Research Center, a Washington D.C.-based think tank, which puts it this way. | RELATED: | The head of Cuban diplomacy regretted that "racism and segregation are end…
(2021-03-31). Will We Stand Up For Black Trans Lives Too? popularresistance.org Last summer, during what some have called the largest social justice uprising in United States history, the lives of Black trans people were ignored. While many rightly raged against the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, few know the names of Black trans people like Kim Wirtz, who have also been murdered by a racist policing and prison system. In Baltimore, trans activists from the LGBTQ organization Baltimore Safe Haven protested, demanding an end to police violence and an end to the erasure of the Black trans community. The Real News' Eddie Conway talks to activists on the ground in Baltimore about th…
(2021-03-31). Headlines for March 31, 2021. democracynow.org Eyewitnesses Give Chilling Testimony of Police Killing of George Floyd, Brazil in Crisis as COVID Deaths Soar & Military Chiefs Quit in Protest, U.S. COVID Deaths Top 550,000; Florida Undercounted Thousands of Deaths, Bloomberg Employees Got Special Access to Vaccines at NYU Hospitals, China Delivers 100,000 COVID Vaccines to Palestine, White House Unveils $2 Trillion Jobs & Infrastructure Plan, Two Police Deputies Indicted in Texas for Killing Javier Ambler After Traffic Stop, Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump as GOP Welcomes Oath Keepers Founder in Texas, Man Arrested for Viciously Attacking Filipino Woman in N…
(2021-03-31). Aging Former Black Panthers Mumia Abu-Jamal & Sundiata Acoli Got COVID-19 & Could Die in Prison. democracynow.org 
We get an update on political prisoners Mumia Abu-Jamal and Sundiata Acoli, who contracted COVID-19 but have yet to be released. Acoli is a former member of the Black Panther Party who is now 84 years old and has been in prison in New Jersey for nearly half a century, even though he has been eligible for parole for almost three decades. He was denied parole again in February. His crime involved the killing of a state trooper. Last year, he contracted COVID-19 and was hospitalized, and he reportedly has early-stage dementia. We speak with his longtime advocate, Soffiyah Elijah with Alliance of Families for Justice…
(2021-03-31). JBLM Soldiers Kidnapping Civilians in the Local Community. indybay.org Corruption and abuse at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM), WA poses a growing threat to the surrounding civilian community. JBLM has a long history of criminal activity and misconduct targeting the civilian community… and now KIDNAPPING!
(2021-03-30). The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly. popularresistance.org This month, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released two reports with updates on city and county jail populations nationwide: Jail Inmates in 2019 and Impact of COVID-19 on the Local Jail Population, January-June 2020. After a year of upheaval due to the pandemic, the first report is already out-of-date and mainly useful as a historical document. The second report, however, answers some important questions about the decisions local officials made when the high stakes of jail incarceration — for individual and public health — were put into stark relief by the pandemic. Their decisions, and the resulti…
(2021-03-30). 'Scarface'-style standoff in Russia ends as man who fired shots & tossed grenades at cops likely killed in fire at luxury home. rt.com 
A ten-hour-long standoff between special forces and an armed resident of an affluent village near Moscow likely ended up with the suspect being killed in a fire that he himself started, a security source said. | Early on Tuesday, officers arrived at Novye Veshki village to search the opulent cottage of 61-year-old businessman, Vladimir Bardanov, who was suspected of being involved in arms trafficking. | But the owner apparently had no desire to go to jail and much like Tony Montana — Al Pacino's iconic character from 'Scarface' — opted to go down with a bang. | When the police presented Bardanov's wi…
(2021-03-30). Derek Chauvin's Lawyers Are Falsely Implying That Drugs Killed George Floyd. truthout.org 
Drugs have long been used to justify racist police-perpetrated violence, and the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin for the alleged murder of George Floyd on a Minneapolis street corner last May is, thus far, no different. | In his opening statement in a Minneapolis courtroom on Monday, Chauvin's defense attorney Eric J. Nelson spoke at length about Floyd's health problems and drug use in a clear attempt to cast doubt on the prosecution's central argument: Floyd was killed because Cha…
