Anarchists in the University of Central Florida campus put up dozens of flyers, stickers, and anti-fascist material in response to a surge of far-right activity in the Orlando area over the weekend, mostly orchestrated by the National Socialist Movement and other fascist groups.
Antifascists resisted the presence of the National Socialist Movement in 2 separate instances in the Orlando area, counter-protesting both and redecorating the sites in which they occurred.
On the 29th of January, 15-20 Nazis representing the National Socialist Movement held a rally at Waterford Lakes Town Center, among them Burt Colucci and Eddie McBride. The crowd of fascists assaulted bystanders and accosted people recording, waving Nazi flags, and waving banners advertising the NSM.
25 local antifascists then promptly arrived at the scene, pelting the fascist gathering with eggs and stones, forcing them to disperse. Following the dispersion of the NSM rallygoers, locals saw fit to redecorate the site with antifascist stickers and tags, per a reportback from the Miami Revolutionary Abolitionist Front.
The same group of fascists re-emerged on the 30th at the I4 highway, also in Orlando, putting up a swastika flag and 2 banners saying “Vax the Jews” and “Let’s Go Branon”, an erroneously misspelled right-wing slogan.
Local anarchists and antifascists arrived on the scene again but were unable to shut down the far-right demonstration due to a massive police presence to protect the NSM rally.
60 members of the Cuban diaspora in Miami took to the streets in a caravan to demand that President Biden end the criminal U.S. blockade on Cuba. The group demanded that all sanctions on Cuba be lifted, the family reunification program be restored and freedom of travel be recommenced between Cuba and the U.S.
A small group of right-wing counterprotesters donning MAGA hats and other conservative memorabilia shouted curses at the caravan, whose participants included grandparents of children, but were drowned out by far louder chants of “Cuba si! El bloqueo no!” from demonstrators.
Miami’s rent has risen 36% over the last year, one of the largest increases in the United States and one that many local tenants have been unable to keep up with.
When CBS4 News asked Mayor Francis Suarez what he believes would be a solution to the present rent crisis, he suggested that Miami’s working-class should find a cheaper place to live, get a raise, or find a better-paying job.
Sgt. Christopher Pullease of the Sunrise Police Department was placed on desk duty after the release of body camera footage from an incident on November 19th, 2021. Footage shows Pullease grabbed another young officer by the throat after she stopped him from pepper-spraying an already handcuffed arrestee.
“I find this behavior to be disgusting”, said Chief Anthony Rosa in an interview with WLRN 7 News, omitting that the officer in question was not even placed on administrative leave and remains on full-pay status while serving desk duty.
Dozens of Tampa Bay community members gathered at the St. Petersburg police department headquarters on Friday, protesting the racist police shooting of 17-year-old Christopher Tonsel by deputy Leighton Williams.
In recently published body camera footage, Tonsel is seen dropping his weapon in compliance with an order given by police, before officer Leighton Williams shoots him moments later as Tonsel’s weapon falls to the ground. The footage completely contradicted previous police statements that claimed the 17-year-old had aimed his gun at officer Williams.
Demonstrators demanded that officer Leighton Williams be charged with attempted murder and that Cristopher Tonsel have trumped-up charges of aggravated assault on a police officer dropped.
Media via Party for Socialism and Liberation Tampa Bay Chapter (@psltampabay), Progressive Peoples’ Action (@ppapinellas), and @_.voodoo
14 inmates went on strike at the Taylor Correctional Institution in North Florida, protesting horrible prison conditions and forced labor in the Florida prison system.
According to a flyer circulating within the Florida Department of Corrections facilities, the demonstration was organized by inmates on Tuesday in response:
To our conditions of slavery and forced free labor
To living in substandard conditions
To the lack of a real parole system
To unethical mental health and medical care
To unjust sentencing schemes and practices
To super-inflated canteen pricing
“Year after year, they continue to fail to do anything comprehensive to fix and undo the atrocities and destruction caused by their criminal and inhumane legislation.”
Some facilities within the prison went on lockdown in response to the planned strike, according to families of inmates incarcerated there.
Dozens of Boynton Beach community members attended the city commission meeting on Tuesday to demand justice for Stanley Davis Jr. a.k.a SJ, a 13-year-old Black boy killed in a crash while being chased by police on his dirt bike.
Photo via Jorge Milian
Stanley Davis, SJ’s father, requested a thorough and transparent investigation, asking the mayor and city commissioners to “do what’s right.” Davis also revealed that the medical examiner had found that his son had tears in his eyes at the time of his death, according to an autopsy.
For me to hear from the medical examiner that my son had tears in his eyes, meaning he was crying while being chased … That’s what tears me apart. To know that his final moment, he was alone. He was afraid.
After a 7-year-long legal battle between Ft. Lauderdale Food Not Bombs and the City of Fort Lauderdale, FNB has won a settlement and payment for legal fees by the City for attempting to ban food sharing in parks.
The settlement came amid Food Not Bombs’ victory in their 2nd appeal of the lawsuit in August 2021, and, according to the group’s Facebook page, will create “a strongly worded precedent about sharing food as protected free speech.”
We had to bite our tongues a lot over the years to see how this would play out, but no more. We out-lived and out-maneuvered the old Mayor, City Manager, and City Attorney, who were all intent on policing us and the homeless out of existence. Fuck them! Let’s not forget multiple FLPD Chiefs and Captains who sent their goons to stalk and arrest us, all gone now! Nuts to all the narrow-minded fools who wanted to be rid of us.
Over 1,000 protesters and community members marched to honor the life of Stanley Davis Jr., a 13-year-old boy on a dirt bike killed during a traffic stop chase by Boynton Beach police. Demonstrators rode various vehicles, including road bikes and normal bicycles, and held signs demanding justice for Stanley, known to many as SJ.
The rally first began from the gas station where SJ last filled up his dirt bike, heading down the route he was chased down until reaching the destination where SJ crashed and was killed. Demonstrators held a moment of silence, before returning to the gas station and largely ending the protest.
