DaJen Eats gathered in Orlando to protest their firing after speaking out against the manipulation of timestamps for breaks and clock-out times, inconsistent payment of tips, and unsafe physical working conditions. The rallygoers demanded that their employment be restored, and all demands to improve pay and working conditions be satisfied.
Media via Central Florida Industrial Workers of the World
Hundreds of protesters gathered in Orlando to denounce the Don’t Say Gay bill, which would prohibit the discussion of LGBT+ issues in classrooms across Florida. The bill recently passed through the House, without an amendment that would have forced schools to out students to their families in 6 weeks or less.
Counterprotesters at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando gathered to denounce Governor DeSantis’ mismanagement of the pandemic, which up to the present has caused nearly 70,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19.
Despite being victim to harassment from CPAC attendees, no heated confrontations occurred at the event.
Tamarac police officer Gregory Lacella brutally assaulted 15-year-old Delucca Rolle in 2019 at a shopping plaza. An appeals court agreed with Officer Lacella’s Stand Your Ground claim on Thursday, eliminating charges of battery placed against him.
In a video recorded by a bystander, Officer Lacella and another deputy can be seen pepper-spraying Rolle before throwing him to the ground, banging his head against the pavement, and punching him in the head several times.
Delucca Role, the victim of Lacella’s assault, was charged with assault on a police officer, and, upon inquiry by local news channels, was found to have a clean criminal record. The charges were later dropped.
During the investigation, Lacella claimed he feared for his life and used the Stand Your Ground claim in court to defend his brutal attack on 15-year-old Rolle. A Florida appeals court agreed with the argument, ruling that Rolle’s aggressive behavior justified Lacerra’s response.
In 2016, North Miami police officer Jonathon Aledda shot unarmed Charles Kinsey, the behavioral therapist of Arnaldo Rios Soto, an autistic man who lived at a nearby group home residence. On Wednesday, a state appeals court overturned his conviction in the case.
Police, arriving on the scene, found Soto holding a toy truck that Officer Aledda claimed to look like a weapon. Officials claim the responding officers believed Soto was holding Kinsey hostage, despite Kinsey getting on the ground with his hands up and begging them not to shoot.
A recording shows Kinsey begging officers not to fire, making it clear that Soto was holding a toy truck. Officer Aledda then opened fire, shooting Kinsey in the leg. Kinsey later asked the police why they shot him, receiving an alleged response of “I don’t know.”
The definition of attempted voluntary manslaughter is where the defendant committed, obtained, or was negligently culpable in an act that would have killed the victim but someone stopped the death or the defendant’s actions failed to kill the victim.
Despite the hard proof that Officer Aledda shot Charles Kinsey, the original jury acquitted him of all charges other than misdemeanor culpable negligence.
Over 100 protesters gathered outside the St. Petersburg City Hall to demand rent control amid one of the worst housing crises in American history, of which St. Petersburg and other Florida cities are epicenters.
Many organizations, including Tampa Bay Party for Socialism and Liberation, St. Petersburg People’s Council, and the Allendale Methodist Church spoke at the event, condemning the city government for refusing to acknowledge the struggles of the people outside its doors.
Members of the St. Petersburg People’s Council voted to escalate if the city doesn’t take action, gathering signatures from residents willing to set up an encampment at the city hall. Despite the risk of arrest, many signed up, holding the belief that incarceration is a lesser burden than excessive rent.
Media via St. Petersburg Tenants’ Union
Dozens of protesters assembled in a Miami “A Day Without Immigrants” event to demand better treatment of farmworkers and a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in the United States, calling for an immediate moratorium on deportations for reasons excepting violent crime.
Media via American Friends Service Committee-Florida
Dozens of demonstrators in Orlando took to the streets of Lake Eola in the “A Day Without Immigrants” event, standing in solidarity with all immigrants regardless of status. Organizers demanded a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and an immigration program more accessible to the global poor.
Media via Central Florida AFL-CIA
Around 60 protesters assembled to demand the release of indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier at the Coleman Federal Correctional Institute, an hour’s drive north of Tampa. Peltier, now 77 years old, has been infected with COVID-19 for more than a week and has been denied parole and release.
Leonard Peltier was an activist for the American Indian Movement, who has been incarcerated for over 44 years in what is internationally considered one of the most corrupt trials in American history. Peltier was accused of shooting and killing 2 FBI agents at point-blank range, but a prosecutor conceded that the government does not know who shot the agents.
Regardless, it was asserted that he is equally guilty whether he shot the agents at point-blank range, or participated in the shoot-out from a distance. Peltier’s co-defendants participated in the shootout from a distance but were nonetheless acquitted.
An FBI ballistics expert testified that a casing found near the agents’ bodies matched the gun tied to Peltier. A previous ballistic test proving that the casing had not come from Peltier’s gun, however, was intentionally concealed.
One of the prosecutors in the case later admitted that the trial was a sham, calling for the release of Peltier. The AIM activist’s incarceration continues in spite of ever-growing evidence suggesting he was framed.
Photos via PSL Tampa Bay
Hundreds took to the streets in Miami on the 10th anniversary of Trayvon Martin’s birthday since his murder by George Zimmerman, denouncing gun violence, racial discrimination, and the Stand Your Ground law that enabled a white vigilante to shoot a Black minor.
