Anarchists and antifascists at the University of Central Florida put up dozens of stickers and material denouncing UCF President Alexander Cartwright over the lack of a statement condemning the weekend of hate in Orlando put on by the National Socialist Movement and other fascist groups.
Over 100 protesters at Florida State University took to the streets to demand better wages, more training, and sick pay for campus dining Aramark employees.
The student body of FSU had long been arguing against contracting Aramark for university dining, citing the corporation’s use of prison slavery and egregious civil rights violations against employees.
Hundreds of protesters in Wilton Manors gathered to denounce the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill being advanced through the Florida government, which would prohibit discussion around LGBT+ issues in schools.
Advocacy groups said it would further alienate already-marginalized students due to their orientation or identity, and hinder acceptance of the LGBT+ population in schools.
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.
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.
