Protests Against Trump’s Fascist Federal Agents Spread Throughout the Country

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Black Lives Matter protest near the Seattle Police East Precinct headquarters in Seattle. (Photo: AP)

In the face of the brutality by federal forces sent in by Trump, protests in Portland have gotten bigger, more diverse and more determined. The continuing viciousness of the federal pigs in Portland – AND the fact that people are going up against all this—has inspired people around the country and led to more protests in other cities. The New York Times noted on Sunday, “Weeks of violent clashes between federal agents and protesters in Portland, Ore., galvanized thousands of people to march through the streets of American cities on Saturday, injecting new life into protests that had largely waned in recent weeks.” Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club were in the mix in all this in many cities. The following are reports on some of these protests around the country in recent days.

Seattle

The day saw thousands march in the largest Black Lives Matter protest in weeks in this city. Signs included “Feds Go Home” and “We are living in a police state.” People chanted, “No justice, no peace.” According to news reports, the building that is the site of a future youth detention center was set on fire and windows were smashed at the King County court facility. Police attacked this protest viciously with flash grenades and pepper spray. Seattle pigs declared an unlawful gathering and arrested at least 45 people before retreating.

Refuse Fascism led a protest through the streets of some 200 people behind banners “Get Secret Police Out” and “Trump/Pence #OUTNOW!” People chanted “November is too late, Trump/Pence Out Now!” and “No fascist police state, Trump/Pence Out Now!” Speakers included a Chilean immigrant who brought to light the horrors of living under murderous fascism in that country in the 1970s and ’80s, and sharply challenged people to confront that this is happening here, now.

 

 

New York

Hundreds rallied and marched with Refuse Fascism. They were joined at Union Square by several thousand in the #UniteNY2020 Black Lives Matter protest that marched across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. Dozens of the BLM marchers joined with Refuse Fascism to march to Times Square and then Trump Tower in solidarity with Portland protestors, chanting “No Trump, No KKK, No Fascist USA.”

 

 

Louisville, Kentucky

Protests continued Friday night, July 24, against the police murder of Breonna Taylor. People started with a “March for Freedom” through downtown. Organizers then blocked off an area downtown with metal barricades for a block party where there was food, games, and artwork. Around 5 p.m. police, some in riot gear, showed up, declared the gathering unlawful and started arresting people. People responded by chanting, “Arrest the police.” The pigs arrested 76 people on charges including obstructing a highway and disorderly conduct, and assault, accused of throwing bottles at cops.

A Black group called NFAC (Not Fucking Around Coalition), based in Atlanta, Georgia showed up in force—about 300 people, armed and dressed in all-black fatigues, demanding justice for Breonna Taylor. They stated they intended to keep their march peaceful but that it is their constitutional right to employ an armed militia. They formed up and marched in the streets to downtown. In response, a much smaller group of Three Percenters, a far-right militia group, had announced they would have “boots on the ground” in Louisville, saying they wanted to support the police. This white supremacist group had provided security in 2017 for the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where neo-Nazis and other reactionary extremists marched through the streets with swastikas.

Police were there in riot gear and set up a barricade to keep BLM and NFAC protesters separated from the white supremacist reactionaries, on opposite sides of the street. Five people were arrested.

 

 

Richmond, Virginia


Photo: Richmond-VA-@JackPosobiec

About 300 people gathered downtown in support of the protests in Portland. In front of City Hall there was a standoff between cops and protesters who chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.”

 

 

Aurora, Colorado


Photo: Aurora-CO-@Bignutliv

About 1,000 people marched in support of Portland and also to protest the murder of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man who died last summer after cops put him in a chokehold. McClain was an amateur violinist, and to remember and honor him, there have been violin vigils around the country. A car plowed into the protesters when they had gone onto Interstate 225, injuring several people. Some people dispersed after this but others, even angrier, kept protesting, including at the police headquarters. The cops did not arrest the driver who drove into the protest, even though they had identified him.

Chicago

Several protests and rallies took place on Saturday, including a protest by Refuse Fascism in which people gathered at Federal Plaza and marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement field office. People also gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest at Buckingham Fountain and then marched throughout the downtown Loop area.

 

 

Los Angeles

About 300 people gathered downtown in support of the protests in Portland. People rallied around different causes, including a protest focusing on justice for Vanessa Guillén (the army soldier who was apparently the victim of a femicidal murder by another soldier); anarchists and other youth intent on going toe-to-toe with the police; and people who came mostly in solidarity with Portland. As protesters marched, intersected and gathered for combined rallies, most everyone was challenged to get with Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club.

In front of City Hall there was a standoff between cops and protesters who chanted “Black Lives Matter” and “No Justice, No Peace.” People marched to the LAPD headquarters and then to the Metropolitan Detention Center. At one point the march also walked onto the 101 Freeway, blocking traffic for a while. Four people were arrested, three for battery on a police officer. Anti-fascist and anti-police graffiti appeared on the walls of some buildings. One news article reported: “Los Angeles was under a citywide tactical alert on Saturday night, as police responded to a ‘Refuse Fascism’ rally organized in support of demonstrations in Portland and Seattle.” Declaring a tactical alert allows the pigs to bring in more pigs and more resources (of repression). And dozens of pigs were dispatched in riot gear and armed with so-called “less than lethal” munitions – which they unleashed on the crowd.

 

 

Austin, Texas

Protests have continued since the killing of George Floyd. On Saturday night, Garrett Foster was one of those taking to the streets once again. He was pushing his fiancée's wheelchair. Suddenly, a car that had turned onto the street where protesters were marching accelerated as it approached them. When demonstrators went up to the car, someone inside opened fire. Foster was hit and later died at the hospital. Sheila Foster, who appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, said her son and his fiancée, Whitney Mitchell, who is African American, had been out protesting for weeks. She said, ““He was doing it because he felt really strongly about justice and he was very heavily against police brutality, and he wanted to support his fiancée.”

 

 

Omaha, Nebraska


Photo: Omaha-NE-@coldbrewedtool

Protesters marched down a major street, obstructing traffic. Cops declared the assembly unlawful, threatening people with arrest. Cops then arrested about 75-80 people. A group called proBLAC called for the protest, and the Facebook post for the event stated that the purpose of the protest was to shine a light on the “horrific slaying of our brother James Scurlock” and to “stand in solidarity with Portland” and other cities. In May, during a protest, 22-year-old Scurlock was killed by a white bar owner.

 

 

Oakland, California

As many as 700 people marched through the streets of downtown Saturday night in support of continuing protests in Portland and against Trump sending in the feds. Organizers reported that participants included the Wall of Moms Bay Area, Refuse Fascism Bay Area and Vigil for Democracy. The Wall of Moms group encouraged participants to wear yellow and bring sunflowers and posted on their Facebook page: “Reject secret federal police in our cities, and celebrate our right to gather peacefully and protest.”

 

 

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