Protest Reports

It is almost too horrible to imagine. On Monday, March 14, Israeli snipers opened fire on unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza. At least 52 were killed and over 750 injured from the live fire, which used expanding bullets that collapse bone upon impact. The Israelis also used drones to drench the protesters with tear gas.

Since March 30, Palestinians in Gaza have been peacefully protesting for an end to the 11-year-long siege and the right to return to the lands and villages they were displaced from in 1948. Israel has responded with lethal force, killing over 90 protesters since the start of the demonstrations.

Congress must condemn Israel’s massacres, reaffirm the right of all people to gather in peaceful protest, and demand an end to the siege of Gaza.

Imagine if 52 Israeli peaceful protesters were killed? Or 52 Americans? There would be a massive outcry, nonstop media coverage, and demands to hold the killers accountable. Don’t Palestinian lives have the same value? We think so.

On March 24, 2018, over 1.2 million people across the country rallied and marched to show the political establishment and the gun lobby that the American people are serious about gun control. Unfortunately, I was not one of them. As a father of two small children, I can’t always make it to every protest. Don’t get me wrong, protesting is in my blood, and my children have been to their fair share already, but on March 14, I was conscripted to help with a seasonal egg hunt. The key to being an activist parent is figuring out how to give your children a better future while allowing them to have meaningful childhoods. That day, in the name of meaningful childhood, I bundled up and hid some eggs.

A group of #BlackPride4 supporters gathered in front of City Hall at 5pm Monday, March 12 to let Columbus City Council know that "Columbus is guilty!" They were calling attention to the Columbus Police Department and their treatment of the Black Pride 4 at last year's Pride parade. Three of the Black Pride 4 will hear their sentences on Tuesday, March 13 at 9am at the Franklin County Munincipal Court building, room 13A, 375 S. High St. They are  also asking for people to fill the courtroom at that time. The activists spoke about the importance of calling out the Columbus Police and city officials on their use of excessive force against black citizens in  general, and particularly the black trans people at the Pride rally. 

Wriply, Ashley and Kendall of the #BlackPride4 were recently tried and found guilty of six out of eight of their heinous trumped-up charges stemming from their peaceful protest at 2017 Columbus Pride. After a week-long jury trial in Franklin County Municipal Court, a jury decided the following in three of the four #BlackPride4 cases:

Wriply Bennet:
  Disorderly Conduct – Guilty
  Failure to Obey – Guilty
  Resisting Arrest – Guilty
Ashley Braxton:
  Disorderly Conduct – Guilty
  Failure to Obey – Guilty
  Resisting Arrest - Not Guilty
Kendall Denton:
  Disorderly Conduct – Guilty
  Failure to Obey - Not Guilty

Now these folks have a quickly approaching sentencing date of March 13, with the threat of jail time looming heavy overhead. Wriply Bennet, a beloved Black trans activist and artist, was convicted of the most charges.

The neo-Nazi Patriot Front, was busy flyering down Indianola Avenue in Clintonville Monday, February 26 in broad daylight. Whenever local residents removed them, the flyers would soon reappear. The neo-Nazis have now flyered Clintonville four times in the last few months in addition to Hilliard, Worthington, Westerville, and Dublin.

Clintonville activists and their allies made their values known with a large anti-racist demonstration Saturday, March 3, that drew about 60 people at the corner of North Broadway and High.

Here is a Patriot Front quote from Brakton Bragg, a Front leader: “This nation is the property of the founding stock and no one else.” I don’t suppose he’s referring to the Wyandot or the Ottawa founding stock of this land. On the flyer, they wrote: “Our goals do not end with a candidate in an office or a bill signed into law. Out horizon is set on absolute victory.” Hmmm. And even more violent language: “Resurrection through insurrection.

Great news! Today, Governor John Kasich announced he will grant a reprieve until October 17, 2018 to Ray Tibbetts, who had been scheduled for execution on Tuesday, February 13, 2018. The purpose of this temporary reprieve is to allow the Ohio Parole Board to convene a hearing to consider new evidence bearing on Ray's clemency request. 

Thanks to you and many others taking action, there will not be an execution next week. There is a lot of work that goes into stopping executions. That's why we are so grateful to you for being an Ohioan to Stop Executions. Thank you.

Since there will not be an execution Feb. 13, we've decided to postpone the activity at the Statehouse to April 11, the date of Ohio's next scheduled execution. OTSE will post information and actions on the case of William T. Montgomery in the coming weeks.

Following is a statement from Erin Barnhart, attorney for Ray Tibbetts:

House JointResolution 5 (HJR 5), introduced in fall 2017 in both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, would dramatically change the already-difficult process to amend the Ohio Constitution and is stealthily making its way through the Ohio General Assembly.

As Congress scrambles to reconcile the House and Senate versions of the GOP tax bill before Christmas, a nascent resistance movement is growing. On December 9 students and working people marched from the Ohio Statehouse to the office of Senator Rob Portman, a key architect and proponent of the tax bill.

The Republican tax plan “is nothing more than blatant class warfare waged on the working class, especially women and people of color,” said Alex Davis, a graduate student at OSU and member of Socialist Alternative. “It’s raising taxes on the poor while reducing taxes on the rich. By 2019, nine percent of taxpayers would pay higher taxes, which would expand to 50 percent by 2027. And that’s not even counting the cuts to vital social services that will be used to help fund the tax cuts.”

“Tax the greedy, not the needy!” the crowd shouted.

As House Republicans prepare for a vote on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act this week, graduate students at universities across the country are organizing mass resistance under the hashtag #SaveGradEd. Many are engaging in political struggle for the first time.

On November 13, over 300 graduate students and supporters marched on the Oval at the Ohio State University to protest a provision in the GOP bill that would make tuition waivers taxable income for graduate students. Forbes contributor Ethan Seigel argues that the tax overhaul bill would destroy graduate education in the U.S.