On the 5th of September, US Atty for DC , Jessie K. Liu (a Trump appointee) held an ostensably public meeting aimed at sabotaging and undermining the DC Council's Second Look Amendment Act. Outside, DC residents and representatives from Black Lives Matter held a protest as the meeting was limited to hand-picked residents. Liu's staff told members of the public the meeting was "for elected officials only."
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Anti-migrant hate rally in Rockville draws huge counterprotest On the 13th of September, an anti-migrant hate rally (some participants in MAGA hats) in front of the Montgomery County Council's offices drew a much larger counterprotest. The hate rally was demanding Montgomery County hold jail inmates for ICE detainers, which is not the current practice. The hypocrisy of the far-right was on full display, as they defied police orders to stay off the steps of the building. |
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Featured Stories
From Extinction Rebellion DC:
On the 26th of August, Extinction Rebellion's DC chapter staged a noisy protest at the Embassy of Brazil in response to the suddent wave of fires in the Amazon Rainforest. Brazil's fascist, Trump-like president Bolsonaro has fired the scientists who revealed the wave of fires, and his supporters in land-hungry agrobusinessnesses are suspected of setting many of the fires.
HD Video highlights of the protest against Bolsonaro's fires in the Amazon 2 min 14 sec
For months Georgetown's Mono Diner has had a problem: owner Mohammad Esfahnani had discovered he could save money by withholding employee's last paychecks outright and paying for only some of the hours employees had been clocked in on others. This is flat-out wage theft. Now he has shut the restaurant down, and apparently nobody there will get their last paycheck. Mohammad Esfahnani now owes at least $6,602 in back wages and has refused to pay even in the face of months of pressure and complaints to the DC government.
On the 14th of August, opponents of Trump's racist pogrom against migrants set up a mock Statue of Liberty outside the Mass Ave offices of the US Citizenship and Immigration "Service." The statue bore an inscription welcoming migrants in many languages at the base. Security removed the statue after USCIS acting director Ken Cuccinelli took a selfie with it, carefully cropping out the inscription at the base welcoming migrants
Never Again Action, Jews United for Justice, Truah, CASA and other human rights activists marched to the Howard County Detention Center and risked arrest protesting Howard County's contract with ICE.
According to a Jews United for Justice Facebook post, "County Executive Ball has already indicated a willingness to "reexamine" the intergovernmental service agreement (IGSA) that Howard County has with ICE."
Local News
Early in the Bike Party, while still in NW
On Sep 11, 2019 the DC Bike Party's "back to school ride" rode from Dupont Circle to Busboys and Poets in Anacostia.
HD Video-the DC Bike Party in Anacostia 2 min 33 sec
HD Video-mock flames and matchbooks lead the march 2 min 29 seconds
On the 5th of September, protesters gathered at the White House, then marched on the Consulate of Brazil. The march carried mock matchbooks depicting Trump, Bolsonaro, and major agrobusinesses, condemning their role in the ongoing arson of the Amazon rainforest.
There is ongoing discussion in California about showing up in Washington, D.C.
Kremlin Annex protesters on Aug 29
The "Kremlin Annex" protests began in July 2018 after the Trump/Putin Helsink summit where Trump stood alongside Putin to deny Russian interference in the 2016 election. Over a year later, these protests continue, now on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. They've had to move a bit because of the "White House Fence Replacement" project, new fortifications going up to protect Trump from an increasingly angry public.
Leaving Dupont Circle with the DC Bike Party
On the 14th of August, the DC Bike Party again took to the streets with hundreds of participants. DC Bike Parties ride on the second Wed of every month from April to December
Video-start of the August DC Bike Party 1 min 16 sec
For decades Malcolm X Park has been a popular cruising area for Gay men, mostly men of color. Since August 2018, US Park Police have been entrapping and arresting Gay men there, using 1950's style tactics including directly propositioning their targets. This and police raids on Gay bars were the factors that led to the Stonewall Riot, a three day uprising in which NYC's police were soundly defeated. It has the potential to lead at any time to violent confrontations beyond what police expect, as they found to their sorrow on June 28, 1969.