On the morning of April 27, a "CASAforall People's Motorcade" drove around areas including the US Capitol to demand extension of DACA for the duration of the pandemic and an end to ICE detention.
On Sat, the 25th of April, a CancelTheRent motorcade protest paid a visit tp Mayor Bowser-at her house. This was but the first of many stops in DC, one of over 40 cities hosting CancelTheRent events.
In addition to rent cancellation, protesters demanded an end to now-lethal mass incarceration. One "correction facility" in the U$ now has 80% testing positive for COVID-19.
PLS's video of motorcade approaching Mayor Bowser's house1 min 21 sec
On the 23ed of April-and again a day or two later, protesters showed up at Trump Hotel and laid down mock bodybags symbolizing those killed by Trump's "response" to the pandemic. This is especially appropriate after Trump's remarks about drinking or injecting bleach etc.
Video: Protesters lay bodybags, drive Tax Chicken past Trump Hotel 53 sec
Extinction Rebellion DC Spokesperson Sophia Kianni reports: "On Wednesday, XRDC sent out teams of guerrilla gardeners to plant herbs, fruit trees and vegetables in abandoned lots around the city and wider DMV. The rebels targeted a dozen locations, including Columbia Heights, Bloomingdale, Silver Spring, Capitol Hill and Brookland."
This is but the first of a series of climate actions taking place from Earth Day through May Day in DC.
Video cropped from National Nurses United Twitter video(vertical) 2 min 20 sec
On the 21st of April, National Nurses United read out the names of nurses who have died in the fight against the zoonotic COVID-19 coronavirus. They were protesting being literally sent into battle with little or no armor, and demanding that Trump ensure that US industry produced enough masks and protective gear for them.
On the 21st of April, MOCO Students on Climate backed by Extinction Rebellion protested in Rockville against a digital meeting of the Board of Education after the scool board ignored 700 signatures on a petition demanding action on climate change. A convoy of 20 honking cars circled the building the digital meeting originated from, and school security had to intervene to stop the horns due to an audio conection inside the building being used by some part of the meeting.
Video of car caravan originally published by SURJ-DC 21 sec
On Emancipation Day, the 16th of April, the second Decarcerate DC car caravan protest took to the streets. This time they started at Saint Elizabeth’s Hospital and drove to the DC Jail. Again demands were the release of all prisoners in St E's, the DC jail, and all halfway houses to avoid a coronavirus death sentence.
Video-A16 20 years later,now virus beseiges IMF 2 min 4 sec
Twenty years ago on the day this was written, the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings were beseiged and shut down by betweenb 20,000 and 30,000 direct action protesters. Now the Spring Meetings have been driven to online venues by a different kind of siege: the coronavirus. Reports that the IMF and World Bank agreed to cancel all debts "owed" to them unfortunately turned out to be an online prank.
I currently live in Maryland and an experience I had on April 10, 2020 underscored exactly how invasive the lengths to ensure compliance with the current stay at home order (to halt the spread of the coronavirus has become.
I was outdoors cleaning up the front yard, when a blue/gray compact vehicle passed this house the third time. I wondered if the driver were lost. Two men with some kind of uniform pin on their shirts were in the front seat. Two women also with badges were in the back. They walked fairly close to the house and I warned them I had neither mask or gloves.
On the 9th of April, the ShutDownDC activists who staged last year's major climate change blockades in DC held a public protest on Capitol Hill to demand a "People's Bailout." They were protesting Trump's coronavirus packages that focus primarily on saving corporations.
Video of the noise protest motorcade 1 min 10 sec
On the 8th of April, a noisy car caravan took to the streets of DC, demanding that all prisoners in the DC Jail and in Central Cell Block be released immediately so they don't contract the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus.
On the 7th of April, MD Governor Hogan's spokesman Mike Ricci brazenly tweeted that cops in MD have made 15,000 "compliance checks" related to Gov Hogan's stay at home order, made 14 arrests,and issued 665 warnings. Over 50 of the warnings went to MD residents at their homes. This is heavy-duty "health Fascism" well beyond events in other states, and related more to power than to actual virus concerns.
I write this as one of many thousands of US residents driven from their homes by full-on, hard authoritarian government response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, the 30th of March, Maryland Governor Hogan imposed one of the most severe stay at home orders in the entire US, brazenly threatening residents with prison if they left home for any but a few reasons. With hours until it went into effect, I hurredly packed up the things I care about the most and escaped from MD with hours to spare.
If you notice that there is looting in your area, get to the action quickly, even if you don't want to take part yourself. Arrived there (without order of precedence): 1. exhorts all those who go in to put on masks (!) and gloves for their own safety (G20 sends its regards) 2. immediately destroys all alcohol, especially hard alcohol Drunken aggressive crowds have a tendency to endanger their immediate surroundings (especially drunken groups of men *cough*). Many riots have also fallen asleep due to too much alcohol in the truest sense of the word. 3.
On the 26th of March, the swarm of cops and occasional National Guard vehicles were gone from the Tidal Basin area, but the cherry blossoms were still out. With very few people present beyond some car traffic it was an utterly safe time for the few who braved reports of the Mayor calling out the Guard over the cherry blossoms and got to see them in privacy.
Video-"private showing" of Haines Point cherry blossoms after Mayor Bowser withdraws National Guard 1 min 34 sec
Video-scenes near the Tidal Basin on 3-25 after cops, guard called out
Update March 23 early AM:Mayor Bowser orders National Guard as well as MPD to block access by cars AND by bike/pedestrians to cherry blossom areas excluding some parts of Constitution Ave. Cops failed, they send in the Guard. Same pattern as Europe and Middle East.
Update March 22: MPD closes Tidal.Basin streets thinking no cars allowed will make people stay home, not go in on foot and create still denser crowds.
Luke sings about "Toilet Paper Zombies" 17 sec
Your favorite antifa Luke on the toilet paper crisis. "Toilet paper zombies" seem to think they will benefit from a 6 month stockpile of toilet paper against a possible 2-week quarantine. Coronavirus does NOT cause diarrhea folks!
Chelsea Manning has just been released from jail after defeating the second grand jury to attempt to question her. Any attempt to subpeona her to a 3ed grand jury will now run afound of coronavirus restrictions on court activities. Chelsea has won, and grand jury prosecutors have lost.
Video: Early portions of the DC Bike Party-and ugly reality on way home 2 min 28 sec
On the 11th of March, a pandemic of fear could not stop the DC Bike Party's Gender Equality Ride from taking to the streets. Organizers warned riders to leave some distance between each other, but also reminded everyone that the ride is outdoors and thus well ventiliated. The ride was a success, and was seemingly the busiest traffic in otherwise near-empty streets
Video: highlights of the speakers 5 min 31 sec
On the 11th of March, members of the Apache nation and their allies rallied on Capitol Hill to support the Save Oak Flat Act. This bill would revoke the 2015 "stealth approval" of a land transfer to make possible the proposed Rio Tinto/Resolution Copper copper mine would would destroy Apache sacred land at Oak Flat.