Category: Civil Rights

Mark Colville’s reflections on his trip to Minneapolis

Friends,

I’ve just returned from two days of street actions in Minneapolis, including a solemn procession from George Floyd Square to the site of Renee Good’s murder, the general strike and massive ICE OUT march on Friday, which shut down the city. This email is a brief report-back, and comes with special thanks to everyone who kicked in donations to make the voyage possible. It changed me. I’m deeply grateful.

Arriving in the wee hours on Wednesday, I was able to make it to the federal building by noon Thursday, where an ongoing protest vigil established at the beginning of the ICE occupation has continued every day. (To put the occupation in perspective, at present there are, on average, maybe 12-14 ICE agents assigned to most cities in the country; in Minneapolis, there are now over two thousand.) Resisters at the federal building spend the time yelling at ICE personnel as they hastily pass through the gate in their cars, most hiding their faces under masks even while driving.The anger among the people here is widespread, focused and relentless. Words like “coward”, “traitor”, “fascist”, and “FUCK ICE” are hurled perpetually. Pictured on the lower left is my new friend, Bill Breeden, a retired UU minister from Indiana with whom I was connected by Barb Cass and Mike Miles from the nearby Anatoth CW farm. (They’ve graciously offered hospitality to any of us who wish to return in the coming weeks/months.) Bill and I ended up accompanying one another for the next two days of robust resistance.

On Friday morning, upwards of fifty faith-based resisters gathered at St. Paul’s Lutheran church, located in the neighborhood where George Floyd was murdered.

A solemn pilgrimage began at that very spot, now known as George Floyd Square and occupied by a variety of neighborhood people’s organizations. Each corner of G.F. Square is marked by a large statue of a raised fist, with a platform for public speaking-out. A gas station across the street has been converted to a community gathering place. The coalition of people’s organizations here has come up with a list of 24 specific demands, and they’re committed to action and occupation of this public space until each one is met.

Read more

The First Amendment and Me: A Love Story

by Katherine Hinds, Visibility Brigade

When I woke up on Valentine’s Day this year, I had no expectation I’d be meeting the man who would arrest me a few months later, handcuff me, and drive me down I-95 to CT State Trooper headquarters to process me for criminal behavior. It’s been that kind of year. My “crimes”? Using my First Amendment rights to speak out about the corrupt actions of the current administration. As it turns out, exercising my right to freedom of expression is my love language.

The letters were backwards but folks still honked!

Soon after the inauguration in January, two friends and I created one large banner and started protesting on bridges over I-95 around New Haven, pointing out the egregious actions of our current administration. On Feb. 14, we walked out onto a cold, snowy bridge, on a public sidewalk, and revealed a sign to drivers heading into New Haven: “DEPORT MUSK.” We were there for an hour, waving and hearing honks of approval from hundreds of drivers. These were the early days of the nation-wide movement known now as Visibility Brigades—small teams of folks who are fed up and need to share our outrage with others. This is a sign of social force where people try to influence others with an action. This public action is informational and educational and reaches a wide audience. Why was being on a bridge better than joining a No Kings Rally (we’ve done that too) or other off-bridge, in-person protests? Because we were literally communicating to both sides of the divide in this country—right and left lanes.

Before going out on that first bridge, we had cleared our actions with town police, but we had not anticipated that the CT State Troopers would be an issue. After an hour of waving next to our banner, we were stopped by one trooper who told us to take down our signs. Why? Unclear. At first, he told us we could not attach our signs to the fencing protecting the sides of the bridge. “Would it be okay if we held them?” The trooper said yes, and when we asked what regulation we were violating, he told us to check with the Department of Transportation ourselves.

We had learned from Timothy Snyder’s On Tyranny: “DO NOT OBEY IN ADVANCE,” so we determined we would continue protesting while we did our due diligence around the legality of our actions. We checked with the DOT, our state reps, the ACLU, billboard law experts, and we could find no specific rule or law that we were violating. Many regulations and laws are vague—open to interpretation, and we understand that police require a degree of autonomy to enforce laws. The troopers visited us repeatedly, telling us we were a distraction (not illegal), that we needed a permit (not true), we were trespassing (public property? I don’t think so) and we were taking them away from the real business of patrolling the highways (So go away!).

On the fourth visit, the troopers arrested me for criminal trespassing, criminal breach of peace, and “unlawful display of a sign near a highway.” While that arraignment was working its way through the system, the “Valentine’s Day trooper” came to my house at 6 a.m. and arrested me again based on photos he had found while scrolling through my social media. He handcuffed me, put me in his cruiser, and drove me 30 miles to Bridgeport.

Three months later, the State has dropped both sets of charges in court. My team and I are back on the bridges exercising our First Amendment rights weekly. Do we anticipate being stopped again by troopers? Yes. Although we may feel anxious about that, we are not afraid. We are privileged and we have strong support—and each other. As Heather Cox Richardson says, “What are we waiting for, folks?” Wake up and DO SOMETHING. You’re not alone. And you may fall in love with your rights.

Katherine Hinds is a writer, activist, and baker living in Hamden.

ICE Raids Dixwell Avenue Car Wash

ICE and Homeland Security Have Kidnapped Immigrants in the Greater New Haven Area

In the past month, employees at a car wash in Hamden have been taken by ICE, and a man on the New Haven Green was grabbed by Homeland Security. Below are excerpts from articles about these cases

 

by Mona Mahadevan and Thomas Breen Oct. 15, 2025, New Haven Independent

Hamden’s mayor, town council president, and two dozen immigrant rights activists and fellow politicians gathered on Dixwell Avenue Wednesday afternoon [Oct. 15] to denounce an ICE raid that took place at a nearby car wash Wednesday morning.

Still looking for answers as to what exactly happened, the elected officials said that federal agents seized a total of eight people.

An eyewitness to the raid, meanwhile, said she saw at least 10 agents show up — some wearing masks and tactical gear — and described a man being slammed to the ground and a woman being hauled away into an unmarked van.

Hamden Mayor Lauren Garrett said at Wednesday’s press conference at the Keefe Community Center that the raid happened at the Optimo Car Wash, located at 1126 Dixwell Ave., at approximately 10:20 a.m.

She said that, as part of this raid, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained a mother and father while their kids were in school.

“The acts from the administration and ICE are deplorable, they are disgusting, they are not what we represent in Hamden,” Garrett said. “People are living in fear because of an inhumane presidency.”

[See entire article at bit.ly/4qxO2hG]

Feds Seize Immigrant On Green; Girlfriend Shaken

Laura Glesby, Oct. 21, 2025, New Haven Independent

A Fair Haven woman watched from a distance on the New Haven Green as a group of federal immigration agents arrested her boyfriend of 10 years on Tuesday.

She was too afraid to come closer, as she too is undocumented.

She watched late Tuesday morning as three agents surrounded her boyfriend on the southeast corner of the New Haven Green, across the street from CVS. They handcuffed him and took him inside an unmarked black van, where a fourth agent waited with the door open.

One of the agents wore a jacket identifying him as “Police HSI,” short for Homeland Security Investigations. Another covered the bottom half of his face with a black mask.

The woman, who spoke with the Independent on Tuesday afternoon, had reported an incident of domestic violence from her boyfriend to the police over a year ago.

He was charged at the time with breach of peace in the second degree, assault in the third degree, and interfering with an emergency call. She said that he completed a domestic violence rehabilitation program.

Following his successful completion of the program, he appeared in court on Tuesday morning for a dismissal of the case.

Norma Rodriguez-Reyes contributed reporting and interpretation. Paul Bass contributed reporting.

[See entire article at bit.ly/4oCWQkz]

Appeal for Help for Cristian Carias and Family

Unidad Latina en Acción hopes to raise funds for Cristian Carias, who was detained by ICE in New Haven, on Sunday, Sept. 21.

He was detained on Dixwell Avenue in front of the Q house at 9 in the morning, after he was followed a few blocks from his house. ICE detained him by smashing his window and pulling him out of the vehicle. The link at the bottom is an article detailing the kidnapping.

He was here in the country for several years, and he was a leader in his church. These funds are to help his family obtain and pay a lawyer. They are also to assist the family as they lost the sole monetary provider for the household, and there are still two daughters who need care, not to mention rent and food.

All and any monetary assistance are greatly appreciated in these difficult times. Sharing this GoFundMe campaign is also greatly appreciated. Only the people can save the people!

To read the article in the Yale Daily News about Cristian, please go to bit.ly/4ojTd2Y.

June 8th – Rally to Defend Civil Liberties

Come to the New Haven Green on June 8, 12:30 p.m. for a legal, peaceful, mass demonstration!

• Free Mahmoud Khalil and all targeted activists
• Hands off Rumeysa Ozturk
• Stop all attacks on the rights to protest, organize, and due
process
• Stop all deportations, return Kilmar Abrego Garcia and all
other CECOT prisoners
• Stop passport confiscations
• Stop all attacks on queer and trans people
• Stop RFK’s Autism Registry
• Protect and expand healthcare and social services
• Protect and fund our schools and universities
• Hands off our unions

Our civil liberties are clearly under attack.

The Trump Administration is kidnapping activists, revealing private information of people of color, and waging a rapidly escalating war on our most basic rights to silence its critics.

Activists and community members are building a fightback in defense of democratic rights. Union leaders, rank-and-file workers, and community organizers have formed the CT Civil Liberties Defense Committee.

https://tinyurl.com/46yhbza4

Advice from the Immigrant Legal Resource Center

All people in the United States, regardless of immigration status, have certain rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution.

Todas las personas en los Estados Unidos, independientemente de su estatus migratorio, tienen ciertos derechos y protecciones bajo la Constitución de los Estados Unidos.

You have constitutional rights:
• DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR if an immigration agent is knocking on the door.
• DO NOT ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS from an immigration agent if they try to talk to you. You have the right to remain silent.
• DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING without first speaking to a lawyer. You have the right to speak with a lawyer.
• If you are outside of your home, ask the agent if you are free to leave and if they say yes, leave calmly.

Usted tiene derechos constitucionales:

•NO ABRA LA PUERTA si un agente de inmigración está tocando la puerta.
•NO CONTESTE NINGUNA PREGUNTA de un agente de inmigración si trata de hablar con usted. Usted tiene el derecho a guardar silencio.
•NO FIRME NADA sin antes hablar con un abogado. Usted tiene el derecho de hablar con un abogado.
• Si usted está fuera de su casa, pregúntele al agente si tiene la libertad de irse y si le dice que sí, váyase con tranquilidad.

This is what you can say / Esto es lo que puedes decir:
“I do not wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution.

I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door.

I do not give you permission to search any of my belongings based on my 4th Amendment rights.
I choose to exercise my constitutional rights.”

How Your Tax Dollars Are Used | War Resister’s League

The new War Resisters League’s annual “pie chart” flyer, Where Your Income Tax Money Really Goes, analyzes the Federal Fiscal Year 2026 Budget (FY 2026 is 1 October 2025 – 30 September 2026).  This FY2026 issue is being published in March 2025.

This year’s chart compares the Projected FY2026 Biden Budget based on OMB figures (March 2024) and Possible FY2026 Trump Budget based on G.O.P. stated goals (as of March 2025)

Projected FY 2026 Biden Budget
Projected FY 2026 Biden Budget based on OMB figures (March 2024)

These figures are from the FY2026 column in last year’s Analytical Perspectives book of the Budget
of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2025. They are Federal funds, so do not include Trust funds
— such as Social Security — which are raised and spent separately from income taxes.

“Current military” includes Dept. of Defense ($880 billion) and the military portion ($314 billion) from other departments and agencies, including Homeland Security, Energy (nuclear weapons), State, NSA, CIA. “Past military” represents veterans’ benefits ($391 billion) plus 80% of the interest on the debt ($1,023 billion).*

Income taxes, you pay (or don’t pay) by April 15, 2025, go to the Federal funds portion of the budget. Potential cuts to Social Security and Medicare Trust Funds are not reflected on this flyer

Possible FY2026 Trump Budget based on G.O.P. stated goals (as of March 2025)
Possible FY2026 Trump Budget based on G.O.P. stated goals (as of March 2025)

Because Trump has yet to release a budget proposal, presented here is a rough estimate of what the FY2026 budget (Oct. 1 – Sep. 30, 2026) might look like. The overall budget, projected to be smaller than the Biden proposal, is based on stated goals to eliminate the Dept. of Education, in addition to major cuts in Medicaid, housing assistance, food aid, energy credits, EPA, USAID, Labor, NSF, NASA, Interior, FEMA, IRS, as well as other departments and agencies, offsetting increases in military expenditures.

These cuts will not offset major tax cuts for the rich and corporations, so the debt is expected to increase.

SOURCES: Budget reports from mainstream news sources, plus indepth analysis from nationalpriorities.org, taxpayer.net, responsiblestatecraft.org, budgetmodel.wharton.upenn.edu, cbpp.org, thehill.com, federalnewsnetwork.com, kff.org, among others

*Analysts differ on how much of the debt stems from the military; other groups estimate 50% to 60%. We use 80% because we believe if there had been no military spending, most of the national debt would have been eliminated.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Get involved in WRL’s organizing and education work: nonviolent direct action training, counter-military recruitment, internationalist work, and more. Visit WRL’s membership handbook at warresisters.org/joinwrl. Find resources to challenge militarism, curb police and border patrol power, strengthen nonviolent action and lift up community resilience!

Write elected officials, letters-to-the-editor, and posts online. Send and share copies of this flyer. Explain your budget priorities for a better world.

Divest from war!!  Refuse to pay all or part of your federal income tax. Though illegal, thousands of people openly participate in this form of protest. Whatever you choose to refuse—$1, $10, 45% or 100%—send a letter to elected officials and tell them why. Contact us for information or referral to a counselor near you. Contribute resisted tax money to groups that work for the common good.

For more about refusing to pay for war, brochures, and other resources, contact the National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee, (800) 269-7464 or see nwtrcc.org.

Order a DVD of NWTRCC’s film, Death and Taxes from WRL’s online store.

JUST PUBLISHED! Read and use War Tax Resistance: A Guide to Withholding Your Support from the Military – 6th Edition – handbook with history, methods and resources

CT Protests Over the Khalil Abduction

by Stanley Heller, Middle East Crisis Committee

A protest on March 12 in Hartford, originally called by CT Labor for Palestine, morphed into a protest over the taking by ICE of Mahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University graduate.

The rally took place in front of the Ribicoff Building in Hartford which. among its federal offices, houses ICE.

Several score people walked up and down in front of the building with signs with various messages. Many said, “Free Mahmoud Khalil”. Others said, “Justice for Palestine, Prosecute the War Criminals,” “I Stand Against Genocide,” “Healthcare not Warfare,” “End All US Aid to Israel,” and “We are Standing for Social Justice.” One banner (from MECC) called on unions to sell off their Israel Bonds.

Photo: Stanley Heller, Bay View Park, New Haven

There were many messages from the speakers. One warned that Khalil and Palestine rights supporters were just the first targets and that we all had to stand together. Another talked about the extensive repression at Wesleyan and Yale and other campuses. I mocked the Israeli soldier who claimed to have the proof of Khalil’s support for terrorism, whose own “evidence” showed nothing of the sort.

In New Haven a few days later, a much larger rally condemned Israeli actions. A huge banner was featured that read: “Free Mahmoud, Protect Free Speech.” Many signs were provided by the Party for Socialism and Liberation and a theme was ‘Free All Palestinian Political Prisoners.”

The rally took place on March 16 and one protester held a sign featuring a picture of Rachel Corrie. Corrie, on March 16, 2003, was deliberately run over by an Israeli military Caterpillar tractor and killed.

The park was near an I-95 overpass. At the close of the rally people went to the overpass with their signs and then draped the extra-large banner over the railing.

You can see video of both protests at the YouTube channel of “The Struggle Video News.” Go to YouTube and search for the above channel, or scan this QR code.

Our website is: thestrugglevideo.org.

Hundreds Protest On (Not My) President’s Day

By Laura Glesby, Feb 17, New Haven Independent

Holding up a pink triangle sign — which in another time and place might have marked them for death — Patricio seized a moment of silence, cupped their hands over their mouth, and started a chant of their own among the hundreds of protesters gathered outside City Hall.

Laura Glesby Photos

Their words — “Trans rights are human rights!” — spread
through the crowd like fire.

Patricio was one of about 400 people who filled the Church Street sidewalk outside City Hall at noon on Monday, braving forceful winds. The rally emerged as part of a national effort to protest President Donald Trump’s administration on President’s Day — sparked at least in part by the 50501 Movement (standing for “50 protests. 50 states. 1 movement”), a massive online grassroots effort that originated on Reddit to coordinate mass protests of the Trump administration all throughout the country. The protests were advertised in advance as “Not My President’s Day” events.

Laura Glesby Photos

With no featured speakers or identifiable organizational leaders, random individuals like Patricio found themselves yelling out chants for the crowd to organically echo.

People called out a wide range of pithy slogans: “Lock him up!”, “Gaza is not a resort!”, “Send Elon to Mars!”, “Hands off my healthcare!”, “Support civil servants!”, “Rule of Law!”, “Black Lives Matter!”, and “Save science!”

Each chant gained traction in one corner of the crowd, then spread like a wave through the rest of the protest. Every so often, someone would start a rendition of “God Bless America,” “This Land is Your Land,” or “We Shall Overcome.” Both an American flag and an LGBTQIA+ Pride flag rippled through the windy air.

Many attendees held up signs hearkening back to Nazi Germany, featuring crossed-out swastikas, the words “Never again,” and Holocaust-inspired poetry. One protester used a bullhorn adorned with a sticker of the infamous Nazi salute by Elon Musk, the wealthiest man on earth now acting as the country’s unelected, unratified government downsizer. “Hitler dismantled democracy in 53 days,” one sign recalled.

[To read the article in its entirety and to see more photos,
please go to https://bit.ly/4i44t0a]

New ICE Age Response Team: Prepare, Don’t Panic

by Paul Bass, Feb 18, New Haven Independent

[The following are excerpts. To read the entire article, please go to http://bit.ly/41dh0aA]

If an ICE (federal Immigration & Customs Enforcement) agent is indeed at the door: “I don’t wish to speak with you, answer your questions, or sign or hand you any documents based on my 5th Amendment rights under the United Stations Constitution … I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights … unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it that you slide under the door …”

A coalition of 60 agencies and nonprofit groups is spreading those red cards, and that calm-but-ready message, to the heart of New Haven’s immigrant community, which is bracing for ICE mass deportation raids promised by the newly installed Trump administration. …

“Exactly what the Trump administration wants is just fear, to incite fear and panic and chaos,” Yenimar Cortes, New Haven organizer for CT Students For A Dream, said during a New ICE Age conversation Tuesday on WNHH FM’s “Dateline New Haven.” She was joined by fellow organizers Fatima Rojas of Semilla Collective, Junta case worker Jacqueline Gonzalez, and high school youth organizer Ambar Santiago-Rojas.

An estimated 100,000 undocumented people live in Connecticut.
You can call the rapid response hotline at 220-666-4472. Rojas said people can call her at 203-747-4309 for information on attending the coalition’s Saturday community engagement meetings. Cortes invited people to contact her group at 203-787-0191 for information on Know Your Rights workshops.

Leonard Peltier to Be Freed After Half-Century in Prison: ‘A Day of Victory for Indigenous People’

Democracy Now!, Jan. 21

Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier is coming home after nearly half a century behind bars. Just minutes before leaving office, former President Joe Biden granted Peltier clemency and ordered his release from prison to serve the remainder of his life sentence in home confinement. In a statement, Peltier said, “It’s finally over — I’m going home. I want to show the world I’m a good person with a good heart. I want to help the people, just like my grandmother taught me.” Biden’s historic decision came after mounting calls by tribal leaders and supporters, and a community-led campaign that fought for Peltier’s freedom for decades.

Watch the complete interview with the NDN Collective’s Nick Tilsen at https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/21/leonard_peltier. Nick just visited Leonard Peltier in prison after news of his sentence commutation, about fighting for Peltier’s freedom, his health and Trump’s executive orders attacking environmental rights and Indigenous sovereignty. “Indigenous people, we’re going to be on the frontlines fighting this administration.”

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