On the river near Bayshore Drive. Floods there had receded 20 hours later, but beached jet-skis showed they went much higher and were more forceful than the 2023 storm’s surge. As the floodwaters went out, some streets received a coating of stinking, slippery mud
Bonus: a MAGA meathead showed up-without Trump’s trademark post-hurricane paper towels
On the 24th of September, protesters gathered at 56th and Fowler in Tampa, FL, not far from USDF(Univ of South Florida). The protest was an emergency protest for Lebanon, facing a brutal Israeli air war. This is just days after the exploding pagers of one of history’s worst terrorist attacks. Unlike Saturday’s protest in Orlando and unlike prior protests in the same spot in Tampa, police did not dare show their faces. Most likely this is because of that FOX video clip from Orlando that proves the cops there were lying, committing perjury in court, and assaulting peaceful protesters. In short, the cops have pulled back after getting caught with their fingers in the cookie jar.
Speakers at the rally in Tampa confidently predicted Lebanese victory over Israel, citing the outcome of the 2006 war. That time around, Israeli troops withdrew in defeat on the last day of the war from the same positions they had occupied on the first day of the war. They had not been able to advance a single inch further in the face of overwhelming resistance.
A Palestinian student member of USF’s SDS chapter warned that USF has gone beyond university punishments and is attempting to get them deported. A similar case exists in Orlando at UCF (University of Central Florida).
By threatening to turn over Palestinian students to Israel, both universities have effectively declared war on Palestine. The same is true for their stubborn refusal to divest from war profiteers who are using the genocide in Gaza to sell more weapons and ammunition to the IOF.
At a press conference at University of S Florida, speakers conference, speakers condemned the university’s work with Lockheed-Martin and other war contractors doing business with Netanyahu’s regime. They condemned the wholesale violation of student’s First Amendment rights when these investments get protested, and one speaker called for both tuition and donation boycotts until the university divests from war profiteers and drops all charges and trespass orders against student protesters.
Speakers condemned the university’s police attack on last semester’s pro-Palestine encampment. They called out the shocking administration decision to charge a student with trespassing and ban them from campus FOR FLIERING.
They also condemned Saturday’s violent assault by Orlando police against what video proves was a peaceful dispersal after an emergency protest for Lebanon.
As the event continued, the sprinkers suddenly turned on. Had this been an alumni event promoting donations to the university-or had it been a “stand with Israel” event, the sprinklers would not have been activated. Had this event taken place anywhere in Occupied Palestine, the sprinkers would not have been loaded with water but rather with “skunk.” Skunk is an israeli chemical weapon, an extreme maloderant even more powerful and persistant than butyric acid, and it has been fired by IOF thugs inside the US at student protesters at Columbia University.
On the 21st of September, protesters gathered at the Cedar of Lebanon in Orlando’s Lake Eola Park for an emergency march in solidarity with Lebanon. This was just days after the IOF’s exploding pagers, killed at least 13 people and wounded nearly 3,000. This was one of the worst terrorist attacks in modern history, yet the Orlando Police Department (ODP) used every available tactic to harass and threaten protesters. Even a passing driver honking in solidarity with protesters was attacked by this vicious, Israeli-trained gang’s thugs on mountain bikes. Chillingly, that driver appears to have been ordered into a parking garage where cameras could not monitor police behavior. Anything could have happened in there.
Througout the march, cops threatend our own bikers with arrest for being present in the street (where it is LEGALto ride a bike), and were very, very quick to yell threats on the slightest excuse. When the march returned to Lake Eola, cops were overheard talking on the radio and too each other about “when they start blocking traffic” meaning conspiracy on their part to stage a mass arrest if the march filled the sidewalk. Somehow the march made it back to the starting point.
When marchers started dispersing in groups, a pro-Zionist disruptor who had been following the march most of the way latched onto the largest group. The cops then fell back, just out of sight. She began yelling and disrupting, but nobody took the bait and protesters did nothing more than yell.
Slowly a few cops began to reappear, supposedly drawn by the noise. Then suddenly the cops pounced. They claim that protesters assaulted their disruptor but video evidence shows to the contrary. Cops became more and more violent as this went on. In the end, they arrested 8 people. Their behavior and threats throughout the day imply the disruptor was bait and all the arrests had been premeditated. Quite possibly these arrests had been planned prior to the first protester arriving at the meetup spot. The Orlando Police Department (like the Tampa cops) is infamous for training with IOF troops. This explains why the police were literally fighting for terrorists in Orlando on Sep 21, 2024.
Naturally, stories appeared within hours in multiple corporate news outlets, all repeating the same lies from the same police “media release.”
(Video by Atlanta Community Press Collective)
No arrests reported as Stop Cop City protester disrupted the council session with a rain of ping-pong balls. Protesters chanted “you have dropped the ball” while ping-pong balls flew. This refers to the city and state dropping the ball on democracy with their maneuvers to prevent the ballot initiative to end the Cop City project from ever being voted on.
The meeting went into recess until protesters marched out 20 minutes later and resumed protesting outside. To stay inside and risk arrest this close to the election would have been a strategically dangerous move given what may be coming next.
I got this report while I was out for Sat night, so it was delayed but here it is. Quick video clip of “Hands off Gaza and the West Bank” protest at the Zionist embassy in DC.
On the 10th of September, pro-Palestine freedom fighters marched on the Trump-Harris debate in Philadelphia. Philly cops are famous for mindless brutality, and their reaction to this march was no exception.
No 3ed party candidate has been permitted in the 2024 Presidential debates of course. This even though one poll shows her at 40% support among Muslim voters in Michigan.
Excluded from the debate, Jill Stein marched with the protest to drive home the point that genocide is on both sides of the ballot.
Video published by Jill Stein, liberated from Google/Youtube via torbrowser. I will NEVER like to Google, Facebook, or IG.
(video by Chuck Modi)
On Sunday, Sep 1, DC resident Justin Robinson (also known as Twin) was murdered by cops, shot dead in his car after a crash. He was part of DC’s Cure the Streets – violence interrupter program but this could not protect him from the violence of police.
Days later, on the sixth of September, marchers took to the streets demanding justice.
On the 3ed of September, USF (University of South Florida) deployed police teams all over campus with the intention of finding and “getting” any protesters who dared to show themselves for Palestine.
Cops or the administration sent word they would find and “get” any protesters. Protesters then departed the campus and set up a press conference at 56th and Fowler to denounce the university’s violent threats, only to have the corporate media boycott the presser.
They were no doubt told about the university’s threats, and it is known that USF has a violent history of police assaults and malicious prosecution of student protesters. The April 29th tear gas attack on a pro-Palestine encampment at USF was a major news story. So was the Tampa 4. Despite all of this, not a single representative of any corporate news outlet showed up.
As this is written, it is reported that Columbia University’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter has attempted to hold a protest, only to face a police kettle and presumed mass arrests. At this happend their Instagram account was taken down.
Below is my personal take on what all of this shit implies:
We see from today’s events plus the brutal repression of the Palestine camps last April and May that pro-Israel forces are engaging in an all-out offensive here in the US to destroy any dissent against their torture and murder in now the West Bank as well as Gaza. The First Amendment is being brazenly ignored, as all of these bans are content-specific, targetting pro-Palestine protest specifically.
We have seen in just one day a coordinated campaign by police, universities, and Meta to crush this year’s student protests for Palestine before they can start. This is being done with total disregard for all law and all prior rules of engagement concerning protest in the US.
Note that students are being expelled simply for participating in protests, which means that young people will find themselves saddled with student loans that can never be paid as they have only a high school diploma. A note for high school students: if you are politically active, consider NOT going to college until this war is over, so as not to have expulsions etc on your record. Take the year off, focus on winning the war against genocide.
As matters stand today, people who want to pursue a career are being warned that if they dare to step out of line, their intended lives will be over. The US and Israeli governments are not taking half measures, that means we cannot afford to either.
If protest is outlawed, only outlaws can protest. If people are banned from employment due to their beliefs, they are effectively declared outlaws.
From Gaza to the West Bank to USF to Columbia University, this is all the same war. Speaking of that, news from Gaza today is Israel bombed a VACCINATION CENTER against polio in violation of their own pledge to consider them protected areas.
On Labor Day, with the new school year just starting up, pro-Palestine protesters in downtown Tampa chewed out University of South Florida for last year’s chemical attack (tear gas) on a peaceful pro-Palestine encampment. In addition the Democrats and GOP were both called out for bipartisan support for genocide, and warnings given that many would vote for neither if there is no ceasefire by Nov 3.