On the 2nd of November, three women from W Va got inside the Supreme Court and shouted down the proceedings. They yelled “”We will restore our freedom to choose – women of America vote.” This is one of the only times in all US history SCOTUS proceedings have been forced to pause by disruption inside.
All three were arrested after the fact, with their mission accomplished.
On the 29th of October, a rally took place in a park North of Orlando’s City Hall in solidarity with the ongoing “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising in Iran. While news out of Iran is hard to get, protesters reported that conditions continue to worsen in what has become a war between the government and the uprising.
The figure of 200 protesters killed in Iran is over a week old, and things have gotten worse since then.Also a week ago at least 30 members of the various “security” agencies in Iran had been killed in the fighting. The government has NOT been able to stop the protests no matter how much force they use.
In the week leading up to Oct 29, five different neo-Nazi groups including the Proud Boys, Patriot Front, National Socialist Movement and two more announced they would assault a Drag Queen Story Hour at the Center in Orlando. Not wanting to bring children into a battlefield, the story hour organizers cancelled but Nazis vowed to show up anyway. On the day of,most were no-show in the face of a powerful community defense
What appeared to be seven Fundamentalist Christian/Trumper protesters DID show up, but they or similar harassers have been at prior Draq Queen Story Hour events at the Center (an LGBTQ space). A handfull of Trumpers were there, but the “StormTrumpers” were nowhere to be found. The National Socialist Movement diverted all the way to Kissimee, moving their rally to harass an all-adult event near Icon Park, not far from Sea World. Between antifa, transgender activists, and beefing between NSM and other groups, they ran up the white flag.
The Proud Boys were spotted driving around the area, but none dared to get out of their cars and challenge the defenders of the Center. In this case, one clear difference between the Proud Boys and the Nazi SA(stormtroopers) they so resemble is that they are cowards. A fight with tough, battle-hardened antifa in a Berlin beer hall circal 1930 would have sent the Proud Boys scurrying back to their basements, just as Orlando did on Oct 29, 2020.
Nobody spotted any sign of Patriot Front or the rest of the fascist groups either. This is a major defeat for them, as they had promised to assemble 60 to 70 fascists and hard Nazis from at least 5 different crews to attack the originally scheduled Drag Queen Story Hour. Instead, only 7 protesters showed up and they may have been the usual religious nutjobs. Proud Boys had at least been in Orlando, but were not up for facing the Center’s defenders without the 5-1 numerical advantage their way of “fighting” seems to require. What a beer hall full of cowards!
THIS is what any Proud Boys scouts passing the Center saw!
Defending the Center
Defending the Center
The Christian Fundamentalists who did show up
Cross ID’s them as religious extremists
This and the previous photo show the sum of the far-right turnout that actually deployed
On the 28th of October, the Florida Board of Health met at Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport to finalize rules prohibiting doctors from providing gender-affirming care for trans youth under 18 except as part of a University-run experiment. Trans youth and their supporters were told to “stop shouting” and take this assault in Q&A before the Board voted to toss them under an Evangelical bus.
A proposal to create a registry of all known transgender FL residents was dropped as out of scope of the Board of Health. Trans youth and their supporters were told to “stop shouting” and take this assault in Q&A before the Board voted to toss them under an Evangelical bus. Persumably for intimidation, bike cops rode their bicycles inside the building and into the space where the meeting was held.
This was a supposely public meeting held on private property, and on airport property to boot. In Florida, police have a record of making “trespassing” arrests when things happen they don’t like or people they don’t like show up at these meetings
On the 26th of October, with Halloween less than a week away, protesters returned to the homes of Supreme Court “Justices” John Roberts and “Rapey Brett” Kavanaugh.
Photo by Literary Mouse
On the 22nd of October, supporters of the ongoing uprising in Iran held solidarity protests in cities all over Turtle Island. One of these protests was in DC, another was in Orlando. Still another in LA drew a reported turnout of 40K. One chant heard in Orlando was “one solution-revolution!” Signs called for revolution and regime change in Tehran.
The uprising began as protests after a yong woman was murdered in custody by “morality police” over “improper hijab” or too much hair showing for the theocracy’s tastes. Since then the government has attempted without success to kill the protests by killing over 200 protesters. Usually this sort of thing turns protests into armed insurgency and either revolution or civil war, depending on how much support the regime of the day can muster from the population. Iraq’s insurgency began with a single incident of US troops firing at protesters after a helicopter blew a flag from a minaret and protesters gathered. Syria’s civil war has been said to have begun when parents of a 13 year old protester tortured to death by police were told to “go home and make new babies.” Police murder sows dragon’s teeth.
The history of how this will play out in Iran has yet to be written.The thugs that run the theocracy there have shut down most of the Internet,so just getting news out of the country demands major efforts from hackers and technical experts, or alternately old school smugglers with physical media. Protesters here however are now saying that protest in Iran is over and revolution has begin. If this is accurate, the theocrats unlike the Shah cannot retreat to Washington.
On the 19th of October, That’s Amore restaurant in Rockville hosted an anti-trans hate dinner. Outside, protesters held a dance party featuring music, trans flags, and rainbow flags. The over 60 protesters apparently outnumbered the attendees at the hate event inside.
On the 15th of October, protesters showed up at MPD’s Special Operation Division (SOD) headquarters. They were protesting police brutality and Jason Bagshaw in particular. Bagshaw is the killer cop that gunned down David “Lazarus” Wilson over the summer. He has been back on the street maybe a week-but even one day is one day too long.
Towards the end of the protest an especially ugly development occurred. Throughout the protest MPD claimed Bagshaw (who normally “works” at SOD) was off duty. After less than an hour, protesters had to return to the parking lot where those who drove had left their cars. Apparently MPD leaned on the owners of the parking lot, demanding permission to ticket and tow cars. As protesters removed, they were given TWO MINUTES to move their cars-and Bagshaw allowed himself to be spotted nearby. Everyone managed to get cars started up and get out of the parking lot before tickets could be written. Three police tow trucks were spotted standing by, no doubt on Jason Bagshaw’s personal order.
This sort of vindictiveness is what one would expect of a street gang leader or maybe a mafioso from the Godfather. Well, a gang leader is exactly what Lt Jason Bagshaw is: one of the commanders of DC’s largest and most violent street gang, and he has killed with his own hands.
Raw video clips provided by a participant in the march and rally
An October 14, 2022 afternoon march against the Fall 2022 meetings of the IMF and World Bank literally protrayed the World Bank and Big Oil in bed with each other. This was the second march that day against the Fall Meetings, an earlier march having shut down an AM plenary session by blocking delegates and making them run the gauntlet to get in.
On Friday, Oct 14 the DC Bike Party held their annual Halloween themed ride