J20 reportbacks: Elon Musk’s Nazi salute, Proud Boys roam DC, and Trump protesters deploy in DC, Orlando, and Tampa

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On Jan 20 2025, Trump was inaugurated into his second (and much more dangerous) term in DC. Elon Musk gave a Nazi salute from a Presidential podium and dangerous Proud Boys thugs roamed parts of DC. Fortunately there are no reports of them finding the anti-Trump protestes. Protesters deployed against Trump in DC, Orlando FL, and Tampa FL plus a great many other cities. The much smaller numbers than in 2017 and lack of any use of force may reflect a belief that peaceful protest is not effective against hard Fascists like the current Trump team. Hopefully people are preparing other means of resistance. With luck, ICE will find many unpleasant surprises waiting for them when they attempt to assault urban neighborhoods such as Chicago where they are expected

Note that speakers at both the Orlando and Tampa protests stressed the role of local police and sheriff’s departments in implementing Trump’s planned anti-migrant pogrom. This is NOT just ICE, it is bigoted, racist cops and sheriffs deputies throughout the US. Even in so-called “sanctuary cities” the cops are usually the same racist slavecatcher descendents they are everywhere else. One speaker reminded Tampa protesters that DeSantis is backing Trump by making participation in ICE’s 297(g) program mandatory for all police and sheriff’s departments in the state of Florida. If Trump intends to embed ICE in every activity and phase of life in the so-called “United” states, that is textbook totalitarianism, a key hallmark of capitol-F Fascism

In DC a guillotine was displayed in the march and rally, this full height French-style guillotine was even marched down the hill on 16th st from Malcolm X Park!

A guiillotine at a protest of a GOP Inauguration is a traditon that goes back to the lead banner at the 2005 Counterinaugural against GW Bush’s second inauguration. It was just an image on the lead banner that year but it still made the point.

Elsewhere in DC, protesters heckled the MAGA meatheads entering the Arena to watch Trump’s coronation ON TV since the ceremony was moved into the US Capitol. Meanwhile a dangerous pack of Proud Boys in their trademark black and gold/black and yellow roamed the streets. This was BEFORE Trump pardoned all but 14 J6 defendents and commuted the sentences of the remaining 14.

Since leaving the Inauguration, Trump has issued a flood of dangerous executive orders, it appears he may be trying to do as much as possible essentially by decree.

Video from People’s March in Melbourne, FL

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On the 18th of January, in addition to the massive DC March, People’s March events were held all over the so-called “United” States. One of these was in Melbourne, FL and culminated in protesters fanning out on the pedestrian sidepath of the causeway linking the town with the Atlantic coastal barrier island.

As protesters marched back to the original rally point, forced-birth extremists were found set up with the usual graphic antiabortion signs. I personally broke out my antifa flag and started yelling at them. Soon others joined in. The whole thing stayed at the verbal level as 3%er/Proud Boys style violent Trumpist extremists seemed to be absent.

All the same, the march had had to hire trained security guards in case such goons attacked. Such an attack never came, though the march had to avoid the street for fear of giving MAGA drivers a legal excuse (under FL law) for a deliberate ramming attack.

Code Pink disrupts Marco Rubio’s Senate confirmation hearing to become Sec of State

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On the 15th of January, the US Senate held a confirmation hearing to consider FL Senator Marco Rubio’s appointment by Trump as Secretary of State. Code Pink got into the hearing and disrupted it, at the price that the Capitol Police were very rough in removing them. Unknown at the moment whether they were arrested or just detained and expelled, but they were searched and cuffed so assuming this was arrests.

This was with five days to go until J20. To engage in civil disobedience at this point against anything related to Trump is to take a very considerable personal risk, and this speaks highly of Code Pink’s courage under fire,

Orlando Critical Mass rides at end of year as dangerous times threaten

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With “Democracy” in the US potentially just 24 days away from ending, Orlando’s Critical Mass bike ride did NOT permit themselves to be scared off the streets. Three nights before New Year’s Eve, riders turned out in force for the very popular last ride of the year.

Trump supporters usually don’t like cyclists, so just riding in city streets is no doubt considered “politically incorrect” by the incoming regime. Surely they use a different term though after years of whining about the frosty reception hate speech gets on campuses.

2024 in activism-and in war

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Video of protests and direct actions through the year against genocide in Gaza, against both political parties, and against Trump. Intercut in places with a few clips of war footage from Occupied Palestine and Lebanon. Much but not all of the DC and Florida stuff I “saw with my own hands.”

Three big DC Palestine protests in this, including the humiliating defeat for the Park Police when Netanyahu showed up in DC. Both of the police attacks on protesters near Lake Eola in Orlando, FL and the leadup to them. The wave of university encampments and the fighting to defend them is also here.

War footage includes a drone bombing near the US Embassy in Tel Aviv, the pager explosions in Lebanon, and the Oct 1 storm of warheads raining on an Israeli airbase that destroyed much of the IOF’s F-35 fighter jets. That clip is followed by Palestine Action’s successful direct action strike on a UK Elbit plant’s clean room. That strike disable the manufacture of at least one component without which no new F-35’s to replace the ones the Iranian missile strike blew up.

As the year comes to a close, Trump becomes President-elect and open street protests slow down as people prepare for the brutal times ahead. Other things start to happen though.

Closing with two inspirational scenes: Cops being bonked with water jugs at a University protest for Palestine, and protesters outside the US firing a multi-barreled Roman candle at riot cops and a water cannon as though it was a Vulcan revolving cannon.

NYC: Protesters take over 63ed and Lexington for Jordan Neely after Daniel Penny acquitted.

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On the 9th of December, Danial Penny was somehow acquitted of all charges in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely on a subway train in NYC. When Jordan had some kind of meltdown on the train, Penny got him into a chokehold-and held the choke on until Jordan Neely died. Once again, a Black man has been choked to death by white America.

In response, protesters took over the 63ed and Lexington NYC subway stop OCCUPYING THE TRACKS to blockade the entire subway line. This mode of protest requires taking serious risks but was no doubt deemed necessary given the danger posed to Black folks by both cops and racist vigilante killers.

The video was originally uploaded by an unknown party to Instagram, and a download was forwarded to me since I do not have access to Instagram reels. If this is your video, feel free to comment and I will add credit for it

Black Friday protest against genocide, repression, and Trump held outside Tampa shopping mall

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On Black Friday (AKA Buy Nothing Day) 2024, protesters showed up outside the International Plaza shopping mall in Tampa near the airport.

The protest called out US bipartisan support for the genocide in Gaza, and pointed out that on that issue and several others, Trump will be continuing and intensifying Biden’s policies. That said, Trump’s larger agenda was then called out by speakers as “a declaration of war on the working class.”

One speaker emphasized the success of abolitionist Vigilance Committees after passage of the Fugitive Slave Act, notably in Springfield, Ohio, the town later slandered by Trump. There, vigilance committee members successfully blocked all of the slaveowners by force of arms from recapturing their escaped workers once they got up and running.(This portion not on the video as it is long and it can take many hours to cover all faces on a long video segment).

Speakers also emphasized that neither party has any intention of doing anything about issues like rising prices or anything else harming the general public. Thus we have the cop cities being built across the US after the Uprising, the RICO charges against protesters there, and all the rest of the recent and very heavy repression.

In my judgement, the true message sent by the repression is to “go big or go home” while they ensure fewer and fewer have a home to go back to.

This protest got heckled a couple times, in both cases by presumed Christian nationalists, who are quite common in Florida. Wasn’t nearly as bad though as at the Nov 9 anti-Trump protest at Tampa City hall though.