Movement targeting major retailers makes its way to Pittsburgh
It's some kind of call to inaction, if you will. The people behind it are asking people not to pull out their carts and buy anything at major retailers Friday.
But as for why? That's not necessarily uniform.
Tim Stevens is hoping he and others can make an impact. "Let's make a dent in the economic structure of America today," he said.
Stevens' group, B-PEP, is endorsing Friday's national economic blackout.
"We do not buy from any major corporation or company today," he said.
This planned pause of spending all started earlier this February.
John Schwarz posted a video that's since garnered millions of views calling for a blackout on Friday, February 28, he says he thought of today as a chance to cause an "economic resistance."
"The economy does not belong to the rich it belongs to us," Schwarz said.
He did not point out specific companies, but some people have.
People like Stevens are also targeting places like Target and McDonalds for rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.
"We have civil rights champions that are in their graves right now," he said. "If they were able to roll around in their graves, they would be rolling big time right now."
Some have encouraged only shopping at small businesses on Friday. Not all small business owners are endorsing this though.
"I don't think it's right to hurt someone else to help us," Bill Sunseri, President of Pennsylvania Macaroni Company, said. "They may be just trying to hurt the big vendor, the box store, but it will hurt us too."
Some experts do not believe this will make the economic dent Tim Stevens is hoping for. He's not stopping the push.
"If the statement's not powerful enough, we can try it again and I'm sure we will," he said.
Schwarz and his group, The People's Union USA, have another big blackout planned for April. There are also numerous ones planned throughout the next few months.
The next event is a weeklong Amazon boycott in March.
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In the rush to blast out mugshots of some of the most criminal L.A. immigrants, the Trump administration left out a key part of the story. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, its staff notified ICE on May 5 of Veneracion's pending release after he had served nearly 30 years in prison for the crimes of assault with intent to commit rape and sexual penetration with a foreign object with force. But ICE failed to pick up Veneracion and canceled its hold on him May 19, a day before he was released on parole. A few weeks later, as ICE amped up its raids, federal agents arrested Veneracion on June 7 at the ICE office in L.A. The very next day, DHS shared his mugshot in a news release titled 'President Trump is Stepping Up Where Democrats Won't.' The same document celebrated the capture of Phan, who served nearly 25 years in prison after he was convicted of second-degree murder. CDCR said the Board of Parole Hearings coordinated with ICE after Phan was granted parole in 2022. Phan was released that year to ICE custody. But those details did not stop Trump officials from taking credit for his arrest and blaming California leaders for letting Phan loose. 'It is sickening that Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass continue to protect violent criminal illegal aliens at the expense of the safety of American citizens and communities,' DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
