Latest news with #racialJustice
Fox News
25-06-2025
- Fox News
Austin Metcalf's accused killer needs support fighting 'white supremacy' after murder indictment: spox
The spokesman for the family of Karmelo Anthony launched into yet another racial tirade after the 18-year-old was indicted Tuesday for allegedly stabbing Frisco, Texas, track star Austin Metcalf to death. Shortly after the indictment, Dominique Alexander, founder and president of the Next Generation Action Network (NGAN), took to X to announce that "the legal process will move forward toward trial." "This case involves multiple minors and sensitive details that I cannot and will not speak about publicly," he said. "That is why, from the beginning, I have refused to let this be tried in the court of public opinion." Alexander then spoke directly to those who he says have "targeted" Anthony. "To the racists, the bigots, and those filled with hate who've targeted Karmelo, his family, and even myself – you do not intimidate us. We are not backing down. "This case is yet another example of what it means to be Black in America, where even our self-defense is questioned, scrutinized and politicized. My involvement – like many others — came as a direct response to the overwhelming hate, threats and outside influence that have surrounded this case since day one." He then asked Anthony's supporters for prayers, to support due process, and to "[s]tand with us in the fight against white supremacy." NGAN reiterated Wednesday that it is "committed to ensuring that Karmelo receives a fair trial and that this case is not tried in the court of public opinion," but declined to comment further. Anthony's lawyer, Mike Howard, said the case isn't about race. "The factual and legal issues involved in this case are not about race. The case involves two kids, one white, one black, so it's understandable that some people would make it about race or discuss it in terms of race," Howard told Fox News Digital by email. "To be very clear, we don't see this as a case about race. The law applies to every person, regardless of their race, equally. We have faith in the people of Collin County to apply the law blindly." Anthony is facing a first-degree murder charge for allegedly stabbing and killing Metcalf, 17, during a dispute at a track meet on April 2. Metcalf's father, Jeff Metcalf, has spoken on behalf of the Metcalf family in the wake of the fatal stabbing. "Don't really care what he has to say," he bluntly told Fox News Digital on Wednesday when asked about Alexander's online post. After Tuesday's indictment, Metcalf said he was happy that the legal process is moving forward, but that nothing will bring Austin back. "I am pleased that we are moving forward," he told Fox News Digital on Tuesday. "With the first-degree murder indictment, it now goes into the court system. I fully believe that justice will be served for Austin Metcalf. I look forward to the forthcoming trial. But it will never bring my son back." Alexander has made racially charged comments about the case since stepping in as the Anthony family's spokesman. After Anthony's bond was reduced from $1 million to $250,000 in April, a press conference hosted by Alexander and NGAN devolved into chaos when Jeff Metcalf showed up. Metcalf was quietly escorted out by Dallas police, but subsequently, Alexander used the conference to attack Metcalf and discuss race. "What he has felled [sic] into is the political operatives that want to make this thing a political thing of hate and yet bigotry and yet racism," Alexander said, accusing Metcalf of being "disrespectful to the dignity of his son." "Because these racist bigots try to prevent us from standing up for our baby, our boy, he should be afforded the same rights that Kyle Rittenhouse had, Daniel Penny and all the people who have claimed whatever their defense was – he should be afforded the same right," Alexander said later in the press conference. The arrest report from the April incident said Anthony "grabbed his bag, opened it and reached inside it" and told Metcalf, "Touch me and see what happens." In the next moment, a witness told police that Anthony "reached into his bag and the male took a knife out of the bag and stabbed Austin." One officer at the scene referred to Anthony as the alleged suspect, and Anthony made a "spontaneous statement," according to the report: "I'm not alleged, I did it."
New York Times
13-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Senator's Treatment by Federal Agents Deepens Clash Over Trump Tactics
At a protest in St. Louis on Wednesday called 'March to Defend Immigrant Rights,' participants chanted, 'From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime!' invoking unrest in Ferguson, Mo., over police brutality in 2014 and Palestinian freedom. The scene encapsulated how the left's decades-long embrace of intersectionality — the concept that all oppressed people are linked — gives the protest movement large numbers of supporters but also can create a cacophony of messages. The forces stirring action on the streets this week have been led by labor groups. And many protests, including those in Los Angeles, have continued to focus on workplace raids. But the voices at other protests are mixed, an echo of the wide array of progressive forces that have animated every anti-Trump protest this year. Those earlier actions have been coordinated affairs, planned in advance for weeks by large groups like MoveOn and Indivisible, which have helped keep actions focused on concerns like cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, the power of billionaires and immigration policies. But in this week's spontaneous actions, the many interests from the broad base of anti-Trump activists came to the fore, including more explicit support for racial justice, Palestinian freedom and socialist politics. 'In this moment we must all stand together,' said Becky Pringle, the head of the National Education Association, the largest individual union in the country and one of the groups that sprang into action as the protests emerged in Los Angeles. Local chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Communist Party offshoot of the Workers World Party, have also played a leading role, working with local leftist groups to post information about new demonstrations from California to Maine. The group's concerns are among the mélange of causes animating protests that were born out of workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants. Palestinian supporters have shown up at protests in Chicago, New York and elsewhere. When the St. Louis march ended on Wednesday, various groups took the opportunity to rally support for queer rights, Black Lives Matter and tornado relief and cleanup efforts. The St. Louis march was promoted on social media by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Voices for Palestine Network, Black Men Build St. Louis and the Ecosocialist Green Party. 'St. Louis is a small city, and a lot of the people that care about organizing for human rights tend to all work loosely with each other through an unofficial coalition,' said Kaitlyn Killgo, one of the activists. The presence of many different causes can dilute the message of any one protest — and risks appearing to general observers like a gathering of far-left activists. This issue is a familiar one for mainstream Democrats. While parsing their losses in the 2024 election, they have debated whether they diminished their appeal to the public by treating all causes as equally important. Community networks have galvanized protesters in other cities. When Laura Valdez, a civil rights activist in San Francisco, saw the video of ICE agents detaining a prominent labor leader in Los Angeles, she believed that immigrants and activists faced a new level of danger. 'This was a four-alarm fire,' said Ms. Valdez, the executive director of Mission Action, an advocacy organization for low-income and immigrant communities. 'We needed to activate.' The video of the labor leader's arrest was taken on Friday. By Monday, Ms. Valdez and Mission Action were participating in one of dozens of protests that sprang up across the country in response to the Trump administration's immigration raids. The rapid appearance of people on the streets of so many American cities was not a coincidence. Mission Action and other left-leaning organizations were able to mobilize quickly because they have spent all year protesting President Trump's policies; several gatherings attracted hundreds of thousands of participants. Their networks were primed. On Monday, the Austin, Texas, chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation posted on social media: 'Emergency protest: solidarity with LA! We'll see y'all tomorrow at the state capitol to say 'ICE out of our cities! Stop the deportations!'' That same day, the People's Forum, a New York City workers' rights organization, told supporters that there would be a protest the following day in solidarity with Los Angeles. 'We refuse to be silenced! The people of New York City demand ICE get out of our communities, stop the deportations, and stop the raids.' On June 10, the Maine chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation put out the word on social media: 'Emergency Protest. From LA to Bangor: ICE Out! June 11 — 6:30pm. Pierce Park.' Reaction to the Trump administration has brought a broad swath of progressive groups in close coordination, with leaders often speaking multiple times a day about how various policies are affecting their communities. 'Ultimately, this comes down to workers' rights,' Ms. Pringle said. Mr. Trump's desire to remove undocumented immigrants from the country has had an especially galvanizing effect among left-leaning organizations. The coalition of centrist Democratic nonprofits and far-left national and local organizations that stood together during the first Trump administration splintered over whether to support Palestinians after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. In addition to coordinating anti-Trump protests, progressive groups have been working to educate immigrant workers, students, educators and religious leaders about their rights and to connect them with mutual aid and legal assistance. When ICE agents began entering workplaces in Los Angeles late last week, that network went on high alert. 'We could see that the government had decided it would be more effective to apprehend hundreds of people through workplace enforcement rather than having several agents try to go after one person at a time,' Ms. Valdez said. Image David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California. His arrest helped catalyze the protests. Credit... Philip Cheung for The New York Times And then came the arrest of David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California, as he recorded a video of the immigration raid. The service employees union and other national and local union leaders began to talk about how to respond. They supported the idea of public opposition. Other unions reached out to the SEIU to ask how they could help. Following the SEIU's lead, they decided that the best course of action was to bring public attention to Mr. Huerta's arrest and to denounce Mr. Trump's decision to use federal force to quell protests. 'Labor is everywhere,' said Ms. Pringle, whose organization was in touch with the SEIU. 'The three million educators in the National Education Association are in every congressional district and community.' The California Teachers Association and other progressive state organizations committed to push out messaging and encourage citizens to protest, a pattern that was replicated across the country. Since Friday, and following the deployment of the National Guard, a broad coalition of organizations has called on the public to join demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles. They include Unión del Barrio, a grass roots group with volunteer membership that describes itself as revolutionary and anti-imperialist, and Local Black Lives Matter leaders. 'This is our fight. This is our fight,' Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, said in a recent video on social media. 'For both moral and strategic reasons, this is a Black fight.' In New York City, protests have coalesced outside the federal immigration headquarters in Lower Manhattan this week. But they have typically morphed into a stew of left-wing causes, with Palestinian calls for liberation and Occupy Wall Street chants overtaking the group's message against deportations. A large rally that began at 5 p.m. on Tuesday drew hundreds of demonstrators, including immigrant New Yorkers who said they were rallying on behalf of parents, friends and relatives who were undocumented. They marched to chants of 'Abolish ICE,' and carried yellow signs, in English and Spanish, that said 'ICE out of NYC.' But by 10 p.m., as much of the protest had dissipated, a splinter group of about 100 protesters remained, some wearing tactical looking outfits and kaffiyehs, appearing more intent on taunting police officers and causing disruption with sporadic chants of Palestinian liberation. At a protest this week in Chicago, many protesters also wore kaffiyehs and carried signs supporting Palestinians. Some of the loudest chants heard downtown were targeted at U.S. policy in Gaza: 'From Palestine to Mexico these border walls have got to go!' The spontaneous protests that erupted this week are a preview of what is to come on Saturday — a long-planned, nationwide protest against the Trump administration called No Kings, scheduled to coincide with the president's birthday and military parade. Several prominent progressive coalitions planned No Kings, including MoveOn, Indivisible and 50501. There will be no event in Washington, the site of Mr. Trump's parade. Organizers want to draw attention to the president's many opponents throughout the country. In addition to the flagship march that will take place in Philadelphia, organizers said there will be No Kings marches in at least 2,000 cities and towns, in every state in the country. Miram Jordan contributed reporting from Los Angeles, and Julie Bosman from Chicago.
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Live Updates: Lawmakers Enraged After Senator Is Pushed to Floor and Handcuffed
At a protest in St. Louis on Wednesday called 'March to Defend Immigrant Rights,' participants chanted, 'From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime!' invoking unrest in Ferguson, Mo., over police brutality in 2014 and Palestinian freedom. The scene encapsulated how the left's decades-long embrace of intersectionality — the concept that all oppressed people are linked — gives the protest movement large numbers of supporters but also can create a cacophony of messages. The forces stirring action on the streets this week have been led by labor groups. And many protests, including those in Los Angeles, have continued to focus on workplace raids. But the voices at other protests are mixed, an echo of the wide array of progressive forces that have animated every anti-Trump protest this year. Those earlier actions have been coordinated affairs, planned in advance for weeks by large groups like MoveOn and Indivisible, which have helped keep actions focused on concerns like cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, the power of billionaires and immigration policies. But in this week's spontaneous actions, the many interests from the broad base of anti-Trump activists came to the fore, including more explicit support for racial justice, Palestinian freedom and socialist politics. 'In this moment we must all stand together,' said Becky Pringle, the head of the National Education Association, the largest individual union in the country and one of the groups that sprang into action as the protests emerged in Los Angeles. Local chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Communist Party offshoot of the Workers World Party, have also played a leading role, working with local leftist groups to post information about new demonstrations from California to Maine. The group's concerns are among the mélange of causes animating protests that were born out of workplace raids to round up illegal immigrants. Palestinian supporters have shown up at protests in Chicago, New York and elsewhere. When the St. Louis march ended on Wednesday, various groups took the opportunity to rally support for queer rights, Black Lives Matter and tornado relief and cleanup efforts. The St. Louis march was promoted on social media by the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Voices for Palestine Network, Black Men Build St. Louis and the Ecosocialist Green Party on Instagram. 'St. Louis is a small city, and a lot of the people that care about organizing for human rights tend to all work loosely with each other through an unofficial coalition,' said Kaitlyn Killgo, one of the activists. The presence of many different causes can dilute the message of any one protest — and risks appearing to general observers like a gathering of far-left activists. This issue is a familiar one for mainstream Democrats. While parsing their losses in the 2024 election, they have debated whether they diminished their appeal to the public by treating all causes as equally important. Community networks have galvanized protesters in other cities. When Laura Valdez, a civil rights activist in San Francisco, saw the video of ICE agents detaining a prominent labor leader in Los Angeles, she believed that immigrants and activists faced a new level of danger. 'This was a four-alarm fire,' said Ms. Valdez, the executive director of Mission Action, an advocacy organization for low-income and immigrant communities. 'We needed to activate.' The video of the labor leader's arrest was taken on Friday. By Monday, Ms. Valdez and Mission Action were participating in one of dozens of protests that sprang up across the country in response to the Trump administration's immigration raids. The rapid appearance of people on the streets of so many American cities was not a coincidence. Mission Action and other left-leaning organizations were able to mobilize quickly because they have spent all year protesting President Trump's policies; several gatherings attracted hundreds of thousands of participants. Their networks were primed. On Monday, the Austin, Texas, chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation posted on social media: 'Emergency protest: solidarity with LA! We'll see y'all tomorrow at the state capitol to say 'ICE out of our cities! Stop the deportations!'' That same day, the People's Forum, a New York City workers' rights organization, told supporters that there would be a protest the following day in solidarity with Los Angeles. 'We refuse to be silenced! The people of New York City demand ICE get out of our communities, stop the deportations, and stop the raids.' On June 10, the Maine chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation put out the word on social media: 'Emergency Protest. From LA to Bangor: ICE Out! June 11 — 6:30pm. Pierce Park.' Reaction to the Trump administration has brought a broad swath of progressive groups in close coordination, with leaders often speaking multiple times a day about how various policies are affecting their communities. 'Ultimately, this comes down to workers' rights,' Ms. Pringle said. Mr. Trump's desire to remove undocumented immigrants from the country has had an especially galvanizing effect among left-leaning organizations. The coalition of centrist Democratic nonprofits and far-left national and local organizations that stood together during the first Trump administration splintered over whether to support Palestinians after the Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. In addition to coordinating anti-Trump protests, progressive groups have been working to educate immigrant workers, students, educators and religious leaders about their rights and to connect them with mutual aid and legal assistance. When ICE agents began entering workplaces in Los Angeles late last week, that network went on high alert. 'We could see that the government had decided it would be more effective to apprehend hundreds of people through workplace enforcement rather than having several agents try to go after one person at a time,' Ms. Valdez said. Image David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California. His arrest helped catalyze the protests. Credit... Philip Cheung for The New York Times And then came the arrest of David Huerta, the president of the Service Employees International Union of California, as he recorded a video of the immigration raid. The service employees union and other national and local union leaders began to talk about how to respond. They supported the idea of public opposition. Other unions reached out to the SEIU to ask how they could help. Following the SEIU's lead, they decided that the best course of action was to bring public attention to Mr. Huerta's arrest and to denounce Mr. Trump's decision to use federal force to quell protests. 'Labor is everywhere,' said Ms. Pringle, whose organization was in touch with the SEIU. 'The three million educators in the National Education Association are in every congressional district and community.' The California Teachers Association and other progressive state organizations committed to push out messaging and encourage citizens to protest, a pattern that was replicated across the country. Since Friday, and following the deployment of the National Guard, a broad coalition of organizations has called on the public to join demonstrations in downtown Los Angeles. They include Unión del Barrio, a grass roots group with volunteer membership that describes itself as revolutionary and anti-imperialist, and Local Black Lives Matter leaders. 'This is our fight. This is our fight,' Melina Abdullah, a co-founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Black Lives Matter, said in a recent video on social media. 'For both moral and strategic reasons, this is a Black fight.' In New York City, protests have coalesced outside the federal immigration headquarters in Lower Manhattan this week. But they have typically morphed into a stew of left-wing causes, with Palestinian calls for liberation and Occupy Wall Street chants overtaking the group's message against deportations. A large rally that began at 5 p.m. on Tuesday drew hundreds of demonstrators, including immigrant New Yorkers who said they were rallying on behalf of parents, friends and relatives who were undocumented. They marched to chants of 'Abolish ICE,' and carried yellow signs, in English and Spanish, that said 'ICE out of NYC.' But by 10 p.m., as much of the protest had dissipated, a splinter group of about 100 protesters remained, some wearing tactical looking outfits and kaffiyehs, appearing more intent on taunting police officers and causing disruption with sporadic chants of Palestinian liberation. At a protest this week in Chicago, many protesters also wore kaffiyehs and carried signs supporting Palestinians. Some of the loudest chants heard downtown were targeted at U.S. policy in Gaza: 'From Palestine to Mexico these border walls have got to go!' The spontaneous protests that erupted this week are a preview of what is to come on Saturday — a long-planned, nationwide protest against the Trump administration called No Kings, scheduled to coincide with the president's birthday and military parade. Several prominent progressive coalitions planned No Kings, including MoveOn, Indivisible and 50501. There will be no event in Washington, the site of Mr. Trump's parade. Organizers want to draw attention to the president's many opponents throughout the country. In addition to the flagship march that will take place in Philadelphia, organizers said there will be No Kings marches in at least 2,000 cities and towns, in every state in the country. Miram Jordan contributed reporting from Los Angeles, and Julie Bosman from Chicago.
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Why the Pro-Palestinian Movement Features at Some Immigration Protests
At a protest in St. Louis on Wednesday called 'March to Defend Immigrant Rights,' participants chanted, 'From Ferguson to Palestine, occupation is a crime!' invoking unrest in Ferguson, Mo., over police brutality in 2014 and Palestinian freedom. The scene encapsulated how the left's decades-long embrace of intersectionality — the concept that all oppressed people are linked — gives the protest movement large numbers of supporters but also can create a cacophony of messages. The forces stirring action on the streets this week have been led by labor groups. And many protests, including those in Los Angeles, have continued to focus on workplace raids. But the voices at other protests are mixed, an echo of the wide array of progressive forces that have animated every anti-Trump protest this year. Those earlier actions have been coordinated affairs, planned in advance for weeks by large groups like MoveOn and Indivisible, which have helped keep actions focused on concerns like cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, the power of billionaires and immigration policies. But in this week's spontaneous actions, the many interests from the broad base of anti-Trump activists came to the fore, including more explicit support for racial justice, Palestinian freedom and socialist politics. 'In this moment we must all stand together,' said Becky Pringle, the head of the National Education Association, the largest individual union in the country and one of the groups that sprang into action as the protests emerged in Los Angeles. Local chapters of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a Communist Party offshoot of the Workers World Party, have also played a leading role, working with local leftist groups to post information about new demonstrations from California to Maine. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Reuters
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
US military bases to restore names changed after racial justice protests, Trump says
FORT BRAGG, North Carolina, June 10 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the military would rename bases which were changed after racial justice protests in 2023, including reverting to Fort Lee originally named after Civil War-era Confederate commander Robert E. Lee. Under the Trump administration, the Pentagon has already renamed Fort Moore back to its original name of Fort Benning and Fort Liberty back to Fort Bragg. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has been able to sidestep a Congressional provision that banned bases having Confederate names by renaming bases after people with the same names as the Confederate officials. "We are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker, Fort Polk, Fort AP Hill and Fort Robert E. Lee," Trump said while speaking at Fort Bragg. "We won a lot of battles out of those forts. It's no time to change," Trump said as uniformed service members stood behind him. Fort Lee, located in Petersburg, Virginia, was renamed Fort Gregg-Adams in 2023. After Trump's announcement, the Army said that Fort Lee would be renamed after Private Fitz Lee, a Medal of Honor recipient from the Spanish-American War. During Trump's speech at Fort Bragg, some audience members, including those in uniform, cheered as the president made the announcement. They also jeered at the press as Trump pointed towards reporters and called them "Fake News" and applauded as he took shots at his predecessor, Joe Biden. Uniformed members of the U.S. armed forces are meant to be apolitical, carrying out the policies of Democratic and Republican administrations. The 2023 move to shed Confederate names for military bases came in the wake of nationwide protests after the 2020 death of George Floyd, a Black man killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Confederate flags and base names can be offensive to many Americans, who see them as reminders of the enslavement of Black Americans and symbols of white supremacy. Congress in 2021 passed legislation forbidding the naming of bases after anyone who voluntarily served or held leadership in the Confederate States of America, the breakaway republic of Southern states that fought against the U.S. in the Civil War in the 19th Century.
