u/jk4532

Authoritarians don’t tolerate dissent and resistance, and the Trump regime has used its power to crush and criminalize those on the front lines of opposing their terror. They’ve been particularly aggressive towards those taking on the deportation machine, with hundreds of arrests even as prosecutions have repeatedly failed in the face of video disproving law enforcement’s claims.

These folks have shown bravery and commitment in the face of tyranny, and we need to have their backs. Here’s some ways we can show solidarity.

Members of VC Defensa, a coalition of activists doing ICE watch, rapid response and support for immigrants and refugees in Ventura County, California, have been the target of a long harassment campaign by Homeland Security, with arrests, raids, car rammings and pepper-sprayings. Last week, federal agents raided the homes of three leaders of the organization. They’re continuing their work in spite of the danger, and are now preparing a civil rights lawsuit. 💵 Let’s consider a donation to support their efforts here or to a GoFundMe for a member of their community caught in the machine here. 💵

HELP VC DEFENSA KEEP FIGHTING

Former congressional candidate and journalist Kat Abughazaleh, her field director Andre Martin, Village of Oak Park Trustee Brian Shaw and Democratic ward committeeman Michael Rabbitt go on trial next week after being arrested in a protest at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois last September. While felony charges have been dropped in what the Broadview protesters claim was an effort to avoid having to hand over grand jury transcripts, they are now having the rare experience of being tried by the federal government for misdemeanors. They are also facing a quarter-million dollars in legal debt. 💵 We can help them meet the burden of taking on Trump’s DoJ in court by donating here. 💵

HELP BROADVIEW PROTESTERS PAY LEGAL FEES

The Spokane 3 are on trial as we speak. They face charges of conspiring to impede or injure federal officers at a protest at an ICE facility that erupted after two community members had been taken by the deportation force last June. Their defense attorneys have argued that while there was civil disobedience as they bravely attempted to prevent the two men from being transported away, Justice Forral, Jac Dalitso Archer and Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II urged participants to remain peaceful. 📬 We can learn more and get updates on the trial here, and send them a message of support or help spread the word about their case here. 📬

SHARE YOUR SUPPORT

The Prairieland defendants, convicted in March for terrorism over a shooting they insist they were uninvolved with and evidence suggests they had no idea would happen, are getting through their days in prison as they serve and appeal their sentences. Right now, they’re asking for pictures of the outside world for their cells. 📬 If we’re able, we can find addresses and instructions on where to send them in their profiles here. 📬

BRIGHTEN THE DAYS OF THESE DEFENDANTS

Also in today's List:

• Trump’s shady stock market dealings renew interest in a full-government trade ban - tell Congress it’s time
• Phonebank and test different messages with Swing Blue Alliance in June
• We could see final passage of funding for ICE and CBP by the weekend – tell reps no while we can, and share with our networks the damage the GOP agenda is doing to us
• Coalition of progressive DAs pledges to prosecute voter intimidation by ICE – make sure yours is with them
• We’re going to win this election and make sure it doesn’t get stolen - learn how to get plugged into voter protection work TONIGHT at 7:00PM ET or get up to speed on hosting voter registration drives, status checks, poll worker recruitment and other events for Good Trouble Lives On, ALSO at 7:00PM ET

CBS is reporting Trump's DoJ secured an indictment of still-powerful former Cuban President Raul Castro in Florida, so... ridiculously, we need to consider seriously the possibility they're about to start a whole new war.

The U.S. began a blockade of Cuba in early January, accompanied by Trump bluster about “taking” the country, and the island is now out of fuel. This has already caused a humanitarian crisis, with blackouts, school closures, preventable deaths at hospitals, and more completely unnecessary suffering, and their leadership has been negotiating with Trump over aid and relief in exchange for economic reforms. But the dictatorship running Havana has yet to collapse, and Trump has reportedly been growing frustrated with how long it’s taking. Developments in recent days have led to renewed fears that Trump might attempt to repeat his Venezuela strikes or worse, such as:

• An increase in American surveillance flights in the area
• Reports that the Pentagon has been ordered to ramp up prep for possible operations
• Strengthened sanctions
• Some very timely leaks to the media about Cuba’s drone program and the seriousness of Trump’s threats
• And now the Castro indictment.

At the very least, the Trump Administration sure wants us to believe they’re serious about a possible war on Cuba, and given the potential consequences we should give it due consideration.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) forced a vote on a Cuba war powers resolution in late April, which fell 51-47 (Fetterman voting to block, Collins and Paul joining the Democrats in favor). It is unlikely there has been much movement since then, but the GOP has not shown enthusiasm about the new threats, and given the practical obstacles to launching a second regional war we may be able to gain ground if we make some noise. 🗣️ Let’s start with urging our members of Congress to take action now, supporting another vote on a war powers resolution and making it publicly clear they will not back authorizing or funding another Trump war. We can find scripts and language to use here, or send this message by texting SIGN PYLQOZ to 50409. 🗣️

Also in today's Rogan's List:

• Push for coverage of a hunger strike at a California ICE detention camp
• New slate of Democratic nominees for November confirmed, volunteer for Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jon Ossoff in Georgia and Bob Brooks, Paige Cognetti and Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania
• Full Senate could start votes on ICE/CBP/ballroom funding by tomorrow, we may be near a breakthrough on Iran war powers
• Trans rights under assault: tell senators to protect access to student loan forgiveness, reps to oppose a don’t say trans law, and HUD to stop trying to put non-gender conforming people on the street
• Tomorrow at 7PM ET, learn about your volunteer options for voter protection OR how you can lead registration drives, canvasses and more this summer
• Data centers could hike power costs by 50% in some states over the next four years… let’s join Food & Water Action TONIGHT at 8PM ET for a training on how to identify pressure points where we can stop them in local fights

After all the gerrymanders are over, analysis by G. Elliott Morris suggests that in the worst-case scenario Democrats will need to win the House popular vote by four points to flip the chamber. A poll earlier this week had them leading on the generic congressional ballot by 11. Needless to say, we’re still well positioned for a blue wave in November… if we can get our voters counted and our victories certified.

Tomorrow night, we’ll have two opportunities to get involved in the work of protecting this election. At 7:00PM ET, Third Act Maryland is bringing together folks from VoteRiders, VoPro Pros and Red2Blue to talk about how we can get plugged into the work of registering voters, educating folks about rule changes, ballot curing, staffing voter hotlines and poll watching. 🗳️ We can sign up for this info session here. 🗳️

If we’re familiar with the work and ready to lead, the organizers of the Good Trouble Lives On Weekend of Action scheduled for July 17-19 will be running a call for potential event hosts, also at 7PM ET! They’re asking folks to run registration drives, status checks, poll worker recruitment and Know Your Rights trainings in a summer festival of democracy! 🗳️ Hosts can sign up to learn more here. 🗳️

CBS is reporting Trump's DoJ secured an indictment of still-powerful former Cuban President Raul Castro in Florida, so... ridiculously, we need to consider seriously the possibility they're about to start a whole new war.

The U.S. began a blockade of Cuba in early January, accompanied by Trump bluster about “taking” the country, and the island is now out of fuel. This has already caused a humanitarian crisis, with blackouts, school closures, preventable deaths at hospitals, and more completely unnecessary suffering, and their leadership has been negotiating with Trump over aid and relief in exchange for economic reforms. But the dictatorship running Havana has yet to collapse, and Trump has reportedly been growing frustrated with how long it’s taking. Developments in recent days have led to renewed fears that Trump might attempt to repeat his Venezuela strikes or worse, such as:

• An increase in American surveillance flights in the area
• Reports that the Pentagon has been ordered to ramp up prep for possible operations
• Strengthened sanctions
• Some very timely leaks to the media about Cuba’s drone program and the seriousness of Trump’s threats
• And now the Castro indictment.

At the very least, the Trump Administration sure wants us to believe they’re serious about a possible war on Cuba, and given the potential consequences we should give it due consideration.

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) forced a vote on a Cuba war powers resolution in late April, which fell 51-47 (Fetterman voting to block, Collins and Paul joining the Democrats in favor). It is unlikely there has been much movement since then, but the GOP has not shown enthusiasm about the new threats, and given the practical obstacles to launching a second regional war we may be able to gain ground if we make some noise. 🗣️ Let’s start with urging our members of Congress to take action now, supporting another vote on a war powers resolution and making it publicly clear they will not back authorizing or funding another Trump war. We can find scripts and language to use here, or send this message by texting SIGN PYLQOZ to 50409. 🗣️

Also in today's Rogan's List:

• Push for coverage of a hunger strike at a California ICE detention camp
• New slate of Democratic nominees for November confirmed, volunteer for Keisha Lance Bottoms and Jon Ossoff in Georgia and Bob Brooks, Paige Cognetti and Janelle Stelson in Pennsylvania
• Full Senate could start votes on ICE/CBP/ballroom funding by tomorrow, we may be near a breakthrough on Iran war powers
• Trans rights under assault: tell senators to protect access to student loan forgiveness, reps to oppose a don’t say trans law, and HUD to stop trying to put non-gender conforming people on the street
• Tomorrow at 7PM ET, learn about your volunteer options for voter protection OR how you can lead registration drives, canvasses and more this summer
• Data centers could hike power costs by 50% in some states over the next four years… let’s join Food & Water Action TONIGHT at 8PM ET for a training on how to identify pressure points where we can stop them in local fights

The deportation forces are not above the law in Hennepin County, Minnesota if nowhere else. Yesterday their lead prosecutor Mary Moriarty announced charges against an ICE agent for the second time, this time against Christian Castro for four counts of second-degree assault and one count of falsely reporting a crime.

Castro shot a man named Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis in the thigh, firing through a front door while in the process of chasing Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, who lived in his apartment complex. Homeland Security then accused Sosa-Celis and Aljorna of beating officers with a broom handle and snow shovel, calling it “attempted murder” by “violent criminal illegal aliens” and blaming Governor Tim Walz and Mayor Jacob Frey for encouraging assault against law enforcement. Both were charged with crimes. Those charges were dropped, and video eventually publicly released proved this story was a lie. (Both Sosa-Celis and Aljorna are also, incidentally, in the country legally.)

That prosecutors are attempting to hold officers accountable for this flagrant violence and misconduct is positive, and they indicated they were still investigating the murders of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. The bad news is no one appears to be following Hennepin County’s lead. Prosecutors in Durango, Colorado are charging a CBP officer with misdemeanor assault for attacking a demonstrator, but these are the only deportation agents facing legal consequences so far. While state and local governments face serious challenges indicting federal officials for crimes on the job, it’s not impossible, and we need frontline agents carrying out Trump’s agenda to go forward knowing they are not immune.

🗣️ If we’re in areas that have been terrorized by the deportation machine, let’s reach out to our own local prosecutors and state attorneys general and tell them it’s time to step up like Hennepin County did and commit to prosecuting any crimes by ICE and CBP agents to the fullest extent of the law. We can find scripts and language here. 🗣️

Jamie Ager, a fourth-generation West North Carolina farmer and the Democratic nominee for the Eleventh Congressional District, is kicking off weekly Tuesday evening phonebanks tonight at 5PM! Ager is running hard on addressing the federal government’s shortfalls in Hurricane Helene recovery, the affordability crisis and taking on corruption.

Ager is running in an R+5 district that was already on the radar before we learned incumbent Republican Chuck Edwards was under Ethics Committee investigation over accusations of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. There have been allegations that the congressman had an affair with a then-staffer, in direct violation of House rules, and that he singled out two young, female staffers for inappropriate attention. ☎️ Let’s help take down this creep. We can sign up for phonebanks tonight and on Tuesdays to come here. ☎️

MAKE CALLS FOR JAMIE AGER TUESDAYS

Also in today's Rogan's List:

• Red flags keep piling up on Trump’s threats against Cuba, tell Congress we want them to put an end to the saber-rattling here
• Help turn out voters for the Georgia supreme court and Alabama primaries today
• Another indictment of an ICE agent in Minnesota, tell your local prosecutors to follow suit
• Join America’s science community in pushing Congress to reinstate the National Science Board
• Join SURJ for a conversation on exhaustion, burnout and how to continue the long fight against authoritarianism and white supremacy TOMORROW at 8PM ET
• We are anticipating a vote this week on a national “don’t say trans” and forced outing law in the House - we can find scripts and language here to let our reps know we want them to oppose this attack on our kids!

Over the last 24 hours, we’ve learned via local activists and independent journalist Nick Valencia that approximately 20 detainees being held at the notorious Adelanto ICE Processing Center are on a hunger strike. In their press release, they reported already being in poor health and underfed due to staff neglect, and are demanding due process, bond reform, improved conditions, adequate medical and mental health care, decent food, accountability for deaths at the facility and the right to organize and communicate.

At least four people - Ismael Ayala-Uribe, Gabriel Garcia-Aviles, Alberto Gutierrez Reyes and Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano - have died while being held at this GEO Group-run detention camp in San Bernadino County, California since September, with multiple accusations of staff denying folks necessary medical care. Detainees have reported physical and sexual abuse, said they’ve been refused a change of clothes, underwear or towels, and advocates have reported inadequate access to clean food and water and other unsafe and unsanitary conditions. It’s been the subject of multiple federal investigations and civil rights lawsuits, and the California Attorney General’s office has found staffing has failed to keep up with the growing number of detainees.

Families of migrants held at Adelanto and advocates are holding a virtual press conference tomorrow, May 20th, at 10AM ET/7AM PT. We’re being asked to help get more coverage of this hunger strike and detainees’ demand for the center to be shut down. Let’s do our part! We can reach out to local outlets to urge them to cover this protest, such as:

·       Los Angeles Times here or at tips@latimes.com

·       CalMatters at 916-502-9986 or tips@calmatters.org

·       KCAL (CBS affiliate) here, at kcalkcbsdesk@cbs.com or at 818-221-2222

·       KNBC (NBC affiliate) here

·       KMEX (Univision affiliate) here

·       KABC (ABC affiliate) here or at 877-777-6397

·       KVEA (local Telemundo affiliate) here

The role of community organizing will be critical in stopping the oligarchs and rebuilding American democracy. Central in that field are tenants unions, who are at the forefront of the movement for affordable housing and balancing the scales in an increasingly corporate-controlled housing market. But it’s not an easy thing to begin from scratch.

The Tenant Union Federation (TUF) is holding an intensive weekly training course on organizing tenant unions: Union School. We’ll learn about landlord research, scouting, organizing conversations, leadership assessment, blitz, demands, union launch, target analysis, communications, strategy, bargaining, and strikes. Last year, this training helped support union launches from Albany to Cincinnati to Colorado Springs to Missoula. 💪🏻 We get more details here, take an info session to get a better sense of what it’s all about on May 27th here, and apply to join by June 15th here. 💪🏾

LEARN MORE ABOUT UNION SCHOOL

APPLY BY JUNE 15TH

💵 Meanwhile, Bozeman Tenants United is standing firm in the first rent strike in Montana in nearly five decades. We can follow along for updates on social media here, and donate to their strike fund to ensure tenants can afford legal support and deal with whatever else comes up in this fight here. 💵