Report

“My lungs strained, but not from the exertion of pushing the dumpster. It was light work with the four new companions I had made in the street, whose names I did not know and would not learn. It was the tear gas, clawing at my throat. I had already washed my eyes and mouth out two or three times, and my drenched scarf was now frozen to my icicle-laden beard, my cheeks numb but tingling with chemical irritants. We pushed through the smoke. We expected to catch up with the armored car and riot squad, which kept falling back.

At 9 AM this morning, as the general strike settled across the Twin Cities, a group of some hundred community defenders took up positions around the Whipple building, the lair and headquarters of the Federal occupation of our metro. This band of defenders equipped themselves with shields and reinforced banners, marched to the Snelling light rail stop, and physically blocked the road for two and a half hours.

Community defenders routed a poorly organized group of fascists in Minneapolis today, as pardoned January 6 attempted coup participant and Florida US Senate candidate Jake Lang attempted to lead a “March Against Islamification” from city hall to the Cedar Riverside neighborhood. 

On Sunday, December 15th Black Cat Workers’ Collective (BCWC) and our partners in the Workers Solidarity Circle (WSC) coalition put on our first Workers’ Assembly. The WSC is made up of BCWC, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Labor Branch and Red Pine Revolutionary Collective (RPRC). 

On Saturday, November 2, a group of local workers and members of the labor movement participated in a peaceful march and rally in front of the Minneapolis home of Darryle Owens, a member of the Heritage Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The Heritage Foundation is a right-wing think tank that has pushed anti-worker policies since the 1970s. Most recently, they authored Project 2025, a 900+ page wishlist of extreme right wing policies that will trample on the rights of all workers.