Feature Archives

On December 17, activists with the animal rights network Direct Action Everywhere (DxE) rallied at Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, urging him to pardon jailed animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg and ensure her immediate release. Ms. Rosenberg, a UC Berkeley student and animal cruelty investigator with DxE, was convicted of felony conspiracy and sentenced to 90 days in jail for rescuing four sick chickens from Perdue’s Petaluma Poultry slaughterhouse.

On December 16, over 100 people from Bay Area faith communities shut down ICE’s San Francisco Field Office at 630 Sansome Street, chaining themselves across the two main entrances to stop ICE from kidnapping community members at their immigration check-ins. 630 Sansome also serves as ICE’s regional headquarters. Between Jan. 20 and June 26, 2,123 people were kidnapped by ICE in what they call the San Francisco "Area of Responsibility."

On December 20, the San Francisco Regional Tibetan Youth Congress held a demonstration in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco over illegal gold-mining operations in Sershul, Eastern Tibet, and the subsequent arrests of more than 80 innocent Tibetans in the region. According to reports, the gold-mining operations were being undertaken in Serkhok, a traditional grazing site in the region.

CrimethInc., subMedia and the Coordinadora Anarquista Tejiendo Libertad have prepared MERCENARIES, a video and poster campaign to counter ICE recruitment. They ask, "Please help us circulate these everywhere that people are at risk ... While Trump’s henchmen falsely claim that ICE is targeting 'criminals,' the real wrongdoers are those who are willing to do harm to their neighbors in return for a bribe."

On September 10, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was fatally shot by a sniper while speaking in Utah. The event was the first stop of TPUSA's "American Comeback Tour." On November 10, Turning Point concluded their tour at UC Berkeley. The campus was locked down beforehand by a phalanx of riot police. Despite the show of force, hundreds of demonstrators turned out to denounce TPUSA. Several arrests were made.

Activists assembled in Alta Plaza Park, San Francisco's billionaire epicenter, on November 15 for a rally and march to demand, "housing, healthcare, and food for all," from the ultra-wealthy. During the rally, Socialists and Communists set up literature tables, and people distributed kits containing a whistle and ICE reporting instructions. The first stop on the march was David Sacks' mansion, then it was on to Larry Ellison's.

On November 13, over one thousand union baristas launched a “Red Cup Rebellion” unfair labor practice strike protesting Starbucks’ union busting and failure to finalize a fair union contract. The open-ended strike begins with 65 stores across 40+ cities and comes after six months of Starbucks refusing to offer new proposals to address workers’ demands for better staffing, higher pay, and resolution of hundreds of unfair labor practice charges.