A serpentine river near Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve in Alaska on Sept. 11, 2022. Photo: Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images
President Donald Trump approved on Monday the construction of a 211-mile road right through the Brooks Range Foothills and across the Northwestern Alaskan Arctic, including 26 miles of Gates of the Arctic National Park. The administration justified its decision to allow a mining company to carve through the arctic foothills with a simple explanation: Building the road will benefit the American artificial intelligence industry.
Trump’s approval of the Ambler Road Project is a reversal for the federal government. Only last year, the Bureau of Land Management released its Record of Decision selecting “No Action” on Ambler Road, in cooperation with Alaska tribal councils, the Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many others.
In the document, the impact on fish habitat, water and air quality, disruption of groundwater flow, hazardous materials from spills, and the negative impact on the Western Arctic caribou herd, which has been steadily declining since 2017, were all cited as reasons for denial. The Record of Decision also stated that the Ambler Road Project would forever alter the culture and traditional practices of Alaska Native communities, who have lived and thrived in the region for centuries.
Thanks to the BLM’s findings, the Biden administration denied the Ambler Road Project on June 28, 2024. The project resurfaced after the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority filed a direct appeal to Trump over his predecessor’s denial of transportation permits.
Trump’s decision to approve the Ambler Road Project comes months after his administration announced plans to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, opening 45 million acres of national forest land to logging and road construction. While the Ambler Road Project is not directly tied to the “roadless rule,” it’s one of a growing list of examples of the U.S. government prioritizing corporate interests over the natural world.
Ambler Road will begin at milepost 161 on the Dalton Highway, near the towns of Wiseman and Coldfoot, before crossing over 3,000 streams and multiple rivers. It will require up to 50 various bridge projects, as well as aid stations, airstrips, turnouts, and culverts, before ending at the proposed mining site near the town of Ambler.
On Monday, Trump sat in the Oval Office with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Energy Secretary Chris Wright and made it clear that he was approving the project to stay ahead in what he considers an AI race against China.
“Ambler Mining District, at the end of [the 211-mile road] has some of the richest mining deposits in all of America,” Burgum said, while gesturing at a map of Alaska behind the Resolute desk. “These are minerals that are absolutely essential to defense, to industry. … Just take copper alone. This is one of the richest copper locations in the country.”
The haul at the end of the 211-mile road is presumed to be a copper deposit worth more than $7 billion. Copper has many uses, among them being the primary component to efficiently help power and cool the massive data centers that run AI applications. As a result, and as AI advances, copper is in massively high demand. According to the 2025 Global Critical Minerals Outlook, copper supplies will fall 30 percent short of the required demand by 2035.
“China controls 85 to 100 percent of all the mining and refining of all the top 20 critical minerals,” Burgum said. “And in this mine area up here, we got copper, lead, zinc, gold, silver, gallium, germanium — rich in all of the minerals that we need to win the AI arms race against China.”
Burgum said that the U.S. has “gotten out of the energy and mining area,” and that when Trump said, “Drill, baby, drill,” he also meant “Mine, baby, mine.”
Trump emphasized that the copper was needed to power AI data centers — but also immediately contradicted himself on whether it’s needed to surpass China, or rather to maintain what he described as America’s undisputed lead in AI.
“We get a road done, and with that, we unleash billions and billions of dollars in wealth,” Trump said to the press on Monday. “It’s pretty amazing when you think of it. And it’s wealth that we need if we’re going to be the number one country. We’re number one now with AI, you’ve probably read. We’re beating everybody with AI at levels that nobody ever thought even possible.”
But Trump said the U.S. currently lacks the power to support its tech companies, so he has greenlit them to “build their own power.”
Immediately after taking office, Trump announced a $500 billion investment in artificial intelligence — led by OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank — called the Stargate Project, aiming to create a nationwide network of AI data centers. The first opened in Abilene, Texas, in September, after which five more were immediately announced.
Also in September, Trump hosted a roundtable of AI giants to discuss AI innovation and investments into its future. Included in the guest list were OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Apple CEO Tim Cook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Each of whom, coincidentally, donated exactly $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
AI data centers significantly impact the environment due to their immense electricity consumption, high water usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and demand from local power grids.
But along with the AI craze, a modern copper rush has begun, and it’s moving quickly. What was originally proposed as a three to four-year timeline for the Ambler Road Project appears to have been significantly sped up. Burgum said that construction will begin next spring with “planning throughout the winter.”
“We’ll get it done in less than a year,” Trump added.
Following the announcement of the approval for the Ambler Road Project, Burgum stated that the Department of War and the U.S. government will take a 10 percent stake in Trilogy Metals, a Canadian mining company with claims in the area.
“America was a mining powerhouse for a long, long time, and our mining industry got squelched,” Burgum said. “Now we’re seeing it come back to life.”Read our Complete CoverageClimate Crimes
In March 2025, Trump signed an executive order to take immediate measures to increase American mineral production. The order states: “It is imperative for our national security that the United States take immediate action to facilitate domestic mineral production to the maximum possible extent.”
In April, the Trump administration fast-tracked a controversial transfer of ownership of Oak Flat, Arizona, from the U.S. Forest Service to Resolution Copper. The Apache Stronghold, who have sacred and ceremonial ties to the land, have been in lengthy legal battles to try to halt the transfer. Resolution Copper, a conglomerate owned by British and Australian mining companies, plans to blast a hole 2 miles wide and 1,000 feet deep, decimating the sacred Apache site to gain access to the deep copper reserve.
In August, a 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge put a temporary injunction on the land transfer, and Trump released a scathing post on Truth Social in which he called the 9th Circuit “radical left” and the Apache Stronghold “anti-American.”
On October 6, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Apache Stronghold case.
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The proposed destruction of public land — held sacred by Native Americans at Oak Flat and the Northwestern Arctic of Alaska — and numerous other sites, every year across America, in the name of progress, is merely one more example of a continued and very pointed genocide of Native American culture.
The proposed destruction of public land in the name of progress is merely one more example of a continued and very pointed genocide of Native American culture.
In response to Trump’s approval of the Ambler Road Project, environmental advocacy groups blasted the decision, saying it’s another example of Trump protecting business interests over the planet.
“As with every other shortsighted, self-serving decision by this administration, this move is silencing the people who will be impacted the most,” said Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee. “Trump is sidestepping the views of Native Alaskans and short circuiting the federal government’s obligation to hear from them.”
“We build a road that’s over 200 miles long through a very beautiful area of the world,” Trump told reporters on Monday. “It’s incredible when you look at it. But a rough area from the standpoint of building.”
IT’S EVEN WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.
What we’re seeing right now from Donald Trump is a full-on authoritarian takeover of the U.S. government.
This is not hyperbole.
Court orders are being ignored. MAGA loyalists have been put in charge of the military and federal law enforcement agencies. The Department of Government Efficiency has stripped Congress of its power of the purse. News outlets that challenge Trump have been banished or put under investigation.
Yet far too many are still covering Trump’s assault on democracy like politics as usual, with flattering headlines describing Trump as “unconventional,” “testing the boundaries,” and “aggressively flexing power.”
The Intercept has long covered authoritarian governments, billionaire oligarchs, and backsliding democracies around the world. We understand the challenge we face in Trump and the vital importance of press freedom in defending democracy.
We’re independent of corporate interests. Will you help us?
CHICAGO—Unsure where to find the lawlessness and chaos they were told was overtaking the city, National Guard troops deployed to Chicago by President Donald Trump have begun aimlessly going door to door and asking residents if they have any order they might need restored, sources confirmed Thursday. “Hi there, ma’am—I was wondering if you’d seen any gang members or waves of criminal aliens rampaging through your household lately, and if I could assist in any way,” Cpl. Hunter Benson of the Texas guard said to confused 88-year-old Ravenswood resident Marsha Goldstein, peeking into the woman’s foyer to see if he could spot any hellish, out-of-control crime engulfing her living room. “This is a lovely little neighborhood you’ve got here. But if, by any chance, you’ve got some looting anarchist rioters you need me to quell, or you’ve spotted a marauding pack of bloodthirsty Venezuelan murderers on your back porch, I’d be more than happy to help you out. The rest of the boys and I are just trying to figure out exactly what we’re supposed to be doing in your city, so if you could kindly point us toward any nonstop, ruthless mayhem, that’d be a huge help.” At press time, the listless National Guard members had reportedly decided to just start issuing parking tickets as they searched in vain for the rivers of blood they believed would be flooding the streets of Chicago.
People gather at Ida B. Wells Dr. and Michigan Ave. in downtown Chicago to protest President Donald Trump deploying National Guard troops and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to Illinois on October 8, 2025.
(Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
The judge said she saw “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” and allowing troops into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”
US District Judge April Perry on Thursday partially granted Chicago and Illinois’ request for a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump’s deployment of National Guard troops, purportedly to protect immigration officials carrying out “Operation Midway Blitz” in and around the nation’s third-largest city.
Perry—who pledged to issue a written opinion on Friday—said in an oral ruling that the US Department of Homeland Security’s descriptions of recent events in the area are “simply unreliable,” noting that “in the last 48 hours, in four separate unrelated legal decisions from different neutral parties, they all cast significant doubt on DHS’s credibility and assessment of what is happening on the streets of Chicago.”
Federal law—specifically, 10 US Code § 12406—allows the president to federalize the National Guard under three conditions, “not whenever he determines when one of them is met,” said Perry, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.
Those conditions are: invasion or a danger of invasion by a foreign nation; rebellion or danger of rebellion against the authority of the federal government; or if the president “is unable with the regular forces to execute the laws of the United States.”
“When President Trump is trying his best to imperil the rights of residents of major American cities, it’s encouraging to see this court ruling based on adherence to law and facts.”
Reporting on an argument made during a hearing earlier Thursday, the Chicago Tribunedetailed:
[Christopher] Wells, the attorney for Illinois, said the country’s founders did not use words like “rebellion, insurrection, or war” lightly.
“The president of the United States believes there is a rebellion brewing in the United States? That is such an audacious claim,” Wells argued before US District Judge April Perry. “Who are the rebels? Are the rebels well-armed? …There is no rebellion in Illinois.”
[US Departmnet of Justice attorney Eric] Hamilton, meanwhile, repeatedly summarized violence in the Chicago area he said has been perpetrated by the “rioters” on immigration agents, including the boxing in of vehicles, assaults, and the alleged $10,000 bounty put on Border Patrol boss Greg Bovino’s head.
“There doesn’t have to be an actual rebeller,” Hamilton said. “It is enough that there is a danger of a rebellion here. Which there is.”
The judge said in her oral decision that she had seen “no credible evidence that there is a danger of rebellion in the state of Illinois,” and allowing troops into Chicago “will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants themselves have started.”
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in a statement that “today’s ruling is a victory for the rule of law. The administration has provided no lawful explanation for its deployment of federal troops, and none exists. It’s clear that this attempted occupation within the state of Illinois is driven by political animus and not because federal officials are unable to protect federal property or enforce federal law.”
“The president does not have the unfettered discretion to turn America’s military against its own citizens when they exercise their constitutional rights,” he continued. “I am absolutely committed to upholding the Constitution and defending the rule of law, and I will continue to fight back against this unlawful attack on our state’s sovereignty.”
“The president does not have the unfettered discretion to turn America’s military against its own citizens when they exercise their constitutional rights.”
Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU’s National Security Project, said in a statement that “this decision reinforces that the president’s expansive claim of power to federalize state troops when there’s no actual emergency and good faith factual basis is unlawful. Like district court judges in Oregon and California, this court looked at the facts on the ground and rightly found that the Trump administration’s version of events is quite simply unreliable.”
“As the founders of this country made abundantly clear, turning troops on civilians is an intolerable threat to our liberties,” Shamsi added. “When President Trump is trying his best to imperil the rights of residents of major American cities, it’s encouraging to see this court ruling based on adherence to law and facts.”
Perry’s decision came in response to Chicago and Illinois’ Monday lawsuit over Trump’s move to deploy National Guard troops weeks into the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation. Rather than immediately weighing in, the judge scheduled Thursday’s hearing.
In the meantime, around 1,000 protesters took to the city’s streets Wednesday night; Trump called for the arrest of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, both Democrats; and members of the Texas National Guard began arriving in the suburb Joliet. As Wells put it during the hearing, despite the pending legal challenge, the federal government “plowed ahead anyway,” and “now, troops are here.”
US Northern Command said late Wednesday that approximately 200 Texas National Guard soldiers and 300 members of the Illinois National Guard “were activated into a Title 10 status” and are in the Chicagoland area to protect ICE and “other US government personnel who are performing federal functions.”
The village of Broadview confirmed to NBC Chicago that on Wednesday night, three vans carrying 45 members of the Texas National Guard arrived at the suburban ICE facility that has been the site of several protests in recent weeks.
“During their patrols, Broadview police officers observed the vans parked in the rear of 2000 25th Ave. and all of the guards were sleeping,” the statement said. “We let them sleep undisturbed. We hope that they will extend the same courtesy in the coming days to Broadview residents who deserve a good night’s sleep, too.”
As Chicago and Illinois filed their suit on Monday, demonstrators and journalists sued over federal agents’ violent violations of First Amendment rights at Broadview’s ICE facility. On Thursday, US District Judge Sara Ellis—appointed to the Northern District of Illinois by former President Barack Obama—issued a temporary restraining order barring officials from using pepper spray, tear gas, and other weapons “on members of the press, protestors, or religious practitioners who are not posing an immediate threat to the safety of a law enforcement officer or others.”
Also on Thursday, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit heard arguments over Trump’s move to deploy the National Guard in Portland, Oregon, as he has previously done in Los Angeles, California and Washington, DC. That followed US District Judge Karin Immergut blocking the deployment—after which the Trump appointee was quickly accused of “legal insurrection” by Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff.
Meanwhile, officials in Memphis confirmed in an online update Thursday that National Guard troops are set to start patrolling the city on Friday. In sharp contrast to Pritzker and Democratic Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee has welcomed the planned deployment.
Unlike Trump’s efforts in Chicago and Portland, “National Guard troops in Memphis have not been federalized,” The Tennessean reported Thursday. “They are deployed under federal Title 32 rules, which preserve state authority over the National Guard with the federal government paying for expenses. As such, the Tennessee National Guard remains under Lee’s control.”
Neither Lee nor Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has “publicly explained the legal basis of the operation,” the newspaper also noted. While Lee, when questioned by reporters, deferred to Skrmetti, a spokesperson for the state’s top lawyer said in an email that “we do not have a comment at this time.”
The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I’ve ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets.
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Israel has intercepted another fleet of Freedom Flotilla Coalition vessels en route to deliver desperately needed aid to the people in Gaza, seizing more than $110,000 in medicines, respiratory equipment, and nutritional supplies.
H. Underdog Palestine will prevail – October 8, 2025
K. The story didn’t begin on October 7 — it began 77 years ago. What have you discovered over the past two years about the roots of the Palestinian cause?
It’s no secret our communities and the movements to defend them are under attack. Fascists relentlessly heighten political repression, using despair to overwhelm and immobilize us. Movement veterans who survived great sacrifices in their struggles against racist state oppression remind us that we have been here before—and that we can withstand it again. Now, more than ever, we must learn from them how to organize under dire circumstances.
JoNina Abron-Ervin transferred from the Black Panther Party’s Detroit branch to the Oakland headquarters in the early 1970s, where she became the editor of the Party’s newspaper. JoNina was a key organizer in the BPP’s survival programs, participating in the free breakfast, prison visit transportation, and education programs. Accounts of these experiences can be read in her forthcoming book from AK Press, Driven by the Movement: Reports from the Black Power Era. Since then, she has continued to fight for Black liberation across the American South, the country, and the globe.
At this community conversation brought to you by Black Rose Anarchist Federation – Bay Area and the Dr. Huey P. Newton Foundation, JoNina will share how we can fight and survive fascist violence to bring a new, better world into being.
Agenda Item #6 – Vote NO on OPD’s $2 Million Weapons Expansion
TALKING POINTS
1. Crime Is Down — There’s No Justification for Expansion OPD’s own data shows crime has dropped significantly. Pouring $2 million into weapons when the city is cutting basic services is reckless and unjustifiable. Militarization isn’t safety — it’s waste.
2. Militarization Is About Power, Not Safety OPD isn’t replacing old gear; it’s expanding its arsenal — 75 new assault rifles, two armored BearCats, and 19 new drones. There’s no plan to retire old weapons. Militarized policing escalates harm and fear — it doesn’t prevent violence.
3. The Officers Behind This Have a Violent Track Record The officers pushing this plan have already taken Black lives in Oakland. Giving them more deadly tools is a direct threat to community safety.
4. Real Safety Comes from Investment in People Safety doesn’t come from drones and rifles — it comes from housing, healthcare, youth programs, and violence prevention. Every dollar spent on militarization is a dollar stolen from real safety solutions.
LEGAL & MORAL ACCOUNTABILITY
Assembly Bill 481 makes it clear: Cities can only approve military equipment purchases if they are necessary and cost-effective — and if there are no reasonable alternatives for public safety.
OPD’s request fails every test. They already have over 150 rifles, armored vehicles, and access to other regional military gear. And yet 33 officers sit on paid administrative leave, with 12 collecting salaries for over two years, costing taxpayers $3.6 million annually — while OPD demands even more weapons.
Info from Anti Police-Terror Project
Friday, October 10
3. Friday, 8:00am – 4:00pm, Chase ICE Out of San Francisco
SF Immigration Court 100 Montgomery St. SF
(Nr. Montgomery BART) + MUNI
Every, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday
Join us for another court presence! Come for any time as we take up space to show immigrants they are welcome and show ICE THE DOOR! There are many roles for folks to help with: – learn about resources against ICE and get plugged in – be a welcoming presence to immigrants – make art and music meet your neighbors and strategize how to support immigrants there – more When we are united, we WIN! EVERY TUESDAY UNTIL ICE IS GONE
4. Friday, 10:30am – 12:30pm, Israel! Stop Starving Gaza! Send Netanyahu and Ben Gvir to The Hague! Free Palestine!
Israel Consulate 436 Montgomery St. SF
LOUD NOISE ACTION at Israel Consulate to protest
SHOUT OUT: Trained security folks and large numbers needed tomorrow to show Israel that we will not let violence deter us. Even though a so-called “peace plan” is moving forward, and we dearly hope it will bring an end to the genocide, we will not rest until Palestine is Free and Netanyahu faces the International Criminal Court!
– their brutal treatment of Greta Thunberg and the pirated flotilla captives – the sadistic starvation of Palestinians – their insulting peace proposal & their refusal to stop bombing – their genocidal killing of women & children – the repulsive lying of Netanyahu and his psychopathic allies – the wicked, vile, cravenly murder of humanitarian aid workers, hospital workers, journalists, – the destruction of Palestinian homes, hospital businesses, mosques, churches, museums, universities.
Stop the Genocide! We will create a Furious Ruckus.
We have megaphones, drums, trumpets, whistles, and air horns to share, plus bring your own pots and pans to beat on the barricades they set up to separate us from the filthy genocidists inside.
5. Friday, 12Noon (PT); 3:00pm(ET), Celebrate the Ceasefire and Commit to the Work Ahead
Webinar on the ceasefire, and where we as a movement in the United States go from here. Register or watch live here: bit.ly/FridayPSAs
Yesterday, after two years of unimaginable horrors unleashed upon the people of Gaza, a deal was struck to stop Israel’s assault, free political prisoners, and allow in desperately-needed humanitarian assistance. It’s a critical moment for the Palestinian people, and indeed for all movements fighting for liberation and dignity. Where we go from here will have profound implications for the region and in many ways the world at large.
First and foremost, we join our people in Gaza in celebrating the opportunity to finally be free of the relentless campaign of terror unleashed upon them for these past two years. Their suffering and steadfastness is almost beyond imagining, particularly in the past few months as Israel has accelerated its campaign of collective starvation and forced displacement. Even a temporary pause in the violence, and the distribution of critical supplies, is a much-needed and welcome development. This agreement is also notable in its absence of any reference to the permanent ethnic cleansing of Gaza, or any role for the criminal Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Our collective organizing has successfully thrown those plans into the dustbin of history where they belong.
At the same time, there is much cause for consternation. This initial ceasefire rests heavily on the fickle and vindictive shoulders of President Donald Trump himself. Even if it holds, it remains to be seen whether a full agreement can or will be reached; the details for the remaining phases remain murky at best, and both Israel and the US continue to call for a colonial administration of Gaza and the total dismemberment of any and all Palestinian means to resist their subjugation and illegal occupation. Pressure must continue to be applied, and even amplified, to ensure this ceasefire becomes a means for Palestinian liberation and not subjugation.
While the Palestinian people are desperate for a reprieve from the violence, Israel and its enablers are also desperate for an end to the protests, isolation, disruption, boycotts, arrest warrants, and an ever-worsening collapse of their global legitimacy and reputation. If the ceasefire allows the world to see the true extent of the destruction they have wrought in Gaza, that international isolation is likely to deepen even further. Therefore they will be eager to use this moment to try to reassert control over the narrative and marginalize our voices.
History tells us that the political elite will use this moment to tell us to stop protesting, to end our campaigns for arms embargoes, boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, to not fight to hold the perpetrators of genocide accountable, and to not “disrupt the process.” They are desperate for a return to the status quo. But these attempts to defang an unprecedented people’s movement will not succeed. In our millions, we have faced off against the systems that have allowed this genocide to continue unabated for two years, and the forces of oppression, rightwing authoritarianism, surveillance, and control that have accompanied it. We have seen the world they are trying to build, free from accountability, democratic norms, or any respect for life and dignity, and we will not stop until this horror can never be perpetrated again, to anyone, anywhere.
We continue to call on all to boycott Israel. We call on institutions to divest from Israel. We call on the US government to sanction Israel and end the billions in military aid.
Host: Arab Resource and Orgnaizing Center (AROC)
6. Friday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm, HANDS OFF Venezuela & STOP the US Supported Genocide in Gaza
Harry Bridges Plaza Across from SF Ferry Building SF
The attacks on Venezuela boats off the coast of Venezuela by the US Navy are acts of war against the people of Venezuela. This is combined with the fascist Trump government rebuilding the US bases in the colony of Puerto Rico for a staging area for an imminent invasion of Venezuela. They are preparing now to make a direct attack on Venezuela aimed at the overthrow of the Maduro government.
This is combined with the US direct military and economic support for Israel’s genocide and mass starvation policies in Gaza and the pogroms in the West Bank.
This united front rally is to oppose the attacks and war on Venezuela and demand that the US withdraw all military from Latin and Central America. It is also to support mass labor action to stop US military support for the genocide in Gaza.
These criminal acts and wars are being paid for by massive cutting of healthcare, education, housing and public services in the United States. The fight against this war is directly connected to defend our services and families here is the United States and the government shutdown is part of the drive for fascism in the United States.
It is also to support labor action including a national general strike to stop all military and economic aid to Israel by the United States and national labor strike to top stop the shipment of weapons and all aid.
Initiated by United Front Committee For A Labor Party Endorsed by Task Force on the Americas, UPTE Members For Palestine, WorkWeek
8. Saturday, 11:00am – 12:30pm, Demonstration Against SFMTA
SFMTA Customer Service Center Van Ness St. & Market SF
Join us for community led actions to call out SFMTA’s blatant disregard for rider safety and the taxpayers they call customers. Signs and chalk will be provided. We welcome you to share your experiences riding MUNI through chalking, chants, skits and showing solidarity with fellow riders.
We do not consent to Trump and his billionaire allies taking a chainsaw to our government and our economy for their benefit! San Francisco is a sanctuary city and We the People need to defend the values that make it so. Let’s stand united and oppose the endless assaults on our communities, our civil rights, the rule of law, and our democracy.
Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together and call out the Trump/MAGA regime as a community. Plus, it’s fun! Think of it as our democracy corner—a place for you to voice your opinion, hang out with like-minded fellow protesters, and experience a cathartic moment together.
What you can do: • If you’ve got signs, flags, cardboard cutouts, or any protest visuals you want to make, bring ’em! We also have spare signs to lend. • If you have whistles, drums, cowbells, or other noisemakers, bring ’em! • Musicians are welcome and encouraged. Sing the song of democracy! • Many of our regular protesters are part of local activist groups who are happy to chat with anyone who wants to pair their indignation with direct action beyond street protest.
Bring your friends or feel free to show up by yourself. Let’s turn this into the liveliest, loudest weekly protest in the city!
This weekly event is hosted by Indivisible SF and 50501 SF (organizers of the San Francisco No Kings March), and a committed group of active protest regulars who have been occupying this corner on a weekly basis since February
Physicians Organizing Committee (POC) is an all-volunteer medical advocacy group that works with doctors to fight for a healthcare system based on patient care instead of profit. They focus on fighting insurance denials, budget cuts, and closure of essential services by organizing doctors together with the community they serve, with the goal of building a healthcare system where doctors can actually serve their patients, not the bottom line. POC will be discussing some of the current issues they are fighting in the healthcare system, past victories like stopping the closure of the stroke, STEMI, and trauma department in East San Jose Hospital, current fights like the corporate takeover and subsequent under-staffing in Fresno, and what you can do to help.
Sydney Ragsdale-Cronin is a full-time organizer and the Education Director at POC. She has been a volunteer since 2020. She grew up in the Unitarian Universalist church in Monterey (UUCMP), and moved to SF to study Biology at SF State before transitioning into organizing with POC.
Angus Hamilton is an undergraduate Physiology student and researcher at SF State, and plans to go to medical school in the future. He has been a volunteer with POC since early 2025 and is the Speaking Engagement Coordinator.Dr. Naveen Reddy is a Neurologist at UCSF who is working to integrate newly approved technologies into the Veterans Health Administration. He grew up in Los Angeles and got completed his undergrad in neuroscience at UCLA. He went to
Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine in Connecticut for Medical school and UC San Diego for his residency. Currently, he researches emerging pharmaceuticals attempting to treat Alzheimer’s, Migraines, and ALS and does clinical work at the San Francisco VA.
11, Sunday, 10:00am – 12Noon, Letter writing: Solidarity with GG26
Lake Merritt Amphitheater Oakland
Please join us next Sunday to write postcards in support of the GG26! Our comrades are facing draconian charges for demonstrating their solidarity with the people of Palestine and we must support them!
What is the GG26 case?
On Tax Day, 2024, the people now known as the Golden Gate 26 (“GG26”) were arrested for protesting the use of SF tax dollars to fund the genocide in Palestine. They allegedly stopped traffic for a few hours on the Golden Gate Bridge – their banner: “Stop the World for Gaza”. San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins responded with 44 trumped-up charges per defendant, including false imprisonment, and added serious felony conspiracy charges for eight of the GG26.
Why is the Golden Gate Bridge District Involved?
The Bridge District Board is demanding the GG26 pay a staggering $162,554—a supposed toll revenue loss. This is a politically charged and unprecedented move. In 2021, the Board took no such action against anti-vaccine protesters, even after their demonstration injured five people. This case is the first time in the Golden Gate Bridge’s history that the Bridge District has sought restitution for a traffic disruption, and their selective use of restitution against the GG26 raises serious concerns about anti-Palestine political bias. What’s at Stake? This collusion between the Board and the DA’s Office has raised the stakes dramatically. The inflated restitution figure directly influenced the judge’s decision to keep felony charges in place during a preliminary hearing— and is standing in the way of any chance of pre-trial resolution. Join us in telling the Golden Gate Bridge District Board of Directors: Drop the restitution claim against the Golden Gate 26 NOW!
This event will feature a Q&A with Abby Martin and co-director Mike Prysner following the film.
Earth’s Greatest Enemy is the second documentary from journalist Abby Martin that uncovers a shocking blind spot in the climate conversation:the U.S. military.
Exempt from international climate agreements and rarely scrutinized in mainstream reporting, the Pentagon is revealed here as the world’s single largest institutional polluter—spewing carbon, contaminating water, and scarring landscapes across the globe. Combining investigative journalism, striking visuals, and stories from impacted communities, the film challenges audiences to rethink the hidden costs of a global military empire and its planetary consequences. Provocative, urgent, and eye-opening, this is a documentary that will change how you see both the military and environmentalism.
Local Co-Sponsors include: Oil & Gas Network, Diablo Rising Tide, Planet over Profit Bay Area, Tri Valley Cares, AROC, Palestine Youth Movement, Code Pink, PSL Bay Area, Extinction Rebellion SF Bay, Wellstone Democratic Renewal Club, Sunflower Alliance and the Rich City Rays, Veterans For Peace
It’s coming to an end guys. I’ve spoken to a lot of House Republicans this week and they’ve confided that Trump’s movement/support is fading. As one told me, “this Epstein bomb is about to drop and no want wants to defend a pedo-protector. It’s just a matter of time.”
Saikat Chakrabarti smiles as he receives a warm, rowdy welcome from supporters at his campaign kickoff on Wednesday. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Saikat Chakrabarti, who aims to unseat 20-term incumbent Rep. Nancy Pelosi in 2026, kicked off his campaign Wednesday night in San Francisco’s Mission District before a hundreds-strong crowd.
The theme for the night? The Democratic Party has failed to confront Trump, and “transformational change” is needed to right fundamental wrongs in the U.S. economy.
“It is clear as daylight: We are living in the middle of a fascist coup,” Chakrabarti told a crowd of many hundreds packed into The Chapel at 777 Valencia St.
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But, he said, it would not be enough to “return to a pre-Trump status quo.” Democrats, Chakrabarti said, should reshape the economy that “made Donald Trump possible” in a radical way.
Chakrabarti, a 39-year-old former tech worker and multi-millionaire, is best known as the former chief of staff to New York City Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who drew national attention after defeating 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley in 2018.
Chakrabarti aspires to chart a similar path. He’s back in the city where he spent most of his adult life, hoping that the frustration built up since last year’s presidential election can help him defeat Speaker Emeritus Pelosi, 85, who would be running for her 21st term in California’s 11th Congressional District.
She’s proven a tough challenge. In November 2024, Pelosi won reelection with 81 percent of the vote.
Sen. Scot Wiener, who has filed paperwork to run for the same seat in 2028, has also left open the possibility that he will run in 2026, but only if Pelosi withdraws.
Though Chakrabarti’s campaign is widely viewed as a long shot, a recent internal poll released by the campaign suggests it may not be futile. Among the 600 voters polled, 51 percent said they once supported Pelosi but now think it’s time for a change.
“I know this is not just about me,” Chakrabarti told more than 600 people cramped into the concert venue (more than 1,100 RSVPed online). “This is about an overwhelming demand for change right now.”
It was a raucous opening party for a man who remains an outsider in San Francisco politics. More than eight months before the June CA-11 primary, he was still unsure how to pronounce his Chinese name, which is printed on every campaign logo.
For many in the mostly 20s and 30s crowd, Pelosi has always been their representative, and seniority carries a negative connotation. They erupted in waves of cheers and screams whenever Chakrabarti mentioned Ocasio-Cortez or New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
Supporters of Saikat Chakrabarti listen intently during the politician’s speech at The Chapel during his campaign kickoff on Wednesday night. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Leftist helped unseat a democratic socialist
Chakrabarti gained national prominence as the campaign manager and chief of staff of Ocasio-Cortez, the New York congresswoman who openly identifies as a democratic socialist. The Democratic Socialists of America have been a major factor in Mamdani’s rise in New York City, and are a pillar of Ocasio-Cortez’s support.
In San Francisco, however, Chakrabarti has a problem: He has alienated some natural allies by supporting Bilal Mahmood last year in his successful bid to oust Dean Preston, who was then the lone democratic socialist on the Board of Supervisors.
Shanti Singh, former co-chair of San Francisco’s Democratic Socialists of America, said, “I don’t know if he wants the DSA [SF] endorsement. He seems to not be interested in that right now.”
“I actually like both Bilal and Dean in that election,” Chakrabarti countered in an interview, repeating his original response to the controversy.
“But Bilal really had done a lot of work and a lot of research on how to make it easier and cheaper to build housing in the city … We have a real housing crisis here, and that’s why ultimately I supported him,” he said.
In the November 2024 election, Chakrabarti donated $500 to Mahmood’s supervisorial campaign, and another $500 to Michael Lai, the more moderate-leaning candidate in District 11. Earlier last year, he donated $10,000 to Mahmood’s campaign for a seat on the county Democratic Party.
His endorsement of Mahmood dates back to 2021, during Mahmood’s unsuccessful campaign for the state Assembly, when Chakrabarti praised him as arriving “without existing political baggage,” open to radical ideas and backed by a detailed action plan.
Asked how he plans to build a voter base, given his role in helping unseat a democratic socialist, Chakrabarti said he began his campaign assuming that his base would be young people or progressives.
But during doorknocking, he found that “the voter base is much larger” than expected; seniors, residents in “more moderate or conservative parts of the city” and even some Republicans have expressed support.
And, he appears to be reaching out to socialists in San Francisco: Last month, he was at the campaign kickoff for Frank Lara, a teachers’ union vice president who is running for state superintendent, speaking to the head of the union and watching over a crowd of committed leftists.
Saikat Chakrabarti delivers a speech to a packed room of supporters at The Chapel in the Mission District on Wednesday. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Policy platform
Like Ocasio-Cortez, often described as “one of Israel’s sharpest critics in Congress,” Chakrabarti is a vocal critic of what he called the “genocide in Gaza.”
“If I am elected, I will vote to end all military funding to Israel,” he said.
Among other priorities, Chakrabarti supports guaranteeing health care for all, making public colleges and trade schools tuition-free, taxing billionaires, banning the revolving door between Congress and the lobbying industry, prohibiting Congress members from trading stocks, and turning PG&E into a public utility to lower people’s utility bills.
He worked on a Justice Democrats platform — a group he co-founded — that included abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a goal. At last night’s rally, he decried ICE agents “zip-tying kids as if they’re prisoners of war.”
As a key figure in pushing the Green New Deal — he said his task under Ocasio-Cortez was leading the legislative effort — Chakrabarti frames climate change not only as a crisis, but as “the greatest opportunity in our lifetime to build a new, clean, high-wage economy and reverse decades of economic devastation.”
“Even though everything I just said is overwhelmingly popular, Nancy Pelosi doesn’t support any of it,” said Chakrabarti. He characterized himself and Pelosi as “the transformational change” versus “the status quo.”
Chakrabarti also advocates “building millions of units of affordable housing and social housing,” and he’s a staunch supporter of California’s high-speed rail project. It’s a test of, “Can your country do something right?” he said. “We have to use it as this opportunity to actually do that kind of planning again in this country.”
Supporters listen while Saikat Chakrabarti delivers a speech at his campaign kickoff rally on Wednesday. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
Becoming centi-millionaire a ‘radicalizing’ experience
Born in Texas to Indian immigrant parents, Chakrabarti moved to San Francisco in 2009, shortly after graduating from Harvard with a degree in computer science.
He then had a successful stint in tech, worked at top hedge fund Bridgewater and several startups, and became a founding engineer of digital payment company Stripe. His net worth has been pegged at nearly $200 million, exceeding Pelosi, and he has pledged to self-fund.
“I ended up making a lot of money, and that was a profoundly weird and radicalizing experience,” he said at the rally. He worked hard, he said, but “I did not work harder than my teacher or a nurse or the people cleaning our offices.”
“I just won the startup lottery,” he said.
After some high-profile years on the national stage, Chakrabarti moved back to San Francisco in 2021 to lead the policy think tank New Consensus.
Now Chakrabarti drew a distinction between tech workers versus VCs and the tech-owner class.
Most people working in tech, he said, “are absolutely disgusted by what they’re seeing people like Elon Musk and Peter Thiel or David Sachs and those folks doing,” which he called “pure opportunism.”
An audience member asked Chakrabarti whether he had spoken with Mayor Daniel Lurie yet. He had not. Mission Local could not identify any San Francisco politicians in the crowd Wednesday.
“When you run against Nancy Pelosi,” he said, “there are not too many politicians that want to talk to you.”
An attendee grabs a “Saikat for SF” sign from the merch table at Saikat Chakrabarti’s campaign kickoff rally on Wednesday. Photo by Mariana Garcia.
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I’m reporting from Bayview-Hunters Point and Chinatown. I came on as an intern after graduating from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and became a full-time staff reporter as part of the Report for America and have stayed on. Before falling in love with the Mission, I covered New York City, studied politics through the “street clashes” in Hong Kong, and earned a wine-tasting certificate in two days. I’m proud to be a bilingual journalist. Follow me on Twitter @Yujie_ZZ.More by Yujie Zhou
Hundreds of students, staff and community members took part in a walkout for Gaza at noon today.
This week marks two years since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the state’s subsequent war on Gaza. A September United Nations legal analysis found that Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, which Israel denies. The demonstration took place on Sproul Plaza, where about a dozen speakers called for the liberation of Palestine and for UC Berkeley to divest its holdings in corporations aiding Israel’s genocide.
“We mark this week (two years ago) as the beginning of this escalation of genocide,” said graduate student and organizer Zaid Yousef. “We use (this week) to say we are going to remain steadfast, that we will answer and heed the cause of Gaza.”
Venezuela’s Gonzalez says Machado a ‘brave and courageous political figure’
Above the Mario Savio Steps in front of Sproul Hall, students mounted a large slingshot with a keffiyeh wrapped around its base. The slingshot, Yousef said, is representative of Palestinian land, as it is traditionally made from Palestinian olive wood. He added that the slingshot “epitomizes the asymmetric power imbalance that is between the Palestinians and their oppressors.”
Demonstrators held signs and banners in support of the action, with one stating “to exist is to resist” and others stating “stop arms to Israel.”
The walkout drew a crowd of approximately 350 people at 1:30 p.m. and remained consistent until the end of the walkout at 2 p.m.
Peyrin Kao, a campus EECS lecturer who recently ended a 38-day hunger strike in protest of the genocide in Gaza, called attention to the “resistance fighters who are staying steadfast after two years of starvation” in his speech.
In an interview with The Daily Californian, Kao said that the significant turnout indicates that the student body and broader student community “will not be silenced by repression tactics,” specifically referencing campus’ disclosure of 160 names in a federal antisemitism investigation.
“This kind of turnout shows that people are still thinking about (Gaza),” Kao said. “They’re aware of it and they don’t want to be complicit.”
Throughout the demonstration, protesters rallied in a series of chants with organizers, including “we want justice, you say how, end the siege on Gaza now” and “disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest.”
About a dozen counter-protesters were also present during the duration of the walkout, many holding Israeli flags. Among them were members of Mothers Against College Antisemitism.
About 20 police officers were also present, but the protest remained nonviolent throughout its duration.
Campus lecturer Hatem Bazian spoke to the crowd about the importance of action. Multiple speakers also referenced campus’s history with student activism through the Free Speech Movement and the divestment from apartheid in South Africa movement.
“History’s arc bends not by apology or silence but by action,” Bazian said in his speech. “Where institutions have failed, people have not.”
The walkout was one of several events planned by campus’s Students for Justice in Palestine this week, with a film screening set for tomorrow and a prayer for Friday.
Myesha Phukan and Juliette Damian contributed to this report.
Swasti Singhai is a senior staff news reporter. Contact her at ssinghai@dailycal.org.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker speaks to the press following a visit to the National Museum of Mexican Art in the Pilsen neighborhood on September 9, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois.
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
“Come and get me,” the Illinois governor said when asked about the president’s call to have him arrested.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker issued a new warning on Wednesday about President Donald Trump’s efforts to deploy the American military in US cities against the wishes of local elected officials.
Hours after Trump called for Pritzker’s imprisonment in a Wednesday morning Truth Social post, the Illinois governor claimed in an interview with MSNBC that the president’s ultimate goal with sending troops into US cities was to control the outcomes of future elections.
“He wants to militarize major cities across the United States, especially blue cities in blue states, because he wants us to get used to the idea of military on the streets,” he said. “2026 elections, I believe he’s going to post people outside ballot boxes and polling places, and, if he needs to in order to control those elections, he’ll assume control of the ballot boxes and count the votes himself.”
Pritzker pointed out that Trump considered ordering the military to seize ballot boxes after he lost the 2020 presidential election, but he was met with resistance from officials in his own administration.
However, Pritzker said that “I believe he would do it in 2026” to help Republicans maintain control of Congress.
Pritzker also struck a defiant tone when asked about Trump’s call to imprison him.
“This guy’s a convicted felon who’s threatening to jail me!” he exclaimed. “This guy is unhinged. He’s insecure. He’s a wannabe dictator. And there’s one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump: If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.”
Pritzker’s remarks come as Trump and his administration have deployed Texas National Guard soldiers to Chicago over the objections of both Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson. The state and city are challenging the deployment in court.
Federal immigration officials have been employing increasingly aggressive and violent tactics in the Chicago area in recent weeks, including attacking a journalist and a protesting priest with pepper balls outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility; slamming a congressional candidate to the ground; dragging US citizens, including children, out of their homes during a raid in the middle of the night; and fatally shooting a man during a traffic stop.
The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I’ve ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets.
That’s why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we’ve ever done.
Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good.
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That’s not just some fundraising cliche. It’s the absolute and literal truth. We don’t accept corporate advertising and never will. We don’t have a paywall because we don’t think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you.
Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams?
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White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller appears on CNN with anchor Boris Sanchez, during which he asserted that President Donald Trump has “plenary authority”—essentially unlimited power—to deploy the military to US cities, on October 6, 2025.
(Screenshot from CNN on YouTube)
“Miller’s statements show their real position,” said writer Greg Sargeant. “Trump’s power to invent pretexts for emergency actions is limitless.”
White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller appeared to slip up in an interview Monday, admitting that he believes President Donald Trump possesses the authority of a dictator.
Miller, who has made himself the face of the Trump administration’s efforts to crush political dissent, made the comments while appearing on CNN to defend the president’s deployment of troops to Portland and Chicago, which have run into roadblocks from federal courts.
The anchor, Boris Sanchez, asked Miller about a ruling by US District Judge Karin Immergut on Saturday that the president had no legal or factual basis to commandeer the Oregon National Guard and deploy the forces in Portland against protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Over the weekend, Miller had referred to the ruling as a “legal insurrection,” adding that “the president is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, not an Oregon judge.”
Given Miller’s comments, Sanchez asked, “Does the administration still plan to abide by that court ruling?”
Miller responded: “Well, the administration filed an appeal this morning with the 9th Circuit. I would note the administration won an identical case, in the 9th Circuit, just a few months ago, with respect to the federalizing of the California National Guard. Under title 10 of the US Code, the president has plenary authority, has…”
Miller then suddenly stopped speaking.
“Stephen? Stephen? Hey, Stephen, can you hear me?” Sanchez asked as Miller sat, wordlessly, his eyes blinking and darting around.
Sanchez then apologized, saying, “It seems like we’re having a technical issue,” before cutting to a break.
The recording of the interview reveals that there was not, in fact, a “technical issue.” Miller had appeared to cut himself off in the middle of his sentence before sitting motionless for approximately 15 seconds.
In a post with over 32,000 likes, one social media user speculated that it was because Miller had “said the quiet part out loud,” adding, “The plan wasn’t to be made public. Clearly, someone hit the panic button in his earpiece.”
After returning from the commercial, the interview continued. But the oddly specific phrase “plenary authority” was not invoked again. As the same user noted, the interview appears on CNN‘s YouTube channel, but has mysteriously been edited to remove Miller’s mention of “plenary authority.”
According to Cornell University’s Legal Information Institute, “plenary authority” refers to “power that is wide-ranging, broadly construed, and often limitless for all practical purposes.”
The law Miller cited, Title 10 of the US Code, states the three conditions under which the president may deploy a state’s National Guard: if there is a military invasion by a foreign power, if there is a rebellion against the US government or the danger of one, or if the president is “unable with the regular forces” to execute US laws.
The phrase “plenary authority” does not appear anywhere in the code. But as Huffington Post reporter Sara Boboltz explained, “Miller appeared to mean that the president has total control over everything the military does, even though he shares some of that power with Congress.”
Though Trump has asserted that Portland is “war-ravaged” to justify his use of military force, Immergut—a Trump appointee—shot this characterization down in her ruling as “untethered to facts,” as there was “substantial evidence that the protests at the Portland ICE facility were not significantly violent or disruptive in the days—or even weeks—leading up to the president’s directive.”
But Miller’s invocation of the phrase “plenary authority” in this context seems to imply that Trump alone is the judge of what situations warrant the use of the most extreme emergency powers.
“Trump just threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act if governors and judges act lawfully within the constitutional system in ways that displease him,” saidNew Republic writer Greg Sargent on social media. “Miller’s statements show their real position: Trump’s power to invent pretexts for emergency actions is limitless.”
Sargent described this theory in more detail in a piece published Wednesday: “Miller is working overtime to polarize the public debate about Trump’s increasingly dictatorial abuses of power. And he’s doing so quite consciously. He relentlessly depicts Democrats as allied with a vast, inchoate class of violent criminals and insurrectionists operating in every shadow of American life.”
Trump’s deployments of troops to US cities are decisively unpopular. A CBS survey published Sunday found that 58% of Americans oppose Trump’s National Guard deployments.
But Sargent argued that “Miller plainly believes there’s a latent majority out in the country that can be sleepwalked into authoritarianism,” in part due to the muted response from many top Democrats.
With the exceptions of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker—the latter of whom Trump stated should be arrested on Wednesday along with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson—Sargent says that many of the opposition party’s leaders have declined to confront Trump’s narratives of urban anarchy head-on, seeing them as a “trap” to lure them into “a losing debate about crime.”
One Democratic strategist recently told Politico that “just like with immigration, Trump has found another issue where the Democratic Party is on a back foot“ and repeated false claims that crime is rampant in the nation’s large cities; in fact, violent crime is on the decline in the major cities the president has targeted, with particularly stark drops in Portland.
“Do Democrats, broadly speaking, have a theory of this moment that’s consciously matched to MAGA’s authoritarian politics? They need one,” Sargent said. “Because guess who does have a theory of the moment? Miller does. And he’s amassing unprecedented power to put it into practice as we speak.”
The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I’ve ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets.
That’s why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we’ve ever done.
Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good.
Now here’s the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support.
That’s not just some fundraising cliche. It’s the absolute and literal truth. We don’t accept corporate advertising and never will. We don’t have a paywall because we don’t think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you.
Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams?
Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most.
– Craig Brown, Co-founder
about:blank
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Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Peyrin Kao ends his hunger strike after 38 days. Peyrin Kao | File
After 38 days, UC Berkeley lecturer Peyrin Kao suspended his hunger strike. Kao was protesting the war on Gaza and “the use of tech in Israel’s genocide in Gaza” earlier this week.
Kao, a lecturer in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science department, or EECS, began his strike Aug. 27 and said he recently concluded it to “avoid permanent damage to (his) body.”
“By launching a hunger strike, I hoped to bring the starvation here to Berkeley, and send a message to the campus community and leadership that starvation and genocide is not just some anonymous event happening thousands of miles away,”Kao said in an email. “It’s a war crime happening with the support of our university’s investments in Israel.”
Hostages may be released Monday or Tuesday, says Trump
Over the course of the hunger strike, Kao restricted his diet to foods available to Gazans, such as bread, flour and pasta. He also consumed water, but with the recognition that “there is a massive shortage of clean water in Gaza.”
Kao described his experience as “exhausting,” as he was put through “severe emotional stress” from extreme hunger.He added that this experience is only a “tiny fraction of what Palestinians in Gaza have faced for the past 700 days.”
While the hunger strike did not yield its original disclosure or divestment demands, Kao commented on the university’s inclusion of his name in documents provided by campus administration to the federal government in response to their antisemitism investigation.
“Their reliance on scare tactics proves that they have no real rebuttal to their complicity in genocide,” Kao said in an email. “We are on the right side of history, and we can defeat this suppression of free speech by continuing to speak out and organize for Palestinian liberation.”
Kao said the reason why the strike was possible was due to support from multiple campus organizations, including the recently formed Berkeley EECS for Palestine. These organizations were responsible for running social media accounts, scheduling media appearances and organizing fundraising efforts, according to Kao.
Although he has suspended his hunger strike, Kao emphasized the importance of continuing fundraising efforts to “mitigate the forced starvation in Gaza.” He plans to continue raising money for Nedal Mohammed, who is located in central Gaza and provides food and water for Palestinians who have been displaced.
“Although the hunger strike action is over, the struggle for Palestinian liberation continues, and will continue until we see a free Palestine, in our lifetimes,” Kao said in an email.
One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism Virtual Event · Hosted by No Kings Time Wednesdays 8 – 9:30pm EDT Location Virtual event Join from anywhere About this event Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations,... Continue reading →
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2023 AT 2 AM – 4 AM PDT How to create trust in a group? Details Event by Extinction Rebellion Empathy Circles online EMPATHY CAFE Duration: 2 hr Public · Anyone on or off Facebook How to create trust in a group? This is the question that arose in our... Continue reading →
Trump Regime Takedown: Every Saturday Saturday, March 7, 2026 12:00 PM 2:00 PM Tesla San Francisco999 Van Ness AvenueSan Francisco, CA, 94109United States (map) Google Calendar ICS Keep democracy alive every Saturday by showing up, taking a stand, and sticking together for the long haul. Standing together is better than standing alone. Let’s get together... Continue reading →
Meeting Agenda July 18, 2026 The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee’s Endorsements Committee and Issues and Resolutions Committee will hold a joint meeting on July 18th, 2026 at 4:00 pm via Zoom to interview candidates for local elected office and ballot measure proponents and opponents for the November 3,... Continue reading →
This Sunday’s Town Hall: Announcing This Week’s Progressive Town Hall: Every Sunday at 4pm ET/1pm PT RSVP HERE Join PDA activists online from across the country to discuss the importance of progressives reclaiming the American story from the MAGA right, an issue of heightened importance as we’re now within one... Continue reading →
We protest Heritage Foundation EVERY MONDAY (Join us!!!!) By admin | September 2, 2025 | Uncategorized Cliff Cash Comedy Premiered Jul 26, 2025 Every Monday at The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave. Washington D.C. 4pm protest 6pm pizza Every Friday at Fox News D.C. 400 N. Capitol St. Washington D.C. 4pm protest 6pm pizza We are... Continue reading →
One Million Rising: Strategic Non-Cooperation to Fight Authoritarianism Virtual Event · Hosted by No Kings Time Wednesdays 8 – 9:30pm EDT Location Virtual event Join from anywhere About this event Across the country, authoritarian forces are getting bolder and more dangerous. Trump and his allies are not hiding their agenda: mass deportations,... Continue reading →
Meeting Agenda July 22, 2026 The San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee will meet on Wednesday, July 22, 2026 at 6:30 pm at Milton Marks Auditorium, 455 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102. A security screening will be required to enter the building. Members of the public can live... Continue reading →
SF Green Party Showing events after 3/27. Look for earlier events Wednesday, April 20 7:30pm SF Green Party Council Meeting WhenWed, April 20, 7:30pm – 9:00pm WhereEl CafeTazo, 3087 16th St, San Francisco, CA 94103 (map) Description: This elected group is the equivalent to other political parties Central Committee. The San Franciso... Continue reading →
THURSDAY, JUNE 29, 2023 AT 2 AM – 4 AM PDT How to create trust in a group? Details Event by Extinction Rebellion Empathy Circles online EMPATHY CAFE Duration: 2 hr Public · Anyone on or off Facebook How to create trust in a group? This is the question that arose in our... Continue reading →
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