Category: Protest & Direct Action
‘Unite The Right 2’ Dwarfed by Counter-Protests in DC
Washington, D.C. – One year after the deadly Unite The Right rally brought hundreds of violent white supremacists to Charlottesville, Virginia, Jason Kessler, the rally’s organizer held an anniversary event with a fraction of the original’s attendance. While many white supremacist and neo-nazi groups are…
Portland Police Attack Antifascists, Defend Outnumbered Hate Rally
Portland, OR – On Saturday, August 4, 2018, weeks of far-right agitation culminated in a tense standoff between a few hundred supporters of the Patriot Prayer and several thousand anti-racist counter-protesters. The rally came just a month after events on June 30, when another Patriot…
Actions Continue Against Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana
St. James Parish, Louisiana – Protests and blockades continue as construction of Energy Transfer Partners’ Bayou Bridge Pipeline nears completion. The pipeline project connects to the tail end of Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access Pipeline, which saw one of the biggest indigenous gatherings in history to…
Philadelphia Reduces Police Help To ICE; ‘Occupy ICE’ Camp Moves
Philadelphia, PA – On Friday, July 27, Mayor Jim Kenney announced he would not be renewing a contract that allowed ICE agents access to the Preliminary Arraignment Reporting System (PARS) database maintained by Philadelphia police. The city will now let the PARS contract expire at…
🦄 Eco, Protest & Direct Action
Judge Accepts Water Protectors’ Climate Change Necessity Defense
Duluth, MN – On Friday, July 13, the St. Louis County court accepted the use of a climate change necessity defense. The decision comes from a court case stemming from a January 12th, 2018, lockdown by 3 water protectors at a Wells Fargo Bank in…
🦄 DAPL, Prison, Protest & Direct Action
Red Fawn Fallis Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison
Bismarck, ND – Red Fawn Fallis, a political prisoner arrested during the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, was sentenced today in federal court by Judge Daniel Hovland. Fallis was sentenced to 57 months (4.75 years) in federal prison. She will receive a credit…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
US Attorney Drops Remaining Trump Inauguration Protest Charges
Washington, DC – Today in DC Superior Court, federal prosecutors filed notice of their intention to drop charges against all remaining defendants facing charges from protests against President Trump’s inauguration on January 20, 2017.
All defendants had originally faced felony charges of conspiracy to riot,…
Protesters Occupy Philadelphia ICE Office
Philadelphia, PA – In the latest development in the “Occupy ICE” protest encampments spreading across America, protesters have set up a new encampment outside an ICE building at 8th & Cherry Street in Philadelphia (a “sanctuary city“). Unicorn Riot has been providing live coverage into…
Minneapolis Muslim Community Calls Emergency #NoMuslimBanEver Rally
Minneapolis, MN – Unicorn Riot was live June 26, 2018 in downtown Minneapolis to cover an emergency rally in response to a 5 to 4 Supreme Court ruling upholding Donald Trump’s travel ban. The ban, which targets five predominately Muslim countries, has been called a…
LEAKED: Violent Racists Use Facebook Chat To Plan ‘Unite The Right 2’
Content Advisory: Violent and racist language
Charlottesville, VA – Last year, white supremacist Jason Kessler sought to bring together a large coalition of far-right, white nationalist and neo-nazi groups under the banner of his ‘Unite The Right’ event in Charlottesville. While the events of August…
🦄 Eco, Protest & Direct Action
Line 3 Oil Pipeline Approved By Minnesota Regulators
St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has given an official stamp of approval to Enbridge’s Line 3 replacement oil pipeline despite massive public opposition. The PUC today granted Enbridge the “certificate of need” which is required before beginning pipeline construction in…
Federal Hate Crime Charges Filed In Charlottesville Car Attack
Washington, DC – Today the Department of Justice announced that a grand jury has returned an indictment against 21-year-old Ohio resident James Alex Fields in connection with a deadly car attack against anti-racist protesters in Charlottesville, VA on August 12, 2017. After the neo-nazi and…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
Federal Prosecutors Drop Eight More Trump Inauguration Protest Cases
Washington, DC – Today eight more cases were dropped in the felony dragnet prosecution of protesters mass-arrested during President Trump’s inauguration on January 20th, 2017. Legal motions filed by prosecutors on Wednesday, June 13th, sought to dismiss cases against six defendants who had been scheduled…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
Second Trump Inauguration Protest Trial Ends In Acquittals/Mistrials
Washington, DC – The US government has again failed to secure convictions in its mass felony prosecution of anti-Trump protesters arrested during the presidential inauguration on January 20 (J20), 2017. After the first trial ended in full acquittals late last year, the second trial has…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
More Trump Inauguration Protest Arrestees Have Charges Dismissed
Washington, DC – The case brought by the US Attorney against protesters mass-arrested opposing President Trump’s inauguration suffered several more losses early this week. On Monday morning, federal prosecutors moved to dismiss the remaining charges against 3 defendants who had been scheduled to go to…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
Second J20 Trial Heads To Jury Despite Court Sanctions Against Prosecutors
Washington, DC – On Thursday, May 31, a major blow was dealt to the federal prosecution of anti-Trump protesters mass-arrested during Inauguration Day on January 20 (J20), 2017. DC Superior Court Chief Judge Robert Morin ruled that the US Attorney had misled him by not…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
Prosecutors Illegally Withheld Evidence From Trump Inauguration Protesters, Judge Finds
Washington, DC – The United States government has officially been put “on notice” for violating the constitutional rights of anti-Trump protesters. While the second trial of people mass-arrested at an “anti-capitalist, antifascist” protest march during President Trump’s inauguration in DC began last week, hearings for…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
Second Trump Inauguration Protest Trial Begins
Washington, DC – The second trial of protesters mass-arrested at an ‘antifascist, anti-capitalist’ march during President Trump’s inauguration on January 20 (J20), 2017 has begun in DC Superior Court. After two days of jury selection, the jury was empaneled Tuesday afternoon, and opening arguments began…
Georgia Police Used Fake News From Militia To Plan For Nazi Rally, Emails Show
Newnan, GA – Emails obtained by Unicorn Riot through a public records request to the Coweta County Sheriff suggest that law enforcement relied on false ‘alt-right’ posts in their planning for an April 21, 2018 rally by the neo-nazi National Socialist Movement (NSM). The NSM…
🦄 Eco, Protest & Direct Action
Appalachian Forest Blockades Disrupt Mountain Valley Pipeline
Giles County, VA – On the border between Virginia and West Virginia, a fight has begun regarding the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a joint venture of several companies led by EQT Midstream Partners. While the pipeline is advertised as on track to be completed in 2018,…
🦄 Eco, Protest & Direct Action
Three Arrested in Action to Stop Buffalo Slaughter in Yellowstone
Yellowstone National Park, WY –Â On March 6, two members of the group Wild Buffalo Defense locked down to Stephens Creek Capture Facility in a direct action to stop the slaughter of bison in Yellowstone National Park. After being arrested, they were charged with federal…
17 Arrested Blockading Light Rail Before Super Bowl LII
Minneapolis, MN – Mere hours before the Super Bowl LII kickoff, activists used lockboxes and U-locks to blockade a light rail station just blocks away from the Super Bowl venue, US Bank Stadium. The blockade opened space for Black folks to deliver demands, explain what…
Neo-Nazis Driven Off CSU Campus After Turning Point USA Event
Fort Collins, CO – On Friday night, Turning Point USA (TPUSA), a right-wing xenophobic student group, held a “Smashing Socialism” speaking event featuring its founder Charlie Kirk, at Colorado State University (CSU). A call to protest the event came from the Northern Colorado Antifa Collective,…
Super Bowl Protests Continue as Water Protectors March on US Bank
Minneapolis, MN – Water Protectors from South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, and beyond came to Minneapolis to demand that US Bank keep its promise to divest from oil and gas pipelines, including Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the company behind the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Unicorn Riot was…
Banners Dropped at Super Bowl Media Day
St. Paul, MN – Two banners were dropped inside the Xcel Energy Center on Monday, January 29, 2018 during Super Bowl LII’s Media Day. The banners read #SBLIIBlackOut and #WeReadyWeComin. They were deployed while thousands of press attempted to ask questions of the New England…
Kurdish Fighters Defend Afrin From Turkish Military Invasion in Northern Syria
Afrin, Syria – On January 20th, 2018, the Turkish Armed Forces launched “Operation Olive Branch” which amounted to a full-scale military invasion of northwestern Kurdish-controlled Syria. The Turkish Armed Forces rank second to the United States, as the largest military force within the NATO alliance.…
🦄 J20, Protest & Direct Action
DC Police Face Class Action Lawsuit Over Trump Inauguration Mass Arrest
Washington, DC – Last Friday, January 19, a new class action lawsuit was filed against the Washington Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) over the mass arrest of over 200 people at a protest during Trump’s presidential inauguration on January 20, 2017.
The first three plaintiffs in…