Panel in Donaldsonville discusses defending the right to protest under Trump

Donaldsonville, LA – At 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 11, about 20 people huddled together in the former Rosenwald School for African American children. The building is now part of the River Road African American Museum and hosted a panel titled, “Defending our Right to Protest.”

Attendees came to hear about how to defend our movements from political attacks. Participants drove in from the host town of Donaldsonville and surrounding cities of New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette.

Panelist Tuere Burns from Bar None by Design, a nonprofit that supports Black individuals and families impacted by incarceration, spoke about her past as a survivor of police brutality and her work as an organizer for political prisoners. “This wasn’t about individual police,” Burns stated. “This was about the police as a racist institution.”

Toni Jones, the chair of New Orleans for Community Oversight of the Police agreed. “Everywhere Black people are taking the lead in fighting for their rights the police are there to repress them,” she said.

Juleea Berthelot, of Liberate and Unite New Orleans Students for a Democratic Society (LUNO SDS) and a student at Loyola University of New Orleans, stated, “We can’t do marches, rallies, even educational events on campus. So, we moved off campus. Now they’re saying we can’t do anything off campus either, or we’ll be suspended.”

Colin Leonard, a member of the Louisiana National Lawyers Guild, also saw political violence on the rise, stating, “The New Orleans Police Department has historically treated protests like a second line. That has begun to change in relation to the protests for Palestine.”

Leonard also spoke about what you can do before arrests happen, stating, “We train people to be legal observers, to take detailed notes on what the police are doing in case anyone gets arrested or the police violate our rights. It can be anyone, not just lawyers.”

The panel also provided attendees with concrete steps to take in case of arrest. “Planned political arrests are an important tool, but you have to be prepared,” said Juleea Berthelot.

Toni Jones spoke about her own arrest at a protest of Tulane University in March of 2024, stating, “It’s really important to pressure the jail from the moment that people are arrested. That looks like jail support, going to the jail in person, and call-ins.”

Remarking on the success of political defense, Jones said, “They were convinced I wasn’t gonna get out of there, I had the orange jumpsuit on and everything. But what political defense does is it lets us take the initiative. I got out that night and was back in the movement.”

Juleea Berthelot also spoke about their trial after their arrest at the Loyola and Tulane encampment last May, stating, “We packed the courts for every court date. At my trial, people were taking turns waiting in the hallway so everyone got a chance to sit in the courtroom with us.”

Berthelot also gave advice on how to build up to court appearances, stating, “You need to be out there and be public about it. Lawyers will tell you not to, but you need to put a face and a name to your case because it characterizes it for people. And you are a person, you’re a part of a community that is under attack.”

Participants concluded by discussing how important it is to unite the movements for change, especially considering the upcoming Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This panel will be the first of a series hosted by the museum.

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Source: https://fightbacknews.org/panel-in-donaldsonville-discusses-defending-the-right-to-protest-under-trump?pk_campaign=rss-feed