Free Republic

After Donald Trump's decisive win over Kamala Harris in the 2024 US Presidential election, protests broke out in Philadelphia and Chicago. According to Sky News, protesters in Philadelphia voiced concerns over women’s reproductive rights, trans rights, and gun laws. RFI reported that a protester holding a sign that read “Fascism – Not Welcome in Philly” voiced concern over the election result, saying, “The outcome to the vote is extremely concerning.” Another protester, Isabel, told RFI, “I will let people know that racism is not acceptable. Sexism, homophobia, fascism, are not acceptable in this country. I am upset and sad, I...

CHICAGO — Mayor Brandon Johnson personally intervened in a dispute between his own administration and a coalition of activist groups set for a massive protest at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, helping reverse the city’s denial of a permit to set up stages and sound systems for rallies in a park near the United Center, the coalition’s leader said Friday. The agreement, which was reached after hours of back-room negotiations between the parties, nullified an emergency motion filed in U.S. District Court earlier this week alleging the city had violated protesters’ First Amendment rights by restricting how...

CHICAGO — He walked down a side street, eyes darting here and there, wondering how it would unfold. “What kind of fences will the police have? Will they bring dogs?” Hatem Abudayyeh asked. He stopped in the shadow of the United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls and the NHL’s Blackhawks and a draw for tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators who are expected to protest against U.S. support for Israel at the Democratic National Convention this month. “I hope they don’t militarize it,” he said. “The first statement the police made was about mass arrests. They’ve backed off a...

In cities across the country, highways have been blocked, trains have been delayed and sections of college campuses have been shut down by hundreds of thousands of people who have taken to the streets. They’re protesting Israel’s invasion of Gaza in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack. Members of the movement say the size of the demonstrations is a response to the killing of more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Pro-Israel groups, meanwhile, are pushing Congress and federal law enforcement agencies to investigate whether any of the protests across the U.S. are getting...

CHICAGO — About 300 anti-war activists crowded into the basement of the Teamsters Union’s headquarters on Saturday to hear organizers from all over the country describe their plans to disrupt the Democratic National Convention this August. Joe Biden’s backing of Israel since Hamas’s October 7 attack has turned these left-wing radicals against their own party.

Progressive activist groups from across the country are preparing to protest outside the Democratic National Convention “with or without permits” come August. Coalition leaders have attested their right to be within “sight and sound” of the convention’s center stage at the United Center, citing First Amendment rights in a federal lawsuit filed last month. On Saturday, leaders reaffirmed their commitment to be heard outside the DNC, despite the city’s denial of protest permits closer to the convention’s site. A couple of hundred people representing 78 activist organizations gathered Saturday for a day-long “working conference” hosted by the March on the...

Think the IRA has stepped off the world stage? Their role is closer to that of ringleader. One of America’s most influential terrorist enemies traces its lineage back some thirty years — and it isn’t a Muslim organization.In splinter groups like the Continuity IRA and more recently the Real IRA, Irish terrorists have positioned themselves at the center of a network connecting revolutionary FARC rebels in Colombia, Hezbollah in the Middle East, al-Qaeda in Iraq, and Taliban forces in Afghanistan currently fighting and killing American troops. The IRA and PFLP have trained together and coordinated attacks, weapons smuggling, and other...

AAAN has long been tied to President Obama. In 2001 and 2002, the Woods Fund of Chicago, with Obama on its board, made grants totaling $75,000 to the AAAN—about a fifth of AAAN’s overall budget. Obama served in that role alongside Bill Ayers and received $6,000 a year from 1999-2002. AAAN’s founder Rashid Khalidi and his wife Mona hosted Obama in their home on at least one occasion. Obama praised Khalidi’s insights, which had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases.” Khalidi returned the compliment, telling a mostly Arab audience, that Obama is...

A man targeted in an FBI counterterrorism raid was an invited guest at the White House complex five months ago. It has been one week since teams of federal agents executed search warrants on locations in Chicago and Minneapolis looking for evidence of financial support to foreign terrorist groups.

Last Friday FBI agents raided the homes of far left activists in Chicago and Minneapolis who are linked to the Marxist FARC terrorists and Islamic radicals as part of a terrorism investigation. The home of radical Hatem Abudayyeh in Chicago was raided in the terror sweep. Radical Hatem Abudayyeh protested against Israel in Chicago in January 2009. (Daylife) Hatem Abudayyeh is the executive director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN). Hatem Abudayyeh has been with the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) since 1999, and was appointed Executive Director in 2003. The Arab American Action Network was founded by former...

Last Friday FBI agents raided the homes of far left activists in Chicago and Minneapolis who are linked to the FARC and Islamic radicals as part of a terrorism investigation. The home of radical Hatem Abudayyeh in Chicago was raided in the terror sweep. The AP reported on the raid in Chicago. FBI agents in Chicago took a laptop and documents from the home of a Palestinian-American anti-war activist in an attempt to silence his advocacy, an attorney said Sunday. The FBI on Friday searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago, including the home of Hatem Abudayyeh, who is the...