Tell local elected officials to drop the charges on the four protestors arrested on May 15, Nakba Day, in downtown Grand Rapids. Protesting is not a crime!

On Wednesday, May 15th, folks from every background representative of our city rallied and peacefully marched in downtown Grand Rapids to urge Rep. Scholten, Senators Gary Peters & Debbie Stabenow, and Biden to stop forcing tax payers to fund the genocide in Palestine.

In response, the City of Grand Rapids sent at least 12 police vehicles and arrested four protestors, two of them being parents. Our community members are now facing misdemeanor charges.

These arrests continue the trend of GRPD targeting activists. Earlier in April and March, other community members in Grand Rapids were unjustly charged with misdemeanors AND felonies. Such as in April, when GRPD arrested and charged a community member with felony assault for speaking into a megaphone towards a cop who alleges his hearing was damaged. Meanwhile the police have a long-history blaring their sirens and megaphone towards protestors. The march where this community member was arrested was an event in remembrance of Patrick Lyoya, a father and Grand Rapids resident murdered by former GRPD officer, Christopher Schurr.

This political repression needs to end. Join us in writing to our local elected officials to demand they drop the charges and stop their political repression in our communities.