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For Immediate Release
June, 13 2011, 07:20am EDT
Contact:
March on Blair Mountain Media Headquarters, (304) 518-0696;
media@marchonblairmountain.org
Over 1000 Rally in Blair, W.Va. for Protection of Historic Blair Mountain
Massive Rally and March to Mountain’s Crest was Culmination of Five-Day, Fifty Mile March Against Mountaintop Removal
BLAIR, W. Va.
Over 1000 people gathered in Blair, W.Va., on Saturday, June 11, at the base of historic Blair Mountain to rally for the abolition of mountaintop removal, strengthened labor rights, the protection of Blair Mountain, and investment in a sustainable local economy for Appalachia. Kathy Mattea and other artists performed at the rally in support of protecting Labor's 'Gettysburg' from destructive mountaintop removal mining. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., spoke along with acclaimed Appalachian writer Denise Giardina and retired UMWA miner and community leader Chuck Nelson.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. shared wisdom from his father, "When I was 14 my father said to me, '...there is no way you can regenerate an economy from these barren moonscapes that are left behind and they are doing it so they can break the unions,' and that is exactly what happened."
Grammy winning artist, and WV native Kathy Mattea reminded us, "I am here today because I care about these mountains. I am here today because I care about my own people and I am here today because I care about all the people. But mostly I am here because I care about civil conversation and I care about everyone's human need and human rights."
Following the rally, 755 people marched two miles to the crest of historic Blair Mountain, completing the five-day, fifty-mile March on Blair Mountain that 225 people began on Monday, June 6th. Marchers followed the same route that 10,000 union coal miners took in 1921, on their way to organize non-union Mingo County. The miners fought coal company hired-guns and corrupt police forces at Blair Mountain, before federal troops were called in to end the Battle of Blair Mountain. Marchers placed a memorial to the 1921 miners on the original battleground.
"Here we are 90 years later and we're still fighting the same issues--unsafe conditions in non-union mines. I worked underground for 21 years and UMWA was the best friend a miner could have. We're going to save Blair, Coal River Mountain, Twilight, communities in eastern Kentucky, and Ison Rock Ridge. We're going to save all these communities because we're rising to a new level." said Chuck Nelson
Brandon Nida, of Salt Rock, W.Va., spoke to the importance of standing with the people of Blair, WV., "The Coal Companies threw everything they had at us but we're here. Their power is waning. They're running scared because this is a turning point. Mountaineers are always free. We now have a community space here, we're going to be organizing here and be a thorn in the companies' side."
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NYC's Speedy Snow Removal Under Mamdani Evokes Memories of 'Sewer Socialism'
The mayor’s response to the blizzard has been described as an early test for his version of “common good” governance.
Jan 26, 2026
"God Bless sewer socialism." That's what historian David Austin Walsh had to say about New York City's swift response to the largest blizzard it's seen in five years, which dumped over a foot of snow on the five boroughs this weekend.
The blizzard, part of Winter Storm Fern, which has ravaged the Northeastern United States, presented an early test for the city's left-wing mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who centered his insurgent campaign last year not simply on providing new free municipal services, but on making the ones New Yorkers already relied upon, like sanitation, more robust and accessible.
It was an agenda that led him to be compared to a breed of socialist mayor who focused less on lofty ideas and revolutionary rhetoric and more on using the power of government to remedy the everyday concerns of the public.
In October, just weeks before Mamdani's triumph in the general election, columnist E. J. Dionne Jr. wrote in the New York Times:
For history buffs, Mr. Mamdani has done the service of rekindling an interest in a largely forgotten American tradition, the “sewer socialists” who ran a significant list of cities in the last century. The most durable among them was Daniel Hoan, the socialist mayor of Milwaukee from 1916 to 1940. You don’t get reelected that often by being a failure.
Many socialist mayors did not mind being associated with repairing the grubbiest of urban amenities because doing so underscored their aim of running corruption-free governments that did whatever they could to improve the lives of working-class people in their jurisdictions. When lousy (or nonexistent) sewer systems led to illness and death in low-income and immigrant neighborhoods, said Michael Kazin, a historian at Georgetown University, building and fixing sewers became a powerful example of what “common good” governance could accomplish.
Mr. Mamdani knows sewer socialism’s history and has no qualms about identifying with it.
This weekend was the first opportunity for New York's youngest mayor in over a century to put this philosophy into action in a test of competence that past mayors have infamously failed—from Bill de Blasio, who was lambasted over the underplowing of certain neighborhoods, to Michael Bloomberg, who took heat for ditching the blizzard conditions for Bermuda, to John Lindsay, whose disastrous lack of preparation for a 1969 blizzard resulted in the deaths of at least 42 people.
As Walsh wrote on Friday, with the storm prepared to bear down, "Mamdani has a unique opportunity to prove that sewer socialism works, but the crucial first test is going to be not fucking up the snowstorm this weekend."
By then, Mamdani's preparations had long since begun, with the city fitting thousands of sanitation department trucks with snowplows, brining every highway and street in the city to make cleanup easier, and ensuring that enough shelter beds were available to protect those without homes from the elements.
The mayor also undertook a robust yet simple effort to communicate with New Yorkers about practical guidelines to stay safe through a series of upbeat PSAs and appearances on local news.
"Make no mistake, New Yorkers, the full power of this city's enormous resources is prepared, poised, and ready to be deployed," Mamdani said during a press conference on Saturday. "Every agency is working in lockstep with the other."
Though death tolls were considerably lower than in other storms of its magnitude, the blizzard did not pass without tragedy. At least one homeless man reportedly froze to death, while another six people have been found dead outside, though it's unclear if these deaths were weather-related.
But in all, the Times said "the city largely appeared to be prepared for the weather."
Crews headed out to begin clearing roads at 8:30 am, when precipitation had reached the requisite two inches; shortly after 7 pm, [Department of Sanitation spokesperson Joshua Goodman] said every single street under city control had been plowed at least twice; tens of millions of pounds of salt had been spread across the five boroughs; and 2,500 sanitation workers were rotating on 12-hour shifts to continue the cleanup.
Mamdani, meanwhile, was praised for his active role in the cleanup effort and for maintaining high visibility, where past mayors were accused of shirking into the background.
One widely shared video shows the mayor personally shoveling snow to free a stranded driver in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, home to a large Hasidic Jewish community.
Rabbi Moishe Indig, the executive vice president of the Jewish Community Council of Williamsburg, called it "hands-on leadership."
Even one of Mamdani's fiercest critics, Benny Polatseck, an aide to former Mayor Eric Adams, was complimentary to his response.
“Credit where due," he wrote Sunday afternoon on social media. "Looks like [Mamdani] is handling this storm very well so far."
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'Moral and Political Debacle': Right-Wing Media, CEOs Urge Trump to Stop Deadly ICE Crackdown
"The American people didn’t vote for these scenes and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes,” the New York Post editorial board wrote.
Jan 26, 2026
"The Trump administration spin on this simply isn’t believable."
That's what the editorial board of the right-wing Wall Street Journal wrote Sunday calling for a "pause" in Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) anti-immigrant blitz following Saturday's killing of 37-year-old intensive care nurse Alex Petti—who was disarmed before being shot by federal agents in Minneapolis—and top administration officials' claims that the man who helped save US military veterans' lives was a "domestic terrorist."
The Journal's editors called Pretti's killing “the worst incident to date in what is becoming a moral and political debacle” for President Donald Trump and his administration.
The Journal wasn't alone. Other right-wing outlets owned by the Murdoch media empire, including the New York Post, published editorials calling for a suspension of Trump's crackdown on undocumented immigrants, during which dozens of people have died in ICE custody and federal enforcers have killed two Americans. Even staunchly pro-Trump Fox News challenged administration officials over the shooting.
"It's time to de-escalate in Minneapolis, Mr. President," the Post's editorial board wrote Sunday.
"Not because you’re wrong to enforce immigration law, nor to go after fraudsters who’ve stolen billions in federal funds—but because these enforcement tactics won’t turn the tide, and instead are backfiring," the editors clarified. "Swing voters—Hispanics and independents who turned to you at the last election—see US citizens dying at federal agents’ hands, and recoil in horror."
"The hasty and misleading rhetoric coming out of the administration needs to stop," the Post said. "And while Pretti was horribly misguided, there is no evidence he was a 'terrorist' intent on a 'massacre' of law enforcement."
As they did with Renee Good, the 37-year-old mother and poet who was shot dead by an ICE agent in Minneapolis earlier this month, Trump and some of his senior officials accused Pretti of being a "domestic terrorist"—a move in line with the administration's designation of left-wing activism as terrorism.
US Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino said that it looked like Pretti—who eyewitnesses said died while trying to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by ICE—“wanted to do maximum damage and massacre law enforcement."
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller attempted to smear Pretti as an "assassin" who "tried to murder federal agents."
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem accused Pretti of "domestic terrorism."
As the Wall Street Journal's editors put it, "Alex Pretti made a mistake, but he wasn’t a ‘domestic terrorist.'"
"Videos of an event aren’t always definitive, but this is how it looks to us," they wrote. "Pretti attempted, foolishly, to assist a woman who had been pepper-sprayed by agents. Multiple agents then tackled Pretti, and he had a phone in one hand as he lay on the ground. An agent discovered a concealed gun on Pretti, and disarmed him. An agent then shot Pretti, and multiple shots followed."
The Post editors concluded, "Mr. President, the American people didn’t vote for these scenes, and you can’t continue to order them to not believe their lying eyes."
Meanwhile, more than 60 CEOs of Minnesota-based companies including Target, Best Buy, UnitedHealth, 3M, and General Mills published an open letter Sunday calling for "an immediate deescalation of tensions and for state, local, and federal officials to work together to find real solutions."
Gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association have called for a full investigation of Pretti's killing. The NRA pushed back against arguments that Pretti should not have brought a gun—which he was legally carrying—to a protest, calling such assertions "dangerous and wrong."
"Responsible public voices should be awaiting a full investigation, not making generalizations and demonizing law-abiding citizens," added the NRA, which was criticized for its initial silence following the killing of Philando Castile, a Black man who was legally carrying a gun when he was shot dead by police in front of his girlfriend and her 4-year-old daughter during a 2016 traffic stop in suburban Minneapolis.
Even Republican lawmakers who support Trump have expressed their dismay over Pretti's killing, with Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana calling the incident "incredibly disturbing."
Chris Madel, an attorney who provided legal counsel to Jonathan Ross—the ICE agent who killed Good—was, until Monday, also a Republican candidate for Minnesota governor. However, Madel said that he dropped out of the race and implied that he would quit the GOP because he “cannot support the national Republicans’ stated retribution on the citizens of our state."
“Nor can I count myself a member of a party that would do so," he said.
I am ending my campaign for Minnesota Governor. I describe why in the below video. Please watch until the end. (It is 10 minutes, 52 seconds.)
Thank you,
Chris pic.twitter.com/2nfyAyTzNZ
— Chris Madel (@CWMadel) January 26, 2026
" United States citizens, particularly those of color, live in fear," Madel continued. "United States citizens are carrying papers to prove their citizenship. That’s wrong."
“At the end of the day, I have to look my daughters in the eye and tell them I believe I did what is right," he added. "I am doing that today."
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One of the Few House Democrats Who Voted With Republicans to Fund DHS Says 'I Failed'
"I hear the anger from many of my constituents, and I take responsibility for that," said Rep. Tom Suozzi.
Jan 26, 2026
One of the seven Democrats who voted with nearly all Republicans in the House of Representatives to pass a multibillion-dollar Department of Homeland Security funding bill last week expressed remorse after DHS killed another US citizen in Minnesota.
"I failed to view the DHS funding vote as a referendum on the illegal and immoral conduct of ICE in Minneapolis," Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) said Monday, referring to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which has conducted President Donald Trump's mass deportation operations alongside Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
"I hear the anger from many of my constituents, and I take responsibility for that. I have long been critical of ICE's unlawful behavior, and I must do a better job demonstrating that," Suozzi continued.
"The senseless and tragic murder of Alex Pretti underscores what happens when untrained federal agents operate without accountability," the congressman added. "President Trump must immediately end 'Operation Metro Surge' and ICE's occupation of Minneapolis that has sown chaos, led to tragedy, and undermined experienced local law enforcement."
"IT'S WORKING: Keep the pressure on both Republicans and Democrats."
Since CBP fatally shot Pretti, a legal observer and nurse, on Saturday, pressure has mounted for the Senate to reject the funding bill—part of a larger package Congress is trying to pass to prevent a government shutdown at the end of the month.
Suozzi sent the "stunning" statement in an email to his campaign list, according to New York Times reporter Michael Gold, who shared a screenshot on social media, where the congressman's comments were met with mixed reactions.
Yuh-Line Niou, a former Democratic New York state legislator, said: "Too little too late. Voting with Republicans is his specialty, and this is something his constituents should not forget this election."
Suozzi represents New York's 3rd Congressional District on Long Island and does not have a primary challenger for the June election.
Noting that "Long Island was a major site for immigration backlash" under former President Joe Biden, "when asylum-seekers were overwhelming NYC area services," Vox editor Benjy Sarlin said Monday that "politics clearly shifting there."
Gun violence prevention activist Shannon Watts declared, "IT'S WORKING: Keep the pressure on both Republicans and Democrats."
The account Dear White Staffers, known for calling out bad behavior on Capitol Hill, urged, "Keep yelling at your representatives!"
Human Rights Campaign national press secretary Brandon Wolf predicted that "he'll have a chance to prove his contrition when the Senate sends the bill back and the House has to vote on it again."
As Bloomberg reporter Jonathan put it, "even the centrist Dems are gone on ICE," with senators who voted to end the fall shutdown "now refusing to fund DHS" while House Democrats who just voted for the department funding bill issue a range of statements, including some calling for the impeachment of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
The other six Democrats who voted for the DHS bill last Thursday are Reps. Henry Cuellar (Texas), Don Davis (NC), Laura Gillen (NY), Jared Golden (Maine), Vicente Gonzalez (Texas), and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.).
After Pretti's killing on Saturday, Davis shared his condolences on social media and said in part that "our immigration laws can and must be enforced with respect for life and dignity. A thorough, independent investigation into this fatal shooting is essential to uncover the full facts and to ensure accountability can be determined. The Trump administration must take immediate and decisive action to bring an end to this violence and disorder that have taken lives and undermined public trust."
Climate activist and former Democratic National Committee member RL Miller responded, "If only you were in a position to exercise some accountability over this rogue agency, say, for example, by voting on its budget."
Independent journalist Ken Klippenstein similarly called out Gillen and Gluesenkamp Perez; the former argued that Noem "must be impeached immediately" that while the latter said that she "needs to step down."
Klippenstein also took aim at Gonzalez, who on Saturday advocated for "an independent and thorough investigation into today’s murder of yet another US citizen," while also trying to justify his vote for a bill that would give billions of dollars to ICE and CBP.
"I continue to strongly oppose ICE's illegal operations in South Texas and around the country," Gonzalez said, framing his vote as one in favor of funding the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Coast Guard ahead of the winter storm that hit many states, including his, over the weekend. He doubled down on his position in a Monday video shared on social media.
Fellow Texan Cuellar, who is known for voting with Republicans and was infamously pardoned by Trump last month, and Golden, who is not seeking reelection this year, have both described Pretti's death "tragic" and urged independent investigations, without expressing any remorse about their votes last week.
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