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For Immediate Release
February, 06 2014, 10:39am EDT
Contact:
Christina DiPasquale, 202.716.1953, Christina@fitzgibbonmedia.com
More than 4,000 Organizations and Sites to Support "The Day We Fight Back"
Supporters include ACLU, EFF, Demand Progress, reddit, Mozilla, and Thousands More
WASHINGTON
Organizers behind The Day We Fight Back today announced that more than 4,000 organizations and websites have pledged to support the day of action scheduled for February 11, 2014. Tens of thousands of individuals have also pledged to make calls and web postings in support of reform to the surveillance state.
"The Day We Fight Back" participants include: the ACLU, Access, Amnesty International, BoingBoing, CREDO, DailyKos, Demand Progress, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Fight for the Future, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Free Press, Mozilla, Open Media, The Other 98%, reddit, RootsAction, ThoughtWorks, Thunderclap, Tumblr, and thousands more. Collectively, these organizations represent millions of Internet users.
On February 11th, participating sites will be encouraging users to engage in the day of action, through website banners and other means. That participation will include tens of thousands of calls and emails to Members of Congress, tweets and Facebook posts, memes and social avatars, and other viral activity. Users are asked to use the innovative creativity that comes from millions of users connecting on the Internet to participate in unique ways.
"We will not stand idly by while the freedom of the Internet is threatened by abusive government surveillance. We will unite as a community, and we will defend this vital resource. And we are strong," said David Segal, executive director of Demand Progress.
"Your First and Fourth Amendment rights are non-negotiable. You don't give them up when you log on to the Internet," said Rainey Reitman, activism director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Law-abiding Internet users worldwide have a right to be free from mass, suspicion-less surveillance, regardless of their country of origin."
"Expansive surveillance programs damage user trust, stifle innovation, and risk balkanization of the Internet. The response so far has been to leave these harmful programs largely intact, make minor changes and improve oversight to a small degree. Internet users deserve much more," said Chris Riley, Senior Policy Engineer at Mozilla.
"CREDO has a decades-long record fighting for the civil liberties, not just of our phone customers, but of all Americans," said Michael Kieschnick, CEO of CREDO. "Despite the shocking revelations of NSA abuses, the U.S. government continues to defend unconstitutional programs to systematically spy on Americans. So it's up to companies like ours to fight for our customers' constitutional rights."
"The Internet is a critical piece of global infrastructure that has unleashed unprecedented gains in productivity, efficiency and innovation. Economies around the world increasingly depend on it. Mass surveillance threatens the long-term growth and even viability of the internet. We need reforms to protect our economies as well as our human rights," said Craig Gorsline, president of ThoughtWorks.
"The Administration assures us that these programs will not be abused, but the very existence of these programs is abusive of our rights," said Julie Borowski, Policy Analyst at FreedomWorks.
"It's time for Congress to pass the USA FREEDOM Act and end the bulk collection of Americans' records," said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel at the ACLU's Washington Legislative Office. "This bill of genuine surveillance reform already has nearly 150 cosponsors, but it needs more. Every call, tweet, and email to your members of Congress on this day of action will send a clear, convincing message: support the USA FREEDOM Act and rein in the NSA."
More information about The Day We Fight Back can be found at www.thedaywefightback.org.
For interviews, please contact Christina DiPasquale at 202.716.1953 or Christina@fitzgibbonmedia.com.
LATEST NEWS
'Your Tax Dollars Being Used to Raise Your Gas Prices': US-Israel Bomb Major Iranian Oil Depots
Scenes from Tehran on Saturday were described as "apocalyptic" and widely condemned.
Mar 07, 2026
In what was described as a "major escalation" of an attack already denounced as an illegal war of choice, the US-Israeli military coalition bombed major oil depots and other fossil fuel infrastructure in and around Tehran on Saturday, unleashing huge fireballs, turning streets to fire, and sending plumes of black smoke into the night sky while garnering fresh condemnation from the international community.
"Your tax dollars being used to raise your gas prices," Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, the Michigan Democrat running for the US Senate, said in reaction to dramatic footage of the explosions circulating online.
"Scenes from Tehran look apocalyptic," said Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, DC, sharing footage of the massive fire storm.
Scenes from Tehran look apocalyptic. This is a city of 10 million people.
pic.twitter.com/gVj2GvrJBI
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) March 7, 2026
Separate footage showed the Aqdasiyeh Oil Depot in flames with Iranian first responders trying to create a perimeter around the inferno:
'آتشسوزی انبار نفت اقدسیه از فاصله نزدیک'
ویدیوی دریافتی از سوهانک، انتهای بزرگراه ارتش #تهران'
شنبه ۱۶ اسفند #Iran #Tehran pic.twitter.com/ikqloDGwbm
— Vahid Online (@Vahid) March 7, 2026
"Iran is being destroyed," declared British journalist Owen Jones.
In the wake of last week's attack, ordered by US President Donald Trump and carried out in conjunction with Israeli forces, the price of crude futures jumped by 35%, which CNBC characterized as "the biggest weekly gain in the history of the futures contract dating back to 1983."
On Friday, Qatar’s energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told The Financial Times that crude prices could reach $150 per barrel in the coming weeks if the Strait of Hormuz remained closed to tanker traffic. Kaabi warned this could “bring down the economies of the world," though Trump has said he is not worried about gas prices, saying Thursday: "If they rise, they rise."
Meanwhile, others on Saturday shared video of a city streets of Tehran blazing with fire as oil from a destroyed depot flowed into sidewalks and sewer tunnels.
Spill of oil in the sewage system has created a flowing burning river in parts of #Tehran after oil depots were bombed earlier tonight, setting the streets in the Iranian capital on fire. pic.twitter.com/tHIFE6Z5EW
— Living in Tehran (LiT) (@LivinginTehran) March 8, 2026
"I don’t know how many times I can say this but my god," said Iranian political commentator Kev Joon in a social media post, describing what he was seeing as "apocalyptic," unprecedented, and intentionally cruel.
"I have never seen something like this," he added. "These are gutters and streams that run the sides of streets on almost every street and alley in Tehran. They are destroying a city in ways we haven’t witnessed before."
According to the New York Times:
Iran’s Ministry of Oil said in a statement that multiple oil storage depots in the provinces of Tehran and Alborz had been targeted.
The Israeli military confirmed in a statement that it had attacked several fuel storage and energy complexes in Tehran, saying the facilities were being used by Iran’s armed forces. Israel’s military called it a “significant strike” aimed at dismantling the military infrastructure of the government.
"What is happening tonight is that US and Israel are targeting oil depots and desalination plants," said Joon. "These aren’t military targets. They’re the infrastructure of everyday life. This isn’t a liberatory war. It’s an attempt to break the backs of Iranian people."
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US Argues 'Emergency' of Iran War Means Israel Needs 20,000+ More Bombs Without Congressional Approval
'Who cares about Israel’s genocide, apartheid, and aggression?" asked one human rights expert.
Mar 07, 2026
The US State Department is hiding behind the war against Iran that was started by US President Donald Trump last week to justify an emergency order to ship more than 20,000 bombs—estimated at a value of $660 million—to Israel, skirting a pending approval process for the sale by Congress.
In a statement issued quietly on Friday night, the State Department said 12,000 BLU-110A/B general purpose, 1,000-pound bombs had been determined for approval, noting that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has "provided detailed justification that an emergency exists that requires the immediate sale to the Government of Israel of the above defense articles and defense services is in the national security interests of the United States, thereby waiving the Congressional review requirements under Section 36(b) of the Arms Export Control Act."
Not included in the statement, according to the New York Times, were additional parts of the sale that "include 10,000 bombs of 500 pounds each and 5,000 small-diameter bombs."
"This is an emergency of the Trump administration's own creation." —Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.)
According to the Times:
The State Department did not mention these details in the announcement, but two current US officials and a former, Josh Paul, who worked on weapons transfers at the State Department, said they were part of the emergency sale. The current officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive arms transactions.
This is the first time that the second Trump administration has formally declared an emergency, allowed under the Arms Export Control Act, to bypass Congress to sell arms to Israel. The administration has bypassed the informal approval process in Congress three times to sell arms or send weapons aid to Israel, but previously has not declared an emergency.
The push for the "emergency" arms sale comes as Israel pummels Lebanon with airstrikes, forcing an estimate 500,000 people or more in southern regions outside of Beirut to flee their homes. It also coincides with Israeli forces hitting targets in Iran alongside the US in what experts say is a wholly illegal attack on that country.
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.), ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced the move by the Rubio in a Friday statement.
“Today's invocation of the Arms Export Control Act's emergency authority to bypass congressional review for two munitions cases to Israel exposes a stark contradiction at the heart of this administration's case for war," said Meeks. "The Trump administration has repeatedly insisted it was fully prepared for this war. Rushing to invoke emergency authority to circumvent Congress tells a different story. This is an emergency of the Trump administration's own creation."
Others also questioned the emergency sale, especially given Israel's record of genocide in Gaza over the last two years and its pivotal role in pushing the Trump administration toward a war of choice with Iran.
Meeks, in his statement, argued that key questions about Trump's war in Iran remain unanswered.
"What is the endgame? What preparations have been made to protect American citizens in the region? And how much will this war cost the American people?" asked Meeks. "The administration has provided no credible answers. The American people deserve answers, and Congress must demand them.”
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Rights Group Says Massacre at Iranian School—Likely by US—Should Be Investigated as 'War Crime'
"Trump loves putting his name on things, but this should be the only building for which he is remembered by history."
Mar 07, 2026
The bombing of a primary school by US-Israeli coalition forces in southern Iranian town of Minab that killed an estimated 160 or more civilians—mostly children—on February 28 should be investigated as a possible war crime, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.
After reviewing satellite footage from before and after the strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school—as well as reviewing video taken in the wake of the bombing and other materials—the international human rights group said the available evidence indicates "that the attack was carried out by highly accurate, guided munitions, rather than errant weapons whose guidance or propulsion systems failed or were otherwise disrupted and randomly struck the area."
The attack on the school would be among the deadliest war crimes against civilians by US forces in years. Occurring on the first day of bombings of what President Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dubbed Operation Epic Fury, the slaughter of schoolchildren—though the US has denied responsibility thus far—coincides with Hegseth repeatedly bragging that the US military would no longer follow "stupid rules of engagement" in the execution of its operations.
"The school was in use, and children were in attendance on the day of the attack," the group said. "Human Rights Watch found no evidence that would indicate that the school was being used for military purposes, though researchers were not able to speak to witnesses of the strikes, families of those killed, or other informed sources."
President Trump should hold Secretary Hegseth and everyone else responsible for killing Iranian children accountable, and bring this illegal, unnecessary war of choice to an end.”
According to HRW:
The United States should immediately assess its responsibility for this strike and make the findings public. If the US military carried out the strike, it should conduct a full investigation into the operational and policy failures that led it to strike a school, fully account for the civilian harm caused, hold those responsible accountable including through prosecution, and commit to changes that would ensure such failures will not be repeated in future operations.
Analyses of the bombing by various news outlets have provided strong evidence that US forces were the most likely culprits of the attack. HRW was told by an Israeli military spokesperson that it was “not aware of any [Israeli military] strikes in the area.” Hegseth said during a Wednesday press conference that the Pentagon was investigating the matter, but offered no further indication of concern in the matter.
During that same press briefing, as HRW notes in its analysis of the attack, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Dan Caine, said that US forces from the USS Abraham Lincoln strike group were providing “pressure” in preceding days along the “southeastern side" of the Iranian coast as he pointed to an area of a map showing coalition bombings that included Minab.
“A prompt and thorough investigation is needed into this attack, including if those responsible should have known that a school was there and that it would be full of children and their teachers before midday,” said Sophia Jones, open source researcher with the Digital Investigations Lab at Human Rights Watch. “Those responsible for an unlawful attack should be held to account, including prosecutions of anyone responsible for war crimes.”
“Allies of the US and Israel should insist on accountability for the Shajareh Tayyebeh school attack and for an end to attacks on civilian infrastructure in all of their operations across the region, before more civilians, including children, are unlawfully killed,” she added.
Human Rights Watch is not the only one demanding an independent investigation.
"This mass killing of children is unconscionable. It bears the hallmarks of a war crime," said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) on Friday after a New York Times investigation found that US forces were likely behind the strike. "Trump and Hegseth must answer for the US's role and they must be held accountable. People deserve the full truth. There must be an immediate and transparent investigation."
On Friday, as Common Dreams reported, another school in Iran was struck by US-Israel bombings, bringing the total number of schools hit to four in the first six days of the unprovoked military attack.
"The American people do not want their tax dollars spent on killing children in Iran, just as they did not want their tax dollars spent on killing children in Gaza," said the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a statement. "The latest U.S.-Israel attacks on schools in Iran are blatant war crimes. So was the original slaughter of 180 schoolgirls that the Pentagon refuses to take responsibility for."
“Every child murdered or injured in these indiscriminate US-Israel bombing attacks is a sign that the Pentagon under Pete Hegseth is mimicking the tactics of the cowardly and genocidal Israeli military, which has mastered the art of bombing men, women, and children from afar," the group added. "The American people expect better from our armed forces. President Trump should hold Secretary Hegseth and everyone else responsible for killing Iranian children accountable, and bring this illegal, unnecessary war of choice to an end.”
While the war continues and Trump on Saturday said the people of Iran should expect bombing and destruction to increase not decrease over the weekend, voices for peace continued to demand a swift end to the violence and said the US president should forever be held responsible for unleashing such unnecessary bloodshed—including the specific devastation unleashed on the school in Minab.
"Trump loves putting his name on things, but this should be the only building for which he is remembered by history," said Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the Center for International Policy, referencing the school where the massacre took place.
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