by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 12, 2026 | baltimore, ICE, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, video
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Speaker 1:
Tonight we’re out marching against ICE injustice for Renee Goode and all those who have been unjustly killed and undustly detained. We stand with our neighbors and we stand with one another knowing that the people united will never be defeated. I stand for my friends in Minnesota who are out protesting there and knowing friends that are all around the country speaking out. We can do more than we are doing now. And this is just the bare minimum.
Speaker 2:
We are currently marching through downtown Baltimore. There’s hundreds of us and the police have barricaded the streets to prevent traffic from coming through because we are here to demand justice for Renee Goode and demand that ICE never do what they did to her to anyone else ever again.
Speaker 3:
Well, what happened yesterday in Minneneapolis was disgusting. The Trump administration has this goon squat ice that is out after our own citizens. That’s insane. We’re at war with the Trump administration. So I’m protesting the actions of Trump and the actions of ICE. And I’ll be out here until Trump’s gone. Thank you so much.
Speaker 4:
So we’re marching in Baltimore against the Nazi occupation of ICE in America, stealing our neighbors, taking away vital community members that we really need and love very much. Get your neighbors organized, get your friends organized. Teach even your non-political friends about how important this is and just ways to protect each other because we outnumber the fascist completely. And if we
by Maximillian Alvarez | Jan 5, 2026 | baltimore, Politics and Movements: International, Politics and Movements: US, Venezuela, video
Around 100 Baltimore residents and local organizers marched through the streets of downtown on Saturday, Jan. 3, to protest the Trump regime’s lawless military invasion of the sovereign country of Venezuela and kidnapping of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Numerous organizations were represented at the protest, including: Party for Socialism and Liberation – Baltimore, the People’s Power Assembly, Black Alliance for Peace, Veterans for Peace, and more. Here’s what the protest looked and sounded like on the ground…
Additional links/info:
Michael Fox, The Real News Network, “Trump invades Venezuela, kidnaps Maduro, and hurls the Western hemisphere into chaos”
Credits:
Production/Post-Production: Maximillian Alvarez
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Crowd Chants:
No more coups, no more war. Venezuela is it yours. Venezuela isn’t yours. Venezuela isn’t yours. Hands off Venezuela. Hands off Venezuela.
Maximillian Alvarez:
I’m here in downtown Baltimore on Saturday, January 3rd. It’s a little after 3:00 PM and dozens and dozens of Baltimore residents and local organizers are marching through the streets of downtown in protest of the Trump regime’s lawless invasion of Venezuela and kidnapping of its president Nicolas Maduro earlier this morning. I’m here on the ground for The Real News Network.
Protestor 1:
I’m just out here today because I’m outraged because I’m in disbelief that our country’s being run by this person that does whatever the F he wants and it’s shocking, it’s scary and I’m terrified. So this is what I’m doing. I’m doing what I can.
Protestor 2:
I’m a cadre member of an organization called the All African People’s Revolutionary Party. My comrade here, Nancy
by Alexis Goldstein | Dec 3, 2025 | Article, baltimore, Economy and Inequality, New York, Politics and Movements: US, Reprint
This story was originally published on Truthout on Dec. 01, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license.
During the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic downturn, many people couldn’t pay their transportation costs, and often didn’t. In New York City in 2021, some 21 percent of bus riders did not pay the fare, a figure that grew to 48 percent in 2024. Some local governments, including New York City, responded with reduced or free fare programs. From 2023 to 2024, New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) ran a zero-fare bus pilot that served around 43,000 riders. The pilot, championed by then-assembly member Zohran Mamdani, offered free trips on one bus in each borough.
To expand this small pilot to universal zero-fare buses throughout New York City is a tall task, with a total 2024 bus ridership of 409 million and 6,300 buses. As mayor-elect Mamdani and his administration look to grow zero-fare buses in New York, they have a stellar example just a few hours south of New York, in Maryland.
The largest free bus program in Maryland by ridership is in Montgomery County, a suburb north of Washington, D.C.
Montgomery County first made its “Ride On” buses free to all riders under 18 in 2019. Then on June 29, 2025, it made all of its buses fare-free for all passengers. The system has a fleet of nearly 400 buses, 80 routes, and provided 19.2 million rides in the 2025 fiscal year. In the three months since free fares were instituted, ridership has increased by 5.4 percent. Phil McLaughlin, General Manager of Transit Services for Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), said an estimated 1 percent to 2 percent of
by Alexis Goldstein | Dec 1, 2025 | baltimore, fares, Maryland, New York City, News, public transit, transit equity, Zohran Mamdani
During the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated economic downturn, many people couldn’t pay their transportation costs, and often didn’t. In New York City in 2021, some 21 percent of bus riders did not pay the fare, a figure that grew to 48 percent in 2024. Some local governments, including New York City, responded with reduced or free fare programs. From 2023 to 2024, New York’s Metropolitan…
Source
by Mansa Musa | Dec 1, 2025 | baltimore, Fascism, ICE, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Rattling the Bars, video
ICE raids and the expanded use of expedited removal are tearing apart immigrant families and neighborhoods in Baltimore. In this episode of Rattling the Bars, host Mansa Musa speaks with Baltimore reporter Kori Skillman about how lack of democratic oversight and collusion between local government and federal law enforcement have enabled ICE’s lawless tactics and left Baltimore’s immigrant communities living in constant fear, economic precariousness, and social isolation.
Guest:
Kori Skillman is a Report for America Corps Member covering justice and accountability for Baltimore Beat. Skillman investigates policing, incarceration, and civil rights in Baltimore. Most recently, she worked on ABC News’ assignment desk, covering breaking news and editing for live broadcasts. A Bay Area native, Skillman holds a dual B.A. in journalism and international business from San Diego State University, with a focus on the Middle East and North Africa, and an M.S. from Columbia Journalism School.
Additional links/info:
Kori Skillman, Baltimore Beat, “Indiscriminate ICE arrests have left Baltimore’s immigrant communities in a constant state of fear and anxiety”
Kori Skillman, Baltimore Beat, “Lack of ICE oversight shows how Baltimore has long been at the mercy of outside powers”
Credits:
Producer / Videographer / Post-Production: Cameron Granadino
Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.
Mansa Musa:
Welcome to this edition of Rattling the Bars, I’m your host Mansa Musa. In this country, United States of America, we have laws that protect the citizens of the United States. What constitute a citizen of the United States? If you were born here or you receive your citizenship through the immigration naturalization process, lately we’ve seen our country shift into a period much like
by Kori Skillman | Nov 24, 2025 | Article, baltimore, ICE, Politics and Movements: US, Prisons and Policing, Reprint
This story originally appeared in Baltimore Beat on Aug. 25, 2025. It is shared here with permission.
Immigration officials in Maryland are skirting scrutiny after a federal judge threw out a lawsuit challenging conditions inside Baltimore’s downtown ICE holding facility and lawmakers were initially denied entry to investigate reports of inhumane conditions.
Despite being allowed a one-hour visit into the holding facility in the George H. Fallon Federal Building weeks after they were first denied access, Maryland’s congressional members said they were left with more questions than answers about how detained people were being treated.
While lawmakers have focused the national spotlight on conditions in Baltimore’s downtown ICE holding facility, attorneys from the Amica Center for Immigration Rights — a nonprofit organization providing legal and social services to immigrants seeking status in the U.S. — filed a class-action suit in early May arguing that inhumane conditions were widespread among people detained there.
A late July hearing would have considered suspending use of the facility while the full case played out, but Maryland U.S. District Judge Julie Rubin denied the class certification and sent lawyers back to the drawing board.
“The hearing would have confirmed what we have known… which is that the conditions there are absolutely impermissible under the law and under the Constitution,” said Amelia Dagen, lead litigator in the class action suit. “There is a special weight to hearing it from people who have experienced those and endured those conditions.”
The lawsuit represents two immigrant women who were held in a freezing, windowless room without access to basic hygiene or medical care. The lawsuit had the support of Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown, who wrote in a brief
