Reporting and media: Nissa Tzun
Party for Socialism & Liberation, Las Vegas, carried a banner expressing solidarity to several oppressed groups at the 13th Annual Las Vegas May Day March & Rally. May 1, 2019, Las Vegas, NV.
Las Vegas, NV - Over a hundred people gathered at the Historic Commercial Center for the 13th Annual Las Vegas May Day March & Rally at 5PM. This year's turnout was larger than last year's May Day as last year the event was challenged with rain pour. In the tradition of May Day, International Worker's Day, many groups came together to show worker solidarity and voice their disdain for police brutality, and the current administration's unending issues: its' immigration policies and push for a border wall along the Mexico - US Border, and the president's empowering effect on the white nationalist movement.
While the turnout was larger than last year's, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police's response was excessive. Law enforcement seemed to be lurking on every corner, on motorcycles, cruisers, by foot, and unmarked vehicles. Their interactions with protestors were few, but they made it very clear they did not want any of the protesters in the street.
LVMPD officers on motorcycles escort the march, zealously enforcing their request for participants to utilize the "sidewalk only." May 1, 2019, Las Vegas, NV.
The rally highlighted police brutality as one of its main subjects. Jonas Rand who was recently brutalized addressed the crowd in the beginning, briefly sharing his story about how he was accosted and then slammed to the ground causing injury to his face for no reason by North Las Vegas Police.
Jonas Rand, May Day organizer and a recent survivor of police brutality, addresses the crowd before the march. May 1, 2019, Las Vegas, NV.
After marching to the Lloyd D. George Federal Courthouse on Las Vegas Boulevard, protestors gathered in a circle and prepared to listen to more speakers. Jesus Carvajal, a man who was wrongfully accused and arrested by Las Vegas Metropolitan Police last August shared his story and urged the audience to sign several petitions, including the petition to oppose SB 242, a bill that would essentially make police corruption legal, and a petition to expunge his arrest record. Families United 4 Justice, who authored the petitions, also collected signatures for another police brutality victim, Terry Rogaczewski, who was wrongfully convicted after being shot by LVMPD in November of 2012. The petition is requesting Governor Sisolak to pardon Rogaczewski.
Jesus Carvajal, who was wrongfully accused in August 2018 of multiple violent crimes speaks at the Las Vegas May Day March & Rally, sharing his story and how the wrongful accusation has turned his life upside down. May 1, 2019, Las Vegas, NV.