Resisting Authoritarianism - Free Washington Project

The Trump administration’s systematic attacks on human rights call for the broadest and most united response possible by all who oppose the implementation of Project 2025’s agenda. PSARA heard this call, and, in January, joined with 12 other Washington state organizations to launch the Free Washington Project (FWP). Inspired by other unified efforts such as Free DC, ICE Out of California, Hands Off Chicago, and Bay Rising, FWP brings together grassroots groups, nonprofits, unions, religious organizations, student groups, and anti-intervention organizations to connect and coordinate efforts against authoritarianism, especially to stand against military escalation and the criminalization of protest.

Organizing the Resistance

In Free Washington Project’s first large public event, the webinar “Organizing the Resistance: Voices from Minnesota” was organized in early February and drew 250 participants. With all eyes on the struggle between the resistance movement and Trump’s militarized ICE forces, FWP sought to learn applicable lessons and build solidarity with the forces that comprise Minnesota’s resistance. Guest speakers from Minnesota included Mark Tilson from Freedom Trainers, Sophie Breen of Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAC), Bernie Burnham and Todd Dahlstrom from Minnesota AFL-CIO, Friendly Vang-Johnson with Friendly Hmong Farms, and Rabbi David Basior who is from Seattle and traveled to Minnesota with 1,000 faith leaders to support the resistance.

The speakers’ clear message was that Minnesota’s tremendous response to Trump’s militarized attacks against the people of Minnesota, who are acting in defense of immigrants and want justice for Alex Pretti and Renee Good, was a result of years of the movements there working in coalition.

According to Burnham, “We started organizing for a number of things that we felt were good for working people and families, one of those being paid family medical leave. So that goes back a lot of years. Since that time, people have stayed in coalition…It’s labor, community groups, faith groups. You name it… a lot of people stuck together…One of the things that has made this a bit easier [is that] we’ve been in a relationship for a long time.” Breen from MIRAC also noted that the networks that came together after George Floyd’s May, 2020, murder by police reignited the Black Lives Matter movement and contributed to the response to repression in the state.

Since the webinar, Tilson and Breen have been contacted by local Seattle groups to assist in rapid response training as Washington groups prepare for a potential uptick in ICE activity.

Mission and Goals

In addition to building a network of anti-authoritarian groups, Free Washington Project also seeks to build a diverse network that would be multi-racial, multi-sector, and multi-generational to coordinate actions and events by FWP’s member organizations. Through FWP’s website, freewaproject.org, member organizations can share resources, trainings, and announcements to reinforce all efforts of the network at the local, regional, and state levels. A broad network will also protect those most impacted such as LGBTQ-IA+, immigrant, and refugee communities. FWP has been working with One America and NWIRP and others on efforts to protect immigrant communities, since mass deportation continues to be the most visible centerpiece of Trump’s domestic repressive policies.

Organizations that want to join Free Washington Project’s work should start by going to the website to see FWP’s complete mission and goals and points of unity. Minnesota’s resistance movement makes it clear that a unified movement with diverse response tactics can force the Trump administration to start removing some of their armed ICE forces. These tactics include rapid response, mass mobilizations that range from local to national, civil disobedience, utilization of social media to override false propaganda and misinformation, general strikes, and pressuring elected officials to protect all people from violent militarized actions. Minnesota’s resistance movement has also forced Congress to begin taking concrete action around ICE. However, it is clear from Alex Pretti’s and Renee Good’s murders and the violence perpetrated in Minnesota by ICE, that ICE must be abolished. ICE cannot be reformed.