Victoria Hinckley
Victoria Hinckley
FRSO
In response to Trump’s recent election, on November 9 2024 the Tampa community took a stand against Trump and his racist policies. Dozens of community members showed up to raise their voices on such topics as LGBTQ rights, abortion rights, police crimes and more.
With the ongoing genocide in Gaza led by the Biden administration and this most recent election, many people are starting to see that they cannot rely on the Democrats and instead are standing alongside their communities against Trump’s racist agenda. Led by the Tampa Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression (TAARPR), the people voiced the need for fighting back, while rallying on the steps of City Hall.
Victoria Hinckley, a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke about how, “the only way we step into our real power is by getting organized.”[1]
Punishment
On Tuesday, October 1, 2024 around six students who are members of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society at the University of South Florida, took a stand. They attempted to have a rally demanding free speech on campus for pro-Palestine protests.
Two students at the attempted rally, Isabella Deschene and Saba Indawala, have now been suspended, trespassed, and have bogus code of conduct charges alleged against them.
This comes after intensified political repression faced by Tampa Bay SDS after leading the solidarity encampment for Gaza at USF. After being tear-gassed and shot at with rubber bullets by the university and police, Tampa Bay SDS was expelled by USF for leading this struggle for Palestine on their campus. Additionally, two members of SDS faced severe punishment from USF for organizing the encampment for Palestine. Victoria Hinckley, who was a senior at the school, was expelled and the school continues to withhold their degree. Joseph Charry, an international student from Colombia, was suspended for a year and was stripped of his student visa and forced to leave the country.
Now, five months after the encampment, Tampa Bay SDS continues to fight for these sanctions against students to be reversed, for USF’s immediate divestment from Israel and now for freedom of speech on campus. The university has passed harsh, restrictive policies on free speech. The student movement remains strong and students on campus have and will continue to fight against this political repression from the USF administration.
Isabella Deschene, one of the newly-suspended SDS members, says “this was yet another blatant act of repression and will not stop students from continuing to fight for what we believe in. We will continue advocating for free speech and protesting the genocide in Gaza. We will continue to call out USF’s complicity and their disregard for the student body’s demands to disclose and divest.”[2]
Expulsion
On Friday, June 7 2024, the University of South Florida (USF) made the decision to expel Victoria Hinckley, a leader of the Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society. Hinckley had previously been suspended and barred from walking at graduation, despite being in her final semester. Joseph Charry, another leader of SDS and an international student, was also suspended for a year which threatens his student visa and puts him at the risk of deportation.[3]
US Teamsters on the Frontlines!
US Teamsters on the Frontlines! was a July 16 2023 Freedom Road Socialist Organization/FightBack! webinar on the looming UPS strike.
Participants included Victoria Hinckley.
“Protect trans lives!”
On Tuesday, February 7, 2023, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society organized a protest to demand that administration at the University of South Florida protect transgender students by not submitting a survey on information about gender affirming healthcare requested by Governor Ron DeSantis. A crowd of about 50 students chanted “USF don’t comply!” and “Protect trans lives!”[4]
Yuki Shao, a member of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society said, “As students here, we want USF to continue providing affirming services for all students despite the governor’s attempts to intimidate them. This is really an action to cut funding for queer people and for trans people. This is DeSantis’ attempt to intimidate colleges and universities into becoming less inclusive of their students for his own political gain.”
Victoria Hinckley, a member of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society at the USF campus and speaker at the protest, said, “We have to be the ones to demand trans students be protected since our university administration won’t, and continues to perpetuate transphobic attacks.”
Justice for Tyre Nichols
According to Lauren Pineiro, on the first day of Black History Month, February 1 2023, students at the University of South Florida rallied in front of a statue of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to demand justice for Tyre Nichols, Manny Páez Terán, and Keenan Anderson. The event was organized by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as part of a National Day of Action Against Police Terror with SDS chapters across the country participating.
These actions were called in response to the violent police murders of three, all of which took place in the span of two weeks. On January 3, the Los Angeles Police Department tasered Keenan Anderson over ten times in just 42 seconds - an act of brutality that led to his death four hours later. Keenan Anderson was the third person to be killed by LAPD in 2023, just three days into the new year. “Justice for Keenan Anderson!” was displayed on signs and chanted by the protestors.
On January 7, Tyre Nichols was brutally assaulted by at least seven Memphis police officers who left him fighting for his life for three days until his passing. Although five of the officers have been charged with murder, protesters know the struggle does not end there. “Tyre Nichol’s death was completely preventable and another reason why our communities need to have full and absolute control of the police,” remarked Victoria Hinckley.
Like Hinckley, Vaidehi Persad of SDS believes that the solution is putting the power into the hands of the people through community control of the police. “The first step is restoring rights and power to Black, Puerto Rican, Chicano, and other historically oppressed communities in the U.S. most heavily impacted by police brutality,” she told the crowd.[5]
Abortion protest
On June 25, over 300 people gathered on the corner of a busy intersection near the University of South Florida to protest the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. The crowd, led by Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society and the Tampa Bay Community Action Committee, march along the street and were met with strong support from commuters passing by.
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“It terrified me that the right to bodily autonomy would no longer be a right,” said Laura Rodriguez of TBCAC. “Getting on birth control no longer felt like a choice.”
Florida has a trigger law, House Bill 5 (HB5), that will criminalize all abortions past 15 weeks. “People will have less than two missed periods to figure out that they’re pregnant,” said Rodriguez. “And cough up hundreds of dollars, get time off of work, and somehow still have enough money to pay a rising rent.”
“The government that is supposed to represent us is going against what the majority of people want,” said Victoria Hinckley of SDS, referring to the overwhelming popular support for legalized abortion in the U.S.[6]
Black student enrollment protest
On Thursday, December 1 2022, Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) led a march to the president of the University of South Florida’s mansion to protest the university’s low Black student enrollment. The students also called for the University of South Florida (USF) police department to cancel its participation in the 1033 Program, which allows police to buy decommissioned military weapons from the Department of Defense, and students say the police department should return the equipment it received from the program.
“Our tuition money pays for her salary and this mansion, yet Rhea Law won’t meet with us and has the police threaten us!” said Victoria Hinckley of Tampa Bay SDS, who was leading the march.
“Nobody is holding the school accountable,” said Gareth Dawkins of Tampa Bay SDS. “That’s why we have to keep protesting, otherwise USF would gladly leave Black students behind.”[7]