Detroit Anti War Committee Statement Against Attacks on Rick Toledo
On March 6, University of Cal Poly Humboldt police officers raided the home of Rick
We invite all organizations to sign onto the following call, in defense of grad student Rick Toledo, pro-palestine student and member of Students for a Democratic Society, at California State Polytechnic University Humboldt:
We stand with grad student Rick Toledo of Cal Poly Humboldt Students for a Democratic Society against his arrest and targeting by the state of California for protesting on Feb 27 for campus divestment from Israeli apartheid and in support of Palestine.
In the middle of the night, on March 6, CPH university police officers raided the home of Rick Toledo, nearly breaking down his door, and took him into custody without bail. Though he has not been charged at this time, he is facing four counts of serious felony charges: false imprisonment, conspiracy to commit a crime, assault, and battery. These charges carry up to 14 years in state prison combined. The attorney general of California himself has signed off on a civil lawsuit complaint against Toledo, filed by the university. Just days before, Toledo had been suspended and fired from his university teaching job. His first court appearance is scheduled for April 20, 2026.
These rotten attacks and attempts to expel him from school and to throw him into jail stem from a one-day building occupation for Palestine done by students on Feb 27. Aside from calling for the university to divest from Israeli bonds, they also called for sanctuary policies to keep ICE off campus and for striking workers to get raises. Toledo supported this building occupation and the protesting students, and in our eyes, he did nothing wrong. He deserves not only support from students, workers, and faculty all across Cal Poly Humboldt, but from progressives and people of conscience all across the country.
Students at Cal Poly Humboldt have a proud history. In 2024, during the spring encampment movement for Gaza, students took Siemens Hall in the name of divestment and held it for 9 days. Millions across the world watched videos of these students courageously standing up for Gaza, in the face of brutal police repression. Now the university and the state of California have decided they want someone to pay for this heroic moment, and their target of choice is Toledo. In our opinion, this is the real reason underlying the targeting and unleashing of state repression on Toledo, for a simple campus protest.
We condemn this arrest, the university crackdown, and now the threat of these criminal charges. We view this as an attack on the right to speak about Palestine, as well as to protest in the name of Palestine. No matter what you believe about the situation in Palestine, we should be able to agree that students should be able to freely express their view, to protest, and to take a stand.
We call on all organizations to sign onto this letter, release a solidarity statement, and to demand to District Attorney of Humboldt County that no charges be filed against Rick Toledo at Cal Poly Tech Humboldt. We will be mobilizing for his first court appearance, on April 20, 2026. We stand with the students of Humboldt to march for Palestine, on campus and everywhere else, and we will defend that right to the end.
Steps to Take:
- Sign Onto the Above Statement Here on behalf of your organization or as an individual, to show support for Rick Toledo.
- Release a solidarity statement on behalf of your organization and email it to [email protected].
- Donate to the fund for legal fees and hardship (due to being fired from his university job) at this link here: https://chuffed.org/project/172807-rick-toledo-legal-defense-fund
- Look out for our call to action come April 20, 2026, the date of his court appearance, to call into the District Attorney Stacy Eads' office and more.
For more information on his case, check out these news links and developments:
1. https://www.times-standard.com/2026/03/09/cal-poly-humboldt-activist-rick-toledo-out-on-bail-following-protest-related-arrest/
2. https://kymkemp.com/2026/03/09/cal-poly-humboldt-student-activist-rick-toledo-released-on-bail/
3. https://www.redwoodnews.tv/local-news/activist-rick-toledo-arrested-in-connection-with-feb-27th-goodwin-forum-sit-in-released-on/article_9a1d74da-d505-41f2-886d-c51bfe657b59.html
4. pre-arrest, covering the protest aftermath: https://fightbacknews.org/articles/cal-poly-humboldt-students-face-repression-after-sit-in
5. Police seizure of Toledo's phone, laptop and other electronics: read more here.
You can follow his case here on stopfbi.org or on Instagram at csfrstopfbi, as well as the Instagram sds_humboldt, Toledo's student group.
ORGANIZATIONS SIGNED ON SO FAR:
50501 Humboldt
Anti-Imperialist Action Committee, River Valley
Anti War Action Network
Anti-War Committee, Chicago
Anti-War Committee, Dallas Fort Worth
Anti-War Committee, Detroit
Anti-War Committee, DMV
Anti-War Committee, Humboldt
Anti-War Committee, Minnesota
Anti-War Committee, Tucson
Boston May Day Coalition
Brooklyn Against War
Central Coast Antiwar Coalition
Centro Community Service Organization, Boyle Heights
Climate Justice Committee
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Community Service Organization, Orange County
Community Service Organization, North Bay
Dayton Anti-War Group
Decorah Community for Immigrant Rights
Denver Anti-War Action
Divest Humboldt
Ethics Club
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Freedom Road Socialist Organization Humboldt
Humboldt Democratic Socialist of America
Humboldt Tenants Union
International Action Center
International League of Peoples Struggle
International Solidarity Committee of Pittsburgh
Jace Lee Scott Foundation
Jacksonville Community Action Committee
Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance (JIRA)
Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network
La Frontera Unida
Lowcountry Action Committee
Minnesota Workers United
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Colorado Springs
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Dallas
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Detroit
National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Grand Rapids
National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, New Orleans
National Alliance Against Racist & Political Repression, New York
New York City Educators for Palestine
NYC Jericho Movement
Portland for Palestine
Portland Contra Las Deportaciones
Radio Free Maine
Sacramento Immigration Committee
San Jose Against War
Seattle Against War
Students for a Democratic Society, Austin
Students for a Democratic Society, Butler University
Students for a Democratic Society, Central Michigan University
Students for a Democratic Society, College of Charleston
Students for a Democratic Society, Decorah
Students for a Democratic Society, Denver
Students for a Democratic Society, Humboldt
Students for a Democratic Society, Jacksonville
Students for a Democratic Society, LUNO (at Loyola New Orleans)
Students for a Democratic Society, Madison
Students for a Democratic Society, Montana State
Students for a Democratic Society, National
Students for a Democratic Society, Purdue
Students for a Democratic Society, San Jose State Chapter
Students for a Democratic Society, Tampa Bay
Students for a Democratic Society, TUL New Orleans (at Tulane)
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Central Florida
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Ilinois Chicago
Students for a Democratic Society, University of Minnesota
Students for a Democratic Society, TUL SDS at Tulane
Students for a Democratic Society, Wayne State
Students for Justice in Palestine San Diego City College
Sunrise Movement at University of Central Florida
Tallahassee Community Action Committee
Tampa Immigrants Rights Committee
Teachers For Palestine - Toronto
The Daily Salad
The Israel/Palestine Mission Network of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Bay Area
Therapists for Peace & Justice
The Lusory
Union for the Justice Laura Marx
Women Against Military Madness
Workers World Party
87. Young Democratic Socialists of America of Cal Poly Humboldt