#characteristicsoffascism — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #characteristicsoffascism, aggregated by home.social.
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#Anthropic Building a #PreCrime System to Surveil #AntiAI #Dissenters, Investigation Shows | Common Dreams
One legal expert said that as AI companies “become more hated, there’s more pressure on them to over-disclose knowing that some of the people they identify for law enforcement shouldn’t be targeted.”
by Brad Reed, September 9, 2026
"The American Prospect on Wednesday published an investigation revealing that top artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is building a predictive surveillance system aimed at tracking activists who are opposed to advanced AI development.
"The Prospect found that Anthropic last month issued a job posting seeking an intelligence specialist to “identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector.”
Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anthropic-pre-crime-surveillance#PreCrime #ThoughtCrime #AIResistance #ResistanceIsFertile #AISucks #CriminalizingDissent #TheResistance #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #HumanIntelligence #TechFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#Anthropic Building a #PreCrime System to Surveil #AntiAI #Dissenters, Investigation Shows | Common Dreams
One legal expert said that as AI companies “become more hated, there’s more pressure on them to over-disclose knowing that some of the people they identify for law enforcement shouldn’t be targeted.”
by Brad Reed, September 9, 2026
"The American Prospect on Wednesday published an investigation revealing that top artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is building a predictive surveillance system aimed at tracking activists who are opposed to advanced AI development.
"The Prospect found that Anthropic last month issued a job posting seeking an intelligence specialist to “identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector.”
Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anthropic-pre-crime-surveillance#PreCrime #ThoughtCrime #AIResistance #ResistanceIsFertile #AISucks #CriminalizingDissent #TheResistance #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #HumanIntelligence #TechFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#Anthropic Building a #PreCrime System to Surveil #AntiAI #Dissenters, Investigation Shows | Common Dreams
One legal expert said that as AI companies “become more hated, there’s more pressure on them to over-disclose knowing that some of the people they identify for law enforcement shouldn’t be targeted.”
by Brad Reed, September 9, 2026
"The American Prospect on Wednesday published an investigation revealing that top artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is building a predictive surveillance system aimed at tracking activists who are opposed to advanced AI development.
"The Prospect found that Anthropic last month issued a job posting seeking an intelligence specialist to “identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector.”
Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anthropic-pre-crime-surveillance#PreCrime #ThoughtCrime #AIResistance #ResistanceIsFertile #AISucks #CriminalizingDissent #TheResistance #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #HumanIntelligence #TechFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#Anthropic Building a #PreCrime System to Surveil #AntiAI #Dissenters, Investigation Shows | Common Dreams
One legal expert said that as AI companies “become more hated, there’s more pressure on them to over-disclose knowing that some of the people they identify for law enforcement shouldn’t be targeted.”
by Brad Reed, September 9, 2026
"The American Prospect on Wednesday published an investigation revealing that top artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is building a predictive surveillance system aimed at tracking activists who are opposed to advanced AI development.
"The Prospect found that Anthropic last month issued a job posting seeking an intelligence specialist to “identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector.”
Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anthropic-pre-crime-surveillance#PreCrime #ThoughtCrime #AIResistance #ResistanceIsFertile #AISucks #CriminalizingDissent #TheResistance #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #HumanIntelligence #TechFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#Anthropic Building a #PreCrime System to Surveil #AntiAI #Dissenters, Investigation Shows | Common Dreams
One legal expert said that as AI companies “become more hated, there’s more pressure on them to over-disclose knowing that some of the people they identify for law enforcement shouldn’t be targeted.”
by Brad Reed, September 9, 2026
"The American Prospect on Wednesday published an investigation revealing that top artificial intelligence firm Anthropic is building a predictive surveillance system aimed at tracking activists who are opposed to advanced AI development.
"The Prospect found that Anthropic last month issued a job posting seeking an intelligence specialist to “identify, assess, track, and investigate global threats including geopolitical instability, terrorism, crime, activism, nation-state targeting of the AI sector.”
Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/anthropic-pre-crime-surveillance#PreCrime #ThoughtCrime #AIResistance #ResistanceIsFertile #AISucks #CriminalizingDissent #TheResistance #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #HumanIntelligence #TechFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Postal Service Rule Could Bar Millions From #VotingByMail
A judge temporarily blocked the agency from refusing to deliver ballots in #noncompliant states, which could disproportionately affect #Democrats and many battleground elections.
By Reid J. Epstein, Aug. 30, 2026
Excerpt: "Voting by mail would become much more difficult, if not impossible, for tens of millions of Americans if the #USPostalService is allowed to implement a restrictive rule governing mail voting that President Trump has demanded.
"The effects would likely be greater for #DemocraticVoters, who vote by mail in higher numbers than #Republicans, and in states where mail voting is universal or nearly so. #MailVoting may not happen at all in states that resist the #Trump administration’s demands for #VoterData .
"The rule would particularly affect people in #rural areas and #OlderVoters, who tend to cast ballots by mail in greater numbers. It could also deeply affect states where some of the most competitive races for House, Senate and governor will determine control of Congress and state governments.
" #Michigan, where 37 percent of votes were cast by mail in 2022, would be one epicenter, with hard-fought statewide contests and multiple battleground House races. #California, which mails ballots to all voters, is expected to be central to Democratic efforts to win a majority in the House.
"The rule is being challenged in several lawsuits, and it is on hold temporarily following a federal judge’s ruling on Thursday. The administration is appealing. Even if the Postal Service is permitted to proceed, it is unclear that it would have time to implement the plan ahead of an election that is fewer than 70 days away.
"For instance, the rule requires states to upload a list of voters to a federal mail ballot portal that is not yet online. Nearly two dozen Democratic-led states and #WashingtonDC , have sued to block the proposed rule and said they will not comply with it.
"If the agency were to move ahead, state and local officials would shoulder enormous costs in what would need to be a herculean effort to prepare election offices and educate voters in time for the midterm elections in November.
"The most dramatic aspect of the proposed rule is a plan to deny services for election mail entirely in states that do not turn over #VoterData, which federal officials say they want to use to identify noncitizens on state #VoterRolls. The policy would upend mail voting in any state that does not comply, but the effects would be measurably greater in the smaller number of states that rely heavily on mail voting.
"More than one in three Democrats voted by mail in 2024, compared with about one in four Republicans, according to estimates by the States United Democracy Center, which examined voting data in 32 states where it was available.
" 'It’s not that complicated,' said Marc Elias, the Democratic election lawyer, who said the new policy was a blatant effort to disenfranchise Democrats. 'The administration knows that Democrats are more likely to vote by mail than Republicans. Donald Trump has demonized voting by mail and made that differential even greater.' "
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/30/us/politics/mail-voting-trump-midterms-supreme-court.htmlArchived version:
https://archive.ph/3A3nw#USPol #Elections2026 #VoterDisenfranchisement #VoterIntimidation #Fascists #CharacteristicsOfFascism #LiteracyTests
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Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists
When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.”
Nick Turse, August 24 2026
Excerpt: "Under self-styled #WarSecretary #PeteHegseth, the U.S. military has mounted the most aggressive assault on #PressFreedom in memory, from an effort to outlaw 'unauthorized' questions from reporters to imposing unconstitutional restrictions on journalists’ access to the Pentagon. Hegseth has compared reporters to 'Pharisees,' who in the Bible call Jesus’s teachings into question, while the secretary’s minions regularly hurl insults at reporters. This is part of a broader war on press freedoms by the #TrumpAdministration, that includes demonizing #journalists; filing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or #SLAPPs, to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive legal proceedings; and employing grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to intimidate reporters.
" 'Threatening journalists with placement on a #blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn’t like is as #unconstitutional as it gets,' said Seth Stern, the director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation. 'This should put to rest the Pentagon’s prior claims that it’s anti-press policies — like its infamous requirement that reporters sign pledges to only print authorized information — are somehow content neutral.'
"Allee revealed the existence of the blacklist after this reporter was left on hold for more than two hours and complained about a long-standing lack of transparency by the command. In calls earlier that morning, Maj. Emma Thompson, #CENTCOM ’s media operations chief, repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, disparate U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights: 'Nothing for you,' 'Don’t have anything for you,' 'No comment.' Thompson then hung up on this reporter mid-question.
#TheIntercept called back multiple times until Allee picked up the phone. 'They’re not going to answer your call if you just keep calling and calling,' he told this reporter."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uPwYW#USPol #Censorship #SiliencingDissent #SilencingThePress #NoComment #Orwellian #MinistryOfTruth #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists
When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.”
Nick Turse, August 24 2026
Excerpt: "Under self-styled #WarSecretary #PeteHegseth, the U.S. military has mounted the most aggressive assault on #PressFreedom in memory, from an effort to outlaw 'unauthorized' questions from reporters to imposing unconstitutional restrictions on journalists’ access to the Pentagon. Hegseth has compared reporters to 'Pharisees,' who in the Bible call Jesus’s teachings into question, while the secretary’s minions regularly hurl insults at reporters. This is part of a broader war on press freedoms by the #TrumpAdministration, that includes demonizing #journalists; filing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or #SLAPPs, to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive legal proceedings; and employing grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to intimidate reporters.
" 'Threatening journalists with placement on a #blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn’t like is as #unconstitutional as it gets,' said Seth Stern, the director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation. 'This should put to rest the Pentagon’s prior claims that it’s anti-press policies — like its infamous requirement that reporters sign pledges to only print authorized information — are somehow content neutral.'
"Allee revealed the existence of the blacklist after this reporter was left on hold for more than two hours and complained about a long-standing lack of transparency by the command. In calls earlier that morning, Maj. Emma Thompson, #CENTCOM ’s media operations chief, repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, disparate U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights: 'Nothing for you,' 'Don’t have anything for you,' 'No comment.' Thompson then hung up on this reporter mid-question.
#TheIntercept called back multiple times until Allee picked up the phone. 'They’re not going to answer your call if you just keep calling and calling,' he told this reporter."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uPwYW#USPol #Censorship #SiliencingDissent #SilencingThePress #NoComment #Orwellian #MinistryOfTruth #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists
When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.”
Nick Turse, August 24 2026
Excerpt: "Under self-styled #WarSecretary #PeteHegseth, the U.S. military has mounted the most aggressive assault on #PressFreedom in memory, from an effort to outlaw 'unauthorized' questions from reporters to imposing unconstitutional restrictions on journalists’ access to the Pentagon. Hegseth has compared reporters to 'Pharisees,' who in the Bible call Jesus’s teachings into question, while the secretary’s minions regularly hurl insults at reporters. This is part of a broader war on press freedoms by the #TrumpAdministration, that includes demonizing #journalists; filing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or #SLAPPs, to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive legal proceedings; and employing grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to intimidate reporters.
" 'Threatening journalists with placement on a #blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn’t like is as #unconstitutional as it gets,' said Seth Stern, the director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation. 'This should put to rest the Pentagon’s prior claims that it’s anti-press policies — like its infamous requirement that reporters sign pledges to only print authorized information — are somehow content neutral.'
"Allee revealed the existence of the blacklist after this reporter was left on hold for more than two hours and complained about a long-standing lack of transparency by the command. In calls earlier that morning, Maj. Emma Thompson, #CENTCOM ’s media operations chief, repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, disparate U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights: 'Nothing for you,' 'Don’t have anything for you,' 'No comment.' Thompson then hung up on this reporter mid-question.
#TheIntercept called back multiple times until Allee picked up the phone. 'They’re not going to answer your call if you just keep calling and calling,' he told this reporter."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uPwYW#USPol #Censorship #SiliencingDissent #SilencingThePress #NoComment #Orwellian #MinistryOfTruth #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists
When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.”
Nick Turse, August 24 2026
Excerpt: "Under self-styled #WarSecretary #PeteHegseth, the U.S. military has mounted the most aggressive assault on #PressFreedom in memory, from an effort to outlaw 'unauthorized' questions from reporters to imposing unconstitutional restrictions on journalists’ access to the Pentagon. Hegseth has compared reporters to 'Pharisees,' who in the Bible call Jesus’s teachings into question, while the secretary’s minions regularly hurl insults at reporters. This is part of a broader war on press freedoms by the #TrumpAdministration, that includes demonizing #journalists; filing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or #SLAPPs, to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive legal proceedings; and employing grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to intimidate reporters.
" 'Threatening journalists with placement on a #blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn’t like is as #unconstitutional as it gets,' said Seth Stern, the director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation. 'This should put to rest the Pentagon’s prior claims that it’s anti-press policies — like its infamous requirement that reporters sign pledges to only print authorized information — are somehow content neutral.'
"Allee revealed the existence of the blacklist after this reporter was left on hold for more than two hours and complained about a long-standing lack of transparency by the command. In calls earlier that morning, Maj. Emma Thompson, #CENTCOM ’s media operations chief, repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, disparate U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights: 'Nothing for you,' 'Don’t have anything for you,' 'No comment.' Thompson then hung up on this reporter mid-question.
#TheIntercept called back multiple times until Allee picked up the phone. 'They’re not going to answer your call if you just keep calling and calling,' he told this reporter."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uPwYW#USPol #Censorship #SiliencingDissent #SilencingThePress #NoComment #Orwellian #MinistryOfTruth #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Pentagon Spokesperson Admits There’s a Secret Blacklist of Journalists
When pressed about the Iran war, a CENTCOM press official threatened to put an Intercept reporter on a “list of people to disregard.”
Nick Turse, August 24 2026
Excerpt: "Under self-styled #WarSecretary #PeteHegseth, the U.S. military has mounted the most aggressive assault on #PressFreedom in memory, from an effort to outlaw 'unauthorized' questions from reporters to imposing unconstitutional restrictions on journalists’ access to the Pentagon. Hegseth has compared reporters to 'Pharisees,' who in the Bible call Jesus’s teachings into question, while the secretary’s minions regularly hurl insults at reporters. This is part of a broader war on press freedoms by the #TrumpAdministration, that includes demonizing #journalists; filing so-called strategic lawsuits against public participation, or #SLAPPs, to intimidate and silence criticism through expensive legal proceedings; and employing grand jury subpoenas and search warrants to intimidate reporters.
" 'Threatening journalists with placement on a #blacklist in retaliation for reporting the government doesn’t like is as #unconstitutional as it gets,' said Seth Stern, the director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation. 'This should put to rest the Pentagon’s prior claims that it’s anti-press policies — like its infamous requirement that reporters sign pledges to only print authorized information — are somehow content neutral.'
"Allee revealed the existence of the blacklist after this reporter was left on hold for more than two hours and complained about a long-standing lack of transparency by the command. In calls earlier that morning, Maj. Emma Thompson, #CENTCOM ’s media operations chief, repeatedly refused to answer questions about Iranian attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, disparate U.S. casualty counts, and medical evacuation flights: 'Nothing for you,' 'Don’t have anything for you,' 'No comment.' Thompson then hung up on this reporter mid-question.
#TheIntercept called back multiple times until Allee picked up the phone. 'They’re not going to answer your call if you just keep calling and calling,' he told this reporter."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/24/pentagon-military-journalist-blacklist-press-media/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uPwYW#USPol #Censorship #SiliencingDissent #SilencingThePress #NoComment #Orwellian #MinistryOfTruth #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#US Manufactured Crimes and Spied on Peaceful #Protesters During #Minneapolis Metro Surge, New Court Filing Reveals
By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 14, 2026
MINNEAPOLIS -- "While #Dakotas were praying at a #SacredSpring for those held in federal detention at the #WhippleBuilding in Minneapolis -- the U.S. government was spying on, and stalking, the #WhippleWatchers, a new court document reveals.
"The government is refusing to release all of its documents on its surveillance of those watching the Whipple building. The Whipple building is on the site of a former concentration camp, where Dakota and Ho Chunk were imprisoned, suffered and died.
" 'The government admits withholding at least five #ProjectWhippleShield #ROIs (Reports of Investigation) from the initial disclosures,' the court filing states.
"In the current case, the court document for discovery filed yesterday describes how the U.S. government spied on and tracked peaceful protesters during the #resistance to #OperationMetroSurge.
"Not only were peaceful protesters spied on, #stalked and #doxxed, but the #surveillance was carried out to #ManufactureCrimes when none existed, states the court document filed by a defense attorney for one of the government's targets."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08/us-manufactured-crimes-and-spied-on.html#Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent
#CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity -
Documents show federal surveillance operation in #Minnesota targeted #progressive groups, #unions
By TIM SULLIVAN and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Updated 11:02 PM EDT, August 13, 2026MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — "Federal agents launched a sweeping undercover surveillance operation earlier this year targeting progressive organizations, labor unions and other groups protesting the immigration crackdown then raging through Minneapolis, according to court documents filed Thursday.
"The program, dubbed #OperationPuppetMaster, was aimed at what officials called a network of conspirators helping 'violent opportunists and agitators.' The documents were filed in a case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors in June with impeding the crackdown, accusing them of conspiring against the federal government through a range of actions, from throwing ice chunks to setting up blockades.
"The government documents were released Thursday in connection with a motion from a defense lawyer in the case, #KevinRiach, who requested that officials disclose more material collected during the investigations.
"The reality, according to government documents revealed in court motions, was Department of Homeland Security officers infiltrating meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally protected protests.
"A statement from the department said Homeland Security Investigations doesn’t comment on the existence or status of on-going investigations or investigative methods. The statement referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, which didn’t immediately respond to an after-hours email from The Associated Press."
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent
#CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity -
‘Outrageous’: #Trump Officials Investigated #LeftWing Groups After #AlexPretti Killing in #Minneapolis
One #FirstAmendment advocacy group called the investigation a “disturbing, invasive, and utterly unjustifiable attack on freedom of expression and political dissent.”
Julia Conley
Aug 13, 2026"The Trump administration began the probe under the auspices of investigating whether the groups had provided 'help and money,' as the Times reported, to people who had participated in protests across the #MinneapolisSaintPaul area, where tens of thousands of residents rallied against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) and defended their neighbors from immigration raids last winter.
"Newly released government documents, which were uncovered after an attorney filed a motion with the federal District Court in Minnesota demanding information about the DHS investigation, show that the agency characterized the protesters who opposed ICE as 'violent opportunists and agitators.'
"The investigation included #DHS’ use of administrative subpoenas to obtain financial records from #SunriseMovement, Communications Workers of America [ #CWA ], and the #SEIU, scrutinizing what the agency called 'domestic terrorist financing.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-left-wing
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
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Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#FlockCameras Can Track Every Car in America. #Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t.
In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.
By Fernando Alfonso III and Kashmir Hill
Aug. 10, 2026Excerpt: "A #Texas officer used Flock’s cameras to track a woman across state lines who was suspected of self-administering an abortion. Officers across the country have abused their access to Flock’s cameras, including to track romantic partners, resulting in discipline and termination. #LosAngeles and #DaytonOH , among other cities, recently suspended their contracts with Flock to prevent immigration authorities from accessing data from the cameras. Dayton resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags. In cities like Houston, Oakland, Calif., and Grand Junction, Colo., residents have taken matters into their own hands, with police reports and surveillance footage documenting Flock cameras being cut down, splattered with paint and even shot.
"Flock’s pitch is simple: It can help the police find stolen cars, locate wanted people and solve crimes. One license-plate reader led to the arrest in Florida of a man who had threatened a mass shooting in Louisiana; another helped police find the man eventually convicted in an assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.
"But as its cameras have spread, so has the opposition. Americans are accustomed to surveillance cameras. They put them on their doorbells and tolerate them on street corners, offices and restaurants. What sets Flock’s cameras apart is that they are connected, creating a vast, searchable national network — often surprising residents who didn’t realize their local governments had signed up for them and raising fears of #BigBrother style surveillance. And they are hard to miss once you start noticing them."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3PnB8#USPol #ACAB #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #Orwellian #PoliceState #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#FlockCameras Can Track Every Car in America. #Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t.
In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.
By Fernando Alfonso III and Kashmir Hill
Aug. 10, 2026Excerpt: "A #Texas officer used Flock’s cameras to track a woman across state lines who was suspected of self-administering an abortion. Officers across the country have abused their access to Flock’s cameras, including to track romantic partners, resulting in discipline and termination. #LosAngeles and #DaytonOH , among other cities, recently suspended their contracts with Flock to prevent immigration authorities from accessing data from the cameras. Dayton resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags. In cities like Houston, Oakland, Calif., and Grand Junction, Colo., residents have taken matters into their own hands, with police reports and surveillance footage documenting Flock cameras being cut down, splattered with paint and even shot.
"Flock’s pitch is simple: It can help the police find stolen cars, locate wanted people and solve crimes. One license-plate reader led to the arrest in Florida of a man who had threatened a mass shooting in Louisiana; another helped police find the man eventually convicted in an assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.
"But as its cameras have spread, so has the opposition. Americans are accustomed to surveillance cameras. They put them on their doorbells and tolerate them on street corners, offices and restaurants. What sets Flock’s cameras apart is that they are connected, creating a vast, searchable national network — often surprising residents who didn’t realize their local governments had signed up for them and raising fears of #BigBrother style surveillance. And they are hard to miss once you start noticing them."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3PnB8#USPol #ACAB #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #Orwellian #PoliceState #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#FlockCameras Can Track Every Car in America. #Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t.
In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.
By Fernando Alfonso III and Kashmir Hill
Aug. 10, 2026Excerpt: "A #Texas officer used Flock’s cameras to track a woman across state lines who was suspected of self-administering an abortion. Officers across the country have abused their access to Flock’s cameras, including to track romantic partners, resulting in discipline and termination. #LosAngeles and #DaytonOH , among other cities, recently suspended their contracts with Flock to prevent immigration authorities from accessing data from the cameras. Dayton resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags. In cities like Houston, Oakland, Calif., and Grand Junction, Colo., residents have taken matters into their own hands, with police reports and surveillance footage documenting Flock cameras being cut down, splattered with paint and even shot.
"Flock’s pitch is simple: It can help the police find stolen cars, locate wanted people and solve crimes. One license-plate reader led to the arrest in Florida of a man who had threatened a mass shooting in Louisiana; another helped police find the man eventually convicted in an assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.
"But as its cameras have spread, so has the opposition. Americans are accustomed to surveillance cameras. They put them on their doorbells and tolerate them on street corners, offices and restaurants. What sets Flock’s cameras apart is that they are connected, creating a vast, searchable national network — often surprising residents who didn’t realize their local governments had signed up for them and raising fears of #BigBrother style surveillance. And they are hard to miss once you start noticing them."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3PnB8#USPol #ACAB #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #Orwellian #PoliceState #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#FlockCameras Can Track Every Car in America. #Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t.
In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.
By Fernando Alfonso III and Kashmir Hill
Aug. 10, 2026Excerpt: "A #Texas officer used Flock’s cameras to track a woman across state lines who was suspected of self-administering an abortion. Officers across the country have abused their access to Flock’s cameras, including to track romantic partners, resulting in discipline and termination. #LosAngeles and #DaytonOH , among other cities, recently suspended their contracts with Flock to prevent immigration authorities from accessing data from the cameras. Dayton resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags. In cities like Houston, Oakland, Calif., and Grand Junction, Colo., residents have taken matters into their own hands, with police reports and surveillance footage documenting Flock cameras being cut down, splattered with paint and even shot.
"Flock’s pitch is simple: It can help the police find stolen cars, locate wanted people and solve crimes. One license-plate reader led to the arrest in Florida of a man who had threatened a mass shooting in Louisiana; another helped police find the man eventually convicted in an assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.
"But as its cameras have spread, so has the opposition. Americans are accustomed to surveillance cameras. They put them on their doorbells and tolerate them on street corners, offices and restaurants. What sets Flock’s cameras apart is that they are connected, creating a vast, searchable national network — often surprising residents who didn’t realize their local governments had signed up for them and raising fears of #BigBrother style surveillance. And they are hard to miss once you start noticing them."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3PnB8#USPol #ACAB #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #Orwellian #PoliceState #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#FlockCameras Can Track Every Car in America. #Police Love Them. Citizens Don’t.
In Texas, there’s one thing liberals and conservatives agree on: They don’t want cameras trained on their cars.
By Fernando Alfonso III and Kashmir Hill
Aug. 10, 2026Excerpt: "A #Texas officer used Flock’s cameras to track a woman across state lines who was suspected of self-administering an abortion. Officers across the country have abused their access to Flock’s cameras, including to track romantic partners, resulting in discipline and termination. #LosAngeles and #DaytonOH , among other cities, recently suspended their contracts with Flock to prevent immigration authorities from accessing data from the cameras. Dayton resorted to covering the cameras with trash bags. In cities like Houston, Oakland, Calif., and Grand Junction, Colo., residents have taken matters into their own hands, with police reports and surveillance footage documenting Flock cameras being cut down, splattered with paint and even shot.
"Flock’s pitch is simple: It can help the police find stolen cars, locate wanted people and solve crimes. One license-plate reader led to the arrest in Florida of a man who had threatened a mass shooting in Louisiana; another helped police find the man eventually convicted in an assassination attempt against Donald J. Trump.
"But as its cameras have spread, so has the opposition. Americans are accustomed to surveillance cameras. They put them on their doorbells and tolerate them on street corners, offices and restaurants. What sets Flock’s cameras apart is that they are connected, creating a vast, searchable national network — often surprising residents who didn’t realize their local governments had signed up for them and raising fears of #BigBrother style surveillance. And they are hard to miss once you start noticing them."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3PnB8#USPol #ACAB #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #Orwellian #PoliceState #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Fast forward to 2026...
#EFF - Lawmakers Must Act Now to Prevent #ArmedPoliceDrones
By Matthew Guariglia
June 26, 2026"This is not science fiction. It’s not premature. If towns, cities, states, or the federal government want to act to rein in the emergence of armed police drones and robots, we have precious little time. In the absence of substantial regulation around when and how domestic law enforcement in the United States can deploy force using drones, the companies that markets technology to law enforcement have been moving. It’s past time concerned people take notice. Cities should not procure weaponized drones or robots, and multi-purpose drones and robots should be restricted from causing harm.
"Since 2021, EFF has been advocating against the use of armed robots or drones by law enforcement. This call has become more urgent as companies are moving in to take advantage of the lax regulatory landscape.
"This month, two disturbing developments raised concerns that we might be on the verge of a larger trend of drone militarization. The first is that the CEO of Skydio, one of the most prolific vendors of police drones in the United States, signaled that the company has a more permissive attitude toward arming their drones in some contexts than many people expected. When asked on a podcast about the public perception that the company had restrictions around letting the military arm their drones, CEO Adam Bry said, 'This is an area where I’ve gotten some things wrong. We said some things previously that led folks externally and internally to believe that, for example, we would prevent the military from putting weapons on our drones […] It’s very easy to sit back in a Silicon Valley office and think that we’re very smart, that we know the technology, and the idea of using it for X, Y, or Z thing seems evil or bad, so we’re going to write a policy or ban people from doing it. I think that’s ultimately misguided.'
"Simply put: he is signaling that #Skydio will not implement restrictions on their customers’ use of their devices.
"Bry was specifically asked about the military arming drones but the question reveals a disturbing truth: whether police arm drones domestically is currently based more on the internal ethical commitments of companies than it is any laws created by elected officials. Combining Skydio’s huge amount of police contracts, including supplying entire fleets for Drone as First Responders ( #DFR ) programs, and the tendency of military technologies like #surveillance aerostats to get redeployed on U.S. soil, creates a real recipe for the emergence of armed police drones."
Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/lawmakers-must-act-now-prevent-armed-police-drones#SurveillanceState #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ArmedPoliceDrones #PoliceDrones
#ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
#CompliantTechnologies #CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol -
Drones have been on my radar screen (pun intended) for quite a few years...
Don’t Let Police Arm Autonomous or Remote-Controlled Robots and Drones
By Matthew Guariglia
July 16, 2021"It’s no longer science fiction or unreasonable paranoia. Now, it needs to be said: No, police must not be arming land-based robots or aerial drones. That’s true whether these mobile devices are remote controlled by a person or autonomously controlled by artificial intelligence, and whether the weapons are maximally lethal (like bullets) or less lethal (like tear gas). [Or #ElectricShockGloves !]
"Police currently deploy many different kinds of moving and task-performing technologies. These include flying drones, remote control bomb-defusing robots, and autonomous patrol robots. While these different devices serve different functions and operate differently, none of them--absolutely none of them--should be armed with any kind of weapon.
"Mission creep is very real. Time and time again, technologies given to police to use only in the most extreme circumstances make their way onto streets during protests or to respond to petty crime. For example, cell site simulators (often called ' #Stingrays ') were developed for use in foreign battlefields, brought home in the name of fighting 'terrorism,' then used by law enforcement to catch immigrants and a man who stole $57 worth of food. Likewise, police have targeted #BLM #protesters with #FaceSurveillance and #AmazonRing doorbell cameras.
"Today, scientists are developing an #AI enhanced #AutonomousDrone, designed to find people during natural disasters by locating their screams. How long until police use this technology to find protesters shouting chants? What if these autonomous drones were armed? We need a clear red line now: no armed police drones, period.
"There are already law enforcement robots and drones of all shapes, sizes, and levels of autonomy patrolling the United States as we speak. From autonomous #Knightscope robots prowling for 'suspicious behavior' and collecting images of license plates [ #FlockCameras ] and phone identifying information, to #BostonDynamic robotic dogs accompanying police on calls in New York or checking the temperature of unhoused people in Honolulu, to #PredatorSurveillanceDrones flying over BLM protests in #Minneapolis.
"We are moving quickly towards arming such robots and letting autonomous artificial intelligence determine whether or not to pull the trigger."
#ICESucks #SurveillanceState #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ArmedPoliceDrones #PoliceDrones
#ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
#CompliantTechnologies #CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol -
Oh great... Now we're in the #THX1138 phase of #Fascism!
#ICE #ElectricShockGloves Spark Alarm as $20M Plan Lets Officers Deliver Silent Pain by a Button
The device's own maker bars its use on children, pregnant women, the elderly, or as punishment
By Jim Manzon
Published 12 August 2026, 8:00 AM BST"The product is called the G.L.O.V.E., short for Generated Low Output Voltage Emitter. It looks and works like a standard patrol glove until an officer flips a switch that activates its electrical mode.
"The glove must touch a person's bare skin to deliver its jolt. The manufacturer says the shock usually forces compliance within seconds. Unlike a stun gun, it carries no barbs or projectiles, so it leaves little visible evidence behind."
[...]
"Jenn Rolnick Borchetta, deputy project director on policing at the American Civil Liberties Union (#ACLU), said the public should have no confidence the devices will be used appropriately. She questioned why civil immigration enforcement needs shock tools, and warned that people being shocked may get no notice."
Learn more:
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/ice-shock-gloves-civil-rights-concerns-1813689#ICESucks #DefundICE #DefundDHS #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity #CompliantTechnologies #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ACAB #USPol
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Um, looks like #USGovt is looking to imprison more folks -- #shoplifters! Like, parents who can't afford food for their kids because of #TrumpsWar ! #Homeless folks, #veterans , #protestors -- they are all on the *list* too!
Congress Might Give ICE the Power to Go After Shoplifters
A bill intended to halt the supposed threat of “organized retail crime” would put ICE in charge of the federal response.
by Sam Biddle
August 7 2026, 7:17 a.m. ET"To counter the purported national scourge of 'organized retail crime,' a bill moving through Congress would deliver the Department of Homeland Security unprecedented policing powers, granting even more authority to what experts say is an already lawless ICE."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/07/congress-ice-shoplifting-theft-surveillance/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/gMIHt#USPol #DetentionCenters #HungerGames #DefundICE #DefundDHS #WarOnIran #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CORCA #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
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She protested #ICERaids. Then agents showed up at her door
by Meg Anderson, August 3, 2026
"Early one morning this June, #TreasureThoreson was drinking coffee on her couch in #Minneapolis when she heard a knock at the front door.
" 'I go and I see a woman standing there in office clothes, but with a Homeland Security vest over the top. And I see six more agents standing in my front yard,' Thoreson told NPR. "She said, 'We have a warrant for your arrest, for conspiracy.' "
"Thoreson, a special education teacher, was still in her pajamas. The agent let her change clothes and hug her partner goodbye before taking her into custody.
"The government charged Thoreson and 14 others with engaging in a conspiracy to impede federal agents — a conspiracy it says culminated in the use of blockades outside the Whipple Federal Building, which served as ICE's headquarters during the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota this past winter.
"The government cited meetings and conversations on the encrypted messaging app #Signal as evidence. At the advice of her lawyer, Thoreson declined to comment on the specifics of the indictment.
An increasing trend
"The charges against Thoreson are part of an escalating trend. NPR reviewed court records from the last five years to examine how the federal government is wielding one specific charge: conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, which can carry a sentence of up to six years in federal prison.
"The statute, which dates back to the Civil War, has historically been used infrequently. But since President #Trump took office last year, the Justice Department has charged more than three dozen people in at least 10 cases. All of them involve people protesting federal immigration enforcement.
The government has also indicted nearly 50 people on #conspiracy charges in #Michigan, #Texas and #Minnesota using different legal statutes."
Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/03/nx-s1-5886263/ice-dhs-immigration-enforcement-conspiracy-arrests#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CriminalizingDissent #SilencingDissent #ICESucks #DefundICE #TrumpSucks #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
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#ICE Arrests Surge at #Airports, Opening New Front in Deportation Drive
Federal agents are arresting spouses of Americans, tech workers and others whose visas have expired, including many who have active applications to stay in the country.
By Hamed Aleaziz and Miriam Jordan
July 28, 2026Excerpt: "The Trump administration has begun arresting foreign citizens with expired U.S. visas as they travel through airports, including spouses of Americans, according to documents obtained by The New York Times and interviews with immigration lawyers — a tactic that opens up a vast new pool of people for deportation.
"Immigration agents in plain clothes have whisked away targets at check-in counters and arrival gates, with enforcement actions in at least 15 airports in recent weeks. Some of the arrests have occurred quietly, while others have happened as angry fellow passengers filmed the encounters.
"The recent arrests appear to be an expansion of an arrangement between the Transportation Security Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The Times reported in December that ICE officers were arresting people with deportation orders at airports with the help of information provided by airlines to the T.S.A.
"Now, through a review of #HomelandSecurity Department documents and interviews with lawyers for more than 25 people from more than a dozen countries recently detained at airports, The Times has learned that the program apparently now includes people with expired visas — a much larger group.
Hundreds of thousands of immigrants and visitors overstay visas each year. Many with expired visas occupy a legal gray area, as they are awaiting #VisaExtensions or #GreenCards and have been issued work permits. Such individuals were not prioritized for deportation in the past unless they had committed crimes, and they were rarely detained while waiting for visa extensions or green cards. But that has changed under President #Trump, whose administration has undertaken a campaign of mass deportation and views all visa overstays as illegal." 'This administration is working diligently to ensure that aliens in our country illegally can no longer fly unless it is out of our country to self-deport,' a spokesperson for the Homeland Security Department said in a statement. The agency did not confirm the expansion of the program.
"The department, which oversees ICE, has not disclosed how many people have been detained at airports as overstays under the new initiative. The arrests come during a period in which the White House has pushed ICE for more arrests across the country, and Homeland Security Secretary #MarkwayneMullin has pledged to turn 'up the heat on the streets.' To that end, the administration has set a target of 2,000 immigration arrests a day, roughly double the pace from earlier this year.
"Interviews with more than a dozen immigration attorneys, advocacy organizations and an airline employee reveal a broad cross-section of targets: an engineer awaiting a work-visa extension, several newlyweds married to U.S. citizens, and a former au pair.
"Footage of encounters between travelers and ICE officers have flooded social media. In one widely circulated video, Chantal Morales Rojas, a 27-year-old from Ecuador, was detained by plainclothes officers as she boarded a Southwest Airlines flight from Denver to Oakland, Calif., on July 20. She had been spending the weekend with the family for whom she had worked as an au pair, according to the family."
Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/28/us/ice-arrests-airports-visa-overstay.htmlArchived version:
https://archive.ph/brvNl#ICESucks #USPol #WorldPol #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #TSA #TrumpSucks #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
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Congress members join protest against #oligarch’s dinner for #Trump thrown by Ellisons
#Paramount #Skydance CEO fetes administration as it weighs $110bn merger with CNN parent #WarnerBros Discovery
Jeremy Barr in Washington
Thu 23 Apr 2026 20.43 EDT"Dozens of protesters, including members of Congress, gathered along the National Mall on Thursday to protest an 'intimate' dinner being held by #ParamountSkydance’s chief executive, #DavidEllison, 'in celebration of the first amendment' and 'honoring the Trump White House and CBS White House correspondents', and attended by Donald Trump.
"Paramount has faced criticism for the dinner, which has been seen by some as illustrative of the cozy relationship between the #Ellisons and the White House – right as the Trump administration is weighing whether to approve the company’s $110bn merger with CNN parent company #WarnerBrosDiscovery ( #WBD ). The dinner comes before Saturday’s White House correspondents’ dinner, which Trump will attend. His defense secretary, #PeteHegseth, is expected to sit at one of the many tables bought by CBS News for the event.
"Earlier Thursday, WBD shareholders voted 'overwhelmingly' to approve the merger, which will still require approval from the Department of Justice and European regulators.
"The US representative Jamie Raskin, who has been vocal in his criticism of the Ellisons’ ownership of CBS News, referred to the event as 'a lavish oligarch’s dinner for Donald Trump'.
" 'We’re gathered here together tonight [because] in the building behind us, David Ellison is hosting a dinner to honor President Trump, a dinner that’s designed to cement the Ellisons to the president in their years-running corrupt merger scheme,' Raskin said."
Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/23/david-ellison-trump-dinner-paramount-skydance-cnnArchived version:
https://archive.ph/hQ6Ku#USPol #PowerCorruptionAndLies #CorporateSuckUps #Oligarchy #Fascism #SilencingDissent #SilencingCriticism #OligarchsDinner #Oligarchs4Dinner #EatTheRich #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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In today's episode of #PowerCorruptionAndLies...
"Sen. #JohnCornyn, R-Texas, reversed himself on the Senate filibuster Wednesday after years of unflinching support for the 60-vote threshold to pass most bills.
"Now, locked in a competitive Republican runoff for his Senate seat and eyeing President Donald #Trump's endorsement, Cornyn says he'll support 'whatever changes to Senate rules that may prove necessary' to pass the #SAVEAmericaAct, a sweeping election overhaul bill that Trump has called his No. 1 priority."
#SAVEAct #VoterDisenfranchisement #USPol #GOPNazis #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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#ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, monthslong expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
February 10, 2026
Excerpt: "As of January, ICE’s expansion is heavily concentrated in a few key states. #Texas has at least 9 leasing projects underway. In #Harlingen, located near the US border with Mexico, a lease has been awarded at 222 East Van Buren, in the same building as the city’s Department of Labor–aligned outpost. (ICE has already detained dozens of Harlingen-area residents.) In the #Woodlands, a district near #Houston, ICE appears poised to move into an office building at 1780 Hughes Landing Boulevard, blocks away from a Primrose preschool. In #ElPaso, ICE is moving into the Epicenter Office Community, a large campus of buildings right off Interstate 10 near many local health providers and other businesses. In #SanAntonio, ICE is considering a move into a building located at 15727 Anthem Parkway, near apartment buildings, dozens of restaurants, and the Methodist Hospital Landmark. In #EaglePass, ICE appears to be looking at a move into a building at 3381 US Highway 277, where at least one government office—the Drug Enforcement Administration—is already located.
"A Trump administration official recently told WIRED that #California and #NewYork are 'next' for the type of fraud investigation that culminated in 3,000 ICE agents in Minneapolis. At least seven leasing projects are underway in California. In #Sacramento, ICE has installed security features at the John E. Moss building ahead of further expansion. The location is already the site of a Justice Department immigration court. In Irvine, a city in Orange County located an hour’s drive from #LosAngeles, ICE is moving into offices on 2020 Main Street, located right next to the airport and a childcare agency. In #VanNuys, a neighborhood of Los Angeles, ICE is expanding its offices at the James C. Corman federal building that also has offices for the IRS and Health and Human Services. Further expansion of ICE offices is also underway throughout the state, in federal buildings in Los Angeles, at San Diego’s Edward J. Schwartz Courthouse and federal building, and in Santa Ana’s federal building. The #SantaAna federal building is located within blocks of a church, the stadium for one of the nation's top high school football programs, and many government services.
"In New York and #NewJersey, ICE is expanding its physical footprint rapidly. In #RoselandNJ, less than an hour’s drive from New York City, ICE is moving into a building at 5 Becker Farm Road. The building is located near the Roseland Child Development Center. In #WoodburyNY, a hamlet in #LongIsland, ICE is moving into offices located at 88 Froehlich Farm Boulevard, near an expedited passport center. In #NewWindsor, New York, a town within driving distance of New York City along the Hudson River known for the Storm King Art Center, ICE is moving into offices at 843 Union Avenue. All three of these locations are within an hour and a half from a warehouse in #ChesterNY, that DHS is pursuing as an immigrant detention center.
"The same pattern plays out in dozens of other cities across the US. ICE’s expansion includes not just its own preexisting space—or sharing an office with other government agencies—but also situates its agents near sensitive civilian locations.
"That often includes places of worship. In #Hyattsville, Maryland, ICE is expanding its offices at the Metro 1 building on 6505 Belcrest Road, which sits a few blocks from a Lutheran church. In #Tennessee, OPLA is planning to move into the #Nashville House office building, a business center in the city near multiple churches. The #OneCityCenter building in #PortlandME, where ICE plans to expand its offices, is within walking distance to at least six churches, a mosque, one synagogue, and a Salvation Army adult rehab center. [Good to know. We'll be there protesting!]
"Several planned ICE office spaces are located near schools and early-childhood care centers. ICE is poised to move into a building on 1000 Westlakes Drive in the #Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, suburb of #Berwyn; the Hillside Elementary School is about a mile away. In #Hartford, Connecticut, OPLA is poised to expand existing ICE office space in the Abraham A. Ribicoff federal building, which sits two blocks from the Betances elementary school. Back in Tennessee, ICE is ready to move into offices at 5904 Ridgeway Center Parkway in Memphis, in a building near the private all-girls Hutchison School. In the #ColumbusOH, suburb of #Westerville, OPLA appears ready to move into a small office building at 774 Park Meadow, near the Oakstone Academy High School. In #MeridianID ICE is moving into the Portico at Meridian Center, which is located near the Spalding STEM Academy high school. And in #OakbrookIL, a suburb of #Chicago, ICE is moving into the Oakbrook Gateway, an office building located near both a Bright Horizons daycare center and a hospice center.
"Many other planned locations are near hospitals and medical offices. In #YorkPA, ICE’s OPLA division has leased space at Yorktowne Medical, a facility with multiple medical offices. In #ColumbiaSC, ICE is poised to move into offices at 1441 Main Street, which sits blocks away from the Prisma Health Baptist Hospital. In #NaplesFL, ICE is poised to move into offices at 75 Vineyards Boulevard, close to Physicians Regional Pine Ridge campus hospital.
"Other locations appear to be strategically situated near buildings that ICE either currently uses or could use to detain immigrants. The #Hyattsville location is about an hour and a half from a warehouse DHS recently purchased that ICE has said will be used to detain immigrants, as is a second office marked for OPLA use in #CockeysvilleMD.
"Among the many ICE leasing projects underway in Florida is Research Commons, a building located in #Orlando at 12249 Science Drive that’s less than 25 minutes away from another warehouse identified by the Post as a potential large-scale detention center. The York, #Pennsylvania, location is also an hour and 20 minutes away from a warehouse recently purchased by ICE for nearly $90 million that a Republican congressman said will be used as a processing and immigrant detention facility.
"In Alexandria, Louisiana, ICE is moving into a building on 1201 3rd Street, located right in the city’s historic downtown center and a 16-minute drive from the Alexandria Staging Facility, where immigrants have been detained, transferred, and then deported.
"#AlexandriaLA has emerged as a key location for ICE’s activities in the state and around the country, and an investigation from The Guardian alleged a pattern of abuse and alleged due process violations at the Alexandria facility that’s operated as a deportation 'hub.'
"This is just a sampling of the dozens and dozens of lease locations in the process of being awarded to ICE in every single GSA leasing region, which spans the entire country and US territories. ICE agents and officers will share buildings with doctors, restaurants, and businesses. They’ll expand existing offices and move in with unrelated government agencies—at 801 Arch Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for example, they’ll share space with the DMV."
Read more:
https://www.wired.com/story/ice-expansion-across-us-at-heres-where-its-going-next/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/BQfRW#USPol #DefundICE #DefundDHS #BorderPatrol #MurderPatrol #DetentionCenters #ICERaids #Terrorism #ICESucks #TrumpSucks #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Why Isn’t News of #Trump Building Vast #ConcentrationCamps Being Treated as a #NationalEmergency?
History shows us that once a nation builds a #MassDetention apparatus, it never remains limited to its original targets. Wake up, people.
by #ThomHartmann, Feb 05, 2026
Excerpt: "The British originated the term '#ConcentrationCamp' to describe facilities where '#rebel' or 'undesirable' civilians were held in #SouthAfrica during the #SecondAngloBoerWar (1899–1902) to control and punish a #rebellious population.
"They were facilities where the 'bad elements of society' were 'concentrated' into one location so they could be easily controlled and would lose access to society and thus could not spread their messages of #resistance against the #BritishEmpire.
"Future generations of Americans—our children and grandchildren—won’t ask us whether #ICE followed civil detention statutes: they’ll want to know why we allowed concentration camps to exist in America at all.
"The Germans adopted the term in 1933 when #Hitler took power and created his first camp for #communists, #socialists, #UnioLleaders, and, by the end of the year, Hitler’s #PoliticalOpponents. They Germanized the phrase into '#Konzentrationslager' and referred to the process of their incarceration as 'protective custody.'
"The first camp was built at #Dachau just weeks after Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, and by the end of the year there were around 70 of them operating across the country."
#USPol #WakeUpPeople #HistoryRepeats #Fascism #Authoritarianism #DetentionCenters
#PrivatePrisons #CriminalizingDissent
#SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity -
#IlhanOmar: #Trump's ‘obsession' is ‘#creepy and unhealthy' as raids expand
Jason K. Morrell
Thu, December 4, 2025 at 7:17 AM EST"Two major federal #immigration operations were underway Wednesday in #Minneapolis and #NewOrleans. They unfolded just as President Donald Trump delivered new attacks on Somali immigrants and on Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar.
"#CivilRights groups say the timing and rhetoric are escalating fear in immigrant communities already bracing for enforcement actions.
Omar responds to Trump's comments
"Trump on Wednesday launched a new round of criticism aimed at #Somali immigrants, Minnesota's largest immigrant community. He told reporters that 'Somalians should be out of here" and claimed they had "destroyed our country.'
"He said Somalia was 'not even a nation' and that he hoped never to visit, drawing condemnation from Minneapolis officials.
"The president then turned his ire to Omar, who is #SomaliAmerican and a frequent target his attacks. He said, "You have her talking about ‘The constitution provides me with …' Go back to your own country and figure out your constitution.'
"Omar responded, saying, 'Our president's obsession with me and the Somali community really is creepy and unhealthy.'
"She added that her constituents 'are not going to be scapegoated' and 'are here to stay.'
"NBC News reporting indicates federal officials are preparing an enforcement operation in Minnesota that could focus heavily on Somali immigrants living unlawfully in the U.S.
Raids already underway in Minneapolis
"Federal immigration agents began operations in Minneapolis just hours before Trump made the comments. Officials say they are targeting immigrants accused of serious crimes, though advocates warn the sweeps are casting a much wider net.
What's happening in New Orleans
"In #NewOrleans, specifically in #Kenner, a suburb with one of #Louisiana's largest #Hispanic populations, residents saw #BorderPatrol agents in marked and unmarked vehicles driving slowly through neighborhoods, gas stations and big-box store parking lots, according to the Associated Press and NBC News.
"Reporters observed agents stopping at least one man mowing a lawn and surrounding another home where a man climbed onto the roof until officers eventually left. Many agents wore Border Patrol identifiers but had their faces covered.
"A #DHS official said the New Orleans surge is aimed at immigrants accused of crimes including home invasion, armed robbery, grand theft auto and rape. The agency has blamed 'sanctuary-style' local policies for allowing some people with ICE detainers to be released from custody.
Fear across immigrant neighborhoods
"The tactics have rattled families across #JeffersonParish and surrounding communities.
"A #Honduran immigrant told Noticias Telemundo he has avoided leaving his home for two weeks.
" 'We've stopped going to work because our fear is that we'll be stopped,' he said."
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/ilhan-omar-trumps-obsession-creepy-121756009.html
#SanctuaryCities #USPol #ICETerrorism #ICESucks #MurderPatrol #TooManyCreeps #TrumpIsACreep #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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Firm Tied to #KristiNoem Secretly Got Money From $220 Million #DHS Ad #Contracts
The company is run by the husband of Noem’s chief DHS spokesperson and has personal and business ties to Noem and her aides. DHS invoked the “emergency” at the border to skirt competitive bidding rules for the taxpayer-funded campaign.
by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski
November 14, 2025Excerpt: "No firm has closer ties to Noem’s political operation than the #StrategyGroup. It played a central role in her 2022 South Dakota gubernatorial campaign. Corey Lewandowski, her top adviser at DHS, has worked extensively with the firm. And the company’s CEO is married to Noem’s chief spokesperson at DHS, Tricia McLaughlin.
"The Strategy Group’s ad work is the first known example of money flowing from Noem’s agency to businesses controlled by her allies and friends."
Read more:
https://www.propublica.org/article/kristi-noem-dhs-ad-campaign-strategy-group#USPol #Corruption #RexElsass #BenYoho #ChristoFascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #PowerCorruptionAndLies
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#SupremeCourt Lets #Trump Enact His #Authoritarian Agenda on Its ‘#ShadowDocket’
The right-wing-dominated Supreme Court keeps greenlighting Trump’s most authoritarian actions without even bothering to give us an explanation
By Mike Sacks, July 27, 2025
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/xAZk2#USPol #Trump #Authoritarianism #Fascism #NaziRegime #ResistTheRegime #SCOTUS #SCOTUSIsCompromised #ImpeachClarenceThomas #ImpeachBrettKavanaugh #ErikPrince #OligarchCamp #TrumpIsAFascistDictator #CharacteristicsOfFascism
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THIS IS BULLSHIT! (AND ILLEGAL!!!)
Pressed for evidence against #MahmoudKhalil, government cites its power to deport people for beliefs
By Jake Offenhartz, April 10, 2025
NEW YORK (AP) — "Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil, the federal government has instead submitted a brief memo, signed by Secretary of State #MarcoRubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel #noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests.
"The two-page memo, which was obtained by The Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against #Israel’s treatment of #Palestinians and the war in #Gaza.
"Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.
"He said that while Khalil’s activities were 'otherwise lawful,' letting him remain in the country would undermine 'U.S. policy to combat #AntiSemitism [sez the folks who do the #Nazi salute] around the world and in the United States, in addition to efforts to protect Jewish students from harassment and violence in the United States.'
"'Condoning anti-Semitic conduct and disruptive protests in the United States would severely undermine that significant foreign policy objective,' Rubio wrote in the undated memo.
"The submission was filed Wednesday after Judge Jamee Comans ordered the government to produce its evidence against Khalil ahead of a hearing Friday on whether it can continue detaining him during immigration proceedings.
"Attorneys for Khalil said the memo proved the Trump administration was 'targeting Mahmoud’s #FreeSpeech rights about #Palestine.'
"'After a month of hiding the ball since Mahmoud’s late-night unjust arrest in New York and taking him away to a remote detention center in Louisiana, immigration authorities have finally admitted that they have no case whatsoever against him,' the attorneys, Marc Van Der Hout and Johnny Sinodis, said in a joint statement. "
https://apnews.com/article/mahmoud-khalil-columbia-university-trump-c60738368171289ae43177660def8d34
#TrumpIsABully #FreeMahmoudKhalil #IllegalDeportations #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritarianism #BibiIsAWarCriminal -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Texas
HB 3557: New criminal and civil penalties for protests around #CriticalInfrastructure
Creates new criminal sanctions and expansive civil liability for protests near pipelines and other infrastructure facilities, including those under construction. The law provides for four new criminal offenses. One, "impairing or interrupting operation of critical infrastructure facility," is defined as entering or remaining on facility property and intentionally or knowingly "impair[ing] or interrupt[ing] the operation of" the facility. The act is a state jail felony, punishable by up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine. This provision could target peaceful protests that, e.g., hinder access to #pipelines or #pipeline construction sites. A second offense, "intent to impair or interrupt critical infrastructure," is defined as entering or remaining on facility property "with the intent to impair or interrupt the operation of the facility." The act is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. This provision could capture peaceful protests that take place near a pipeline or other infrastructure facility, regardless of whether they actually impair or interrupt the facility's operations. The law also creates two new felony offenses for "damage" and "intent to damage" critical infrastructure. Under the law, an association that is found guilty of any of the offenses around critical infrastructure is subject to a $500,000 fine. The law also creates new civil and vicarious liability for individuals and organizations related to the criminal offenses: A defendant who engages in conduct covered by any of the criminal offenses is civilly liable to the property owner, as is an organization that "knowingly compensates" a person for engaging in the conduct. The property owner may sue for and claim actual damages, court costs, and exemplary damages.
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=86R&Bill=HB3557Status: enacted
Introduced 6 Mar 2019; Approved by House 7 May 2019; Approved by Senate 20 May 2019; Signed by Governor Abbott 14 June 2019
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure
SB 2876: Heightened penalties for protesters who conceal their identity
Would increase criminal penalties that could cover peaceful protesters who choose to wear a mask. Under the bill, a protesters charged with “riot” would face more serious penalties if they were wearing a mask or other face covering with intent to conceal their identity, as compared to someone without a mask. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and $4,000, instead of a Class B misdemeanor. The crime of “riot” under Texas law is defined broadly and does not require violence or other unlawful conduct: The offense covers a group of seven demonstrators whose conduct “substantially obstructs law enforcement or other governmental function or services,” or whose “physical action deprives any person of a legal right or disturbs any person in the enjoyment of a legal right.” Under the bill, a protester who chose to wear a mask to avoid #retaliation for their political views could face significant jail time if their #NonviolentProtest was deemed a “#riot.”
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2876Status: pending
Introduced 14 Mar 2025.
Issue(s): Face Covering, Riot
HB 3061: Heightened penalties for masked protesters
Would increase the penalty for protest-related offenses if committed by someone wearing a mask or other disguise to conceal their identity while “congregating with other individuals who were disguised or masked.” Under the bill, the penalty for trespass, “disorderly conduct,” and “riot” would be one degree more severe if committed by a group in which some individuals wore masks. The bill provides an exemption to the penalty enhancement for masks worn during Halloween, a masquerade ball, or “similar celebration,” but not for avoiding retaliation for political speech. “Disorderly conduct” and “riot” are broadly defined under Texas law. Protesters who make “unreasonable noise” in public, for instance, may be charged with “disorderly conduct”; under the bill, such protesters could face significant jail time rather than a fine if they were masked. “Trespass” in Texas also carries significant penalties if committed on #CollegeCampuses, "critical infrastructure," or other select locations, such that peaceful protesters who trespassed on a college campus could face felony rather than misdemeanor penalties if they were masked to avoid retaliation.
Full text of bill:
https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB3061Status: pending
Introduced 19 Feb 2025.
Issue(s): Campus Protests, Face Covering, Infrastructure, Riot, Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #SLAPPs #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #SouthDakota
SB 151: New penalties for #protests near #pipelines and other infrastructure
Heightens potential penalties for protests near oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure. Under the law, knowingly trespassing on property containing a critical infrastructure facility is a misdemeanor punishable by a year in prison and a $2,000 fine. Knowingly tampering with any property and as a direct result interfering, inhibiting, or impeding the maintenance or construction of a critical infrastructure facility is a felony punishable by two years in prison and/or a $4,000 fine. A person or organization found to be a "conspirator" in any of the above offenses faces a range of criminal fines. Any owner, lessee, or operator of any critical infrastructure facility where a crime is committed under one of the above provisions is designated a "victim" under South Dakota law, which entitles them to restitution and other victims' rights. As such, a company that owns a critical infrastructure facility can seek restitution from an individual protester convicted of any of the above provisions, as well as from any person or entity found to be a "conspirator."
Full text of bill:
https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/12001Status: enacted
Introduced 4 Feb 2020; Approved by Senate 27 February 2020; Approved by House 9 March 2020; Signed by Governor March 18 2020
Issue(s): #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Trespass
HB 1117: New criminal and civil liability for "incitement to riot"
Revises the state's laws on rioting and replaces a "riot-boosting" law that was passed in 2019 but later blocked by a federal court as unconstitutional. The law revises the definition of "riot" under South Dakota law to be "any intentional use of force or violence by three or more persons, acting together and without authority of law, to cause any injury to any person or any damage to property." Under the law, "incitement to riot" is a new felony offense, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $10,000 in fines, and defined as conduct that "urges" three or more people to use force or violence to cause personal injury or property damage, if the force or violence is "imminent" and the urging is likely to "incite or produce" the force or violence. The law defines "urging" to include "instigating, inciting, or directing," but excludes "oral or written advocacy of ideas or expression of belief that does not urge" imminent force or violence. Under the law, individuals may additionally be civilly liable for riot and incitement to riot, enabling lawsuits against protesters by the state, counties, or municipalities. Both 2019's "riot-boosting" law and HB 1117 appear to target protests against construction of the #KeystoneXL and other pipelines.
Full text of bill:
https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bills/43Status: enacted
Introduced 29 Jan 2020; Approved by House 18 February 2020; Approved by Senate 5 March 2020; Signed by Governor Noem 23 March 2020
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Riot
SB 189: Expanded civil liability for protesters and protest funders
**Note: According to an October 24, 2019 settlement agreement that resulted from a constitutional challenge to SB189, the state will not enforce many of the provisions of the law that could be applied to peaceful protesters and organizations that support them.** SB189 created new civil liability for "riot boosters." South Dakota criminal law defines "riot" broadly such that it can cover some forms of peaceful protest; as originally enacted, SB189 created civil liability for a person or organization that "does not personally participate in any riot but directs, advises, encourages, or solicits other persons participating in the riot to acts of force or violence." It was unclear what might have constituted "advice" or "encouragement" to carry out an act of force, such that an individual who shouted encouragement on the sidelines of a disruptive protest, or organizations that provided advice about conducting a peaceful but disruptive protest, might have been implicated. Following the October 24, 2019 settlement, the state will not enforce this provision. Nonetheless, enforceable provisions of the law still establish civil liability for any person or organization that is advised or encouraged by another, and that "makes any threat to use force or violence, if accompanied by immediate power of execution" in a group of three or more persons. The state or a third party may sue the person or organization for extensive civil damages, including punitive damages. Further, enforceable provisions of the law provide that a person or organization is liable for "riot boosting" if they engage in it personally "or through any employee, agent, or subsidiary." Accordingly, individuals, organizations, and funders may still be held civilly liable for substantial amounts of money for any involvement in a disruptive protest. Damages recovered by the state shall, according to the law, be deposited in a "riot boosting recovery fund," which may be used to pay for the state's response to disruptive protests. The law was introduced in response to pipeline protests in other states and ahead of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline in South Dakota.
Full text of bill:
https://sdlegislature.gov/Session/Bill/10176Status: enacted
Introduced 4 Mar 2019; Approved by Senate 7 March 2019; Approved by House 7 March 2019; Signed by Governor Noem 27 March 2019
Issue(s): #CivilLiability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Riot
SB 176: Expanding governor's power to restrict certain protests
Expands the governor's authority to curtail protest activities on public lands and restricts protests that interfere with highway traffic. The law enables the governor and sheriff to prohibit gatherings of 20 or more people on public land, if the gathering might damage the land or interfere with the renter's use of the land. The law enables South Dakota's Department of Transportation to prohibit or otherwise restrict an individual or vehicle from stopping, standing, parking, or being present on any highway if it interferes with traffic. The law also expands the crime of trespass, providing that an individual who defies a posted order not to enter a zone where assembling has been prohibited would be guilty of criminal trespass. Obstructing traffic or committing criminal trespass are classified as Class 1 misdemeanors, punishable by one year in jail or a $2,000 fine, or both. The law was proposed by Governor Daugaard to address potential pipeline protests.
Full text of bill:
https://mylrc.sdlegislature.gov/api/Documents/284178.pdfStatus: enacted
Introduced 3 Mar 2017; Signed by Governor Daugaard 14 March 2017
Issue(s): #TrafficInterference, #Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #SLAPPs #NoKXL #WaterDefenders -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Oklahoma
HB 1674: Penalties for #protesters who block #traffic, immunity for drivers who hit protesters, and liability for organizations that work with protesters
**Note: Portions of HB1674 were preliminarily enjoined by a federal district judge on October 27, 2021, temporarily blocking enforcement of the law's 1) penalties for protesters who obstruct traffic, and 2) penalties for organizations that "conspire" with someone who is convicted of certain protest-related offenses.** Creates new penalties for protesters who obstruct traffic while participating in a "riot," and protects drivers who "unintentionally" hit them. Under the law, a person who participated in a "riot" and "obstructed" the "normal use" of a public street or highway, is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison, a $5,000 fine, and restitution for any property damage that occurs. The law defines "obstruct" to include rendering the street or highway "unreasonably inconvenient or hazardous" for cars' passage, including by "standing" on the street or highway. "Riot" is broadly defined under existing Oklahoma law, to include a group of three or more people who make "any threat to use force." The new law also shields from liability a driver who injures or kills someone while "fleeing from a riot," as long as they did so "unintentionally," were "exercising due care," and held a "reasonable belief" that they needed to flee to protect themselves. Under the law, such a driver cannot be held civilly or criminally liable for the injuries or death they caused. Finally, the law provides that an organization found to have "conspired" with individuals who are found guilty of certain offenses--including "unlawful assembly," "riot," "incitement to riot," refusing to aid in the arrest of a "rioter," and remaining at the scene of a "riot" after being ordered to disperse--may be fined ten times the maximum amount of fine authorized for the individual's offense.
Read full text:
https://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb1674&Session=2100Status: enacted
Introduced 2 Feb 2021; Approved by House 10 March 2021; Approved by Senate 14 April 2021; Signed by Governor Stitt 21 April 2021
Issue(s): #ProtestSupporters or Funders, #DriverImmunity, Riot, #TrafficInterference
HB 2095: Racketeering penalties for those involved in "unlawful assemblies"
Adds "unlawful assemblies" to the offenses that can be prosecuted as "#racketeering activity" under Oklahoma's #RICO statute. As a result, an organization or individual found to have "attempted" or "conspired" with individuals to engage in or encourage a protest that is deemed an "unlawful assembly" can be prosecuted under RICO and subject to felony penalties. Oklahoma law broadly defines "unlawful assembly" to include a group of three or more people who gather without lawful authority in a manner "as is adapted to disturb the public peace."
Full text of bill:
https://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=hb2095&Session=2200Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Feb 2021; Approved by House 8 March 2021; Approved by Senate 21 April 2021; Signed by Governor Stitt 28 April 2021
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders
HB 1123: New penalties for protests near #CriticalInfrastructure
Targets protests around certain public facilities by creating a new criminal offense for trespass onto property containing "critical infrastructure." The law's extensive list of "critical infrastructure" facilities ranges from a petroleum refinery to a telephone pole. Willfully entering onto property containing critical infrastructure without permission is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to $1,000 or six month in jail, or both. Evidence of intent to damage or otherwise harm the operations of the infrastructure facility would make the offence a felony, punishable by at least $10,000 (with no maximum provided) or imprisonment for one year, or both; actual damage or vandalizing of the facility is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. Organizations found to have "conspired" with perpetrators are liable for up to $1,000,000. The sponsor of the law told a House of Representatives committee that it was prompted by the #DakotaAccessPipeline protests in North Dakota.
Full text of bill:
https://legiscan.com/OK/text/HB1123/2017Status: enacted
Introduced 6 Feb 2017; Signed into law 3 May 2017
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Trespass
HB 2128: Heightened penalties for protesters who #trespass onto private property
Increases the potential penalties levied on individuals who protest on private property without permission. The law allows prosecutors to hold anyone arrested for or convicted of trespass liable for any damages to personal or real property caused while# trespassing.
Status: enacted
Introduced 6 Feb 2017; Governor Fallin signed into law 15 May 2017
Issue(s): Trespass
SB 743: Ban on protests that disturb #worshippers
Would make it a serious criminal offense to protest in a way that disturbs people engaged in religious observation. Under the bill, someone who “willfully disturbs, interrupts, or disquiets” a group of “people met for religious worship” commits a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and $500, or a felony punishable by two years in prison and $1,000 for subsequent offenses. As written, the bill would seemingly allow anyone who was the target of a protest—for instance, lawmakers at the statehouse—to make a protest illegal simply by starting to pray. The prohibition extends to any unauthorized “protest [or] demonstration” within one mile of the individuals engaged in religious worship. “Disturb” and “disquiet” are not defined by the bill, such that even a #SilentDemonstration that was visible to people engaged in religious worship as far as one mile away could be prohibited. The bill was introduced as a substitute to SB 743 on March 25, 2025.
Full text of bill:
https://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=SB743&Session=2500Status: pending
Introduced 25 Mar 2025; Approved by Senate 27 March 2025
SB 481: Restrictions on #PublicEmployees' ability to protest
Would broadly prohibit public employees from participating in protests during work hours in most situations. Under a committee substitute to the bill introduced on February 25, it would be unlawful for state or local government employees including public school teachers to “speak on or participate in a matter of public concern deemed a matter of larger societal significance” in “an organized form of protest” during their normal working hours. The bill would allow public employees to protest during working hours only if they were using annual leave and if their actions did not create “an undue burden on the employer’s interest in an efficient, disruptive-free workplace”—a vaguely worded condition that employers could abuse to restrict employees' participation in disfavored protests. The bill would also prohibit public employees from using publicly owned computers, transportation, or other equipment for conduct related to participation in protests.
Full text of bill:
https://www.oklegislature.gov/BillInfo.aspx?Bill=sb481&Session=2500Status: pending
Introduced 25 Feb 2025.
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #NorthDakota
SB 2044: Heightened penalties for #protests near #CriticalInfrastructure
Enhances potential penalties for individuals who protest near existing and planned gas and oil #pipelines by criminalizing acts that interrupt or interfere with critical infrastructure facilities. In addition to prohibiting actual tampering with critical infrastructure property and equipment, the law prohibits "interfering, inhibiting, impeding, or preventing the construction or repair" of a critical infrastructure facility. Further, the law expands the definition of "critical infrastructure facility" to include a "site or location designated or approved for the construction of a facility" such as an oil or gas pipeline. Intentional interruption of a critical infrastructure facility, including by interfering with pipeline construction, is a Class C felony under the law, subject to a penalty of five years' imprisonment, a fine of $10,000, or both. The law also creates organizational liability for such acts: An organization found to have "conspired" with an individual who committed the interference could be criminally liable for ten times the fee imposed on the individual, or up to $100,000.
Status: enacted
Introduced 3 Jan 2019; Approved by Senate 15 Feb 2019; Approved by House 25 March 2019; Signed by Governor Burgum 10 April 2019
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Infrastructure
HB 1426: Heightened penalties for #riot offences
Increases the penalties imposed for riot offenses. Under the law, participation in a riot is a Class A rather than Class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison and a $3,000 fine. Engaging in a riot involving more than 100 people is made a Class B felony, subject to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine.
Full text of bill [pdf]:
https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/65-2017/documents/17-8158-02000.pdfStatus: enacted
Introduced 16 Jan 2017; Governor Burgum signed the law on 23 Feb 2017
Issue(s): Riot
HB 1293: Expanded scope of criminal trespass
Expands the scope of criminal trespass activity under state law such that it could encompass protests, demonstrations, or other gatherings on private property, if notice against trespass is "clear from the circumstances." The offense could be punishable by up to 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine. The law also creates an additional, noncriminal trespass offense and allows officers to issue a citation with a $250 fine for trespassing. The law was part of a package of legislation introduced in response to the #DakotaAccessPipeline protests.
Full text of bill [pdf]:
https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/65-2017/documents/17-0650-04000.pdfStatus: enacted
Introduced 12 Jan 2017; Signed by Governor Burgum 23 Feb 2017
Issue(s): Trespass
HB 1304: New penalties for protesters who conceal their identity
Prohibits the wearing of #masks, #hoods, or other device that "conceals any portion" of an individual's face while committing a criminal offense, in order to avoid recognition or identification. As drafted, the offense could encompass, e.g., individuals wearing hooded clothing while participating in a protest and also committing a minor offense such as jaywalking. Under the law, commission of the offense comprises a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
Full text of bill [pdf]:
https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/65-2017/documents/17-0311-04000.pdfStatus: enacted
Introduced 12 Jan 2017; Governor Burgum signed it 23 Feb 2017
Issue(s): Face Covering
HB 1226: New criminal penalties for masked protesters
Would create a new criminal offense that could cover peaceful protesters who choose to wear a mask. The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and $3,000, to wear a mask “with intent to conceal the identity” of the wearer while “congregating in a public place with any other individual wearing a mask, hood, or other device that covers, hides, or conceals any portion of the individual’s face.” The bill exempts public gatherings to celebrate “Halloween, a masquerade, or other similar celebration,” but does not include exemptions for masks worn during protests, or for health, religious, or other reasons. As written, the bill could cover a protester wearing a mask to avoid retaliation for their political speech, if there were any other individual in the crowd also wearing a mask—for instance, a medical mask to avoid spreading or contracting a contagious disease.
Full text of bill:
https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/bill-overview/bo1226.html?bill_year=2025&bill_number=1226Status: ENACTED!
Introduced 13 Jan 2025; Approved by House 10 February 2025
Issue(s): Face Covering
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws #SurveillanceState #PipelineProtests #NoDAPL -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #NorthCarolina
HB 237: Heightened penalties for street #protesters and #MaskedProtestersIncreases penalties for protesters who block #traffic and for masked protesters who break any law. The law makes it a Class A1 misdemeanor, punishable by up to 150 days in jail and a fine, to willfully impede traffic while participating in a demonstration on a street or highway. Second and subsequent offenses would be a Class H felony, punishable by up to 25 months in prison. Under the law, “organizers” of street protests can be held civilly liable for any injury resulting from delays caused by the obstruction of an emergency vehicle. The law does not define “organizer,” such that anyone involved in the planning of a protest might be covered, nor does it require that the “organizer” have any intent or knowledge that an emergency vehicle would be obstructed. Additionally, the law narrows the health-related exception to North Carolina’s ban on wearing masks in public, requiring that a mask worn for health or safety reasons must be a “medical or surgical grade” mask worn “to prevent[] the spread of contagious disease.” The law broadens the authority of law enforcement and third parties to require someone to remove their masks in such cases. Under the law, someone convicted of any offense, including nonviolent protest-related offenses, can face steeper punishment if they were wearing a mask or other face covering at the time, regardless of the reason for doing so. The bill’s sponsor cited recent #ProPalestine protests on college campuses, in which some protesters have worn masks.
Full text of bill:
https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/h237Status: enacted
Introduced 7 May 2024; Approved by Senate 15 May 2024; Approved by House 11 June 2024; Vetoed by Governor Cooper 21 June 2024; Veto overridden 27 June 2024
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Face Covering, Traffic Interference
HB 40: HEIGHTENED PENALTIES FOR "RIOT" AND RELATED OFFENSES
Increases the penalty for an individual who "incites or urges another to engage in a riot," if a riot occurs and results in $1,500 of property damage or injury. In such a case, the individual is guilty of a Class E felony, punishable by more than two years in prison, even if they did not personally cause any damage or injury. Under the law, an individual convicted of "riot" or incitement offenses is also civilly liable to anyone whose property or person was damaged by the riot, in the amount of three times the actual damage in addition to court costs and attorney’s fees. Preexisting North Carolina law defines riot to include a "public disturbance" by a group of three or more people that presents an "imminent threat of disorderly and violent conduct," resulting in a "clear and present danger" of property damage or injury. Under this definition, no violence or damage need occur for participants in a gathering to be arrested for and charged with "riot." While the new law would add a limitation requiring an “overt act” in order for someone to be convicted of a #riot or incitement to riot offense, that requirement could be read broadly to include #PeacefulChanting or #marching with a crowd that is deemed to be a “riot.” Finally, the law requires that a judge, rather than another judicial official, determine the pretrial release of an individual charged with a riot offense. The judge may hold the individual for 24 hours, and may require that they stay away from places where the "riot" occurred. The text of HB 40 is nearly identical to the amended version of HB 805 that passed both the North Carolina House and Senate in 2021 before being vetoed by the Governor.
Full text of bill:
https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/h40Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Feb 2023; Approved by House 8 February 2023; Approved by Senate 9 March 2023; Became law without Governor Cooper's signature 21 March 2023
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Riot
SB 58: New penalties for protests near #pipelines
Introduces new potential criminal penalties and civil liability for peaceful protests near existing and planned pipelines and other energy infrastructure. The enacted version of the law makes it a Class C felony offense to knowingly and willfully “obstruct, impede, or impair” or “attempt to obstruct, impede, or impair” the services of an energy facility. The law defines “energy facility” to include any facility involved in the transmission of “electricity, fuel, or another form or source of energy,” including facilities that are under construction or otherwise not functioning. As such, a group of people protesting the construction of a fossil fuel pipeline could face more than 15 years in prison and a mandatory $250,000 fine if they impede or impair the construction of a pipeline, for instance by blocking workers’ access to the pipeline construction site. Under the law, such protesters, along with anyone who “aides or abets, solicits, conspires, or lends material support” to their act of impeding construction could also be sued in civil court by someone whose property was damaged, for an amount equivalent to three times the actual damage as well as court costs and attorneys' fees.
Full text of bill:
https://www.ncleg.gov/BillLookUp/2023/S58Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Feb 2023; Approved by Senate 14 March 2023; Approved by House 14 June 2023; Signed by Governor Cooper 19 June 2023
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, #Infrastructure
SB 300: Heightened penalties for "riot"
**Note: This bill was later amended to remove all riot provisions except the increased penalties** Would increase the penalty for engaging in a "riot," from a Class 1 misdemeanor to a Class H felony, punishable by 25 months in prison. If the "riot" resulted in property damage of over $1,500, or serious injury, anyone deemed to have engaged in the "riot" (regardless of their role in the damage or injury) could be convicted of a Class G felony, punishable by 31 months in prison. The bill would not alter North Carolina's broad definition of "riot," which does not require any actual violence or destructive activity. Under the bill, peaceful protesters in a group of three or more who present an "imminent threat of disorderly and violent conduct" that "creates a clear and present danger" of property damage or injury could face felony convictions and lengthy prison sentences. Note: A later amendment eliminated the proposed increase in penalty for engaging in a "riot." It also eliminated the proposal to make it a Class G felony for engaging in a riot that resulted in property damage over $1,500 or serious bodily injury. Instead, it replaced that proposal by making it a Class G felony if during the course of a riot a person caused over $1,500 in property damage or a Class F felony if the person during the course of a riot caused serious bodily injury or brandished a dangerous weapon or substance. It also clarified that "mere presence alone without an overt act" is not sufficient to sustain a conviction of rioting. (See full text of bill here)
Status: enacted with improvements
Introduced 15 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 12 May 2021; Approved by House 18 August 2021; Signed by Governor Cooper 2 September 2021
Issue(s): Riot
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws #SurveillanceState #PipelineProtests -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #NewYork
S 6746: New penalties for protesters who wear a #mask
Would create a new criminal offense, “concealment of identity during a protest,” that would cover peaceful protesters who wear a mask while demonstrating. Under the bill, a person who wears a mask or facial covering that disguises their face “so as to conceal the identity of the wearer” while “involved in a lawful assembly, unlawful assembly, protest, or riot” commits the offense. The bill provides an exception for masks and other face coverings worn as protection from weather, for religious reasons, for medical purposes, or as a costume for a holiday or exhibition. While only a violation, the new offense would restrict individuals’ ability to protest lawfully while remaining anonymous, for instance to avoid retaliation.
Full text of bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S6746
Status: pendingIntroduced 21 Mar 2025.
Issue(s): #FaceCovering, Riot
S 5911: Heightened penalties for #riot and incitement to riot
Would enhance the penalties for first and second degree "riot" as well as "incitement to riot." Under New York law, "incitement to riot" is broadly defined, and could cover a person or organization found to have "urged" a group of people to protest in a "tumultuous and violent" way that is “likely to create public alarm”—regardless of whether such protest ever takes place or creates “public alarm.” The bill would make the offense a Class E felony, punishable by up to four years in prison, instead of a Class A misdemeanor.
Full text of bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S5911Status: pending
Introduced 3 Mar 2025.
Issue(s): Riot
S 723: New criminal penalties for masked protesters
Would create two new crimes that could apply to masked protesters and people who support them. Under the bill, a person who is masked or “disguised by unusual or unnatural attire or facial alteration,” who engages in a protest or other public assembly with other masked or disguised people, commits the offense of “deceptive wearing of a mask,” a Class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. The offense would likewise apply to anyone who “knowingly permits or aids” masked demonstrators who congregate in public. The offense does not require that an individual act unlawfully or have any intent to engage in unlawful behavior. A second offense, “aggravated deceptive wearing of a mask,” would apply to masked or disguised individuals engaged in a public assembly where property damage or injuries occur; the offense would be a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. (As drafted, the bill does not make clear whether an individual need personally cause the damage or injury, or merely be part of a group where such damage or injury occurs, to commit the offense.) The bill provides exemptions for masks or disguises worn for religious purposes, or in connection with a government-authorized “masquerade party or like entertainment.” If enacted, the bill would give law enforcement broad discretion to arrest individuals who wear masks or other disguise at a public protest, as well as anyone who seemed to be “aiding” them. The same bill was introduced as S 9194 in the 2023-2024 session.
Full text of bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S723Status: pending
Introduced 8 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Face Covering
S 534: New penalties for protesters who block #traffic
Would create a new criminal offense that could cover #UnpermittedProtests and #demonstrations on #streets, #sidewalks, or near public buildings. According to the bill, a person participating in a protest without a permit who “obstructs” cars or pedestrians, or prevents people from entering or exiting buildings, commits a new offense of “aggravated disorderly conduct” if they intend “to cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm” or are “recklessly creating a risk thereof.” The offense would be a class A misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and $1,000. As written, an individual in a spontaneous protest that blocks a sidewalk, “recklessly creating a risk” of inconveniencing people, would be guilty of the offense. The bill would also add the offense to the underlying offenses that can be charged as a hate crime under New York law, and allow individuals arrested for the offense to be held for bail. The same bill was introduced as S 8646 in 2024.
Full text of bill:
https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S534Status: pending
Introduced 8 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): #TrafficInterference
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws -
State by State Pending and recently passed #AntiProtestLaws: #NewJersey - part 1
S 3578: New Penalties for Protesters Who Conceal Their Identity
Would create a new disorderly persons offense "for a person, while congregating in a public place with other people who are also masked or disguised, to wear any mask or other facial obscurant or disguise with the purpose to conceal the person's identity while committing another crime or offense." The bill creates exemptions for activities related to Halloween, the weather, religious beliefs, medical purposes, or a public parade of an educational, religious, or historical character. However, it does not create an exemption for protests. As such, one engaged in identical conduct during a Halloween celebration and a protest would not face criminal liability under this proposed offense during the Halloween celebration, but could face criminal liability under this proposed offense during a demonstration. The penalty under the bill is up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Full bill text:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/S3578Status: pending
Introduced 19 Sep 2024.
Issue(s): Face Covering
A 4652 / S 3507: New penalties for protest organizers and supporters, “disruptive” protesters, and protesters who wear masks
Would create serious new penalties that could cover protest organizers and others who “promote” protests. The bill creates a new offense of “inciting a public brawl,” broadly defined to cover someone who “acts with purpose to organize or promote” a group of four or more people to engage in “disorderly conduct.” But under New Jersey law, “disorderly conduct” is defined to include “tumultuous conduct” that might “create a risk” of “public inconvenience”—language that can cover peaceful protest activity and is often used to arrest and charge demonstrators. As such, the “inciting a public brawl” offense, which incorporates “disorderly conduct,” could cover a range of activity related to facilitating a peaceful demonstration, particularly as the bill does not define “organizing” or “promoting.” The offense is a serious misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and $1,000. If the “organizers” or “promoter” acts with purpose “to disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event” or “knowing that such a disruption or disturbance is likely to occur,” it is a felony, punishable by up to 18 months in prison and $10,000. The bill does not require that such “disturbance” be more than fleeting in duration or that it otherwise meaningfully interfere with the public event. As such, the felony offense would seemingly cover someone who shares a social media post about a large street protest, knowing that it may even briefly “disturb” a public event taking place nearby. Under the bill, participants in such a protest would face heightened penalties as well, as the bill increases penalties for someone who engages in “disorderly conduct” “with purpose to disrupt or cause a disturbance at a public gathering or event.” Finally, the bill increases penalties for someone who engages in “disorderly conduct” while concealing or attempting to conceal their identity “with purpose to hinder prosecution or avoid apprehension.” In both cases “disorderly conduct” would be a serious rather than petty offense, punishable by up to six months in jail and $1,000.
Full text of bill:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/A4652Status: pending
Introduced 25 Jun 2024; Approved by Assembly 27 February 2025; Approved by Senate 24 March 2025
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Face Covering
S 3103: Heightened penalties for blocking traffic
Would increase penalties for impeding traffic on public roads. Under the bill, “recklessly obstruct[ing]” any public road would be a more serious misdemeanor than under current law, punishable by up to six months in jail and $1,000. The bill would additionally create a new felony offense for anyone who purposefully obstructs or “affects” the movement of any commerce on a public road. The new offense would be punishable by up to 18 months in prison and $10,000. As such, protesters who peacefully demonstrate in a public road and even temporarily “affect” commercial vehicles could face felony charges.
Full text of bill:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/S3103Status: pending
Introduced 15 Apr 2024.
Issue(s): Traffic Interference
S 834 / A 3489: NEW PENALTIES FOR BLOCKING TRAFFIC AND OTHER PROTEST-ADJACENT CONDUCT
Would make it a felony offense to purposely or recklessly obstruct a public road while engaging in "disorderly conduct" or a "riot," punishable by up to a year and a half in prison and a $10,000 fine. Both "disorderly conduct" and "riot" are defined broadly under New Jersey law: "Disorderly conduct," for instance, could include "recklessly creating a risk of public inconvenience" by causing a "hazardous condition," or using "unreasonably loud and offensively coarse" language in a public place. The bill would also broaden the definition of "riot," such that a group of five or more people who engage in "disorderly conduct" and cause any damage to property or persons could face riot charges, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $15,000. Individuals who deface a monument during an unruly protest would also face heightened penalties under the bill: Current law penalizes defacing or damaging any public monument or structure as a disorderly persons offense, subject to six months in jail. The bill would make the same offense a felony punishable by a year and a half in prison and $10,000, if committed during a "riot." The bill would create new sanctions for protest organizers and patrons, as well: Under the bill, a person who "conspires with others as an organizer, supervisor, financier or manager to commit" one of a number of crimes during a protest would be guilty of "promotion of violent, disorderly assembly" and face enhanced criminal penalties. The text was introduced as S3261 during the 2020-2021 session, and as S1783/A4577 during the 2022-2023 session.
Full text of bill:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/S834Status: pending
Introduced 9 Jan 2024.
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Riot, Traffic Interference
S 652 / A 4610: HEIGHTENED PENALTIES FOR BLOCKING TRAFFIC, RIOT, DISORDERLY CONDUCT, AND RELATED OFFENSES
Would make it a felony offense to purposely or recklessly obstruct a public road while engaging in "disorderly conduct" or a "riot," punishable by up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine. Both "disorderly conduct" and "riot" are defined broadly under New Jersey law: "Disorderly conduct," for instance, could include "recklessly creating a risk" of "public inconvenience" by causing a "hazardous condition," or using "unreasonably loud and offensively coarse" language in a public place. The bill would also broaden the definition of "riot," such that a group of seven or more people who engage in "disorderly conduct" and cause any damage to property could face riot charges, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and $15,000. The bill would create a new felony offense for disorderly conduct in a "place of public accommodation" that is committed during a "riot." It would also establish a felony offense for chalking or using graffiti on a public monument during an unruly protest: Current law penalizes purposely defacing or damaging any public monument or structure as a disorderly persons offense, subject to six months in jail. The bill would make the same offense a felony punishable by a year and a half in prison and $10,000, if committed during a "riot." The same bill was proposed as S84/A456 in the 2022-2023 session.
Full text of bill:
https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/bill-search/2024/S652Status: pending
Introduced 9 Jan 2024.
Issue(s): #Riot, #TrafficInterference
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #MaskedProtesters #AntiMaskLaws -
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Louisiana
HB 737: #Vague ban on #ResidentialProtests
Broadly criminalizes participating in a protest within 50 feet of a residence that “threatens to disrupt, or harasses” an individual’s “right to control or use” their residence. The law does not make exceptions for protests that take place in #PublicParks or on #sidewalks—traditional public forums—that may be within 50 feet of residential buildings. Nor does the law require any intent on the part of protesters to target a specific residence or to harass or disturb specific residents. The law also does not require that a protest actually disrupt an individual's right to use their residence, only that it "threaten" to do so. It is also unclear what would constitute "harassing" an individual's right to use their residence, for the purpose of the law.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB737&sbi=yStatus: enacted
Introduced 18 Mar 2024; Approved by House 9 April 2024; Approved by Senate 20 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 18 June 2024
HB 383: Civil immunity for drivers who hit protesters
Limits the civil liability of drivers who injure or kill protesters who were unlawfully in the street. The law provides that if a driver hits someone who was illegally “blocking a roadway,” the driver cannot be sued for any injury, death, or damage if he “reasonably believe[d]” that he was in immediate danger of injury and was trying to “retreat or escape.” The sponsor cited a rise in protests across the country as motivation for the bill.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB383&sbi=yStatus: enacted
Introduced 29 Feb 2024; Approved by House 8 April 2024; Approved by Senate 20 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 11 June 2024
Issue(s): #DriverImmunity, #TrafficInterference
HB 205: New #racketeering penalties for protesters
Adds nonviolent protest-related offenses to the underlying crimes that can be prosecuted under Louisiana’s racketeering law, which carries steep penalties. Offenses that are now covered by the racketeering law include “simple #obstruction of a #highway of commerce,” “#riot,” “inciting to riot,” "institutional #vandalism," and “aiding and abetting others to enter or remain on premises where forbidden.” As such, individuals in a protest that merely makes movement on a #highway “more difficult” (a minor misdemeanor offense) could be charged with a violation of Louisiana’s racketeering law if they did so more than once and as part of an enterprise with others. Louisiana law defines “riot” broadly, requiring no actual violence or damage but three or more people engaged in a “#PublicDisturbance” that creates a “danger of injury or damage” by an “imminent threat of tumultuous and violent conduct,” so individuals who participate in tumultuous protests could likewise be charged with racketeering. The law also adds “criminal damage to a critical infrastructure” to the racketeering law, such that certain #CivilDisobedience actions near #pipelines and other #infrastructure, including sites under construction, could be covered as well. Racketeering violations are punishable by up to 50 years in #prison with #HardLabor and a one million dollar fine.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?i=245811&sbi=yStatus: enacted
Introduced 26 Feb 2024; Approved by House 2 April 2024; Approved by Senate 14 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 10 June 2024
Issue(s): #ProtestSupporters or Funders, Infrastructure, Riot, #Trespass
HB 127: Heightened penalties for #StreetProtesters and organizers
Increases existing penalties for impeding traffic and creates a new offense that could cover individuals who plan or organize protests that would impede traffic. Under prior law in Louisiana, engaging in conduct that makes movement on any road “more difficult” was a misdemeanor, punishable by six months in jail and $200. The law adds an offense of “#conspiracy” or “aiding and abetting” of others to engage in such conduct. As written, the new offense does not require that that the protest or other act actually take place or that it actually impede traffic. The law also increases the fine for both offenses to $750.
Full text of bill:
https://legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=24RS&b=HB127&sbi=yStatus: enacted
Introduced 22 Feb 2024; Approved by House 15 April 2024; Approved by Senate 16 May 2024; Signed by Governor Landry 10 June 2024
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Traffic Interference
HB 727: NEW PENALTIES FOR PROTESTS NEAR GAS AND OIL PIPELINES
Targets protests around gas and oil #pipelines by expanding the definition of "critical infrastructure" and providing for the offense of "unauthorized entry of a critical infrastructure." Under the law, "critical infrastructure" is amended to include "pipelines," "any site where the construction or improvement of [pipelines or any other listed infrastructure facility] is taking place," as well as "all structures, equipment, or other immovable or movable property located within or upon" such facilities. Unauthorized entry onto critical infrastructure property as defined above is punishable by imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to five years and a fine of $1,000. As originally introduced, the law included a new crime of "conspiracy to engage in unauthorized entry" of a critical infrastructure facility, punishable by imprisonment with or without hard labor for up to five years and a fine of $10,000, such that individuals who only planned to hold a peaceful protest on infrastructure property could be prosecuted. The amended and enacted version of the bill removed the provisions on conspiracy, however. In addition, prior to the law's enactment, provisions were added to mandate that the law would not apply to "[l]awful assembly and peaceful and orderly petition, picketing, or demonstration for the redress of grievances or to express ideas or views regarding legitimate matters of public interest."
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.la.gov/legis/BillInfo.aspx?s=18RS&b=HB727&sbi=yStatus: enacted
Introduced 26 Mar 2018; Approved by House 12 April 2018; Approved by the Senate 8 May 2018; Signed into law by Governor Edwards 30 May 2018
Issue(s): Infrastructure, #Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors -
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Kentucky
HB 399: New penalties for protesters at the capitol
Creates serious new criminal offenses that can cover #PeacefulProtesters at the #StateCapitol, as well as anyone who “conspires” with or otherwise supports them. The first new offense applies to someone who enters the capitol, or impedes access to the capitol by a legislator or legislative staff, with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business—regardless of whether legislative business was in fact “impeded.” “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. It is a Class B misdemeanor (punishable by up to 3 months in jail) for a first incident, and a Class A misdemeanor (up to one year in jail) for subsequent incident. The law creates a second, more serious offense for someone who engages in “disorderly or disruptive conduct” inside the Capitol with intent to disrupt or impede legislative business, if their conduct in fact “disrupts” or “impedes” the legislature’s business—even momentarily. As written, the offense could cover a demonstrator who shouts a single chant during a legislative hearing. “Conspir[ing]” to engage in such conduct or “facilitat[ing]” another person to engage in the conduct is subject to the same penalties as actually engaging in it. The offense would be a Class A misdemeanor (punishable by up to one year in jail) for the first incident, and a Class D felony (up to 5 years in prison) for third and subsequent incident. Prior to passing the bill, lawmakers added an amendment which provides that the law will not be construed "to prohibit... [a]ssembly in traditional public forums, including but not limited to the Capitol rotunda and outdoor areas of the Capitol grounds." While helpful, the amendment does not immunize all peaceful protest activity that the law could potentially punish, including protest organizing. When he vetoed the bill (later overridden), Governor Beshear noted the risks it poses to lawful First Amendment activity.
Full text of bill:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25rs/hb399.htmlStatus: enacted
Introduced 6 Feb 2025; Approved by House 7 March 2025; Approved by Senate 13 March 2025; Vetoed by Governor Beshear 25 March 2025; Veto overridden 27 March 2025
Issue(s): Protest Supporters or Funders, Police Response
HB 44: New penalties for protests near #pipelines and other infrastructure
Creates new potential criminal and civil penalties for protests around oil or gas pipelines and other infrastructure facilities. Like HB 238, introduced in the 2019 session, HB 44 amends the definition of "key infrastructure assets" under Kentucky law to include "natural gas or petroleum pipelines." Encompassed facilities and properties designated "key infrastructure assets" are not limited to areas that are fenced off or posted by "no entry" signs. Trespass onto "key infrastructure assets" is a Class B misdemeanor for the first offense (up to three months in jail) and a Class A misdemeanor for subsequent offenses (up to one year in jail). As introduced, the bill created a new offense for a person who "intentionally or wantonly... tampers with, impedes, or inhibits operations of a key infrastructure asset." This conduct would comprise "criminal mischief in the first degree"--a Class D felony, which under Kentucky law can be punished by up to five years in prison. A protest that "impeded" access to a pipeline by blocking a road, or one that "inhibited" the operation of a pipeline by blocking pipeline construction, could presumably have fallen under this definition. Prior to the law's enactment, lawmakers removed the language penalizing activity that "impeded" or "inhibited" operations of infrastructure like a pipeline. The enacted version instead penalizes "tamper[ing] with the operations of a key infrastructure asset... in a manner that renders the operations harmful or dangerous." The introduced bill also provided that any "person" (which under Kentucky law could include an organization) may be civilly liable if they "knowingly compensate[] or remunerate[]" another person to commit criminal mischief on a key infrastructure asset. Prior to enactment, this was narrowed to anyone who "knowingly directs or causes a person" to commit the tampering offense.
Full text of bill:
https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/20rs/hb44.htmlStatus: enacted
Introduced 29 Aug 2019; Prefiled as BR 204 on 29 August 2019; Approved by House 10 February 2020; Approved by Senate 5 March 2020; Signed by Governor Beshear on 16 March 2020
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, #Infrastructure, #Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests -
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Kansas
SB 172: New penalties for protests near gas and oil #pipelines
Creates four new criminal offenses that could capture the conduct of peaceful protesters near pipelines. Under the law, entering or remaining in a "critical infrastructure" facility, or on property containing such a facility if it is posted with signs or fenced off, is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Trespassing with intent to "tamper with" a critical infrastructure facility, or to "impede or inhibit" its operations, is a Level 7 felony, punishable by approximately 2 years in prison. Actually, knowingly "tampering with" the facility is a Level 6 felony, punishable by approximately 3 years in prison, and doing so with the intent to impede or inhibit the facility's operations is a Level 5 felony, punishable by approximately 4 years in prison. The law also creates a broad new definition of critical infrastructure," which includes among many other things "a portion of any belowground or aboveground oil, gas, hazardous liquid or chemical pipeline" or any storage, processing, or distribution facility for crude oil or natural gas. When it was introduced, the law included new penalties for "defacing" and "vandalizing" critical infrastructure; civil liability for any person or "entity" that provided compensation to someone to commit the offenses described above; and added the trespass and damage offenses above to the underlying crimes that could be prosecuted under the state's RICO law. These provisions were removed prior to the law's enactment.
Full text of bill:
https://www.kslegislature.gov/li_2022/b2021_22/measures/sb172/Status: enacted
Introduced 8 Feb 2021; Approved by Senate 2 March 2021; Approved by House 30 March 2021; Signed by Governor Kelly 9 April 2021
Issue(s): Civil Liability, #ProtestSupporters or Funders, #Infrastructure, #Trespass
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #PipelineProtests -
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Iowa
SF 342: Heightened penalties for protesters convicted of "riot," "unlawful assembly," or blocking traffic, and immunity for #drivers who injure them
Introduces felony penalties for the offense of "riot," previously an aggravated misdemeanor, such that the offense is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $7,500. Preexisting law defines "riot" as a group of three or more people assembled "in a violent manner," at least one of whom uses any unlawful force or violence against another person or causes property damage. The law also converts "unlawful assembly" from a simple to an aggravated misdemeanor. Preexisting law defines "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people, any of whom are acting "in a violent manner," and who intend that any of them will commit an offense. Under the law, it is a serious (rather than simple) misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $1,875 fine, to "obstruct" a sidewalk, street, or "other public way" with the intent to hinder its use by others. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during an unlawful assembly," it is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by 2 years in jail and a $6,250 fine. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during a riot," it is a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the law, a driver who injures someone who is participating in a "protest, demonstration, riot, or unlawful assembly," engaging in "disorderly conduct," and blocking traffic, is immune from civil liability as long as the driver was exercising "due care" and the protester did not have a permit to be in the street. The law would also allow law enforcement who experience a physical or other injury while on duty to pursue civil damages from a person, group, or organization. Finally, the law creates a new felony offense for "defacing" public property, "including a monument or statue." The offense, a Class D felony, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $7,500, and mandatory restitution for any property damage. This law was introduced and passed by the Senate as SF 534, but passed by the House as an amendment to SF 342.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 10 March 2021, Approved by House 14 April 2021, Signed by Governor 16 June 2021
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Driver Immunity, Riot, Traffic Interference
HF 952: Requiring state permission for protests in the capitol and on capitol grounds
Would require organizers to have a government sponsor in order to hold protests in or near the Iowa capitol. Under the bill, organizers cannot hold “events” in capitol buildings or on capitol grounds unless they have a “recommendation” either from a statewide elected official or by both a member of Iowa’s state senate and its house of representatives. The bill would also prohibit the same person from holding more than six “events” per year in or around the capitol. Neither the bill nor the relevant provisions of Iowa law define “events,” such that they could seemingly include public protests and demonstrations. As such, the bill would effectively give elected officials authority to allow or disallow protests near the capitol.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=HF%20952
Status: pendingIntroduced 12 Mar 2025.
HF 25: Heightened penalties for #MaskedProtesters
Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity for the purpose of facilitating the offense. The bill provides #exemptions for masks worn in a number of contexts, including holiday costumes, medical masks, and “#hood[s]” or other “disguise[s]” worn by members of “a society, order, or organization while engaged in any parade, ritual” or “ceremony.” As such, for instance, members of the #KluKluxKlan would seemingly be exempt from enhanced penalties for illegally blocking traffic while parading in the street wearing hoods. The bill does not exempt masks worn during public protests, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. Accordingly, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask could face steeper penalties. A masked demonstrator engaged in a vigil who failed to disperse after being ordered to do so by police, for instance, could face up to a year in jail, rather than 30 days.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=hf25Status: pending
Introduced 14 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): #FaceCovering
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #TrafficInterference #MaskBans #HoodsAreOK #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors #LimitingProtests #RedTape -
State by State Pending and Recently Passed #AntiProtestLaws: #Iowa
SF 342: Heightened penalties for protesters convicted of "riot," "unlawful assembly," or blocking traffic, and immunity for #drivers who injure them
Introduces felony penalties for the offense of "riot," previously an aggravated misdemeanor, such that the offense is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and $7,500. Preexisting law defines "riot" as a group of three or more people assembled "in a violent manner," at least one of whom uses any unlawful force or violence against another person or causes property damage. The law also converts "unlawful assembly" from a simple to an aggravated misdemeanor. Preexisting law defines "unlawful assembly" as a group of three or more people, any of whom are acting "in a violent manner," and who intend that any of them will commit an offense. Under the law, it is a serious (rather than simple) misdemeanor, punishable by one year in jail and a $1,875 fine, to "obstruct" a sidewalk, street, or "other public way" with the intent to hinder its use by others. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during an unlawful assembly," it is an aggravated misdemeanor, punishable by 2 years in jail and a $6,250 fine. If an individual obstructs a sidewalk or street while "present during a riot," it is a Class D felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a $7,500 fine. Under the law, a driver who injures someone who is participating in a "protest, demonstration, riot, or unlawful assembly," engaging in "disorderly conduct," and blocking traffic, is immune from civil liability as long as the driver was exercising "due care" and the protester did not have a permit to be in the street. The law would also allow law enforcement who experience a physical or other injury while on duty to pursue civil damages from a person, group, or organization. Finally, the law creates a new felony offense for "defacing" public property, "including a monument or statue." The offense, a Class D felony, is punishable by up to 5 years in prison, a $7,500, and mandatory restitution for any property damage. This law was introduced and passed by the Senate as SF 534, but passed by the House as an amendment to SF 342.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=89&ba=SF%20342Status: enacted
Introduced 1 Mar 2021; Approved by Senate 10 March 2021, Approved by House 14 April 2021, Signed by Governor 16 June 2021
Issue(s): Civil Liability, Protest Supporters or Funders, Driver Immunity, Riot, Traffic Interference
HF 952: Requiring state permission for protests in the capitol and on capitol grounds
Would require organizers to have a government sponsor in order to hold protests in or near the Iowa capitol. Under the bill, organizers cannot hold “events” in capitol buildings or on capitol grounds unless they have a “recommendation” either from a statewide elected official or by both a member of Iowa’s state senate and its house of representatives. The bill would also prohibit the same person from holding more than six “events” per year in or around the capitol. Neither the bill nor the relevant provisions of Iowa law define “events,” such that they could seemingly include public protests and demonstrations. As such, the bill would effectively give elected officials authority to allow or disallow protests near the capitol.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=HF%20952
Status: pendingIntroduced 12 Mar 2025.
HF 25: Heightened penalties for #MaskedProtesters
Would increase the penalty for any offense if committed by someone wearing a mask or other device that concealed their identity for the purpose of facilitating the offense. The bill provides #exemptions for masks worn in a number of contexts, including holiday costumes, medical masks, and “#hood[s]” or other “disguise[s]” worn by members of “a society, order, or organization while engaged in any parade, ritual” or “ceremony.” As such, for instance, members of the #KluKluxKlan would seemingly be exempt from enhanced penalties for illegally blocking traffic while parading in the street wearing hoods. The bill does not exempt masks worn during public protests, nor does it limit the enhanced penalties to violent crimes. Accordingly, a peaceful protester who committed a nonviolent offense while wearing a mask could face steeper penalties. A masked demonstrator engaged in a vigil who failed to disperse after being ordered to do so by police, for instance, could face up to a year in jail, rather than 30 days.
Full text of bill:
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/legislation/BillBook?ga=91&ba=hf25Status: pending
Introduced 14 Jan 2025.
Issue(s): #FaceCovering
#FirstAmendment #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AntiProtestLaws #TrafficInterference #MaskBans #HoodsAreOK #HeatherHeyer #UniteTheRight #DrivingDownProtestors #LimitingProtests #RedTape