#characteristicsoffascism — Public Fediverse posts

#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

[Alleged] #Christian Employers Can Now Discriminate Against #TransPeople

A settlement with the Christian Employers Alliance blocks the EEOC from ever investigating the group’s members for gender identity discrimination.

Bryce Covert
September 1 2026

Excerpt: "The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency tasked with protecting workers from illegal discrimination, inked an unprecedented settlement with a conservative Christian employer association that could have long-term, wide-ranging consequences.

"The lawsuit that led to the settlement was in reaction to #EEOC guidance issued under the Biden administration and after a 2020 Supreme Court ruling that Title VII protects against gender identity discrimination.
In the settlement, reached on August 18, the EEOC pledged to not pursue any claims of gender identity-based discrimination against the #ChristianEmployersAlliance — and made the pledge in perpetuity.

"The EEOC provides free investigation into complaints of discrimination and, in some cases, will bring lawsuits on behalf of employees at no cost to the plaintiffs.

"Now, however, anyone who works for a company with membership in the Christian Employers Alliance who believes they suffered gender identity-based discrimination won’t be able to avail themselves of the EEOC’s process.

"The settlement also contains an unusual provision: It applies not just to the more than 20,000 employers that are already members in the Christian Employers Alliance, but also to any future members, so long as they are members at the time that any claimed discrimination occurred.

"That means that any employer that decides to sign up for Christian Employers Alliance membership will get the benefit of blanket protection from the EEOC against all claims of #GenderIdentity discrimination, such as harassing someone for being #nonbinary or firing them for coming out as #trans .

" 'I am not aware of any settlement that just creates in perpetuity a freedom from investigation, 'said Karla Gilbride, a former EEOC general counsel under President Joe Biden who is now at the American Civil Liberties Union. 'I’ve never seen an organization get a settlement that allows protection to future members in this way.'

"The settlement will stay in place even if #AndreaLucas, the current Republican chair of the EEOC, is replaced with a Democratic chair under a future Democratic president. (The Christian Employers Alliance declined to comment, and the EEOC did not respond to an inquiry.)"

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/09/01/christian-employers-settlement-gender-discrimination-eeoc/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/FnMei

#WWJD #LoveOneAnother #USPol #GBLTQRights #HumanRights #TransRightsAreHumanRights #HumanRightsViolations #ChristoFascism #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Trump Goes After Anonymous Email Provider in Italy. The Real Target Is Free Speech in the U.S.

Trump designated an Italian web-hosting provider as a foreign “terror” group. It could take #antifascist sites in the U.S. offline.

Matt Sledge
August 28 2026

"In the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s war on the left, the U.S. government’s designation of a popular antifascist webhosting provider as a terror group could shutter a swath of radical websites in the U.S.

"Secretary of State #MarcoRubio and Treasury Secretary #ScottBessent announced Wednesday that they were targeting the Italy-based A/I Collective with terror sanctions. Federal law gives the Treasury Department broad discretion to apply the terror label to foreign groups.

"A wide array of #anarchist, antifascist, and #FarLeft groups in the U.S. and abroad use the privacy-minded collective’s offerings, including an anonymous email service and its popular noblogs.org blogging platform.

"The practice of designating an internet platform and service provider as a terror group — rather than those pursuing violence themselves — has 'huge' implications for the future free speech on the internet, warned Jillian York, the director of international freedom of expression at the #ElectronicFrontierFoundation.

" 'They are going after the messenger,' York said. 'I don’t think that the members of the group would necessarily condone the actions of the people that they hosted. What they do condone is the freedom to host, the ability to be anonymous, the ability to be private.'

"The A/I Collective told The Intercept that it is exploring its legal options to fight the sanctions, which block U.S. citizens and companies from providing the group with financial support.

"In an unsigned statement, the group said that it denies the U.S. government’s allegations.

" '#Antifascism and #anticapitalism are not #terrorism ,' the group said. '#Protesting is not terrorism. And everyone has the right to speak out and to struggle for #humanity.' " [And #MotherEarth ! ]

Source:
https://theintercept.com/2026/08/28/trump-antifa-terrorist-websites-free-speech/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/4ETk2

#FreeSpeech #AutisticiInventati #Solidarity #USPol #WorldPol #SolidarityWithAutisticiInventati #FreedomOfExpression #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#Whistleblower Says #Trump Officials Are Defying Court Orders on #VotingByMail

A report detailed “grave concerns” that a new system being rushed into use by the U.S. Postal Service could imperil millions of mail ballots ahead of the midterm elections.

Chris Cameron
By Chris Cameron
Reporting from Washington
Sept. 1, 2026

Excerpt: "A U.S. Postal Service official has alleged that the agency is moving forward with a 'secretive, rushed' effort to carry out President Trump’s order exerting federal control over mail voting, despite a court order blocking those plans.

"The official filed a whistle-blower report, published on Tuesday morning by the office of Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut, asserting that the 'risky and haphazard' implementation of Mr. Trump’s order could lead to a 'catastrophic failure' in the mail ballot system ahead of this year’s #MidtermElections. The report said that the agency had planned to complete the new digital system overseeing mail ballots by Sept. 1.

" 'Potentially millions of American voters may not receive their mail-in ballot this election cycle in a timely manner, or at all,' the official said in the report, which was prepared with the assistance of #WhistleblowerAid, a nonprofit group that represents people seeking to expose potential lawbreaking.

Speaking to reporters by phone on Monday, Mr. Blumenthal said of the report that 'the main takeaway for me is that the Postal Service has designed a system to disenfranchise millions of Americans. One-third of all Americans cast their ballots by mail, and the #USPS puts all of their votes at risk.'

"A Postal Service official declined to comment on the record."

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/us/politics/whistle-blower-voting-by-mail.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/IJg8U

#USPol #Elections2026 #Fascism #USElections #Trump #StealingElections #VoterSupression #TrumpIsAFascist #VoterDisenfranchisement #CharacteristicsOfFascism

HT
@bruces

A single signature by #Trump can remove you from the #internet

by di Stefania Maurizi, 31 August 2026

Excerpt: " 'Designating a collective that has been active for over twenty years in the European civil and digital rights movement—and has always operated openly—as a terrorist organization is part of the technological war that the United States is waging against anyone who asserts autonomy over digital networks and infrastructure...' "

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/08/29/autistici-inventati-trump-terrorists-news/8491452/

#AutisticiInventati #USPol #WorldPol #ItalyPol #Censorship #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Trumpistan #CharacteristicsOfFascism

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.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/3A3nw

#USPol #Elections2026 #VoterDisenfranchisement #VoterIntimidation #Fascists #CharacteristicsOfFascism #LiteracyTests

Republican nominee for #Maine governor says he wants #ICEAgents at #Polling places in the state

The Maine Democratic Party criticized the idea as likely illegal and an attempt to intimidate voters.

by PATRICK WHITTLE and MATT BROWN,
August 26, 2026

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — "Maine’s Republican nominee for governor recently told a crowd of supporters that he would ask a top Department of Homeland Security official to send U.S. Marshals and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to polling places in the state for this fall’s midterm elections, according to audio obtained by The Associated Press.

"During an Aug. 20 event in Arundel, Bobby Charles told a group of supporters that he would ask #TomHoman, the White House #BorderCzar, to send federal agents to polling places in the weeks before #ElectionDay. The audio was first reported by the Bangor Daily News.

" 'Here’s my secret,; Charles told members of a Maine Young Republicans chapter. 'I have a friend named Tom Homan. Tom and I used to get on Fox all the time together. Tom’s an awesome guy.'

" 'I’m going to ask Tom, I’m going to actually — three or four weeks before the election, maybe three — I’m going to make an appeal for ICE and #USMarshals to be at our voting booths,' Charles said, according to the audio."

Read more:
https://www.bostonherald.com/2026/08/26/bobby-charles-ice-at-polling-places/

#MainePol #USPol #Elections2026 #VoterIntimidation #ICEOutOfMaine #ICEOut #DefundICE #CapitalPolice #CapitolPolice #PanEm #Fascists #BobbyCharles #CharacteristicsOfFascism

What’s Happening in #Kansas Should Alarm Us All

by M. Gessen, August 13, 2026

Excerpt: "Some of the words or expressions in this article may at first blush seem hyperbolic. One of them is ' #fascism. ' That’s how #SiobhanKirschstein characterized the process when we met in Lawrence, Kan., in July: 'It was #SoftFascism.' It was. Fascism usually begins with redefining the nation by excluding certain groups, which are branded threats to national health and unity. The #Trump administration has fixated on two groups most of all — #immigrants and #TransPeople — in just this way, smearing us (I am a member of both groups) as predatory, sick, at once subhuman and terrifyingly powerful. Even before Donald Trump was elected for the second time, more than half the states had considered or passed legislation limiting the rights of trans people. The process has intensified in the last year and a half, and the law enacted in Kansas in February is one of the most restrictive pieces of anti-trans legislation passed in any state so far."

Read more:
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/opinion/kansas-anti-trans-laws-drivers-license.html

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/M45LM

#USPol #AntiTransLegislation #SB244 #BathroomLaws #Transgender #AntiTransLaws #DrivingWhileTrans #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TransRightsAreHumanRights

#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

#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

#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

#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

#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, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS (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."

https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-immigration-enforcement-progressive-groups-investigated-5e6e554e79980553c3a02ca199593a7d

#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

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."

Read more:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-war-antifa-protesters-prison-1235607065/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I

#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism

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

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

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

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

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."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/dont-let-police-arm-autonomous-or-remote-controlled-robots-and-drones

#ICESucks #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."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/dont-let-police-arm-autonomous-or-remote-controlled-robots-and-drones

#ICESucks #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."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/dont-let-police-arm-autonomous-or-remote-controlled-robots-and-drones

#ICESucks #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."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/dont-let-police-arm-autonomous-or-remote-controlled-robots-and-drones

#ICESucks #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."

Read more:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2021/07/dont-let-police-arm-autonomous-or-remote-controlled-robots-and-drones

#ICESucks #SurveillanceState #DefundICE #DefundDHS #ArmedPoliceDrones #PoliceDrones
#ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity
#CompliantTechnologies #CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol

#EFF Says Lawmakers Have “Precious Little Time” to Stop #ArmedPoliceDrones, and the Skydio Reversal Is Why

Haye Kesteloo · Editor-in-Chief June 29, 2026

Excerpt: "Federal law governs shooting at drones, not drones shooting at people

"The regulatory gap EFF is pointing at is real and lopsided. Federal law is clear and well-tested on one direction of force: firing at a drone is a felony. As DroneXL reported this month, a man who fired a BB gun at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone is facing charges under 18 U.S.C. § 32, which treats a drone as an aircraft and carries up to 20 years in prison. The statute dates to 1956 and has been applied to drone cases for years.

"There is no equivalent body of law running the other way. No federal statute defines when a law enforcement drone may deploy force against a person, what counts as proportionate, or who is liable when a less-lethal effect injures a bystander. San Francisco became the first city to ban police from using deadly force via robot back in 2022, but EFF argues a single-city policy covering only robots, not drones, is not enough. A workable rule, the group says, has to cover both categories and explicitly prohibit any body harm. The asymmetry is the whole problem: the person on the ground who shoots at a police drone faces two decades in federal prison, while the drone that might one day deploy force against that person operates in a legal vacuum."

https://dronexl.co/2026/06/29/eff-armed-police-drones-skydio-legal-gap/

#PoliceDrones #ArmedPoliceDrones #ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#EFF Says Lawmakers Have “Precious Little Time” to Stop #ArmedPoliceDrones, and the Skydio Reversal Is Why

Haye Kesteloo · Editor-in-Chief June 29, 2026

Excerpt: "Federal law governs shooting at drones, not drones shooting at people

"The regulatory gap EFF is pointing at is real and lopsided. Federal law is clear and well-tested on one direction of force: firing at a drone is a felony. As DroneXL reported this month, a man who fired a BB gun at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone is facing charges under 18 U.S.C. § 32, which treats a drone as an aircraft and carries up to 20 years in prison. The statute dates to 1956 and has been applied to drone cases for years.

"There is no equivalent body of law running the other way. No federal statute defines when a law enforcement drone may deploy force against a person, what counts as proportionate, or who is liable when a less-lethal effect injures a bystander. San Francisco became the first city to ban police from using deadly force via robot back in 2022, but EFF argues a single-city policy covering only robots, not drones, is not enough. A workable rule, the group says, has to cover both categories and explicitly prohibit any body harm. The asymmetry is the whole problem: the person on the ground who shoots at a police drone faces two decades in federal prison, while the drone that might one day deploy force against that person operates in a legal vacuum."

https://dronexl.co/2026/06/29/eff-armed-police-drones-skydio-legal-gap/

#PoliceDrones #ArmedPoliceDrones #ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#EFF Says Lawmakers Have “Precious Little Time” to Stop #ArmedPoliceDrones, and the Skydio Reversal Is Why

Haye Kesteloo · Editor-in-Chief June 29, 2026

Excerpt: "Federal law governs shooting at drones, not drones shooting at people

"The regulatory gap EFF is pointing at is real and lopsided. Federal law is clear and well-tested on one direction of force: firing at a drone is a felony. As DroneXL reported this month, a man who fired a BB gun at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone is facing charges under 18 U.S.C. § 32, which treats a drone as an aircraft and carries up to 20 years in prison. The statute dates to 1956 and has been applied to drone cases for years.

"There is no equivalent body of law running the other way. No federal statute defines when a law enforcement drone may deploy force against a person, what counts as proportionate, or who is liable when a less-lethal effect injures a bystander. San Francisco became the first city to ban police from using deadly force via robot back in 2022, but EFF argues a single-city policy covering only robots, not drones, is not enough. A workable rule, the group says, has to cover both categories and explicitly prohibit any body harm. The asymmetry is the whole problem: the person on the ground who shoots at a police drone faces two decades in federal prison, while the drone that might one day deploy force against that person operates in a legal vacuum."

https://dronexl.co/2026/06/29/eff-armed-police-drones-skydio-legal-gap/

#PoliceDrones #ArmedPoliceDrones #ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#EFF Says Lawmakers Have “Precious Little Time” to Stop #ArmedPoliceDrones, and the Skydio Reversal Is Why

Haye Kesteloo · Editor-in-Chief June 29, 2026

Excerpt: "Federal law governs shooting at drones, not drones shooting at people

"The regulatory gap EFF is pointing at is real and lopsided. Federal law is clear and well-tested on one direction of force: firing at a drone is a felony. As DroneXL reported this month, a man who fired a BB gun at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone is facing charges under 18 U.S.C. § 32, which treats a drone as an aircraft and carries up to 20 years in prison. The statute dates to 1956 and has been applied to drone cases for years.

"There is no equivalent body of law running the other way. No federal statute defines when a law enforcement drone may deploy force against a person, what counts as proportionate, or who is liable when a less-lethal effect injures a bystander. San Francisco became the first city to ban police from using deadly force via robot back in 2022, but EFF argues a single-city policy covering only robots, not drones, is not enough. A workable rule, the group says, has to cover both categories and explicitly prohibit any body harm. The asymmetry is the whole problem: the person on the ground who shoots at a police drone faces two decades in federal prison, while the drone that might one day deploy force against that person operates in a legal vacuum."

https://dronexl.co/2026/06/29/eff-armed-police-drones-skydio-legal-gap/

#PoliceDrones #ArmedPoliceDrones #ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#EFF Says Lawmakers Have “Precious Little Time” to Stop #ArmedPoliceDrones, and the Skydio Reversal Is Why

Haye Kesteloo · Editor-in-Chief June 29, 2026

Excerpt: "Federal law governs shooting at drones, not drones shooting at people

"The regulatory gap EFF is pointing at is real and lopsided. Federal law is clear and well-tested on one direction of force: firing at a drone is a felony. As DroneXL reported this month, a man who fired a BB gun at a Lee County Sheriff’s Office drone is facing charges under 18 U.S.C. § 32, which treats a drone as an aircraft and carries up to 20 years in prison. The statute dates to 1956 and has been applied to drone cases for years.

"There is no equivalent body of law running the other way. No federal statute defines when a law enforcement drone may deploy force against a person, what counts as proportionate, or who is liable when a less-lethal effect injures a bystander. San Francisco became the first city to ban police from using deadly force via robot back in 2022, but EFF argues a single-city policy covering only robots, not drones, is not enough. A workable rule, the group says, has to cover both categories and explicitly prohibit any body harm. The asymmetry is the whole problem: the person on the ground who shoots at a police drone faces two decades in federal prison, while the drone that might one day deploy force against that person operates in a legal vacuum."

https://dronexl.co/2026/06/29/eff-armed-police-drones-skydio-legal-gap/

#PoliceDrones #ArmedPoliceDrones #ACAB #RoboCops #PredatorUAVs #PredatorDrones #UAVs #ICE #SurveillanceState #Fascism #WeaponizedDrones #CharacteristicsOfFascism

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

So, I've been downloading #GBLTQ resources and historical documents (including #QueerTalk, a radio show on #WMPG hosted by one of my first friends after I moved to #Maine). Why am I doing this? Because I don't trust #Trump and fiends to be in charge of public university archives. I'll be uploading those precious digital records to the @internetarchive soon. So grateful IA are there to be an independent repository of #History and #Culture! 📚 🎧 🎥

#PreservingCulture #PreservingHistory #InternetArchive #FundingCuts #MemoryHole #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #LGBTQ #QueerHistory

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-cnn

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/hQ6Ku

#USPol #PowerCorruptionAndLies #CorporateSuckUps #Oligarchy #Fascism #SilencingDissent #SilencingCriticism #OligarchsDinner #Oligarchs4Dinner #EatTheRich #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#AntiProtestLaws: #Alabama #SB247 – #AntiProtest Bill

Note: SB 247 went into effect on October 1, 2025

Latest Update: March 27, 2025

The #ACLU of Alabama opposes this.

"Summary:

Background: Senate Bill 247 prohibits protestors from organizing at or near a residence or a place of employment and using sound systems during protests at these locations. It also prohibits protestors from blocking entrances and exits to roads, places of employment, and residences. A “residence” is vaguely defined in the bill as any building that someone uses to live in while “place of employment” has no listed definition at all. The Governor’s mansion, for instance, would likely fall under the requirements for residences. Organizers could even be barred from protesting when they choose to organize in proximity to apartments or other residential areas. SB 247 would also permit municipalities to author and pass ordinances that limit the time or noise level of a protest that occurs in a residential area.

Our Position: We oppose SB 247. The ACLU of Alabama is committed to protecting First Amendment rights. That includes defending the right to protest for individuals across the state of Alabama. Senate Bill 247 attempts to exempt public officials from hearing the grievances of Alabamians, often expressed through protest when constituents are unable to inspire action in the State House. If SB 247 passes, it would add limitations on where protesters can organize and would violate the First Amendment rights of Alabamians."

Source:
https://www.aclualabama.org/legislation/sb-247-anti-protest-bill/

Link to Bill Status:
https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdf/SearchableInstruments/2025RS/SB247-int.pdf

#AlabamaLaw #CriminalizingDissent
#Authoritarianism #Fascism #Clampdown #CriminalizingProtest
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol

I guess all #Goths are #Terrorists?

Wearing #AllBlack at #Protests Makes You Guilty of #Terrorism, Prosecutors Tell Jury

The Prairieland case is a major test of the Trump administration’s push to label “#antifa” protesters as #terrorists.

“They’re here asking you guys to put protesters in prison as terrorists.”

by Matt Sledge
March 12 2026,

"Federal agents raiding the home of two alleged #antifa 'operatives' seized a telling piece of evidence, a defense attorney said during closing arguments in a landmark trial Wednesday.

"A printing press.

"That printing press was never presented to jurors. Still, the government has kept it locked away because it hated the #pamphlets and #zines it published, lawyer Blake Burns said.

"Burns represents Elizabeth Soto, one of nine defendants whose fates were in the hands of jurors as deliberations began Thursday. All are accused of roles during or after a late-night noise demonstration outside #PrairielandDetentionCenter, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Dallas that ended with a local police officer wounded by gunfire.

"The case has become a bellwether for the Trump administration’s crackdown on dissent from the left. The government charged people involved with the #AntiICE protest with a slew of charges, including attempted murder and terrorism counts that defense attorneys said are being used to #CriminalizeProtest.

" 'They’re here asking you guys to put protesters in prison as terrorists,' Burns, the defense lawyer, told jurors. 'That’s not happened before. And you are literally the only people in the world who can stop it.'

"During 10 days of testimony in a packed Fort Worth, Texas, courtroom, prosecutors bombarded jurors with images of radical zines printed on the press, anti-government internet memes, drawings of burning cop cars, and a video of an unidentified street brawl between far-left and far-right protesters.

"Prosecutors acknowledged those materials were protected by the #FirstAmendment but said they showed the roughly dozen people who assembled outside the ICE facility were steeped in antifa tactics.

"Eight of nine defendants on trial this month face material support for terrorism charges for wearing '#BlackBloc' clothes at the protest. Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel have hailed the first-ever use of terrorism charges against alleged antifa members."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/12/antifa-ice-protest-texas-trial-terrorism/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/UFFO9

#USPol #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Fascism #Authoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Anti-ICE #Protesters Convicted on #Terrorism Charges for Wearing All Black

By Matt Sledge, March 13, 2026

Excerpt: "The defendants said the protest was a peaceful demonstration meant to show solidarity, pointing to the megaphone that one member of the group brought to shout slogans to detainees. Prosecutors pointed to the guns, ballistic vests, and trauma first-aid kits they brought as evidence of malicious intent."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/13/ice-protesters-terrorism-prairieland-antifa/

#Antifa #RadicalZines #AntiICE #PrairielandDetentionFacility #Texas #USPol #CriminalizingDissent #BlackClothes #BlackBloc #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BenjaminSong #AutumnHill #ZacharyEvetts #SavannaBatten #MeganMorris #MaricelaRueda #ElizabethSoto #InesSoto

#Bipartisan even! #DoublePlusUngood!

Congress Is Considering Abolishing Your Right to Be #Anonymous Online

The bipartisan push to remove #anonymity from the #Internet is ushering in an era of unprecedented #MassSurveillance and #censorship.

Taylor Lorenz
March 5 2026, 12:20 p.m.

"In August 2024, the Biden administration hosted hundreds of influencers at the White House for the first-ever Creator Economy Conference. Neera Tanden, a senior Biden adviser, took to the stage and bemoaned anonymity online. The influencers alongside her agreed, pushing the idea that anonymous speech on the internet is harmful, and regulation is needed to force the use of real names on social media. The audience whispered excitedly as those on stage spoke about how proposed laws like the #kidsonlinesafetyact or #KOSA, could unmask every troll.

"This narrative of online safety, particularly in relation to children, has become central to the bipartisan effort to #censor and #deanonymize the internet for everyone. Today, a package of a dozen 'child online safety' bills is moving forward in the House of Representatives with bipartisan support. The laws, framed as a way to crack down on harmful content and make the internet safer, would force social media companies to enact invasive identity verification measures in order to keep children from accessing online spaces.

"The problem is that there’s no way to reliably verify someone’s age without verifying who they are. A platform cannot magically discern that a user is 16 without collecting identifying information, whether through government documents such as a passport, payment information like a credit card, or other identity-disclosing data. Whether that data is stored by the platform itself or outsourced to a vendor, the result is always the same: A user’s offline identity is forever linked with their online behavior.

"Stripping anonymity from the internet would constitute one of the most sweeping rollbacks of civil rights in recent history. It would allow for unprecedented levels of mass surveillance and censorship, endangering the most marginalized members of society. #Whistleblowers exposing #corporate wrongdoing could be tracked and fired, #GovernmentEmployees speaking out about illegal behavior or bad policies could face prosecution, and #activists #OrganizingProtests could be identified and surveilled before ever setting foot on the street.

"Already, the U.S. government is flooding social media platforms with subpoenas seeking to unmask hundreds of anonymously run #AntiICE social media accounts. These laws would make it all the more easier for the government to target and prosecute those who dissent.
Vulnerable members of society will suffer most. #TransPeople under attack from the government could be identified and outed without their consent.

"Undocumented #immigrants could be cut off from the ability to communicate and connect with advocates. Young people seeking #abortions in states with restrictive laws might no longer have the ability to access information safely and anonymously.

"Not only will a de-anonymized internet be valuable to the government as it seeks to tighten control, it will also make it easier for any #corporation or bad actor to intimidate, #blackmail, or exploit people by leveraging their own data against them."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/05/kosa-online-age-verification-free-speech-privacy/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/al8if

#USPol #Orwellian #BigBrother #SurveillanceState #Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou

#PamBondi Admits #DOJ Has a Secret #DomesticTerrorist List

After the DOJ dodged questions for months, Bondi acknowledged in a House Judiciary Committee hearing that she had a list of targets under NPSM-7.

Nick Turse
February 12 2026

Excerpt: "A November FBI internal report obtained by The Guardian revealed that there were multiple active FBI investigations related to NSPM-7 in 27 locations. The Intercept revealed on Thursday that the FBI appears to be investigating #ExtinctionRebellionNYC, a climate activism group, in an inquiry that could potentially be related to NSPM-7."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/02/12/pam-bondi-domestic-terror-list-nspm-7/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/OArt2

#USPol #NPSM7 #SilencingDissent #Resistance #CriminalizingDissent #Authoritarianism #Fascism #EnvironmentalGroups #ProPalestineGroups #Antifa #ExtinctionRebellion #CharacteristicsOfFascism

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."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/why-isn-t-news-of-trump-building-vast-concentration-camps-being-treated-as-a-national-emergency

#USPol #WakeUpPeople #HistoryRepeats #Fascism #Authoritarianism #DetentionCenters
#PrivatePrisons #CriminalizingDissent
#SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

#OglalaLakota President Refuses #ICE Manipulation and Deal -- as Three #Lakota Remain #Disappeared at #FortSnelling

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Jan. 15, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS -- "ICE's violence continued on Wednesday night with another #ICEShooting. Three #Lakotas arrested by ICE remain disappeared at Fort Snelling, the long time site of the genocide of #Dakota people.

"In the search for the three disappeared Lakotas, Oglala Lakota President #FrankStarComesOut says he refuses to cut a deal with ICE, which ICE is demanding to release more information.

"Meanwhile, a whistleblower has leaked the secret ICE operations underway -- including the targeting of #activists, recruiting informants in jail, and 'Operation A' exploiting migrants for intelligence.

"Both the #TohonoOodham Nation government, and #Navajo President #BuuNygren, play roles by recruiting and promoting ICE agents."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/01/oglala-lakota-president-refuses-ice.html

#ICESucks #ReadersupportedNews #ResistICE #Authoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Texas A&M is banning #Plato, citing his “#GenderIdeology.”

Brittany Allen January 12, 2026

"Today, Texas A&M resumes classes for the spring semester—but a number of canonized texts will not be welcomed back to school. The public research university has lately been caught in the crossfire between state and stupid.

As The Texas Tribune has reported, faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences were informed just last week that 'a new system policy restricting classroom discussions of race and gender' is set to take effect today.

The policy, engineered and approved by the Texas A&M University Regents last November, requires that the school’s president sign off on every syllabus with an eye to scrubbing 'problematic' content. But the foes were loosely framed.

Under the new restrictions, gender ideology is defined as 'a concept of self-assessed #GenderIdentity replacing, and disconnected from, the biological category of sex.' Race ideology entails 'attempts to shame a particular race or ethnicity' or anything that 'promotes activism on issues related to race or ethnicity rather than academic instruction.'

As a European history professor pointed out at the time, this wording could effectively prohibit a professor from teaching about the Holocaust.

The regents used AI analysis software to audit syllabi for unapproved content. Thanks to this rude mech, 200 courses have been cancelled, stripped of core curricular credit value, or forced into revision.

The hammer came down over the weekend for assorted religion, film, ethnic studies, sociology, communications, and literature classes. And in a truly-beyond-parody move, a philosophy professor, Martin Peterson, was told to 'either remove ‘modules on race and gender ideology' ' from his course, or be reassigned to teach a different class entirely.

Most philosophy nerds will recognize the 'gender ideology' readings in question, which are lifted from the Symposium. The university apparently quibbled with Plato’s reference the the 'Myth of #Androgyne,' in which #Aristophanes describes three genders.

Most musical theatre nerds will also catch the reference—the same myth was called up in #JohnCameronMitchell and #StephenTrask’s epic ballad, 'The Origin of Love,”'from Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

Even as we note the rise of smoothbrain rhetoric sea to sea, the fact that Plato has been deemed inappropriate for an Introduction to Philosophy course is a surreal escalation of terms.

Meanwhile, A&M students are set to be deprived of so much recent world. Including but not limited to 'literature with major plot lines that concern #gay, #lesbian or #transgender identities,' #feminist and #queer film, or #race and #ethnicity as a subject…fullstop.

As Abby Monteil at them reports, these curricular restrictions have all trickled down from the Trump administration, which continues to dangle federal funding as a carrot for universities compliant with its agenda. We simply hate to see it.

As you go about your reading today, pour one out for the Aggies."

Source:
https://lithub.com/texas-am-is-banning-plato-citing-his-gender-ideology/

#USPol #Censorship #AncientHistory #Philosophy #Philosopher #GBLTQ #History #CharacteristicsOfFascism

Proud owner of a number of #Anarchist books -- starting with #AbbieHoffman's #StealThisBook and #PrairieFire - The politics of revolutionary anti-imperialism (#WeatherUnderground, 1974). Also a proud subscriber to #InTheseTimes 'zine, and frequent #Antifa stickerer! I've never hid what I believe in -- I'm not about to start now! #Resist!

The Feds Want to Make It Illegal to Even Possess an #Anarchist #Zine

#DanielSanchez is facing federal charges for what #FreeSpeech advocates say is a clear attack on the #FirstAmendment.

by Seth Stern, November 23 2025

Excerpt: "Federal prosecutors have filed a new indictment in response to a July 4 noise demonstration outside the #PrairielandICE #DetentionFacility in #AlvaradoTX, during which a police officer was shot.

"There are numerous problems with the indictment, but perhaps the most glaring is its inclusion of charges against a Dallas #artist who wasn’t even at the protest. Daniel 'Des' Sanchez is accused of transporting a box that contained '#Antifa materials' after the incident, supposedly to conceal evidence against his wife, Maricela Rueda, who was there.

"But the boxed materials aren’t Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, or whatever #MAGA officials claim 'Antifa' uses to wage its imaginary war on America. As prosecutors laid out in the July criminal complaint that led to the indictment, they were zines and pamphlets. Some contain controversial ideas — one was titled '#InsurrectionaryAnarchy' — but they’re fully constitutionally protected free speech. The case demonstrates the administration’s intensifying efforts to criminalize left-wing #activists after Donald Trump announced in September that he was designating 'Antifa' as a 'major terrorist organization' — a legal designation that doesn’t exist for domestic groups — following the killing of Charlie Kirk.

"Sanchez was first indicted in October on charges of 'corruptly concealing a document or record' as a standalone case, but the new indictment merges his charges with those against the other defendants, likely in hopes of burying the First Amendment problems with the case against him under prosecutors’ claims about the alleged shooting.

"It’s an escalation of a familiar tactic. In 2023, Georgia prosecutors listed #ZineDistribution as part of the #conspiracy charges against 61 #StopCopCity protesters in a sprawling #RICO indictment that didn’t bother to explain how each individual defendant was involved in any actual crime. I wrote back then about my concern that this wasn’t just sloppy overreach, but also a blueprint for censorship. Those fears have now been validated by Sanchez’s prosecution solely for possessing similar literature."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/11/23/prairieland-ice-antifa-zines-criminalize-protest-journalism/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/KEoxE

#AntiFascism #Resistance #Antifa #Movements #USPol
#WorldPol #Authoritarianism #Dictatorship #Disobey
#Resistance #CharacteristicsOfFascism

[Podcast] The return of Erik Prince - The comeback of America’s most infamous mercenary

Nov 1st 2025

"Erik Prince, America’s most infamous mercenary, is back.

"Mr Prince rose to prominence during the war on terror as the founder of #Blackwater, a private military company. The firm earned over a billion dollars providing armed personnel to various branches of the US government before becoming implicated in a number of scandals. In 2007 its contractors killed 14 Iraqi civilians, including a nine-year-old child. The massacre made Mr Prince the face of the Iraq fiasco. He sold the company and disappeared from the public eye.

"But in recent months Mr Prince has reemerged. He has popped up in some of the most dangerous, contested places in the world, from Ukraine to Haiti to the DRC. They are places the Trump administration is interested in too.

"For the Weekend Intelligence the Economist’s Africa Correspondent, Tom Gardner, flew to Cape Town to meet with Prince, the mercenary in CEO’s clothing. Prince is defiant after his years in the political wilderness. And he’s spying some big opportunities. The global mercenary business is on the brink of a new boom. States, across Africa and beyond, are fracturing. The international system is fraying. With UN peacekeepers drawing down, from Mali to Congo to Lebanon, mercenaries of different stripes can expect to fill the void."

Read more / listen:
https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/11/01/the-return-of-erik-prince

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/YYhBY

#Blackwater
#ErikPrinceColonialism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism
#ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism
#Fascism #Trump #ChristoFascist
#CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #ClimateActivists #Activists #NoDAPL #CriminalizingDissent
#CrackdownOnProtests #AntiProtestLaws #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrinceColonialism #Academi #TripleCanopy #SilencingDissent #ErikPrinceIsAWarCriminal

Ring cameras are about to get increasingly chummy with law enforcement

Amazon’s Ring partners with company whose tech has reportedly been used by ICE.

Scharon Harding – Oct 17, 2025

"Law enforcement agencies will soon have easier access to footage captured by Amazon’s Ring smart cameras. In a partnership announced this week, Amazon will allow approximately 5,000 local law enforcement agencies to request access to Ring camera footage via surveillance platforms from Flock Safety. Ring’s cooperation with law enforcement and the reported use of Flock technologies by federal agencies, including US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), has resurfaced privacy concerns that have followed the devices for years.

"According to Flock’s announcement, its Ring partnership allows local law enforcement members to use Flock software 'to send a direct post in the Ring Neighbors app with details about the investigation and request voluntary assistance.' Requests must include 'specific location and timeframe of the incident, a unique investigation code, and details about what is being investigated,' and users can look at the requests anonymously, Flock said.

" 'Any footage a Ring customer chooses to submit will be securely packaged by Flock and shared directly with the requesting local public safety agency through the FlockOS or Flock Nova platform,' the announcement reads.

"Flock said its local law enforcement users will gain access to Ring Community Requests in 'the coming months.' "

Read more:
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/ring-cameras-are-about-to-get-increasingly-chummy-with-law-enforcement/

#BigBrother #BigBrotherIsWatching #USPol #ACAB #TrumpIsABully #SecretPolice #ICESucks #Disappeared
#Orwellian #ThoughtPolice #ICEOfficers #BigGuns #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #authoritarianism

#Chicago judge questions Trump official over #ICE agents' use of force

By Diana Novak Jones and Joseph Ax
Mon, October 20, 2025

Excerpt: "A federal judge in Chicago on Monday grilled U.S. immigration officials about federal agents' use of tear gas and other forceful tactics against protesters as part of President Donald Trump's crackdown in the city.

"U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis has repeatedly expressed concern that federal agents were violating her October 9 order requiring them to wear visible #identification and limiting their use of anti-riot weapons such as #PepperBalls and #TearGas. On Friday, Ellis ordered federal officers who have body cameras to turn them on while conducting immigration enforcement activity and during interactions with the public.

"At Monday's hearing, Ellis also said she would allow the plaintiffs in the case - protesters, journalists and clergy members who sued the Trump administration alleging they were deliberately brutalized during peaceful demonstrations - to question several officials under oath, including Gregory Bovino, a top U.S. Border Patrol official.

"In granting the plaintiffs' request, Ellis made it clear the litigation is limited to the tactics used by field agents, not the president's stated rationale.

" 'I don't think that it matters what the administration's objectives are or what goals they have or what ideology is pushing this enforcement action,' she said. 'This lawsuit...is all about how our ICE officials and #CBP officials are enforcing the laws.'

"Clashes between protesters and federal agents, particularly #BorderPatrol agents and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, have increased since Trump launched the crackdown in early September.

"Trump also ordered the deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area, part of the Republican president's extraordinary campaign to send military personnel to Democratic-run cities purportedly to fight crime. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the deployment, but the Justice Department has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the troops to proceed.

"Separately, a federal appeals court on Monday cleared the way for hundreds of Guard soldiers to deploy to Portland, Oregon, despite the objections of the Democratic mayor and governor there."

Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/chicago-judge-questions-trump-official-211559155.html

#USPol #ACAB #TrumpIsABully
#SecretPolice #ICESucks #Disappeared
#Orwellian #ThoughtPolice #ICEOfficers #BigGuns #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #authoritarianism #ICE #MurderPatrol

#ICE boosts weapons spending 700%

A Popular Information investigation reveals tens of millions in new ICE spending on #guns, #ChemicalWeapons, and explosives.

Judd Legum
Oct 20, 2025

Excerpt: "U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has sharply increased its spending on weapons in 2025, according to an analysis of federal government contracting data by Popular Information. Records from the Federal Procurement Data System reveal that ICE has increased spending on 'small arms, ordnance, and ordnance accessories manufacturing' by 700% compared to 2024 levels.

"New spending in the small arms category from January 20, 2025, the day Trump was inaugurated, through October 18, totaled $71,515,762. Most of the spending was on guns and armor, but there have also been significant purchases of chemical weapons and 'guided missile warheads and explosive components.'

"On September 29, 2025, ICE made a $9,098,590 purchase from #GeisseleAutomatics, which sells #SemiAutomatic and #AutomaticRifles. The total spending by ICE in the small arms category between January 20 and October 18, 2024, was $9,715,843."

https://popular.info/p/ice-boosts-weapons-spending-700

#USPol #ACAB #TrumpIsABully
#SecretPolice #ICESucks #Disappeared
#Orwellian #ThoughtPolice #ICEOfficers #BigGuns #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #authoritarianism

Ignoring Court Ruling, #Trump Sends Troops to #PortlandOR to Break Imagined #Antifa “Siege”

Trump’s order to send the Oregon #NationalGuard to Portland appeared to surprise #Pentagon officials.

by Nick Turse, September 29, 2025

Excerpt: "Recent protests in Portland have been muted and focused on the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building located outside the city’s downtown area. In court this month, a Portland police official said federal officers were 'instigating' confrontations with protesters outside the ICE facility. Several demonstrators have been charged with assault. Others have been charged with crimes like arson and resisting arrest.

"Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the #BrennanCenter’s liberty and national security program, said there was no cause for Trump’s order. 'Under law and tradition, the military should be used to quell civil unrest only in the most extreme circumstances where state and local authorities are overwhelmed and have asked for help. The situation in Portland comes nowhere close to the level of disorder that has historically prompted states to request assistance from the federal military, which is why local authorities haven’t made such a request,' she told The Intercept. 'Throwing out the term ‘#DomesticTerrorism’ doesn’t change matters. Domestic terrorism is a crime that is prosecuted by civilian authorities. Some protesters in Portland have been charged with misdemeanors, but none have been charged with #terrorism.'

"Trump’s Portland announcement appeared to surprise #Pentagon officials, who offered no information even a day after Trump issued his order on Truth Social. 'We stand ready to mobilize U.S. military personnel in support of #DHS operations in Portland at the President’s direction,' chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell told The Intercept. 'The Department will provide information and updates as they become available.' The Intercept never received any updates.

"The National Guard also appeared to have been kept in the dark. At this time, we do not have any additional information,' a spokesperson told The Intercept on Sunday. On Monday, Northern Command — which will oversee the Portland deployment — still had no details to offer. 'We don’t have any [sic] to provide in addition to the OSW statement,' a spokesperson told The Intercept.

"Trump has long expressed animus toward Portland, stretching back to his first term, when he called it a 'beehive of terrorists.' In 2020, federal agents wearing camouflage were deployed in the city, in the wake of #protests over the police killing of #GeorgeFloyd. Then-Gov. #KateBrown described it as a 'blatant abuse of power' and said it was designed to distract citizens from Trump’s bungled handling of the #Covid19 pandemic.
Trump’s new Portland order follows a series of #authoritarian actions that have pushed the nation ever closer to a genuine police state. Earlier this month, Trump signed an executive order claiming to designate #antifa — a loose-knit #AntiFascist movement — as a 'domestic terror organization.' On Thursday, he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7, which directs the Justice Department and elements of the Intelligence Community and national security establishment to target 'anti-fascism … movements' and 'domestic terrorist organizations.' Such enemies, according to Trump, not only espouse 'anti-Americanism' and 'support for the overthrow of the United States Government,' but also are typified by advocacy of opinions protected by the #FirstAmendment including '#AntiCapitalism,' 'anti-Christianity,' and 'hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality.'

“ 'President Trump’s order mobilizing federal law enforcement to investigate perceived opponents of his administration turns reality on its head,' said Federico Borello, acting executive director of #HumanRightsWatch. 'It fabricates a nonexistent plot as a #pretext to suppress speech and ideas across the U.S. political spectrum.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/09/29/trump-portland-troops-antifa/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/VSSp1

#USPol #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ChristoFascism #PDX #Oregon

‘#NoKings’ Unveils a Big New #Trump Protest, and the Stakes Couldn’t Be Higher

A movement leader tells Rolling Stone about the #NoKings2 demonstrations on #October18, and how they can curb Trump’s #overreach

by Tim Dickinson, September 8, 2025

"America’s pro-democracy movement is gearing up for what may be its biggest mass-demonstration yet against the increasingly #militaristic Trump administration — which has sent armed troops to occupy the nation’s capital and is threatening to do the same in large cities from Chicago to New Orleans.
Popular resistance in Trump’s second term has snowballed, in an organic fashion, from a large President’s Day protest in February, through mass demonstrations in April, to the first 'No Kings' protest on Trump’s birthday in June — which drew millions to counter the president’s tin-pot military birthday parade.

"After a series of smaller summer protests, the movement will be back in the streets and squares and center cities of America, en masse, in October for No Kings 2 — a sequel organizers are expecting to outshine the original, amid revulsion to Trump’s brutal campaign of mass deportation led by masked agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE), and an increasingly lawless president who claims 'a lot' of Americans would 'like a dictator.'

"No Kings 2 is being organized by a big tent of grassroots and advocacy organizations. One of the most prominent players is #Indivisible, the activist group that sprang to life in the early days of the first Trump administration, and which now counts 2,500 distributed, local chapters nationwide.

"Rolling Stone spoke to Indivisible co-founder #EzraLevin last week, in advance of No Kings 2 unveiling on Monday. The protest is planned for October 18 — in the aftermath of an unpredictable showdown over government funding that could lead to a #PartialGovernmentShutdown by the end of the month.

"Levin says the stakes of the protests have never been more urgent, and that organizers are expecting record numbers of #protesters to raise their voices for democracy and against the threats of #dictatorship."

Read more:
https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-no-kings-2-protest-october-ice-military-1235423204

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/a9WYP

#USPol #Resistance #ResistFascism #ResistAuthoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

#DystopianTimes - The collective West decided to #censor the entire internet instead of not doing #genocide

Ricky Hale and @cemedia
Jul 30, 2025

Excerpt: "Since the #OnlineSafetyAct came into effect, we've seen an awful lot of political censorship and nothing in the way of saving children. Children's lives have not been improved by this bill, but all of us have seen loss of privacy and loss of information we should be allowed to access in a #FreeSociety.

"There is a petition on the Parliament UK website to repeal the Online Safety Act that I have attempted to sign three times. I still have not received the verification email, meaning my signature has not been counted. I suspect this is deliberate and that many more than the official 427,000 people have attempted to sign.

"The government has already responded to the petition by dismissing everyone's concerns and refusing to debate this in parliament. The whole point of parliamentary petitions is to trigger parliamentary debates, but the government is no longer pretending to listen to what we want.

"The level of #overreach in the Online Safety Act is off the chart. Section 179 bans people from saying something false that could cause 'non-trivial psychological harm', potentially banning #humour and #satire. It could also ban any speech that counters a government narrative and is therefore deemed false.

"If your government decides there is no genocide and you say there is, there is nothing stopping them deeming this misinformation and banning you.

[...]

"The #MinistryOfTruth now gets to decide which online content is factual or harmful and that will always be a political decision. There is no impartial way of doing this, and aside from anything else, people in a free society are allowed to say what they want. No one needs to be protected from speech."

https://www.councilestatemedia.uk/p/no-government-has-the-right-to-censor

#Censorship #GazaGenocide #GazaHumanitarianCrisis #Orwellian #DoublePlusUngood #EndlessWar #PalestineAction #UKPol #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism