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#silencingdissent — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #silencingdissent, aggregated by home.social.

  1. 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:
    theintercept.com/2026/08/28/tr

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4ETk2

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

  2. 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...' "

    ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/08/2

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

  3. #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:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08

    #Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent
    #CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism
    #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  4. 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."

    apnews.com/article/minnesota-i

    #Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent
    #CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism
    #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  5. ‘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.' "

    commondreams.org/news/trump-le

    #Authoritarianism #Fascism #USPol #UnionBusting #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #DefundICE #DefundDHS #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  6. 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:
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/eRg8I

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

  7. 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:
    npr.org/2026/08/03/nx-s1-58862

    #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CriminalizingDissent #SilencingDissent #ICESucks #DefundICE #TrumpSucks #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  8. #Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone

    The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

    Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026

    "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called #GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.

    "The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were 'looking for anything that’s prohibited.' However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his #activism.

    "Tunick was involved with a group called #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for 'suspected terrorism activities.'

    "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/0

    #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

  9. #Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone

    The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

    Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026

    "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called #GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.

    "The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were 'looking for anything that’s prohibited.' However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his #activism.

    "Tunick was involved with a group called #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for 'suspected terrorism activities.'

    "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/0

    #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

  10. #Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone

    The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

    Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026

    "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called #GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.

    "The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were 'looking for anything that’s prohibited.' However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his #activism.

    "Tunick was involved with a group called #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for 'suspected terrorism activities.'

    "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/0

    #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

  11. #Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone

    The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

    Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026

    "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called #GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.

    "The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were 'looking for anything that’s prohibited.' However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his #activism.

    "Tunick was involved with a group called #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for 'suspected terrorism activities.'

    "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/0

    #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

  12. #Activist charged with felony after giving border agent #DuressCode that wiped his phone

    The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

    Ryan Whitwam – Jul 27, 2026

    "In early 2025, Atlanta resident #SamuelTunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called #GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he’s facing federal charges.

    "The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to The Guardian, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were 'looking for anything that’s prohibited.' However, Tunick’s legal team alleges he was targeted for his #activism.

    "Tunick was involved with a group called #DefendTheAtlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as #CopCity. What Tunick didn’t know, according to his lawyers, was that he’d been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for 'suspected terrorism activities.'

    "During the interrogation, #CBP agents told Tunick they wanted to search his phone for evidence of child sexual abuse, and if he didn’t unlock the device, it would be confiscated. The government has long asserted broad authority to examine and seize electronic devices at the border for virtually any reason. Tunick claims he was never read his rights and requested legal counsel several times, but the requests were denied."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/0

    #Fascism #DefundCBP #DefundICE #HomelandInsecurity #USPol #SilencingDissent #StopCopCity #StopCopCitiesEverywhere #DefendTheForest

  13. #AmnestyInternational
    Interactive #ProtestMap

    Posted 31 October 2025

    "Our new interactive map reveals how many countries misuse police weapons such as rubber bullets, tear gas, pepper spray, and batons to harass, intimidate, punish, or drive away protesters, shutting down their right to peaceful assembly. It also includes protest restrictions in the #UK.

    "Our right to protest under threat across the world

    "Authorities across the world are increasingly resorting to unlawful use of force and repressive legislation to crush protests. We have launched this interactive digital map to expose the shocking rise in the repression of protesters by states across the globe.

    "This map shows how governments treat protests as a threat rather than a right and how law enforcement officials view their role as being to suppress and subdue protesters rather than to facilitate their rights. As a result, thousands of people are being unlawfully dispersed, arrested, beaten and even killed during demonstrations. They also face devastating consequences afterwards, just for participating in protests.

    "In the UK, police have made over 2100 arrests under the #TerrorismAct 2000 for peacefully protesting the banning of #PalestineAction in the UK. It is a violation of the UK’s international obligations. And it simply can’t go unchallenged."

    Spotlight on the #USA:

    "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

    FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY IS IN DANGER IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:

    - Protest is treated as a threat
    - Unlawful force is used against protesters and less-lethal weapons are misused
    - Militarization takes place"

    Full map:
    amnesty.org.uk/knowledge-hub/a

    #USPol #WorldPol #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #SilencingDissent #RightToProtest

  14. #Trump Wants to Put You in a Massive, Secret Government Database

    Agencies are reportedly pooling immigration data, Social Security numbers, and more into a central database. #FPF is suing to learn how deep it goes.

    by Lauren Harper, March 17 2026

    Excerpt: "The public has never seen the reports agencies submitted by OMB, despite their impact on our privacy. However, thanks to intrepid reporting and litigation, we do have glimpses of how this is starting to play out:

    - The Central Intelligence Agency has been granted increased access to domestic law enforcement databases, further blurring the line between foreign intelligence and domestic policing.
    - The so-called Department of Government Efficiency got direct access to Treasury Department payment systems, including Social Security numbers, names, and birthdays, according to a whistleblower.
    - Immigration and Customs Enforcement got access to Medicaid recipients’ data and banking information.
    - The Transportation Security Administration is now sharing biometric passenger info with immigration enforcement, turning every airport check-in into a potential trap.

    "But these incursions are only the tip of the iceberg.

    "Reports indicate the administration’s goal for dismantling privacy protections is to build a centralized national database, which would allow the administration to create detailed reports on every American, potentially for political purposes, including retaliation, harassment, and imprisonment.

    "At the same time this database is becoming a reality, the Department of Homeland Security is rapidly expanding its surveillance capabilities, and the administration is unleashing AI across federal systems to analyze the data points they are harvesting from our private lives.

    "Perhaps worst of all, by 'eliminating information silos,' the administration is creating a single point of failure for the privacy of every American. A centralized database that compiles our most intimate information, from our health to our finances, doesn’t just make us vulnerable to government abuse; it creates a massive, singular target for hackers and foreign adversaries."

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2026/03/17/go

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4fObS

    #SilencingDissent #SurveillanceState #CriminalizingDissent #BigBrotherIsWatchingYou #Orwellian #FreedomOfThePressFoundation #USPol

  15. #RightToProtest is under attack in #England and #Wales, reports warn
    #HumanRightsWatch and Justice say recent legislative changes have had a chilling effect and should be repealed

    by Haroon Siddique
    Thu 8 Jan 2026

    "The right to protest is under attack in England and Wales with laws trampling over human rights protections and more oppressive restrictions in the pipeline, two major reports have warned.

    "Both Human Rights Watch and the cross-party law reform organisation Justice say recent legislative changes have created a chilling effect on lawful protest and should be repealed. Their reports, simultaneously published on Thursday, also say that proposals for more curbs should be halted.

    "They highlight the arrest of Republic #AntiMonarchy protesters during King Charles’s coronation, charges and arrests of #ProPalestinian demonstrators and long sentences for #ClimateProtesters as examples of the crackdown on the right to peaceful dissent.

    "Fiona Rutherford, chief executive of Justice, said: 'Year by year, we see police powers grow, as our fundamental right to protest is treated more like a privilege. The law in this area has become dangerously unbalanced, empowering the state to silence voices it should be safeguarding. Reversing this trend is essential to restoring trust, protecting rights and preserving a healthy democracy.'

    "Lydia Gall, a senior Europe and Central Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: 'The UK is now adopting protest-control tactics imposed in countries where democratic safeguards are collapsing. The UK should oppose such measures, not replicate and endorse them.'

    "Both reports say that the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 and the #PublicOrderAct 2023 were watershed moments, criminalising large amounts of previously lawful protest activity and placing a greater emphasis on preemptive containment of protest through criminal law.

    The 2022 law granted police authority to impose conditions on public assemblies on grounds such as causing 'serious unease' or being 'too noisy', described by Human Rights Watch as 'vague and subjective'.

    "Members of the public can be arrested for carrying items – described as innocuous by Justice – including cable ties, bike locks or glue, on suspicion that they may be used for 'locking‑on'."

    Read more:
    theguardian.com/world/2026/jan

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/KORuE

    #CriminalizingProtest #SilencingDissent #EnvironmentalActivists #GazaGenocide #HumanRights #AntiProtestLaws
    #RightToProtest #ACAB #UKPol #JustStopOil #PalestineAction

  16. How new protest laws are impacting political demonstrations

    More than a dozen states have passed laws regulating protests in recent years, raising concerns among free-speech advocates.

    By Akilah Johnson,
    January 2, 2026

    Excerpt: "While serving in the Florida state legislature, #RandyFine helped pass legislation that provides some protection under certain circumstances to drivers who hit #protesters blocking #roadways. In Congress, the Republican representative has introduced a similar bill — what he calls the '#ThumpThumpAct' — for drivers who may encounter protesters in other parts of the country.

    " 'When the consequences for inappropriate behavior are severe enough, people will stop doing it,' Fine said. 'Blocking roads is a form of political terrorism. They should get run over.'

    "Florida is one of more than a dozen states that have cracked down on protests in recent years, passing laws that often equate political demonstrations with riots in ways that #FirstAmendment experts say could be illegal.

    "Since 2017, 23 states have passed at least 55 laws to address how and when people can protest, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law, which tracks such statutes. The laws do such things as mandate at least 30 days in jail for rioting — often loosely defined as a group involved in tumultuous or potentially violent behavior — restrict protests on college campuses, and imprison and fine people who block sidewalks, streets and highways.

    "Some lawmakers like Fine want federal legislation that mirrors those efforts. Among the 16 pending federal bills are proposals to tighten restrictions on protesting near federal judges, jurors or court staff; strip #nonprofits of their tax status for certain #protest-related activities; and block people convicted of rioting from small business aid.

    "First Amendment advocates warn that the patchwork of state laws, pending federal bills and court battles risk rewriting the rules of public demonstrations. There are already laws to prosecute violent behavior, making these new efforts unnecessary, they say.
    There have been few arrests or prosecutions under the recently passed protest laws, but free-speech advocates say the measures can be used to control or dissuade would-be demonstrators.

    " 'What we have consistently seen is lawmakers responding to protest movements by introducing new laws that restrict the #RightToProtest,' said Elly Page, senior legal adviser for U.S. programs at the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law."

    Read more:
    washingtonpost.com/nation/2026

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/yyFNm

    #AntiProtestLaws #USPol #ProtestLaws
    #Project2025 #Authoritarianism #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #BlockingTraffic

  17. #ProtonMail Helped #FBI Unmask Anonymous ‘#StopCopCity#Protester

    by Joseph Cox
    Mar 5, 2026 at 3:36 PM

    A court record reviewed by 404 Media shows privacy-focused email provider Proton Mail handed over payment data related to a Stop Cop City email account to the Swiss government, which handed it to the FBI.

    Read more:
    404media.co/proton-mail-helped

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/8cpN1

    #Doxing #USPol #WorldPol #SilencingDissent #Infosec #CriminalizingDissent #StopCopCitiesEverywhere

  18. #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:
    theintercept.com/2026/02/12/pa

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/OArt2

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

  19. Lying sacks of sh*t!!! #ICEOutForGood !

    #Trump's #borderCzar says a 'small' security force will stay in #Minnesota

    by Alina Selyukh
    February 15, 2026

    "#Homan said an additional security force — described in size only as 'small' — will stay to 'respond to when our agents are out, and they get surrounded by #agitators and things got out of control.' "

    Read more:
    npr.org/2026/02/15/nx-s1-57151

    #USPol #NPR #AbolishICE #DefundICE #AbolishCBP #BorderPatrol #MurderPatrol #SilencingDissent #Disappearing #ImmigrantsRights #Authoritarianism #SecretPolice #Gestapo

  20. Britain's High Court says government acted illegally in outlawing #protest group #PalestineAction

    By Jill Lawless

    LONDON (AP) — "Britain’s High Court ruled Friday that the government’s decision to outlaw the protest group Palestine Action as a terrorist organization was unlawful, but it kept the ban in place pending another hearing while the government prepares an appeal.

    "Judges Victoria Sharp, Jonathan Swift and Karen Steyn said 'the nature and scale of Palestine Action’s activities' did not meet the 'level, scale and persistence' that would justify proscription.

    "The judges said they were 'satisfied that the decision to proscribe Palestine Action was disproportionate.'

    "The government banned Palestine Action after activists broke into a Royal Air Force base in June to protest British military support for Israel’s military offensive against Hamas in #Gaza, which killed tens of thousands of #Palestinians.

    "The government declared the pro-Palestinian direct-action group a terrorist organization alongside the likes of al-Qaida and Hamas, making membership in or support for Palestine Action a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Since then, more than 2,700 people have been arrested at protests for holding signs saying 'I support Palestine Action.' Almost 700 have been charged under the Terrorism Act, although no one has yet been convicted.' "

    apnews.com/article/britain-pal

    #LockUpWarCriminals NOT #Activists!
    #UKPol #WorldPol #TerrorismAct #IsraeliWarCrimes #FreeGaza #BibiIsAWarCriminal #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws

  21. 🚨 We all knew this would be coming... Don't like polluters? TOUGH SHIT! You're under arrest!!!

    #FBI #Counterterrorism Agents Spent Weeks Seeking a #ClimateActivist — Then Showed Up at His Door

    The visit suggests a possible FBI probe into #ExtinctionRebellionNYC as the Trump administration increases surveillance of #activist groups.

    Jacqueline Sweet, February 12 2026

    Excerpt: "Federal Bureau of Investigation agents, at least one of whom works on counterterrorism, went to the home of a former member of a #ClimateActivism group for questioning last week, potentially signaling a new escalation in the Trump administration’s promise to criminalize #nonprofits and #ActivistGroups as #DomesticTerrorists.

    "Two FBI agents, one from New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, told a former member of Extinction Rebellion NYC they wanted to ask him about the group at his home upstate on Friday, an attorney for the group told The Intercept. The visit followed a prior attempt to reach him at his old address.

    "The FBI’s apparent probe of Extinction Rebellion NYC comes as the Justice Department ramps up its surveillance of activists protesting immigration enforcement and the Trump administration creates secret lists of domestic enemies under Trump’s National Security Presidential #Memorandum7, or #NSPM7.

    " 'I believe this to be a significant escalation of the criminal legal system against #XR and find it very troubling,' said Ron Kuby, the Extinction Rebellion attorney. 'This is usually the way we find out an actual investigation is underway and is often followed by other visits and other actions.'

    "The former Extinction Rebellion member, who asked to remain anonymous out of fear for his safety, said that the visit came after a phone call in January from a special agent that he assumed was a scam.

    " 'I was skeptical the phone call was really from the FBI, but after I declined to speak with the agent, she said that she was standing outside my door,' he said. She was actually at the activist’s former address, which he said made him additionally dubious. But last week, when the agents showed up at his current address, he said he saw the agent’s business card through his door."

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2026/02/12/fb

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4Nq3X

    #USPol #ExtinctionRebellion #CriminalizingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #EPAFail #Polluters #Corporatocracy #CorporateColonialism #Oligarchy #EnvironmentalActivists #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #NoMiningWithoutConsent #ResistFascism #Authoritarianism #Fascism #Orwellian #ThoughtCrime #BigBrother #NineteenEightyFour #SilencingDissent #SilencingFreeSpeech #CorporationsAreTheRealTerrorists

  22. 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:
    commondreams.org/opinion/why-i

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

  23. #USMilitary Helping #Trump to Build Massive Network of ‘#ConcentrationCamps,’ #Navy Contract Reveals

    The #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity is using a repurposed $55 billion Navy contract to convert #warehouses into makeshift #jails and plan sprawling #TentCities in remote areas.

    Stephen Prager, Feb 02, 2026

    Excerpt: "According to a source familiar with the project, 'the goal is for the facilities to house as many as 10,000 people each, and are expected to be built in #Louisiana, #Georgia, #Pennsylvania, #Indiana, #Utah, and #Kansas.'

    "Now Manríquez reports that the project has just gotten much bigger after a Navy grant was repurposed weeks ago. It was authorized through the Worldwide Expeditionary Multiple Award Contract (WEXMAC), a flexible purchasing system that the government uses to quickly move military equipment to dangerous and remote parts of the world.

    "The contract states that the money is being repurposed for '#TITUS,' an abbreviation for 'Territorial Integrity of the United States.' While it’s not unusual for Navy contracts to be used for expenditures aimed at protecting the nation, Manríquez warned that such a staggering movement of funds for domestic detention points to something ominous. "

    Read more:
    commondreams.org/news/military

    #USPol #DetentionCenters #PrivatePrisons #Authoritarianism #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #SilencingDissent #SilencingDissent #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  24. The #ICE killing takes #America a step closer to #GeorgeOrwell’s nightmare

    The Trump administration’s reaction to the fatal shooting of #ReneeGood is another dark chapter in its rewriting of history – and has disturbing echoes of the dystopian 1984, writes Sean O’Grady

    Thursday 08 January 2026

    Excerpt: "' #Orwellian' is a word that gets chucked around far too much, but there is surely something quite sinister in the official responses to the shooting of a civilian, Renee Good, in Minneapolis by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

    "Obviously, there’s always some room for argument about what happened and why in such circumstances, but not about the more obvious facts, backed up by videos and eyewitness accounts.

    "The ultimate boss of ICE, the homeland security secretary, #KristiNoem, declared that Good was involved in an act of '#DomesticTerrorism', as if she were an Isis operative – and with zero evidence to back up that extreme claim, and little sign that she was deliberately using her vehicle as a weapon. "

    Read more:
    independent.co.uk/voices/ice-r

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/hpDlH

    #USPol #DoublePlusUngood #NineteenEightyFour #Orwellian #ICEOut #ThoughtPolice #Authoritarianism #MuderPatrol #EnemiesOfTheState #Resistance #ResistICE #SilencingDissent #Newspeak

  25. [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:
    economist.com/podcasts/2025/11

    Archived version:
    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

  26. Resources for #OccupiedCities: including #KYR Materials

    Basic constitutional rights are under attack. We need to educate, agitate and organize quickly, deeply and strategically. This document is a shared resource for organizations and leaders who are stepping up to meet this moment.

    GoogleDoc:
    docs.google.com/document/d/17E

    #USPol #PosseComitatus #PosseComitatusAct #InsurrectionAct #KnowYourRights #OccupiedCities #SilencingDissent #NationalGuard #NationalGuardReactionForces #DHS #ICE

  27. What You Need to Know if President Trump Deploys National Guard Units to Your State.

    "Unresolved Issues Pertaining to State National Guard Units:

    A State Governor has not deployed that State’s National Guard to another State without the consent of the receiving Governor. It would violate state sovereignty and be subject to litigation.

    An unresolved question is whether the President can commandeer a State’s National Guard when a Governor has actively deployed that National Guard.

    The U.S. Supreme Court has not ruled on whether the President can order one State’s National Guard units to deploy to another state and engage in civilian law enforcement pursuant to 32 U.S.C. § 502(f). This issue may be addressed by the Supreme Court in the appeal from Illinois.

    Read more:
    movementlawlab.org/nationalgua

    #USPol #KYR #NationalGuard #NationalGuardReactionForces #SilencingDissent #SNAPCuts #FoodRiots #PosseComitatus #PosseComitatusAct #KnowYourRights #NoKings

  28. 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:
    arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/1

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

  29. #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:
    yahoo.com/news/articles/chicag

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

  30. #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."

    popular.info/p/ice-boosts-weap

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

  31. WTF! #Navajo Reporter #MarleyShebala Violently Arrested by #NavajoPolice, After Filing Ethics Complaint on Navajo President #BuuNygren

    By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, October 16, 2025

    WINDOW ROCK, Navajo Nation -- "Navajo Police were sent today to evict Marley Shebala, Dine' Zuni Pueblo reporter, from her home. Marley, 73, screamed in pain as she was arrested by police. Marley had filed an ethics complaint against Navajo President Buu Nygren, and was reporting on the ongoing #corruption in the Navajo tribal government.

    " 'I am 73 years old, and they have me handcuffed in my home with my daughter, our Navajo police, to
    serve and protect' Marley says, as she continues to livestream. Navajo police used a locksmith to enter her home, before the violent arrest."

    Read more:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/10

    #Diné #Dineh #ACAB #Journalists #ReaderSupportedNews #Journalism #BuuNygrenSoldOutHisPeople #UraniumMining #NavajoNation #IndigenousNews #SilencingDissent #CoalMining #TrumpSucks #BeautifulCleanCoal #Cancer #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #EnergyFuels
    #Dineteh #NukingTheNavajo
    #Havasupai #UraniumMines
    #EnvironmentalRacism #WhiteMesaMill #NukingTheNavajo #NukingTheUte #Ute #Paiute #Hopi #BidiiRoots #DineCARE #PinyonPlainUraniumMine #AirIsLife #UraniumMine #UraniumTransport #RadioactiveDust #RememberKleeBenally #BigCoal #DishonoringTheMemoryOfKleeBenally
    #HaulNo #NoMiningWithoutConsent

  32. Fight to allow #ICE detainees: Federal government joins #PrivatePrison , #CoreCivic, against City of #LeavenworthKS

    By Gabe Swartz
    Published: Sep. 23, 2025

    LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (KCTV) - "In a Topeka courtroom Wednesday, September 24, CoreCivic, with the support of Washington D.C.’s Department of Justice went before a judge along with attorneys representing the City of Leavenworth.

    "There, a judge scheduled a date for the two sides to meet again on #November25. In that hearing, CoreCivic will be allowed to present arguement that a Kansas court’s decision barring CoreCivic from housing #ICEDetainees should be overturned.

    "The United States Department of Justice [#DOJ] filed a statement of interest on September 22 to address what it called 'an aggressive and unlawful effort' by the City of Leavenworth to interfere with federal immigration enforcement.

    "The U.S. District Court was filed against the City of Leavenworth, Mayor #HollyPittman, Mayor Pro Tem #NancyBauder, and city commissioners Griff Martin, Jermaine Wilson, and Edd Hingula.

    " 'The United States has a strong interest in countering state and local efforts to harass federal contractors, in the proper application of the Constitution and its Supremacy clause,' the DOJ said in its statement of interest, 'and in the foundational principles that protect the Federal Government from unconstitutional state and local interference.' [Back at ya, FEDS!]

    "In March, the City of Leavenworth adopted a resolution preventing CoreCivic from using the former federal prison as an immigration detention center. It then filed a lawsuit asking a judge to block the private prison operator’s attempt to open the facility without its approval.

    "The City opened its complaint with a testimonial describing the detention center as an 'absolute hell hole.' It stated that during CoreCivic’s 30 years of operation, there were 'multiple widely publicized scandals resulting from its gross mismanagement of the Facility,' which burdened the City in 'countless ways.' "

    Read more:
    kctv5.com/2025/09/24/departmen

    #USPol #TrumpSucks #PrisonState
    #SilencingDissent #IndefiniteDetention #ICE #protesters #ICESucks

  33. #PrivatePrison Companies Set to Make Billions Reopening #Jails for #ICE

    “There’s a private interest behind the #detention and the incarceration of our community,” said an #activist #protesting the facilities.

    by Sophie Hurwitz, March 6, 2025

    Excerpt: "Late Wednesday afternoon, private prison company CoreCivic announced it would be reopening a notorious family detention center in South Texas, under an amended contract with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The facility, first built in 2014, will house up to 2,400 people, including children. It had been shut down last year to save costs, after years of reports suggesting poor treatment, including a report of one toddler who died due to a lack of medical care.

    "The reopening is part of a trend. CoreCivic isn’t the only company bringing back facilities. We are at the beginning of what looks like a private prison boom, as the groups profit off President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportation. They are set to make billions. As the Washington Post reported, the GEO Group and CoreCivic stand to benefit in particular from #Trump’s immigration plans—the companies hold at least 16 vacant facilities that can be reopened within months for mass detention and deportation.

    "The GEO Group announced in late February that it would be reopening #DelaneyHall in #NewarkNJ, as a “massive” immigration detention center with 1,000 beds. In California, ICE is considering repurposing and reopening the women’s prison #FCIDublin, closed last year due to mass #SexualAbuse, for #ImmigrantDetention. In Baldwin, Michigan, ICE and the GEO Group have expressed interest in reopening #NorthLake Correctional Facility, a former private prison shuttered in 2022. (A Biden administration order directed the Department of Justice to allow contracts with private prison groups to expire.) In #LeavenworthKS, CoreCivic looks likely to partner with ICE to reopen yet another shuttered private prison, documents obtained by the #ACLU revealed.

    "As of February 27, ICE held 43,759 detainees, according to the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a nonpartisan data-gathering organization. Trump is putting pressure on ICE to increase the number of arrests per day. His administration has already fired one ICE director, ostensibly for not deporting enough people.

    "In the communities surrounding these new jails for migrants, activists and politicians are fighting back. In Newark, where the GEO Group stands to make $1.2 billion by reopening Delaney Hall, the immigrant rights organization Make the Road is planning a rally against the jail March 11."

    Read more:
    motherjones.com/politics/2025/

    #USPol #TrumpSucks #BigUglyBill #BigBeautifulBill #PrisonState #SilencingDissent #IndefiniteDetention #ICE #protesters #CoreCivic #GEOGroup #ResistICE #Resistance

  34. The #PrivatePrison Industry Looks Forward to Soaring Profits Thanks to #Trump’s Budget

    The $45 billion for immigration #detention in the "Big, Beautiful Bill" represented a long-sought win for #PrivatePrisons.

    by Matt Sledge, July 10 2025

    "The private prison industry saw its influence wane under Joe Biden, but it remains dominant in the business of immigration detention. So when President Donald Trump signed the so-called 'Big, Beautiful Bill' on July 4, dedicating $45 billion to immigration detention with a goal to double or triple the population behind bars, it was a huge payoff.

    "The victory was in the works for years. A private prison company handed consulting and lobbying gigs to Trump’s allies, its political action committee was the first to max out its donation to Trump, and industry executives had already made plans to reopen shuttered prisons — laying the groundwork for what they promised investors would be an incarceration bonanza.

    "In the 2024 election cycle, employees and PACs affiliated with the publicly traded industry behemoths #GEOGroup and CoreCivic contributed overwhelmingly to #Republicans and Trump.

    "Republicans received 92 percent of $3.7 million in contributions affiliated with GEO Group and 96 percent of the $785,000 in contributions affiliated with #CoreCivic, according to #OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research group that tracks official disclosures. When Trump won, the two companies gave $500,000 each to his #inaugural committee."

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2025/07/10/co

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/t6cYB

    #USPol #TrumpSucks #BigUglyBill #BigBeautifulBill #PrisonState #SilencingDissent #IndefiniteDetention #ICE #protesters

  35. New 'Thought Policing' Bill May Let #Rubio Strip #Passports from #USCitizens Over Political Speech | Common Dreams

    Stephen Prager
    Sep 13, 2025

    "#FreeSpeech advocates are sounding the alarm about a bill in the US House of Representatives that they fear could allow Secretary of State #MarcoRubio to strip US citizens of their passports based purely on political speech.

    "The bill, introduced by Rep. #BrianMast (R-Fla.), will come up for a hearing on Wednesday. According to The Intercept:

    :Mast’s new bill claims to target a narrow set of people. One section grants the secretary of state the power to revoke or refuse to issue passports for people who have been convicted—or merely charged—of material support for terrorism...

    "The other section sidesteps the legal process entirely. Rather, the secretary of state would be able to deny passports to people whom they determine 'has knowingly aided, assisted, abetted, or otherwise provided material support to an organization the Secretary has designated as a foreign terrorist organization.'

    "Rubio has previously boasted of stripping the visas and green cards from several immigrants based purely on their peaceful expression of #ProPalestine views, describing them as '#Hamas supporters.'

    "These include Columbia protest leader #MahmoudKhalil, who was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) after Rubio voided his green card; and #RumeysaOzturk, the Tufts student whose visa Rubio revoked after she co-wrote an op-ed calling for her school to divest from #Israel.

    "Mast—a former soldier for the #IsraelDefenseForces who once stated that babies were 'not innocent Palestinian civilians' — has previously called for 'kicking terrorist sympathizers out of our country,' speaking about the Trump administration’s attempts to deport Khalil, who was never convicted or even charged with support for a terrorist group.

    "Critics have argued that the bill has little reason to exist other than to allow the Secretary of State to unilaterally strip passports from people without them actually having been convicted of a crime."

    Read more:
    commondreams.org/news/rubio-th

    #ThoughtPolice #Orwellian #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #FreeMahmoud #FreeRumeysa #WaterProtectors #FreePalestine #LandDefenders #SilencingDissent #Fasicsm #Authoritarianism

  36. #VictoriaAustralia’s draconian new #AntiProtest laws will have a chilling effect on #FreeSpeech — and won’t keep anyone safe

    Far-reaching anti-protest measures and giving police more repressive powers only serve to increase the risk of escalating violence.

    by Sarah Schwartz, Jul 9, 2025

    "In response to the weekend’s attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced she will forge ahead with new anti-protest measures and more #police powers.

    "In doing so, she is following what has become the new normal for state governments across the country: using acts of racism and violence as a pretext to #ClampDown on unrelated democratic rights.

    "Taking to the streets in peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to come together and express our political views when our representatives aren’t listening to us. But this right is not without limits. Every person has a right to worship in safety. The attack on East Melbourne Synagogue was not a protest; it was an act of antisemitism. The suspect has been apprehended and charged with a multitude of criminal offences.

    "Two other incidents over the weekend, the targeting of a business with ties to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a US-backed #Israeli organisation linked to the massacres of unarmed #Palestinians seeking aid — and a weapons company with links to the Israeli military, are also being referred to as justifying new laws. It is important not to conflate these actions against Israel with an attack against a Jewish place of worship. International human rights law, as well as our current laws, already place limits on protests that involve intimidation and violence.

    "So what is actually being proposed in response? The Allan government is suggesting the creation of a new criminal offence for wearing a #FaceCovering at peaceful protests, banning 'dangerous attachment devices' (e.g. a #chain, a #BikeLock) — which have long been used in non-violent civil disobedience — and #criminalising peaceful protests around places of religious worship.

    "The ban on face coverings would be a first in #Australia. It would mirror measures used in #authoritarian states that force people to submit themselves to various forms of #StateSurveillance.

    "#VictoriaPolice has been using facial recognition software for years without any regulatory or legislative framework to prevent breaches of privacy. This technology, combined with a ban on face coverings at protests, would essentially amount to an obligation on behalf of individuals to submit to surveillance by the state, corporations and other groups that surveil protesters.

    "Unless you’re a #MiningCompany spending hundreds of millions buying politicians’ favour or can wine and dine decision-makers, peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to hold governments and corporations to account. Protests for the eight-hour workday, #WomensRights, #FirstNationsRights and the #AntiWar movement have led to significant improvements in all of our lives.
    Know something?

    "Many people attending protests wear face coverings to protect their privacy and anonymity. For temporary migrants, the consequences of identification can include visa cancellation and detention. #FarRight groups, abusers of gender-based violence and other political groups have all been documented as engaging in doxing, surveillance and retaliatory violence against people identified at peaceful protests.

    "Even with exemptions, a ban would mean that people who wear facemasks for reasons of health, disability status, or religious or cultural reasons would be at risk of police targeting and made to justify their use of a face mask.

    "Adding new repressive police powers against peaceful protesters only serves to increase the risk of escalating violence at already heightened public demonstrations. People will not stop taking to the streets on issues they care about, even if the state tries to stifle their voices. Donald #Trump’s deployment of the #NationalGuard in response to protests in LA shows us how deploying more state force at protests increases rather than decreases the risk of violence.

    "A ban on protests outside or within a certain proximity to places of worship would mean police could arrest those engaging in peaceful protests for a genuine, non-discriminatory purpose — for example, protests by survivors of #ClergySexualAbuse or by congregants against the political activities of their own religious institutions.

    "It would also have the unintended consequence of rendering large areas of the state no-go zones for peaceful protest, due to the high number of places of worship. Similar laws in #NSW are already being challenged for their #unconstitutionality.

    "Taken together, this suite of laws, which would provide police with extraordinary powers against people peacefully raising their voices against #injustice, would have a chilling effect, deterring #MarginalisedGroups from attending protests and exercising their rights to freedom of expression, which the Victorian government has sought to protect.

    "Ultimately, banning face coverings at peaceful protests and banning protests outside places of worship would not have done anything to prevent what occurred over the weekend. Premier Allan knows this. Yet she is stuck in the same reactive law-and-order merry-go-round that saw NSW Premier Chris Minns enact fear-based, repressive anti-protest measures in response to what we now know was an opportunistic criminal conspiracy.

    "Encouraging people to express their political views peacefully is the antidote to non-peaceful forms of protest and is something that all governments should be encouraging and facilitating. At times like this, we should be able to trust our politicians not to fuel division and panic through misguided and knee-jerk responses, but to take measures to address the root causes of racism and hatred."

    crikey.com.au/2025/07/09/victo

    #AntiProtestLaws #ProtestLawsAustralia #ACAB #SilencingFreeSpeech #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism

  37. In American life, a growing and forbidding visual rises: The law-enforcement officer in a #mask

    By DEEPTI HAJELA
    Updated 3:21 PM EDT, July 18, 2025

    NEW YORK (AP) — "In a matter of months, it has become a regular sight around the country — immigration enforcement agents detaining people and taking them into custody, often as public anger and outcry unfold around them. But in the process, something has disappeared: the agents’ faces, covered by caps, sunglasses, pulled-up neck gaiters or balaclavas, effectively rendering them unidentifiable.

    "With the year only half over, the covered face — as deployed by law enforcement in a wave of #ImmigrationCrackdowns directed by President Donald Trump’s White House — has become one of the most potent and contentious visuals of 2025.

    "The increase in high-profile immigration enforcement was already contentious between those opposed to the actions of Trump’s administration and those in support of them. The sight of masked agents carrying it out is creating a whole new level of conflict, in a way that has no real comparison in the U.S. history of policing.

    "Trump administration officials have consistently defended the practice, saying that immigration agents have faced strident and increasing harassment in public and online as they have gone about their enforcement in service of Trump’s drive toward mass deportation, and hiding their identities is for their and their families’ safety to avoid things like death threats and doxing, where someone’s personal information is released without their permission on the internet."

    Source:
    apnews.com/article/ice-masks-i

    #ACAB #Gestapo #MaskedKidnappers #ResistICE #ICEKidnapping
    #USPol #SilencingFreeSpeech
    #SilencingDissent #Authoritarianism
    #ICEGestapo #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism

  38. #SilencingDissent: The #Crackdown on #PeacefulProtest in #Europe

    In our recently published Rule of Law report, Liberties’ members reported an increase in restrictions on the right to peaceful protest in all countries.

    by Flore du Teilleul
    April 10, 2025

    Excerpt:
    "The right to peaceful protest is essential to our democracies, allowing people to come together with a unified voice to support or oppose key issues. It serves as a powerful mechanism for individuals to hold their governments to account and is often the last resort when prior messages go unheard. However, politicians often perceive this right as a threat, especially when force of numbers demonstrates support for an issue.

    "In our recently published Rule of Law report, Liberties’ members reported an increase in restrictions on the right to peaceful protest in all countries - from bans on individual protests to the disproportionate use of force by the police and legislative changes. A widespread trend emerged of restricted #ProPalestine protests and #EnvironmentalDefenders receiving particularly harsh penalties.

    Bans on Protests

    "Restrictions on various protest movements justified on public safety grounds were documented in many member states. In #Germany, the Berlin Assembly Authorities implemented a temporary blanket ban targeting pro-Palestine demonstrations. Initially, the ban targeted celebrations of the mass murder and pro-Hamas demonstrations but later extended to all pro-Palestinian protests. Similarly, in #Latvia, an unregistered #FreePalestine movement protest was banned after an assessment by the state security service that the event would, among other risks, harm the country’s international interests.

    "The Estonian police banned a protest in support of #Palestinians, which was later declared unlawful by the administrative court. In #Hungary, Prime Minister #ViktorOrbán publicly prejudiced support for Palestinians by linking it with terrorism, equating solidarity with civilians victims to threats to the public order. As the fifteen attempts to organise protests were successively banned, the government and the Prime Minister re-asserted their power by deciding what can be demonstrated for, namely, topics in line with their political interests. Following the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the Hungarian government has repeatedly declared and extended the state of danger, allowing for the adoption of emergency decrees restricting, among other rights, the freedom to assemble. Both the Hungarian Supreme Court and Constitutional Court upheld the protest bans on the basis of public safety and security, legalising the practice of police-authorised restrictions in times of conflict.

    "Further restrictions, including bans on #slogans and #signs during #demonstrations, sought to criminalise protesters. Several individuals were arrested or fined for displaying signs or slogans related to Palestine. In #Belgium, activists faced administrative sanctions for carrying a #PalestinianFlag or the #keffiyeh. Similarly, in the #Netherlands, attendees of an #ExtinctionRebellion demonstration were prohibited from mentioning the conflict in the Middle East. The enforcement of restrictions went as far as arrests, as Croatian activists were charged with misdemeanor after projecting a message in support of Palestine on a building across from the Israeli Embassy in Zagreb.

    "In Hungary, a demonstrator faced criminal charges after wearing a gas mask and removing it after being asked by the police. In a worrying trend of criminalising protest activities, several activists were arrested and charged with sedition before an Extinction Rebellion demonstration in the Netherlands.

    Disproportionate use of force by the police

    "The criminalisation of environmental and pro-Palestine protesters was worsened by the violent repression of the police through excessive use of force. This was particularly notable in Sweden, where student encampments in support of Palestinians were forcibly displaced and participants were charged with criminal offenses. #PainGrips, water guns and #WaterCannons were used against environmental activists, pro-Palestinian and anti-immigration demonstrators in Germany, the #Netherlands and #Ireland.

    "Environmental activists faced similar fates, The NGO ‘#FranceNatureEnvironnement’ reported concerns to the UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders following the violent repression of protesters during a demonstration against the A69 highway. In #Sweden, a woman was dismissed from her job at the Swedish Energy Agency for participating in an environmental demonstration and a growing number of #EcoActivists were fined for participating in peaceful protests."

    Read more:
    liberties.eu/en/stories/rule-o

    #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #AntiProtestLaws #EuropeanLaws #Croatia #ACAB #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #EnvironmentalProtests #EnvironmentalActivists

  39. #Trump takes aim at foreign-born college students, with 300 visas revoked

    Some students have been picked up off the street by immigration agents and held in detention centers, sometimes a thousand miles away from their homes, with little warning

    By Daniella Silva, Chloe Atkins, Julia Ainsley and Abigail Williams, March 27, 2025

    "Secretary of State #MarcoRubio said Thursday the State Department has revoked 300 or more #StudentVisas, as the White House increasingly targets foreign-born students whose main transgression seems to be #activism.

    "Rubio warned that the administration was looking out for 'these lunatics.' Around the country, #scholars have been picked up, in some cases by masked immigration agents, and held in #DetentionCenters, sometimes a thousand miles from their homes with little warning and often with few details about why they were being detained.

    "'It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,' Rubio said at a news conference in Guyana, where he was meeting with leaders.

    "Many of those rounded up by Trump officials attended or were part of the pro-Palestinian movement that swept college campuses last year, and while the administration hasn’t said publicly why these students are being singled out over others, at least one sought by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement appeared on lists made by far-right pro-Israel groups as targets for deportation.

    "And Trump allies, many in government again, telegraphed for months before he took office that they’d seek to deport students who openly advocated for Hamas or other U.S.-designated terrorist groups or after they participated in an unauthorized campus #protest and were suspended, expelled or jailed.

    "The detentions are a signal of a broader effort by President Donald Trump to clamp down on the actions of legal permanent residents, student visa holders and others who live and work legally in the United States, one that threatens to undermine a fundamental American right to #FreeSpeech and to assemble, experts and advocates said."

    nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump
    #USPol #ThoughtPolice #Authoritarianism #Orwellian #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Clampdown #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingActivism #RightToAssemble #FirstAmendment #USPol

  40. Looks like the American Association of University Professors agrees with me!

    #AAUP, Allies Sue over #Trump Policy of Arresting and Threatening to Deport #Students and #Faculty for #LawfulSpeech

    "The national AAUP; chapters at #Harvard, #Rutgers, and #NYU; and the #MiddleEastStudies Association today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in #ProPalestinian #protests and other protected #FirstAmendment activities.

    "We believe that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with. The policy has created a climate of fear and repression on campuses around the country. We are represented in the case by the #KnightFirstAmendmentInstitute at #ColumbiaUniversity, #AhilanArulanantham, and Zimmer, Citron & Clarke LLP.

    "Following executive orders issued by President Trump in January, the federal agencies that enforce immigration laws have arrested and detained several people associated with U.S. colleges and universities, including a legal permanent resident, on the basis of constitutionally protected speech and association.

    "Today’s filing argues that the ideological-deportation policy has created a climate of #repression and intense fear on university #campuses, 'terrorizing students and faculty for their exercise of First Amendment rights in the past, intimidating them from exercising those rights now, and silencing political viewpoints that the government disfavors.'

    "'The Trump administration is going after international #scholars and students who speak their minds about #Palestine, but make no mistake: they won't stop there. They'll come next for those who teach the history of #slavery or who provide #GenderAffirming health care or who research #ClimateChange or who counsel students about their reproductive choices. We all have to draw a line together—as the old labor movement slogan says: an injury to one is an injury to all,' says AAUP President Todd Wolfson.

    "'The First Amendment means the government can’t arrest, detain, or deport people for lawful political expression—it’s as simple as that. This practice is one we’d ordinarily associate with the most repressive political regimes, and it should have no place in our democracy,' says #JameelJaffer, executive director at the Knight First Amendment Institute."

    Source:
    aaup.org/news/aaup-allies-sue-
    #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #law
    #immigration #FreeSpeech #MarcoRubio #Trump #FreedomOfAssembly #Authoritarianism #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #HigherEducation

  41. #Trump demands unprecedented control at #ColumbiaUniversity, alarming scholars and speech groups

    By COLLIN BINKLEY and JAKE OFFENHARTZ
    Updated 7:52 PM EDT, March 14, 2025

    NEW YORK (AP) — "The Trump administration brushed aside decades of precedent when it ordered Columbia University to oust the leadership of an academic department, a demand seen as a direct attack on academic freedom and a warning of what’s to come for other colleges facing federal scrutiny.

    "Federal officials told the university it must immediately place its #MiddleEasternStudies, #SouthAsianStudies, and #AfricanStudies Department under 'academic receivership for a minimum of five years.' The demand was among several described as conditions for receiving federal funding, including $400 million already pulled over allegations of #antisemitism.

    "Across #academia, it was seen as a stunning intrusion.

    "'It’s an escalation of a kind that is unheard of,' said Joan Scott, a historian and member of the academic freedom committee of the American Association of University Professors [#AAUP]. 'Even during the #McCarthy period in the United States, this was not done.'"

    apnews.com/article/columbia-un
    #CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #Censorship #DumbingUsDown #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #AcademicFreedom #Fascism

  42. #WinonaLaDuke: #DAPLPipeline Lawsuit Against #Greenpeace Aims to Silence #Indigenous #Protests, Too

    #DemocracyNow, March 04, 2025

    "As the oil company Energy Transfer sues Greenpeace over the 2016 #StandingRock protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, we speak with #IndigenousActivist Winona LaDuke, who took part in that historic uprising. LaDuke is an enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of #Anishinaabe who lives and works on the White Earth Nation Reservation and was among the thousands of people who joined the protests in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to protect water and Indigenous lands in North Dakota. She highlights the close links between North Dakota’s government and Energy Transfer and says that while the lawsuit targets Greenpeace, Indigenous water and land defenders are also on trial. 'North Dakota has really been trying to squash any kind of #resistance,' says LaDuke. 'If they can try to shut down Greenpeace, they’re going to shut down everybody.'"

    Watch / listen / read transcript:
    democracynow.org/2025/3/4/wino
    #ViewerSupportedNews #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot #CriminalizingDissent #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince

  43. Trump allies circulate #MassDeportation plan calling for ‘processing camps’ and a private citizen ‘#army

    The group, led by #Blackwater veteran #ErikPrince, has close #Trump ties.

    By Dasha Burns and Myah Ward
    02/25/2025 05:55 AM EST

    "Prince declined to comment, and the other contractors and former immigration officials listed as key personnel in the document also declined to comment or could not be reached.

    "The founders of the new special entity called #2USV have a long history with the U.S. government. Blackwater was formed by Prince in 1996 to provide training services to law enforcement, military personnel and other government agencies. It gained widespread attention for its work in Iraq and Afghanistan, providing security services for U.S. officials and military personnel, with critics viewing its rise as a result of the U.S. military’s overextension in the Middle East.

    The military contractor came under scrutiny in 2007 following the #NisourSquareMassacre, when #Blackwater contractors opened fire and killed 17 Iraqi civilians and wounded 20 others — raising questions about oversight and accountability of private contractors. Several contractors were charged with manslaughter, and four were convicted in 2014. Trump pardoned them at the end of his first term in December 2020.

    "Trump’s pardon was just one example of the influence of Prince’s family during the first Trump administration. #BetsyDeVos, Prince’s sister, served as the president’s #Education secretary, while Prince used his Trump connections as he chased business ventures in the U.S. and abroad.

    "In 2018, he reportedly helped raise money for an effort to spy on progressives and Democratic organizations opposed to Trump." [As well as #DAPL #WaterProtectors!]
    politico.com/news/2025/02/25/d
    #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

  44. Dispatches from Joye: The Beginning of #Resistance to #DakotaAccessPipeline, Spring of 2016

    By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Feb. 25, 2025

    MANDAN, North Dakota -- "We travel back in time to the beginning of the resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jury selection is underway in the case of #EnergyTransfer v #Greenpeace and #RedWarriorSociety, and oral arguments are to begin tomorrow, in #NorthDakota District Court.

    "Energy Transfer, the owner of Dakota Access Pipeline, seeks to erase the fact that this is, and has always been, an #Indigenous-led movement, Greenpeace said.

    "On March 29, 2016 -- five months before hundreds, and then thousands arrived at the Standing Rock camps -- #JoyeBraun, #CheyenneRiverLakota, sent Censored News the announcement of the resistance.

    "'It must be stopped,' Joye said in the media statement.

    "#LaDonnaBravebullAllard, working then in the #StandingRock #HistoricPreservationOffice, released the statement with Joye.

    "The headline read, 'Tribal Citizens Rise Up Against #BakkenOilPipeline: #HorseRide and #SpiritualCamp to be Held Along Proposed Route of Dakota Access Pipeline.'

    "With the dateline of Cannonball, the statement says, 'On April 1st, 2016, tribal citizens of the #StandingRockLakota Nation and ally #Lakota, #Nakota, and #Dakota citizens, under the group name
    Chante tin'sa kinanzi Po will have a #HorseRide to celebrate the founding of a #SpiritCamp that will be erected along the proposed route of the Bakken oil pipeline, Dakota Access."

    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/02
    #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #StandWithStandingRock #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer #UnicornRiot

  45. So, my friend #BrendaNorrell of #CensoredNews tried an experiment... To see what #DeepSeek had to say about #StandingRock and other stuff (versus #ChatGPT). Ironic that the country that squashed and censored #TianmenSquare would be more "truthful" about similar actions here in the #US.

    Rival Chinese and U.S. Companies Respond to Controversial Questions from #IndianCountry

    by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, Updated February 1, 2025

    "We asked the rival Chinese-owned and U.S.-backed search platforms a series of controversial questions from Indian country, on torture in #ResidentialSchools, critical injuries of #WaterProtectors at Standing Rock, bordertown #racism in #RapidCity, and federal lawsuits filed against #DebHaaland while she was Interior Secretary.

    "We asked if the #RioPuerco wash, flowing by #Navajo communities, was contaminated by the #ChurchRock #uranium spill. We also asked who were the Lakota Red Warriors.

    "Chinese-owned DeepSeek gave a more detailed description of the critical injuries that water protectors suffered at Standing Rock. China's DeepSeek included #TigerSwan in its response. Neither platform gave information on numerous federal lawsuits in the aftermath of the #resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline, or the upcoming trial in North Dakota District Court, #EnergyTransfer v #Greenpeace and #RedWarriorSociety."

    Read more:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/01
    #USPol #StandWithStandingRock #ReaderSupportedNews #SilencingDissent #Censorship #AICensorship

  46. House Approves “#NonprofitKiller” Bill [#HR9495], Most Dangerous Domestic #AntiTerrorism Bill Since #PatriotAct

    #DemocracyNow, November 22, 2024

    "The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would empower the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it deems has provided material support to a terrorist organization. A broad coalition of civil society groups have opposed the bill, warning that it would give the Trump administration sweeping powers to crack down on political opponents. H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, passed the House 219 to 184 largely along party lines, with 15 Democrats supporting the Republican majority.

    "'This bill is essentially a civil rights disaster,' says Darryl Li, an anthropologist, lawyer and legal scholar teaching at the University of Chicago. Li, who recently wrote a briefing paper on the anti-Palestinian origins of U.S. terrorism law, says 'anti-Palestinian racism is one of the great bipartisan unifiers in Congress.'"

    Read more / watch / listen:
    democracynow.org/2024/11/22/no

    #StopHR9495 #CivilRights #SilencingDissent #ViewerSupportedNews

  47. From 2020: #War Contractor #ErikPrince Has Close Ties to [#Trump] White House & Report Reveals His Dirty Tricks for Trump

    "So, there are direct ties and connections between Trump, the Trump White House and #ProjectVeritas and #JamesOKeefe. And here’s Erik Prince, brother of the secretary of education, a shadow adviser to the White House, who now finds his efforts to help Project Veritas are going towards targeting the paper that exposed Erik Prince’s secret meetings in the #Seychelles, for instance, and a potential back channel between the incoming Trump administration and the #Putin government at the time."

    Read more / listen:
    democracynow.org/2020/3/10/war

    #Blackwater #ErikPrinceColonialism #SilencingDissent #USElections #Project2025 #CriminalizingActivism #ClimateActivists #NoDAPL #Crapitalism #Fascism

  48. #Trump tested the limits on using the military at home. If elected again, he plans to go further

    “We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the big — and it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by National Guard, or if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

    By STEPHEN GROVES
    Updated 1:01 PM EDT, October 13, 2024

    WASHINGTON (AP) — "During his first term as president, Donald Trump tested the limits of how he could use the military to achieve policy goals. If given a second term, the Republican and his allies are preparing to go much further, reimagining the military as an all-powerful tool to deploy on U.S. soil.

    "He has pledged to recall thousands of American troops from overseas and station them at the U.S. border with Mexico. He has explored using troops for domestic policy priorities such as deportations and confronting civil unrest. He has talked of weeding out military officers who are ideologically opposed to him.

    "Trump’s vision amounts to a potentially dramatic shift in the role of the military in U.S. society, carrying grave implications for both the country’s place in the world and the restraints that have traditionally been placed on domestic use of the military."

    Read more:
    apnews.com/article/trump-milit
    #Election2024 #USElections #Elections2024 #Project2025 #SilencingDissent #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrince #Blackwater #CriminalizingActivism #ClimateEmergency #ClimateProtestors #Crapitalism