#silencingdissent — Public Fediverse posts

#HongKong 's #Tiananmen activists sentenced to up to seven years in prison

by Koh Ewe, September 11, 2026

"Three Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils commemorating Beijing's 1989 crackdown on #TiananmenSquare protests have been handed prison sentences of up to seven years.

"Two of the defendants - Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41 - were convicted last month of inciting others to subvert state power, under the city's controversial national security law.

"A third defendant, Albert Ho, 74, had pleaded guilty in January.

"For years, Hong Kong was one of the only places in Chinese territory where people could hold gatherings to mark the Tiananmen Square crackdown - a topic that is highly sensitive and heavily censored in mainland #China.

"These gatherings were banned by Hong Kong's authorities in 2020, citing Covid-19 policies, but never resumed. That same year, the national security law, which makes illegal a wider range of dissenting acts, officially came into force.
Authorities say the law is necessary to maintain stability, but critics argue it has eroded Hong Kong's autonomy and created a climate of fear.

"Lee, Chow and Ho were charged in 2021. They faced up to 10 years in prison after their conviction.

"On Friday, the court sentenced Lee to seven years in prison, while Chow was handed seven years and three months. Ho, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to five years in prison.

"According to a court summary in August, Lee and Chow had 'incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power', according to a summary on Friday.

"Chow told the court in May the law itself was on trial.

"Speaking to the BBC before her arrest in 2022, Chow said she was 'prepared to be arrested' and 'willing to pay the price for fighting for democracy'."

Read more:
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgyvk2djk4o

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/16o4Z

#WorldPol #NeverForgetTiananmen #TiananmenSquareMassacre #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent

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

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

Matt Sledge
August 28 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HT
@bruces

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

by di Stefania Maurizi, 31 August 2026

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

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

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

#US Manufactured Crimes and Spied on Peaceful #Protesters During #Minneapolis Metro Surge, New Court Filing Reveals

By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 14, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS -- "While #Dakotas were praying at a #SacredSpring for those held in federal detention at the #WhippleBuilding in Minneapolis -- the U.S. government was spying on, and stalking, the #WhippleWatchers, a new court document reveals.

"The government is refusing to release all of its documents on its surveillance of those watching the Whipple building. The Whipple building is on the site of a former concentration camp, where Dakota and Ho Chunk were imprisoned, suffered and died.

" 'The government admits withholding at least five #ProjectWhippleShield #ROIs (Reports of Investigation) from the initial disclosures,' the court filing states.

"In the current case, the court document for discovery filed yesterday describes how the U.S. government spied on and tracked peaceful protesters during the #resistance to #OperationMetroSurge.

"Not only were peaceful protesters spied on, #stalked and #doxxed, but the #surveillance was carried out to #ManufactureCrimes when none existed, states the court document filed by a defense attorney for one of the government's targets."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08/us-manufactured-crimes-and-spied-on.html

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

Documents show federal surveillance operation in #Minnesota targeted #progressive groups, #unions

By TIM SULLIVAN and JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
Updated 11:02 PM EDT, August 13, 2026

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — "Federal agents launched a sweeping undercover surveillance operation earlier this year targeting progressive organizations, labor unions and other groups protesting the immigration crackdown then raging through Minneapolis, according to court documents filed Thursday.

"The program, dubbed #OperationPuppetMaster, was aimed at what officials called a network of conspirators helping 'violent opportunists and agitators.' The documents were filed in a case involving 15 people charged by federal prosecutors in June with impeding the crackdown, accusing them of conspiring against the federal government through a range of actions, from throwing ice chunks to setting up blockades.

"The government documents were released Thursday in connection with a motion from a defense lawyer in the case, #KevinRiach, who requested that officials disclose more material collected during the investigations.

"The reality, according to government documents revealed in court motions, was Department of Homeland Security officers infiltrating meetings in churches, schools and parks that were often simply discussions of constitutionally protected protests.

"A statement from the department said Homeland Security Investigations doesn’t comment on the existence or status of on-going investigations or investigative methods. The statement referred questions to the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota, which didn’t immediately respond to an after-hours email from The Associated Press."

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

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

‘Outrageous’: #Trump Officials Investigated #LeftWing Groups After #AlexPretti Killing in #Minneapolis

One #FirstAmendment advocacy group called the investigation a “disturbing, invasive, and utterly unjustifiable attack on freedom of expression and political dissent.”

Julia Conley
Aug 13, 2026

"The Trump administration began the probe under the auspices of investigating whether the groups had provided 'help and money,' as the Times reported, to people who had participated in protests across the #MinneapolisSaintPaul area, where tens of thousands of residents rallied against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (#ICE) and defended their neighbors from immigration raids last winter.

"Newly released government documents, which were uncovered after an attorney filed a motion with the federal District Court in Minnesota demanding information about the DHS investigation, show that the agency characterized the protesters who opposed ICE as 'violent opportunists and agitators.'

"The investigation included #DHS’ use of administrative subpoenas to obtain financial records from #SunriseMovement, Communications Workers of America [ #CWA ], and the #SEIU, scrutinizing what the agency called 'domestic terrorist financing.' "

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-left-wing

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

Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left

#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant

by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026

"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.

" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.

Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."

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

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

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

She protested #ICERaids. Then agents showed up at her door

by Meg Anderson, August 3, 2026

"Early one morning this June, #TreasureThoreson was drinking coffee on her couch in #Minneapolis when she heard a knock at the front door.

" 'I go and I see a woman standing there in office clothes, but with a Homeland Security vest over the top. And I see six more agents standing in my front yard,' Thoreson told NPR. "She said, 'We have a warrant for your arrest, for conspiracy.' "

"Thoreson, a special education teacher, was still in her pajamas. The agent let her change clothes and hug her partner goodbye before taking her into custody.

"The government charged Thoreson and 14 others with engaging in a conspiracy to impede federal agents — a conspiracy it says culminated in the use of blockades outside the Whipple Federal Building, which served as ICE's headquarters during the immigration enforcement surge in Minnesota this past winter.

"The government cited meetings and conversations on the encrypted messaging app #Signal as evidence. At the advice of her lawyer, Thoreson declined to comment on the specifics of the indictment.

An increasing trend

"The charges against Thoreson are part of an escalating trend. NPR reviewed court records from the last five years to examine how the federal government is wielding one specific charge: conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, which can carry a sentence of up to six years in federal prison.

"The statute, which dates back to the Civil War, has historically been used infrequently. But since President #Trump took office last year, the Justice Department has charged more than three dozen people in at least 10 cases. All of them involve people protesting federal immigration enforcement.

The government has also indicted nearly 50 people on #conspiracy charges in #Michigan, #Texas and #Minnesota using different legal statutes."

Read more:
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/03/nx-s1-5886263/ice-dhs-immigration-enforcement-conspiracy-arrests

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

#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:
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/knowledge-hub/all-resources/interactive-protest-map/

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

#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:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/17/government-surveillance-centralized-database-privacy/

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

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

Why We Have to Fight Back Against ICE Protesters’ Terror Convictions

Since his first inauguration, Trump has been throwing charges at protesters and seeing what sticks. He always failed — until now.

Natasha Lennard, March 17 2026

Excerpt: "It started on President Donald Trump’s very first day in office in 2017. Over 200 #InaugurationDay #protesters were mass arrested and charged with hefty riot and conspiracy felonies for simply being present and wearing black at a rowdy demonstration.

"Since then, the government has sought and failed to convict left-wing activists on thin, unconstitutional claims of collective guilt.

"Just as the J20 prosecutions, as the inauguration cases were known, fell apart, so too did cases accusing dozens of participants in the Atlanta-based #StopCopCity movement of #DomesticTerrorism, #racketeering, and conspiracy.

"It became a pattern of sorts. Prosecutors on both the federal and state level throwing extreme and overreaching charges at leftists, based on infirm theories of collective liability, aiming to paint #antifascist, #AntiRacist movements as criminal terrorist networks. The evidence marshaled in these cases was consistently no more than typical #FirstAmendment-protected activity, like making protest signs, raising bail funds, or being present at a demonstration. The cases drained movement energies and resources.
Again and again, though, they failed.

"This was the pattern repeated in the malign, overreaching cases against protesters in #FortWorthTX. The #AntiICE activists had mounted a demonstration at a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement jail in nearby #Alvarado.
There were consistencies with other anti-protest cases. There had been some illegal activity outside the #PrairielandDetentionFacility last July, and a police officer was shot. The government latched onto these circumstances to build its strategy of criminalizing dissent through guilt by association.

"Even in conservative Texas, I didn’t think a jury would buy the government’s case that these defendants were 'North Texas Antifa Cell operatives' — an organization fabricated whole cloth by the Trump administration — who had orchestrated an elaborate ambush of the ICE facility.

" 'Most people looking at this case are still stuck on the shooting aspect, but the jury decided the shooting was beside the point,' a member of a support group for the defendants told me. 'The verdict is that a normal #NoiseDemo deserves to be called terrorism and people should spend potentially the rest of their lives in prison. The implications of this are obvious, and people should know that the DOJ is going to try this again.' "

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2026/03/17/ice-protester-terrorism-convictions-trump-prairieland/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/uvx92

#USPol #DomesticTerrorism #AntiICEProtests #Texas #ResistICE #SilencingDissent #AntiTerrorismLaws
#CriminalizingProtest #Resistance

#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:
https://www.404media.co/proton-mail-helped-fbi-unmask-anonymous-stop-cop-city-protestor/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/8cpN1

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

#PamBondi Admits #DOJ Has a Secret #DomesticTerrorist List

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

Nick Turse
February 12 2026

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

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

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

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

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.' "

https://apnews.com/article/britain-palestine-action-high-court-2fbb7f5e2e090881193b9328323d2ec4

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

🚨 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:
https://theintercept.com/2026/02/12/fbi-counterterror-extinction-rebellion/

Archived version:
https://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

Senator, who has repeatedly warned about secret US #GovernmentSurveillance, sounds new alarm over ‘#CIA activities’

by Zack Whittaker, February 6, 2026

Excerpt: "In 2011, #RonWyden said that the U.S. government was relying on a secret interpretation of the #PatriotAct, which he said — without disclosing the nature of his concerns — created a 'gap between what the public thinks the law says and what the American government secretly thinks the law says.'

"Two years later, then-#NSA contractor #EdwardSnowden revealed that the National Security Agency was relying on its secret interpretation of the Patriot Act to force U.S. phone companies, including Verizon, to turn over the call records of hundreds of millions of Americans on an ongoing basis.

"Since then, Wyden has sounded the alarm on how the U.S. government collects the contents of people’s communications; revealed that the Justice Department barred Apple and Google from disclosing that federal authorities had been secretly demanding the contents of their customers’ push notifications; and said that an unclassified report that #CISA has refused to release contains 'shocking details' about national security threats facing U.S. phone companies.

"As noted by Techdirt’s Mike Masnick, we may not know yet why Wyden sounded the siren about the CIA’s activities, but every time Wyden has warned, he has also been vindicated."

Full article:
https://techcrunch.com/2026/02/06/senator-who-has-repeatedly-warned-about-secret-u-s-government-surveillance-sounds-new-alarm-over-cia-activities/

#USPol #Fascism #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #Spying #USCitizens #WarrantlessSurveillance

🚨 The #GhostFlights: #Deportation Flights #Disappearing Thousands Arrested by #ICE

By #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, Feb. 6, 2026

"We've been tracking the Ghost Flights, disappearing migrants, moms, asylum seekers, and others arrested in Minneapolis, who are quickly grabbed and taken away at a private terminal at Minneapolis international airport.

"The charter airlines are making it harder to track them, but here's what we found: #GlobalX, #Eastern and #Omni based in #TulsaOK, have operated most of these, with Sun Country also operating some of the flights.

"These secretive flights take those arrested to deportation hubs in isolated areas, where they are sent to prison, deported to other countries, or constantly shifted on flights. These secretive hubs are in #DadeCollier in the Florida Everglades; Alexandria in central Louisiana; and Harlingen on the Texas border.

"Those arrested are boarded shackled in chains from their wrists to their feet, and often denied water and food, and abused. While these secretive flights disappear people, their families desperately search for them.

"The flights out of #MesaAZ in the #Phoenix area are deporting hundreds on each flight to #Venezuela. A recent flight out of Mesa deported those arrested to #Russia and #Iran. The past flights show the men were immediately given #Draft notices for military service when they arrived in Russia. Protesters and political #AsylumSeekers face worse.

"As for the chartered airlines, the main contract is held by #CSI in #AlbuquerqueNM, who contracts out the other airlines.

"Yesterday, a Ghost Flight landed in #Guantanamo and then #Haiti. These are #moms, #workers, asylum seekers, #LegalResidents, and most are whisked away and denied due process. More than 2,000 have been deported from #Minneapolis.

"Other major hubs for deportation flights are #ElPaso, #Miami, #SanAntonio, and #TacomaWA. The deportation flights are arriving in every region of the world, the Americas, Asia, and Africa." 😱

Read more (includes flight maps):
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/02/the-ghost-flights-deportation-flights.html

#ReaderSupportedNews #DefundICE #StopTheDeportations #DefundDHS #BorderPatrol #MurderPatrol #ICESucks #KristiNoemSucks #USPol #SilencingDissent #Disappeared #Orwellian

Why Isn’t News of #Trump Building Vast #ConcentrationCamps Being Treated as a #NationalEmergency?

History shows us that once a nation builds a #MassDetention apparatus, it never remains limited to its original targets. Wake up, people.

by #ThomHartmann, Feb 05, 2026

Excerpt: "The British originated the term '#ConcentrationCamp' to describe facilities where '#rebel' or 'undesirable' civilians were held in #SouthAfrica during the #SecondAngloBoerWar (1899–1902) to control and punish a #rebellious population.

"They were facilities where the 'bad elements of society' were 'concentrated' into one location so they could be easily controlled and would lose access to society and thus could not spread their messages of #resistance against the #BritishEmpire.

"Future generations of Americans—our children and grandchildren—won’t ask us whether #ICE followed civil detention statutes: they’ll want to know why we allowed concentration camps to exist in America at all.

"The Germans adopted the term in 1933 when #Hitler took power and created his first camp for #communists, #socialists, #UnioLleaders, and, by the end of the year, Hitler’s #PoliticalOpponents. They Germanized the phrase into '#Konzentrationslager' and referred to the process of their incarceration as 'protective custody.'

"The first camp was built at #Dachau just weeks after Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, and by the end of the year there were around 70 of them operating across the country."

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

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

#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:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/military-contract-concentration-camps

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

@UnicornRiot Damn!

#StopCopCity #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent

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

Nov 1st 2025

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

SHOCK: Israel Has Killed 20.7% of Gaza's Population. That's 434,000 People.

https://stevendonziger.substack.com/p/shock-israel-has-killed-207-of-gazas

The larger issue is we need to think about what the scale of death means in terms of the human tragedy, and the extent of the legal impunity obtained thus far by Netanyahu and his extremist government.

#Gaza #DeathToll #MediaBias #Netanyahu #LegalImpunity #Genocide #SilencingDissent #StevenDonziger

WTAF! ‘#NoKings’ protest organizer calls #Texas #NationalGuard deployment an overreaction by Governor

by Cora Neas
Wed, June 11, 2025

AUSTIN (KXAN) — "A protest planned to occur at the Texas Capitol Saturday comes after Texas Governor #GregAbbott’s deployment of the state’s National Guard to #AustinTX and other Texas cities following a Monday night protest in the state’s capital city.

[...]

" 'Soldiers are on standby in areas where mass #demonstrations are planned in case they are needed,' reads part of Mahaleris’s statement. 'Texas will not tolerate the lawlessness we have seen in Los Angeles. Anyone engaging in acts of violence or damaging property will be swiftly held accountable to the full extent of the law.'

"The Monday night protest, organized by the Party for #Socialism and #Liberation, was held to show solidarity with #protesters in #LosAngeles.

"Saturday’s protest, ' #NoKings / #KickOutTheClowns,' is part of a nationwide action against a #MilitaryParade in #WashingtonDC, also on Saturday. The Austin rally is organized by Hands Off Central Texas (#HOCTX), a coalition of liberal activist groups such as #50501, #IndivisibleAustin, #IndivisibleRosedale, #ThirdAct Texas and #ResistAustin.

"#HandsOff Central Texas President Sophia Mirto said that the rally will feature speeches by activists and locally elected politicians, as well as performances."

Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/no-kings-protest-organizer-calls-211358311.html

#Crackdown #PosseComitatus #SilencingDissent #TexasResists #Resist #Resistance #ResistFascism #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #USPol

But it's okay for #NeoNazis and #WhiteSupremacists to storm the White House, eh?

"[Closet #Nazi] #StephenMiller, an immigration hardliner and the White House deputy chief of staff, wrote on X that Friday's demonstrations were 'an insurrection against the laws and sovereignty of the United States.' On Saturday, he described the day's protests as a 'violent insurrection.' "

#InsurrectionAct #MartialLaw #USPol #SilencingDissent #AuthoritarianRule

'This Is What #Autocrats Do': Concern Grows Over Single Paragraph Buried Deep in #GOPBill

The provision would force those challenging Trump "to pay up in the form of a posted bond—something many people can't afford to do. That means only the wealthy will be able to even attempt to challenge the most powerful man in the country."

Jon Queally
May 31, 2025

"A single paragraph buried deep in a spending bill that passed the GOP-controlled House of Representatives earlier this month is causing growing concern among democracy watchdogs who warn the provision will make it so only the well-to-do would be in a good position to launch legal challenges against a #Trump administration that has shown over and over again its disdain and disregard for oversight or judicial restraint of any kind.

"Coming just about half-way through what President Donald Trump has dubbed the Republican Party's so-called "One #BigBeautifulBill Act"—which progressive critics point out is a giant giveaway to the nation's wealthiest at the expense of the working class and the common good—the language in question is slight, but could have far-reaching impacts.

" 'This is what autocrats do. Consolidate power, increase the penalty for objecting, ultimately making it more difficult—eventually impossible—to challenge them.'

"On Saturday, #HumanRightsWatch (#HRW) noted in a detailed social media thread how the provision 'hasn't gotten nearly enough scrutiny' from lawmakers or the public.

"A recent piece by USA Today columnist Chris Brennan put it this way: 'One paragraph, on pages 562 and 563 of the 1,116-page bill, raised alarms for reasons that have nothing to do with America's budget or safety-net programs or debt. That paragraph invokes a federal rule for civil court procedures, requiring anyone seeking an injunction or temporary restraining order to block an action by the Trump administration to post a financial bond.

" 'Want to challenge Trump? Pay up, the provision said in a way that could make it financially prohibitive for Americans to contest Trump's actions in court.

"HRW details how the provision, if included in the final legislation, 'would make it more expensive to fight Trump's policies in court by invoking a federal rule that effectively punishes anyone willing to stand up against the administration.'

"Anyone seeking a legal action that would involve an injunction request against a presidential order or policy, the group said, would to face a much larger barrier because Republicans would make it so that anyone challenging Trump in court in this way would 'have to pay up in the form of a posted bond—something many people can't afford to do. That means only the wealthy will be able to even attempt to challenge the most powerful man in the country."

Read more / listen to audio:
www.commondreams.org/news/trump-buried-provision

#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #AuthoritarianRule #SilencingDissent #Fascism #BigUglyBill #BigUglyFascists

via @kenwhite.bsky.social‬

"Willing to bet a very large amount that most of that 413% rise in 'assaults' on ICE agents represent unarmed people attacking ICE fists with their faces and boots with their kidneys.

Because these people are lying scum."

#ResistICE #Gestapo #ICESucks #ACAB #CharacteristicsOfFascism #SilencingDissent #PoliceState #Resist #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule

#Trump Is Building a #GlobalGulag for #Immigrants Captured by #ICE

The U.S. is in talks with 19 nations, including #Libya, #Kosovo, #Rwanda, and #Moldova to accept deportees from other countries.

Nick Turse, Jonah Valdez
May 15 2025,

Excerpt: "In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the #GeorgeWBush administration created a worldwide network of secret prisons and torture sites as part of its global war on terror. Its crown jewel, the Guantánamo Bay detention center, was established in January 2002 as a place for the United States to hold so-called enemy combatants.

"The U.S. government chose the U.S. Naval Station Guantánamo Bay because it was seeking a site where neither U.S. nor international law applied — a legal black hole where they could disappear people indefinitely. Over time, Guantánamo became emblematic of gross human rights abuses. “Forever prisoners” of the war on terror are still being held there today. Others caught up in America’s counterterrorism dragnet were detained at torture prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq or kidnapped and 'rendered' to CIA black sites — secret prisons in at least eight countries around the world.

"As the Trump administration has expanded the Bush and #Obama-era terrorism paradigm to cast immigrants and refugees as terrorists and gang members, it has reconceptualized rendition and even pressed Guantánamo Bay into service as a way station for Venezuelan men expelled to El Salvador."

Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/05/15/trump-ice-immigrants-deport-prisons-cecot-libya/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/07iRS

#SilencingDissent #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #USPol #WorldPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ResistICE #PoliceState

#LawFirms, #universities and now #CivilSociety groups are in #Trump’s sights for #punitive action

By LISA MASCARO
Updated 12:04 AM EDT, April 18, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — "First the nation’s top law firms. Then its premier universities. Now, President Donald Trump is leaning on the #advocacy groups that underpin U.S. civil society.

"Trump said Thursday that the administration is looking at the tax-exempt status not just of Harvard, but environmental groups and specifically the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or #CREW. It could be a devastating financial blow to the #nonprofit organizations — and his perceived #PoliticalFoes.

"The president’s remarks, during an event at the White House, began to confirm what advocacy groups have been quietly warning: Trump’s campaign of retribution is coming next for them.

" 'It’s supposed to be a charitable organization,' Trump said about CREW, in particular. 'The only charity they had is going after Donald Trump. So we’re looking at that. We’re looking at a lot of things.' "

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-exempt-crew-environmental-groups-harvard-5e1e0ffacfa040ccdeaf4e43fb72b5fe

#CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent #USPol #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #CriminalizingDissent #EnvironmentalGroups #WaterIsLife #AirIsLife #LandIsLife #FightForTheFuture #DefendMotherEarth

Congressional Analysis: #GOP Tax Gifts to #Rich Would Explode Deficit They Always Complain About

"This bill gives enormous additional tax cuts to wealthy people and corporations, spikes the deficit, and strips healthcare from millions of Americans," said one critic.

Jessica Corbett
May 13, 2025

Excerpt: " 'Reckless tax cuts for the top and new corporate loopholes appear to be the big features of this bill, and they're paid for by cutting our healthcare and making American communities more vulnerable to floods, fires, and storms,' she stressed. 'The revenue raisers—which don't stop this from being extremely expensive—seem to be about picking winners and losers, rather than passing rational, consistent policies.' "

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-reconciliation-package

#BigUglyBill #Environment #Ethics #TaxBreaksForTheRich #CorporatePolluters #AirIsLife
#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife
#TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor #Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent #USPol #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #TaxPackage #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule
#FightForTheFuture

What’s in Trump’s big bill? Trillions in tax cuts, changes to Medicaid and more

By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO
Updated 8:21 PM EDT, May 13, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — "#Republicans in Congress are moving with rapid speed to advance President Donald Trump’s big bill of #TaxBreaks, #SpendingCuts and beefed-up border security funding as leaders work to enact many of his campaign promises.

"House committees have been laboring for months to draft the legislation, which Republicans have labeled 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,' a nod to Trump himself. Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to approve the package and send it to the Senate by Memorial Day.

"Democrats say they will fight what House party leader #HakeemJeffries calls 'this extreme and toxic bill.' "
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-17cbde167f3b434e925a199c3253b8e1

#BigUglyBill #Environment #Ethics #StudentLoans #Medicaid #TaxBreaksForTheRich
#CorporatePolluters #AirIsLife
#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife
#MAGADeathCult #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor
#AntiLife #Greenpeace
#Indivisible #FreePalestine
#CREW #PeaceAndJustice
#Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #HR9495 #StopHR9495
#TaxPackage #Authoritarianism
#AuthoritarianRule
#FightForTheFuture
#Section112209

This is what I sent to Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King...

Dear Senator Collins / King, I beg you to vote "no" on Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." The passing of this will hurt many Mainers, and could impact Maine non-profits (Section 112209). Many Mainers are already struggling to pay their bills, and putting more of a burden on them, while giving tax breaks to the rich is unfair to working and disabled Mainers. Thank you.

#HR9495 #BigBeautifulBill #BigUglyTaxBill #ToxicBill #Environment #Ethics #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor #CorporatePolluters #Corporatocracy
#CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent #USPol
#HR9495 #TaxPackage
#Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #StopHR9495 #FightForTheFuture
#Section112209

House Republicans look to help Trump strip tax-exempt status of nonprofits he says support terrorism

By ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY
Updated 1:37 PM EDT, May 13, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — "A proposal by Republicans in Congress would allow President Donald Trump’s administration to remove the tax-exempt status of nonprofits that it says support #terrorism, creating what some #nonprofits say is an arbitrary standard to financially punish #charities that advocate for issues that don’t align with his agenda.

"Unusual language added Monday to a reconciliation bill from the House Ways and Means Committee — the tax-writing committee — would allow for terminating the tax-exempt status of groups the administration deems 'terrorist supporting organizations.' The language mirrors a bill from the last Congress that passed in the House but did not pass the Senate.

"The definition and criteria for determining whether or how an organization supports terrorism are unclear. The bill also targets nonprofits in other ways, echoing complaints by Trump, who has called the tax-exempt status a 'privilege' that has been 'abused.' Trump has threatened to revoke tax-exempt status for groups that don’t abide by his directives or agree with his views."

[...]

"Michelle Roos, executive director of the Environmental Protection Network, which represents hundreds of former scientists and regulators, said last month 'we all pay the price' when charitable organizations are silenced based on politics.

"For example, the move to revoke #TaxExempt status could choke off funding for groups that urge greater action to promote clean air, water and land, work to help communities most affected by industrial pollution and advocate for projects and policies to combat #ClimateChange — among other issues.

" 'It threatens the rights, health, and future of every community,' Roos said in a statement.

Last month, Trump said he could target environmental groups and the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington."

Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/congress-nonprofits-tax-exempt-terrorism-trump-f9f5cfad4ea64c0745313a0b8a84fccf

#Environment #Ethics #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #MAGADeathCult #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment #TrumpHatesThePoor #AntiLife #Greenpeace #Indivisible #FreePalestine #CREW #PeaceAndJustice #CorporatePolluters #Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism #SilencingDissent #USPol #HR9495 #TaxPackage #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #StopHR9495 #FightForTheFuture #Section112209

It's baaaack...! #HR9495

via @fightforthefuture.org‬
WE NEED CALLS NOW! HR 9495, now known as #Section112209, if passed, would give the #Trump administration unprecedented power in suppressing nonprofits, by allowing the administration the power to strip organizations of their tax exempt status! Call 319-313-7674

'We Need Calls Now!' Republicans Slip #Nonprofit Killer Bill Into #TaxPackage

"If Democrats capitulate to the wanton destruction of crucial civil society institutions, they had better expect civil society to burn them to the ground for that betrayal."

Jake Johnson
May 13, 2025

Excerpt: "House Republicans on Monday quietly revived a proposal that would grant the Trump administration broad authority to crush nonprofits it views as part of the political opposition, from environmental justice organizations to news outlets.

"#FightForTheFuture and other advocacy groups called attention to the measure, which was buried in the final pages of the House Ways and Means Committee's draft reconciliation bill, starting on page 380.

"A markup hearing for the legislation is scheduled to take place on Tuesday [5/13] at 2:30 pm ET.

"The proposal would empower the U.S. #TreasuryDepartment to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits deemed material supporters of #terrorism, with only a hollow simulacrum of due process for the accused organizations. It is already illegal for #nonprofits to provide material support for terrorism.

" 'The House is about to hand the Trump administration the ability to strip nonprofits of their 501(c)3 status without any reason or recourse. This is a five-alarm fire for nonprofits nationwide,' said Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director at Fight for the Future. 'If the text of last autumn's H.R. 9495 is passed in the budget, any organization with goals that do not line up with #MAGA can be destroyed with a wink from Trump to the Treasury.'

"The measure passed the Republican-controlled House late last year with the support of more than a dozen Democrats, but it never received a vote in the Senate.

" 'This terribly thought-out legislation means that under the current administration, every #environmental, racial justice, #LGBTQ+, #gender #justice, #immigration justice, and—particularly—any anti-#genocide organization throughout the country may be on the chopping block,' said Holland. 'If Democrats capitulate to the wanton destruction of crucial civil society institutions, they had better expect civil society to burn them to the ground for that betrayal.' "

https://www.commondreams.org/news/nonprofit-killer-bill

#StopHR9495 #HR9495 #SilencingDissent #fascism #USPol #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule

#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:
https://www.liberties.eu/en/stories/rule-of-law-2025-protests/45384

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

#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."

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-administration-takes-aim-immigrant-students-rcna198346?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
#USPol #ThoughtPolice #Authoritarianism #Orwellian #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Clampdown #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #CriminalizingActivism #RightToAssemble #FirstAmendment #USPol

#StandingRock Chair on #Greenpeace Verdict -- False, Self-serving Narrative in Insulting Lawsuit

"If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about #SiouxNation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble."

By Standing Rock Chairwoman Janet Alkire, via #CensoredNews, March 27, 2025

"As Chairwoman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, I take offense to the jury verdict in the #EnergyTransfer #SLAPP lawsuit against Greenpeace. We expect more from #NorthDakota judges and members of the jury from our neighboring communities.

"#EnergyTransfer’s claims in this case were ridiculous. They were wholly disrespectful of the #StandingRockSioux Tribe, our ancestors, and our youth, who started the movement in 2016 to protect our water from an oil spill from #DAPL. Neither Greenpeace nor anyone else paid or persuaded Standing Rock to oppose DAPL.

"Our young people and our elders urged us to protect our water and #UnciMakah (grandmother earth). That is what happened, and is happening still. Energy Transfer’s false and self-serving narrative that Greenpeace manipulated Standing Rock into protesting DAPL is patronizing and disrespectful to our people.

"We understand that many Morton County residents support the #OilIndustry, even out-of-state #pipeline companies such as Energy Transfer. But we are your neighbors, and you should not be fooled that easily. Energy Transfer does not know us. They don’t know who we are – an Indigenous Nation that has survived every attack because our ancestors are with us.

"Greenpeace did not manipulate Standing Rock, but #EnergyTransfer has manipulated #MortonCounty. DAPL crosses our Treaty and aboriginal land for hundreds of miles.

"Our ancestors occupied this land for thousands of years before #NorthDakota came into existence. The land between the Heart and Missouri River are our #unceded Treaty lands under the 1868 and 1851 Fort Laramie Treaties. Our aboriginally-occupied territories extend east to the James River and beyond. That is a historical truth. If Greenpeace can be held liable for telling the truth about Sioux Nation Treaty rights, then we are all in trouble.

"The construction of Fort Rice on our northern boundary in 1864 was a violation of the Fort Laramie Treaties. This required our Tribe to be vigilant. No one should be surprised that warrior society burials are found in this area, near the pipeline route.

"And do not insult our cultural experts, who have wisdom over matters most residents of Morton County or bureaucrats at the State Historical Society know absolutely nothing about. Energy Transfer and its lawyers should be ashamed of themselves. Everyday North Dakotans on the jury should know better.

"When it comes to the excessive police and private security response to the generally peaceful protests at #CannonBall, believe your eyes. The scenes of guard dogs menacing Tribal members are reminiscent of the violence of #WhiteSupremacists in the #DeepSouth during the 1950’s and 60’s, but it was in North Dakota, in this day and age. It was on the news and on the internet.

"Many of the protesters were Native American veterans of the United States armed forces. Energy Transfer used attack dogs against peaceful protesters and war heroes. But the jury sided with the out-of-state, unlicensed security with the attack dogs, instead of North Dakota veterans who supported Standing Rock.

"A Texas oil company has come to North Dakota, and its lawyers and propaganda machine are weaving stories about how the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and our supporters have lied, and how the poor pipeline company, a trillion dollars richer than in 2016 when this all started, should receive extra millions from non-profit organizations. It’s a funny thing about liars – they always accuse everyone else of lying. The Greenpeace trial was marked by secrecy.

"The court is not making the transcript public. The documents obtained by Greenpeace about Energy Transfer’s terrible safety record are protected by a secrecy order and are not available to the public. The judge exhibited so much bias in favor of Energy Transfer that a team of international human rights lawyers felt compelled to monitor the trial. One prominent monitor stated 'In my six decades of legal practice, I have never witnessed a trial as unfair as the one against Greenpeace that just ended in the courts of North Dakota.'

"Standing Rock has tried to work for greater transparency on DAPL. It is our experience with the Army Corps of Engineers and Energy Transfer that all documents relating to DAPL pipeline safety are heavily redacted, and kept secret. What are they hiding? Who is looking out for the communities that may be affected by an oil spill? And why didn’t the North Dakota court allow Greenpeace to address these questions at the trial?

"DAPL is a dangerous pipeline. It crosses our unceded Treaty and aboriginal land. Energy Transfer destroyed Tribal burials as identified by our cultural experts, and committed violence against our people. That is the history that North Dakota and Morton County must reckon with. After the Greenpeace verdict, that day seems farther off than ever."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/standing-rock-chair-on-greenpeace.html
#StandWithStandingRock #SLAPPsLawsuits #SLAPPs #FossilFuel #BigOilAndGas #Academi #EricPrince #Blackwater #ACAB #PrivateSecurity #BigOil #KelcyWarren #Oiligarchy #CorporateColonialism #WaterProtectors #StevenDonziger #EnvironmentalRacism #ReaderSupportedNews #CorporateFascism #SilencingDissent #StandingRockReservation

#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.'"

https://apnews.com/article/columbia-university-mahmoud-khalil-ice-arrests-1921e26f6b5a8585ad5cbda790846324
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #USPol #Censorship #DumbingUsDown #Authoritarianism #SilencingDissent #AcademicFreedom #Fascism

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!]
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/02/25/documents-military-contractors-mass-deportations-022648
#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

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:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/01/rival-chinese-and-us-companies-respond.html
#USPol #StandWithStandingRock #ReaderSupportedNews #SilencingDissent #Censorship #AICensorship

#DemocracyNow: Will #Biden Pardon #StevenDonziger, Who Faced Retaliation for Suing #Chevron over #OilSpill in Amazon?

January 08, 2025

"Massachusetts Congressmember Jim McGovern calls on President Biden to pardon environmental activist Steven Donziger, who has been targeted for years by oil and gas giant Chevron. Donziger sued Chevron on behalf of farmers and Indigenous peoples who suffered the adverse health effects of oil drilling in the #EcuadorianAmazon. 'I visited Ecuador. I saw what Chevron did. It is disgusting' and 'grotesque,' says McGovern. 'Donziger stood up for these people who had no voice.' In return, Chevron has spent millions prosecuting him instead of holding itself to account, he adds, while a pardon from the president would show that the system can still 'stand up to #CorporateGreed and excesses.'"

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/1/8/steven_donziger_jim_mcgovern
#ViewerSupportedNews #ClimateJustice #EnvironmentalActivists #SilencingDissent #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy #CorporateGreen #CorporateColonialism #Ecuador #AmazonRainforest #FreeStevenDonziger

The Circus is Coming to Town -- The Bizarre Lawsuit of #EnergyTransfer v #Greenpeace and #RedWarriorSociety

by #CensoredNews, January 1, 2025

"It's the most bizarre lawsuit -- Energy Transfer v Greenpeace and Red Warrior Society, eight years later.

"There are loads of documents hidden away with 'confidential' stamps in the court records, and a whole lot of players -- governors, Congressmen, and law enforcement, in the shadows.

"The fragments, , between the blackouts of 'redacted,' show that the head of Energy Transfer hasn't been answering all the questions in depositions. Other snippets show that the #OilPipeline doesn't want to reveal its spills, and whether there's been contamination already into the water at #StandingRock.

"Meanwhile, there's a 'newspaper' tainting the potential jurors, attorneys say, which promotes the sheriff.

"And where are all the files on #TigerSwan, the paid #FBI informants, and the military #SpecialOps? Tens of thousands of documents of TigerSwan were gained by #TheIntercept in another court battle.

"Where are the files on the #drone being shot down by law enforcement, the U.S. #BorderPatrol's surveillance plane, and the #BIA's #surveillance van parked at the casino, with undercover officers wandering around inside?

"The judge, appointed by the governor, won't recuse himself.

"#UnicornRiot media is in Minneapolis Supreme Court fighting the pipeline's subpoena to seize its confidential media records.

"#WaterProtectors and media have been served with third party subpoenas by the pipeline for this fishing expedition for their info.

"And it's all coming to #MandanNorthDakota, at the end of February, to North Dakota's District Court,
home to #MortonCountySheriff.

"It's a $300 million #SLAPP lawsuit to shut them down, says Greenpeace. Greenpeace said there was a large dump of records into the case.

"Stay tuned, and dig through the files -- good luck."

https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-circus-is-coming-to-town-bizarre.html
#ReaderSupportedNews #NoDAPL #StandWithStandingRock #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB

#NuclearColonialism v. #RedPower

"The world has no shortage of #PoliticalPrisoners – or of environmental martyrs and heroes– but 80-year-old #LeonardPeltier, a #Lakota and #Anishinaabe AIM member, is arguably the most famous, the legal lynching he underwent so outrageous, and his incarceration in a 'maximum security' prison so protracted. Even former FBI agents have themselves essentially contended that Pelter was scapegoated by the FBI for the lethal shooting of two agents–Jack Coler and Ronald Williams– on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Michael Apted’s 1992 documentary Incident at Oglala, narrated by Robert Redford, is a good place to start if you’re new to this history. But if you’re looking for insights into the role that #UraniumMining played in the conflict, you’d be better off checking out #PeterMatthiessen’s book #InTheSpiritOfCrazyHorse: Leonard Peltier and the #FBI’s War on The #AmericanIndian ovement. To hear a first-hand account, check out Peltier’s memoir #PrisonWritings: My Life Is My Sun Dance.

"Despite well-documented prosecutorial misconduct powerfully depicted in Apted’s documentary, Peltier’s conviction has yet to be overturned. And in the face of decades of global, high-profile pleas for clemency for Peltier, including by James Reynolds, a “senior US attorney who was involved in [his] prosecution,” no president up until now has been willing to free Peltier. Given that he’s in increasingly poor health, time is running out, and the same president who just pardoned his own son may be Peltier’s last shot at clemency. If you haven’t yet done so, check out the Amnesty International petition– and Amy Goodman’s and Denis Moynihan’s recent column–making the case for his release. The Red Nation media collective also has an extensive playlist of podcasts focused on Peltier’s case and the long struggle to free him.

"Peltier, arguably the world’s most visible casualty of nuclear colonialism, was only three years into his sentence when Santee Dakota organizer John Trudell, his contemporary in AIM, delivered a searing 1980 speech at the Black Hills International Survival Gathering. As Zoltan Grossman has documented, 'Multinational mining companies, such as #UnionCarbide and #Exxon, proposed the development of the #BlackHills for energy resources, including #coal mines, #uranium mines, and coal slurry #pipelines.' The Black Hills gathering brought together a global convergence of more than 10,000 Indigenous activists and non-Native allies to hold the line against a repeat of the 1950s, which, per Grossman, had 'result[ed] in the extensive irradiation of the southern Black Hills community of #Edgemont.'"

Read more:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/12/11/tis-the-season-to-talk-climate-collapse-nuclear-colonialism-and-freeing-leonard-peltier/
#FreeLeonardPeltier #ClemencyForLeonardPeltier #ACAB #AmnestyForLeonardPeltier #SilencingDissent #NoUraniumMining

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:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/22/nonprofit_bill

#StopHR9495 #CivilRights #SilencingDissent #ViewerSupportedNews

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:
https://www.democracynow.org/2020/3/10/war_contractor_erik_prince_has_close

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

#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:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-military-border-civil-unrest-domestic-use-a136c69cc85184b07f161c4c09b46c50
#Election2024 #USElections #Elections2024 #Project2025 #SilencingDissent #Fascism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #ErikPrince #Blackwater #CriminalizingActivism #ClimateEmergency #ClimateProtestors #Crapitalism

And how much economic damage is from climate change and pollution from #FossilFuels? #BigOil is the real criminal here!

#ClimateProtesters are taking action against Big Oil. UK courts are handing them prison terms akin to rapists and thieves

By Kara Fox, CNN
September 14, 2024

London CNN — "As #RightWing rioters attacked communities with #racist violence across parts of the UK last month, 22-year-old #ClimateActivist #CressieGethin sat in a prison cell.

"Her crime? Organizing a disruptive protest against new government-granted licenses to drill for oil — a planet-heating #FossilFuel — in the #NorthSea.

"In late July, a London court found #Gethin and four other members of the #JustStopOil activist group guilty of 'conspiring intentionally to cause a #PublicNuisance,' after recruiting protesters to climb structures along the M25 — a major ring road around London — bringing traffic to a standstill in parts over four days in November 2022.

"Prosecutors alleged that the protests, organized over a #ZoomCall, disrupted more than 700,000 drivers, caused economic damage of over £760,000 ($980,000) and racked up £1 million ($1.3m) in policing costs.

"Now Gethin and three others — Louise Lancaster, #DanielShaw and #LuciaWhittakerDeAbreu, who planned the disruption on the call — are serving four-year jail terms, while Just Stop Oil co-founder #RogerHallam was given five years. All are appealing.

"The sentences are believed to be the longest in the UK’s history for #nonviolent protest and were delivered under two new controversial laws that supercharged #policing powers to crack down on disruptive protests, even when they are peaceful.

"They place the act of planning a 'public nuisance' event, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, on a similar footing as #ViolentCrimes like robbery, for which punishments range from community service to 12 years’ jail, or rape, which is four to 19 years.

"The judge — who in court referred to the activists as '#extremists' — justified the long jail terms because all five activists had previously been convicted of one or more offenses in relation to direct action protest. Each were on bail for another set of proceedings when the Zoom call took place. He also noted people missed important doctor’s visits and funerals because of the protest.

"But activists like Gethin say their demonstrations are proportionate to the problem at hand — a rapidly warming world that threatens to transform life as we know it, through deadly #ExtremeWeather events and by pushing #ecosystems to their brinks. They are now battling the bolstered powers of the #police and courts to get their point across.

“'A very harsh sentence like this doesn’t make sense morally or legally — but it does make sense politically,' Gethin told CNN in a handwritten letter from HMP Bronzefield, a women’s prison just south of London’s Heathrow Airport.

"The laws have drawn criticism from the UN’s special rapporteur on #EnvironmentalDefenders, #MichaelForst, who said not only do they criminalize peaceful protest, but they are being enforced in 'punitive and repressive' ways."

Read more:
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/14/climate/uk-climate-protests-policing-laws-prison-intl/index.html

#BigOilAndGas #ClimateActivists #ClimateProtest #SLAPPs #CorporateColonialism #WaterDefenders
#ClimateDefenders
#EnvironmentalActivists
#SilencingDissent #SLAPPs #ClimateActivists #CorporateColonialism
#EarthDefenders #CriminalizingDissent #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #BiodiversityNecessityDefense
#EarthDefenders
#SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilDisobedience
#Activism #ClimateStrike
#HumanRights #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct #ClimateNecessityDefense #Corporatocracy #CorporateFascism #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe

Thousands Sign Support for #Greenpeace and #RedWarriorSociety in #Pipeline #SLAPP

By Greenpeace International, #CensoredNews, Sept. 13, 2024

"We, the undersigned individuals and organisations, formally express our solidarity with Greenpeace against #EnergyTransfer’s meritless $300 million lawsuit.

" #PeacefulProtest and #FreeSpeech are fundamental human rights that underpin social progress. The Energy Transfer $300 million lawsuit against Greenpeace is an abuse of the legal system and a blatant attempt to silence legitimate work to protect people and our planet.

"This lawsuit makes allegations that affect people far beyond Greenpeace. It attempts to rewrite the history of the #Indigenous-led opposition movement at #StandingRock – by absurdly alleging that Greenpeace orchestrated the entire resistance.

"It seeks to hold the Greenpeace organizations in the US and Greenpeace International accountable for actions taken by unaffiliated and unknown individuals. This could have a chilling effect on anyone engaged in peaceful protest and assembly. It also attempts to sue over justified and protected speech, claiming it is '#defamation.' This is #corporate overreach that is part of a disturbing trend of attacks on advocacy and speech around the world.

"We will not allow lawsuits like this one to stop us from advocating for a just, green and peaceful future. On the contrary, we will ensure they have the opposite effect, increasing the support for organizations like Greenpeace and strengthening the broader movement for justice.

"This legal attack on Greenpeace is an attack on us all. We will not stand idly by. We will not be bullied. We will not be divided and we will not be silenced.

"This letter has been signed by more than 290 organisations, tens of thousands of individuals, and a growing list of public figures."

Source:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2024/09/thousands-sign-support-for-greenpeace.html

Read the names of support organizations:
https://www.greenpeace.org/international/story/69660/open-letter-to-energy-transfer/

#StandWithStandingRock #BigOilAndGas #ClimateCrisis #ClimateActivists #ClimateProtest #SLAPPs #CorporateColonialism #WaterDefenders
#ClimateDefenders
#EnvironmentalActivists
#SilencingDissent #SLAPPs #ClimateActivists #CorporateColonialism
#EarthDefenders #CriminalizingDissent #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #BiodiversityNecessityDefense
#EarthDefenders
#SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilDisobedience
#Activism #ClimateStrike
#HumanRights #Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct #ClimateNecessityDefense #Corporatocracy #CorporateFascism #DakotaAccessPipeline

“On Thin Ice”: Western Nations Crack Down on #ClimateActivists with Arrests & Jail Terms

Story by #DemocracyNow
September 12, 2024

"As the #ClimateCrisis continues to accelerate, #wealthy governments in the West are clamping down on #ClimateProtest. According to a new report from #ClimateRightsInternational, #demonstrators around the world are being arrested, charged, prosecuted and silenced, simply for using their rights to free expression. One of those prosecuted is activist #JoannaSmith, who last year applied washable school finger paint on the exterior glass case enclosing Edgar Degas’s renowned wax sculpture, Little Dancer, at the National Gallery of Art to draw attention to the urgency of the climate crisis. She was charged and later sentenced to two months in federal prison for her #CivilDisobedience. We speak to Smith just a week after her release, and to #LindaLakhdir, the legal director of Climate Rights International. 'Countries who have held themselves up as beacons of rule of law are essentially repressing peaceful protest,' says Lakhdir. Smith says the nonviolent action she took was intended to highlight the disparity between a sculpture of a child protected from the elements with a strong plexiglass case and the billions of children around the world left unsafe and vulnerable by #ClimateChange's effects. 'The crisis is here now, it’s unfolding in front of us, and our governments are failing us,' she explains.

Read more:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/9/12/climate_rights_international

#WaterDefenders
#ClimateDefenders
#EnvironmentalActivists
#SilencingDissent #SLAPPs #ClimateActivists #CorporateColonialism
#EarthDefenders #CriminalizingDissent #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #BiodiversityNecessityDefense
#EarthDefenders
#SLAPPs #Fascism #CivilDisobedience
#Activism #ClimateStrike
#ClimateActivists
#HumanRights #Corporatocracy
#Article20 #2023PublicOrderAct
#ClimateNecessityDefense

HOLY SHIT!

'Can't Make This Up': #Journalist Arrested Under UK #AntiTerror Law Hours After Criticizing It

"I criticized the #TerrorismAct before getting on the plane, then got arrested under the Terrorism Act upon landing."

Brett Wilkins
Aug 21, 2024

"#RichardMedhurst, a #SyriaBritish #IndependentJournalist who defends #Palestinians' right to resist #IsraeliApartheid, occupation, and other crimes, said this week that he was recently arrested at London's Heathrow Airport and held for nearly 24 hours for allegedly running afoul of a highly controversial #AntiTerrorism law critics say is used to silence legitimate dissent.

"Medhurst—who is known for his work opposing U.S., British, and Israeli war crimes in the Middle East and for his advocacy for formerly imprisoned #WikiLeaks founder #JulianAssange —s aid on social media Tuesday: "I criticized the Terrorism Act before getting on the plane, then got arrested under the Terrorism Act upon landing. Can't make this up."

"In a nearly nine-minute video posted Monday night on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, Medhurst said that "on Thursday, as I landed in London Heathrow Airport, I was immediately escorted off the plane by six police officers who were waiting for me at the entrance of the aircraft."

"They arrested me—not detained—they arrested me under #Section12 of the Terrorism Act of 2000 and accused me of allegedly 'expressing an opinion or belief that is supportive of a prescribed organization,' but wouldn't explain what this meant," he continued."

Read more:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/richard-medhurst

#FreePalestine #SilencingDissent #Fascism #FreeSpeech #RightToProtest #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #HumanRights #Article20 #RightToProtest

#Activists Who Sacrificed Their Lives To Save The #AmazonRainforest

by Jana Gregorio
July 31 2020

"According to reports, on average, one activist has been killed in #Brazil every week since 2002. Most of the killings happened in remote areas of the Amazon.

"#ChicoMendes was a labor leader and activist who fought against the #deforestation of the #AmazonRainforest. In 1988, Mendes was shot and killed in front of his house by a cattle rancher named Darcy Alves.

"#NazildoDosSantosBrito was an anti-#PalmOil campaigner. In 2018, Brito was shot and killed, but none of his possessions were missing. Rights groups say he was killed due to his activism in the Amazon.

"Maxciel Pereira dos Santos was a defender of Brazil’s Indigenous people. In 2019, he was killed execution-style in front of his family members.

"For decades, the Amazon Rainforest has been the target of #CattleRanchers, #farmers, #loggers, and #miners who seek to take the forest’s land and natural resources. Over the past 50 years, about 17% of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed."

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/10-people-who-died-to-save-the-amazon.html

#DirectAction #Fascism #CriminalizingDissent #WaterProtectors #ForestDefenders #EnvironmentalActivists #ClimateActivists #ClimateJustice #SilencingDissent #CorporateColonialism #EcoActivists #Censorship #HumanRightsViolations #ExtractiveMining #IndigenistasAssociados #EnvironmentalRacism #IndigenousPeople #IndigenousActivists #EarthDefenders #SouthAmerica #LatinAmerica