#silencingdissent — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #silencingdissent, aggregated by home.social.
-
Incarcerated for Life in #Trump’s War on the Left
#AutumnHill had already gone home when a #protest outside an #ICE facility turned violent. She was still sentenced to 50 years, over twice as long as any #Jan6 defendant
by MATTHEW COOLEY
August 12, 2026"The battering ram took down the door first. A column of steel bolted to the front of a tactical vehicle slammed through Autumn Hill’s front entryway. Then the windows shattered. FBI agents threw flash-bang grenades through the glass, their concussions rattling the house’s front rooms. Hill was in the shared office space, in a thin red dress, puttering around on her computer. She heard screams from the other rooms. Then, the buzzing of a drone, as the police flew a quadcopter in through the splintered doorframe. A voice from the drone shrieked out, telling the residents of the house to come out with their hands up. Hill was terrified. She edged out of the door and immediately stared down a wall of gun barrels, masked agents screaming orders, the drone screaming in the air behind her.
" 'I remember thinking, ‘If I don’t do exactly what I’m told for the next minute of my life I’m going to die right now,' Hill says.
Through its loudspeaker, the #drone called repeatedly for one name: '#BenjaminSong.' Song wasn’t in the house, and no one inside knew them by that name. To Hill and her chosen family — an eclectic mix of personalities who lived together in what they called the '#BigGayHouse' — Song was 'Champagne,' a #genderfluid, politically #radical #activist who had, the night before, led a group to a demonstration outside of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility near #PrairielandTX. The protest, on July 4, 2025, was loosely organized in a collection of local activism group chats, and attracted a few dozen attendees, all of whom had their own idea of what they wanted to accomplish. Many, like Hill, planned a '#NoiseDemo,' or a loud protest involving fireworks and loud chants, aimed at disrupting the guards’ routine and letting the detainees inside know that they had supporters outside the fence."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/eRg8I#WarOnTheLeft #USPol #Prairieland #DetentionCenters #Fascism #NSPM7 #PrairielandDefendants #Orwellian #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Prairieland8 #CharacteristicsOfFascism
-
🚨 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
-
White House Refuses to Rule Out Summary Executions of People on Its Secret #DomesticTerrorist List
The Trump administration ignored questions about whether it would order the killings of those on its #NSPM7 list — even while answering our other queries.
by Nick Turse, December 12 2025, 2:02 p.m.
"Rebecca Ingber, a former State Department lawyer, notes that while the designated terrorist organization label as a targeting authority is 'entirely manufactured,' the administration is relying on it to summarily execute people in the boat strikes, making their application of the terrorist label on the domestic front especially concerning. 'Many of us have warned that there seems to be no legal limiting principle to the Administration’s claims of authority to use force and to kill people,' Ingber, now a law professor at Cardozo Law School in New York, told The Intercept. 'This is one of the many reasons it is so important that Congress push back on the President’s claim that he can simply label transporting drugs an armed attack on the United States and then claim the authority to summarily execute people on that basis.' "
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/12/12/trump-nspm-7-domestic-terrorist-executions-antifa-boat-strikes/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/Y8Zfg#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #DomesticTerrorists #SilencingDissent #Orwellian #MemoryHole #Authoritarianism
-
#DOJ Deletes Study Showing #DomesticTerrorists Are Most Often #RightWing
Following Charlie Kirk’s assassination and the Trump administration’s promise to go after the “radical left” a study showing most domestic terrorism is far-right was disappeared.
by Emanuel Maiberg
Sep 16, 2025 at 12:25 PM"The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence “continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism” in the United States.
The study, which was conducted by the National Institute of Justice and hosted on a DOJ website was available there at least until September 12, 2025, according to an archive of the page saved by the Wayback Machine. Jason Paladino first reported that the study was removed. 404 Media noticed the removal after it was flagged by Daniel Malmer, a PhD student studying online extremism at UNC-Chapel Hill.
" 'The Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs is currently reviewing its websites and materials in accordance with recent Executive Orders and related guidance,' reads a message on the page where the study was formerly hosted. 'During this review, some pages and publications will be unavailable. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.' "
Read more [paid members only]:
https://www.404media.co/doj-deletes-study-showing-domestic-terrorists-are-most-often-right-wing/#USPol #Fascism #TrumpIsAFascist #FashPatel #Authoritarianism #MemoryHoled #MemoryHole #404Media #SilencingDissent #Antifa #Resistance
#CharacteristicsOfFascism -
#VictoriaAustralia’s draconian new #AntiProtest laws will have a chilling effect on #FreeSpeech — and won’t keep anyone safe
Far-reaching anti-protest measures and giving police more repressive powers only serve to increase the risk of escalating violence.
by Sarah Schwartz, Jul 9, 2025
"In response to the weekend’s attack on the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has announced she will forge ahead with new anti-protest measures and more #police powers.
"In doing so, she is following what has become the new normal for state governments across the country: using acts of racism and violence as a pretext to #ClampDown on unrelated democratic rights.
"Taking to the streets in peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to come together and express our political views when our representatives aren’t listening to us. But this right is not without limits. Every person has a right to worship in safety. The attack on East Melbourne Synagogue was not a protest; it was an act of antisemitism. The suspect has been apprehended and charged with a multitude of criminal offences.
"Two other incidents over the weekend, the targeting of a business with ties to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — a US-backed #Israeli organisation linked to the massacres of unarmed #Palestinians seeking aid — and a weapons company with links to the Israeli military, are also being referred to as justifying new laws. It is important not to conflate these actions against Israel with an attack against a Jewish place of worship. International human rights law, as well as our current laws, already place limits on protests that involve intimidation and violence.
"So what is actually being proposed in response? The Allan government is suggesting the creation of a new criminal offence for wearing a #FaceCovering at peaceful protests, banning 'dangerous attachment devices' (e.g. a #chain, a #BikeLock) — which have long been used in non-violent civil disobedience — and #criminalising peaceful protests around places of religious worship.
"The ban on face coverings would be a first in #Australia. It would mirror measures used in #authoritarian states that force people to submit themselves to various forms of #StateSurveillance.
"#VictoriaPolice has been using facial recognition software for years without any regulatory or legislative framework to prevent breaches of privacy. This technology, combined with a ban on face coverings at protests, would essentially amount to an obligation on behalf of individuals to submit to surveillance by the state, corporations and other groups that surveil protesters.
"Unless you’re a #MiningCompany spending hundreds of millions buying politicians’ favour or can wine and dine decision-makers, peaceful protest is one of the main ways for people to hold governments and corporations to account. Protests for the eight-hour workday, #WomensRights, #FirstNationsRights and the #AntiWar movement have led to significant improvements in all of our lives.
Know something?"Many people attending protests wear face coverings to protect their privacy and anonymity. For temporary migrants, the consequences of identification can include visa cancellation and detention. #FarRight groups, abusers of gender-based violence and other political groups have all been documented as engaging in doxing, surveillance and retaliatory violence against people identified at peaceful protests.
"Even with exemptions, a ban would mean that people who wear facemasks for reasons of health, disability status, or religious or cultural reasons would be at risk of police targeting and made to justify their use of a face mask.
"Adding new repressive police powers against peaceful protesters only serves to increase the risk of escalating violence at already heightened public demonstrations. People will not stop taking to the streets on issues they care about, even if the state tries to stifle their voices. Donald #Trump’s deployment of the #NationalGuard in response to protests in LA shows us how deploying more state force at protests increases rather than decreases the risk of violence.
"A ban on protests outside or within a certain proximity to places of worship would mean police could arrest those engaging in peaceful protests for a genuine, non-discriminatory purpose — for example, protests by survivors of #ClergySexualAbuse or by congregants against the political activities of their own religious institutions.
"It would also have the unintended consequence of rendering large areas of the state no-go zones for peaceful protest, due to the high number of places of worship. Similar laws in #NSW are already being challenged for their #unconstitutionality.
"Taken together, this suite of laws, which would provide police with extraordinary powers against people peacefully raising their voices against #injustice, would have a chilling effect, deterring #MarginalisedGroups from attending protests and exercising their rights to freedom of expression, which the Victorian government has sought to protect.
"Ultimately, banning face coverings at peaceful protests and banning protests outside places of worship would not have done anything to prevent what occurred over the weekend. Premier Allan knows this. Yet she is stuck in the same reactive law-and-order merry-go-round that saw NSW Premier Chris Minns enact fear-based, repressive anti-protest measures in response to what we now know was an opportunistic criminal conspiracy.
"Encouraging people to express their political views peacefully is the antidote to non-peaceful forms of protest and is something that all governments should be encouraging and facilitating. At times like this, we should be able to trust our politicians not to fuel division and panic through misguided and knee-jerk responses, but to take measures to address the root causes of racism and hatred."
#AntiProtestLaws #ProtestLawsAustralia #ACAB #SilencingFreeSpeech #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism
-
#Trump’s #BigBill Would Let Him Expand His #LosAngeles #ImmigrationCrackdown ‘Everywhere’
“If it works out well in L.A., expect it everywhere,” a Trump official says of the admin’s plans for #militarized #ICERaids around the country
By Andrew Perez, Asawin Suebsaeng
June 12, 2025"Donald Trump’s '#BigBeautifulBill' wouldn’t just force millions of #poor people off their #HealthInsurance and #FoodAssistance to help pay for more #TaxCuts for the rich.
"The Trump #TaxBill would steer tens of billions of dollars to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for #detention capacity, employee bonuses, and to hire new agents. It would supercharge ICE’s ability to conduct raids, and allow the administration to expand the campaign of terror it’s waging on immigrants in Los Angeles to blue cities around the country.
"ICE’s aggressive worksite raids and courthouse arrests throughout the Los Angeles area have, of course, inspired a wave of protests — giving the president an excuse to send the U.S. military to a Democratic city, something he’s long fantasized about, while inspiring demonstrations across the country.
" 'This bill would give Donald Trump the ability to do what he’s doing [in California] on a scale we really haven’t seen before,' says #DavidBier, the director of immigration studies at the #CatoInstitute, a libertarian think tank. 'He will be able to replicate this militarized approach to Los Angeles across maybe dozens of American cities.'
"For Trump and key officials, including immigration-crackdown policy architect #StephenMiller, this is exactly the point, with Los Angeles currently being used as an autocratic staging area. They want to replicate this militarized, ramped-up blitz of ICE raids, backed by the U.S. armed forces, in several other Democratic strongholds — particularly if larger-scale protests spread to other cities.
"As Rolling Stone previously reported, the president and his senior officials have already mapped out near-term plans for how to further ratchet up the already tense blitz of ICE operations, especially in the coming days in Los Angeles, where the federal agents are now being protected by Trump’s literal troop deployment to the city, against the wishes of Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
"Sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone that senior Trump administration officials are closely monitoring the situation in L.A. as a test case for what they want to do soon in places such as #Chicago, #philadelphia #BostonMA, or the #WashingtonDC, area."
Archived version:
https://archive.ph/SgWWL#BigUglyBill #USSenate #USPol #Authoritarianism #protestors #SilencingDissent #USPol #NoKings #Protest #Solidarity #Immigrants #MassDeportation #EndICE #StopICE #Project2025 #MAGA #ThisIsFascism
#USConstitution #DueProcess #FirstAid #JustFollowingOrders #NationalGuard #Resistance #FashPatel #TrumpIsANazi #StephenMillerIsANazi #ResistICE #FuckICE #KillThePoor #EatTheRich #NoTaxBreaksForTheRich -
From 2023: Explainer: What are your rights to #protest in #Australia?
by Amal Naser
"Which states have criminalised protest and what forms of protest are criminalised?
"#HumanRights organisations have been increasingly critical towards some Australian states over new legislation which seemingly targets #EnvironmentalProtests in the midst of a global #Climatecrisis.
"There are dozens of protest regulations across many states, with five (#NSW, #Queensland, #SouthAustralia, #Tasmania and #Victoria) introducing forms of #AntiProtest regulation most recently. South Australia's new laws, passed just last month, increase maximum fines from $750 to $50,000 along with potential jail time, and were prompted by disruption of an #OilAndGas conference by protestors in early May.
"In the aftermath of protests which sought to block port operations and shut down economic action to draw attention to demands for climate action, the NSW Parliament passed legislation which could see protestors face up to a $22,000 fine and/or prison for a maximum of two years. The legislation targets individuals who block major roads and new tunnels and/or disrupt #port operations in major ports such as #Newcastle and #PortBotany.
"In 2022, Tasmania passed anti-protest laws by way of the Police Offences Amendment (Workplace Protection) Bill 2022 under the guise of protecting Tasmanian workers. Under these laws, any protestor who obstructs a workplace during protests could face up to 12 months in prison, the Human Rights Law Centre reported:
" '…community member protesting the destruction of #OldGrowthForests on a forestry site could face a penalty of over $13,000 or 2 years in prison; and An organisation supporting members of the community to protest could be fined over $45,000.'
"Similar laws were also passed in Victoria. #AntiLogging protestors who 'hinder, obstruct or interfere with timber-harvesting operations' can face up to 12 months in prison and/or a $21,000 fine. PVC and metal pipes which are often used in protest activities are now prohibited in working sites, with additional powers provided to police to search suspect individuals who are 'reasonably suspicious'.
"In 2019, on public safety grounds, Queensland passed legislation which bans locking devices as modes of civil disobedience. These are tactics used to make it difficult for police to remove protestors and are often used by protestors to lock themselves to property and #pipelines to prevent construction of environmentally-harmful projects. Protestors face up to two years in prison and/or a $6,000 fine. It was rationalised on the basis of activists lacing devices with 'butane canisters' and other devices which were harmful for law enforcement. However, there is no evidence of the use of these devices."
Read more:
https://www.humanrights.unsw.edu.au/research/commentary/explainer-what-are-your-rights-to-protest-australia
#PipelineProtestors #BigOilAndGas #BigLogging #ACAB #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #ProtectTheForests #AustraliaAntiProtestLaws #RisingTide -
Private groups work to identify and report #StudentProtesters for possible #deportation
“Now they’re using tools of the state to actually go after people,” said a Columbia graduate student from South Asia who has been active in protests and spoke on condition of anonymity because of concerns about losing her visa. “We suddenly feel like we’re being forced to think about our survival.”
By ADAM GELLER, March 29, 2025
NEW YORK (AP) — "When a protester was caught on video in January at a New York rally against Israel, only her eyes were visible between a mask and headscarf. But days later, photos of her entire face, along with her name and employer, were circulated online.
"'Months of them hiding their faces went down the drain!' a fledgling technology company boasted in a social media post, claiming its #FacialRecognition tool had identified the woman despite the coverings.
"She was anything but a lone target. The same software was also used to review images taken during months of #ProPalestinian marches at U.S. colleges. A #RightWingJewish group said some people identified with the tool were on a list of names it submitted to President Donald #Trump’s administration, urging that they be deported in accordance with his call for the expulsion of foreign students who participated in 'pro-jihadist' protests.
"Other #ProIsrael groups have enlisted help from supporters on campuses, urging them to report foreign students who participated in protests against the war in #Gaza to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency."
Read more:
https://apnews.com/article/trump-foreign-students-campus-gaza-protests-deportation-9e2d4abc1c158454da1f68c01062c9ef
#ICERaids #ICEDetentions #ICEArrests #SilencingDissent #USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #MahmoudKhalil #RumeysaOzturk, #YunseoChung #BadarKhunSuri #MomodouTaal #ResistICE #Fascism #Project2025 #ProjectEsther #Authoritarianism #TurdReich -
#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 -
Boo hiss...! Jury Finds #Greenpeace at Fault, Awards #Pipeline Developer Hundreds of Millions
By Mary Steurer, North Dakota Monitor, via #CensoredNews
"Breaking news from the courtroom
A Morton County jury on Wednesday ordered Greenpeace to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the developer of the #DakotaAccessPipeline, finding that the #environmental group incited illegal
behavior by anti-pipeline #protesters and defamed the company in the late 2010s."During closing arguments on Monday, the lead attorney representing #EnergyTransfer told jurors that Greenpeace’s actions caused between $265 million and $340 million in damages to the company. He asked the jury to award Energy Transfer that amount plus additional punitive damages.
"The nine-person jury delivered a verdict in favor of Energy Transfer on most counts. The verdict brought to a close a more than three-week trial in Mandan.
"The jury began deliberating Monday afternoon after hearing testimony from dozens of witnesses, including current and former Greenpeace employees, #IndigenousActivists, Energy Transfer representatives and law enforcement.
"This story will be updated.
"Thank you to the non-profit media #NorthDakotaMonitor for sharing their coverage with other media."
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2025/03/jury-finds-greenpeace-at-fault-awards.html
#StandWithStandingRock #GreenpeaceUSA #SLAPPs #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #NorthDakota #StandingRockSiouxTribe #StandingRockReservation #BigOil #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #UnicornRiot #ACAB #Blackwater #ErikPrince -
Trump Brags He “Brought Back Free Speech” Hours After Calling to Ban “Illegal” Protests
On the same day he floated cutting funding at schools hosting “illegal” protests, Trump took a free speech victory lap.
By Akela Lacy, March 4, 2025
"'You can’t claim to stand for free speech while threatening schools’ funding to silence anti-war students,' said Tariq Habash, a former staffer in president Joe Biden’s Department of Education who resigned over Biden’s handling of the war on Gaza. Habash is now co-founder and director of the advocacy group A New Policy. 'These efforts are not just antidemocratic, they’re illegal and a direct attack on academia, students, and faculty.'"
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2025/03/04/trump-joint-congress-address-free-speech-campus-protest-gaza/Archived version:
https://archive.ph/6J9Fl#selection-615.11-615.139
#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TrumpIsPutinsPuppet #DOGE #BadDOGE #DOGETargets #SilencingDissent #Censorship #HumanRights #FreeSpeech #ChristoFascists -
Trump talks ‘#FreeSpeech’ while moving to muzzle those he disagrees with
By Kevin Rector
Jan. 26, 2025- As part of a broader rollout of executive orders, President Trump called for an end to government censorship, including on social media.
- Critics said they found the order absurd given Trump’s long record attacking speech and his other actions aimed at curtailing the speech of journalists, government experts, LGBTQ+ people and others."In one of his first acts in office, President Trump issued an executive order promising to end government censorship and restore free speech.
"The order accused the outgoing Biden administration of harassing social media companies and violating the rights of ordinary Americans “under the guise” of combating disinformation online, and said federal resources would no longer be used to “unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.”
"The order echoed a recurring theme from Trump’s campaign — that liberals across the federal government are censoring conservative voices to advance their own '#woke' agenda — and immediately resonated with his followers.
"'This order is a critical step to ensure the government cannot dictate what speech is permissible or weaponize private entities to enforce censorship,' said Mark Trammell of the Center for American Liberty, a conservative rights group founded by California attorney Harmeet K. Dhillon, Trump’s nominee to lead the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. [Oh, but it's OKAY for Trump & crew to censor others?!!]
"However, many others said they found Trump’s order absurd — both because of his long track record of attacking speech he doesn’t like, and because of his new administration’s simultaneous efforts to muzzle people it disagrees with, including #journalists, federal #HealthOfficials, #teachers, #diplomats, #ClimateScientists and the #LGBTQ+ community." [And now they are doing it by cutting FUNDING!!!]
Read more:
https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2025-01-26/trump-free-speech-executive-order-critics-respondArchived link:
https://archive.ph/wgiYN
#USPol #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TrumpIsPutinsPuppet #DOGE #BadDOGE #DOGETargets #SilencingDissent #Censorship #HumanRights #FreeSpeech #ChristoFascists -
From 2012: The most censored in Indian country: #Drones, #SpyTowers and the militarization of Indian lands
by #BrendaNorrell, #CensoredNews, October 10, 2012
"The use of drones on the border, and the militarization of Tohono O’odham sovereign land, heads the list of the most censored issues in Indian country. Tohono O’odham activists who fight the militarization of their lands, and abuse by Border Patrol agents, are oppressed by the elected Tohono O’odham government, and targeted and abused by the US Border Patrol.
Among the most secret issues are spy towers and drones. Currently, Tohono O’odham are reporting drones in the skies, but very little is known about these drones.
"Censored News continues extensive research into the secrecy and militarization at the border."
Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/10/drones-over-tohono-oodham-land.html#ReadersSupportedNews #SpyDrones #PoliceDrones #IndigenousActivists
#MilitaryState #ACAB #USPol #Orwell
#NineteenEightyFour #SilencingDissent #Autocracy #Fascism #surveillance #SurveillanceState #BorderPatrol #CBP #TohonoOodham #MilitarizationOfIndigenousLands -
So, this article outlines what the nominee for director of #HomelandSecurity has planned for #SilencingDissent in the US...
From 2019: South Dakota Governor #KristiNoem Caves on Attempted Efforts to Silence #PipelineProtesters
ACLU, October 24, 2019
"South Dakota’s governor and attorney general today backed down from their unconstitutional attempts to silence pipeline protestors. In response to a lawsuit we filed alongside the ACLU of South Dakota and the Robins Kaplan law firm, the state has agreed to never enforce the unconstitutional provisions of several state laws that threatened activists who encourage or organize protests, particularly protests of the #KeystoneXL [#KXL] pipeline, with fines and criminal penalties of up to 25 years in prison.
"The settlement agreement reached today and now headed to the court for approval is an important victory for the right to protest. It comes soon after a federal court temporarily blocked enforcement of the pieces of the laws that infringed on First Amendment protected speech, and makes the court’s temporary block a permanent one.
"The laws include the #RiotBoostingAct, which gave the state the authority to sue individuals and #organizations for 'riot boosting,' a novel and confusing term. The court warned against the laws’ broad reach, noting that the laws could have prohibited:
- Sending a supporting email or a letter to the editor in support of a protest
- Giving a cup of coffee or thumbs up or $10 to protesters
- Holding up a sign in protest on a street corner
- Asking someone to protest"Under the First Amendment, that is impermissible.
"The court rightly recognized the stakes of this case. And it put these #AntiProtest efforts in perspective, asking 'if these riot boosting statutes were applied to the protests that took place in Birmingham, Alabama, what might be the result?' The answer: 'Dr. King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference could have been liable under an identical riot boosting law[.]'
"Indeed, South Dakota’s unconstitutional anti-protest efforts echoed the suppression of past social movements. From the start, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem called on 'shut[ting] down' 'out-of-state people' who come into South Dakota to 'slow and stop construction' of the pipeline. Her harmful calls were reminiscent of government attempts throughout our history to delegitimize and minimize significant #SocialMovements as the work of 'outside agitators,' including Reverend #MartinLutherKingJr.
"South Dakota’s quick and costly retreat (they’ll have to compensate plaintiffs for attorney’s fees under the settlement agreement) should serve as a lesson for other legislatures considering similar efforts to silence dissent.
"In the last few years, we have witnessed a legislative trend of states seeking to criminalize protest, deter political participation, and curtail freedom of association. These bills appear to be a direct reaction from politicians and corporations to some of the most effective tactics of those speaking out today, including water protectors challenging pipeline construction, Black Lives Matter, and those calling for boycotts of Israel. These legislative moves are aimed at suppressing dissent and undercutting marginalized and over-policed groups voicing concerns that disrupt current power dynamics.
"But the First Amendment guarantees people the right to voice their opposition. This includes our clients — four organizations (the #SierraClub, #NDNCollective, #DakotaRuralAction, and the #IndigenousEnvironmentalNetwork - #IEN) and two individuals (#NickTilsen with NDN Collective and #DallasGoldtooth with Indigenous Environmental Network) — all of whom are protesting construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and encouraging others to do the same.
"Construction of the Keystone XL pipeline may be imminent. Pre-construction activities resumed this month, and a hearing on the new Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the pipeline, which will serve as the basis for approval of any future permits, is coming up next Monday.
"With the laws we challenged proclaimed unenforceable, protesters and protectors no longer have to worry about incarceration or fines as they protest against the construction. That is, at a minimum, how democracy should work."
#WaterProtectors #CriminalizingDissent #BigOilAndGas #CorporateColonialism #Fascism #DefendTheSacred #IndigenousActivists #StandWithStandingRock #FirstAmendment
-
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, 2024London 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