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#silencingdissent — Public Fediverse posts

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

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

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

    Matt Sledge
    August 28 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4ETk2

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

  2. HT
    @bruces

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

    by di Stefania Maurizi, 31 August 2026

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

    ilfattoquotidiano.it/2026/08/2

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

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

    By Brenda Norrell, Censored News, August 14, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

    Read more:
    bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/08

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    apnews.com/article/minnesota-i

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

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

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

    Julia Conley
    Aug 13, 2026

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

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

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

    commondreams.org/news/trump-le

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

  6. Posting again for others. My #Facebook account was suspended today. They wanted me to submit a photo ID, but my hubby, who also had his account suspended, told me that didn't change anything. This is #Fascism and #FaceSurveillance at it's highest form. If you're still on FB and get suspended, download your archive and maybe make an announcement on #Instagram (mine was still working).

    #BigBrother #ZuckSucks #SilencingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #TechBros #SurveillanceState

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

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

    by MATTHEW COOLEY
    August 12, 2026

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

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

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

    Read more:
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/eRg8I

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

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

    by Meg Anderson, August 3, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

    An increasing trend

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

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

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

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

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

  9. #AmnestyInternational
    Interactive #ProtestMap

    Posted 31 October 2025

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

    "Our right to protest under threat across the world

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

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

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

    Spotlight on the #USA:

    "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

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

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

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

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

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

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

    by Lauren Harper, March 17 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4fObS

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

  11. 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:
    theintercept.com/2026/03/17/ic

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/uvx92

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

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

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

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

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

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/8cpN1

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

  13. #PamBondi Admits #DOJ Has a Secret #DomesticTerrorist List

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

    Nick Turse
    February 12 2026

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

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

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/OArt2

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

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

    By Jill Lawless

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

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

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

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

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

    apnews.com/article/britain-pal

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

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

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

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

    Jacqueline Sweet, February 12 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/4Nq3X

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

  16. #Google Fulfilled #ICE Subpoena Demanding #StudentJournalist’s #Bank and #CreditCard Numbers

    #AmandlaThomasJohnson didn’t know how much information ICE requested in a subpoena until months later. Google never gave him a chance to fight it.

    Jessica Washington. February 10 2026

    Excerpt: "Amandla Thomas-Johnson had attended a protest targeting companies that supplied weapons to Israel at a #CornellUniversity job fair in 2024 for all of five minutes, but the action got him banned from campus. When President Donald Trump assumed office and issued a series of executive orders targeting students who protested in support of #Palestinians, Thomas-Johnson and his friend Momodou Taal went into hiding.

    "Google informed Thomas-Johnson via a brief email in April that it had already shared his metadata with the Department of Homeland Security, as The Intercept previously reported. But the full extent of the information the agency sought — including usernames, addresses, itemized list of services, including any IP masking services, telephone or instrument numbers, subscriber numbers or identities, and credit card and bank account numbers — was not previously known.

    " 'I’d already seen the subpoena request that Google and Meta had sent to Momodou [Taal], and I knew that he had gotten in touch with a lawyer and the lawyer successfully challenged that,' Thomas-Johnson said. 'I was quite surprised to see that I didn’t have that opportunity.'

    "The subpoena provides no justification for why ICE is asking for this information, except that it’s required 'in connection with an investigation or inquiry relating to the enforcement of U.S. immigration laws.' In the subpoena, ICE requests that Google not 'disclose the existence of this summons for indefinite period of time.'
    Thomas-Johnson, who is British, believes that ICE requested that information to track and eventually detain him — but he had already fled to Geneva, Switzerland, and is now in Dakar, Senegal.

    "The #ElectronicFrontierFoundation, which is representing Thomas-Johnson, and the #ACLU of Northern California sent a letter to Google, #Amazon, #Apple, #Discord, #Meta, #Microsoft, and #Reddit last week calling on tech companies to resist similar subpoenas in the future from #DHS without court intervention. The letter asks the companies to provide users with as much notice as possible before complying with a subpoena to give them the opportunity to fight it, and to resist gag orders that would prevent the #TechCompanies from informing targets that a subpoena was issued.

    " 'Your promises to protect the privacy of users are being tested right now. As part of the federal government’s unprecedented campaign to target critics of its conduct and policies, agencies like DHS have repeatedly demanded access to the identities and information of people on your services,' the letter reads.

    " 'Based on our own contact with targeted users, we are deeply concerned your companies are failing to challenge unlawful surveillance and defend user privacy and speech.' "

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2026/02/10/go

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/zEa6d

    #ResistICE #ResistFascism #USPol #Authoritarianism #Fascism #ICEOut #DefundICE #Orwellian #BigBrother #NineteenEightyFour #FreePalestine #FreeGaza #SilencingDissent #SilencingFreeSpeech #DepartmentOfHomelandInsecurity

  17. 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:
    techcrunch.com/2026/02/06/sena

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

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

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

    by #ThomHartmann, Feb 05, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

    Read more:
    commondreams.org/opinion/why-i

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

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

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

    Stephen Prager, Feb 02, 2026

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

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

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

    Read more:
    commondreams.org/news/military

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

  20. How Many Members Does #Antifa Have? Where Is Its Headquarters? The #FBI Has No Answers.

    Despite saying that antifa is the biggest U.S. domestic threat, the FBI couldn’t explain how the movement is a “terror organization” — or an organization at all.

    by Matt Sledge, December 11 2025

    Excerpt: "At one point, the FBI’s #MichaelGlasheen fumbled with his hands as he tried to find an answer for the question from Rep. #BennieThompson, D-Miss.

    " 'Well, the investigations are active,' Glasheen said.

    " 'You said antifa is a terrorist organization. Tell us, as a committee, how did you come to that?'

    "Glasheen’s comments came three months after President Donald #Trump proclaimed that antifa is a 'major terror organization,' even though it the broad political movement does not have a #hierarchy or #leadership.

    "Trump followed his designation with a presidential memo on September 25 directing the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate and prosecute antifascists and other adherents of 'Anti-Americanism.'

    "The formless nature of the antifascist movement, however, appears to have flummoxed the FBI as it attempts to carry out Trump’s orders.

    "Glasheen called antifa 'our primary concern right now' and called it 'the most immediate, violent threat' from domestic terrorists. That led Thompson to ask him where antifa is located and how many members it has.

    " 'We are building out the infrastructure right now,' Glasheen said.

    " 'So what does that mean?' Thompson shot back. “I’m just — we’re trying to get the information. You said antifa is a terrorist organization. Tell us, as a committee, how did you come to that? Where do they exist? How many members do they have in the United States as of right now?'

    " 'Well, that’s very fluid,' Glasheen said. 'It’s ongoing for us to understand that. The same, no different than Al Qaeda or ISIS.'

    "Glasheen visibly struggled to answer the question before saying that the FBI’s investigations were 'active.'

    "Glasheen is a veteran FBI official who was appointed to serve as the Terrorist Screening Center director under the #Biden administration in 2023 and selected by current FBI Director Kash Patel as one of the agency’s five operations directors earlier this year.

    "The FBI’s shift to focusing on alleged #LeftWing violence comes despite researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies finding that despite an increase this year, it remains 'much lower than historical levels of violence carried out by #RightWing and jihadist attackers.' "

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2025/12/11/fb

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/uINZl

    #USPol #DHS #SilencingDissent #Fascism #AntiFascism

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

    Nov 1st 2025

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

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

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

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

    Read more / listen:
    economist.com/podcasts/2025/11

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/YYhBY

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

  22. #Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

    FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

    by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

    Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

    "Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

    #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

  23. #Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

    FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

    by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

    Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

    "Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

    #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

  24. #Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

    FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

    by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

    Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

    "Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

    #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

  25. #Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

    FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

    by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

    Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

    "Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

    #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

  26. #Skydance deal allows #Trump’s #FCC to “#CensorSpeech” and “#SilenceDissent” on #CBS

    FCC now has “never-before-seen controls” over a #newsroom, commissioner warns.

    by Ashley Belanger – Jul 25, 2025

    Excerpt: "Like many protesting #Colbert's firing, Gomez suggested that the FCC's requirements to approve the Skydance acquisition 'may only be' the 'beginning' of the Trump administration's #censorship and ongoing 'assault on the #FirstAmendment.'

    "Notably, the White House issued a rare statement in response to a recent #SouthPark episode Paramount aired, which mockingly depicted Trump seducing Satan. The White House fumed that 'no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.' But Trump (whose current term's ratings are at an all-time low) taking the time to acknowledge the episode drew jokes on social media that South Park may have riled Trump enough to scramble the Paramount acquisition approval. At the very least, the statement shows that Trump still cares what people say about him on TV. Trump has long been considered the US president most obsessed with TV, and critics now fear that he has seized new powers to more effectively block negative coverage."

    Read more:
    arstechnica.com/tech-policy/20

    #Fascism #Authoritarianism #USPol #TrumpSucks #SilencingDissent #SilencingCritics #Censorship #CharacteristicsOfFascism #BrendanCarr

  27. 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:
    yahoo.com/news/no-kings-protes

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

  28. 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

  29. '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

  30. 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

  31. #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:
    theintercept.com/2025/05/15/tr

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/07iRS

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

  32. #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:
    apnews.com/article/trump-tax-e

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

  33. 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.' "

    commondreams.org/news/gop-reco

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

  34. 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.' "
    apnews.com/article/trump-tax-c

    #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

  35. 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

  36. 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:
    apnews.com/article/congress-no

    #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

  37. 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:
    humanrights.unsw.edu.au/resear

    #PipelineProtestors #BigOilAndGas #BigLogging #ACAB #RightToProtest #SilencingDissent #ProtectTheForests #AustraliaAntiProtestLaws #RisingTide

  38. #ICE Got Warrants Under “#FalsePretenses,” Claims #ColumbiaStudent Targeted Over #GazaProtests

    The law behind the warrants bars concealment of people in the country illegally, yet the students were legal residents living on campus.

    by Shawn Musgrave, March 28 2025

    "Earlier this month, while hunting for #ColumbiaUniversity students to deport over their ties to #Gaza protests, the #Trump administration convinced a federal judge to sign off on search warrants for two students’ dorm rooms — then raided the residences with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.

    "As details about the warrants have emerged, however, so have allegations that federal agents misled the court and secured the warrants under 'false pretenses,' as one of the students whose room was searched, #YunseoChung, claimed in a lawsuit challenging her deportation.

    "The warrants were predicated on probable cause that Columbia was 'harboring' students who were in the country illegally, court filings indicate. Chung, however, is a lawful permanent resident, notwithstanding the Trump administration’s efforts to deport her based on her arrest and citation at a Gaza sit-in. She has lived in the U.S. since she was 7 years old.

    "'The basis for this entire operation is constitutionally invalid.'

    "'The idea that they went before a federal magistrate judge and said, ‘We have to search Ms. Chung’s residence for evidence of Columbia harboring her’ — that shows they’re willing to lie to a judge,' said Nathan Yaffe, an immigration attorney.

    "Yaffe represents both Chung and the other Columbia student who was targeted by the search warrants, #RanjaniSrinivasan, who left the country in mid-March.

    "Most of the materials relating to the search warrants remain under seal in federal court, and Columbia declined to comment on them, citing student privacy protections. ICE did not respond to The Intercept’s questions about the warrants.

    "'If the government falsified information to get the warrant, that is its own bundle of serious problems,' said Joshua Colangelo-Bryan, an attorney at #HumanRightsFirst who also represents Chung. 'But even if not, the basis for this entire operation is constitutionally invalid.'"

    Read more:
    theintercept.com/2025/03/28/ic

    Archived version:
    archive.ph/ruFDs
    #MahmoudKhalil #RumeysaOzturk, #YunseoChung, #BadarKhunSuri #MomodouTaal #ResistICE #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #Project2025 #ProjectEsther #USPol #Authoritarianism #TurdReich #CharacteristicsOfFascism

  39. Commentary: #WaterProtectors on trial again as #Greenpeace case begins in #NorthDakota

    by #WinonaLaDuke
    February 24, 2025

    Excerpt: "North Dakota v. USA

    "In March of last year, I was a federal witness in the North Dakota v. United States of America trial in Bismarck, where North Dakota charged that the United States Army Corps of Engineers had caused the #StandingRock #resistance by issuing a conditional use permit for the flood plain. Attorneys asked if I came to Standing Rock resistance camp because the Army Corps issued a permit. My response: No. I came for the #water,and I came because #LaDonnaBraveBull Allard asked me to come. I came because #Enbridge, the Canadian #pipeline company, had proposed a Sandpiper #pipeline across our territory in northern Minnesota and we defeated them, only to find that they later financed 28% of the #DakotaAccessPipeline. I came for the water.

    "#EnergyTransfer v. #Greenpeace

    "There’s another big trial starting Monday in #MandanNorthDakota, too, in Morton County District Court. There, Judge James Gion will preside over a jury trial in the case of Energy Transfer v. Greenpeace. Energy Transfer charges that Greenpeace effectively orchestrated and was a force driving the Standing Rock resistance. That allegation is pretty surprising to the thousands of people who came to Standing Rock without even hearing about Greenpeace being there. That case will be heard behind #ClosedDoors, no livestreaming, and yet somehow a judge in a small county without a law clerk will make sure the justice of a jury trial is carried out. The case with a multitude of pretrial motions is described as the largest in North Dakota history, so carrying out justice, well that’s a challenge.

    "'This is a pretty ludicrous accusation,' noted #DeepaPadmanabha, Greenpeace’s senior legal counsel, responding to charges that Greenpeace effectively orchestrated and was a force driving the Standing Rock resistance. 'Standing Rock was one of the largest #Indigenous-led protests in history. It was a grassroots-led resistance, and the idea that Greenpeace orchestrated it is a #racist attempt to erase #IndigenousHistory.'

    "But it might be what you’d expect from a company whose CEO once said that protesters who damaged construction equipment should be 'removed from the gene pool.'

    "I’d encourage you to watch the trial online, but unfortunately, Judge Gion has denied a motion to arrange for the trial to be streamed online.

    "As The Wall Street Journal reported in September, 'both sides expect a #FossilFuel - friendly jury.' Check out the
    'community' page on the company’s daplpipelinefacts.com website and you’ll understand why. There’s a picture of Mandan town employees appreciatively holding up a giant check representing Energy Transfer’s $3 million donation to upgrade the town’s library and other infrastructure.

    "Energy Transfer is suing Greenpeace for damages, initially proposed at $300 million, in what Greenpeace has called an effort to bankrupt the organization. Greenpeace is the 50-year-old environmental organization which has been part of opposing #NuclearTesting in the Pacific, saving #whales from factory #trawlers, and challenging #BigOil. That’s something you are not supposed to do in North Dakota, it seems, where oil money slicks through all the systems. In North Dakota, the message seems to be, No one should oppose a pipeline project. No one."

    Read more:
    northdakotamonitor.com/2025/02
    #WaterIsLife #StandWithStandingRock #NoDAPL #KelcyWarren #Trump #StandWithStandingRock
    #CorporateColonialism
    #BigOilAndGas #EnvironmentalRacism #StandingRock #SLAPPs #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife #SLAPPsLawsuits #SilencingDissent #ACAB #EnergyTransfer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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