#stophr9495 — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #stophr9495, aggregated by home.social.
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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, 2025Excerpt: " 'Reckless tax cuts for the top and new corporate loopholes appear to be the big features of this bill, and they're paid for by cutting our healthcare and making American communities more vulnerable to floods, fires, and storms,' she stressed. 'The revenue raisers—which don't stop this from being extremely expensive—seem to be about picking winners and losers, rather than passing rational, consistent policies.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-reconciliation-package
#BigUglyBill #Environment #Ethics #TaxBreaksForTheRich #CorporatePolluters #AirIsLife
#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife
#TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor #Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent #USPol #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #TaxPackage #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule
#FightForTheFuture -
What’s in Trump’s big bill? Trillions in tax cuts, changes to Medicaid and more
By KEVIN FREKING and LISA MASCARO
Updated 8:21 PM EDT, May 13, 2025WASHINGTON (AP) — "#Republicans in Congress are moving with rapid speed to advance President Donald Trump’s big bill of #TaxBreaks, #SpendingCuts and beefed-up border security funding as leaders work to enact many of his campaign promises.
"House committees have been laboring for months to draft the legislation, which Republicans have labeled 'THE ONE, BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL,' a nod to Trump himself. Speaker Mike Johnson is pushing to approve the package and send it to the Senate by Memorial Day.
"Democrats say they will fight what House party leader #HakeemJeffries calls 'this extreme and toxic bill.' "
https://apnews.com/article/trump-tax-cuts-bill-medicaid-work-requirements-17cbde167f3b434e925a199c3253b8e1#BigUglyBill #Environment #Ethics #StudentLoans #Medicaid #TaxBreaksForTheRich
#CorporatePolluters #AirIsLife
#WaterIsLife #LandIsLife
#MAGADeathCult #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor
#AntiLife #Greenpeace
#Indivisible #FreePalestine
#CREW #PeaceAndJustice
#Corporatocracy #CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent
#USPol #HR9495 #StopHR9495
#TaxPackage #Authoritarianism
#AuthoritarianRule
#FightForTheFuture
#Section112209 -
This is what I sent to Maine Senators Susan Collins and Angus King...
Dear Senator Collins / King, I beg you to vote "no" on Trump's "Big Beautiful Bill." The passing of this will hurt many Mainers, and could impact Maine non-profits (Section 112209). Many Mainers are already struggling to pay their bills, and putting more of a burden on them, while giving tax breaks to the rich is unfair to working and disabled Mainers. Thank you.
#HR9495 #BigBeautifulBill #BigUglyTaxBill #ToxicBill #Environment #Ethics #AirIsLife #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife #TrumpHatesTheEnvironment
#TrumpHatesThePoor #CorporatePolluters #Corporatocracy
#CharacteristicsOfFascism
#SilencingDissent #USPol
#HR9495 #TaxPackage
#Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule #StopHR9495 #FightForTheFuture
#Section112209 -
House Republicans look to help Trump strip tax-exempt status of nonprofits he says support terrorism
By ALEXA ST. JOHN and MATTHEW DALY
Updated 1:37 PM EDT, May 13, 2025WASHINGTON (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."
#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
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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, 2025WASHINGTON (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."
#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
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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, 2025WASHINGTON (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."
#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
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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, 2025WASHINGTON (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."
#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
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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, 2025WASHINGTON (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."
#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
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It's baaaack...! #HR9495
via @fightforthefuture.org
WE NEED CALLS NOW! HR 9495, now known as #Section112209, if passed, would give the #Trump administration unprecedented power in suppressing nonprofits, by allowing the administration the power to strip organizations of their tax exempt status! Call 319-313-7674'We Need Calls Now!' Republicans Slip #Nonprofit Killer Bill Into #TaxPackage
"If Democrats capitulate to the wanton destruction of crucial civil society institutions, they had better expect civil society to burn them to the ground for that betrayal."
Jake Johnson
May 13, 2025Excerpt: "House Republicans on Monday quietly revived a proposal that would grant the Trump administration broad authority to crush nonprofits it views as part of the political opposition, from environmental justice organizations to news outlets.
"#FightForTheFuture and other advocacy groups called attention to the measure, which was buried in the final pages of the House Ways and Means Committee's draft reconciliation bill, starting on page 380.
"A markup hearing for the legislation is scheduled to take place on Tuesday [5/13] at 2:30 pm ET.
"The proposal would empower the U.S. #TreasuryDepartment to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits deemed material supporters of #terrorism, with only a hollow simulacrum of due process for the accused organizations. It is already illegal for #nonprofits to provide material support for terrorism.
" 'The House is about to hand the Trump administration the ability to strip nonprofits of their 501(c)3 status without any reason or recourse. This is a five-alarm fire for nonprofits nationwide,' said Lia Holland, campaigns and communications director at Fight for the Future. 'If the text of last autumn's H.R. 9495 is passed in the budget, any organization with goals that do not line up with #MAGA can be destroyed with a wink from Trump to the Treasury.'
"The measure passed the Republican-controlled House late last year with the support of more than a dozen Democrats, but it never received a vote in the Senate.
" 'This terribly thought-out legislation means that under the current administration, every #environmental, racial justice, #LGBTQ+, #gender #justice, #immigration justice, and—particularly—any anti-#genocide organization throughout the country may be on the chopping block,' said Holland. 'If Democrats capitulate to the wanton destruction of crucial civil society institutions, they had better expect civil society to burn them to the ground for that betrayal.' "
https://www.commondreams.org/news/nonprofit-killer-bill
#StopHR9495 #HR9495 #SilencingDissent #fascism #USPol #Authoritarianism #AuthoritarianRule
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#UmbertoEco’s List of the 14 Common Features of #Fascism
in History, Literature, Politics | November 1st, 2024
"While Eco is firm in claiming “There was only one Nazism,” he says, “the fascist game can be played in many forms, and the name of the game does not change.” Eco reduces the qualities of what he calls “Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism” down to 14 “typical” features. “These features,” writes the novelist and semiotician, “cannot be organized into a system; many of them contradict each other, and are also typical of other kinds of despotism or fanaticism. But it is enough that one of them be present to allow fascism to coagulate around it.”
1. The cult of tradition. “One has only to look at the syllabus of every fascist movement to find the major traditionalist thinkers. The Nazi gnosis was nourished by traditionalist, syncretistic, occult elements.”
2. The rejection of modernism. “The Enlightenment, the Age of Reason, is seen as the beginning of modern depravity. In this sense Ur-Fascism can be defined as irrationalism.”
3. The cult of action for action’s sake. “Action being beautiful in itself, it must be taken before, or without, any previous reflection. Thinking is a form of emasculation.”
4. Disagreement is treason. “The critical spirit makes distinctions, and to distinguish is a sign of modernism. In modern culture the scientific community praises disagreement as a way to improve knowledge.”
5. Fear of difference. “The first appeal of a fascist or prematurely fascist movement is an appeal against the intruders. Thus Ur-Fascism is racist by definition.”
6. Appeal to social frustration. “One of the most typical features of the historical fascism was the appeal to a frustrated middle class, a class suffering from an economic crisis or feelings of political humiliation, and frightened by the pressure of lower social groups.”
7. The obsession with a plot. “Thus at the root of the Ur-Fascist psychology there is the obsession with a plot, possibly an international one. The followers must feel besieged.”
8. The enemy is both strong and weak. “By a continuous shifting of rhetorical focus, the enemies are at the same time too strong and too weak.”
9. Pacifism is trafficking with the enemy. “For Ur-Fascism there is no struggle for life but, rather, life is lived for struggle.”
10. Contempt for the weak. “Elitism is a typical aspect of any reactionary ideology.”
11. Everybody is educated to become a hero. “In Ur-Fascist ideology, heroism is the norm. This cult of heroism is strictly linked with the cult of death.”
12. Machismo and weaponry. “Machismo implies both disdain for women and intolerance and condemnation of nonstandard sexual habits, from chastity to homosexuality.”
13. Selective populism. “There is in our future a TV or Internet populism, in which the emotional response of a selected group of citizens can be presented and accepted as the Voice of the People.”
14. Ur-Fascism speaks Newspeak. “All the Nazi or Fascist schoolbooks made use of an impoverished vocabulary, and an elementary syntax, in order to limit the instruments for complex and critical reasoning.”https://www.openculture.com/2024/11/umberto-ecos-list-of-the-14-common-features-of-fascism.html
#DoublePlusUngood #Authoritarianism #Project2025 #TechnoFacism #January6 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #MAGA #ChristoFascism #ChristianCoalition
#ChristianNationalism
#AntiGBLTQLegislation #PressFreedom #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingDissent #StopHR9495 -
Just a reminder... If you live in the #USA and haven't bugged your Senators about #HR9495, please do! And while you're at it, ask #PresidentBiden to #FreeLeonardPeltier! If we can get at least those two things accomplished before #TrumpFascism takes office, that would be good -- it will be impossible afterwards!
#StopHR9495 #AmnestyForLeonardPeltier #ClemencyForLeonardPeltier
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Alrighty then. I just sent #SenatorAngusKing a follow-up email where I pointed out that the one who will be determining who is a "terrorist" is the Secretary of the Treasury, and that Trump's pick for that (#ScottBessett) is beholden to the #HeritageFoundation and would be pursuing a #Project2025 / #ProjectEsther agenda. We'll see what he says. (Susan Collins just ignored me. What else is new.)
#StopHR9495 #StopS4136 #HR9495 #SilencingDissent #fascism -
So, when even "moderates" like Angus King and [useless] Susan Collins are going to give #HeritageFoundation darling #ScottBessett the right to determine who is a "terrorist" organization, you know we're fucked. Bessett is going to follow the #Project2025 agenda, including #ProjectEsther. I am really, really worried about this slippery slide into full-on #Fascism. And don't forget -- some Democrats voted for #HR9495. We don't need this fascist groove thang! TAKE TO THE STREETS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q49BjlSOCGE
#StopHR9495 #SilencingDissent #FascistGrooveThang -
Yeah, I'm seeing a lot of vague wording and potential for abuse in #S4136. It all depends on who the Secretary of the Treasury is. In this case, #HeritageFoundation darling #ScottBessett. That can't be good...
"(B) TERRORIST SUPPORTING ORGANIZATION.—For purposes of this paragraph, the term ‘terrorist supporting organization’ means any organization which is designated by the Secretary as having provided, during the 3-year period ending on the date of such designation, material support or resources (within the meaning of section 2339B of title 18, United States Code) to an organization described in paragraph (2) (determined after the application of this paragraph to such organization) in excess of a de minimis amount."
https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/4136/text
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Hmmmm... So, here is #AngusKing's response to my concerns about #HR9495. I take it he's a "yea". I believe there were some concerns about the amendment S. 4136 that Senator King refers to. How robust are these protections? And again, WHO DEFINES WHAT IS A TERRORIST? Mad King Donald? smh (Oh, and #SenatorSusanCollins didn't even bother to reply -- I guess I'm still on her shit list. Ooops!)
"Thank you for sharing your views with me on S. 4136. I recognize there are concerns that this bill will impact civil liberties—rest assured; I share your determination to protect nonprofits from any political or religious targeting. That’s why I sponsored S. 4136 after I determined the bill contains robust procedural protections to ensure it’s only used to police nonprofits that provide material support to terrorist groups. In my view, a nonprofit should not benefit from its tax-exempt status if it is financing terrorism.
"I worked closely with my colleague, Senator Cornyn, on S. 4136. This bill would permit the Department of the Treasury to terminate the tax-exempt status of a nonprofit that provides material support to terrorist groups, designating them as a terrorist supporting organization.
"The Secretary of the Treasury would be required to submit proof that the nonprofit organization provided material support to a terrorist group and allow for a pre-decisional remediation process. Once the Treasury Secretary suspends a nonprofit’s tax-exempt status, the nonprofit may appeal to the IRS’s Independent Office of Appeals. Should the Independent Office of Appeals decide against the nonprofit, the nonprofit can appeal to the U.S. District Courts. A court may have to review classified information to make a final determination. In such a case, protecting national security may require the court to review evidence privately, without a defendant present, and procedures for conducting such review already exist in other national security laws.
"It is important to note that S. 4136 is a product of bipartisan negotiations to provide the Treasury with effective anti-terrorism authorities while protecting the rights of nonprofit groups through thorough legal processes. In November of last year, the House Ways and Means Committee thoroughly reviewed the House version of my bill and its provisions, sending it to the full House by a unanimous vote. The bill passed the House by a strongly bipartisan vote of 382 to 11. Congress rarely agrees on even the most commonsense measures, let alone passes a bill with such broad bipartisan support.
"I believe the extensive procedural safeguards protect this process from abuse; given that it is clear to me that a non-profit which is proven to be a conduit for funds to a terrorist organization should not enjoy tax exempt status.
"Thank you for contacting me on this important issue; please be in touch with other matters of importance to you that come before the Senate."
Blah, blah, blah. Was this written by #ChatGPT?!!
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Democrats Must Do Everything They Can to Block the Dangerous #NonProfit Bill -- #HR9495
The House passed a bill aimed at giving the government sweeping powers to crush non-profits and attack supporters of #Palestine. Democrats need to stand firmly in its way.
Opinion by Darryl Li
November 23, 2024"While President-elect Donald Trump doesn’t return to office until January 20, Congress is already advancing the most sweeping and dangerous terrorism legislation in a generation, which would give him the power to shut down legitimate civil society groups doing important charitable, community organizing, human rights, and humanitarian work.
"Earlier this week, the House passed HR 9495, an amendment to the tax code that would empower the Treasury Department to unilaterally brand non-profit groups as 'terrorist supporting organizations' and suspend their charitable tax exemption, without giving the groups any due process or access to the evidence against them. The resulting stigma of such a designation would almost certainly be enough to scare off banks, likely depriving these groups of the ability to function altogether.
"The drive to kill non-profits is dangerous no matter who is president, and, in the past few weeks, most House Democrats appear to have woken up to the risks of the legislation. 52 Democrats voted to support the bill as recently as last week, but by the time a subsequent vote came around on Thursday, only 15 voted in favor. But that was still enough to give Republicans the votes they needed to pass the bill. Going forward, the demand from everyone watching this process should be clear: even one Democratic vote is one too many, and Senate Democrats should promise that they will not support the legislation.
"It’s not hard to see the reason behind this sudden attack on non-profits. The bill’s sponsors have made no secret of their desire to smear certain non-profits as instigators of campus protests against Israel as working at the behest of Hamas – a claim for which there is no evidence. Israel’s supporters in Congress and elsewhere have been equally clear about their agenda to crush Palestine human rights advocacy in the United States. Just last month, the Heritage Foundation unveiled 'Project Esther,' a policy blueprint to attack supporters of Palestinian rights in the higher education and profit sectors – essentially an anti-Palestinian Project 2025.
"But the dangers extend far beyond any one issue. Two Republican House committee chairs earlier this year sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen demanding information on 20 groups, from Students for Justice in Palestine (which isn’t even a registered non-profit) to liberal behemoths like the Open Society Foundations and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation."
#StopHR9495 #SilencingDissent #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #Fascism #Authoritarianism #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #HeritageFoundation #Trump #StudentsForJusticeInPalestine #CivilSociety #HumanRights
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HT @gwaldby
#HR9495, the so-called “Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act” would allow the U.S. treasury secretary to unilaterally strip any organization determined to be “terrorism-supporting” of its non-profit status.
Tell your U.S. senators that it’s unacceptable to give the executive branch unchecked power to kill social justice organizations protecting constitutional and human rights.
https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/protect-justice-nonprofits
#StopHR9495 #LakotaLawProject #SilencingDissent #WaterProtectors #StandWithStandingRock #CorporateColonialism #Fascism #LakotaPeoplesLawProject #LandBack #NoDAPL #NoMiningWithoutConsent
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#HR9495 could cripple #NonProfits like the #GazaSoupKitchen! #StopHR9495, #StopArmingIsrael, #FreeGaza!
Hot meals 4 Starved #Palestinian Kids in #NorthGaza
Update on November 22, 2024 by #HaniAlmadhoun, Organizer
"Hello and warm greetings to all of you,
"I'm honored to share an update on the ongoing operations of the Gaza Soup Kitchen throughout the Gaza Strip. Here’s what's been happening:
North Gaza—Mashrou Bait Lahia and Kamal Adwan Hospital
"Due to severe safety concerns, the family in Mashrou Bait Lahia can no longer cook for Kamal Adwan Hospital. With many staff members fleeing, Chef Mahmoud, his family, and my parents are among the last five families still in the area. In response, Chef Mahmoud made a bold decision—he moved everything from our Gaza Soup Kitchen warehouse into the hospital. This included over four tons of food and supplies: canned goods, flour, rice, pasta, lentils, cooking oil, tomato paste, diapers, wipes, baby formula, blankets, children's clothes, and more. This crucial delivery will allow the hospital to feed its patients for the next few weeks.
"The hospital staff was deeply moved by the support; it was their first in-kind donation in 40 days. The head of the hospital, Dr. Husam, embraced Mahmoud, who has a special connection to this place—his baby daughter was born there just four days ago. A miracle amidst the chaos, though there's no official place to register her birth or even give her a name. To continue supporting, our crew will likely start cooking directly from inside the hospital. Meanwhile, my parents remain steadfast, even as we mourn the loss of 60 neighbors from a recent airstrike, including our own relatives.
Beach Camp—A New Location in North Gaza
"After relocating west of Gaza City, Chef Faten has set up a new operating kitchen in the Beach Camp area. Today marked the inaugural day, and it was heartwarming to see Chef Om Ahmad and others from our original location come together to help. They managed to cook for 200 families. It’s bittersweet—children lined up the moment they smelled the food. Thanks to the facilities at this new site, Chef Faten can act quickly and provide meals to those in need. Your support gives us the courage to open new locations and scale up existing ones. We are also expanding operations in the Al Shaikh Radwan neighborhood, which has now been running for two months, constantly increasing capacity.
"Al Zawaydah—Increasing Demand
In Al Zawaydah, the team is facing growing demand; about 50 more people show up daily. They currently serve 80% of those who come, and the situation is dire, with many families relying on our meals. Due to theft of aid by forces linked to the Israeli army (as reported by reputable sources like the Financial Times yesterday), we're making every effort to meet the increased needs. We've instructed the crew to hire more hands, acquire additional cooking pots, and aim to serve up to 90% of those seeking food by next week.Khan Younes—Providing Essential Support
"In Khan Younes, our crew is distributing drinking water each morning, alongside delivering baby clothes for newborns—a small but impactful gesture. A sister charity has hired our team to cook for them in the coming days, providing some financial support. Additionally, Ms. Fatma's class in Khan Younes continues to run strong, offering some semblance of normalcy to the children. It's one of the coolest things we can do for the kids.
"Our drinking water distributions remain a priority, covering four areas throughout the Gaza Strip.
"For those asking how to help, donations are always welcome through this Gofundme community or our website. Every contribution goes directly to sustaining and expanding our work in Gaza for our Palestinian brothers and sisters.
"Thank you for standing with us. Your support keeps hope alive.
"Warm regards,
Hani
Gaza Soup Kitchen Team"P. S. Down with the regimes that support this genocide, lie about it, and create these criminal conditions."
#NorthGaza #IsraeliWarCrimes #Starvation #GazaAid #GazaFundraisers #FreePalestine #CeasefireNow #FoodIsLife #WaterIsLife #GoFundMe #IsraelHumanRightsViolations
#StopArmingIsrael #WorldWarBibi #BeitLahiya #BaitLahiya #BibiIsAWarCriminal #Genocide #GoFundMe #KhanYounes #Palestine #HumanRightsAreNeverWrong #NorthernGaza #Gaza #AlZawaydah #KamalAdwan #KamalAdwanHospital -
House Approves “#NonprofitKiller” Bill [#HR9495], Most Dangerous Domestic #AntiTerrorism Bill Since #PatriotAct
#DemocracyNow, November 22, 2024
"The House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that would empower the Treasury Department to revoke the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it deems has provided material support to a terrorist organization. A broad coalition of civil society groups have opposed the bill, warning that it would give the Trump administration sweeping powers to crack down on political opponents. H.R. 9495, the Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, passed the House 219 to 184 largely along party lines, with 15 Democrats supporting the Republican majority.
"'This bill is essentially a civil rights disaster,' says Darryl Li, an anthropologist, lawyer and legal scholar teaching at the University of Chicago. Li, who recently wrote a briefing paper on the anti-Palestinian origins of U.S. terrorism law, says 'anti-Palestinian racism is one of the great bipartisan unifiers in Congress.'"
Read more / watch / listen:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/22/nonprofit_bill#StopHR9495 #CivilRights #SilencingDissent #ViewerSupportedNews
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#HR9495 passed in the House with a 219-184 final vote.
"This includes 15 Democratic representatives who voted against the party in favor: Allred (TX) Caraveo (CO) Case (HI) Cuellar (TX) Davis (NC) Golden (ME) Gonzalez (TX) Lee (NV) Moskowitz (FL) Panetta (CA) Perez (WA) Schneider (IL) Suozzi (NY) Torres (CA) Wasserman Schultz (FL)."
Scripts for NO on H.R. 9495 + Find Your Senator
FMI - https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YICt3Ak4nwzeEFK66SgUDDFlKTCJm7Ylj3nQ3pMnYeI/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0
#StopHR9495 #USSentate #CriminalizingDissent #JaredGolden #DebbieWassermanSchultz
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🚨 #HR9495 UPDATE!🚨 Time to bug your #USSenators! (I'll be giving "useless" #SusanCollins a piece of my mind, as well as #Maine Independent senator #AngusKing.)
via @indivisibleteam
"This isn’t the result we wanted but the fight isn’t over — we will continue to organize against this #nonprofit killer bill in the #Senate.
"Pressure still works. In a week, you made 13,000 calls and convinced dozens of Democrats to flip their vote and join our side in voting no on H.R. 9495. Thank you for everything you did. More Democrats are waking up, but we will need to keep pushing for our elected officials to fight back against the incoming Trump administration."
#USSenate #StopHR9495 #Palestine #CriminalizingDissent #FreeSpeech
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #Fascism -
Congress is voting on a bill targeting pro-#Palestinian groups. #Israel’s example proves it’s a terrible idea
#HR9495 would open the door for more #antidemocratic developments — as laws in Israel have done for 15 yearsby Daniel Sokatch November 20, 2024
"The House of Representatives is trying to pass a bill, under the guise of pushing back on terrorism, that would hand President-elect Donald #Trump a cudgel with which to attack American civil society organizations.
"H.R. 9495 — titled 'The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act' — already failed one House vote last week. Is bipartisan cosponsors won’t accept defeat so easily, and are bringing it to another vote on Wednesday. The bill would hand the secretary of the Treasury — who, in just two short months, will be a #TrumpAppointee — the authority to unilaterally revoke the tax-exempt status of any #nonprofit deemed to be a 'terrorist supporting organization.' In other words, shut them down.
"As the CEO of the New Israel Fund, the premier funder of #progressive, pro-#HumanRights and democracy organizations in Israel, I know just how dangerous this measure is. For more than 15 years, progressive Israeli civil society has worked — with the aid of nonprofits like ours — to advance equality, justice and safety for Jews and Palestinians alike, while fending off the kinds of accusations this bill tees up. And after facing endless delegitimization campaigns aimed at painting them as traitorous — not to mention the reams of anti-democratic legislation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin #Netanyahu and his hardline allies have pushed in an effort to quash their efforts — we know how important it is for Congress to vote down this bill.
"Both Trump and Netanyahu know how to use the media, legislation and the threat of brute force to crack down on dissent, but Netanyhau has often been a few steps ahead of Trump and his allies. Israel’s 2016 '#NGOTransparencyLaw' could easily have been the inspiration for H.R. 9495. The law, now on the books in Israel, takes aim at organizations that get their funding from governments like those of Germany and the Netherlands, from which most human rights NGOs draw resources. While NGOs that receive private funds — the lifeblood of many #RightWing organizations — are completely ignored."
Read more:
https://forward.com/opinion/676504/hr-9495-israel-pro-palestinian-organizations/#StopHR9495 #CeasefireNow #BibiIsAWarCriminal #FreeGaza #Fascism #Totalitarianism #Authoritarianism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateColonialism #ChristoZionism
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🚨 ALERT!🚨 Meeting Announcement For November 18, 2024 - #HR9495
The Committee on Rules will also meet Monday, November 18, 2024 at 4:00 PM ET in H-313, the Capitol on the following measure:
H.R. 9495 – Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act [Rule Markup Only]
**Please note: Consideration of H.R. 9495 will not begin before 4:35 PM ET.
https://rules.house.gov/media/announcement/meeting-announcement-november-18-2024
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#HouseGOP Working to Push Through Bill That Would Let #Trump Shut Down #Nonprofits
#DemocracyNow, November 18, 2024
"On Capitol Hill, House #Republicans [and some #Democrats] are attempting once again to ram through #HR9495, a bill that would allow Trump and future presidents to effectively shut down nonprofits by labeling them a '#terrorist-supporting organization.' The measure could target #HumanitarianAid groups, #news outlets, #schools and countless #CivilSociety organizations. #Congress failed to fast-track the bill last week, falling short of a required two-thirds majority despite dozens of Democrats voting in favor along with Republicans. But the next vote, which could happen this week, would likely only require a simple majority.
"A coalition of groups said in a statement, 'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.'s unconditional support of #Israel's #genocide of #Palestinians and the slaughter of #LebaneseCivilians.' Signatories to the statement included the Council on American-Islamic Relations and #AmericanMuslimsForPalestine. #Oxfam criticized the bill, saying Trump could use it to silence and censor critics, curb free speech and target political opponents."
#StopHR9495 #USCongress #CrimininalizingDissent #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #Protestors #Activists #FreedomOfExpression #PressFreedom #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #NDAA #Authoritarianism -
#HouseGOP Working to Push Through Bill That Would Let #Trump Shut Down #Nonprofits
#DemocracyNow, November 18, 2024
"On Capitol Hill, House #Republicans [and some #Democrats] are attempting once again to ram through #HR9495, a bill that would allow Trump and future presidents to effectively shut down nonprofits by labeling them a '#terrorist-supporting organization.' The measure could target #HumanitarianAid groups, #news outlets, #schools and countless #CivilSociety organizations. #Congress failed to fast-track the bill last week, falling short of a required two-thirds majority despite dozens of Democrats voting in favor along with Republicans. But the next vote, which could happen this week, would likely only require a simple majority.
"A coalition of groups said in a statement, 'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.'s unconditional support of #Israel's #genocide of #Palestinians and the slaughter of #LebaneseCivilians.' Signatories to the statement included the Council on American-Islamic Relations and #AmericanMuslimsForPalestine. #Oxfam criticized the bill, saying Trump could use it to silence and censor critics, curb free speech and target political opponents."
#StopHR9495 #USCongress #CrimininalizingDissent #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #Protestors #Activists #FreedomOfExpression #PressFreedom #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #NDAA #Authoritarianism -
#HouseGOP Working to Push Through Bill That Would Let #Trump Shut Down #Nonprofits
#DemocracyNow, November 18, 2024
"On Capitol Hill, House #Republicans [and some #Democrats] are attempting once again to ram through #HR9495, a bill that would allow Trump and future presidents to effectively shut down nonprofits by labeling them a '#terrorist-supporting organization.' The measure could target #HumanitarianAid groups, #news outlets, #schools and countless #CivilSociety organizations. #Congress failed to fast-track the bill last week, falling short of a required two-thirds majority despite dozens of Democrats voting in favor along with Republicans. But the next vote, which could happen this week, would likely only require a simple majority.
"A coalition of groups said in a statement, 'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.'s unconditional support of #Israel's #genocide of #Palestinians and the slaughter of #LebaneseCivilians.' Signatories to the statement included the Council on American-Islamic Relations and #AmericanMuslimsForPalestine. #Oxfam criticized the bill, saying Trump could use it to silence and censor critics, curb free speech and target political opponents."
#StopHR9495 #USCongress #CrimininalizingDissent #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #Protestors #Activists #FreedomOfExpression #PressFreedom #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #NDAA #Authoritarianism -
#HouseGOP Working to Push Through Bill That Would Let #Trump Shut Down #Nonprofits
#DemocracyNow, November 18, 2024
"On Capitol Hill, House #Republicans [and some #Democrats] are attempting once again to ram through #HR9495, a bill that would allow Trump and future presidents to effectively shut down nonprofits by labeling them a '#terrorist-supporting organization.' The measure could target #HumanitarianAid groups, #news outlets, #schools and countless #CivilSociety organizations. #Congress failed to fast-track the bill last week, falling short of a required two-thirds majority despite dozens of Democrats voting in favor along with Republicans. But the next vote, which could happen this week, would likely only require a simple majority.
"A coalition of groups said in a statement, 'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.'s unconditional support of #Israel's #genocide of #Palestinians and the slaughter of #LebaneseCivilians.' Signatories to the statement included the Council on American-Islamic Relations and #AmericanMuslimsForPalestine. #Oxfam criticized the bill, saying Trump could use it to silence and censor critics, curb free speech and target political opponents."
#StopHR9495 #USCongress #CrimininalizingDissent #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #Protestors #Activists #FreedomOfExpression #PressFreedom #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #NDAA #Authoritarianism -
#HouseGOP Working to Push Through Bill That Would Let #Trump Shut Down #Nonprofits
#DemocracyNow, November 18, 2024
"On Capitol Hill, House #Republicans [and some #Democrats] are attempting once again to ram through #HR9495, a bill that would allow Trump and future presidents to effectively shut down nonprofits by labeling them a '#terrorist-supporting organization.' The measure could target #HumanitarianAid groups, #news outlets, #schools and countless #CivilSociety organizations. #Congress failed to fast-track the bill last week, falling short of a required two-thirds majority despite dozens of Democrats voting in favor along with Republicans. But the next vote, which could happen this week, would likely only require a simple majority.
"A coalition of groups said in a statement, 'This bill was designed to #criminalize organizations and #activists who oppose the U.S.'s unconditional support of #Israel's #genocide of #Palestinians and the slaughter of #LebaneseCivilians.' Signatories to the statement included the Council on American-Islamic Relations and #AmericanMuslimsForPalestine. #Oxfam criticized the bill, saying Trump could use it to silence and censor critics, curb free speech and target political opponents."
#StopHR9495 #USCongress #CrimininalizingDissent #FirstAmendment #WaterProtectors #Protestors #Activists #FreedomOfExpression #PressFreedom #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 #NDAA #Authoritarianism -
Tell your Representative to Vote NO on #HR9495 to Stop Trump From Attacking #Dissenting Organizations
"Despite the fact that it was already defeated in a floor vote, Republicans in the House have a second chance to pass a bill that would give the incoming #Trump administration unchecked power to shut down any #NonProfit organization that stands in the way of his MAGA agenda.
"Under this legislation, Trump’s Treasury Department could indiscriminately label any non-profit organization – think tanks, #HumanRights groups, #CivilLiberties orgs, #universities, #StudentGroups, even Indivisible Civics – a 'terrorist supporting organization' and strip it of its tax-exempt status. This bill requires no oversight. No due-process. No justification. Trump could use it to shut down any and all #dissent against him.
"This bill is a litmus test for #Democrats as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration: are Democrats going to make it easier for Trump to pursue his #authoritarian agenda or are they going to fight back?
"And we’ll need more Democrats on our side for this second vote – unlike the first, failed vote, which required a 2/3s majority to pass under a suspension of the rules, this vote will require only a simple majority to pass. And 52 Democrats inexplicably voted for this bill last time - that’s not acceptable. (See how your MoC voted at the link below)
"This time, we need all Democrats in the House to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and send a clear message to Trump that they will not just give in to his power grabs. If this bill passes with bipartisan support, there’s a real risk it gets folded into the annual #Defense [#NDAA] bill, which would put it on a glide path through the Senate. We can’t let that happen."
See how your representative voted:
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458#StopHR9495 #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine
#StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech
#Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 -
Tell your Representative to Vote NO on #HR9495 to Stop Trump From Attacking #Dissenting Organizations
"Despite the fact that it was already defeated in a floor vote, Republicans in the House have a second chance to pass a bill that would give the incoming #Trump administration unchecked power to shut down any #NonProfit organization that stands in the way of his MAGA agenda.
"Under this legislation, Trump’s Treasury Department could indiscriminately label any non-profit organization – think tanks, #HumanRights groups, #CivilLiberties orgs, #universities, #StudentGroups, even Indivisible Civics – a 'terrorist supporting organization' and strip it of its tax-exempt status. This bill requires no oversight. No due-process. No justification. Trump could use it to shut down any and all #dissent against him.
"This bill is a litmus test for #Democrats as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration: are Democrats going to make it easier for Trump to pursue his #authoritarian agenda or are they going to fight back?
"And we’ll need more Democrats on our side for this second vote – unlike the first, failed vote, which required a 2/3s majority to pass under a suspension of the rules, this vote will require only a simple majority to pass. And 52 Democrats inexplicably voted for this bill last time - that’s not acceptable. (See how your MoC voted at the link below)
"This time, we need all Democrats in the House to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and send a clear message to Trump that they will not just give in to his power grabs. If this bill passes with bipartisan support, there’s a real risk it gets folded into the annual #Defense [#NDAA] bill, which would put it on a glide path through the Senate. We can’t let that happen."
See how your representative voted:
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458#StopHR9495 #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine
#StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech
#Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 -
Tell your Representative to Vote NO on #HR9495 to Stop Trump From Attacking #Dissenting Organizations
"Despite the fact that it was already defeated in a floor vote, Republicans in the House have a second chance to pass a bill that would give the incoming #Trump administration unchecked power to shut down any #NonProfit organization that stands in the way of his MAGA agenda.
"Under this legislation, Trump’s Treasury Department could indiscriminately label any non-profit organization – think tanks, #HumanRights groups, #CivilLiberties orgs, #universities, #StudentGroups, even Indivisible Civics – a 'terrorist supporting organization' and strip it of its tax-exempt status. This bill requires no oversight. No due-process. No justification. Trump could use it to shut down any and all #dissent against him.
"This bill is a litmus test for #Democrats as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration: are Democrats going to make it easier for Trump to pursue his #authoritarian agenda or are they going to fight back?
"And we’ll need more Democrats on our side for this second vote – unlike the first, failed vote, which required a 2/3s majority to pass under a suspension of the rules, this vote will require only a simple majority to pass. And 52 Democrats inexplicably voted for this bill last time - that’s not acceptable. (See how your MoC voted at the link below)
"This time, we need all Democrats in the House to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and send a clear message to Trump that they will not just give in to his power grabs. If this bill passes with bipartisan support, there’s a real risk it gets folded into the annual #Defense [#NDAA] bill, which would put it on a glide path through the Senate. We can’t let that happen."
See how your representative voted:
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458#StopHR9495 #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine
#StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech
#Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 -
Tell your Representative to Vote NO on #HR9495 to Stop Trump From Attacking #Dissenting Organizations
"Despite the fact that it was already defeated in a floor vote, Republicans in the House have a second chance to pass a bill that would give the incoming #Trump administration unchecked power to shut down any #NonProfit organization that stands in the way of his MAGA agenda.
"Under this legislation, Trump’s Treasury Department could indiscriminately label any non-profit organization – think tanks, #HumanRights groups, #CivilLiberties orgs, #universities, #StudentGroups, even Indivisible Civics – a 'terrorist supporting organization' and strip it of its tax-exempt status. This bill requires no oversight. No due-process. No justification. Trump could use it to shut down any and all #dissent against him.
"This bill is a litmus test for #Democrats as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration: are Democrats going to make it easier for Trump to pursue his #authoritarian agenda or are they going to fight back?
"And we’ll need more Democrats on our side for this second vote – unlike the first, failed vote, which required a 2/3s majority to pass under a suspension of the rules, this vote will require only a simple majority to pass. And 52 Democrats inexplicably voted for this bill last time - that’s not acceptable. (See how your MoC voted at the link below)
"This time, we need all Democrats in the House to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and send a clear message to Trump that they will not just give in to his power grabs. If this bill passes with bipartisan support, there’s a real risk it gets folded into the annual #Defense [#NDAA] bill, which would put it on a glide path through the Senate. We can’t let that happen."
See how your representative voted:
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458#StopHR9495 #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine
#StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech
#Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 -
Tell your Representative to Vote NO on #HR9495 to Stop Trump From Attacking #Dissenting Organizations
"Despite the fact that it was already defeated in a floor vote, Republicans in the House have a second chance to pass a bill that would give the incoming #Trump administration unchecked power to shut down any #NonProfit organization that stands in the way of his MAGA agenda.
"Under this legislation, Trump’s Treasury Department could indiscriminately label any non-profit organization – think tanks, #HumanRights groups, #CivilLiberties orgs, #universities, #StudentGroups, even Indivisible Civics – a 'terrorist supporting organization' and strip it of its tax-exempt status. This bill requires no oversight. No due-process. No justification. Trump could use it to shut down any and all #dissent against him.
"This bill is a litmus test for #Democrats as we prepare for the incoming Trump administration: are Democrats going to make it easier for Trump to pursue his #authoritarian agenda or are they going to fight back?
"And we’ll need more Democrats on our side for this second vote – unlike the first, failed vote, which required a 2/3s majority to pass under a suspension of the rules, this vote will require only a simple majority to pass. And 52 Democrats inexplicably voted for this bill last time - that’s not acceptable. (See how your MoC voted at the link below)
"This time, we need all Democrats in the House to vote NO on H.R. 9495 and send a clear message to Trump that they will not just give in to his power grabs. If this bill passes with bipartisan support, there’s a real risk it gets folded into the annual #Defense [#NDAA] bill, which would put it on a glide path through the Senate. We can’t let that happen."
See how your representative voted:
https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024458#StopHR9495 #USPolitics #SilencingDissent #FreePalestine
#StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech
#Clampdown #StopHR9495
#CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
#Authoritarianism #ProjectEsther #Project2025 -
The Plan to Silence Dissent
Building off a bipartisan push to punish pro-#Palestine protesters, #Trump has a broad crackdown ready to implement—including deportations.by Sophie Hurwitz
November 15, 2024"Donald Trump has made it clear that there are groups he’d like to punish.
"Much attention has been paid to the president-elect’s planned crusades for his next term against #immigrants and #transgender people. But less discussed has been another group on the list: #protesters. Building off the bipartisan crackdown on #AntiWar student dissent last year, Trump has made clear he hopes to discipline, and potentially prosecute, #CivilDisobedience with increased force.
"In May, he promised a group of donors that 'any student that protests, I [will] throw them out of the country.' Trump hoped this would serve as a warning. 'You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” he continued. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
"This is more than just bluster. Reuters reported that sources said Trump hopes to follow through on the promise on day one of his administration, by signing an executive order prioritizing deporting 'international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas.'
"In Trump’s first term, 'his instincts were to bring as much federal power as he could to bear on essentially peaceful protests,' Jamie Kalven, founder of Chicago’s Invisible Institute and a journalist who has studied First Amendment law for decades, told me. This time, there will be fewer guardrails. 'It was complicated enough before Trump was elected. Now you’re going to have various #demagogues in Congress and the Trump administration actually bearing down in various ways on universities and on university students, seeing it as the bastion of the #EnemyWithin.'
"Given how it’s been under #Biden, it unfortunately normalizes what Trump is then allowed to do.
"Many of the plans for targeting protesters are taken from tactics employed by Democrats in recent years. For years, #PalestinianRights activists in the US—and Palestinians in the US, whether activists or not—have often been smeared as terrorists and threatened with deportation and imprisonment. In 2023, a wave of protest was met with a #crackdown. The Department of Education pressured schools to stop pro-Palestine student organizing, as Mother Jones reported in September. Dozens of universities across the nation instituted strict new disciplinary codes prohibiting many forms of public assembly. Over 3,600 protesters were arrested."
#SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritanism #ProjectEsther #Project2025
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The Plan to Silence Dissent
Building off a bipartisan push to punish pro-#Palestine protesters, #Trump has a broad crackdown ready to implement—including deportations.by Sophie Hurwitz
November 15, 2024"Donald Trump has made it clear that there are groups he’d like to punish.
"Much attention has been paid to the president-elect’s planned crusades for his next term against #immigrants and #transgender people. But less discussed has been another group on the list: #protesters. Building off the bipartisan crackdown on #AntiWar student dissent last year, Trump has made clear he hopes to discipline, and potentially prosecute, #CivilDisobedience with increased force.
"In May, he promised a group of donors that 'any student that protests, I [will] throw them out of the country.' Trump hoped this would serve as a warning. 'You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” he continued. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
"This is more than just bluster. Reuters reported that sources said Trump hopes to follow through on the promise on day one of his administration, by signing an executive order prioritizing deporting 'international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas.'
"In Trump’s first term, 'his instincts were to bring as much federal power as he could to bear on essentially peaceful protests,' Jamie Kalven, founder of Chicago’s Invisible Institute and a journalist who has studied First Amendment law for decades, told me. This time, there will be fewer guardrails. 'It was complicated enough before Trump was elected. Now you’re going to have various #demagogues in Congress and the Trump administration actually bearing down in various ways on universities and on university students, seeing it as the bastion of the #EnemyWithin.'
"Given how it’s been under #Biden, it unfortunately normalizes what Trump is then allowed to do.
"Many of the plans for targeting protesters are taken from tactics employed by Democrats in recent years. For years, #PalestinianRights activists in the US—and Palestinians in the US, whether activists or not—have often been smeared as terrorists and threatened with deportation and imprisonment. In 2023, a wave of protest was met with a #crackdown. The Department of Education pressured schools to stop pro-Palestine student organizing, as Mother Jones reported in September. Dozens of universities across the nation instituted strict new disciplinary codes prohibiting many forms of public assembly. Over 3,600 protesters were arrested."
#SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritanism #ProjectEsther #Project2025
-
The Plan to Silence Dissent
Building off a bipartisan push to punish pro-#Palestine protesters, #Trump has a broad crackdown ready to implement—including deportations.by Sophie Hurwitz
November 15, 2024"Donald Trump has made it clear that there are groups he’d like to punish.
"Much attention has been paid to the president-elect’s planned crusades for his next term against #immigrants and #transgender people. But less discussed has been another group on the list: #protesters. Building off the bipartisan crackdown on #AntiWar student dissent last year, Trump has made clear he hopes to discipline, and potentially prosecute, #CivilDisobedience with increased force.
"In May, he promised a group of donors that 'any student that protests, I [will] throw them out of the country.' Trump hoped this would serve as a warning. 'You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” he continued. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
"This is more than just bluster. Reuters reported that sources said Trump hopes to follow through on the promise on day one of his administration, by signing an executive order prioritizing deporting 'international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas.'
"In Trump’s first term, 'his instincts were to bring as much federal power as he could to bear on essentially peaceful protests,' Jamie Kalven, founder of Chicago’s Invisible Institute and a journalist who has studied First Amendment law for decades, told me. This time, there will be fewer guardrails. 'It was complicated enough before Trump was elected. Now you’re going to have various #demagogues in Congress and the Trump administration actually bearing down in various ways on universities and on university students, seeing it as the bastion of the #EnemyWithin.'
"Given how it’s been under #Biden, it unfortunately normalizes what Trump is then allowed to do.
"Many of the plans for targeting protesters are taken from tactics employed by Democrats in recent years. For years, #PalestinianRights activists in the US—and Palestinians in the US, whether activists or not—have often been smeared as terrorists and threatened with deportation and imprisonment. In 2023, a wave of protest was met with a #crackdown. The Department of Education pressured schools to stop pro-Palestine student organizing, as Mother Jones reported in September. Dozens of universities across the nation instituted strict new disciplinary codes prohibiting many forms of public assembly. Over 3,600 protesters were arrested."
#SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritanism #ProjectEsther #Project2025
-
The Plan to Silence Dissent
Building off a bipartisan push to punish pro-#Palestine protesters, #Trump has a broad crackdown ready to implement—including deportations.by Sophie Hurwitz
November 15, 2024"Donald Trump has made it clear that there are groups he’d like to punish.
"Much attention has been paid to the president-elect’s planned crusades for his next term against #immigrants and #transgender people. But less discussed has been another group on the list: #protesters. Building off the bipartisan crackdown on #AntiWar student dissent last year, Trump has made clear he hopes to discipline, and potentially prosecute, #CivilDisobedience with increased force.
"In May, he promised a group of donors that 'any student that protests, I [will] throw them out of the country.' Trump hoped this would serve as a warning. 'You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” he continued. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
"This is more than just bluster. Reuters reported that sources said Trump hopes to follow through on the promise on day one of his administration, by signing an executive order prioritizing deporting 'international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas.'
"In Trump’s first term, 'his instincts were to bring as much federal power as he could to bear on essentially peaceful protests,' Jamie Kalven, founder of Chicago’s Invisible Institute and a journalist who has studied First Amendment law for decades, told me. This time, there will be fewer guardrails. 'It was complicated enough before Trump was elected. Now you’re going to have various #demagogues in Congress and the Trump administration actually bearing down in various ways on universities and on university students, seeing it as the bastion of the #EnemyWithin.'
"Given how it’s been under #Biden, it unfortunately normalizes what Trump is then allowed to do.
"Many of the plans for targeting protesters are taken from tactics employed by Democrats in recent years. For years, #PalestinianRights activists in the US—and Palestinians in the US, whether activists or not—have often been smeared as terrorists and threatened with deportation and imprisonment. In 2023, a wave of protest was met with a #crackdown. The Department of Education pressured schools to stop pro-Palestine student organizing, as Mother Jones reported in September. Dozens of universities across the nation instituted strict new disciplinary codes prohibiting many forms of public assembly. Over 3,600 protesters were arrested."
#SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritanism #ProjectEsther #Project2025
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The Plan to Silence Dissent
Building off a bipartisan push to punish pro-#Palestine protesters, #Trump has a broad crackdown ready to implement—including deportations.by Sophie Hurwitz
November 15, 2024"Donald Trump has made it clear that there are groups he’d like to punish.
"Much attention has been paid to the president-elect’s planned crusades for his next term against #immigrants and #transgender people. But less discussed has been another group on the list: #protesters. Building off the bipartisan crackdown on #AntiWar student dissent last year, Trump has made clear he hopes to discipline, and potentially prosecute, #CivilDisobedience with increased force.
"In May, he promised a group of donors that 'any student that protests, I [will] throw them out of the country.' Trump hoped this would serve as a warning. 'You know, there are a lot of foreign students,” he continued. “As soon as they hear that, they’re going to behave.”
"This is more than just bluster. Reuters reported that sources said Trump hopes to follow through on the promise on day one of his administration, by signing an executive order prioritizing deporting 'international students who support Palestinian militant group Hamas and have violated the terms of their student visas.'
"In Trump’s first term, 'his instincts were to bring as much federal power as he could to bear on essentially peaceful protests,' Jamie Kalven, founder of Chicago’s Invisible Institute and a journalist who has studied First Amendment law for decades, told me. This time, there will be fewer guardrails. 'It was complicated enough before Trump was elected. Now you’re going to have various #demagogues in Congress and the Trump administration actually bearing down in various ways on universities and on university students, seeing it as the bastion of the #EnemyWithin.'
"Given how it’s been under #Biden, it unfortunately normalizes what Trump is then allowed to do.
"Many of the plans for targeting protesters are taken from tactics employed by Democrats in recent years. For years, #PalestinianRights activists in the US—and Palestinians in the US, whether activists or not—have often been smeared as terrorists and threatened with deportation and imprisonment. In 2023, a wave of protest was met with a #crackdown. The Department of Education pressured schools to stop pro-Palestine student organizing, as Mother Jones reported in September. Dozens of universities across the nation instituted strict new disciplinary codes prohibiting many forms of public assembly. Over 3,600 protesters were arrested."
#SilencingDissent #FreePalestine #StudentProtestors #FreeSpeech #Clampdown #HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #Authoritanism #ProjectEsther #Project2025
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What's in store if #HR9495 goes through? Let's revisit this "blast from the past" from 2020...
#FederalAgents Used #ToxicChemical #SmokeGrenades in #PortlandOregon
Portland protesters report severe and lasting #SideEffects from the #ChemicalWeapons used during #Trump’s “#OperationDiligentValor.”
by Sharon Lerner
October 10 2020"By the time she was standing in front of the federal courthouse on #LownsdaleSquare on the night of July 25, Olivia Katbi Smith had already been exposed to tear gas several times. On those previous occasions during the #BlackLivesMatter #protests in Portland, Oregon, this summer, being gassed had been very unpleasant: leaving her coughing and making her eyes and nose run and sting.
"But this time, standing about 30 feet from the fence that was surrounding the downtown courthouse, Smith felt suddenly and violently worse than she ever had before. 'I didn’t know if I was going to puke or pass out,' she recalled recently. 'I was stumbling, trying to get away.' Smith, who is 28, was wearing goggles plus an N95 mask and thought that whatever was making her ill might have been trapped inside her mask. 'So I made a really bad instinctual decision to take it off,' she said. 'And instead of bringing relief, it instantly felt so much worse, like I was trapped in the air. It was overwhelming. I could not breathe.'
"Smith, like thousands of others in Portland, took to the streets in June to protest the suffocation and killing of #GeorgeFloyd by a police officer. By the beginning of July, the crowds had begun to thin somewhat. But after #Trump decided to send federal law enforcement to the city that month, the number of protesters surged and violence escalated. And according to interviews with more than a dozen people who attended the protests and research by the Portland-based #ChemicalWeapons Research Consortium, there was a marked shift in the use of chemical munitions on the crowds in the second half of July, as the federal agents released greater amounts and different types of smoke and gas onto crowds that seemed to set off severe and sometimes lasting health effects.
"The Portland Police Bureau began using tear gas on Black Lives Matters protesters almost as soon as they first assembled in late May. Mayor Ted Wheeler acknowledged that the city has used '#CSTearGas.' The commonly used formulation contains 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, a compound that was designed to induce immediate pain but can also have long-term effects, including chronic bronchitis. In early September, Wheeler ordered the police to stop using it. #TearGas is banned in war but can be used to disperse crowds of civilians.
After federal agents from the #DepartmentOfHomelandSecurity descended on Portland in July in a mission dubbed #OperationDiligentValor,' the use of chemical irritants to control, drive away, and confuse protesters and obscure the actions of law enforcement grew and intensified. Among the products that federal agents appear to have used during the #military-style #crackdown is a #hexachloroethane '#SmokeGrenade' manufactured by a company called #DefenseTechnology and sold as '#MaximumHCSmoke.' Volunteers for the Chemical Weapons Research Consortium collected 20 canisters from the protest area that are the size and shape of the smoke grenades, at least five of which still had Defense Technology labels on them. The group also analyzed the chemical residue on one of the recovered spent canisters and found it contained chemicals known to be released by the smoke grenades."
Read more:
https://theintercept.com/2020/10/10/portland-tear-gas-chemical-grenades-protests/ -
From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States
Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human RightsPrepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective
6/24/2019
Introduction
1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.
2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.
5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.
#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred
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From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States
Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human RightsPrepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective
6/24/2019
Introduction
1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.
2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.
5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.
#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred
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From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States
Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human RightsPrepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective
6/24/2019
Introduction
1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.
2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.
5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.
#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred
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From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States
Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human RightsPrepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective
6/24/2019
Introduction
1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.
2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.
5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.
#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred
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From 2019: Criminalization of #HumanRights Defenders of #IndigenousPeoples Resisting #ExtractiveIndustries in the United States
Report to the Inter-American
Commission on Human RightsPrepared by the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law, Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program on behalf of the Water Protector Legal Collective
6/24/2019
Introduction
1. Peaceful demonstrations are a catalyst for the advancement of human rights. Yet around the world governments are criminalizing dissent and suppressing public #protest, often as a means to protect #CorporateInterests. In this context, indigenous peoples increasingly find themselves as the subjects of arrests, criminal prosecution and police violence when defending the lands they rely upon for their existence and survival from #ResourceExtraction by industries who are operating without the free prior and informed consent of the affected communities.
2. This report is submitted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (#IACHR) in conjunction with a thematic hearing held during the 172nd period of sessions. At the hearing,
Commissioners heard directly from those involved in the indigenous-led resistance to the #DakotaAccessPipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. This report addresses the criminalization and suppression of protest by indigenous human rights defenders and their allies by United States (U.S.) federal, state and local governments, working hand-in-hand with private security forces [#Blackwater], specifically in relation to the construction and operation of #DAPL by #EnergyTransfer
Partners and Dakota Access, LLC (Dakota Access) and the connected #BayouBridgePipeline (collectively the “#BakkenPipeline”).3. Standing Rock is an emblematic case of #IndigenousResistance to extractive industry that drew attention from around the world as water protectors met on the banks of the #MissouriRiver in peaceful assembly in what was the largest gathering of indigenous peoples in the U.S. in 100 years. Standing Rock is merely one example of how the U.S. government works with industry to approve energy projects carried out without the meaningful participation or consent of
indigenous nations. Indigenous peoples are left with no choice but to peacefully protest and then are criminalized for their efforts to defend their lands and resources.4. Since Standing Rock, there has been an alarming trend by the United States government and state legislatures to criminalize opposition to pipelines and other energy projects. These #AntiProtest and so-called “#CriticalInfrastructure laws” progress towards criminalizing dissent and implicitly condone the use of excessive force towards human rights defenders, often including indigenous peoples and their allies who are at the forefront of resistance to extractive industries. As the international community has acknowledged, these laws are incompatible with domestic and international law. The governments’ use of excessive force and mass arrests to threaten, intimidate, and silence “#WaterProtectors” seeking to defend their lands, resources, and #culture, and the collusion with private security forces, violate fundamental human rights to #FreeSpeech and Aassembly enshrined in international human rights law and the #USConstitution.
5. The information provided here builds on a 2016 request for Precautionary Measures filed by the #StandingRock, #CheyenneRiver and #YanktonSioux tribes, past Commission hearings on similar matters that remain unsettled, and reports on Indigenous Peoples and Extractive Activities, and the Criminalization of #HumanRightsDefenders. In addition, the United Nations has reported on the situation at #StandingRock through the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of of indigenous peoples. Despite condemnation from these international bodies and mechanisms, water protectors continue to suffer impacts from the criminalization of their dissent, while the United States moves forward permitting new #pipeline projects on indigenous territories.
#HR9495 #StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Fascism #Authoritanism #CharacteristicsOfFascism #CorporateFascism #CorporateColonialism #BigOilAndGas #ErikPrince #ErikPrinceColonialism #Blackwater #StandWithStandingRock #NoMiningWithoutConsent #WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #StandingRockSioux #LandDefenders #WaterDefenders #WaterProtectors #DefendTheSacred
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@PariaSansPortefeuille YIKES! "This strategy is spelled out in the #HeritageFoundation’s #ProjectEsther, a corollary to its Project 2025. This document seeks to 'dismantle' nonprofit organizations advocating for #Palestinian rights by stripping them of their tax-exempt status. This is exactly what H.R.9495 seeks to accomplish.
"The movement for Palestinian rights is the canary in the coal mine. When states began adopting unconstitutional laws designed to punish and suppress #FirstAmendment protected speech and action to advance boycotts for Palestinian freedom, these laws were then used as templates to shut down activism for #BlackRights and #ClimateJustice.
"Enacting this dangerous law as the Trump administration prepares to take office will embolden it to repress a broad swath of organizations working to advance causes such as #immigrant and #LGBTQ+ rights, to name just a few other movements which are currently in the crosshairs of the MAGA Republicans’ agenda."
https://www.imeupolicyproject.org/memos/bill-trump-dismantle-progressive-groups
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#Tlaib, #ACLU, and advocates warn #HR9495 could empower Trump to silence nonprofits and stifle dissent
#Progressives and #CivilRights groups sound the alarm over legislation that could allow President-elect #Trump to strip nonprofits of their tax-exempt status without evidence, threatening #FreeSpeech and #democracy.
By Alexis Sterling -
November 15, 2024"The bill does not require officials to provide an explanation for designating a group, nor does it obligate the #TreasuryDepartment to present evidence of wrongdoing. This lack of accountability has raised alarm bells among advocates who see it as a tool for #authoritarian #suppression.
"#RashidaTlaib Tlaib has been one of the most vocal opponents of the bill, particularly given its timing amidst heightened protests over U.S. support for Israel’s military actions in #Gaza. 'This is authoritarianism,' Tlaib said. 'This bill is designed to silence dissent and give Trump #UncheckedPower to target groups he doesn’t agree with'.'
"Other progressive lawmakers echoed her concerns. Rep. #SummerLee (D-Pa.) called the legislation 'a giant threat to free speech,' warning that it would allow the government to “label any nonprofit as ‘terrorist-supporting’ without evidence or due process—opening the door to crush opposition and silence dissent.' Rep. #IlhanOmar (D-Minn.) added that 'no one person should have the authority to silence organizations that dare to challenge government policies or speak uncomfortable truths.'
"Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), who is leaving Congress after losing his primary to a candidate backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (#AIPAC), described the bill as 'extremely dangerous.' He cautioned that it 'will sink us further into #authoritarianism. It is an extremely dangerous bill that would give the government unlimited power to stop the work of #humanitarian groups and target political enemies. All without transparency or evidence.'
While the bill is widely seen as a response to criticism of U.S. support for Israel, its potential impact goes far beyond organizations advocating for Palestinian rights. Costello warned that 'the danger is much broader than just groups that work on foreign policy. It could target major liberal funders who support #PalestinianSolidarity and peace groups who engage in #protest. But it could also theoretically be used to target #ProChoice groups, and I could see it being used against #environmental groups.'
"#JewishVoiceForPeace Action’s political director Beth Miller described the legislation as 'terrifying,' emphasizing its potential to suppress civil society across the board. “This bill should be a five-alarm fire for anyone who seeks to protect free speech, civil society, and democracy. This is part of a broader #MAGA assault on the right to protest that begins with attacks on #Palestinian rights groups and is aimed at outlawing the #SocialJustice movements that fight for progressive change. This is part of a well-worn authoritarian playbook to dismantle fundamental freedoms.”
#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #Activists #NonProfits #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism
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#AmnestyInternationalUSA Urges No Vote on #HR9495
November 12, 2024
"#Amnesty International USA warns that language in H.R. 9495 poses an alarming threat to the work of U.S. civil society organizations who document #HumanRights abuses around the world and urges members of Congress to vote against it.
"If enacted, this legislation would grant the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretionary powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they are 'terrorist supporting organizations.'
"'In any other context, this legislation would be seen for what it is, a play from the #authoritarian leader’s playbook,' said Paul O’Brien, Executive Director at Amnesty International USA.
"The broad and vague authority to terminate non-profit status in the name of 'counterterrorism' is a practice that many governments have used to target civil society organizations. There are no safeguards to prevent H.R. 9495’s broad authority from being misused to harass or intimidate organizations for exercising their rights.
"The bill includes no due process for organizations deemed to be supporting 'terrorist' groups. The Secretary of the Treasury can use 'classified information' to make these designations without permitting nonprofits to review or challenge such evidence in federal courts. The loss of tax-exempt status similarly has no due process guarantees and would inflict economic harm and legally burden nonprofit organizations.
"Amnesty International USA joins more than 100 #CivilSociety groups, including #ACLU, #BrennanCenter, #PublicCitizen, #AFT, #NEA, #LCV, #CAP, #Indivisible, #NAACP, #ReproductiveFreedomForAll, and #NationalWomensLawCenter to oppose this legislation.
"'This bill, if it becomes the law, would not require officials to explain the reason for designating a group, nor does it require any evidence,' continued O’Brien. 'Members of Congress must recognize the danger posed and vote down this bill that could shrink civic space and silence civil society organizations.'"
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/amnesty-international-usa-urges-no-vote-on-h-r-9495/
#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #HumanRights
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#AmnestyInternationalUSA Urges No Vote on #HR9495
November 12, 2024
"#Amnesty International USA warns that language in H.R. 9495 poses an alarming threat to the work of U.S. civil society organizations who document #HumanRights abuses around the world and urges members of Congress to vote against it.
"If enacted, this legislation would grant the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretionary powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they are 'terrorist supporting organizations.'
"'In any other context, this legislation would be seen for what it is, a play from the #authoritarian leader’s playbook,' said Paul O’Brien, Executive Director at Amnesty International USA.
"The broad and vague authority to terminate non-profit status in the name of 'counterterrorism' is a practice that many governments have used to target civil society organizations. There are no safeguards to prevent H.R. 9495’s broad authority from being misused to harass or intimidate organizations for exercising their rights.
"The bill includes no due process for organizations deemed to be supporting 'terrorist' groups. The Secretary of the Treasury can use 'classified information' to make these designations without permitting nonprofits to review or challenge such evidence in federal courts. The loss of tax-exempt status similarly has no due process guarantees and would inflict economic harm and legally burden nonprofit organizations.
"Amnesty International USA joins more than 100 #CivilSociety groups, including #ACLU, #BrennanCenter, #PublicCitizen, #AFT, #NEA, #LCV, #CAP, #Indivisible, #NAACP, #ReproductiveFreedomForAll, and #NationalWomensLawCenter to oppose this legislation.
"'This bill, if it becomes the law, would not require officials to explain the reason for designating a group, nor does it require any evidence,' continued O’Brien. 'Members of Congress must recognize the danger posed and vote down this bill that could shrink civic space and silence civil society organizations.'"
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/amnesty-international-usa-urges-no-vote-on-h-r-9495/
#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #HumanRights
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#AmnestyInternationalUSA Urges No Vote on #HR9495
November 12, 2024
"#Amnesty International USA warns that language in H.R. 9495 poses an alarming threat to the work of U.S. civil society organizations who document #HumanRights abuses around the world and urges members of Congress to vote against it.
"If enacted, this legislation would grant the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretionary powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they are 'terrorist supporting organizations.'
"'In any other context, this legislation would be seen for what it is, a play from the #authoritarian leader’s playbook,' said Paul O’Brien, Executive Director at Amnesty International USA.
"The broad and vague authority to terminate non-profit status in the name of 'counterterrorism' is a practice that many governments have used to target civil society organizations. There are no safeguards to prevent H.R. 9495’s broad authority from being misused to harass or intimidate organizations for exercising their rights.
"The bill includes no due process for organizations deemed to be supporting 'terrorist' groups. The Secretary of the Treasury can use 'classified information' to make these designations without permitting nonprofits to review or challenge such evidence in federal courts. The loss of tax-exempt status similarly has no due process guarantees and would inflict economic harm and legally burden nonprofit organizations.
"Amnesty International USA joins more than 100 #CivilSociety groups, including #ACLU, #BrennanCenter, #PublicCitizen, #AFT, #NEA, #LCV, #CAP, #Indivisible, #NAACP, #ReproductiveFreedomForAll, and #NationalWomensLawCenter to oppose this legislation.
"'This bill, if it becomes the law, would not require officials to explain the reason for designating a group, nor does it require any evidence,' continued O’Brien. 'Members of Congress must recognize the danger posed and vote down this bill that could shrink civic space and silence civil society organizations.'"
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/amnesty-international-usa-urges-no-vote-on-h-r-9495/
#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #HumanRights
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#AmnestyInternationalUSA Urges No Vote on #HR9495
November 12, 2024
"#Amnesty International USA warns that language in H.R. 9495 poses an alarming threat to the work of U.S. civil society organizations who document #HumanRights abuses around the world and urges members of Congress to vote against it.
"If enacted, this legislation would grant the Secretary of the Treasury broad discretionary powers to terminate the tax-exempt status of nonprofit organizations based solely on a subjective declaration that they are 'terrorist supporting organizations.'
"'In any other context, this legislation would be seen for what it is, a play from the #authoritarian leader’s playbook,' said Paul O’Brien, Executive Director at Amnesty International USA.
"The broad and vague authority to terminate non-profit status in the name of 'counterterrorism' is a practice that many governments have used to target civil society organizations. There are no safeguards to prevent H.R. 9495’s broad authority from being misused to harass or intimidate organizations for exercising their rights.
"The bill includes no due process for organizations deemed to be supporting 'terrorist' groups. The Secretary of the Treasury can use 'classified information' to make these designations without permitting nonprofits to review or challenge such evidence in federal courts. The loss of tax-exempt status similarly has no due process guarantees and would inflict economic harm and legally burden nonprofit organizations.
"Amnesty International USA joins more than 100 #CivilSociety groups, including #ACLU, #BrennanCenter, #PublicCitizen, #AFT, #NEA, #LCV, #CAP, #Indivisible, #NAACP, #ReproductiveFreedomForAll, and #NationalWomensLawCenter to oppose this legislation.
"'This bill, if it becomes the law, would not require officials to explain the reason for designating a group, nor does it require any evidence,' continued O’Brien. 'Members of Congress must recognize the danger posed and vote down this bill that could shrink civic space and silence civil society organizations.'"
https://www.amnestyusa.org/press-releases/amnesty-international-usa-urges-no-vote-on-h-r-9495/
#StopHR9495 #CriminalizingDissent #CharacteristicsOfFascism #Fascism #HumanRights