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

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

Natasha Lennard, March 17 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How new protest laws are impacting political demonstrations

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

By Akilah Johnson,
January 2, 2026

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2026/01/02/anti-protest-laws-randy-fine/

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

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

Brendan Carr Pretends To Be Tough, Demands Broadcasters Support Disastrous War

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/17/brendan-carr-pretends-to-be-tough-demands-broadcasters-support-disastrous-war/

Brendan Carr, the FCC, and the Banality of Evil

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/brendan-carr-fcc-banality-evil-1235532152/

RE: https://mastodon.social/@knoppix95/116234366116470824

We urge anyone affected by this OS-level legal issue to write down notes to their local representatives and push for these laws to be repealed or replaced. #MidnightBSD needs them to get rid of these laws, especially those bills that are unconstitutional to the #FirstAmendment and #FourthAmendment. #DigitalFreedom #DigitalRights #NoOSSpies #Spyware #CyberSecurity #PrivacyFirst

⚠️ The reason why the politicians, especially lawmakers, make #AgeVerification laws such as those that target OSes and app stores.

Because they don't understand the meanings of both the #FirstAmendment and #FourthAmendment. So this is considered unconstitutional.📄 #DigitalFreedom #PrivacyFirst