Donald Trump’s fossil fueled fascist regime is targeting “antifa” – short for anti-fascist – organizers for arrest and prosecution. With one group of activists in Prairieland Texas recently sentenced to a combined 560+ years in prison, some for crimes as minor as transporting literature and zines.
Allies at The Intercept have identified major holes in the government’s case, and several of the defendants are appealing their convictions. Previous cases that alleged conspiracy have been dismissed. But Texas and federal authorities are going to extraordinary lengths to avoid handing over records, and the chilling effect of these witch hunts are already being felt all over the country. And now that Trump’s hand picked crony Todd Blanche has been confirmed as Attorney General, there’s every reason to fear things will get worse.
198 methods is an anti-fascist (antifa) organization that uses creative, digitally supported, non-violent direct action to fight the climate crisis. We are exactly the kind of people Trump says he wants to target. But there’s nothing wrong with opposing fascism, or with using nonviolent direct action to do it. Sign here to demand Congress investigate Trump’s Justice Department for criminalizing dissent.
Nonviolent civil disobedience typically involves breaking certain laws as a form of protest. And it has a long and storied history in American politics, as well as in protest movements worldwide. Just a few weeks ago we celebrated the life and legacy of John Lewis who led and participated in many nonviolent direct actions including marches, sit ins, freedom rides, and other actions as part of the civil rights movement – and even when he was a sitting member of Congress.
Those of us who engage in this kind of protest are typically are met with minor charges, such as trespassing, disorderly conduct or failing to follow a lawful order. But under the Trump regime’s National Security Presidential Memo (NSPM)-7 directive, acts of political dissent are being criminalized as domestic terrorism.
Donald Trump’s attorney general has ordered federal law enforcement agencies to create lists of Americans they consider “antifa,” which so far seems to mean opposition to Trump’s policies. And now, the first set of convictions have been handed down in Texas, where 16 defendants received a combined 560+ years in prison for association with a protest outside of ICE’s Prairieland Detention Center.
The Department of Justice has also arrested and charged people in Spokane, Washington, and Minneapolis, Minnesota, over ICE protests — all under the label of fighting “domestic terrorism.”
The Trump administration is trampling on the Constitution in an obvious effort to chill free speech. Instead of investigating actual crimes, they’re targeting critics of the administration and looking for crimes to charge them with.
Fifty years ago, the Senate convened the Church Committee to investigate illegal domestic spying and other intelligence abuses directed toward U.S. citizens in order to root out exactly this kind of abuse of power. It’s time to do it again.