Tag: Defend right to free speech

Midwest Activists Defend ‘Minnesota 15’ Anti-ICE Protesters

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On the list of recent attacks on free speech and the right to protest is the June 16, 2026, indictment by a federal grand jury of 15 people on felony charges related to protests against Operation Metro Surge in Minnesota. There, between December 2025 and February 2026, hundreds of thousands of people confronted Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) thugs in massive, sustained protest actions in defense of their immigrant neighbors, politically defeating the surge. In addition, tens of thousands of people were trained as rapid responders to help protect immigrants’ rights.The Minnesota 15 — as the defendants named in the indictment are now known — are fighting back, not just on the legal front but by building solidarity with their cause. Meetings in Chicago, Illinois, and Madison, Wisconsin — along with a rally in the Twin Cities — are part of that effort.

US Gov’t Targets Free Speech, Aims to Railroad Activists as ‘Foreign Agents’

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Once again, the administration of US president Donald Trump has threatened criminal prosecution of those exercising their right to speak out against US foreign policy. On September 16, 2026, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a “reminder” to the public about laws at its disposal to go after those who it deems act in the service of a foreign power. The DOJ wrote that “if a person acts as an agent of any foreign power to carry out any public activity, including (but not limited to) public demonstrations designed to further the propaganda or other goals of the foreign power,” that person must register with the federal government or face possible criminal sanctions, including prison. Anyone familiar with the history of the United States, particularly the period immediately preceding US entry into World War II and the McCarthyite witch hunts that followed the war, will recognize this latest salvo for what it is — a brazen attempt to sow suspicion and fear and to still voices of dissent.