Above photo: CODEPINK protesting US President Donald Trump’s military parade. CODEPINK / X.
Trump threatens RICO charges after CODEPINK protest.
Escalating crackdown on dissent and free speech.
NOTE: Axios reports: CodePink, a feminist grassroots nonprofit, has been named multiple times by conservative politicians and influencers as the DOJ and White House look to potentially open federal investigations into what it calls the “radical left.” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche told CNN Tuesday that the DOJ may investigate groups that have protested Trump, referencing the protesters who interrupted the president’s D.C. dinner earlier this month. “We are a nonviolent, pro-peace organization,” a CodePink spokesperson said in a statement to Axios. “Like many progressive organizations, we have faced threats of government investigations for the past two years. Nothing has ever come of these, because we have done nothing wrong.” “Trump’s response is nothing new,” the spokesperson added. “Like others in the past, he is trying to intimidate people who speak up for peace and justice, and we won’t be intimidated.”
Activists from the anti-war group CODEPINK confronted US President Donald Trump and his cabinet at a restaurant in Washington, DC on September 9. The disruption made national headlines and (evidently) sent the Trump administration into a frenzy.
At the restaurant on September 9, peace activists got surprisingly close to Trump and cabinet members including Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, shouting “Free DC, free Palestine, Trump is the Hitler of our time!” Trump appeared to react with visible frustration as he gestured for his security to remove the protesters, saying “Get them out of here.”
CODEPINK activists disrupted Trump, Vance, Hegseth, Rubio, and other cabinet members’ dinner.
They feast while Gaza starves.
Trump is the Hitler of our time.
Free DC. Free Palestine!
Stop terrorizing communities all over the world!! pic.twitter.com/dPLeWIwHLH— CODEPINK (@codepink) September 10, 2025
Trump has since issued direct threats against the activists who disrupted his dinner. In remarks to press, Trump claimed one of the activists was a “paid agitator,” and is looking into having US Attorney General Pam Bondi to look into bringing RICO charges against the protesters “because they should be put in jail.”
“What they are doing to this country is really subversive,” Trump said. RICO charges, or charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, were originally intended to combat organized crime. But in an unprecedented move, they have been deployed against 61 activists who opposed the construction of a multi-million dollar police training facility in Atlanta, known as “Cop City” by Georgia’s Attorney General Chris Carr. After a legal battle of 2 years, the charges were finally dismissed a few days ago.
“Anyone who values free speech should be appalled at this attempt to criminalize it,” Melissa Garriga, a spokesperson for CODEPINK, told Peoples Dispatch. “We have to continue to hold those in power accountable for their actions, especially when they are openly supporting an ongoing genocide with our tax dollars.”
CODEPINK has been a leading force in staging direct confrontations with politicians in public spaces for decades, and since Israel began its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in October of 2023, the organization has made sure to hold US politicians accountable for their support for Israel.
An Unbroken Tradition Of Disrupting Power
“We have never shied away from disrupting power regardless of which party is in office,” said Garriga. CODEPINK began organizing in the lead-up to the US invasion of Iraq, kicking off a 4-month, all-day protest vigil in front of the White House on November 17, 2002. CODEPINK members, composed of anti-war women activists, participated in numerous actions against the US war on Iraq, including denouncing then-president George W. Bush’s “naked aggression” by staging demonstrations spelling out the word “PEACE” with their naked bodies.
CODEPINK has been organizing against war and for human rights ever since. The organization runs the website “Bought by Zionism”, which tracks pro-Israel lobbyist funding of US politicians. The organization has made a habit of direct confrontations with those politicians, financed by AIPAC and other pro-Israel groups.
On February 7, 2024, CODEPINK activists confronted then-Florida Senator Marco Rubio about his support for Israel amid the killing of Palestinian children by Israeli forces, to which he responded on video “Yeah, Hamas is responsible for killing all of those children.”
After Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil was taken into ICE custody by the Trump administration, CODEPINK activists hounded down politicians on both sides of the aisle who had not called for his release. Medea Benjamin of CODEPINK pressed New York representative Ritchie Torres on Capitol Hill, asking whether he believes “a green card holder who committed no crime should be arrested.” Torres replied, “If you are engaged in violent conduct that takes over a building on a college campus, that’s not free speech.”
“It’s a really critical moment for other organizations to stand in solidarity, loud and clear solidarity with organizations facing repression,” Garriga said. “Now’s not the time for splitting hairs over smaller disagreements. If they come after one of us, they will come after us all. Even if you don’t agree with every intricate stance of our organizations, it’s time to demonstrate real solidarity, or else we will all lose.”
