First Amendment

Denver: Anti-Racist Organizers Released After A Week In Jail

September 25, 2020 People's Dispatch. Educate! Arrests, Denver, First Amendment, Rebellion2020

Three organizers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) – Lillian House, Eliza Lucero and Joel Northam – who were arrested on trumped up charges in connection with anti-racist protests in the US State of Colorado were released on Thursday, September 24. They were arrested last Thursday in Denver and spent a week in jail in unsafe and inhumane conditions and were denied their right to due process. One of their fellow organizers, Russel Ruch, was released earlier. On Thursday, the judiciary in Colorado set the bonds of the three activists which once paid means that they can no longer be held in preventive detention.

Expert Tells Court, Charges Against Assange Are Unconstitutional

September 10, 2020 Mohamed Elmaazi, Sputnik News. Educate! Extradition, First Amendment, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

It is immaterial whether one considers Julian Assange to be a reporter because he was engaged in "journalistic activity" when obtaining and publishing classified US documents, the director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation told the court on day three of the WikiLeaks publisher's extradition hearing. The US indictment against WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange represents an "unconstitutional" threat to the First Amendment of the United States constitution and to press freedom more generally, Professor Trevor Timm told the Old Bailey on Wednesday.

Over 100 Protesters, Legal Observers To Sue NYPD Over Violent Arrests

September 4, 2020 Jake Offenhartz, Gothamist. Resist! First Amendment, Legal Observers, Mass Arrests, NYPD

More than 100 protesters and legal observers trapped by police in the NYPD’s violent ambush of a peaceful march in the Bronx earlier this summer are now planning to sue the city, after Mayor Bill de Blasio declined to discipline any of the officers involved in the mass arrest. At least 107 people have filed notices of claim with the city indicating their intent to sue over the police department’s actions in Mott Haven on June 4th, Gothamist has learned. The bulk of the notices were delivered this week, which marked 90 days since the night of the incident, the cutoff for initiating legal action.

Teen Who Organized BLM Rally Billed $2500 For Police Overtime

August 30, 2020 AP News. Resist! Black Lives Matter (BLM), Constitution, First Amendment, Freedom of Assembly

A teen who organized a Black Lives Matter rally in her northern New Jersey town said she has been sent a $2500 bill from officials for police overtime. NJ Advance Media reported Friday Emily Gil, 18, of Englewood Cliffs received a letter earlier this month from Mayor Mario M. Kranjac looking for payment of $2,499.26 “for the police overtime caused by your protest.” A civil liberties advocate called the move “shocking.” Gil, a recent high school graduate, had organized a protest on July 25 in the town, just across the river from the uppermost parts of Manhattan. She said she called for action like increasing affordable housing in the town, and chastised Engelwood Cliffs for not implementing it over the years.

Calls To Drop ‘Absurd’ Charges Against Journalists Covering Protests

August 27, 2020 By Lisa Newcomb, Commondreams. Resist! First Amendment, Freedom of the Press, Media, Police abuse

The Committee to Protect Journalists on Monday called for authorities to drop charges against members of the news media who were arrested while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the United States. More than 600 attacks against the press during the protests, ongoing since the end of May, have been reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, and many detained journalists were released without charges, according to CPJ.

Tennessee To Strip Right To Vote From Protesters

August 24, 2020 Staff, Commondreams. Resist! First Amendment, Right to Protest, Right to Vote, Tennessee

Tennessee protesters will face harsh penalties, including losing the right to vote, as punishment for participating in protests under a law enacted by the Tennessee GOP-dominant General Assembly. Right-wing Governor Bill Lee quietly signed off on the bill Thursday, AP reports. Under the new law, demonstrators who camp on state property can now be charged with a Class E felony, punishable by up to six years in prison, rather than a misdemeanor it was previously. Since George Floyd’s killing earlier this year, protesters have camped outside the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville, demanding a meeting with the governor to discuss racial inequality and police brutality. The protesters set up camp in War Memorial Plaza near the Capitol, naming it the “People’s Plaza” and “Ida B. Wells Plaza,” after the civil rights leader. They stayed there 24 hours a day for more than two months.

The Supreme Court Dropped The Ball On The Right To Protest

August 19, 2020 By Kia Rahnam, Politico. Educate! First Amendment, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Police abuse, Supreme Court

In recent months, US cities have seen widespread protests denouncing police brutality against unarmed Black people. Local and national law enforcement agencies, responding to crowds of unprecedented size and scale, relied on methods that were equally unprecedented. For more than 30 years, the Supreme Court has failed to take up a freedom-of-assembly case. As a result, this fundamental constitutional right is in sore need of an update, such as a ruling that would protect protesters from the unduly harsh police response that has become all too common as a response to demonstrations in recent years. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution explicitly describes the right of the people to peaceably assemble. This right is recognized separately from the right to freedom of speech because the founders believed that the act of organizing a large crowd for a demonstration, parade or protest could be more powerful than individual speech, and was therefore even more susceptible to government encroachment. Like the right to religious expression, the founders gave the right to protest its own listing intending for the courts to give it special treatment and fashion unique legal standards that would ensure its protection.

Portland Mayor Condemns Masked Federal Agents Abducting Protesters

July 18, 2020 Alan Macleod, Mintpress News. Educate! federal law enforcement, First Amendment, Police violence, Portland

Anonymous masked federal agents in military uniforms jump out of unmarked minivans, abducting seemingly random people on the street in Portland, frightening new viral videos show. Officers from the U.S. Marshals Special Operations Group and Customs and Border Protection’s BORTAC have been sent to the city to tamp down of 49 days of continuous demonstrations against racist police brutality. The move appears to be the Trump administration’s latest tactic to crush the nationwide protests that erupted in late May over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police.

We Reviewed Police Tactics Seen In Nearly 400 Protest Videos

July 18, 2020 Talia Buford, Lucas Waldron, Moiz Syed and Al Shaw, ProPublica. Educate! First Amendment, Police violence, Protests, Rebellion2020

As protests denouncing police brutality against unarmed Black people spread to thousands of cities, it was videos of police violence — this time, directed at protesters — that went viral. Clips showed officers launching tear gas canisters at protesters’ heads, shooting pepper spray from moving vehicles and firing foam bullets into crowds. ProPublica looked at nearly 400 social media posts showing police responses to protesters and found troubling conduct by officers in at least 184 of them. In 59 videos, pepper spray and tear gas were used improperly; in a dozen others, officers used batons to strike noncombative demonstrators; and in 87 videos, officers punched, pushed and kicked retreating protesters, including a few instances in which they used an arm or knee to exert pressure on a protester’s neck.

50 Nights Of Anti-Racist Protests And Police Violence In Portland

July 17, 2020 Kevin Zeese, Popular Resistance. Resist! federal law enforcement, First Amendment, Police violence, Portland

In Portland, on July 16, protesters held their 50th straight night of demonstrations against police violence and racism. Oregon Live reports "Federal officers responded to one late-night demonstration downtown by using gas, smoke and impact munitions to press protesters away from two federal buildings." Oregon Governor Kate Brown and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler called on federal officers to leave Portland, but they remain and continue to use aggressive and violent tactics. Brown called the deployment of federal officers "political theater" and a “blatant abuse of power by the federal government.” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf traveled to Portland to meet with federal law enforcement officials.

Arrest Of Activist Leads To Protests; At Least Four Vehicles Strike Protesters

June 24, 2020 By Robert Chappell, Madison365. Resist! First Amendment, Police abuse, Racism, Wisconsin

Hundreds of people are protesting in downtown Madison after the arrest of activist Yeshua Musa. Videos of the arrest posted to social media show as many as five police officers wrestling Musa, also known as Devonere Johnson, to the ground and carrying him to the back seat of a police cruiser, while he asks what he’s being arrested for. After officers get him into the car, he can be seen jumping out of the opposite car door before being tackled again and taken into custody. In one of the videos, witnesses can be heard asking why Musa is being arrested and saying he had only been speaking in a megaphone, exercising his first amendment rights.

Mapping Police Violence Across The USA

June 24, 2020 Amnesty International. Educate! First Amendment, Police abuse, Police violence, United States

Police forces across the United States have committed widespread and egregious human rights violations in response to largely peaceful assemblies protesting systemic racism and police violence, including the killing of Black people. Amnesty International has documented 125 separate incidents of police violence against protesters in 40 states and the District of Columbia between 26 May and 5 June 2020. These acts of excessive force were committed by members of state and local police departments, as well as by National Guard troops and security force personnel from several federal agencies. Among the abuses documented are beatings, the misuse of tear gas and pepper spray, and the inappropriate and, at times, indiscriminate firing of less-lethal projectiles, such as sponge rounds and rubber bullets.

More Than 10,000 People Reportedly Arrested At US Protests

June 6, 2020 AP News. Resist! Arrests, First Amendment, Police violence, Rebellion2020

More than 10,000 people have been arrested in protests decrying racism and police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death, according to an Associated Press tally of known arrests across the U.S. The count has grown by the hundreds each day as protesters spilled into the streets and encountered a heavy police presence and curfews that give law enforcement stepped-up arrest powers. Los Angeles has had more than a quarter of the national arrests, followed by New York, Dallas and Philadelphia. Many of the arrests have been for low-level offenses such as curfew violations and failure to disperse. Hundreds were arrested on burglary and looting charges.

U.S. DOJ Refuses To Allow Assange To Be Protected Under First Amendment Rights

January 26, 2020 Angel Fox, Angel of Truth. Educate! Extradition, First Amendment, Julian Assange, Wikileaks

In British court today, a new affidavit states Julian Assange will not be protected by the First Amendment if extradited because he is a foreign national. This is absurd and directly threatens journalists worldwide. It will set a precedent that silences any objection to U.S. behavior through the press. Once that is established, it will be easier to also go after press in the States. No one will be safe from the long arm of the U.S. DOJ. If the press can’t object to the behavior of the U.S. government, who can? This is the beginning of the end of free speech and free press. After the court hearing today, Krisstinn Hraffson made the following statement (article seen here): “On the one hand they have decided that they can go after journalists wherever they are residing in the world, they have universal jurisdiction, and demand extradition like they are doing by trying to get an Australian national from the UK for publishing that took place outside US borders,” he told AAP.

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