According to @CBSNews, the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, alleging a conspiracy to impede federal immigration agents.
#USNews #USPolitics #DepartmentOfJustice #USLaw #Minnesota #Minneapolis #TimWalz #JacobFrey
According to @CBSNews, the Department of Justice has opened an investigation into Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, alleging a conspiracy to impede federal immigration agents.
#USNews #USPolitics #DepartmentOfJustice #USLaw #Minnesota #Minneapolis #TimWalz #JacobFrey
Update. Here are two welcome updates on recording #ICE.
1. "Gov. Tim Walz encourages Minnesotans to film ICE agents for future prosecutions."
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/14/gov-tim-walz-encourages-minnesotans-to-film-ice-agents-for-future-prosecutions/
2. "How One Guy Crowdsourced More Than 500 Dashcams for Minneapolis to Film ICE."
https://archive.is/ZBjKV
Update. In my previous post I linked to June 2020 advice from #AmnestyInternational on how to protect your phone from police searches when you attend a protest.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/tactics-to-secure-phone-before-a-protest/
For something more recent, see this Nov 2024 advice from @eff.
https://ssd.eff.org/module/attending-protest
Update. Here are two welcome updates on recording #ICE.
1. "Gov. Tim Walz encourages Minnesotans to film ICE agents for future prosecutions."
https://minnesotareformer.com/2026/01/14/gov-tim-walz-encourages-minnesotans-to-film-ice-agents-for-future-prosecutions/
2. "How One Guy Crowdsourced More Than 500 Dashcams for Minneapolis to Film ICE."
https://archive.is/ZBjKV
Update. Yesterday's killing of #ReneeNicoleGood is getting massive public attention because it was recorded.
Please bring your phone to demonstrations!
Here's some advice on reducing the risks.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/tactics-to-secure-phone-before-a-protest/
Do worry about the risks, but don't forget the risks of leaving law-enforcement violence unrecorded.
#Cameras #ICE #LittleBrother #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
Excellent argument from @pluralistic.
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/39c3/#the-new-coalition
"Thanks to Trump's incontinent belligerence, we are on the cusp of a 'Post-American Internet,' a new digital nervous system for the 21st century. An internet that we can build without worrying about America's demands and priorities…The US trade representative has forced every one of its trading partners to adopt #anticircumvention law, to facilitate the extraction of their own people's data and money by American firms…But there's a…response… that's just sitting there, begging to be tried: what about repealing anticircumvention law?"
#Copyright #DRM #RightToRepair #TPM #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #USTR
Update. "Filming #ICE agents is a #FirstAmendment right. So why might it land you in jail?"
https://san.com/cc/filming-ice-agents-is-a-first-amendment-right-so-why-might-it-land-you-in-jail/
#DHS says filming law enforcement intrinsically hinders law enforcement. #KristiNoem even calls it "violence" against officers. If true, it would fall into the "interference" exception SCOTUS recognized in Glik v. Cuniffe (2011).
But when DHS and Noem press their absurd claims in court, they lose. "In the ongoing legal battles about whether or not people can legally film ICE activity in public, at least seven federal courts have ruled that it is a First Amendment right to record law enforcement agents in public."
Update. Yesterday's killing of #ReneeNicoleGood is getting massive public attention because it was recorded.
Please bring your phone to demonstrations!
Here's some advice on reducing the risks.
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2020/06/tactics-to-secure-phone-before-a-protest/
Do worry about the risks, but don't forget the risks of leaving law-enforcement violence unrecorded.
#Cameras #ICE #LittleBrother #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
Excellent argument from @pluralistic.
https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/01/39c3/#the-new-coalition
"Thanks to Trump's incontinent belligerence, we are on the cusp of a 'Post-American Internet,' a new digital nervous system for the 21st century. An internet that we can build without worrying about America's demands and priorities…The US trade representative has forced every one of its trading partners to adopt #anticircumvention law, to facilitate the extraction of their own people's data and money by American firms…But there's a…response… that's just sitting there, begging to be tried: what about repealing anticircumvention law?"
#Copyright #DRM #RightToRepair #TPM #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #USTR
"Trump Can’t Cap Overhead Rate on #NIH Grants to Research Universities, Appeals Court Rules."
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-trump-agenda/trump-cant-cap-overhead-rate-on-nih-grants-to-research-universities-appeals-court-rules
( #paywalled)
"A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that the National Institutes of Health cannot unilaterally cap the indirect-cost rate on its grants at 15 percent, continuing a freeze on the controversial policy change that would cost universities billions."
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Funding #Trump #Universities #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
"Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism'."
https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filming-immigration-raids-is-domestic-terrorism/
This is the best evidence yet that the #Trump admin is turning the term "domestic terrorism" into an all-purpose pejorative for whatever it dislikes.
Three quick legal notes:
1. In the US, it is not a crime to video police making arrests, provided one does not interfere with their work. So said #SCOTUS in Glik v. Cunniffe (2011).
2. If an act is not already a crime, then even a high-level decision to call it "domestic terrorism" does not make it a crime.
3. Making an act a crime requires legislation (yea, constitutional legislation). In a country with no kings, an executive diktat does not suffice.
#EmptySignifier #FloatingSignifier #FirstAmendment #Terrorism #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
Update. "Filming #ICE agents is a #FirstAmendment right. So why might it land you in jail?"
https://san.com/cc/filming-ice-agents-is-a-first-amendment-right-so-why-might-it-land-you-in-jail/
#DHS says filming law enforcement intrinsically hinders law enforcement. #KristiNoem even calls it "violence" against officers. If true, it would fall into the "interference" exception SCOTUS recognized in Glik v. Cuniffe (2011).
But when DHS and Noem press their absurd claims in court, they lose. "In the ongoing legal battles about whether or not people can legally film ICE activity in public, at least seven federal courts have ruled that it is a First Amendment right to record law enforcement agents in public."
"Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism'."
https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filming-immigration-raids-is-domestic-terrorism/
This is the best evidence yet that the #Trump admin is turning the term "domestic terrorism" into an all-purpose pejorative for whatever it dislikes.
Three quick legal notes:
1. In the US, it is not a crime to video police making arrests, provided one does not interfere with their work. So said #SCOTUS in Glik v. Cunniffe (2011).
2. If an act is not already a crime, then even a high-level decision to call it "domestic terrorism" does not make it a crime.
3. Making an act a crime requires legislation (yea, constitutional legislation). In a country with no kings, an executive diktat does not suffice.
#EmptySignifier #FloatingSignifier #FirstAmendment #Terrorism #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
"Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism'."
https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filming-immigration-raids-is-domestic-terrorism/
This is the best evidence yet that the #Trump admin is turning the term "domestic terrorism" into an all-purpose pejorative for whatever it dislikes.
Three quick legal notes:
1. In the US, it is not a crime to video police making arrests, provided one does not interfere with their work. So said #SCOTUS in Glik v. Cunniffe (2011).
2. If an act is not already a crime, then even a high-level decision to call it "domestic terrorism" does not make it a crime.
3. Making an act a crime requires legislation (yea, constitutional legislation). In a country with no kings, an executive diktat does not suffice.
#EmptySignifier #FloatingSignifier #FirstAmendment #Terrorism #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics
#Trump and his former personal lawyer, #AlinaHabba, found guilty and fined $1m for filing frivolous lawsuits against #HillaryClinton and #JamesComey. Unanimous three-judge panel included a Trump appointee.
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/26/donald-trump-penalty-lawsuit-hillary-clinton-00669616
"Federal judge sides with #UCalifornia employees in free speech lawsuit against Trump administration."
https://www.dailycal.org/news/uc/federal-judge-sides-with-uc-employees-in-free-speech-lawsuit-against-trump-administration/article_e3b28762-0801-49c7-ae1e-4f50c56d76a6.html
"In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ordered the federal government to cease threats of withholding federal funding, as well as to 'address Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm and to restore the status quo.' "
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #AAUP #Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #Universities
Update. Here's the announcement from the American Association of University Professors ( #AAUP), a co-plaintiff in the case.
https://www.aaup.org/news/win-aaup-v-trump-court-blocks-attacks-university-california-system
"Friday’s decision orders a stop to the Trump administration’s illegal weaponization of civil rights laws and federal funding to restrict free speech on UC campuses. During the hearing on the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction, the court noted the overwhelming evidence plaintiffs provided, which included numerous declarations from UC faculty and staff describing how the administration’s actions have chilled their rights of speech and association."
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #UCalifornia #Universities
"Federal judge sides with #UCalifornia employees in free speech lawsuit against Trump administration."
https://www.dailycal.org/news/uc/federal-judge-sides-with-uc-employees-in-free-speech-lawsuit-against-trump-administration/article_e3b28762-0801-49c7-ae1e-4f50c56d76a6.html
"In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Rita F. Lin ordered the federal government to cease threats of withholding federal funding, as well as to 'address Plaintiffs’ irreparable harm and to restore the status quo.' "
#Academia #AcademicMastodon #AAUP #Censorship #DefendResearch #FirstAmendment #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics #Universities
Back in July, Sidney Reed was recording law enforcement in Washington, D.C., when she was arrested and charged with assaulting law enforcement, because an FBI agent got scratched during the arrest. But it didn't quite work out the way the authorities anticipated. Three times, prosecutors failed to secure an indictment on the federal assault charge, which carries a potential eight-year sentence. Then they switched to charging Reid with a misdemeanor. She pleaded not guilty, went to trial, and was acquitted, with one of her public defenders telling the jury: “You should be livid that the government brought this case.” Here's more from Adam Klasfeld of @allrisenews.
https://flip.it/mACghy
#USNews #USLaw #WashingtonDC #TrumpAdministration #JeaninePirro #JudgeJeanine
