"Justice Department Says Filming Immigration Raids Is 'Domestic Terrorism'."https://reason.com/2025/12/26/justice-department-says-filming-immigration-raids-is-domestic-terrorism/

petersuber

"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

Matthias Krämer

@petersuber In Germany, some banks have recently debanked left-leaning organizations, probably after the US government used the term terrorism so loosely against antifa.
This playbook means: Not the state will charge someone for a non-existent crime after videos of police brutality make their rounds, but platforms in Trumps butt will deplatform the people that upload such videos, making it more effective censorship than a state agency could ever achieve.

G. Gibson

@petersuber Wrong motherfucker the law states otherwise --> See you in court asshole

caitp

@petersuber @AnnaAnthro I thought they wanted to be on camera, isnt that why they sent dr phil out with them, and publish propaganda videos of arrests?

so the official subjective narrative in video is fine, but an objective, unedited perspective, that's "terrorism", sure

Legit_Spaghetti

@petersuber Filming ICE? Domestic terrorism. Taking pictures of ICE? Domestic terrorism. Releasing unredacted Epstein Files? Believe it or not, domestic terrorism. Protesting the administration? Domestic terrorism, right away. Overcharging for eggs? Domestic terrorism, right to jail, right away. Undercharging for legal advice? Believe it or not, also domestic terrorism.

Ricardo Harvin

@petersuber Yes, absolutely true, and...

https://mstdn.social/@ricardoharvin/113478597021193037

Ricardo Harvin

@mistergibson @petersuber Either I'm not understanding your reply, or you're misunderstanding the post.

I hope you're not arguing that it is "domestic terrorism", but your reply reads otherwise to me.

petersuber

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."

#USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

petersuber

Update. Yesterday's #ICE 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 #LittleBrother #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

aburka 🫣

@petersuber I think we need some good old fashioned non-networked camcorders (well not too old fashioned, preferably recording to an SD card so I can easily transfer to the phone I left at home)

petersuber

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

#Phones #Surveillance #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Dan Hugo

@petersuber @eff

Probably the second best time to look seriously at @meshtastic and similar…

"Inside ICE’s Tool to Monitor Phones in Entire Neighborhoods" https://www.404media.co/inside-ices-tool-to-monitor-phones-in-entire-neighborhoods/

petersuber

Update. Two welcome developments 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

#FirstAmendment #LittleBrother #Minnesota #Trump #USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

Mark 🇨🇦💪

@petersuber @eff Use GrapheneOS and set up a duress PIN should be on this list. (write the duress pin on a note inside the phone case, curious officer when unable to Cellebrite the phone will try it) and don't configure the fingerprint unlock

crumbletiltskin

@petersuber tactic no1: Do not bring a phone of any sort.

Cromley

Thank you! I'm on Android 16 and couldn't find anywhere in Settings to disable 2G other than to turn on Advanced Protection, so I did that

@petersuber @eff

crazyeddie

@petersuber I really hate that Amazon is being used to provide the dashcams.

Andreas K

@crazyeddie
Ford and GM were one of the bigger providers of the Wehrmacht during WWII.

As the motto of love of the school friends of my dad was, business is business.
@petersuber

crazyeddie

@yacc143 @petersuber It makes sense for Ford and GM to do that since they supported what the Nazis were doing.

I mean... You're kinda making my point here. It's silly of us to behave like Ford here. Buying dashcams for people to record ICE with is already bad business anyway. So I'm not sure why it's even something to consider.

At best it was done for convenience, but I think there's probably a better way that wouldn't have been too insane. Probably would have been worth it.

petersuber

Update. There are good political reasons to observe, record, and protest #ICE agents, even with no expectation that you'll change their behavior. But it turns out there's empirical evidence that this kind of observation reduces violence.

From sociologist #NicoleBedera: "The vast majority of men are only willing to engage in public violence if they feel like the people around them will approve of — and reward them for — that violence. #ICEWatch works because it surrounds men seeking approval with people loudly expressing their 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭…There are countless videos from ICE Watch observers that show agents leaving without detaining anyone after they encounter resistance."
https://www.ms.now/opinion/minneapolis-ice-watch-protesters-violence-research

#LittleBrother #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics