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

"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

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

"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."

#USLaw #USPol #USPolitics

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

@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

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

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

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

Update. This is what happens when #ICE violence is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱.

"ICE agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."…But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man’s 31-year-old’s brain."
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospitals-dc033249051cd5b72a900ca533a3718b

#Trump #USPol #USPolitics

Update. This is what happens when #ICE violence is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱.

"ICE agents initially claimed Alberto Castañeda Mondragón had tried to flee while handcuffed and “purposefully ran headfirst into a brick wall."…But staff members at Hennepin County Medical Center determined that could not possibly account for the fractures and bleeding throughout the man’s 31-year-old’s brain."
https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minneapolis-hospitals-dc033249051cd5b72a900ca533a3718b

#Trump #USPol #USPolitics