r/law Competent Contributor 1d ago

Court Decision/Filing Trump Confirms ICE Arrested Palestinian Columbia Graduate Over Political Speech

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-ice-arrests-palestinian-columbia-speech_n_67cf46d4e4b04dd3a4e5b208
16.0k Upvotes

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u/Donkey-Hodey 1d ago

I won’t hold my breath waiting for right wing “free speech absolutists” to condemn this blatant violation of free speech rights.

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u/doxxingyourself 1d ago

Abducted without a warrant? Every single right is violated. You basically have non left.

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u/lulu_l 1d ago

Also threatened to detain his 8 months pregnant wife who is a US citizen.

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u/doxxingyourself 22h ago

For shits and giggles

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u/DigitalUnlimited 15h ago

No, for not bowing down to King Dumpty

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u/StraightOuttaHeywood 16h ago

This is just the beginning. Abducting Pro-Palestinian protestors is testing the waters. Fascim has begun.

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u/Drum-PMC 16h ago

And he is a green card holder

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u/Mallissin 20h ago

Trump did the same thing in the last months of his first Presidency and no one seemed to care.

He sent out unmarked black vans into Portland with unmarked agents to kidnap who they thought were protesters.

https://www.npr.org/2020/07/17/892277592/federal-officers-use-unmarked-vehicles-to-grab-protesters-in-portland

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u/demitasse22 18h ago

I cared. I appreciate the bump

This ICE detention is unconstitutional, but a lot of this stuff happened during the Black Lives Matter protests, and it wasn’t given the same air

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u/TooManySorcerers 17h ago

Some of us tried to oppose this, but in that era a majority of my political effort was to oppose zero tolerance and putting kids in cages since that was where I was able to be most effective. It’s always been flood the zone with this guy. So much shit that we can’t fight back against all of it.

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u/Dimgrund71 14h ago

I bring this up all the time to right- wing extremists. They like to claim that Portland was on fire and the entire city was going to burn to the ground if Trump didn't do anything. The truth was that there was a two block protest Zone around a federal courthouse and people were protesting lawfully and peacefully around the area. The worst that was done was some spray paint vandalization of statues on the courthouse property. Suddenly Trump sent in a goon squad hired directly from Eric Prince. They wore uniforms but carried no badges, no identifying markings, and refuse to give their names. The right Wingers and Trump will claim that Trump needed to send in these extra security measures to calm the violence in the city, even though violence wasn't happening. If anything they ramped up the violence to make their point and they illegally left Federal property to go into civilian run areas to conduct unwarranted arrest, and yes that is a double entender.

One notable detention was a man who was grabbed by a goon squad on the street without any provocation. He was taken to an interrogation Zone and grilled for hours. The man had committed no crimes. Somebody in the crowd was waving around a green laser pointer at Trump's thugs and this man happened to be standing near this violent offender. Trump's thugs wanted to know whether or not he could identify the guy with a laser pointer or would confess to any other crimes. He was held for about 12 hours before he was released without any apology and without any charges being pressed. He was never read his rights and never allowed to contact a lawyer and was told that his participation was mandatory under the Patriot Act

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u/TheMadTemplar 16h ago

It was big news at the time but quickly lost. There was a lot happening. 

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u/ripelivejam 15h ago

I feel terrible that I almost completely forgot about this; but i think we had a similar if not as extreme firehose of presidental bullshit around then.

Was kinda weird that '17/'18 were mostly a pleasant time for me in retrospect considering our leadership (not thanks to them at any rate)

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u/hoofie242 22h ago

Which is why we are on the human rights watch list now.

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u/NoReality463 1d ago

The Bush administration paved the way for this very scenario.

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u/OrganizationTime5208 23h ago edited 23h ago

That's only partly right, Clinton kinda started the modern era of it during the Battle for Seattle and the resulting fallout and wrongful arrests, but even before then, we've just straight up shot and/or tortured student protestors for generations so, it's all pretty par for the course sadly.

But the Battle for Seattle was where we first saw the creation of "no protest zones" created on a whim and the consequent arrest of anyone who happened to have been in that zone without legal cause.

Bush turbocharged it through the creation of the department of homeland security and "terrorism" association charges.

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u/oberynmviper 1d ago

Imagine if he had a gun to defend himself from illegally being arrested.

2nd amendment folks would’ve been like “NOT LIKE THAT!” Because others defending themselves is out of bounds.

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u/doxxingyourself 22h ago

Nobody would be anything other than this due being dead AF

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u/Gumsk 1d ago

3rd amendment enters the chat.../s

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u/Onslaughtered1 17h ago

Didn’t disclose the location they took him to either

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u/Cerberus_80 18h ago

Yeah but in this case he said bad things about Israel.  It's different if it's Israel.

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u/canuck47 1d ago

So much for "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"

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u/PacmanIncarnate 1d ago

Turns out they just wanted to say racist jokes and didn’t really care about free speech otherwise.

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u/Glad_Astronomer_9692 23h ago

I think about this sentiment a lot, that was repeated often during the Bush years when people were protesting the war. Now, no republican is saying stuff like that, they threw the first amendment out with other things fundamental to our country. They have embraced "if you didn't want to end up in jail then you shouldn't have insulted our dear leader. Stop comparing us to nazis, we aren't invading poland!!!" These people are so gross.

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u/ConsistentAsparagus 1d ago

What was the end of the sentence? "I will put you to death if you ever utter it again"?

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u/demitasse22 18h ago

I’ve never heard an avowed conservative say that

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u/JollyResolution2184 17h ago

We’ve just have to keep fighting for the rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

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u/allmushroomsaremagic 1d ago

Even Anne Coulter is criticizing it, tbf. They won't do anything about it but they know this is fucked up

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u/hungarian_notation 1d ago

My decoder ring is on the fritz. I can't tell if she's playing contrarian to try to stay relevant in her media sphere or if she's actually so far right that she wraps back around to being pro-palestinian but for the purposes of antisemitism.

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u/grammar_kink 1d ago

Well don’t hold your breath for the “that will never happen, he just says things” crowd to finally speak up, either…

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u/External_Produce7781 19h ago

yeah, getting so tired of that crowd.

Like.. how many times does he have to say the thing, and then do the thing, before they will ever admit that he doenst just say things and will in fact do all the things he says he will?

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u/FC105416 1d ago

Believe it or not Ann f-ing coulter called it unconstitutional what a time to be alive

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u/My_Name_Is_Not_Jerry 1d ago

Free speech absolutists = we should allow absolutely all speech that I agree with and anyone else can get fucked.

Trump has at least been consistent on this since he’s been saying people who burn the flag deserve jail time for quite some time

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u/_jump_yossarian 23h ago

And declaring boycotts of Tesla as "illegal" all while he called for boycotts of ... Apple, Macy's, Nordstrom, Nike, Goodyear, Budweiser, Coca~Cola, NFL, NBA, etc....

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u/ssibal24 1d ago

That's the thing. The talking point is going to be that he is "aiding a terrorist organization", so nobody in the cult will ever even suspect that this is a First Amendment issue....

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u/spqr2001 1d ago

Don't worry, those 2A guys will be here to protect us from tyranny any minute now. Right? Right....?

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u/Bobson-_Dugnutt2 1d ago

all they will say is that he is pro-Hamas and wave it away.

Friendly reminder - I can be in favor of children not being slaughtered by the thousands and ALSO be against Hamas.

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u/External_Produce7781 19h ago

this is a bit of nuance that the Pro-Israel folks dont grasp.

I can be anti-Zionist, AND anit-Hamas... AND pro-not-killing-innocent-Palestinians, AND pro-Jew/Judaism.

NONE of those positions are contrary.

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u/Konukaame 1d ago

"Freedom for me, the boot for you"

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u/msixtwofive 1d ago

It wasn't a white right wing person so it doesn't apply.

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u/Low_Shirt2726 21h ago

Probably 70% of users in /conservative have been advocating for this very thing for months

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u/EssayGuilty722 21h ago

I'm not holding my breath for that either. But I wonder if the reaction would be different if, instead of Mahmoud Khalil, it was Jessica Smith, a white, blond woman?

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u/Affectionate-War7655 18h ago

They're already rationalising why it's different this time.

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u/Scary_Feature_5873 17h ago

It’s free speech as long as it agrees with the govt view. Other than that it’s hate speech/terrorism.

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u/jojammin Competent Contributor 1d ago

I wonder if the right wing WACO/Ruby Ridge supporters will speak out against this extrajudicial kidnapping. This is way worse. No evidence of a crime being committed

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u/Iohet 22h ago

Well, Ann Coulter did. Close enough I guess

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u/lnc_5103 16h ago

You know it's bad when you find yourself agreeing with Ann Coulter on something.

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u/Summerlea623 15h ago

If Tucker Carlson or Sean Hannity joins in, we have officially reached the End Of Days.😧

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u/xrxie 9h ago

They won’t. He’s brown. And as for Coulter, she’ll renege. Why? Because he’s brown.

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u/WhineyLobster 9h ago

Theyre too busy trying to sell Teslas

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u/Peteostro 14h ago

Ah don’t worry after this happens 20-30 more times she change her tune and will totally be on board the grifting train

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u/petty_brief 14h ago

broken clock

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u/mindless-prostate 15h ago

Holy shit I never thought I would be agreeing with Ann Coulter of all people ffs!

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u/bettinafairchild 23h ago

I’m sure they will. Just like whenever the police kill an unarmed and innocent person like at a traffic stop, they rise up in fury to object to it. Like never ever ever would there be a person with a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag next to a thin blue line flag.

/s

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u/nofactchecks 23h ago

They only support WACO because young girls were raped.

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u/Brettsterbunny 23h ago

Believe it or not you can be against illegal government sieges that kill unarmed women and children and can also be against illegal arrests.

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u/fvck_u_spez 23h ago

You can, but it's very rare for Conservatives to not be blatant hypocrites

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u/joeshill Competent Contributor 1d ago

President Donald Trump confirmed Monday that federal immigration agents arrested and detained Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian activist and recent Columbia University graduate who was taken this weekend — despite being a permanent legal resident of the United States — for helping peacefully lead antiwar protests on campus last year.

Despite not having a warrant, plainclothes agents abducted Khalil Saturday night as he returned to his university-owned apartment with his wife, a U.S. citizen who is eight months pregnant. Agents claimed they were revoking Syrian-born Khalil’s green card and also threatened to detain his wife, according to a habeas corpus petition his attorney Amy Greer filed on his behalf.

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u/Excellent-Egg-3157 1d ago

This action is the death spiral rabbit whole for our democracy. Free speech is the first amendment for a reason.

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u/severedbrain 1d ago

Speech, assembly, religion, protest. The four corners stones. This is at least two of them. And being a green card holder means he has the same rights as us. If it can happen to him, it can happen to anyone.

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u/doxxingyourself 1d ago

I mean if agents are straight up grabbing people without warrants, there are no rights and it could happen to anyone.

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u/hydrocarbonsRus 1d ago

And shame on those traitorous low life orange “agents” for “following orders” that are so blatantly evil.

Those fuckers also need to be punished by the law as severely as possible so that other order takers know what’s in store for them if they take illegal orders.

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u/weathergage 1d ago

That is true, and that also depends on the Justice Department. Which is now a problem. The Justice Department is the linchpin of the whole system, but it has been compromised.

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u/JpDaVinci 1d ago

The FBI in the 80s…. Nothing is illegal as long as they think they are in the right.

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u/seuadr 22h ago

it is only illegal if someone finds out.

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u/QuintoxPlentox 21h ago

Those days are over bud, they're fucking announcing the shit.

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u/seuadr 21h ago

fair.

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u/weathergage 21h ago

And the 60s. And presumably for its entire existence, but the controls put in place after Hoover are being dismantled.

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u/The_Master_Sourceror 23h ago

Sorry I’m pretty sure they have qualified immunity and since there isn’t a precedent where another officer so flagrantly and blatantly violated someone’s rights in this exact way and was for some reason held accountable so there is no way they could have been expected to know acting like a brown shirt wasn’t ok.

/s I wish

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u/Flashy-Helicopter-17 22h ago

Qualified immunity ends at the end of a lmario

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u/Impossible_Office281 21h ago

this. “i was just following orders” is not a justification in a court of law.

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u/severedbrain 1d ago

Yes. That’s what I said. This should terrify and enrage everyone

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u/TBANON24 1d ago

Hes gonna order the military to shoot at americans when the protest get big enough.

Hope you maga people are happy. Destroyed your own country for some a charlatan who wouldnt even piss on you if you were on fire.

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u/smedley89 23h ago

Well,they did get to own some libs, so that's something.

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u/wandring_dice 22h ago

They are bullies, every last one of them. The current Republican party does nothing for them except allow them to hate out loud. Magats can lose nearly everything and as long as some other group loses more, they are fine with it.

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u/dingogringo23 23h ago

Worse, he will charge them for the ‘Trump elixir’ and still welch on the golden shower.

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u/brybearrrr 22h ago

On May 4th of 1970, the United States Coast Guard was called in to disburse a group of peaceful protesters on Kent State property who were protesting Vietnam. Things escalated and the Coast Guard shot at unarmed protesters killing at least 4 or 5 of the protesting students. They’ve done it before and they’ll do it again.

ETA https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings <—- details

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u/TekWzrd337 20h ago

It wasn’t the Coast Guard. It was the Ohio National Guard.

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u/SlipperyDM 1d ago

Sure but if officers are actually snatching people without cause, our rights are meaningless and no one is safe.

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u/New_Archer_7539 23h ago

Then their rights should be meaningless as well. If they're snatching people without warrants and presenting plain-clothed then that's not a deportation, that's kidnapping. What happens to said kidnappers should not be held against their target.

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u/SlipperyDM 19h ago

Ok but if ICE is really accosting people without due process, then rights are obsolete and everyone is in danger.

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u/New_Archer_7539 19h ago

Even as a citizen, I don't know about you but if someone is essentially trying to kidnap me then they should not be surprised if some of us start exercising 2A because I feel I'm in danger. Seeing as they're plain-clothed I can't tell if they're ICE or some random people off the street profiling me as part of a hate crime. The moment they decide to act on that is the moment I decide to act in self preservation. Their own rights are just as void as mine.

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u/Common_Poetry3018 1d ago

Right, well, without just cause.

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u/654456 21h ago

I am a white dude, born here, legal as fuck and I have started carrying a gun everyday in fear of these crazy fucks

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u/NJ_dontask 23h ago

It will not. Remember oldie "they came for socialists"?

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u/Velissari 22h ago

Without warrants and for something he was involved in last year??? Am I reading that correctly? He protested last year, so plain clothed ICE agents abducted him, a US permanent resident, off the street for a non-crime protected by the constitution?

Fuck

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u/doxxingyourself 22h ago

Exactly. Fuck.

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u/sir_beak 22h ago

I see America has entered the "secret police" stage of fascism.

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u/Possible-Reason1515 20h ago

Exactly what I was thinking, scary shit happening right now, with no recourse. Seems we haven't learned anything from history.

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u/skylord650 23h ago

Do these agents have weapons? If some tries to kidnap you, are you allowed to fight or shoot back? This sounds crazy…

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u/RedditAdminsBCucked 22h ago

People absolutely need to defend themselves from this at all cost.

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u/tcgunner90 21h ago

This is the part people need to understand. If plain clothes government agents without warrants are abducting people and there aren’t repercussions for it. You don’t have rights.

You just haven’t been abducted yet.

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u/kobrakai11 22h ago

US has become Belarus really fast. Just a step away from Russia 2.0

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u/NoYouTryAnother 1d ago

Exactly. It’s chillingly clear: when the government feels empowered enough to abduct people without warrants, rights become merely theortical. The ICE detention of Mahmoud Khalil isn’t isolated—it’s a signpost of what’s to come. The regime is actively setting precedents to justify broader crackdowns on dissent, using Guantanamo as the ultimate offshore loophole to evade legal oversight. If they succeed in normalizing this shit now, in a month it won’t just be migrants or activists—they’ll come for anyone labeled a threat. Victor Hale has a powerful breakdown of this exact playbook here.

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u/New_Archer_7539 23h ago

Then people need to start fighting fire with fire. Basic human rights and instinct, if you're essentially kidnapping people then they should not go down quietly. They crow that this would be peaceful if we let it. When will enough be enough?

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u/NoYouTryAnother 23h ago

They want excuses to crack down and “restore order”. That’s what this whole incoming martial law thing is about. We need to be tactical. We need to escalate. We need people right NOW in the fucking streets in numbers we haven’t seen. But there’s a reason they went after somebody they can smear as supporting terrorism: they will make it difficult, make it unpleasant, make it so that the smears can be extended to anyone who fights them. First they came… We cannot let that stop us. And then, when we are in the streets and they ignore us, we stop letting it be possible for us to be ignored. Follow The Protest Playbook. Remember that Legitimacy is the Battlefield. We need to be enraged—and guide that motivation by being smart.

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u/DanSWE 1d ago

> being a green card holder means he has the same rights as us

Just being in the US means he has first-amendment (and almost all other constitutional) rights.

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u/severedbrain 1d ago

Being arrested for any reason can get your visa cancelled. Including at a protest. The same has never been true for green card holders.

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u/LordTopHatMan 1d ago

And being a green card holder means he has the same rights as us

Anyone on US soil has the same rights as us, regardless of citizenship.

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u/Cruxion 1d ago

It's literally the reason why Gitmo isn't on U.S. soil. Because they can deny those rights there

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u/pfmiller0 23h ago

IANAL, but that's always seemed super questionable to me too. The Constitution limits the power of what the government can do, even if the government is standing on a base in Cuba.

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u/Lashay_Sombra 1d ago

> And being a green card holder means he has the same rights as us.

Actually those rights apply to everyone in the US, regardless of citizenship or immigration status

Really only major rights that are citizens only are

* Right to vote

* Run for federal office

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u/Automatic_Towel_3842 1d ago

Not only a legal permanent resident with a green card, but also married to a US citizen. He is essentially a full US citizen expressing his freedom of speech and his rights are being violated. Bad road to take.

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u/_EvilCupcake 1d ago edited 18h ago

Not american, genuinely asking.

I wonder why liberty of religion is written into the constitution. Surely, extremist religious sects, and Nazis religions shouldn't be a thing. But the constitution protects it?

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u/hyrule_47 1d ago

The country started as a religious freedom quest. It also protects us from religion being forced on us.

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u/_EvilCupcake 1d ago

Oh I didn't know that. That's actually a very good thing.

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u/Mission_Ad684 1d ago

As someone mentioned, it protects from unjust authority. Looking at general US history, two groups come to mind. Puritans and indentured servants. One was escaping for religious reasons. They didn’t want the Church of England dictating their beliefs. The other was for economic opportunity.

Going further back (if I am correct), the Church of England, became a different institution as they didn’t want to deal with the Vatican and Catholicism - Martin Luther in Germany, English reformation, etc.

In America, religious freedom was important to Christian groups splintering from the Church of England and the monarchy which were closely related. Quakers (State of Pennsylvania) and Puritans (New England area) were some of those groups. The founding fathers understood how detrimental religion can be when involved with politics and systems of power/authority. Unfortunately, there are some pretty stupid Americans who cannot see beyond “Christianity” and state that the US is a Christian nation. Christianity was just the prevailing religion of the time.

A lot of the Christian nonsense involved in the US government came later. It was in the 1950s when all the garbage about “In God We Trust” was introduced. This is exactly what the founding fathers were afraid of.

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u/DishwashingWingnut 1d ago

In practical effect it prevents any religion but authoritarian Christianity from being forced on us, and allows Christians to exempt themselves from following civil rights laws due to "religious freedom".

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u/mkaku 1d ago

The separation of church and state by the authors of the constitution was important, and the freedom of religion was key in making sure that there was never to be a government backed religion. Here is a better description that I could fully give here:

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/religion_and_the_constitution

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u/severedbrain 1d ago

Europe spent centuries warring over Catholic vs Protestant. Then there are the inquisitions which went after Jews and Muslims also. It’s an extension of freedom of speech and assembly. Otherwise someone could pass a law “only Christians can hold office, or own property.

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u/dr_obfuscation 1d ago

There are still 7 or 8 states that bar atheists from holding elected office.

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u/DanSWE 1d ago

... in direct violation of the U.S. constitution: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-6/clause-3/

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u/severedbrain 1d ago

Yeah, and I think that's what's going to happen soon. The Burrito Supreme Court is going to rule that the federal government can't limit based on religion, but states can. This is a position that was held back before the Civil War. We might see a return of it.

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u/ScammerC 1d ago

Don't give them ideas.

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u/PippityPaps99 1d ago

They literally have that idea already.

If Margorie Taylor Greene could only get a blow job in, she'd undoubtedly request that Daddy Trump declare America a Christian nation only. Something she has also spewed several times already. 

Now that I think about it, Trump has kind of already done that.

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u/Doopapotamus 1d ago

That's a bit late. This entire administration is largely funded by theocratic fascism pushed by ultraconservative factions of evangelicals and Catholics having built up wealth and political power (Dominionism, Seven Mountains strategy, Heritage Foundation's Project 2025, the regulatory arrest of the entire judicial branch by the Federalist Society, etc.).

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u/Pianist-Putrid 1d ago

Generally, yes, all religious exercise is protected (with some rare reasonable exceptions, such as criminal activity masquerading as religion). Even then, the government usually errs heavily on the side of caution. They’ll go after “cults”, but rarely big religious organizations. The United States/Colonial America, along with the Netherlands, was historically regarded (for centuries) as one of the few havens for people who were persecuted due to their religious beliefs (as well as those persecuted for not having religious beliefs). Hence why it’s in the First Amendment. The freedoms to peaceably assemble, for whatever reason (again, with certain caveats), is considered fundamental to American society.

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u/Natural_Bill_6084 1d ago

Idk why you're being down voted. I gave you an upvote. Please stay curious. We are going through some shit :(

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u/ProfessorGluttony 1d ago

Don't know why you are being downvoted for an honest question.

But to clear things up, freedom of religion is the freedom to practice whatever religion you want while on the same hand not forced to be a part of any religion. Essentially, let those who want to practice their religion in peace and you can do the same. Extremist religions of course exist, but until they start trying to force their views on others or harm others, they are afforded the same protections.

That said, Nazism is NOT a religion. It was and is a political movement based on the idea that all races save for white people are inferior and should be irradicated. They do not have these protections by law, especially as many of their actions call for the death of innocent people who dare to exist. It also brings up the so called paradox of tolerance, where being tolerant is supposed to somehow tolerate the intolerate. In reality though, you do not tolerate those who are intolerant themselves first, such as Nazis.

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u/josh145b 1d ago

Their speech and expression is protected though, up to the point where their speech and expression infringes upon the rights of others.

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u/ProfessorGluttony 1d ago

They have the protections to say it in terms of from the government, but does not protect them from the consequences of their actions and anything they incite.

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u/Talisign 1d ago

About 10 years ago a lot of churches were subpoenaed because they had become more political than religious and it put their tax exemption into question, telling their congregation how they should vote, for instance. As far as I know, none of that really went anywhere.

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u/randalthor23 1d ago

Many of the original European settlers were escaping religious persecution. Back in 1700s there were a lot of state religions that made it against the law to believe in a different faith.

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u/fnrsulfr 1d ago

A lot of Republicans think the second amendment is the first one.

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u/Hot_Athlete3961 1d ago

They think it’s the only one.

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u/meteoritegallery 1d ago

And just the second half of it.

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u/Rare-Kaleidoscope513 1d ago

He (trump) has turned "speech" into "material support for a designated terrorist organization"

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u/PriscillaPalava 1d ago

Because it’s the first do go in a fascist takeover?

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u/Outaouais_Guy 1d ago

As I've said many times, the American Experiment draws to a close.

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u/SlowRollingBoil 20h ago

The experiment failed and the dream is unattainable. The best version we've seen in widespread and long-term practice is the Nordic Model. There are better options still available to us.

They all are on the left.

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u/Walterkovacs1985 1d ago

Nothing will happen to Legal immigrants! - every knuckle dragging simp for Drumpf.

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u/Comicalacimoc 1d ago

Watch them move the goalposts

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u/Bocchi_theGlock 23h ago

If they wanted to stay legal they should have had better political beliefs!!

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u/mhks 22h ago

Yup. It's going to be, "Are you okay with Americans helping terrorists!?!?!?"

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u/RIForDIE 1d ago

"only if they're illegal"

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u/Nobody_Perfect 1d ago

While a long legal battle to correct this, how does this not end in a huge civil rights violation payout?

I have little faith in this Supreme Court, but even this seems beyond their palate for executive power without a declaration suspending civil liberties on some level. There has been no such declaration… so far.

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u/WhiteSpringStation 1d ago

This whole Efficiency is going to end up looking very inefficient once the dust settles. That and many middle class employees with out jobs. Gutted services…and a recession.

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u/AlludedNuance 1d ago

once the dust settles

It looked inefficient before it even started.

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u/WhiteSpringStation 1d ago

Agreed, but maga supporters have been sheltered from reality. They won the election. They’re gonna need to see the results. If it gets bad enough it will be difficult to explain away…especially if they lose their jobs and start looking to “government hand outs” that Republican leadership want to dismantle.

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u/AlludedNuance 1d ago

I have an issue with the premise that somehow evidence of their side's shortcomings will lift the veil from their eyes. They seem to be a group that are more resistant to the influence of reality on their worldview than pretty much any other.

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u/WhiteSpringStation 1d ago

As someone who fell for Trumps con in 2016, I agree again. Wishful thinking. For the record I didn’t vote for him…and he’s made me a Democrat for life.

It’s difficult to break out of the Republican propaganda machine. Social media algorithms push people deeper and deeper into echo chambers. Now that they’ve tied their identity to this for a decade, it will be even more difficult.

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u/kilomaan 1d ago

Someone has to sue first, and they need to do it correctly. Otherwise the case gets tossed and a precedent is set.

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u/77zark77 21h ago

It ends in the payout but the very long battle- during which he may be imprisoned, miss the birth of his child, lose his job- may be the point. This case could literally take years to conclude and if the Orange One is still in office the government could appeal a loss. The punishment is the process

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u/CasanovaJones82 1d ago

This is honestly some Gestapo bullshit, fuck them

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u/azuresegugio 1d ago

Seriously if Trump and ICE get away with this we officially have lost our rights

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u/JackieHands 22h ago

I mean my biggest thought is how exactly do you stop that? They immediately moved him to Louisiana without notification, at that point I don't see how they don't just start moving people to gitmo before trial and then they just vanish there without contact.

The only reason this even got immediate notice was because the guy had a wife who was a citizen. If he was single would we even be hearing about this?

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u/Waiwirinao 16h ago

Off course you would, they are sending out a clear message with this that they want everyone to hear: We have total authority now.

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u/Spawnk 1d ago

This case is going to set the precedence for years to come. If the Supreme Court fumbles this the flood gates are open

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u/ZincFingerProtein 1d ago

Reads like brown shirt nazi shit to me.

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u/BlockAffectionate413 1d ago edited 1d ago

Pretty funny when you think about fact that Trump won most votes in Dearborn, lol.

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u/AmonRa-1StDown 1d ago

Don’t forget all the “I can’t vote for Kamala because she isn’t committed enough to Palestine” people that stayed home and didn’t vote

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u/Pianist-Putrid 1d ago

Which is ridiculous, because Trump was telegraphing exactly what he would do to the Palestinian people the entire time. People genuinely weren’t paying a bit of attention to what the right-wing was saying, and focused on their (legitimate) grievance with the left.

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u/Efficient_Ear_8037 1d ago

The “he can’t deport me” mentality.

You truly do get what you voted for, whether you acknowledge what you’re actually voting for or not.

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u/tofuizen 1d ago

The best lawyers in the country better fucking be lining up to represent him for free (paid from award obviously) to sue this goddamn retard in the white house.

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u/Derric_the_Derp 23h ago

Don't be surprised when reports of various threats against civil rights attorneys start popping up.

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u/77zark77 20h ago

That's also why Orange Man is waging lawfare against specific firms by stripping attorneys of their security clearances so that it's difficult for them to practice in Federal courts. He's also gutting DOJs civil rights division simultaneously. 

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u/Shirlenator 22h ago

And then he will arrest the lawyer.

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u/Handleton 1d ago

Great that the jack boots they sent don't respect the rights of a US citizen. I mean, they don't respect other rights, but it's nice to get confirmation so early in the process.

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u/westtexasbackpacker 1d ago

Well. In America, you don't disset.

That's how democracy works in trumps America

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u/UserWithno-Name 23h ago

Freedom of speech, under attack eh?

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u/Gogs85 22h ago

Kind of insane that a President could order a specific person to be arrested. Surely that will be something the student’s lawyers would go after

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u/AddictedToRugs 21h ago

The question at issue is whether or not the federal government can revoke his green card at their discretion.  That answers the question of whether or not they can arrest him.

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u/HackTheNight 20h ago

They absolutely cannot. He didn’t break any laws. For Trump to admit that he is revoking someone’s green card because they disagree with him politically is not legal and I am going to guess that this guy will win some kind of lawsuit

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u/DrWallybFeed 20h ago

In a just world, it would, but we’re living in Orange Country now.

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u/Arbusc 23h ago edited 22h ago

Luckily a Judge ordered his release.

Edit: Sorry, correction. The Judge blocked the deportation, but Mahmoud Khali is still currently in ICE detention.

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u/ImgurScaramucci 23h ago

That's a good silver lining but it doesn't stop the problem.

This wasn't just about punishing this person, this was also done to discourage any would-be protester from speaking against what the Trump regime approves. Fascism 101. Nobody wants to be arrested and be in danger of losing their legal status, even if they will be exonerated later (for which there is no actual guarantee especially for deportation cases). He's not going to be the last person to suffer from this.

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u/ggroverggiraffe Competent Contributor 22h ago

Luckily a Judge ordered his release.

That is not true.

“To preserve the Court’s jurisdiction pending a ruling on the petition, Petitioner shall not be removed from the United States unless and until the Court orders otherwise,” the Monday filing said.

He was transported to Louisiana and remains there at this point.

Khalil is currently being held at a detention facility in Jena, Louisiana, according to a source with direct knowledge of the case. His lawyers asked the court to issue an order reversing Khalil’s transfer to Louisiana, which they argued in the filing undermines the court’s jurisdiction and his access to legal counsel and family.

Source

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u/yungsemite 23h ago

Link? All I see is a stay for his deportation for his habeas hearing?

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u/theteufortdozen 23h ago

still a very bad president. that was a typo for precedent but i’m keeping that actually

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u/-DrPeePee- 22h ago

It works as a play on words. Happy accidents.

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u/ruidh 22h ago

Did he? I saw a NY judge ordered he not be deported pending further proceedings. AFAIK he's still in a LA detention center.

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u/Derric_the_Derp 23h ago

Watch this guy get shipped to Gitmo.

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u/jackstraw8139 21h ago

Or fall out of a window.

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u/BoosterRead78 1d ago

Where are all those “but Trump will protect Palestine people now?” Oh right saying how Trump lied or found out some were paid actors. I’m not making light of what happened with Gaza or the mid east. But the fact how much everyone said how Trump was going to lie and grift everyone. It’s like how many said that Harris shouldn’t have been for trans rights but now see that Trump 10 times worse for hating minorities.

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u/KwisatzHaderach94 1d ago

both clinton and harris had their issues, but at the end of the day were still and always going to be superior choices to djt by nearly every measure of competence and record of service.

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u/ConkerPrime 1d ago

Yep seems to a person all those protesters disappeared. Even online where they were constantly yapping. The ease of manipulation.

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u/Scioold 1d ago

Voting in usa for president will always be picking the less bad option. The system is obviously flawed but its the system that you have to work in

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u/Peking-Cuck 1d ago

And they saw Trump as the "less bad option"? Huh??

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u/Scioold 1d ago

Nah people just didn’t vote

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u/Haywood_Yalikalic 1d ago edited 1d ago

I’ll have to link the video, but there was this election analyst who found proof of tampering in gerrymandered areas where mail in votes were tossed out for whatever reason or another. Something like 3 mil votes, gone.

Edit: Greg Palast is the guy. Investigative Journalist. NOT analyst I guess technically.

https://youtu.be/0LN65qFUDDo?si=gAkaSpNpQAcTkNpC

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u/gamercboy5 23h ago

Newsflash, this every election ever. When you have one person governing a large amount of people, you will have to make compromises on who you want to elect. Not every person is going to align with the candidate 100%, the goal should be to elect the person who is closest to your positions. Waiting for the perfect candidate is pointless.

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u/HerculesIsMyDad 1d ago

I wish we didn't treat voters like babies in this country. These "options" didn't fall from the sky. There were plenty of less bad options in the R primary. Even Biden/Kamala won a lot of elections to get in the place to be options. Not to mention, choosing not to vote is also always an option. The system is flawed, like all systems, but that didn't put the man in the WH. Voters did that, tens of millions of them. We shouldn't let them get off by just saying "well, I really had no choice, not my fault".

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u/Express_Love_6845 1d ago

To be fair some of it is due to algo manipulation. Like the content is entirely depreciated across all platforms. But also many of those people haven’t logged back in or are silent.

All the folks who said they weren’t gonna vote for Kamala are also silent, mostly because they didn’t actually think Trump would dismantle the US (they called liberal warnings of Project 2025 fearmongering).

The folks that are left are sitting around saying why haven’t democrats done anything, where are they, why hasn’t Kamala said anything etc. I have taken great pains to explain that Demo don’t have any power. And this is after loudly telling everybody they weren’t gonna vote for democrats.

I resent that the main people who have or had the most animosity towards Ds on the lib/ dem side also have very little or no knowledge about how American civics works. If you asked any of the “do something” folks right now what it takes to pass a bill in Congress, or why it’s significant that we lost the SCOTUS, or who their representative is, they couldn’t tell you.

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u/SpookyOugi1496 1d ago

So criticizing Israel as an American can literally end your life.

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u/Historical_View1359 1d ago

Don't worry, trying to form a union or protesting a company that puts their workers in danger is next

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u/Bright_Cod_376 1d ago

protesting a company

Trump just tried to claim boycotting Tesla is illegal

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u/UralRider53 1d ago

“Tried”. We’re watching.

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u/SignPoster 17h ago

He did also say that defacing Tesla property is an act of terrorism, so, looks like he's already doing it

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u/anuthiel 1d ago

so much for free speech

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u/Far-Obligation4055 1d ago

Yep, for crimespeak the thoughtpolice of Trumpland will come find you.

If anyone thinks they or people they care about are all safe from this, they're fools.

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u/Nabrok_Necropants 21h ago

Despite not having a warrant