Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair
The Trump administration has been working fervently to silence political dissent.
The State Department has revoked the visas of students who have criticized Israel or “celebrated” the murder of Charlie Kirk. On April 10, the Department of Justice fired two judges who had previously dismissed deportation cases against pro-Palestinian students. In its second term, the Trump administration has dismissed more than 100 immigration judges for similar reasons.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI are reportedly keeping several “secret and obscure watchlists” to track “protestors (both anti-ICE and pro-Palestinian), ‘Antifa,’ and others who are promiscuously labeled ‘domestic terrorists,’” according to journalist Ken Klippenstein. Following their state executions, the Trump administration publicly designated Renee Good and Alex Pretti as domestic terrorists for protesting ICE.
DHS has also subpoenaed social media sites including Meta, Google, Reddit and Discord to provide the personal data of users who have criticized ICE or doxed its agents.
The Trump administration is now taking these measures one step further. This spring, Reddit was issued a subpoena ordering it to appear before a federal grand jury in Washington, DC. The subpoena directed Reddit to turn over the personal data of a user that ICE has been trying to identify for months.
Unlike traditional courts, grand juries are held in secret. Except in rare instances, none of the records are ever made available to the public. Moreover, there are no defense attorneys present at these proceedings, thereby allowing prosecutors to present the case and cherry-pick evidence at their discretion.
As Lauren Regan, the Executive Director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center (CLDC), notes, the Trump administration is abusing the grand jury system “to strong-arm information that they were denied through the courts legally.”
The use of a grand jury in this case is particularly egregious.
Nothing the user posted constitutes a federal crime or a legitimate threat against ICE agents. Perhaps his most controversial post came after Jonathan Ross was identified as the agent who killed Renee Good. The Redditor shared a post stating that Ross had lived in Minnesota, moved to Indiana, and served in the Indiana National Guard. This information was already publicly available at that time. He further commented, “Hopefully he moves up to Stillwater State Penitentiary.”
This is clearly constitutionally protected free speech. If the Trump administration is able to successfully prosecute this, then any form of political dissent, no matter how banal, could be targeted next. This is precisely their goal: to punish their critics and intimidate others from speaking out.
Ironically, Trump himself once accused the Biden administration of “suppress[ing] speech that the Federal Government did not approve.” Presenting himself as a free speech champion, Trump remarked, “Government censorship of speech is intolerable in a free society.”
In a functional democracy, freedom of speech and other rights are protected. In a free society, the government does not abuse grand juries to hunt down and punish Redditors who criticize ICE.
The problem, however, is that Trump disdains democracies. Not only does he consistently praise authoritarian leaders, but his attacks against free speech and media mirror their tactics.
What Trump desires is a nation of loyal subjects; a nation where constitutional rights are privileges afforded only to those who pledge allegiance to him.
Whether it’s the First, Fourth, Eighth, Tenth
We cannot allow our constitutional protections to be eroded by a president who openly distorts and ignores
