[WASHINGTON D.C.] – The Trump Administration’s Executive Order targeting by viewpoint those who have courageously stood against the U.S. backed Israeli genocide of the Palestinian people is a racist and unhinged assault on the fundamental constitutional right to free speech. The PCJF and our Center for Protest Law & Litigation will use all legal means necessary to protect the right of free speech, and the rights of anti-genocide and pro-Palestinian activists to demonstrate on campuses and in the public streets, parks, and sidewalks that belong — first and foremost — to the people.
Drawing a page from J Edgar Hoover’s playbook, the White House in its accompanying “Fact Sheet” has announced that it will politically exploit and abuse Justice Department authority to target those whose views are “left wing” or support the right of Palestinians to live free of genocide or achieve political liberation. Trump threatens attempted prosecutions and deportations based on viewpoint, demonstrating his contemptuous disregard for the First Amendment.
We recognize the shameful tactic: Trump seeks to demonize those who are Palestinian or speak in support of Palestinians by falsely smearing them as anti-Semitic or pro-terrorism or violent.
The PCJF has been defending student activists and other anti-genocide protestors in criminal proceedings and campus disciplinary hearings across the country. We have a long history of taking on government repression and suppression of free speech. In the face of this Executive Order, we will stand firm, fight back in defense of free speech and justice, and continue to function as a legal arm for political activists across the country fighting for a just society.