Trump Is Making Protests Illegal And Will Use The Military As Law Enforcement
A threat to halt funding for colleges included promises of arrest and imprisonment
Early this morning, Trump posted on his Truth Social website which appears to be a threat against free speech.
”All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
As we all know, Trump rarely posts to his own account. It is run by handlers such as White House Communications Director Steven Cheung with Trump’s input. He has denied in the past that anyone else posts for him, even though a video exists of Trump dictating a post to an aide.
This particular post is written in his traditional style, which leads me to believe it was directly from him. However, the “thank you” at the end is not a phrase we commonly hear him utter so I do believe the comms team was involved.
The potential fallout is immense.
The Constitution is clear on two things regarding free speech and free assembly: 1. Congress makes legislation, and 2. Congress is prohibited from enacting legislation that prohibits free speech or free assembly.
Article I says: “All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States” and Amendment I says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Nowhere in any part of the document is the President granted the power to ban protests, arrest protestors, or otherwise limit the ability of people to freely assemble for the purpose of speaking out against the government, much less to arrest and imprison American citizens.
None of this, of course, will prevent Trump from attempting to do so.
He has installed loyalists throughout the government who have worked tirelessly to orchestrate a perfect storm, allowing him to deploy the military anywhere he decides is necessary.
When Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth recently fired top military lawyers, he said on Fox News, “We want lawyers who give sound constitutional advice and don’t exist to attempt to be roadblocks.”
Trump, in his post, mentions law enforcement actions twice. He uses the word “imprisoned” and “arrests”. Clearly, he plans to take action against protestors deemed illegal.
Conveniently, Trump directed the military to add 30,000 beds to the prison facility at Guantánamo Bay, giving the armed forces a convenient, out-of-the-way place to keep protestors they arrest.