"In a functioning democracy, the federal government does not compile dossiers on students for their political views, threaten journalists with prison for covering protests, or seize reporters' devices as a warning to sources. Yet all three have now come into focus in the United States, supported by newly unsealed court records and recent actions by the Trump administration. Federal agents seized the phones and computers of a Washington Post reporter during a leak investigation tied to coverage of the administration."
"President Donald Trump publicly amplified calls to jail Don Lemon after Lemon livestreamed and reported from an anti-ICE protest inside a Minnesota church, while Justice Department officials openly discussed the possibility of criminal charges. And documents unsealed this week revealed that the Department of Homeland Security detained and sought to deport Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University postdoctoral student, despite finding no evidence that she was antisemitic, supported terrorism, or incited violence."
"Different legal tools are being deployed toward a shared effect: increasing the personal and professional cost of speech, reporting, and political expression while preserving the appearance of normal governance. The Ozturk case is especially clarifying because the internal record is now public. Department of Homeland Security memos show that investigators concluded Ozturk posed no security threat and espoused no extremist ideology."
Federal agents seized a Washington Post reporter's phones and computers during a leak investigation tied to administration coverage. President Donald Trump amplified calls to jail Don Lemon after Lemon livestreamed and reported from an anti-ICE protest inside a Minnesota church while Justice Department officials discussed potential criminal charges. Department of Homeland Security memos showed investigators concluded Rumeysa Ozturk posed no security threat and espoused no extremist ideology, yet DHS detained and sought to deport her largely because of an op-ed criticizing Israel and her presence at campus protests. These actions use legal tools to increase the costs of speech, reporting, and political expression while maintaining a veneer of normal governance.
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