Metropolitan Police officers observing a protest in central London in support of Palestine Action, organised by the Defend Our Juries group, July 5, 2025
COUNTER-TERRORISM police arrested key members of Defend Our Juries today in “an unprecedented assault on free speech” just hours before the group was due to hold a press conference on an upcoming mass protest against proscribing Palestine Action.
Despite the arrests, the group confirmed that the protest will go ahead on Saturday, having met its target of securing 1,000 pledges to attend.
The protesters will gather in Parliament Square holding signs reading: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action,” challenging the police’s ability to crack down on supporters of the proscribed group.
Defend Our Juries founder Tim Crosland and law student Paddy Friend, who were due to speak at the press conference, were among those arrested during dawn raids today.
They were arrested along with three others under section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which prohibits support for proscribed organisations.
…
A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: “Locking up our key spokespeople just hours before they were due to hold a press conference announcing more peaceful Lift the Ban protests constitutes an unprecedented assault on free speech in our country.
“This level of political repression is not what we expect in a democracy — it’s the kind of tactic typically associated with authoritarian regimes around the world.
…
Chief Superintendent Helen Flanagan said: “There are serious consequences for those who are found guilty of an offence under the Terrorism Act, so I would urge anyone considering showing public support towards this proscribed group to reconsider.”
Kerry Moscogiuri, from Amnesty International UK, said: “Criminalising speech or protest is only permitted when it incites violence, hatred or discrimination.
“To be clear: expressing support for Palestine Action does not meet this threshold. In fact, arresting and prosecuting people in this context, is a violation of the UK’s obligations under human rights law.”
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.Keir “I support Zionism without Qualification” Starmer supporting genocide.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
Recent UK immigration politics has focused largely on ‘getting numbers down’ by reducing the number of so-called ‘illegal’ entries, which usually involve people crossing the channel on small boats or on the backs of lorries. The government often refuses to acknowledge that the high number of ‘illegal’ entries is intrinsically linked to the lack of official routes provided for coming to the UK to claim asylum. And whilst those travelling by unofficial means may not abide by UK immigration law and documentation processes, international law states that asylum seekers cannot be punished or criminalised for the way they enter.
The 1951 Refugee Convention states that asylum seekers should not be discriminated against for their mode of entry into another country. People fleeing persecution have the right to travel to any country via any route possible in order to claim asylum, provided they inform the authorities of their presence upon arrival and have a good reason for seeking asylum.
Despite this, arrival in the UK by small boat crossings or other ‘clandestine’ routes across the Channel are frequently referred to as ‘illegal’ because the person entering does not have a valid visa in place. This is where the UK asylum system is deeply contradictory: it is not possible to claim asylum from outside the UK, and it is also not possible to obtain a visa before travelling to the UK to claim asylum.
dizzy: I suggest that people referring to small boat migrants as being illegal reflects more on their intolerance and prejudices that anything else.
Nigel Farage reminds you that he’s the man that brought you Brexit and asks what could possibly go wrong.Keir Starmer refuses to be outcnuted by Nigel Farage’s chasing the racist bigot vote.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson speaks during a press conference in Chicago, Illinois, on August 25, 2025. (Photo by Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)
“This is not about fighting crime,” said Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker. “This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.”
Progressive voices and Democratic leaders this week are letting it be known they will not take President Donald Trump’s threat to target the city of Chicago for his next federal takeover and deployment of federal troops lying down.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on Monday, alongside Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and US Sens. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), held a press conference to let Trump know that Chicago residents want no part of his plan to deploy the military into their city.
“The last thing that Chicagoans want is someone from the outside of our city, who doesn’t know our city, trying to dictate and tell us what our city needs,” said Johnson. “As the mayor of this city, I can tell you that Chicagoans are not calling for military occupation.”
Pritzker, meanwhile, bluntly warned Trump against sending troops to his state’s largest city.
“This is not about fighting crime,” Pritzker said of Trump’s plans to deploy the military in Chicago. “This is about Donald Trump searching for any justification to deploy the military in a blue city, in a blue state, to try and intimidate his political rivals.”
Illinois politicians weren’t the only ones who are vowing to resist Trump’s designs on Chicago, as Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) warned that the president had ambitions to deploy troops to all major American cities.
“First it was LA, then DC, and now Chicago,” she wrote in a social media post Tuesday. “None of us are safe from Trump’s authoritarian rule. We must fight back against this takeover of our cities.”
Progressive organization Our Revolution, has started circulating a petition demanding that Congress vote against any Trump request to extend his control over the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department beyond the legally allowed period of 30 days.
Progressives’ vows of defiance come as The Chicago Sun-Times is reporting new details about Trump’s designs on the Windy City. According to the paper, the administration is planning to use a suburban naval base just outside the city to house federal immigration officials and potentially National Guard troops starting in September.
An email sent this week by US Navy Cpt. Stephen Yargosz obtained by The Chicago Sun-Times claimed that the deployment will be focused on “downtown Chicago,” despite the fact that the downtown area is not where most violent crimes in the city occur.
Yargosz also said in his email that there are “not many details” right now about deploying the National Guard in Chicago, but “mainly a lot of concerns and questions.”
The Chicago Sun-Times report also noted that all of these plans are being done without any input from or consultation with local officials, who have said that they are completely in the dark about what the president is plotting.
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an insane, xenophobic Fascist.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.
Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
A tow truck driver tries to attach a cable to a car submerged in flood waters on the bank of the Guadalupe River during a search and recovery mission on July 13, 2025 in Ingram, Texas. (Photo by Jim Vondruska/Getty Images)
“Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role,” the employees wrote in a letter to Congress.
More than 180 federal emergency relief workers have signed a letter warning that US President Donald Trump’s administration is severely harming their ability to respond to future disasters.
The letter, which was sent to members of Congress on Monday, painted a dire picture of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under Trump’s watch.
“Since January 2025, FEMA has been under the leadership of individuals lacking legal qualifications, Senate approval, and the demonstrated background required of a FEMA administrator,” the employees stated. “Decisions made by FEMA’s Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator (SOPDA) David Richardson, former SOPDA Cameron Hamilton, and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem erode the capacity of FEMA… hinder the swift execution of our mission, and dismiss experienced staff whose institutional knowledge and relationships are vital to ensure effective emergency management.”
The employees then detailed several specific ways that the Trump administration has hamstrung the agency, which they said would be tantamount to “the effective dissolution of FEMA itself and the abandonment of the American people” if not corrected.
First, they faulted Noem for requiring personal review for all contracts, grants, and mission assignments costing more than $100,000, which they described as an improper impoundment of agency funds that “reduces FEMA’s authorities and capabilities to swiftly deliver our mission.”
They then took aim at Richardson, whom they lambasted as wholly unqualified for his position.
“Hurricane season has begun, yet FEMA continues to lack an appointed administrator with the mandated qualifications to fulfill this role,” they warned. “The dangers of unqualified leadership were a significant lesson learned from Hurricane Katrina.”
The FEMA workers noted that the Trump administration has flouted federal requirements demanding that FEMA administrators demonstrate “ability in and knowledge of emergency management.” According to The New York Times, Richardson told employees in June that he hadn’t been aware the US had a hurricane season.
“They’re breaking the law so they can hire mediocre people,” said US Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). “And Americans will die as a result.”
The employees also slammed the administration for its “censorship of climate science, environmental protection, and efforts to ensure all communities have access to information, resources, and support.”
They also noted that the administration removed the Future Risk Index from FEMA’s website this past February, which they said would harm “the nation’s ability to properly prepare for and mitigate against the risks of tomorrow.”
Finally, the employees called attention to the massive workforce drain FEMA has experienced under Trump’s administration.
“FEMA’s current capacities have been significantly limited due to a loss of personnel through programs designed to incentivize our workforce to leave federal service, ongoing hiring freezes, and the cancellation of critical support contracts,” they wrote. “One-third of FEMA’s full-time staff have departed the agency this year, leading to the loss of irreplaceable institutional knowledge and long-built relationships.”
The employees also said that the damage done to FEMA was already visible this past summer during the agency’s response to deadly floods in central Texas that claimed the lives of more than 130 people.
“As that disaster unfolded, FEMA’s mission to provide critical support was obstructed by leadership who not only question the agency’s existence but place uninformed cost-cutting above serving the American people and the communities our oath compels us to serve,” they said.
A total of 181 FEMA employees signed the letter, although only 35 of them made their signatures a matter of public record.
Trump earlier this year said he’d like to see FEMA dismantled so that more responsibility for handling the aftermath of natural disasters would be pushed off to individual states. Meanwhile, the president has denied some states’ requests for disaster declarations, including Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma.
Original article by Brad Reed republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is a U.S. government agency under the Department of Homeland Security responsible for coordinating federal responses to disasters and emergencies.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Elon Musk urges you to be a Fascist like him, says that you can ignore facts and reality then.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Journalists and activists protest in Delhi against the state’s attacks on press freedom. Photo: DUJ
The ultra-right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) governments in various provinces in India have used sedition charges against journalists for their critical reporting on policies and actions.
Members of the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) and the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) held a protest in India’s capital, New Delhi, on Wednesday, August 27, denouncing the rising cases of state-sponsored attacks on journalists in the country.
The protesters also demanded the immediate withdrawal of all the false charges against senior journalists Siddharth Varadarajan, Karan Thapar, and Abhisar Sharma, calling them blatant attacks on media and press freedom in the country.
The DUJ and KUWJ warned that if their cases are not withdrawn and such attacks on press freedom continue in the future, journalists in the country will take larger public action and flood the streets in protest.
Siddharth Varadarajan, founding editor-in-chief of the independent newsportal The Wire, Karan Thapar, senior editor with The Wire, and another senior journalist, Abhisar Sharma, were booked by the police in India’s north-eastern state of Assam and charged with sedition and other criminal activities.
The case against Abhisar is related to his reporting on his YouTube channel on the charges of corruption against the chief minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma. Abhisar also talks about the chief minister’s openly sectarian policies and provocative language against Muslim minorities in his video.
Varadarajan and Thapar were booked first in July and then again in August by the Assam police for their critical reporting on Operation Sindoor, India’s military operation against Pakistan in May which created a war-like situation between the two nuclear-powered neighbors.
Varadarajan and Thapar went to the court demanding the dismissal of the cases against them. While the matter was still under consideration by the court, the Assam police filed fresh charges against them. The Supreme Court of India (SCI) provided the journalists temporary protection from any action.
Abhisar Sharma also received interim relief from the SCI on Thursday. However, in both cases the SCI failed to quash the First Information Reports (FIRs), the official document in India that initiates criminal proceedings.
BJP’s attempts to silence critical voices
What the DUJ calls “attempts to browbeat and harass the media into submission”, has been a policy of the BJP government to silence critical voices in the country.
Assam is ruled by the same BJP which runs the union government in Delhi.
Several other journalists have faced false charges in the state in the last few years. In March of this year, Assam witnessed large-scale protests against the arrest of senior journalist Dilwar Hussain Mazumdar, who was arrested after he tried to expose corruption in a cooperative bank.
The union government has also used its agencies to raid and shut down independent newsportals, such as Newsclick, and has threatened others, including the Wire, to try to silence them.
Reflecting on the state of media in India earlier this year, Reporters without Borders (RSF) demanded that the state must “end media raids and arrests of journalists, often carried out under the guise of anti-terrorism laws or tax regulations.”
RSF had noted that “this judicial harassment has reached a critical level for independent news media”, with authorities repeatedly misusing the legal provisions.
Misuse of sedition
Apart from anti-terrorism laws and allegations of financial irregularities, the BJP government has also used sedition, a colonial era offense which remained a part of India’s legal codes even decades after independence. It has been frequently invoked against journalists questioning government policies.
Following massive public outcry and court interventions, the BJP government promised to scrap it in 2023, underlining its “colonial origin”. However, within months, the same government brought it back with a new name under the new set of legal codes called Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), promulgated in 2024.
The Wire has filed a fresh petition in the court to remove the sedition charges from the new code (section 156 of the BNS).
The DUJ hopes that the section “will be struck down so it can no longer be used to arrest, imprison, browbeat and harass those who dare to speak truth to power.”
Metropolitan Police officers observing a protest in central London in support of Palestine Action, organised by the Defend Our Juries group, July 5, 2025
