Protect First Amendment Rights: Oppose Politically Selective Prosecution of Protesters

Nine protesters who demonstrated outside a Texas migrant detention facility just received federal prison sentences ranging from 30 to 100 years. That is not justice — that is a political weapon. The harshest January 6 Capitol rioter received 22 years, and those convictions have since been pardoned or commuted by President Trump. Tell me how that math adds up to equal justice under the law. The legal foundation here is rotten. There is no federal charge of domestic terrorism under U.S. law, yet the Justice Department labeled these defendants "Antifa terrorists" under National Security Presidential Memo 7 — a directive so broad it covers anti-capitalist views and opposition to "traditional teachings on marriage and the family." Georgetown law professor and former federal prosecutor Paul Butler called the sentences "extremely harsh" and more typical for murder or large-scale financial crimes. Five co-defendants who cooperated with prosecutors testified they were not Antifa members at all — they were part of a book group. This prosecution sets a precedent that should alarm every American regardless of politics. I need you to take concrete action: introduce or co-sponsor legislation that prevents the executive branch from using presidential directives to manufacture domestic terrorism charges where no such federal crime exists, and demand oversight hearings on the DOJ's application of National Security Presidential Memo 7. The First Amendment does not have a political exception.