Reject Trump's attack on free speech and protest rights

The Trump administration's chilling threat to defund schools that permit "illegal protests"—whatever that legally dubious term may encompass—represents a frontal assault on the bedrock First Amendment rights to free speech and peaceful assembly. Withholding vital funding as punishment for allowing lawful demonstrations is a heavy-handed authoritarian tactic to muzzle dissent and criticism. This flagrant overreach strikes at the very heart of our constitutional liberties and democratic ideals. We must fiercely resist any attempt by this or any administration to criminalize or financially strong-arm communities into silencing their members. Protecting robust public discourse, including the right to protest injustice without fear of reprisal, is non-negotiable in a free society. I vehemently urge you to unequivocally denounce and block this administration's anti-democratic efforts to deny Americans their sacrosanct civil liberties.