June 1, 2023

First Georgia came for the activists. Then for the solidarity movement.

On the morning of May 31, 2023, the Atlanta Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation carried out a S.W.A.T raid to arrest three organizers with the Atlanta Solidarity Fund on charges of money laundering and charity fraud. These
May 19, 2023

Latest FBI Political Spying Scandal Has Disturbing Echoes With 1960s War on Anti-War, Black Power Protests

In 1967, the Johnson Administration forced the Department of the Army, Department of Justice, and FBI to form a special unit on civil disturbances. One of the key tasks of this unit was proving a connection between foreign governments (namely,
May 16, 2023
DHS building. CP3 and TVTP are DHS programs.

It’s time to defund CP3 and TVTP

There’s not enough terrorism for…DHS? DHS has branched out beyond its statutory mandate of addressing emergencies and preventing terrorism into addressing the hodgepodge category of “targeted violence,” which, oddly, includes both school shootings and sabotaging oil pipelines among other crimes.
April 25, 2023
Members of the African People's Socialist Party at a rally

Defending Rights & Dissent Statement on Indictment of African People’s Socialist Party Members

Defending Rights & Dissent expresses its concern with the indictment of three members of the African People’s Socialist Party, along with one member of Black Hammer, for allegedly acting as unregistered foreign agents of Russia. According to a Department of
April 25, 2023
TikTok app on a phone

TikTok bans neglect the global landscape of surveillance

Aside from being Chinese in origin, Congress can’t quite make up its mind about what, precisely, the problem is with TikTok. Is it a deficit of censorship, or an overabundance of it? Is the problem actually with TikTok, or is
April 14, 2023
One of the documents leaked by Jack Teixeira, who is now facing charges under the Espionage Act

DRAD Statement: Jack Teixeira and the Espionage Act

Earlier this morning Jack Teixeira, a 21 year old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, was charged with two counts under §793 of the Espionage Act for unlawfully obtaining and communicating national defense information.  Additionally, Teixeira was charged under
April 12, 2023
Julian Assange, publisher of WikiLeaks

BREAKING: Seven members of Congress take a stand for Assange

Four years ago today, six men dragged Julian Assange out of the Ecuadorian embassy in London into a van, where he was carted off to Belmarsh Prison, where he remains, fighting extradition to the U.S. On April 11, 2019, after
April 5, 2023
Cover of Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs by Kerry Howley

Surveillance and the narrative gravity of the national security state

Surveillance is made of dogs. It’s also made of us. In Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs: A Journey Through the Deep State, Kerry Howley dives into what surveillance is, what stories are told with intelligence data, and, ultimately, how
March 6, 2023

69 Organizations Urge that Domestic Terrorism Charges Against Defend the Atlanta Forest Protesters Be Dropped

69 environmental, human rights, and civil liberties organizations sent a letter to Georgia prosecutors urging them to drop domestic terrorism charges against Stop Cop City/Defend the Atlanta Forest protesters. The charges represent a draconian escalation seemingly intended to chill First
February 24, 2023
Exterior of the Supreme Court, which denied writ of certiorari in the BDS case Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip this week.

The Supreme Court sleeps on defending boycotts and the right to political expression

In an absurd ruling, the Eighth Circuit denied that boycotts are political expression. Now, the Supreme Court has denied writ of certiorari, letting the Eighth Circuit’s ruling in Arkansas Times LP v. Waldrip stand. This is a missed opportunity for
February 15, 2023
Document revealing that the FBI was engaged in FOIA deception - listed in this document are groups that the FBI initially claimed there were no responsive documents for.

The FBI, Anti-Globalization Protests, and FOIA Deception

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, international financial summits, like the IMF and the World Bank, attracted masses of protesters. In many cases, protesters engaged in civil disobedience. They were also met with brutal repression by police that included
February 15, 2023
Protests against Cop City

The Cop City Domestic Terrorism Charges are an Intimidation Tactic

The past several months have seen a showdown between forest defenders and police in DeKalb County, Georgia. A contingent of climate activists calling themselves Defend the Atlanta Forest occupied forest land to block construction of what they have termed “Cop
January 24, 2023

We Mourn the Passing of Victor Navasky: Long-Time Board Member, Crusading Journalist, Historian of the McCarthy Era, Staunch Civil Libertarian

Defending Rights & Dissent mourns the passing of longtime board member Victor Navasky.  Victor was a pioneering journalist, editor, and publisher.   “Victor was a powerful voice on our Board of Directors for over 30 years. His deep knowledge and astute
January 23, 2023
'Cop City' protester Tortuguita Teran

The Killing of ‘Cop City’ Protester Tortuguita Terán is a Blow to Dissent

On January 18, state troopers shot and killed Tortuguita Terán, an environmental activist protesting forest destruction in DeKalb County, near Atlanta, GA. Defending Rights & Dissent is dismayed by this repression of dissent and condemns it in the strongest possible
January 19, 2023

Civil Society Groups Condemn the Prosecution of Haoyang Yu

Although the Biden Administration has put an end to the “China Initiative,” biased prosecutions against Chinese Americans haven’t stopped. Defending Rights & Dissent recently sent a letter expressing concern about the prosecution of Mr. Haoyang Yu to the US Attorney’s