Defending Your Right Know: Investigating Our Government’s Role in Gaza “killing fields”  Defending Rights & Dissent is using Freedom of Information Act requests to urgently investigate our government’s role in supporting crimes against humanity in Gaza. We filed two Freedom of

Defending Rights & Dissent uses FOIA to expose abuse Defending Rights and Dissent has made extensive use of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to uncover the ways in which both local and federal law enforcement abuse their powers to

Trump declares war on free speech; DRAD fights back The Trump administration has declared open war on the First Amendment right to protest, and the first targets are foreign students on U.S. visas who speak out against Israel’s genocide in

Fight back: Trump’s first moves in office attack the free press Just weeks into his second term, President Trump has already picked several fights with reporters that have set off alarm bells with press freedom groups. The Trump admin banned

Trump nominations: DRAD’s Chip Gibbons offers insights on Democracy Now!  Policy Director Chip Gibbons appeared on Democracy Now! to help viewers understand two high-profile Senate confirmation hearings: Kash Patel as FBI Director, and Tulsi Gabbard as Director of National Intelligence. 

Tracking the latest Espionage Act case In November, CIA employee Asif Rahman was charged with violating the Espionage Act. The US government alleged that he disclosed two documents revealing American military assessments of Israel’s plan to strike Iran. Rahman has

We fought H.R. 9495, the “Nonprofit Killer” bill H.R. 9495 came down the pike twice last month. If enacted, the bill would hand the Treasury Secretary unilateral authority to strip tax exempt status from nonprofits deemed “terrorist supporting,” with no

Fighting the anti-protest wave in our own backyard We’ve been fighting anti-protest bills across the country for years, but last week, an assault on democratic rights popped up in our own backyard. The Residential Tranquility Act puts undue restrictions on

Announcing the Gaza First Amendment Watch! Protesters dissenting against Israel’s genocide in Gaza have been met with police brutality. Colleges reported webinars to the FBI. Organizations supporting protest came under fire from Congress. The tidal wave of repression is overwhelming. 

Journalists to speak out against the slaughter of journalists in Gaza We mobilized 113 journalists, 20 news outlets, and seven press freedom organizations to issue a call for an immediate arms embargo against Israel. In a piece for The Nation,

DRAD responds to Netanyahu’s attack on our First Amendment rights Almost 3,000 DRAD supporters took members of Congress to task for applauding a foreign leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, when he demonized Americans for engaging in First Amendment protected activity. Netanyahu also

Julian Assange is free! Julian Assange pleaded guilty to one count under the Espionage Act and – at long last – walked out of prison last Monday. Here at Defending Rights & Dissent, we’re proud of the role we’ve played

Assange wins in the UK DRAD Policy Director Chip Gibbons was in London to cover the Assange proceeding where the UK largely ruled in Assange’s favor and permitted him to further appeal his extradition. Chip broke the stunning news live

Protest as…kidnapping? Crackdowns on pipeline protests aren’t new, and anti-protest legislation has been proliferating since the indigenous-led revolt against the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016-2017. But Virginia has gotten even more creative, walloping protesters with felony abduction charges. The state,