Newsletter: May 2024

DRAD responds to campus crackdowns

Cops are losing their minds on college campuses. And they’re doing it at the behest of campus administrators and with the tacit blessing of the president of the United States. It’s a dark day for dissent in America. 

As police storm college campuses with MRAPs, barrage students with rubber bullets, and teargas nonviolent encampments, we’ve been speaking out and pushing back. We’re also investigating the collusion between campus administrators, local police, and the FBI. We’ve filed several requests under the Freedom of Information Act and look forward to exposing the truth behind the crackdowns. 

Last week, we issued a statement calling out systematic failures to defend the freedom of political expression. We wrote in part:

As a free speech organization, we must be clear. There is only one cause for the violence taking place. It is law enforcement and the officials who have chosen to resort to state violence when faced with peaceful protests. There is no justification for police violence against peaceful protests. And there is no excuse for the college administrators who willfully chose to call the police on their own students in order to suppress their expressive conduct.

You can count on us to keep you updated as the situation on campuses continues to develop. Follow along on Twitter/X for the latest updates.

Rebuking the new McCarthyism in Congress

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce has launched an investigation into pro-Palestine academics, institutions, and funders. As an organization targeted by the Red Scare, we know all too well the culture of fear instilled by threats of investigation and official attempts to purge those holding disfavored views from public life. 

We’re working behind the scenes to convince members of Congress to pull the brakes on these McCarthyite investigations, and rallying civil society to stand with us in condemnation of political targeting. 

We fight to the bitter end on surveillance reform

The national security surveillance hawks pulled a lot of dirty tricks on us this year. They raised a panicked alarm about the need for expanded surveillance to address Russian space nukes. They sabotaged votes on reforms to bring surveillance into compliance with the Constitution, and drew on long rosters of spooks to meet with undecided members of Congress. Behind closed doors, they even showed slides of Palestine protesters as potential targets of surveillance.

We gave everything we had into fighting to impose constitutional guardrails on the behemoth Section 702 surveillance program. We lost. Not only did Congress shoot down our reforms, but they voted to extend the reach of the NSA’s all-seeing eyes into public WiFi at our laundromats and libraries, among other public places. It was a bitter defeat.

But there are silver linings. Where the spooks fought to hold onto their unbridled spy powers until 2030, we made sure they expire in 2026. In two years, we’ll be right back at it, ready to cut down the surveillance state so constitutional liberties can be upheld.

On our radar: 

• Out of all the surveillance drama, we got the surprise win!  The House passed the Fourth Amendment is Not For Sale Act, a bill that closes the data broker loophole that currently allows agencies to buy data they’d otherwise need a warrant to collect. Now, the pressure’s on in the Senate!
• Julian Assange’s next hearing will be May 20. At the hearing, the UK High Court will consider whether the assurances provided by the United States government will satisfy the British court’s concerns about extradition. Whatever the decision is, we’ll bring you news of what happened and what the outcome means for Julian Assange’s future. 
• Keep your eyes peeled for our forthcoming report analyzing over 120 lawsuit settlements paid out to protesters and journalists injured by police violence during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. The report, slated for release on the fourth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder by police, exposes the grievous harm protesters suffered, and puts cities on notice that they might have to pay out big for current and future police misconduct at protests. Stay tuned for the release of the report on May 25.