It started with the Free Palestine protesters. Tesla protesters are next. Citizens will be shipped to El Salvador, non-citizens to where they came from.
It's also cruelty to folks who have absolutely nothing to defend themselves with. They are doing this just to deter people from practicing right to assembly and protest.
I think it's more of a typical tactic by authoritarian countries to do some high profile arrests with no recourse to strike fear into everyone's hearts that the same can happen to them and they'll have no recourse; which Ivy League grad students or faculty are going to join protests now?
Trump has repeatedly suggested that he will use the military on the "enemy from within". Protests could end up looking like what we see in Belarus and Russia - masked "police" shows up and they beat them up and / or take them away.
If those protesters were harassing Jewish students (as happened at various times during these protests) or openly supporting a designated terrorist organization, they should be referred to law enforcement.
What many of them are doing isn’t a legally protected form of protesting.
Free Palestine protesters have been shutting down roads with their protests, this is illegal.
Tesla protesters are vandalizing the vehicles of private citizens and burning down dealerships. This is also illegal, and due to its political goals, it seems to fit the textbook definition of terrorism.
> the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
Had we not spent years tolerating these illegal forms of protest, maybe people would remember these are in fact illegal, and wouldn’t be so emboldened to keep doing them.
If someone wants to protest, that is their right. If someone is protesting by infringing on the free movement of other people, or using intimidation and violence to stir up fear to get people to comply with their ideology… that crosses well established lines.
> Free Palestine protesters have been shutting down roads with their protests, this is illegal.
If someone does something illegal, they can be charged with a crime and the legal process (access to a lawyer, courts, etc). It's not complicated and should not have any exceptions.
You are taking large movements with at least tens of thousands of participants and cherry-picking actions of a few people, you are contributing to the free speech problem by making false associations.
Most Tesla protests have been peaceful. There have been THOUSANDS of them the past few months in cities across the US. You’re cherry-picking the violent ones that get much louder reporting.
> Free Palestine protesters have been shutting down roads with their protests, this is illegal.
Yeah, and so? Is shutting down roads a "threat to US national security" and therefore warranting arrest without due process and green card revocation? The protesters should be charged with whatever city laws (certainly it's not a federal offense) they broke, and fined or whatever.
They were rounded up, given due process, and locked away.
The coupist then got elected and freed his minions. The coupist is not giving the same dignity to these protesters, or even some american citizens who just look brown.
Here's the deal. You want free speech don't intimidate, threaten and vandalize.
I own a Tesla. I bought one because I wanted an EV to reduce my emissions and that was the best one (years ago). Your right to free speech doesn't trump (heh, see what I did there) my right to be safe.
EDIT: FWIW I am not American. Where I live there is no such thing as "free speech" like in America. We also don't all carry guns like in America. You guys do you. But I'm pretty sure the my links are not free speech, even in America.
I am trying to make a point. Apparently very poorly.
Either way, these Tesla protests are just idiotic. The vandalism is criminal. If this is the way Americans save their democracy and the rest of us rely on them then we're all doomed.
I went to a Tesla protest. It was entirely peaceful. I personally don't fault someone for buying a Tesla, particularly before Elon went loony. My goal for the protest is to bring to attention the fact that the owner of that car company is party to the authoritarian takedown of my country, and that people should not support that company any more if they can avoid it.
I agree that vandalizing peoples' cars is illegal, I don't think it is practically useful, and golly gee, we still have a criminal justice system (for now) that can be used to punish those who commit acts of violence.
Tesla is a large US company. Elon owns (less than?) 20% of it personally. They make cars in the US. I'll make Elon hurt by hurting Tesla is childish and counter-productive. Elon's not gonna care. So instead of protesting Tesla protest against the government.
Musk has power in part because he can pour enormous amounts of money into political races. A lot of that money is based on his Tesla and SpaceX holdings, so lower share prices directly reduce his ability to borrow against those shares.
We should treat the Free Palestine and Tesla protesters the same way J6 protesters were treated. Throw them in prison until the next Democrat president pardons them.
I agree. Anybody who supports pardoning the J6 terrorists is obviously NOT supporting free speech because they support people who used violence to silence speech in congress.
When somebody uses violence it is not free speech it is suppression of free speech. You can't really speak freely when somebody hits you with a flagpole or pepperspray. Or even just threatens you with violence.
