After Expressing Animus Against Defense Counsel, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Pittman Attributed Mistrial to Attire of Single Attorney

As nine of the "Prairieland 19" face their days in court, the broader constitutional rights of left-wing activists may hang in the balance.

Nine members of the “Prairieland 19,” anti-ICE protesters in Texas who the Trump administration is dubiously accusing of domestic terrorism, are going on trial this week. The case is a test for how ea...

thefugitivesaint: crimethinc: The Road to Prairieland The Crackdown on Anti-ICE Activists in Texas Reflects a Pattern of Intensifying Repression https://crimethinc.com/Prairieland Pay attention to the Prairieland case that goes to trial in Texas next week. By saddling the defendants with indiscriminate charges, holding them without bail, and isolating them from lawyers and the public, prosecutors are attempting to terrorize them into signing guilty pleas in order to set a precedent criminalizing dissent itself. Some of the defendants in the Prairieland case apparently never set foot anywhere near the protest in question. Just as authorities sought to crush the #StopCopCity movement by randomly indicting people on baseless charges, here they aim to scare people out of acting in solidarity with immigrants. The murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti show what lies at the end of this road. In those public executions, there is no role for the judicial branch of government at all—the executive branch chooses the target, pulls the trigger, and declares the victims guilty of terrorism afterwards. That is the kind of “justice” that the Trump administration aims to carry out. If they get away with what they are trying to do to the Prairieland defendants, we will be a step closer to that. Understand that the Trump Administration is using this trial as its first legal attempt to prosecute people as “members of antifa”, a non-existent group that this administration has declared a “domestic terrorist organization.” What they probably hope to do, legally, is set a precedent for what kinds of protest and speech can be classified as “terrorist activity” and then prosecute those they arrest as such. Former Thomas E. Brzozowski, a former senior Department of Justice anti-terrorism lawyer who served in three presidential administrations said, “When you’ve got this amorphous definition that encompasses such a wide array of ideologies, that is a broad spectrum of people that are otherwise unconnected. That’s a problem, in my view….Who’s antifascists? Everybody. Unless you’re a member of Atomwaffen or you’re a neo-Nazi. The vast majority of us are antifascist, I would hope.” This is coming in the wake of the Trump Administration having had ceased investigations into white supremacist groups and rightwing, anti-government extremists (who have been responsible for the majority of political violence in the United States for the last 40 or so years) and simultaneously putting people with extremist ideologies into key jobs. Couple this to the Trump Administration rolling back or outright eliminating civil and human rights laws while purging employees in DHS, the FBI, and the DOJ who are resistant to these changes or who were tasked with monitoring rightwing extremist groups or involved in investigating and prosecuting participants of the January 6th insurrection. I think you can probably forecast were all of this shit is going and the conduct of the federal judge in charge of the trial, which has indicated some hostility towards the defendants and their attorneys, doesn’t seem to bode well for those facing years of imprisonment. Note: some of the above links I’ve provided were admittedly lazy ones and some are slightly outdated (from 2025) but the basic information is relevant.

Two trans women arrested in an absurd “antifa” crackdown face political prosecution for their beliefs. Experts warn it’s a sign of growing authoritarianism in the U.S.

IN CONTEMPT returns with the next monthly prison rebel roundup. Packed in as always are updates, action and analysis we hope helps build inside-outside networks of resistance. Over 100 copies are sent...

A July 4 shooting at an ICE detention center could change the way the federal government prosecutes activists.

The crackdown on anti-ICE activists in Texas reflects a pattern of intensifying repression all around the country.

The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and its Palestine Subcommittee stand with Leqaa Kordia, her family, attorneys, and advocates across the country to demand her immediate release from Immigration and Cu...

As nine of the "Prairieland 19" face their days in court, the broader constitutional rights of left-wing activists may hang in the balance.

The shirt, which appeared to show civil rights protestors, led Judge Mark Pittman to halt jury selection.