Movement Law Lab
@movementlawlab.bsky.social
900 followers 890 following 180 posts
Bringing the power of lawyers to social movements.
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movementlawlab.bsky.social
Portland, Memphis, and other cities don’t need occupation, they need opportunity.

Federal crackdowns bring intimidation, not safety. Real security comes from jobs, schools, & healthcare, not troops in the streets.

#Memphis #Portland #Chicago #DC

apnews.com/article/port...
Things to know about federal law enforcement activity in Chicago, Portland, Memphis
Armed federal agents are patrolling Chicago’s downtown streets and President Donald Trump has called up 200 National Guard troops for deployment in Portland, Oregon.
apnews.com
movementlawlab.bsky.social
What he said 👉 “It’s illegal, unconstitutional. It’s dangerous. It’s wrong. This is not about deportation, this is not about safety for this president, this is about authoritarianism.” -Chicago Mayor
wgntv.com
Reposted by Movement Law Lab
brendannyhan.bsky.social
Monstrous.

"federal agents detained nearly every resident of the 130-unit building—including children and babies—placing them in zip ties and separating them by race into vans for more than two hours early Tuesday morning."
dlknowles.bsky.social
Good reporting on the South Shore raid from South Side weekly here.

Confirms one thing I was told but didn't put in my own piece because I didn't have a second source and it seemed too insane: border agents segregated arrested residents by race

southsideweekly.com/federal-agen...
Federal Agents Storm South Shore Building, Detaining Families and Children
Families were woken by flashbangs and helicopters as hundreds of federal agents raided their homes. Days later, neighbors are still searching for the missing.
southsideweekly.com
Reposted by Movement Law Lab
publiccitizen.bsky.social
"A war from within" ????

The President of the United States is openly talking about waging war against US cities because he doesn't like their mayors and governors.

This is how a dictator talks.
movementlawlab.bsky.social
From @lawdorknews.bsky.social: Calling the order “yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket,“ Jackson wrote that the majority had failed by “privileging the bald assertion of unconstrained executive power over countless families’ pleas for the stability our Government has promised them.“
chrisgeidner.bsky.social
Friday’s SCOTUS decision was issued in a brief, unsigned order that contained virtually no reasoning. It was accompanied by no signed opinions from any of the justices in the majority and over opposition from the three Democratic appointees. Only Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.
Supreme Court lets Noem end legal status for many Venezuelans in the U.S.
The majority gave virtually no reasoning. The Democratic appointees objected, but only Justice Jackson wrote: "[Y]et another grave misuse of our emergency docket."
www.lawdork.com
movementlawlab.bsky.social
2/ Federal agents are still flooding Chicago under “#OperationMidwayBlitz,” targeting immigrant communities and sowing fear. Movement lawyers and organizers are working together to resist this repression and defend community .
No National Guard In Chicago After All? Trump Appears To Sour On Plan
Despite Trump apparently changing his tune on sending National Guard troops to Chicago, federal immigration agents are in the city as part of Operation Midway Blitz.
blockclubchicago.org
movementlawlab.bsky.social
1/ Chicago organizers and officials have held the line against Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard. Stopping an unconstitutional military incursion is a clear social movement win.

But the fight isn’t over.
No National Guard In Chicago After All? Trump Appears To Sour On Plan
Despite Trump apparently changing his tune on sending National Guard troops to Chicago, federal immigration agents are in the city as part of Operation Midway Blitz.
blockclubchicago.org
Reposted by Movement Law Lab
Reposted by Movement Law Lab
terradedireitos.bsky.social
⚠️ Nesta quarta-feira (01), o @stf.jus.br pode julgar a Ação Direta de Inconstitucionalidade (ADI) 6553, que destinou cerca de 862 hectares para a construção da #Ferrogrão e da BR-163. Muita gente já destacou os intensos #ImpactosAmbientais e para os #PovosTradicionais.
Siga o 🪀
movementlawlab.bsky.social
“However, recording law enforcement activities is protected by the First Amendment.” - @elizabethweill.bsky.social
movementlawlab.bsky.social
DHS now claims filming ICE raids is “violence.” Let’s be clear: recording law enforcement is a First Amendment right. Criminalizing documentation is straight out of the authoritarian playbook:Silence witnesses, erase evidence, punish dissent. truthout.org/articles/dhs...
DHS Says Filming, Posting Videos of ICE Agents Is “Doxxing,” Vows Prosecutions
Recording on-duty law enforcement agents is protected by the First Amendment.
truthout.org
Reposted by Movement Law Lab
mskellymhayes.bsky.social
We need a bigger national spotlight on this building raid, fam. Agents dropped from helicopters onto the roof. Citizens and non-citizens alike were dragged from their homes in the night. People who weren't kidnapped during the raid had their belongings seized after the fact. This is madness.
mskellymhayes.bsky.social
"Jones, 27, is among the residents left at 7500 S. South Shore Drive who are trying to piece together what remains after an early morning, high-powered federal immigration raid led to the arrests of dozens of their neighbors at their South Shore apartment building."
Massive immigration raid on Chicago apartment building leaves residents reeling: 'I feel defeated'
The Department of Homeland Security said federal agents with Border Patrol, the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested 37 people in the raid.
chicago.suntimes.com
movementlawlab.bsky.social
4/ Groups like @stopcopcity.bsky.social have been doing critical work to defend movements and push back against this kind of repression. And the collapse of these charges is a reminder that movements for safety, dignity, and democracy will always outlast manufactured indictments.
movementlawlab.bsky.social
3/ One of the defendants, Thomas Jurgens, was arrested while serving as a legal observer while wearing a bright yellow hat to make that role visible.
movementlawlab.bsky.social
2/ As @bradthomsonnop said, the ruling “exposes that the indictment was fundamentally flawed from the outset.” This is how authoritarian playbooks work: stretch the law to target protest, even when charges won’t hold.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Prosecutors’ ‘Cop City’ case collapses as judge tosses Rico conspiracy charges
Two-year attempt to prosecute opponents of police training center on criminal conspiracy charges ends in failure
www.theguardian.com
movementlawlab.bsky.social
1/ A Fulton County judge has thrown out the sweeping RICO charges against #StopCopCity activists. The state’s rush to criminalize dissent collapsed under its own weight and violated rules to punish a movement. Lawyers and organizers, take note!
Prosecutors’ ‘Cop City’ case collapses as judge tosses Rico conspiracy charges
Two-year attempt to prosecute opponents of police training center on criminal conspiracy charges ends in failure
www.theguardian.com
movementlawlab.bsky.social
3/ Each path raises big legal and constitutional questions. Communities and movements need to know the framework.
movementlawlab.bsky.social
2/ There are 3 categories:
- A Gov can call up NG for emergencies.
- President + state governor can agree to deploy the NG for state or federal missions (Title 32).
- Pres can federalize the NG with or w/out a Gov's consent in limited cases like insurrection or invasion (Title 10/Insurrection Act).