r/DemocraticUS

Authoritarians don’t tolerate dissent and resistance, and the Trump regime has used its power to crush and criminalize those on the front lines of opposing their terror. They’ve been particularly aggressive towards those taking on the deportation machine, with hundreds of arrests even as prosecutions have repeatedly failed in the face of video disproving law enforcement’s claims.

These folks have shown bravery and commitment in the face of tyranny, and we need to have their backs. Here’s some ways we can show solidarity.

Members of VC Defensa, a coalition of activists doing ICE watch, rapid response and support for immigrants and refugees in Ventura County, California, have been the target of a long harassment campaign by Homeland Security, with arrests, raids, car rammings and pepper-sprayings. Last week, federal agents raided the homes of three leaders of the organization. They’re continuing their work in spite of the danger, and are now preparing a civil rights lawsuit. 💵 Let’s consider a donation to support their efforts here or to a GoFundMe for a member of their community caught in the machine here. 💵

HELP VC DEFENSA KEEP FIGHTING

Former congressional candidate and journalist Kat Abughazaleh, her field director Andre Martin, Village of Oak Park Trustee Brian Shaw and Democratic ward committeeman Michael Rabbitt go on trial next week after being arrested in a protest at an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois last September. While felony charges have been dropped in what the Broadview protesters claim was an effort to avoid having to hand over grand jury transcripts, they are now having the rare experience of being tried by the federal government for misdemeanors. They are also facing a quarter-million dollars in legal debt. 💵 We can help them meet the burden of taking on Trump’s DoJ in court by donating here. 💵

HELP BROADVIEW PROTESTERS PAY LEGAL FEES

The Spokane 3 are on trial as we speak. They face charges of conspiring to impede or injure federal officers at a protest at an ICE facility that erupted after two community members had been taken by the deportation force last June. Their defense attorneys have argued that while there was civil disobedience as they bravely attempted to prevent the two men from being transported away, Justice Forral, Jac Dalitso Archer and Bajun Dhunjisha Mavalwalla II urged participants to remain peaceful. 📬 We can learn more and get updates on the trial here, and send them a message of support or help spread the word about their case here. 📬

SHARE YOUR SUPPORT

The Prairieland defendants, convicted in March for terrorism over a shooting they insist they were uninvolved with and evidence suggests they had no idea would happen, are getting through their days in prison as they serve and appeal their sentences. Right now, they’re asking for pictures of the outside world for their cells. 📬 If we’re able, we can find addresses and instructions on where to send them in their profiles here. 📬

BRIGHTEN THE DAYS OF THESE DEFENDANTS

Also in today's List:

• Trump’s shady stock market dealings renew interest in a full-government trade ban - tell Congress it’s time
• Phonebank and test different messages with Swing Blue Alliance in June
• We could see final passage of funding for ICE and CBP by the weekend – tell reps no while we can, and share with our networks the damage the GOP agenda is doing to us
• Coalition of progressive DAs pledges to prosecute voter intimidation by ICE – make sure yours is with them
• We’re going to win this election and make sure it doesn’t get stolen - learn how to get plugged into voter protection work TONIGHT at 7:00PM ET or get up to speed on hosting voter registration drives, status checks, poll worker recruitment and other events for Good Trouble Lives On, ALSO at 7:00PM ET

Trump has now agreed to a settlement with an IRS commissioner he can fire and an acting attorney general who wants a nomination to drop his $10 billion lawsuit in exchange for a $1.7 billion slush fund to "compensate" the henchmen who committed crimes for his benefit. This could include the nearly 1,600 people charged with attacking the Capitol to overturn the results of the election on January 6th.

This is a theft from the American taxpayers, playing out right in the open. The White House is going to use our money to pay off himself and the thugs who committed political violence on his behalf. There will certainly be legal challenges ahead, but as Rep. Jamie Raskin has pointed out Congress has power over spending, which means they can stop it from going forward... and if they don't, it's because their members/leadership are making a choice to allow it. 🗣️ Let’s reach out to our reps and demand they prevent a single penny of our money from being used for Trump’s slump fund. We can find scripts and email language to use here, or text SIGN PMLDMK to 50409 to send this message directly via Resistbot. 🗣️

Also in today's List:

• Condemn Colorado Governor Jared Polis for his decision to commute the sentence of one of the last coup co-conspirators facing consequences
• Even as opposition on Capitol Hill inches forward, Trump is threatening to escalate again in Iran – tell reps it’s time to shut this down, help Indivisible drive calls to Congress, make opposition visible
• Ready to organize tenants in your community? Apply for TUF’s Union School by June 15th
• This week’s judges to thank
• Georgians go to the polls with a chance to unseat two conservative supreme court justices TOMORROW - phonebank to get it done today at 12PM and 6PM and throughout the day Tuesday! Plus learn how we can help pass a new challenge to Citizens United in Montana at 7PM ET and how to organize a freedom vigil at a detention site at 8PM ET

Jamie Ager, a fourth-generation West North Carolina farmer and the Democratic nominee for the Eleventh Congressional District, is kicking off weekly Tuesday evening phonebanks tonight at 5PM! Ager is running hard on addressing the federal government’s shortfalls in Hurricane Helene recovery, the affordability crisis and taking on corruption.

Ager is running in an R+5 district that was already on the radar before we learned incumbent Republican Chuck Edwards was under Ethics Committee investigation over accusations of sexual harassment and creating a hostile work environment. There have been allegations that the congressman had an affair with a then-staffer, in direct violation of House rules, and that he singled out two young, female staffers for inappropriate attention. ☎️ Let’s help take down this creep. We can sign up for phonebanks tonight and on Tuesdays to come here. ☎️

MAKE CALLS FOR JAMIE AGER TUESDAYS

Also in today's Rogan's List:

• Red flags keep piling up on Trump’s threats against Cuba, tell Congress we want them to put an end to the saber-rattling here
• Help turn out voters for the Georgia supreme court and Alabama primaries today
• Another indictment of an ICE agent in Minnesota, tell your local prosecutors to follow suit
• Join America’s science community in pushing Congress to reinstate the National Science Board
• Join SURJ for a conversation on exhaustion, burnout and how to continue the long fight against authoritarianism and white supremacy TOMORROW at 8PM ET
• We are anticipating a vote this week on a national “don’t say trans” and forced outing law in the House - we can find scripts and language here to let our reps know we want them to oppose this attack on our kids!

Conventional wisdom has it that the only way to end the Citizens United regime is for a future Supreme Court to overturn it or to amend the Constitution – getting two-thirds of both houses of Congress and three-quarters of state legislatures to defy the billionaires and big businesses. But analysts led by Center for American Progress fellow and former FEC lawyer Tom Moore have been pushing an innovative approach to take on corporate power: rewriting state codes to explicitly deny corporations they charter the authority to spend in elections.

This idea has taken off. Legislation pursuing this method of end-running Citizens United has been introduced in 15 states (see the list here), and folks in Montana are trying to push it through as a ballot initiative. Hawai’i passed their version, S.B. 2471, nearly unanimously, and yesterday Governor Josh Green signed it into law. This could be a game-changer.

This, to be clear, is not a perfect or complete solution. We are going to see legal challenges against this effort for years to come, in a judicial system stacked with the sort of right-wing judges who caused this mess in the first place. Even if it does stand, it impacts corporations, not individuals - folks like Elon Musk, Ken Griffin, Richard Uihlein and Jeff Yass will still be able to spend what they want. But we’re talking about getting billions out of our elections, the first major disruption to this crooked system. And we’re talking about rejecting the ridiculous idea of “corporate personhood” that has been forced on us by the puppets of the powerful. We are taking power back for regular Americans and restoring a little bit of sanity to politics.

Let’s make sure Hawai’i is just the beginning.

🗣️ We can contact our own legislators and governors and ask them follow the Aloha State’s lead. We can find call scripts here and email language here, or send this message directly using Resistbot by texting SIGN PSIYZJ to 50409. We can also check whether there are bills already introduced in our state we can encourage them to support here. 🗣️

CALL/EMAIL LANGUAGE

SEND A RESISTBOT

🙋🏽‍♀️ We can also join the fight to pass it via ballot initiative in Montana. If we’re in the state, we can find out how to add our signature to get it on the ballot here and sign up to volunteer here. The Transparent Election Initiative will also be holding a webinar on Monday at 7PM ET/5PM MT about “the Montana Plan,” emphasizing how supporters across the country can help advance I-194. Let’s sign up to join them here. 🙋🏻‍♀️

VOLUNTEER IN MONTANA

GET INVOLVED FROM ANYWHERE MON @ 7PM ET

🙋🏿We can get more information and sign up to be part of this movement with the Transparent Election Initiative here. 🙋🏻

VOLUNTEER FROM ANYWHERE

🔁 And we can share this video explaining this new approach with our networks. Huge majorities of Americans have long wanted to take our country back from the oligarchs, let’s them know we’ve got a plan! 🔁

SPREAD THE WORD

Also in today's Rogan's List:

• The next phase of the fight for voting rights starts now - join solidarity events for All Roads Lead to the South tomorrow, help lead voter registration and engagement for Good Trouble Lives On, volunteer with Fair Fight Action
• Republicans won’t hold their own accountable, so the voters must – helping vote out Cory Mills, Chuck Edwards, Max Miller and Jen Kiggans
• Mifepristone access is safe for now – let’s use this pause to keep spreading the word about available resources for abortion
• Learn best practices and get plugged in with support to hold freedom vigils at detention sites, call Monday @ 8PM ET
• Anger at data centers is real, let’s make sure we can use it effectively – training on power mapping Wednesday @ 8PM ET
• A sitting supreme court justice hasn’t lost reelection in Georgia in more than 100 years… we’re going to change that on Tuesday! Phonebank for pro-choice, pro-democracy progressives TODAY at noon and 6PM ET, SATURDAY at 2PM ET, and SUNDAY at 1PM and 4PM ET