Unable or unwilling to point to the culprits, coroners would describe the murders with the haunting phrase “death at the hands of persons unknown.” Whether out of fear for their own safety or in solidarity with the murderers, jurors who refused to indict ensured that extrajudicial killings in the South were rarely punished. The wife who is indicted for obstruction for trying to protect her undocumented husband from being snatched by federal agents, the protester who is charged with assault for being thrown to the ground by a man with a badge and a gun—anyone charged or overcharged for resisting an unjust system of political persecution is entitled to the protection of a jury of their peers. On Thursday, Trump signed a memo declaring his government’s intention to “investigate and disrupt networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence so that law enforcement can intervene in criminal conspiracies before they result in violent political acts.” It is not difficult to imagine Trump attempting to prosecute those protesting his immigration policy on the grounds that, say, their criticism of ICE amounts to “isolating and dehumanizing” rhetoric that “foments violence” and therefore his Justice Department can prosecute political speech and association as precrime or thought crime.
Author: Adam Serwer
Published at: 2025-09-28 11:31:00
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