Trumps direct attack on the 1st Amendment on Truth Social.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump
All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter.
1.25k ReTruths 4.6k Likes 3/4/25, 7:30 AM
hxxps://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/114104167452161158
This is a direct and bald-faced attack on the 1st Amendment of the Constitution. The statement is blatantly unconstitutional and patently authoritarian.
Freedom of Speech & Protest: The First Amendment explicitly protects the right to protest against the government. Calling protests "illegal" without defining them is a deliberate tactic to suppress dissent.
Weaponizing Federal Funding: The government CANNOT strip federal funds from schools for allowing protected speech. The Supreme Court has ruled that federal funding cannot be used to coerce institutions into violating constitutional rights (NFIB v. Sebelius, 2012).
Targeting Agitators = Political Persecution: Threatening deportation or imprisonment for protest participation is authoritarian. This is how dictatorships operate. The U.S. government is not supposed to punish people for opposing it.
Expulsions & Arrests for Dissent: This is an open threat to American students who exercise their rights. No law allows the permanent expulsion of students for protesting, and mass arrests for dissent violate core democratic principles.
The NO MASKS Part is Nonsense: Masks have been used in protests for decades for safety, privacy, and protection from retaliation. Banning them serves no purpose except to intimidate and expose demonstrators to potential harm.
This is fascism in action. This is not about “illegal” protests; this is about silencing opposition through fear and coercion. If this doesn’t concern you, you are not only not a Patriot. You are a Authoritarian Fascist. You are a mortal enemy of the United States of America..
The First Amendment exists to prevent exactly this kind of authoritarian overreach. If we allow the government to decide which protests are "illegal," then not a single god damn one of us is free.
Some people will focus on the word “illegal” to justify this, but who decides what is illegal? The First Amendment guarantees the right to protest, and governments throughout history have labeled protests illegal as a tactic to silence opposition.
What counts as an ‘illegal protest’?
Peaceful demonstrations can be declared unlawful with little justification.
A technical permit issue? “illegal.”
A protest the government doesn’t like? “illegal.”
Stripping Federal Funds = Silencing Dissent
Universities would be forced to ban protests or lose funding. This means only government-approved protests would remain. Threatening Protesters with Deportation & Prison
This is state-sponsored persecution. It’s a direct attempt to scare people into silence. Authoritarian regimes do this.
The Mask Ban is a Trap
Protesters often wear masks to protect themselves from retaliation. Banning masks makes it easier to target, track, and dox dissenters. It’s about control, not law and order. This is not about stopping “illegal” protests. It’s about criminalizing opposition and punishing people for speaking out. The First Amendment exists to prevent this. If this becomes the norm, then no one is safe from government overreach.
If you side with this. You are NOT an American any longer.