Democratic Rights in the US
Democrats line up behind Trump’s war on immigrants
NY Times demands: “Give Trump his border money”
By Kevin Martinez, 7 May 2019
With death and misery mounting along the southern US border,the Democratic party is signaling its support for further repression.
020 Attacks on immigrants in the US
6 May 2019
Protesters oppose US extradition proceedings against Julian Assange
By Robert Stevens, 3 May 2019
The British government and the judiciary are doing everything possible to facilitate the US capture of the journalist who has been found guilty of nothing more than a bail offence.
“Today’s protest is a symbol of the fight for freedom”
French Yellow Vests join Assange extradition protest in London
By our reporters, 3 May 2019
WSWS reporters spoke to demonstrators outside Westminster Magistrates Court protesting plans to extradite the WikiLeaks founder to the US.
In violation of international law
Trump orders new attacks on rights of refugees, asylum seekers
By Norisa Diaz, 1 May 2019
Trump has directed that his top officials to impose a fee on asylum seekers, give border patrol cops authority to determine credible fear claims and place restrictions on work permits.
US government tries to distance itself from border militia
By Trévon Austin, 30 April 2019
The arrest of Larry Hopkins was carried out to mask the fact that militia groups act as auxiliary arms of Border Patrol.
“Assange can only be defended by an international movement of the working class”
Christoph Vandreier speaks at Berlin rally to defend Julian Assange
By Christoph Vandreier, 27 April 2019
Christoph Vandreier, Deputy National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party in Germany and a candidate in the European elections, addressed a rally in front of the Ecuadorian embassy in Berlin in defense of the Wikileaks publisher.
Julian Assange was denied access to lawyers, visitors in Britain’s Belmarsh prison
By Oscar Grenfell, 24 April 2019
The reported denial of the WikiLeaks founder’s right to consult his legal counsel, for over a week, casts grave doubt that he will be afforded due process.
CIA Democrats enter the race: Seth Moulton announces bid for presidential nomination
By Tom Eley, 24 April 2019
The congressman is virtually unknown to voters, but he is a leading figure among the CIA Democrats.
What the Supreme Court is repudiating
The Enlightenment, the American Revolution and the ban on cruel and unusual punishment
By Ed Hightower, 24 April 2019
Recent US Supreme Court rulings in death penalty cases represent a vast, anti-democratic cultural, legal and political retrogression.
US court orders Chelsea Manning to remain in prison
By Niles Niemuth, 23 April 2019
The courageous whistleblower has been held in jail since March 8 in an effort to force her to testify against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Judge rules former Michigan Governor Snyder, EPA can be sued by Flint residents
By James Brookfield, 23 April 2019
Recent federal court rulings allow Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and the US Environmental Protection Agency to be sued in class action lawsuits filed on behalf of Flint residents.
US attorney general orders denial of bond, indefinite detention of asylum seekers
By Patrick Martin, 18 April 2019
The action by William Barr overturns more than a decade of legal precedent and sets the stage for the criminalization of refugees seeking asylum.
230 Media slanders Assange
16 April 2019
Stop the extraordinary rendition of Julian Assange!
By Eric London, 15 April 2019
What is being presented as an extradition request by the US is so loaded with illegality that it would be more precise to call it an extraordinary rendition.
020 Assange update
15 April 2019
Trump, ultra-right media target Representative Ilhan Omar
By Patrick Martin, 15 April 2019
The ongoing campaign of anti-Muslim vilification is an incitement to violence.
Palestinian leader of campaign to boycott Israel denied entry to US
By Fred Mazelis, 15 April 2019
The action taken against Omar Barghouti is another illustration of the close policy coordination between the ultra-right regimes of Trump and Netanyahu.
Falsifying history and repudiating democratic rights: Floyd Abrams’ attack on WikiLeaks
By David North, 15 April 2019
We are reposting David North’s essay, first published over eight years ago, in defense of Julian Assange against efforts by the US media and government to discredit the WikiLeaks founder after the 2010 release of the Iraq War Logs.
Julian Assange’s life is in danger
By Eric London, 13 April 2019
The official indictment by the US government against Assange is a transparent lie, aimed at providing the UK with a legal cover to extradite the WikiLeaks founder.
The dictatorial impulse behind Trump’s political purge
By Patrick Martin, 9 April 2019
The abrupt firing of the DHS secretary and Secret Service chief are part of an effort to surround Trump with a loyal praetorian guard.
University of Arizona students arrested for protesting Border Patrol agents
By Shuvvu Batta, 8 April 2019
In Arizona, a Class 1 misdemeanor is punishable by up to six months in jail and three years’ probation, along with a $2,500 fine plus surcharges.
US Homeland Security chief forced out as anti-immigrant crackdown looms
By Eric London, 8 April 2019
Trump advisor Stephen Miller is orchestrating a right-wing takeover of the federal deportation apparatus with the support of a network of fascist Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and border patrol officers.
UN Special Rapporteur: US extradition of Assange would be violation of international law
By Oscar Grenfell, 6 April 2019
The Ecuadorian regime, and its co-conspirators in the British and US governments, are engaged in a sordid and illegal conspiracy to terminate the political asylum of the WikiLeaks founder.
WikiLeaks warns that Julian Assange faces imminent eviction from Ecuador’s London embassy
By Oscar Grenfell, 5 April 2019
The publisher warned that a “high-level source” within the Ecuadorian state had information that Assange would be expelled from the building and taken into British custody “within hours or days.”
“An excessive amount of violence, sexual abuse, and prisoner deaths”
Federal report exposes horrific levels of abuse in Alabama prisons
By Niles Niemuth, 5 April 2019
A more than two-year investigation exposed appalling violations of constitutional protections for the approximately 25,000 men locked up in facilities operated by the Alabama Department of Corrections.
Massive ICE workplace raid jails 280 immigrant workers in Texas
By Matthew Taylor, 5 April 2019
The mass raid, the largest in the US in over a decade, has devastating consequences for immigrant workers and US-born workers alike.
Youth and students speak in support of upcoming meetings series: “The Threat of Fascism and How to Fight It”
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality - US, 5 April 2019
This speaking tour is a major political event and is taking place against the backdrop of a global promotion of extreme right politics by bourgeois parties around the world.
Ecuadorian president threatens to evict Julian Assange from London embassy
By Oscar Grenfell, 3 April 2019
Moreno accused Assange of “repeatedly violating the conditions of his asylum,” to create a pretext to hand him over to British and US authorities.
US Supreme Court ruling guts ban on “cruel and unusual punishment”
By Patrick Martin, 2 April 2019
The death penalty decision in Bucklew v. Precythe eviscerates the prohibition against “cruel and unusual punishment” in the Eighth Amendment to the US Constitution.
US journalist exposes Julian Assange’s prison-like conditions
By Oscar Grenfell, 29 March 2019
Prevented from holding a meeting with the journalist, Assange defiantly protested and condemned Ecuadorian officials for operating as “agents of the US government.”
Arsonist attacks mosque in Southern California
By Norisa Diaz, 28 March 2019
An arsonist set fire to the Islamic Center of Escondido in North San Diego County on Sunday, leaving behind a note referencing the New Zealand rampage.
Free Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning!
By Andre Damon, 28 March 2019
The fate of these political prisoners must be a focus of attention of the entire working class and all those who defend democratic rights.
“Police violence is endemic to the system”
Pittsburgh high school students protest acquittal of killer cop
By Samuel Davidson, 26 March 2019
Hundreds of high school students and others took part in rally Monday in the fourth day of protests following the acquittal of the police officer who shot and killed 17-year-old Antwon Rose last year.
Mississippi “fetal heartbeat” law bans abortion after six weeks
By Ed Hightower, 26 March 2019
Senate Bill 2116 expressly contradicts established legal precedent permitting abortion within 24 weeks—a reduction in the timeframe for a woman to obtain the medical procedure by 75 percent.
Chelsea Manning held in solitary confinement for more than two weeks
By Kevin Reed, 25 March 2019
Manning has been subjected to solitary confinement after refusing to testify before a grand jury empaneled for the purpose of crafting frame-up charges against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Unsealed documents shed light on state conspiracy against Chelsea Manning
By Kevin Reed, 22 March 2019
The unsealed documents shine a light on the desperate measures to which the US government has resorted in pursuing a legal pretext to prosecute Julian Assange.
US judge dismisses charges against J20 defendants “with prejudice,” closing case
By E.P. Milligan, 22 March 2019
The decision ends the more than two-year attempt by the US government to set a legal precedent for the criminalization of constitutionally protected political speech and protest.
IYSSE holds rally at University of Michigan to defend Chelsea Manning
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at University of Michigan, 14 March 2019
The rally at the University of Michigan advanced an international strategy to mobilize youth, students and the broadest layers of the working class against the imprisonment of Chelsea Manning.
Students and youth across the US demand freedom for Chelsea Manning
By a WSWS reporting team, 13 March 2019
The International Youth and Students for Socialist Equality is leading the fight to organize opposition to the imprisonment of whistleblower Chelsea Manning by holding a series of meetings and rallies.
New York University student paper joins in “anti-Semitism” witch-hunt against critics of Israel
By Josh Varlin and Sandy English, 13 March 2019
The Washington Square News was forced to remove an article describing Women’s March Co-Chair Linda Sarsour as an “accused anti-Semite” after student protest.
030 Trump admin drew up surveillance list of journalists covering caravan
9 March 2019
US court upholds subpoena of whistleblower Chelsea Manning
By James Cogan, 6 March 2019
The subpoena is an escalation of the US government’s efforts to extradite Julian Assange, and a new and vindictive persecution of Manning.
Democratic leaders step up witchhunt against Congresswoman Omar on phony anti-Semitism charges
By Barry Grey, 6 March 2019
This intimidation and character assassination is part of a drive to criminalize all criticism of the Israeli state's oppression of Palestinians by equating it with anti-Semitism.
More than 80 arrested in Sacramento protesting decision not to charge police in murder of Stephon Clark
By Trévon Austin, 6 March 2019
Clark was killed after being shot at by two officers more than 20 times in his grandmother’s backyard last March. The only thing he had in his hand was a cell phone.
The political lessons of the March 3 Free Assange rally
By the Socialist Equality Party (Australia) Political Committee, 5 March 2019
The demonstration in Sydney won broad support on the basis of mobilising the working class to defend democratic rights and class war prisoners such as Julian Assange.
US Federal Court subpoenas whistleblower Chelsea Manning
By Matthew Brennan, 2 March 2019
The subpoena provides no information as to what prosecutors intend to ask Manning, but all indications are that it is part of an effort by the US Department of Justice to escalate its pursuit of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Greetings from the Sri Lankan Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee to the Assange defence rallies in Australia
2 March 2019
Tea plantation workers struggling for decent working conditions have expressed their solidarity with the fight to free WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.
Cohen assertions are not evidence of WikiLeaks “collusion” with Trump or Russia
By James Cogan, 28 February 2019
If Roger Stone did tell Trump he talked with Julian Assange, then Stone was lying.
US House rejects Trump’s national emergency
By Barry Grey, 27 February 2019
Neither Pelosi nor any other leading Democrat has suggested that Trump’s subversion of the Constitution and move toward presidential dictatorship constitutes an impeachable offense.
Trump administration bars US-born woman from re-entering the country
By Patrick Martin, 26 February 2019
The decision, based on Hoda Muthana’s past association with ISIS, is the first attempt to deprive someone of her citizenship on the grounds of “terrorism.”
Immigrants endure inhuman conditions at ICE prison in New Jersey
By Erik Schreiber, 26 February 2019
A report by the Department of Homeland Security’s inspector general describes detainees sickened by spoiled meat and moldy bread, forced to sleep on mattresses that are falling apart and shower in areas filled with mildew.
Australian youth defend WikiLeaks and support demonstrations to free Julian Assange
By our reporters, 20 February 2019
“I’m going to come to the rally to defend freedom of speech and freedom of the press”—Adam, University of NSW.
Trump threatens Alec Baldwin, calls for “retribution” against NBC
By Barry Grey, 19 February 2019
There is no precedent in US presidential history for such a direct incitement of violence against a public personality.
Eleven-year-old Florida student arrested after refusing to recite Pledge of Allegiance
By Matthew MacEgan, 19 February 2019
The incident occurred after the sixth grader told his substitute teacher that the American flag is “racist” and that the national anthem is offensive to black people.
NFL settles Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid’s collusion grievance
By Alan Gilman, 19 February 2019
Kaepernick drew national attention during the 2016 season when he knelt during the national anthem before games to protest social injustice, in particular police killings of African-Americans.
Following national emergency declaration
White House pushes for rapid border wall construction
By Patrick Martin, 18 February 2019
Trump’s White House aide Stephen Miller told Fox News the goal was to build more than 200 miles of wall before the 2020 election.
Connections exposed between far-right group and police in Portland, Oregon
By Kayla Costa, 18 February 2019
Local journalists released hundreds of friendly and detailed texts between Portland Police Bureau Lieutenant Jeff Niiya and Joey Gibson, leader of Patriot Prayer, a local fascist group.
Award-winning journalist Chris Hedges endorses Free Assange demonstrations in Australia
16 February 2019
“It is imperative that we pressure the Australian government to make sure its citizen, Julian Assange, is protected from the lawlessness of the American empire.”
Democratic leaders join attack on Democratic congresswoman
Bogus charges of anti-Semitism fuel right-wing campaign against Ilhan Omar
By Patrick Martin, 12 February 2019
The Democratic Party backlash only demonstrates the truth of Representative Omar’s comments about the influence of the Israeli lobby on Congress.
Oppose the Democrats’ #MeToo witch-hunt against Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax
By Barry Grey, 11 February 2019
Once again, unsubstantiated and dubious sexual allegations are being used in a #MeToo operation driven by a right-wing political agenda.
Dearborn, Michigan mayor suppresses historical article on Henry Ford’s anti-Semitism
By Tom Mackaman, 7 February 2019
The censored article details how Ford’s Dearborn Independent newspaper served as a platform for vile slanders against Jews—and an inspiration for Hitler and the Nazis.
FBI conducted surveillance of BAMN in the name of combating “domestic terrorism”
By Tom Carter, 5 February 2019
Newly released documents establish that the FBI launched a “full investigation” of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) based on allegations that the group had conspired to violate the rights of neo-Nazis and the KKK.
Over a thousand federal inmates in New York City jail held for more than a week in dark, frigid conditions
By Philip Guelpa, 4 February 2019
Over 1,600 inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn have been without heat and hot water, and with limited electricity and communications since a fire last Sunday.
Florida schools to allow real-time video monitoring by the police
By our reporter, 4 February 2019
New measures for the militarization of schools are being adopted one year after the Parkland massacre, while funding for public education, mental health and school counselors continue to be cut.
Stone indictment presents no evidence of links between WikiLeaks and Trump campaign
By James Cogan, 30 January 2019
WikiLeaks is a media organization that exercised the legally-protected rights of the press to published leaked information.
Indiana school superintendent arrested, charged with fraud for using insurance to help sick student
By Matthew Taylor, 29 January 2019
The arrest of Casey Smitherman has illuminated the wretched living conditions the working class confronts in Indiana and across the US.
Supreme Court reinstates Trump’s ban on transgender troops
By John Burton, 25 January 2019
The US Supreme Court by judicial fiat has overruled lower court injunctions and reinstated President Trump’s ban on transgender personnel in the US military.
Tempe, Arizona police officer fatally shoots fleeing 14-year-old boy in the back
By Kevin Martinez, 22 January 2019
The police claim that the youth made a move toward the officer after he stole an airsoft gun from a neighbor’s truck is at odds with the bodycam footage and the testimony of the truck’s owner.
“If giving water to someone dying of thirst is illegal, what humanity is left in the law of this country?”
Four “No More Deaths” volunteers convicted for providing humanitarian aid to migrants crossing US border
By Meenakshi Jagadeesan, 22 January 2019
A Federal Judge in Arizona has rendered a guilty verdict against four volunteers from “No More Deaths” for the crime of leaving water and food in the Arizona desert to help migrants.
Chicago police officer sentenced to less than seven years for murder of Laquan McDonald; three officers acquitted in cover-up
By Michael Walters, 21 January 2019
Jason Van Dyke was convicted in October 2018 of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, one for every bullet he unloaded into McDonald’s body.
US-born anchor for Iranian TV jailed without charges
By Bill Van Auken, 18 January 2019
The police state style abduction and imprisonment of Marzieh Hashemi is part of Washington’s wider preparations for war against Iran.
Widespread student support for beleaguered professor Peter Boghossian
By the International Youth and Students for Social Equality at Portland State University, 17 January 2019
Despite threats of dismissal by Portland State University, Grievance Studies “hoaxer” Peter Boghossian is respected by students for his principled stand against postmodernist philosophy.
075 PSU students defend Boghossian
16 January 2019
US shutdown: Sickouts by screeners throw airports into crisis
By Rebecca Campbell, 15 January 2019
The sickouts are one reflection of growing anger and determination to take action against uncompensated, compulsory labor for 420,000 workers and the lockout of another 380,000.
The American media revives the methods of McCarthyism
By Patrick Martin, 15 January 2019
The campaign sparked by reports over the weekend by the New York Times and Washington Post harks back to the anti-communist witch-hunt of the 1950s.
New York City judge orders 13-year-old held awaiting trial for murder of Barnard College student
By Owen Mullan, 9 January 2019
Tessa Majors was stabbed and killed during an apparent robbery in Morningside Park in Harlem in early December.
Twenty-two deaths reported in immigrant detention centers since Trump took office
By Niles Niemuth, 8 January 2019
A review of the circumstances leading to the death of each person in ICE custody reveals that nearly all died as the result of criminal neglect or abuse.
8 January 2019
For fifth year in a row, US police kill more than one thousand
By George Gallanis, 7 January 2019
The relentless wave of killings is an indictment of identity politics and the pseudo-left groups who promote racialist politics as an antidote to police violence.
Mumia Abu-Jamal wins right to reargue appeal of his 1982 conviction
By Fred Mazelis, 5 January 2019
The internationally known prisoner has steadfastly maintained his innocence of the murder of a Philadelphia police officer.
Silence follows Trump attorney’s statement that Julian Assange did nothing “wrong”
By James Cogan, 4 January 2019
Not a word about Rudy Giuliani’s Fox News interview has been said by the political and media establishment in the US, Europe or Australia.
Trump administration opens 2019 with tear gas attack on migrants at US-Mexico border
By Niles Niemuth, 3 January 2019
Border patrol agents fired three volleys of gas at a group of approximately 150 people as they sought to cross over a border fence from Tijuana into the United States.
US steps up offensive against China with more “hacking charges”
By Mike Head, 21 December 2018
As part of an internationally-coordinated operation, the US Justice Department has published indictments of two Chinese men.
Trump administration to immediately deport new Central American asylum seekers to Mexico
By Eric London, 21 December 2018
The policy announced Thursday is a historically unprecedented attack on workers and peasants fleeing violence and inequality caused by decades of US imperialist intervention and corporate exploitation.
Behind the epidemic of police killings in America: Class, poverty and race
Part two
By Benjamin Mateus, 21 December 2018
A statistical analysis of every police killing in the United States during 2017 demonstrates that socio-economic class, not race, plays the most decisive role.
US media demands stepped-up domestic spying over Russian “meddling”
New York Times: Back to the good days before Edward Snowden!
By Andre Damon, 20 December 2018
In a revealing comment, the New York Times argues that the present hysteria over Russian “subversion” can roll back the impact of Edward Snowden’s revelation of illegal mass government surveillance.
US Senate passes bipartisan criminal justice bill
By John Burton, 20 December 2018
The First Step Act will have only a marginal impact on the brutal and overcrowded US prison system.
Columbia College faculty union convenes secret tribunal to discipline members
By Alexander Fangmann, 20 December 2018
The leadership of the Columbia College Chicago’s part-time faculty union has convened a special committee to discipline members who question the union’s authority.
Woman convicted for climbing Statue of Liberty to protest Trump’s anti-immigrant policies
By Trévon Austin, 19 December 2018
Therese Patricia Okoumou explained that the treatment of children at the US-Mexico border prompted her to make a brash statement by climbing the monument in New York City.
Julian Assange denounces his illegal detention in Ecuadorian embassy
By Oscar Grenfell, 14 December 2018
The WikiLeaks publisher, whose health appears to be deteriorating, made the comments at a hearing against the Ecuadorian government’s “Special Protocol,” aimed at forcing him into British and US custody.
Time magazine honors journalists facing repression—but snubs Julian Assange
By Patrick Martin, 13 December 2018
The magazine’s “Person of the Year” went to journalists facing persecution for their efforts to uncover the truth, but only those whose efforts were aligned with US foreign policy.
Political warfare in Washington escalates to crisis of capitalist rule
By Barry Grey, 12 December 2018
Trump’s embrace of murder, his defense of fascists, his racist attacks on immigrants are blowing up an ideological pillar of US imperialist foreign policy—the pretense that the United States is a bulwark of human rights and democracy.
Trump threatens to use military to fund border wall
By Kevin Martinez, 12 December 2018
The president’s threat was followed by a tense meeting in the Oval Office with Democratic leaders where he threatened a government shutdown over funding for the wall.
Four years after Eric Garner’s death, killer cop faces NYPD disciplinary hearing
By Leslie Murtagh, 12 December 2018
The New York City officer who choked Garner to death in 2014, Daniel Pantaleo, has avoided any criminal charges.
Outrage spreads over video showing police ripping child from mother’s arms at Brooklyn food stamp office
By Fred Mazelis, 11 December 2018
The young mother, after being mistreated and brutalized, is being held without bail and facing four separate charges, including resisting arrest.
New York University faculty defends academic freedom against NYU’s ties to UAE
By Josh Varlin, 8 December 2018
NYU faculty closed a December 3 meeting by overwhelmingly supporting a resolution supporting the creation of an independent faculty committee to defend academic freedom.
Jacobin urges readers to “log off” social media
By Will Morrow, 8 December 2018
An article in Jacobin argues that Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have become damaging to the health of the population, are “destructive for the left,” and should be done away with.
The Guardian attack on Assange exposed as politically-motivated fabrication
By James Cogan, 6 December 2018
The lack of any case against WikiLeaks explains the scurrilous allegations by the Guardian newspaper last week.
CNN fires contributor accused of “anti-Semitism” for defending Palestinian rights
By Kayla Costa, 1 December 2018
While CNN has not provided a full explanation, the firing of Marc Lamont Hill came one day after he made public statements critical of Israeli policy against Palestinians.
Follow the WSWS