Last Week in Censorship: June 8-14, 2025
Trump threatens protesters with "heavy force," the entire Fulbright board resigns over political interference, and police systematically target journalists covering immigration protests.
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Last week the Trump administration's escalating assault on democratic norms and press freedoms continued. The president openly threatened protesters with military force ahead of his birthday parade, while his administration's political interference forced the resignation of the entire Fulbright scholarship board. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors indicted a sitting congresswoman for attempting congressional oversight, and police across Los Angeles attacked journalists covering immigration protests with rubber bullets and other "less-lethal" munitions.
Suppressing Press Freedom
Police systematically attack journalists covering immigration protests. The Los Angeles Press Club filed a lawsuit alleging that police officers repeatedly used "less-lethal" bullets and violated the constitutional rights of reporters covering anti-ICE protests. A photographer for the New York Post was struck in the forehead by another rubber bullet, his stunning image capturing its path immediately before impact. Australian journalist Lauren Tomasi was shot with a rubber bullet on live television while reporting. A student journalist says LAPD officers shot him twice with rubber bullets. One nearly severed the tip of his pinky, which required surgical reattachment. Press advocates say this represents a deliberate pattern of police targeting journalists to prevent coverage of government actions.
Retaliation Against Critics
Democratic congresswoman indicted for attempting oversight of immigration facility. Rep. LaMonica McIver was indicted on three federal charges for allegedly interfering with law enforcement during a congressional oversight visit to an immigration detention center. The indictment was announced by interim U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Alina Habba, President Trump's former personal attorney who briefly served as counselor to the president before being named to the federal prosecutor post in March. McIver says the proceedings are "a brazen attempt at political intimidation" for simply doing her job as a member of Congress. The prosecution of McIver represents an unprecedented weaponization of the justice system against congressional oversight.
State-Sponsored Intimidation, Propaganda, and Unwinding Civil Rights Protections
Entire Fulbright scholarship board resigns over political interference. All 12 members of the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board resigned, citing the Trump administration's "unprecedented actions" that they believe are "impermissible under the law." The resignation letter says the administration denied Fulbright awards to a "substantial number" of individuals it had selected for the 2025-2026 academic year, while also subjecting another 1,200 foreign Fulbright recipients to "an unauthorized review process and could reject more." Awards were overridden in subject areas spanning architecture, biology, engineering, agriculture, animal sciences, medical sciences, music and history, with the board accusing the administration of "injecting politics and ideological mandates into the Fulbright program." The State Department dismissed the allegations, calling the board members "partisan political appointees" and their resignations "a political stunt attempting to undermine President Trump."
Trump threatens protesters with "heavy force" at military parade. President Trump warned that "any" protesters at his military parade in Washington would be "met with heavy force." He called protesters "people that hate our country.” The threat came just days after Trump ordered troops to Los Angeles to respond to protests against ICE operations, demonstrating his administration's willingness to use military force against First Amendment-protected activities. The U.S. Secret Service and Washington officials said they were tracking nine small protests but didn't expect any violence. No large confrontations between law enforcement and protestors occurred, underscoring that Trump’s warning is meant to discourage protest, a first amendment protected right.
Good News
More than five million Americans protested on June 14th for “No Kings Day,” peacefully taking to the streets in more than 2,100 rallies across the U.S., without any significant confrontations with law enforcement.