As Donald Trump and Elon Musk take a chainsaw to jobs and the economy, Senator Tommy Tuberville hopes to shred the First Amendment by outlawing protests — at least the ones he doesn't agree with.
"When it comes to protestors, we gotta make sure we treat all of them the same: send them to jail," the anti-Constitutional Alabama lawmaker said on Fox News. (See video below, posted by Aaron Rupar.)
Of course, Tuberville doesn't mean all protestors. The reptilian coach-turned-lawmaker applauded Trump's release of the violent January 6 "protestors" — aka rioters who broke into the Capitol and attacked Capitol police, who later died — saying they were in jail "long enough." And besides, he didn't see anyone beating officers with metal batons (even though he could Google it), therefore he "doesn't believe it."
This kind of ignorant, one-sided thinking doesn't work in a democratic society, but it's what drives authoritarian countries like Russia and North Korea. Which makes Tuberville a perfect soldier for the Trump 2.0 regime.
On Saturday, 30-year-old Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate, was arrested at his university-owned home by federal agents in front of his pregnant wife and sent to a detention facility in Louisiana.
Khalil, a Palestinian, had organized demonstrations in support of Gaza that the Trump administration has claimed were "aligned to Hamas." The detainee was in the U.S. legally on a student visa and a green card, which the feds now say have been revoked. He has not been charged with a crime, and his arrest has outraged legal scholars who say his activities are protected by the First Amendment.
Khalil has challenged his detention in federal court. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman is set to decide whether Khalil's transfer to Louisiana broke the law because his attorney challenged the arrest while Khalil was in New York. Furman had already prevented Khalil's deportation pending a hearing.
Previously: While supporting racism, Senator Tommy Tuberville claims to oppose it
