Thread by @benwikler

ALERT: The Trump administration has a plan to drastically curtail protests in DC, shutting down space in front of White House, charging massive fees, & banning stages & sound systems for rapid-response demonstrations. Deadline for comments? Monday, Oct 15: regulations.gov/document?D=NPS…

As the @ACLU writes, the proposed "Fee requirements could make mass protests like Martin Luther King Jr.’s historic 1963 March on Washington and its “I have a dream” speech too expensive to happen." This is what the Trump admin is proposing, right now.
aclu.org/blog/free-spee…

Since the morning after Trump's election through the present, I'm one of many people who have protested outside the White House, on the 25-foot sidewalk area where no permit is needed. Trump admin's plan? Block off 80% of it.

Over and over in the Trump era, we've had to mobilize rapid-response protests in the space of a few hours. Permits for those protests, under current rules, are expedited in urgent situations. Trump's proposal would end this, requiring 48 hours. In Trump era, that's a lifetime.

The government restricted DC protest rights in 1967. The @ACLU sued, and won. Judge J. Skelly Wright wrote, "Timeliness is essential to effective dissent. Delay may stifle protest as effectively as outright censorship." Which is why Trump wants to do it. aclu.org/blog/free-spee…

You can read the actual proposed anti-protest rules on this page—and then post your comment opposing them. If you've never commented on a proposed federal regulation before, don't worry: it's easy and quick. Do it now! regulations.gov/document?D=NPS…

I've met a ton of amazing people at protests around DC over the last two years who found out about them, at zero notice, from this Twitter feed. If you're one of them, please: take a second to weigh in against these rules. If not, you should still weigh in. And spread the word.

Anti-Trump protests at golf courses, Mar-a-Lago, etc face a problem: public doesn't have right to organize on private property. Security makes it v hard to organize a protest with visually comprehensible backdrop. And, often, locations are remote.

https://twitter.com/strbfields4ever/status/1050458658079830016

If Trump does something bad, you, an organizer, want to organize a public response that can show up on TV and in news article photos. That's often how they reach Trump. That's uniquely possible for protests at WH and National Mall. News outlets know to cover them, and fast.

As Judge J. Skelly Wright ruled, the White House and National Mall "constitute a unique [site] for the exercise of First Amendment rights." aclu.org/blog/free-spee…

I hope everyone who has been tweeting or writing about what they perceive as a free speech crisis will weigh in on the cartoonishly direct attack on first amendment protest rights currently underway by the Trump administration.
hillreporter.com/trump-admin-wa…

When this article went up on October 4 about the proposed anti-protest rules, there were about 1,000 comments on the government's public comment page. As of this moment, there are 3,161. How many can we get in before Monday, 11/15? 5,000? More?
prospect.org/article/will-n…

The good folks at @ThePCJF have a guide to "12 ways Trump's new rules will crush free speech in DC" at this link—and a handy form to help you put together your comment against these rules. Check it out now:

justiceonline.org/take_action_no…

Per @ThePCJF, Trump's proposal "Prohibits structures (e.g., stage, fixed sound) within the drop line of trees in Lafayette Park"—"but Lafayette Park is filled with trees." This would've made the Families Belong Together protest, where @Lin_Manuel sang Dear Theodosia, impossible.

The @Wilderness Society is one of the groups really leading the charge against Trump's proposed restrictions on free speech rights in DC. Check out their statement (and give them a follow):

https://twitter.com/Wilderness/status/1050490900634316801

Good news: since I posted this last night, the number of public comments on the proposed anti-protest regulations has more than DOUBLED, from just over 3k to more than 7623! Can we get to 10k today? Submit your comment here:
regulations.gov/docket?D=NPS-2…

https://twitter.com/benwikler/status/1050484346870788096?s=21

This is a great headline: "Get Off My Lawn: Trump Proposal Could Squelch Protests in D.C."—and the story's great, too. Reminder that Monday is the deadline to submit comments to the proposed National Park Service rules.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

Read this op-ed re the Trump admin's proposed crackdown on protests in DC: "If enacted, it would fundamentally alter participatory democracy in the United States."
washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-t…

DC’s @wusa9 ran a story last night on the Trump admin’s proposed rules to charge fees to protestors. I made the case for why it’s bad for everyone, left and right alike: wusa9.com/article/news/l…

17,239 comments now on the Trump admin’s proposal to roll back first amendment protest rights in DC. That’s 6x the number of comments on Thursday. Deadline tomorrow. Keep ‘em coming.

regulations.gov/document?D=NPS…