VIDEO THREAD: Supporters of @wikileaks publisher Julian Assange commemorated World Press Freedom Day this afternoon by holding a funeral procession march for press freedom in DC.
"What do we want? Free Assange!" chanted the activists, some of whom carried caskets. "When do we… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The funeral procession for press freedom protest began outside the Department of Justice with @JenChangeFL.
She says Julian Assange's prosecution is "death of part of our First Amendment."
Organizer @SmurphySuzanne with @AssangeActionDC spoke out in front of the DOJ and offered welcome to @RobertKennedyJr for his recent support for Julian Assange and other journalists and whistleblowers.
She read his tweets and said they are "hitting it out of the park for me."
Independent New York Senate candidate @DianeSare spoke out for #JulianAssange and his publication of leaked video showing the U.S. military killing two Reuters journalists: "We must not be afraid to face who we are and what we should be and to challenge our fellow Americans."
Ruslan Petrovych Kotsaba, a Ukrainian media figure and critic of Ukraine's military who fled to the United States in October 2022, said he is "often called the Ukrainian Assange."
(Kotsaba was sentenced for "obstructing the activities of the armed forces" in 2015 to 3.5 years in… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Lastly in front of the DOJ: @nick_brana of @PeoplesParty_US described that on Saturday at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, "all the biggest journalists in the country gathered at a swanky hotel right here in this city to celebrate press freedoms and liberties in this… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
The funeral procession for press freedom rally then marched to the National Press Club, where @JosBtrigga said "our government has been hijacked by tyrannical forces that have censored many people, that have put Julian Assange in prison."
Brian Fouche of @AssangeActionDC described how at a #WorldPressFreedomDay event hosted by Washington Post, "one thing they didn't talk about was any of the problems with freedom of speech and freedom of press in the United States."
"It was only focused on other countries."
Kathy Boylan with Dorothy Day Catholic Worker described how she refuses to pay federal taxes (this is a subject she brings up often at anti-war and related rallies in DC) "because our money is being used to fund all of the wars and the torture, all of the crimes against humanity… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
Organizer @SmurphySuzanne / @AssangeActionDC then quoted @RobertKennedyJr in front of the National Press Club promising to pardon Julian Assange: "The America I love doesn't imprison its dissidents."
"Thank you RFK for standing with Julian Assange and all of the truth-sayers!"
The funeral procession for press freedom then marched to the office of Washington Post, where they placed caskets in front of the entrance.
"Freedom for Assange, we shall not be moved!" DC-based singer/activist Luci Murphy led the crowd in singing.
Closing out the funeral procession for press freedom in front of the offices of Washington Post, @JosBtrigga quoted Dante's Inferno: "Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself astray, alone in a dark wood, for the straight and narrow path had been lost."
VIDEO THREAD: Hundreds participated today in the Transgender Unity Rally and march from the United States Capitol to the White House.
"Protect trans kids!" they chanted. "Out of the closet, into the streets!"
"Trans rights are human rights!"
2) Bree Taylor, Executive Director of the Trans Unity Coalition, described inviting members of Congress to the rally, but none showed up.
"Where are they?" the crowd asked.
Senator Chris Van Hollen sent a letter which was read out loud: "One of the most despicable things about Donald Trump is that he goes after the most vulnerable members of our society."
"We are all Americans, and we all have the right to live as our true, free selves."
"These are wonderful words, and only that. Where the f*** are you?" asked Taylor, who called him hypocritical over a prior vote on an NDAA amendment defunding trans affirming care for minors.
"We cannot rely on those who have nothing but empty, hollow words," Taylor added.
3) "Hey hey, ho ho, transphobia's got to go!" chanted protesters as they arrived at the White House. "What do we want? Trans rights! When do we want them? Now!"
"This is our place to be free to be who we want to be!" one speaker described, beginning an open mic south of the White House at the Ellipse.
VIDEO THREAD: Proud Boys Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola as well as Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes had a "reunion" this afternoon outside the United States Capitol, beginning at the original January 6 breach point on the west side.
All were granted pardons or commutations by Trump following decade+ prison sentences.
"Whose house?" they chanted as they posed for a photo. "Our house!"
"Whose desk?" yelled Richard "Bigo" Barnett, who was photographed with his feet on Rep Pelosi's desk on January 6.
2) Tarrio calls the Proud Boys chapters not recognized on his website (such as those that marched on Inauguration Day) "not legitimate."
"They've created their own faction," he explains. "Those are not Proud Boys."
He wouldn't answer say if he's the National Chairman again.
3) As Proud Boys and Stewart Rhodes walked around the Capitol, they joked "tactical formation, look out!"
"We don't want anyone to think we're stacking!" one said, referencing the Oath Keepers' formation on January 6, before Joe Biggs led the group in mimicking it.
VIDEO THREAD: Hundreds gathered including several members of Congress Tuesday outside the US Treasury to protest Elon Musk's access to a federal payment system.
Rep @MaxwellFrostFL said "an unelected billionaire and his team have been given full and unfettered access to our taxpayer money and our government."
"We're going to be the opposition!" he said to cheers. "We will fight, we will provide oversight, and we will win!"
All video in thread by @wallendupraw for @N2Sreports
2) Rep @JasmineForUS tells Musk and Trump "We are gonna be in your face, we are gonna be on your asses, and we are gonna make sure you understand what democracy looks like!"
"Y'all about to find out!"
3) Senator @JeffMerkley asks "did anybody vote for a government of billionaires, for billionaires?"
VIDEO THREAD: White Nationalist group Patriot Front marched into Washington DC to hand out flyers and rally alongside the annual March for Life, their third time doing so in four years.
Thomas Rousseau, the group's founder, was among a few out of the approximately hundred who went unmasked.
He reiterated his group's belief to press that only people with "European" heritage qualify as American.
2) A man using a puppet to perform interviews criticized Patriot Front by calling them "law enforcement agents."
"If it's such a good cause, take off the mask!" he said to Rousseau through the puppet. "Take your mask off!"
3) Independent journalist @RichieMcGinniss asked Patriot Front leader Thomas Rousseau how he feels about Trump's FBI director nominee @Kash_Patel.
Rousseau said "I don't think Indians should be in charge of any departments of the United States, because he's a foreigner."
Pressed on why Patel is a "foreigner" despite being born here, Rousseau reiterated his platform (white nationalism) that only people with European ancestry qualify as American, regardless of birth or citizenship.
VIDEO THREAD: Activists dressed as contractors took down a banner outside the National Archives in Washington DC this morning and replaced it with their own demanding Biden publish the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) into the Constitution before leaving office.
The activists brought two additional banners which they had also planned to put up in the place of existing ones, but police arrived and confiscated them before the group could get those two up.
2) Kamala Lopez, founder and president of Equal Means Equal, explained that the ERA has already been ratified by 38 states, so she insists that Biden can be a "hero" by publishing it into the Constitution to be enforced.
Without doing this, she calls Biden a "zero."
3) Responding officers told the activists to sit down on the sidewalk and disputed whether their truck had been legally parked.
Additional activists arrived dressed as women from the science-fiction Dune series to advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment.
VIDEO THREAD: Craig Sicknick, brother of Brian Sicknick who died of a stroke the day after fighting on January 6, 2021, spoke at a rally demanding Congress refuse to certify Trump's electoral victory on January 6, 2025.
"I came here today to urge Congress to do its job and block Mr Trump from taking office just a few short weeks from now," Sicknick said.
"They can do this by upholding their oath of office and acting under Article III of the 13th Amendment which clearly states that no person who was involved in trying to overthrow our government can hold any office, state or federal."
2) @JessicaDenson07, a 2017 campaign staffer for Trump who ultimately sued him, is an organizer of this weekend's rallies demanding Congress block him from retaking the White House.
"Donald Trump is an adjudicated insurrectionist disqualified and the only mechanism to remove that disability is by a 2/3 vote of both houses. That's it. We don't need new legislation," she said.
"It only takes 1/5 of both houses of congress... to raise an objection and a simple majority to sustain it!"
She says there was "mixed" reception as she and others lobbies for this idea to members of Congress.
3) "Congresspeople, keep us safe, Hallelujah!" sang protesters demanding Congress block Trump from the White House on January 6.
"Do your duty to the states, Hallelujah!"
"Insurrectionists can't be president!" they chanted. "Call your representatives!"