The Protect the Protest coalition
A task force of nonprofit organizations that have combined our expertise and collective power to fight back against SLAPPs and protect the free speech of public interest advocates in the United States. Shares ≠ endorsements. #StopSLAPPs #ProtectTheProtest
- “...my history of speaking up has always been rooted in justice. At previous jobs, I would literally take the company values off the wall when weweren’t living them. Speaking up is my nature...” Read Ron's story of being SLAPPed for speaking out on sexual abuse in his church. #StopSLAPPs
- As a coalition, Protect the Protest demands systems that prioritize life over punishment, compassion over cruelty, and justice over silence. An attack on one of us is an attack on us all. We won’t let state violence paralyze us or this movement. We rise and we are stronger together.
- Yesterday #SCOTUS issued a ruling about when certain state statutes – including anti-SLAPP protections – may apply in federal court. #StopSLAPPs
- Truly outrageous.
- Amazon Watch Responds to Reports That Ecuador Told To Pay $220 Million to Chevron. “We stand with affected communities & urge Pres. Noboa to reject this illegitimate award & enforce Ecuadorian law by ensuring Chevron pays its debt to those it poisoned.” amazonwatch.org/news/2025/12...
- Did you know that US courts have been ruling in favor of activists for Palestinian liberation? These cases 👇🧵 show how the courts have pushed back against the strategic use of lawsuits to punish dissent, reaffirming the core protections of protest and free speech.
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View full threadHelmann v. CodePink & PYM; Sumrall v. Ali ➡️ A win, a setback. A shifting protest landscape. Helmann v. CodePink & PYM: all claims against PYM were dismissed. Claims against CodePink continue. Sumrall v. Ali: a court issued an injunction against activist Janine Ali despite her criminal acquittal.
- Judges are rejecting efforts to criminalize protest. These legal attacks are meant to drain movements of time, energy, and hope, but truth and justice still carry weight in the courtroom. Read our full overview of these cases: www.protecttheprotest.org/stories/defe...
- Parizer v. AMP ➡️ Case dismissed. Court rejects terrorism accusations. Plaintiffs tried to blame AMP, NSJP, and WESPAC for the October 7 attack. The court found no evidence, no nexus, and no legal basis. Advocacy for Palestinian rights is protected free speech and protest, not terrorism.
- UMD SJP v. University of Maryland ➡️ Student rights upheld. $100K settlement and major First Amendment win. UMD canceled SJP’s approved Gaza vigil. SJP sued – and won. UMD settled for $100K which SJP is reinvesting in organizing.
- Lavi v. UNRWA USA ➡️ Court rejects terrorism smears. Humanitarian aid ≠ terrorism. The court dismissed claims that UNRWA USA’s fundraising “supported terrorism,” citing Twitter v. Taamneh: no direct link, no liability. The ruling affirms: political attacks can’t criminalize aid.
- Gerwaski v. AMP & SJP UNLV ➡️ Anti-SLAPP victory. Nevada court protects student speech. A Nevada judge dismissed emotional-distress claims against SJP UNLV and AMP, holding that their protest and online speech were protected. A strong affirmation of campus free speech.
- Manhart v. WESPAC Foundation et al. ➡️ SLAPP Dismissed. A federal judge threw out a commuter’s “false imprisonment” lawsuit against Palestine solidarity groups after the A15 protest and issued sanctions for filing a frivolous case. A major win against lawfare targeting protest movements.
- Palestinian rights advocates are winning in court, despite attempts to silence, smear, and criminalize them. Judges across the US are reaffirming what we already knew: speaking out for Palestinian freedom is protected political expression. Read our overview of some of these victories. ✊🇵🇸
- #TodayInProtestHistory: Violent Attacks on Water Protectors at Standing Rock 🧵👇 On November 20, 2016, police violently attacked Indigenous Water Protectors at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation during the Indigenous-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. #ProtectTheProtest
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View full threadThe attacks came after months of peaceful encampments, prayer actions + frontline leadership from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Their resistance inspired worldwide solidarity, as millions watched Indigenous youth, elders + allies defend land, water + treaty rights against militarized police forces.
- Today, as pipelines expand, state policing and militarization intensifies, and Indigenous sovereignty remains under threat, we honor the Indigenous leadership and courage at Standing Rock in continuing the fight for land, water and the right to resist. #NoDAPL #StandingRock #WaterIsLife #Landback
- As protectors gathered at Backwater Bridge to clear a road for emergency access, law enforcement blasted them with water cannons in below-freezing temperatures, tear gas, rubber bullets, and concussion grenades. Hundreds were injured.
- That night became one of the defining moments of the #NoDAPL movement. It exposed the scale of state violence used to protect fossil fuel interests.
- A great resource to help us organize against those in power who use this lawfare tactic in attempts silence criticism and dissent! #StopSLAPPs
- 🚨 A #ProtectTheProtest coalition member has been convicted for exercising her constitutional rights.
- Animal rescuer Zoe Rosenberg was just found guilty of felony conspiracy and 3 misdemeanors for her rescue of four chickens from Perdue's Petaluma Poultry. Zoe was represented by Chris Carraway, of Animal Activist Legal Defense Project (@AALDP-DU.bsky.social), and attorney Kevin Little.
- "The existence of the interagency group indicates the administration’s push to deploy government power against Trump’s perceived foes is broader and more systematic than previously reported."
- "Instead of promoting genuine pipeline safety, this kind of legislation targets free speech and the right to dissent at pipeline sites, attacking the ability of communities to meaningfully oppose and provide input into...pipeline projects that threaten their well-being and livelihoods."
- This type of surveillance erodes our constitutional right to free speech. It's an intentional tactic to being used to weaken opposition to the Trump administration by scaring dissenters into silence.
- “The Trump administration’s use of surveillance to track and intimidate UAW members is a direct assault on the First Amendment—and an attack on every working person in this country.” - @uaw.org President Shawn Fain. Workers and labor unions step up in the fight against fascism. #1u #UnionStrong
- “'This trend reflects a worrying shift towards the normalisation of exceptional measures in dealing with dissenting voices,' said Yosra Frawes, the head of the Maghreb and Middle East desk at FIDH." #ProtestTheProtest
- This #IndigenousPeoplesDay, we’re honoring Indigenous-led protest movements that have shaped the collective struggle for justice, and the act of protest as we know it today. From Black Hills to Oak Flat, Indigenous leaders have put everything on the line to protect land, water, and life itself. 👇
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View full threadLand Back/Mount Rushmore (1868-ongoing) #LandBack is rooted in the Lakota demand to return the Black Hills – land stolen and desecrated by Mount Rushmore. Since the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty was broken, people have marched, occupied, and reclaimed space to demand the land’s return.
- Indigenous resistance reminds us of our collective duty to the one planet we call home: protect the land, honor the water, defend the sacred. #IndigenousPeoplesDay is a call to stand in solidarity. Support Indigenous-led movements. #LandBack #WaterIsLife ✊
- Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls (1990s-ongoing) This movement exposes the crisis of violence, disappearance, and murder of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit people, and relatives. The red handprint has become a universal symbol of grief, rage, and love because of #MMIWG.
- Alcatraz Occupation (1969-1971) The activist group Indians of All Tribes (IAT) reclaimed the abandoned Bay Area prison and held it for 19 months. Their action reawakened Indigenous activism, and reshaped the struggle for sovereignty across generations. #AlcatrazOccupation
- Mauna Kea Protectors (2014-ongoing) Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiians) have resisted construction of the Thirty Meter Telescope on the sacred Mauna Kea volcano for over a decade. Their movement is a model for spiritual and ecological defense. #ProtectMaunaKea @kanaeokana.bsky.social
- Idle No More (2012-2013) Founded by three Indigenous women and one non-Native ally in so-called Canada, #IdleNoMore sparked a global movement.Through teach-ins, songs, and round dances, it called for sovereignty, protection of the land, and renewal of Indigenous law.
- Line 3 Pipeline Resistance (2017-2021) Anishinaabe women and Two-Spirit land defenders led the fight against the Line 3 tar sands pipeline. Their resistance linked climate justice to treaty rights, and showed what it means to protect water and future generations. #StopLine3
- Standing Rock/#NoDAPL (2016-ongoing) The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and thousands of Indigenous Water Protectors stood against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their courage and solidarity shifted global consciousness and redefined the climate justice movement. #MniWiconi #WaterIsLife
- Red Hill Water Crisis (2021-ongoing) When the US Navy’s Red Hill fuel tanks leaked into O’ahu’s aquifer, Kanaka ‘Ōiwi (Native Hawaiian) organizers led the fight to protect the island’s water. They called it environmental violence and won a permanent shutdown. #WaterIsLife
- Wet’suwet’en Resistance (2019-ongoing) Hereditary chiefs of the Wet’suwet’en Nation continue to oppose the Coastal GasLink pipeline across unceded territory. Their defense of land and law sparked a wave of solidarity blockades across so-called Canada. #WetsuwetenStrong
- Oak Flat/Apache Stronghold (2021-ongoing) Chi’chil Biłdagoteel (Oak Flat) is land of ceremony and spirit for Apache, but it is under threat of a foreign mining company. The Apache Stronghold continues to defend this sacred land through prayer, direct action, and the courts. #SaveOakFlat
- Timely! Coming up in ~ 1 hour!
- We’re taking to the streets across the nation on October 18 to protest the Trump administration’s abuse of executive power. Join us on October 6 at 8pm ET to make sure you’re prepared to protest safely. RSVP at aclu.org/KYRtraining_oct6
- Don't know who still needs to hear this right now but: #ProtestWorks!
- A powerful, insightful, and disturbing interview Chip Gibbons from #ProtectTheProtest coalition member @rightsdissent.bsky.social on last week's executive order.
- A wonderful and timely resource from #ProtectTheProtest coalition member @nlgnews.bsky.social.
- “It’s a really critical moment for other organizations to stand in solidarity, loud and clear solidarity, with organizations facing repression. Now’s not the time for splitting hairs over smaller disagreements. If they come after one of us they will come after us all." #Solidarity #ProtectTheProtest
- This is what authoritarianism looks like.
- If DHS can violently attack journalists and citizen observers without any consequences, none of us are safe anywhere in the country. #protest #LAProtests #PressFreedom #ProtectJournalists
- #TodayInProtestHistory: The Birmingham Church Bombing On September 15, 1963, white supremacists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four Black girls: Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley. They were preparing for Sunday service.
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View full threadThe attack revealed the deep resistance to racial justice in America, even as civil rights victories like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 moved forward. As Dr. King said at the girls’ funeral, “They say to each of us, Black and white alike, that we must substitute courage for caution.”
- Today, as voter suppression, racist violence, and attacks on protest rights continue, we honor their memory by resisting the same forces of hate and authoritarianism. Support institutions that preserve this history – because remembering is part of resisting. kinginstitute.stanford.edu
- The bombing was white supremacist backlash against the growing success of the Civil Rights Movement. kinginstitute.stanford.edu/birmingham-c...
- Birmingham had been called “Bombingham” for the number of racially motivated attacks, but this one shook the nation. For years, no one was held accountable. It wasn’t until decades later that members of the Ku Klux Klan were finally convicted. www.theguardian.com/world/2001/m...
- This act of terror came just months after Birmingham’s spring protests against segregation, where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and wrote his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” and only weeks after the March on Washington.
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- "I applaud our allies at Greenpeace International for taking full advantage of the new anti-SLAPP directive in the European Union...It’s the exact reason Greenpeace USA continues to push for similar anti-SLAPP protections at the federal level in the United States." #StopSLAPPs #WeWillNotBeSilent
