Never Trust the FBI
In the aftermath of the El Paso shooting, some are pushing to expand the FBI's powers. That's a huge mistake: a domestic terrorism law would almost certainly be used to silence left-wing dissent.
Articles by: Chip Gibbons
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Chip Gibbons is a journalist, whose work has been featured in Jacobin and the Nation. He is also the policy and legislative counsel for Defending Rights and Dissent, but the views expressed here are his own.
Let Chelsea Go
The US government is holding Chelsea Manning in solitary confinement again. It’s a vindictive, unconscionable attack on a brave truth teller.
Enemies of the Left
The FBI has historically served as a political police force, tasked not just with monitoring dissent but actively destroying it. Nowhere is that clearer than in their infiltration of the Left in the 1960s and ’70s.
Free Speech Is a Left-Wing Value
Early American socialists like Eugene Debs fought for free speech rights as a bulwark against state tyranny and employer despotism. We should take up their radical struggle for civil liberties today.
Obstructing Justice
Recently released FBI documents detailing the bureau's actions against George Crockett Jr show how the bureau acts as the nation’s political police, relentlessly hounding radicals.
Feds Watching
We obtained the FBI's files on Delmer Berg, a Communist and Abraham Lincoln Brigade veteran. They show the bureau's determination to surveil and crush dissent.
Crackdown in the States
Lawmakers around the country are attempting to stifle protest movements. They're the real threats to free speech.
Repressing Radicalism
The Espionage Act was passed today in 1917. It helped destroy the Socialist Party of America and quashes free speech to this day.
The Imperial Bureau
The FBI embodies authoritarianism more than any other domestic agency. It can’t curb Trump’s autocratic tendencies.
A Game of Russian Roulette
Couching opposition to Trump in anti-Russia language will only end up benefiting the Right.
The Trial(s) of Harry Bridges
In the 1930s and '40s, conservative forces waged a relentless campaign to deport militant labor leader Harry Bridges.
The Repression Lists
For decades, the state has used lists like the no-fly list to expand its power and harass political dissidents.
When Iraq Was Clinton’s War
Bill Clinton's "quiet war" on Iraq set the stage for George W. Bush's bloody invasion.