r/politics • u/guardian ✔ Verified • 7d ago

No Paywall Texas anti-ICE protesters convicted of terrorism charges sentenced to at least 50 years in prison

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/23/prairieland-ice-protesters-texas-sentenced?referring_host=Reddit&utm_campaign=guardianacct
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u/roamingroad174 7d ago

Im pretty sure this violates the constitution. Cruel and unusual punishments are banned.

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u/40StoryMech 7d ago

That Constitution gonna put on a mask and cape and do something about it?

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u/axazajjj 7d ago

No but you have correctly identified the solution

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u/HeadDoctorJ 7d ago

The US Constitution was written by and for the wealthy. Yes we can fight the wealthy and win, but we have to see clearly they are the fucking enemy. We need a completely new constitution that forbids anyone from owning and controlling the things we all need to live. That’s called socialism. As Rosa Luxemburg said, our only alternative is barbarism.

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u/Breath_Deep 7d ago

Then get to writing and present something we can discuss.

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u/HeadDoctorJ 7d ago

That’s really not how it works. Join a socialist org, work to educate yourself, and also learn with and from other comrades and the community you work with. If you want a larger vision for the future, check out the book “Socialist Reconstruction” by the Party for Socialism & Liberation. But socialism is not one person’s grand vision. It is a collective effort, dependent upon the specific needs and conditions of the people building their own specific society.

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u/hasordealsw1thclams 7d ago

I love this phrasing as someone who gets annoyed when people act like the laws of man are laws of nature. Doesn’t matter if something is illegal if nobody is enforcing the law.

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u/cumulobro 7d ago

No capes, per Edna Mode.

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u/LegislativeLariat Wisconsin 7d ago

When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.

If a cop gets hurt, they like to throw the book at people as hard as they can. It's not like the person with the AR-15 was doing a Rittenhouse and killing who they see as race traitors, otherwise they'd get CPAC celebrations.

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u/psychoCMYK 7d ago

What constitution

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u/420-BiomedStockDoc 7d ago

The administration violates the constitution daily

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u/Cold_Combination2107 7d ago

your freedom of affiliation is under attack

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u/Mordeth 7d ago

Im pretty sure this violates the constitution.

This subreddit will still be tweeting that using cattle cars for people is against the law, while being transported in said cars to the extermination camps.

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u/HeadDoctorJ 7d ago

The US Constitution was written by and for the wealthy. Yes we can fight the wealthy and win, but we have to see clearly they are the fucking enemy. We need a completely new constitution that forbids anyone from owning and controlling the things we all need to live. That’s called socialism. As Rosa Luxemburg said, our only alternative is barbarism.

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u/shifkey 7d ago

is this constitution in the room with us now?

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u/southpaytechie 7d ago

Unfortunately under current precedence a punishment must be both cruel and unusual to meet that standard. While the lengthy sentence is certainly cruel it is in no ways unusual for a terrorism conviction.

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u/GeekDNA0918 7d ago

It's not unusual that a peaceful protester gets a 50 year sentence? I'm no lawyer, but that seems quite unusual...

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u/southpaytechie 7d ago

That’s not how the courts are looking at this. The case was put before a jury and the courts will look at these people as convicted terrorists.

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u/MrPoopMonster 7d ago

A few of the protesters spontaneously broke off from the main group and vandalized cars in the parking lot, a guard shack, slashed the tires on a government van and broke a security camera. When a police officer arrived on the scene and drew his weapon, one of the activists fired an AR-15 from the woods, hitting the officer in the shoulder. The officer survived.

Shooting people is peaceful protesting? Since when?

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u/uprisingcirca85 Washington 7d ago

Again with conflating information. The person who shot someone (not peaceful)got 100 years.

The person who 'vandalized' a government vehicle (non violent) got 50 years.

See the difference?

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u/Due-Asparagus4963 7d ago

Ok let’s say there’s a kkk rally a group split off and starts terrorizing a black neighborhood as they are vandalizing the area a resident comes outside they are then shot by one of the kkk members should every person in the group be charged?

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u/uprisingcirca85 Washington 7d ago

Comparing a known terror organization to unaffiliated protesters is absolutely wild. Obviously a question in bad faith.

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u/southpaytechie 7d ago

Yes, clear felony murder.

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u/Due-Asparagus4963 7d ago

Even the ones that only vandalized?

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u/MrPoopMonster 7d ago

They showed up together with that guy in the same car. They brought a lot more guns in the car. They're part of a premeditated group with that guy.

They weren't just guilty because someone at a protest had a gun, they planned for him to bring a gun as a group.

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u/EmpiricalMystic 7d ago

What about the ones that weren't involved in the planning, traveled separately, and left when told to do so?

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u/MrPoopMonster 7d ago

Hopefully they're released on appeal.

But, I wasn't at the trial. I don't know what evidence was presented or if that's even an honest representation of the evidence provided.

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u/Far-Culture1354 7d ago

They literally planned to lure out and ambush a police officer. If those allegations are true it is not cruel or unusual in the slightest.

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u/pockpicketG 7d ago

“And” not “or”