{"id":3182,"date":"2025-03-24T16:58:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T16:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3182"},"modified":"2025-03-24T16:58:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T16:58:11","slug":"risking-it-all-momodou-taals-fight-for-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=3182","title":{"rendered":"Risking it All: Momodou Taal\u2019s Fight for Free Speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><!-- BLOCK(acast)[0](%7B%22componentName%22%3A%22ACAST%22%2C%22entityType%22%3A%22SHORTCODE%22%2C%22optional%22%3Afalse%7D)(%7B%22id%22%3A%22risking-it-all-momodou-taals-fight-for-free-speech%22%2C%22podcast%22%3A%22intercept-presents%22%2C%22subscribe%22%3Atrue%7D) --><\/p>\n<p>\n  <iframe src=\"https:\/\/embed.acast.com\/intercept-presents\/risking-it-all-momodou-taals-fight-for-free-speech?accentColor=111111&amp;bgColor=f5f6f7&amp;logo=false\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"acast-player__embed\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p><!-- END-BLOCK(acast)[0] --><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"has-underline\">\u201cAnything that shows<\/span> solidarity of Palestine is being mischaracterized quite erroneously as antisemitism. That\u2019s the way in which they are trying to get us to stop speaking about Palestine,\u201d says <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2025\/03\/21\/trump-free-speech-lawsuit-ice-momodou-taal\/\">Momodou Taal<\/a>, a Cornell University graduate student and activist now facing deportation after challenging the Trump administration in court.<\/p>\n<p>The risks of political speech have escalated dramatically for international students like Taal. He spoke to The Intercept Briefing yesterday, underscoring the chilling reality he and his peers now face. \u201cIt\u2019s not just that you might get kicked out of school or suspended,\u201d says Taal, \u201cbut you are threatened with deportation and ICE custody now. That\u2019s what\u2019s at stake here.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Late last week, federal officials sent Taal\u2019s attorney a midnight email demanding he appear before Immigration and Customs Enforcement on Tuesday. The email provided no grounds for the request. This typically marks the beginnings of removal proceedings against an individual in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Only afterward, over the weekend, did the <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/jonahmv.bsky.social\/post\/3lkz3yf4w4k2r\">Department of Justice<\/a> claim Taal\u2019s student visa had been revoked on March 14 by the State Department due to \u201cdisruptive protests\u201d and \u201ccreating a hostile environment for Jewish students.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The timing is telling \u2014 just days after Taal, a dual Gambian and British citizen, joined other Cornell plaintiffs in a lawsuit accusing the Trump administration of targeting international students for supporting Palestinian rights. In their complaint, the plaintiffs state, \u201cThe First Amendment protects people and not citizens alone. This includes non-citizens living in the U.S.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Taal had participated in pro-Palestine protests at Cornell. His legal team argues the order to appear before ICE demonstrates their central claim that deportation is being weaponized \u201cin retribution\u201d for lawful political speech.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-right\">\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cWhen you have to quell speech, it means that you are realizing that the outside world or public opinion is swaying in one direction.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Despite the pressure, Taal sees the government\u2019s actions as evidence of weakness, not strength. \u201cYou don\u2019t repress to this level when you\u2019re in a position of strength. When you have to quell speech, it means that you are realizing that the outside world or public opinion is swaying in one direction. So I think now would not be the time to be afraid. I know it\u2019s a very frightening moment, but for me, this is the time to double down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Tuesday approaches, Taal remains resolute about the potential consequences. \u201cIf I have to leave the country, it would be back to the U.K. I know the weather\u2019s terrible and your listeners probably don\u2019t like beans and toast either, but it wouldn\u2019t be the worst thing in the world going back to the U.K. I think about what the Palestinians have endured for 76 years and more \u2014 what I\u2019m going through pales in comparison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Listen to the full conversation of The Intercept Briefing on<a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-intercept-briefing\/id1195206601\"> Apple Podcasts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2js8lwDRiK1TB4rUgiYb24?si=e3ce772344ee4170\">Spotify<\/a>, or wherever you listen.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2025\/03\/24\/briefing-podcast-momodou-taal\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cAnything that shows solidarity of Palestine is being mischaracterized quite erroneously as antisemitism. That\u2019s the way in which they are trying to get us to stop speaking about Palestine,\u201d says Momodou Taal, a Cornell University graduate student and activist now facing deportation after challenging the Trump administration in court. The risks of political speech have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3183,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-usa-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}