Tell Congress: Protect Veterans' First Amendment Rights

The FBI arrested Afghanistan war veteran Bajun Mavalwalla II for "conspiracy" after he joined a peaceful protest against ICE operations in Spokane. This dangerous precedent threatens every American's right to free speech and assembly.

• Mavalwalla—a former army sergeant who survived a roadside bomb in Afghanistan—now faces up to 6 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for exercising his constitutional rights.

• Legal experts warn this marks an escalation in the administration's crackdown on First Amendment protections, targeting the very veterans who fought to defend our freedoms.

• Nine protesters, engaged in a constitutionally protected demonstration, were charged with "conspiracy to impede or injure officers."

When we criminalize peaceful protest, we abandon the values our veterans risked their lives to defend.

Tell Congress: Defend the free speech rights of every American. An attack on the rights of veterans who defended our Constitution abroad is an attack on all of us.

In solidarity,

Action Collective