Philadelphians came out en masse on April 5 for the national “Hands Off” march. Despite sketchy weather with intermittent showers, some 10.000 people gathered, marching down Market Street from City Hall to Independence Hall — the very birthplace of American liberty, here in what was once America’s first capital.
The march illumined the diversity of our great city. All of Philly’s racial, ethnic and LGBTQ communities were on display. People of all ages were represented. The outrage was palpable, as seen on signs and banners, many of which focused on Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, who has posed in the Oval Office and elsewhere with a chain saw, saying this is what he is taking to jobs and essential programs in his role as head of DOGE, the newly formed and unconfirmed Department of Government Efficiency.
The march also highlighted how critical government programs are for our leaders at the federal, state and local level. Black leaders like State Rep. Rick Krajewski, State Sen. Vincent Hughes, and Kadida Kenner of the New Pennsylvania Project all spoke to the crowd. City Council’s first LGBTQ member, Rue Landau, spoke, as did Randi Weingarten, the lesbian union president of the American Federation of Teachers. Trump has signed an executive order ending the Department of Education, which he has blamed for a “too woke” agenda including critical race theory and LGBTQ issues.
Throughout the election Trump falsely claimed that kids were getting gender reassignment surgery at school. Trump ran numerous TV ads targeting Vice President Kamala Harris as pro-trans.
The march also featured Democratic Reps. Brendan Boyle, Madeleine Dean and Chris Rabb in attendance. Boyle told the crowd that Trump, Musk and Trump’s “billionaire Cabinet” were all “rigging the economy” to benefit their “billionaire buddies” at the expense of middle-class families. Boyle said, “I look forward to standing alongside my Philadelphia neighbors to tell Trump we won’t accept his far-right agenda.”
Rabb used numerous expletives when he spoke, reflecting the outrage of the crowd, calling the administration “f*ckers.” He also took on the University of Pennsylvania and other Ivy League and high-profile colleges that have caved to Trump’s agenda on deportations and free speech. Rabb sharply questioned the point of having a platform, wealthy endowments, and “f*ck you money” if it was not going to be used to speak truth to power. Rabb urged Penn to have courage and stand up to Trump, not acquiesce.
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Free speech under attack
Rep. Rabb’s points about deportations, free speech and higher education focused on crucial points in Trump’s current battle against students who spoke out against the war on Gaza and for Palestinian rights. Trump has called all such students supporters of Hamas and deemed them terrorists.
Since the high-profile arrest and detention of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil last month, similar arrests have been happening throughout university campuses. Numerous Jewish groups have protested in solidarity with Khalil, including Columbia students.
Jewish students were also part of the Penn encampment, as were some local rabbis. But other Jewish students said the encampment made them feel unsafe and viewed it as an anti-semitic presence.
They were not alone. Last May, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro took the highly controversial stance of ordering riot police to disband the encampment at Penn after 16 days. Saying the situation at the college had become increasingly “unstable” and “volatile,” and that all students deserved to feel safe on campus, Shapiro ordered the dawn raid. A half-dozen students were temporarily suspended, leaving them without access to their rooms or other campus facilities. Some were concerned they would not be able to graduate.
Shapiro was on the short list for VP picks by Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and has loomed as a prime contender in the 2028 presidential primary.
What happened at Penn was a precursor to the current arrests of students. Penn president Liz Magill had been forced to resign in December 2023 after she and two other women college presidents were grilled by Congress over protests at Penn that demanded divestment from Israeli companies. Interim president Larry Jameson has since been named president of the college.
The slippery SCOTUS slope
Many historians would argue that the founding principle of this country is that pivotal First Amendment in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution.
The First Amendment protects all speech. It protects freedom of religion and freedom from religion.
The Founders and framers of the Constitution knew from their own personal experience that being able to speak out — particularly to voice unpopular views — was essential. Trump designating free speech a terrorist act that demands deportation violates this most precious of all our constitutional rights. That Trump has focused on these students who have committed no crimes rather than the actual criminals Trump pledged to deport speaks to the slippery slope we currently face and the risks to anyone who may meet Trump’s view of free speech, a view that is decidedly different from what the Founders intended. Most at risk will be groups Trump has already targeted, from students to activists to LGBTQ people.
Several federal judges have attempted to stop Trump’s deportations of people who are not criminals and have not violated any laws. But in separate rulings, the Supreme Court ultimately sided with Trump.
In the first a ruling on the deportations of non-criminals and in response to the lower court rulings, SCOTUS unanimously agreed that such actions violated the constitutional protection of due process.
The sticking point then raised by Justice Sonia Sotomayor in her dissenting opinion becomes how does one argue for a writ of habeas corpus on the other side of said deportation?
In the second ruling on April 8, the SCOTUS split 5-4 with conservative justice Amy Coney Barrett siding with the three liberal justices.
This ruling allows Trump to utilize the highly controversial 1789 Alien Enemies Act to make deportations. That law has only been used three times in U.S. history, always during wartime and always against people actively invading the U.S. So not for centuries.
This is where we are: a literal state of peril and risk. Speaking out has been deemed a threat to the country. This invalidates our most precious constitutional protection: the right to free speech and the First Amendment that our founders fought a literal war to create.