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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Nina Lakhani

US intensifies crackdown on peaceful protest under Trump

people protesting
A courthouse protest over the arrest and detention of Mahmoud Khalil, in New York City on 12 March 2025. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Anti-protest bills that seek to expand criminal punishments for constitutionally protected peaceful protests – especially targeting those speaking out on the US-backed war in Gaza and the climate crisis – have spiked since Trump’s inauguration.

Forty-one new anti-protest bills across 22 states have been introduced since the start of the year – compared with a full-year total of 52 in 2024 and 26 in 2023, according to the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL) tracker.

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