John,

As activist Grace Lee Boggs taught us, transformative change doesn’t start in the halls of Congress or the White House: It happens in the streets when the people demand it. Together, we have marched on critical issues impacting our communities, from Black Lives Matter to immigrants’ rights to climate justice to reproductive health. It is our First Amendment right to raise our voices in protest.

And yet, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has chosen to press criminal charges against 11 pro-ceasefire protesters from this past spring’s University of Michigan protests, an attack on students that flies in the face of our state and country’s Constitutions. Additional reporting indicates that the Detroit Police Department has been surveilling dozens of anti-genocide protesters in violation of their civil rights.

Remember, Attorney General Nessel failed to pursue prosecutions against those responsible for the Flint water crisis that poisoned the Flint community. And yet, she has filed charges of “trespassing” against students who were speaking truth to power on their own university campus.

Instead of getting justice or criminal charges in the Flint water crisis, the Attorney General has chosen to use the power of her office to silence the First Amendment rights of pro-ceasefire protesters.

Join me in demanding Attorney General Dana Nessel immediately drop the charges against pro-ceasefire student protesters, which are in violation of their First Amendment right. Add your name now >>

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to visit the University of Michigan’s Gaza solidarity encampment on the Diag, an area of campus historically used for student protests. That’s where students held their protests this spring and again last month at a back-to-campus event.

Photo Credit: Adam J. Dewey

As the ACLU of Michigan wrote in response to Attorney General Nessel’s shameful attack on students, “The right to protest peacefully is a cornerstone of our nation’s democracy.” It’s also a fundamental constitutional right as part of our free speech protections in the First Amendment, and it’s essential to creating social change.

We will not stop working to protect the rights of student protesters who were speaking truth to power in an effort to save lives.

Add your name to demand Attorney General Nessel drop the charges against pro-ceasefire protesters now.

I promise to continue defending our rights and saving lives at home and abroad.

In solidarity,

Rashida