So, it's happening. Hasanabi, an American citizen, was temporarily detained by ICE after flying out of the country and coming back in. This has been a fear that many have had during Trump. If you're not a citizen and you leave the country, immigration enforcement might not let you in. But with Hasan it's different, hes an American citizen and a political commentator, so this comes off as intimidating AF. Honestly, if you dont leave the country, you won't have to worry about this, but just the fact that this happens is problematic. Trump is playing fast and loose with detentions, and detaining an American, even temporarily, seems to be an escalation, and an attempt at intimidating critics.
Hasan was questioned regarding his political opinions, asked whether he's critical of Trump, and also questioned regarding his stance on Hamas. It seems like they knew him and were trying to trip him up and get him to admit something that would lead to further lockups. However, Hasan navigated it well, and they couldnt get anything on him. Regardless, it is problematic.
Still, at the same time, many questions were related to his sympathies with possible terrorists groups, where he was asked what he thinks of Hamas, and if they're terrorists, and this is one thing where I have to say that yeah, if you're sympathetic with Hamas, you're kinda opening up yourself to this. Like on this blog, I try to avoid anything that is even remotely considered an endorsement of terrorism or political violence. Ya know? Speech is protected, but showing sympathy for extremist terrorist groups is just bad form. Like, I can see criticizing Israel, I certainly don't support the IDF or the Netanyahu regime given how genocidal they've been in this war, but honestly, I NEVER even considered supporting Hamas to be a possibility here. Like I was against that since day 1 and when I saw leftists sympathizing with Palestine to such a degree that they'd do that, I was like wtf, no, you dont do that. Okay? like, even if you cant be supportive of israel, and there are reasons why you probably shouldnt be at this point, embracing the terrorists on the other side of the conflict should be a hard no go. Of course leftists aren't known for their nuance, so if they do stupid things like openly support Hamas, I kinda consider that to be a them problem.
Now, ideally, free speech is free speech, and as long as the speech remains on the good side of the law, it should be protected, but at the same time I can understand why, under a regime that is so hostile toward immigration into the US, that they'd screen people for pro hamas sentiment. Not that this makes that right, especially when applied to CITIZENS, but I can understand why that would happen. And quite frankly, in this age of Trump, I do think people should use discretion with their views. Like, if you openly support terrorists, you're kinda making yourself a target for national security screenings.
Anyway, they let Hasan go, but yeah, as some said, it seems like the point of this was intimidation. Which isn't cool. And that's part of Trump's authoritarian creep. They want the opposition to shut up and self censor so they can control the populace more. And quite frankly, the more we do so, the more we give into Trump and his authoritarianism. So people should still be critical of Trump and critical of what he's doing.
Still, let's face it, leftists have a problem sometimes with basically being sympathetic to terrorists, and uh...yeah, you're gonna get yourself on a watchlist when you do so. And that might lead to situations like this. So yeah, when it comes to extreme views like that that can be construed as "supporting terrorism", people should be more careful what they say. And yeah, I am gonna say that.
Why do I focus on that? Because again, when they're screening people coming into the country, they're screening for sympathies and connections to know terrorist groups, because that could link you to terrorism. And quite frankly, normal innocent americans shouldnt sympathize or associate with these groups. And I can at least see, during a relatively authoritarian regime, people being locked up for that. I mean, this isn't even new. There's a reason people hated woodrow wilson for example in WWI, he locked people up like crazy. he locked up Eugene Debs for speaking out against the draft. Which is actually far worse than what Trump's administration is doing here.
Idk, just...use actual fricking common sense people. Dont say things that get you put on a terrorist watch list, ya know?
Either way, I dont support what trump is doing here either. I think this was intended to intimidate left wingers who are critical of trump or the war in israel. Let's not ignore that angle. Just...be smart people. Dont hold dumb### stances that open you up for arrest on even more normal national security grounds, ya know? because this kind of behavior is reserved enough that the trump admin could claim it is just a routine national security thing and not politically motivated.
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