30-year sentence for transporting zines is a five-alarm fire for free speech

Post by topgrain2 » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 9:35 PM UTC

rationalist wrote: post #11

WalterGR wrote: post #4

5 days ago, 90 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48649884

Thank you, at least that article doesn't require an email address to read it. > One fired an AR-15 at the police, which goes beyond legitimate protest into inciting violence (and maybe even deliberate provocation). Uh, I think firing a gun at someone is a bit more than "inciting violence", more like attempted murder? The article doesn't say what the actual charges were. Was it tampering with evidence? Although 30 yea…

Post by pc86 » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 9:47 PM UTC

topgrain2 wrote: post #22

rationalist wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, at least that article doesn't require an email address to read it. > One fired an AR-15 at the police, which goes beyond legitimate protest into inciting violence (and maybe even deliberate provocation). Uh, I think firing a gun at someone is a bit more than "inciting violence", more like attempted murder? The article doesn't say what the actual charges were. Was it tampering with evidence? Although 30 yea…

> Uh, I think firing a gun at someone is a bit more than "inciting violence", more like attempted murder? The shot cop had drawn a gun on someone who was running away. The judge didn’t even permit the defense to argue “defense of self or others” as a justification.

Post by appreciatorBus » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 9:51 PM UTC

xrd wrote: post #3

Up until now these crazy cases have been rejected by the courts. But this feels like a crack in the dam. A judge actually sentenced someone to 30 years for hiding zines, zines that had been published for years. This was under the pretense hiding those zines was hiding evidence of criminality. And the criminality was worth 75 years. For someone who was at a protest where a federal agent was shot, but was not the shoot…

Post by devmor » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 10:00 PM UTC

appreciatorBus wrote: post #26

xrd wrote: post #3

Up until now these crazy cases have been rejected by the courts. But this feels like a crack in the dam. A judge actually sentenced someone to 30 years for hiding zines, zines that had been published for years. This was under the pretense hiding those zines was hiding evidence of criminality. And the criminality was worth 75 years. For someone who was at a protest where a federal agent was shot, but was not the shoot…

I think all of this hinges on whether or not you think it was a protest. If they had been peacefully sitting outside the facility holding signs, I think you'd have a case that the sentencing is insane. But if they were actively planning a break-in & preparing to use deadly force, that's quite another matter. I haven't spent a lot of timing reading about it, but what I have read suggests it was much closer to the latt…

Post by ipython » Mon, Jun 29, 2026, 10:01 PM UTC

tumetab1 wrote: post #23

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