It seems that the Biden administration's Department of Justice has charged four members of the African People's Socialist Party with conspiracy to act as Russian agents. The DOJ accused these people of "weaponizing" First Amendment rights and using speech and political action not in alignment with US government's interests. They alleged that others directed these accused individuals to publish pro-Russian propaganda material and information designed to sow discord among Americans deliberately. This is indeed concerning since everyone should have their freedom of expression observed without subjection or fear from oppressive endeavors by confederate ideologues adamantly determined on regulating all mannerism deemed contrary to unified doctrine and policy implementation structures.\
**Johnstone: Biden DOJ Indicts Four Americans For "Weaponized" Free Speech**
Johnstone: Biden DOJ Indicts Four Americans For "Weaponized" Free Speech
_Authored by Caitlin Johnstone,_ (https://caitlinjohnstone.com/2023/04/19/biden-doj-indicts-four-americans-for-weaponized-free-speech/)
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice has just charged four members of the African People’s Socialist Party (APSP) for conspiring to act as agents of Russia by using speech and political action in ways the DOJ says “weaponized” the First Amendment rights of Americans.
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The Washington Post reports (https://archive.is/EzCv7):
> Federal authorities charged four Americans on Tuesday with roles in a malign campaign pushing pro-Kremlin propaganda in Florida and Missouri — expanding a previous case that charged a Russian operative with running illegal influence agents within the United States.
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> The FBI signaled its interest in the alleged activities in a series of raids last summer, at which point authorities charged a Moscow man, Aleksandr Viktorovich Ionov, with working for years on behalf of Russian government officials to fund and direct fringe political groups in the United States. Among other things, Ionov allegedly advised the political campaigns of two unidentified candidates for public office in Florida.
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> Ionov’s influence efforts were allegedly directed and supervised by officers of the FSB, a Russian government intelligence service.
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> Now, authorities have added charges against four Americans who allegedly did Ionov’s bidding through groups including the African People’s Socialist Party and the Uhuru Movement in Florida, Black Hammer in Georgia, and an unidentified political group in California — part of an effort to influence American politics.
AFP reports (https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/1681886498-u-s-charges-four-black-nationalists-with-working-for-russian-intelligence) that the conspiracy charges carry a sentence of up to ten years, with three of the four APSP members additionally charged with acting as unregistered agents of Russia which carries another five years.
> _“Russia’s foreign intelligence service allegedly weaponized our First Amendment rights – freedoms Russia denies its own citizens – to divide Americans and interfere in elections in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Matthew G. Olsen in the DOJ’s press release (https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/us-citizens-and-russian-intelligence-officers-charged-conspiring-use-us-citizens-illegal) regarding the indictments, adding, “The department will not hesitate to expose and prosecute those who sow discord and corrupt U.S. elections in service of hostile foreign interests, regardless of whether the culprits are U.S. citizens or foreign individuals abroad.”_
**Looks like the United States has decided to dispense with those freedoms as well.**
> This fake and racist case flows from the Russiagate hysteria that convinced millions of Americans that Russia was paying dissident groups to destabilize the US political system
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> The FBI was unable to find anything real, so it went after the African People’s Socialist Party https://t.co/C1fUn2pyuW (https://t.co/C1fUn2pyuW)
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> — Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) April 19, 2023 (https://twitter.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1648559808318955520?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
**The superseding indictment (https://www.justice.gov/opa/press-release/file/1580251/download) containing these charges consists of a lot of verbal gymnastics to obfuscate the fact that the DOJ is prosecuting US citizens for speech and political activities in the United States which happen not to align with the wishes of the US government.** The grand jury alleges that the aforementioned Ionov “directed” these Americans to “publish pro-Russian propaganda” and “information designed to cause dissention in the United States,” which is about as vague and amorphous an allegation as you could possibly come up with.
For the record Omali Yeshitela, the founder and chairman of the African People’s Socialist Party and one of the four Americans named in the indictment, has adamantly denied ever having worked for Russia. Earlier this month before charges were brought against him, the Tampa Bay Times quoted him (https://www.tampabay.com/news/st-petersburg/2023/04/10/st-petersburg-uhurus-fbi-russia-update/) as saying, “I ain’t ever worked for a Russian. Never ever ever ever. They know I have never worked for Russia. Their problem is, I’ve never worked for them.”
**But it’s important to note that this should not matter.** Under the First Amendment the government is forbidden to abridge anyone’s freedom to speak however they want and associate with whome…
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