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Former U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to deliver remarks at a Republican volunteer recruiting event on July 8, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution "is clear that anyone who takes an oath of office and then engages in insurrection is forever barred from holding public office again," said one campaigner.
As part of a campaign to keep former President Donald Trump from serving in public office again because he incited a deadly insurrection, a pair of advocacy groups on Wednesday sent letters to election officials in nine key states.
After responding to his 2020 loss with the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen, Trump is seeking the GOP presidential nomination for 2024—and is leading the polls. This, despite a section of the 14th Amendment barring from office anyone who has taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion."
"The evidence is overwhelming that Donald Trump incited and mobilized the insurrection on January 6, 2021 at our nation's Capitol," said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, campaign director at Free Speech for People (FSFP). "The U.S. Constitution is clear that anyone who takes an oath of office and then engages in insurrection is forever barred from holding public office again. Election officials must carry out their duty, follow this constitutional mandate, and bar Trump from the ballot."
Echoing their April letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, FSFP and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund on Wednesday asked secretaries of state and election officials to exclude the twice-impeached former president from future ballots—and highlighted that the 14th Amendment "does not require that Congress, a court, or anyone else, adjudicate the question of Mr. Trump's ineligibility."
The new letters were sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chairs Peter Kosinski and Douglas Kellner, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, and members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
"Secretaries of state and state election officials are well within their authority to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot. We all know that Donald Trump incited an insurrection to stop the certification of the 2020 election," said Mi Familia Vota national programs manager Irving Zavaleta. "Trump is disqualified."
As Common Dreams reported last Friday, the groups' renewed calls for action from state election officials coincide with the 155th anniversary of the 14th Amendment's ratification. In addition to the letters, they have organized events in key states.
Since being voted out of office, Trump has faced two historic indictments: In April, the Manhattan district attorney charged him with 34 felony counts stemming from alleged hush money payments during the 2016 election cycle, and last month, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta were hit with dozens of federal charges in a classified documents case.
The latter is being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed last year after Trump launched his 2024 campaign. Smith is also responsible for investigating Trump's role in the insurrection—which could result in more charges.
"While the U.S. Justice Department, along with state and local authorities, must hold Donald Trump accountable for all crimes that he has committed, secretaries of state and chief election officials across the country must carry out their responsibility to follow the mandate of the Constitution and the insurrectionist disqualification clause and bar Trump from any future ballot," declared FSFP president John Bonifaz.
"Criminal prosecutions will establish Trump's liability under the law," Bonifaz added. "But the enforcement of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Trump will ensure that our republic is protected and that this insurrectionist-in-chief is forever disqualified from holding any future public office."
Trump and Musk are on an unconstitutional rampage, aiming for virtually every corner of the federal government. These two right-wing billionaires are targeting nurses, scientists, teachers, daycare providers, judges, veterans, air traffic controllers, and nuclear safety inspectors. No one is safe. The food stamps program, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are next. It’s an unprecedented disaster and a five-alarm fire, but there will be a reckoning. The people did not vote for this. The American people do not want this dystopian hellscape that hides behind claims of “efficiency.” Still, in reality, it is all a giveaway to corporate interests and the libertarian dreams of far-right oligarchs like Musk. Common Dreams is playing a vital role by reporting day and night on this orgy of corruption and greed, as well as what everyday people can do to organize and fight back. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. |
As part of a campaign to keep former President Donald Trump from serving in public office again because he incited a deadly insurrection, a pair of advocacy groups on Wednesday sent letters to election officials in nine key states.
After responding to his 2020 loss with the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen, Trump is seeking the GOP presidential nomination for 2024—and is leading the polls. This, despite a section of the 14th Amendment barring from office anyone who has taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion."
"The evidence is overwhelming that Donald Trump incited and mobilized the insurrection on January 6, 2021 at our nation's Capitol," said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, campaign director at Free Speech for People (FSFP). "The U.S. Constitution is clear that anyone who takes an oath of office and then engages in insurrection is forever barred from holding public office again. Election officials must carry out their duty, follow this constitutional mandate, and bar Trump from the ballot."
Echoing their April letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, FSFP and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund on Wednesday asked secretaries of state and election officials to exclude the twice-impeached former president from future ballots—and highlighted that the 14th Amendment "does not require that Congress, a court, or anyone else, adjudicate the question of Mr. Trump's ineligibility."
The new letters were sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chairs Peter Kosinski and Douglas Kellner, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, and members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
"Secretaries of state and state election officials are well within their authority to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot. We all know that Donald Trump incited an insurrection to stop the certification of the 2020 election," said Mi Familia Vota national programs manager Irving Zavaleta. "Trump is disqualified."
As Common Dreams reported last Friday, the groups' renewed calls for action from state election officials coincide with the 155th anniversary of the 14th Amendment's ratification. In addition to the letters, they have organized events in key states.
Since being voted out of office, Trump has faced two historic indictments: In April, the Manhattan district attorney charged him with 34 felony counts stemming from alleged hush money payments during the 2016 election cycle, and last month, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta were hit with dozens of federal charges in a classified documents case.
The latter is being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed last year after Trump launched his 2024 campaign. Smith is also responsible for investigating Trump's role in the insurrection—which could result in more charges.
"While the U.S. Justice Department, along with state and local authorities, must hold Donald Trump accountable for all crimes that he has committed, secretaries of state and chief election officials across the country must carry out their responsibility to follow the mandate of the Constitution and the insurrectionist disqualification clause and bar Trump from any future ballot," declared FSFP president John Bonifaz.
"Criminal prosecutions will establish Trump's liability under the law," Bonifaz added. "But the enforcement of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Trump will ensure that our republic is protected and that this insurrectionist-in-chief is forever disqualified from holding any future public office."
As part of a campaign to keep former President Donald Trump from serving in public office again because he incited a deadly insurrection, a pair of advocacy groups on Wednesday sent letters to election officials in nine key states.
After responding to his 2020 loss with the "Big Lie" that the election was stolen, Trump is seeking the GOP presidential nomination for 2024—and is leading the polls. This, despite a section of the 14th Amendment barring from office anyone who has taken an oath to support the U.S. Constitution and then "engaged in insurrection or rebellion."
"The evidence is overwhelming that Donald Trump incited and mobilized the insurrection on January 6, 2021 at our nation's Capitol," said Alexandra Flores-Quilty, campaign director at Free Speech for People (FSFP). "The U.S. Constitution is clear that anyone who takes an oath of office and then engages in insurrection is forever barred from holding public office again. Election officials must carry out their duty, follow this constitutional mandate, and bar Trump from the ballot."
Echoing their April letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar, FSFP and Mi Familia Vota Education Fund on Wednesday asked secretaries of state and election officials to exclude the twice-impeached former president from future ballots—and highlighted that the 14th Amendment "does not require that Congress, a court, or anyone else, adjudicate the question of Mr. Trump's ineligibility."
The new letters were sent to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, New York State Board of Elections Co-Chairs Peter Kosinski and Douglas Kellner, Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt, and members of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
"Secretaries of state and state election officials are well within their authority to bar former President Donald Trump from the ballot. We all know that Donald Trump incited an insurrection to stop the certification of the 2020 election," said Mi Familia Vota national programs manager Irving Zavaleta. "Trump is disqualified."
As Common Dreams reported last Friday, the groups' renewed calls for action from state election officials coincide with the 155th anniversary of the 14th Amendment's ratification. In addition to the letters, they have organized events in key states.
Since being voted out of office, Trump has faced two historic indictments: In April, the Manhattan district attorney charged him with 34 felony counts stemming from alleged hush money payments during the 2016 election cycle, and last month, Trump and his aide Walt Nauta were hit with dozens of federal charges in a classified documents case.
The latter is being led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, whom U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed last year after Trump launched his 2024 campaign. Smith is also responsible for investigating Trump's role in the insurrection—which could result in more charges.
"While the U.S. Justice Department, along with state and local authorities, must hold Donald Trump accountable for all crimes that he has committed, secretaries of state and chief election officials across the country must carry out their responsibility to follow the mandate of the Constitution and the insurrectionist disqualification clause and bar Trump from any future ballot," declared FSFP president John Bonifaz.
"Criminal prosecutions will establish Trump's liability under the law," Bonifaz added. "But the enforcement of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment against Trump will ensure that our republic is protected and that this insurrectionist-in-chief is forever disqualified from holding any future public office."
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare."
In communities large and small across the United States on Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people collectively took to the streets to make their opposition to President Donald Trump heard.
The people who took part in the organized protests ranged from very young children to the elderly and their message was scrawled on signs of all sizes and colors—many of them angry, some of them funny, but all in line with the "Hands Off" message that brought them together.
"Thank you to the hundreds of thousands of Americans across the country who are standing up and speaking out for our voting rights, fundamental freedoms, and essential services like Social Security and Medicare," said the group Stand Up America as word of the turnout poured in from across the country.
A relatively small, but representative sample of photographs from various demonstrations that took place follows.
Demonstrators gather on Boston Common, cheering and chanting slogans, during the nationwide "Hands Off!" protest against US President Donald Trump and his advisor, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in Boston, Massachusetts on April 5, 2025. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso / AFP)
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left."
A video presented to officials at the United Nations on Friday and first made public Saturday by the New York Times provides more evidence that the recent massacre of Palestinian medics in Gaza did not happen the way Israeli government claimed—the latest in a long line of deception when it comes to violence against civilians that have led to repeated accusations of war crimes.
The video, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), was found on the phone of a paramedic found in a mass grave with a bullet in his head after being killed, along with seven other medics, by Israeli forces on March 23. The eight medics, buried in the shallow grave with the bodies riddled with bullets, were: Mustafa Khafaja, Ezz El-Din Shaat, Saleh Muammar, Refaat Radwan, Muhammad Bahloul, Ashraf Abu Libda, Muhammad Al-Hila, and Raed Al-Sharif. The video reportedly belonged to Radwan. A ninth medic, identified as Asaad Al-Nasasra, who was at the scene of the massacre, which took place near the southern city of Rafah, is still missing.
The PRCS said it presented the video—which refutes the explanation of the killings offered by Israeli officials—to members of the UN Security Council on Friday.
"They were killed in their uniforms. Driving their clearly marked vehicles. Wearing their gloves. On their way to save lives," Jonathan Whittall, head of the UN's humanitarian affairs office in Palestine, said last week after the bodies were discovered. Some of the victims, according to Gaza officials, were found with handcuffs still on them and appeared to have been shot in the head, execution-style.
The Israeli military initially said its soldiers "did not randomly attack" any ambulances, but rather claimed they fired on "terrorists" who approached them in "suspicious vehicles." Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an IDF spokesperson, said the vehicles that the soldiers opened fire on were driving with their lights off and did not have clearance to be in the area. The video evidence directly contradicts the IDF's version of events.
As the Times reports:
The Times obtained the video from a senior diplomat at the United Nations who asked not to be identified to be able to share sensitive information.
The Times verified the location and timing of the video, which was taken in the southern city of Rafah early on March 23. Filmed from what appears to be the front interior of a moving vehicle, it shows a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck, clearly marked, with headlights and flashing lights turned on, driving south on a road to the north of Rafah in the early morning. The first rays of sun can be seen, and birds are chirping.
In an interview with Drop Site News published Friday, the only known paramedic to survive the attack, Munther Abed, explained that he and his colleagues "were directly and deliberately shot at" by the IDF. "The car is clearly marked with 'Palestinian Red Crescent Society 101.' The car's number was clear and the crews' uniform was clear, so why were we directly shot at? That is the question."
The video's release sparked fresh outrage and demands for accountability on Saturday.
"The IDF denied access to the site for days; they sent in diggers to cover up the massacre and intentionally lied about it," said podcast producer Hamza M. Syed in reaction to the new revelations. "The entire leadership of the Israeli army is implicated in this unconscionable war crime. And they must be prosecuted."
"Everyone involved in this crime against humanity, and everyone who covered it up, would face prosecution in a world that had any shred of dignity left," said journalist Ryan Grim of DropSite News.
"They're dismantling our country. They're looting our government. And they think we'll just watch."
In communities across the United States and also overseas, coordinated "Hands Off" protests are taking place far and wide Saturday in the largest public rebuke yet to President Donald Trump and top henchman Elon Musk's assault on the workings of the federal government and their program of economic sabotage that is sacrificing the needs of working families to authoritarianism and the greed of right-wing oligarchs.
According to the organizers' call to action:
They're dismantling our country. They’re looting our government. And they think we'll just watch.
On Saturday, April 5th, we rise up with one demand: Hands Off!
This is a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Trump, Musk, and their billionaire cronies are orchestrating an all-out assault on our government, our economy, and our basic rights—enabled by Congress every step of the way. They want to strip America for parts—shuttering Social Security offices, firing essential workers, eliminating consumer protections, and gutting Medicaid—all to bankroll their billionaire tax scam.
They're handing over our tax dollars, our public services, and our democracy to the ultra-rich. If we don't fight now, there won’t be anything left to save.
More than 1,000 "Hands Off!" demonstrations—organized by a large coalition of unions, progressive advocacy groups, and pro-democracy watchdogs—first kicked off Saturday in European, followed by East Coast communities in the U.S., and were set to continue throughout the day at various times, depending on location. See here for a list of scheduled "Hands Off" events—or schedule one in your community.
"The United States has a president, not a king," said the progressive advocacy group People's Action, one of the group's involved in the actions, in an email to supporters on Saturday just as protest events kicked off in hundreds of cities and communities. "Donald Trump has, by every measure, been working to make himself a king. He has become unanswerable to the courts, Congress, and the American people."
Citing the Republican president's thirst for "power and greed," the group explained why organized pressure must be built and sustained against the administration, especially at the conclusion of a week in which the global economy was spun into disarray by Trump's tariff announcement, his attack on the rule of law continued, and the twice-elected president admitted he was "not joking" about the possibility of seeking a third term, which is barred by the constitution.
"He is destroying the economy with tariffs in order to pay for the tax cuts he wants to push through to enrich himself and his billionaire buddies," warned People's Action. "He has ordered the government to round up innocent people off of the streets and put them in detention centers without due process because they dared to speak out using their First Amendment rights. And he is not close to being done—by his own admission, he is planning to run for a third term, which the Constitution does not allow."
Live stream of Hands Off rally in Washington, D.C.:
Below are photo or video dispatches from demonstrations around the world on Saturday. Check back for updates...
United Kingdom
France
Germany
Belgium:
Massachusetts:
Maine:
Washington, D.C.:
New York:
Minnesota:
Michigan:
Ohio:
Colorado:
Pennsylvania:
North Carolina:
The protest organizers warn that what Trump and Musk are up to "is not just corruption" and "not just mismanagement," but something far more sinister.
"This is a hostile takeover," they said, but vowed to fight back. "This is the moment where we say NO. No more looting, no more stealing, no more billionaires raiding our government while working people struggle to survive."