Kentucky Prosecutors Move to Ban Mention of Palestine in Case Against Louisville Activists

Zachary Miller

Kentucky prosecutors have asked the judge in the upcoming trial of the “Louisville 5” to silence any mention of the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Palestinian national liberation during or around the proceedings. They have also moved to ban the wearing of Keffiyehs, other forms of political speech, and protesting outside of the courthouse.

In February of last year, fifteen pro-Palestinian activists with the Louisville Ceasefire Coalition were arrested for peacefully protesting in front of RTX/Raytheon and BAE systems, well-known weapons manufacturers supplying weapons and tech to the criminal Zionist state. The protesters were attempting to block road access to the companies’ facilities. When police demanded that the protesters leave the road and stay on the sidewalk, half complied while the other half held their ground. After multiple demands by the police to disperse were ignored by the protesters, the police moved in and arrested fifteen protesters. All were charged with trespassing on key infrastructure, a class B misdemeanor. Ten of the fifteen defendants took plea deals, while the remaining five await trial set for June 23rd.

In a court hearing last Monday, April 14th, the co-defendants’ attorneys argued against the motion filed by the prosecutors. Ben Potash, an attorney for two of the defendants, called the motion a “blatant violation of the First Amendment,” and urged the judge to consider “less restrictive legal mechanisms” that could be utilized to ensure jurors focus on the relevant trespassing charge during trial, according to the Louisville Courier Journal. Co-defendants and supporters protested the motion outside the hall of justice that same day.

The move by state prosecutors provides yet another example of the ongoing nationwide suppression of free speech and democratic rights of anyone expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for national liberation. Even in prosecuting protesters facing only misdemeanor charges of trespassing, the right to even mention Palestine is revoked by the decaying old-state.

Photo: Protesters in Louisville block the road to weapons manufacturers.

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