Texas man sentenced to 30 years for transporting pamphlets

functionmouse

May I see the zine?

coldtea

land of the unfree

pjc50

Anyone got the actual indictment? From linked https://freedes.net/jun-23rd-2026-press-release/ : "Sanchez Estrada, a 39-year-old artist, was found guilty on March 13, 2026, alongside eight codefendants who participated in an anti-ICE protest at the controversial Alvarado ICE detention facility. Under the auspices of “National Security Presidential Memorandum-7,” which was issued after the killing of Christian nationalist influencer Charlie Kirk, Sanchez Estrada was federally charged with “corruptly concealing a document or record” for moving a box of zines the day after the protest. Although he was not present at the protest, nor did he know about it, prosecutors argued that the content of the literature made it evidence of the defendants’ material support for terrorism, and shockingly alleged that the decision to move the box was a conspiracy between Sanchez Estrada and his wife." Very .. British approach to linking people to "terrorism" on the flimsiest pretext.

NoSalt

Misleading title. The relevant sentence is this: > "The prosecution claimed Sanchez moved the zines so they wouldn’t incriminate his wife, who attended a protest outside the Prairieland immigration detention center near Dallas, where a police officer was wounded by gunfire." The "Texas man" in question was involved in evidence tampering in a case that involved the shooting of a police officer. The title here makes it sound like simply moving paper around is against the law.

FrustratedMonky

I'd like to say something. But now that they are rounding people up, and Hacker News can be scraped and User Id's crosschecked with AI surveillance to dox. I'm actually fearful, the war on free speech is working.

fc417fc802

The article attempts to frame this as a speech issue but isn't it actually some sort of obstruction or concealing violation? But what was even the point? The pamphlets were never going to be the smoking gun. Also since when does obstruction net you 30 years? And apparently the judge openly made a statement indicating unconstitutional bias on his part in court. So I guess the entire thing is a farce meant to intimidate the average joe.

PowerElectronix

They really are cracking down on those protestors, jeez... Makes you wonder how much money is rolling in the ICE-Private prison system relationship.

ChrisArchitect

Some more discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48653311

freitasm

Meanwhile, the Epstein files continue to be ignored.

josefritzishere

This is the most clear cut and direct attack on the first amendment I've seen in my lifetime. It's really viscerally disappointing to see the US government fall to this low. Attacking an ideology is real meat of authoritarianism.