The
Jimmy
Kimmel
suspension
and
return
has
felt
more
rapturous
than
the
alleged
Rapture
was.
And
as
understandable
as
it
is
that
it
has
grabbed
many
people’s
attention,
it
isn’t
the
only
huge
attempt
at
chilling
free
speech
that
happened
this
week.
On
Monday,
the
White
House
announced
an
executive
order
that
designates
“antifa”
(short
for
anti-fascist)
as
a
domestic
terrorist
organization.
There’s
the
obvious:
anti-fascism
isn’t
an
organization
—
there’s
no
chain
of
command
or
locus
of
operation
that
an
organization
would
require
to
function.
It
is
merely
an
idea
—
if
you’re
against
a
populist
political
philosophy,
movement,
or
regime
that
exalts
nation
and
often
race
above
the
individual,
that
is
associated
with
a
centralized
autocratic
government
headed
by
a
dictatorial
leader,
and
that
is
characterized
by
severe
economic
and
social
regimentation
and
by
forcible
suppression
of
opposition
—
you’re
an
anti-fascist.
You’d
also,
for
a
good
part
of
our
country’s
history,
be
doing
your
part
as
a
patriot.
No,
this
is
a
practical
call
to
awareness
that
the
government
is
using
executive
orders
as
a
cudgel
to
free
speech,
and
you
might
be
next.
Recently,
a
man
in
Tennessee
was
arrested
over
Facebook
posts
about
Charlie
Kirk.
The
Tennessean
has
coverage:
[Charlie
Bushart]
has
been
arrested
and
charged
with
threat
of
mass
violence
in
connection
to
a
series
of
social
media
posts
he
made
about
conservative
commentator
Charlie
Kirk’s
assassination.
…
Perry
County
Sheriff
Nick
Weems
told
The
Tennessean
in
a
statement
that
participants
on
the
page
were
planning
to
host
a
Charlie
Kirk
vigil
in
Linden,
Tennessee
on
Sept.
23.Bushart
posted
multiple
photos
in
the
comments
referencing
Charlie
Kirk’s
death,
which
Weems
called
“hate
memes,”
but
stated
were
“not
against
the
law
and
would
be
recognized
as
free
speech.”
The
meme
that
seemed
to
get
Bushart
in
trouble
included
a
direct
quote
from
Trump
responding
to
a
question
about
school
shootings
by
saying,
“We
have
to
get
over
[them].”
That
was
enough
to
make
people
think
that
he
was
talking
about
a
hypothetical
school
shooting
and
that
he
intended
to
“create
hysteria
within
the
community.”
What
a
fucking
reach!
If
only
police
departments
were
this
vigilant
whenever
a
victim
of
domestic
abuse
warns
the
department
that
they’re
being
stalked
or
that
someone
is
directing
threats
toward
them.
The
arrest
speaks
to
how
easy
it
would
be
for
the
government
to
use
social
media
as
a
surveillance
tool
to
gauge
if
the
thoughts
we
share
fall
out
of
line.
And
considering
the
recent
antifa
classification,
saying
something
as
simple
as
“The
president
and
the
media’s
insistence
on
blaming
Charlie
Kirk’s
murder
on
a
left-wing
‘they’
before
there
was
any
shred
of
motive
was
an
obvious
attempt
to
create
division
that,
like
de-legitimizing
the
free
press
as
fake,
were
tactics
shared
by
Nazi
Germany”
could
get
you
put
on
a
list
for
supporting
terrorism.
Thank
God
that
was
just
a
lengthy
hypothetical,
by
the
way.
The
go-to
thought
would
be:
Well,
that’s
good
advice
for
people
who
were
dumb
enough
to
say
anything
involving
Charlie
Kirk.
I’m
smart
enough
to
not
get
caught
up
in
that.
Good
for
you,
but
the
antifa
hunt
will
be
going
back
further
than
whatever
has
been
said
in
the
last
two
weeks:
If
you’re
reading
this
and
you’re
one
of
the
people
who
donated
to
Mangione’s
GoFundMe
to
help
ensure
that
he
was
able
to
afford
a
fair
trial,
you
may
want
to
make
sure
that
your
donation
was
anonymous.
Given
the
leeway
required
to
read
Jimmy
Kimmel’s
joke
about
Trump’s
architectural
pivot
as
“deplorable”
and
“disgraceful”
—
even
by
a
Republican
who
was
supporting
his
right
to
say
it
on
the
air
—
it
isn’t
too
much
of
a
push
for
the
state
to
argue
that
anyone
who
tweeted
a
pro-Mangione
message,
let
alone
donated
to
his
legal
defense
fund,
materially
benefited
a
“terrorist.”
The
scare
quotes
are
there
because
a
New
York
judge
literally
threw
out
the
terrorism
charges
on
the
basis
that
the
evidence
wasn’t
strong
enough,
but
I
doubt
that
a
little
thing
like
“facts”
will
prevent
the
title
from
flying
around.
What’s
next
on
the
domestic
terrorism
qualification
list?
Any
post
critical
of
ICE?
It’s
a
dangerous
downward
slope
for
free
speech
and
multimillionaire
late
night
show
hosts
aren’t
the
only
ones
that
should
be
worried
about
sliding
down
it.
Tennessee
Man
Arrested
In
Connection
To
Charlie
Kirk
Social
Media
Posts
[The
Tennessean]
Earlier:
Luigi
Mangione
Pulls
$300K
From
Grassroots
Funds
To
Bolster
His
Case
Luigi
Mangione’s
Terrorism
Charges
Recently
Dismissed
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.