Peaceful protesters are facing up to 60 years in prison for exercising their First Amendment rights.

On January 20, 2016, as President Trump was being sworn in, D.C. police rounded up and arrested a group of more than 200 people participating in an anti-Trump protest, or who just happened to be nearby.

Now the Trump administration is slapping them with  felony rioting charges that could lock them up for up to 60 years. Lawyers in D.C. say that they have never seen protesters face such extreme charges.

Whether or not you support President Trump, this abuse of power threatens the basic rights that we all depend on to live freely and feel comfortable speaking our minds.  

The protesters were participating in “DisruptJ20,” a series of permitted and direct-action protests that were meant to show opposition to President Trump’s inauguration.

During the protest, a few people did vandalize storefronts and damage property. But the group that was arrested is completely arbitrary, and they are being prosecuted for simply being in proximity of people who may have committed illegal acts.

The police picked a random group of the crowd to surround and arrest -- including journalists, legal observers, and medical volunteers -- and is charging them en bloc for actions they can’t actually pin to any of the individuals.

The government’s case does not distinguish between bystanders and those who may have been involved in illegal activity. They are charging protesters simply for being present at the protest.

By prosecuting the protesters as a group on extreme felony charges, the Trump administration is trying to make an example of them and criminalize activity that should be protected by the First Amendment.

President Trump has a history of encouraging excessive force against his critics. During his campaign he repeatedly offered to pay the legal bill for his supporters that used violence to silence protesters at his rallies. Now that he’s in the White House, he’s using his power to try to criminalize dissent and scare off his opponents from exercising their First Amendment rights to protest and speak their minds.

If we let Trump get away with this, it will set a precedent that anyone who protests against him could be locked away for decades just for attending a rally. It’s a blatant attempt to intimidate his critics and bully them into silence. We can’t let him use the police and prisons to chill free speech and dissent.