On May 10, the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray asking “whether the FBI had any related undercover employees, online covert employees, or confidential human sources” among what it called “pro-Hamas protests on college campuses.”
By sending the letter, Congress is in effect pressuring the FBI to penetrate the protests with both on-the-ground and online informants (if it hasn’t already). An obvious threat to the freedom of speech and association enshrined in the Constitution, the letter tries to circumvent these concerns by arguing that it is illegal to “endorse” or “espouse” terrorist groups — despite there being no evidence the protesters have done that.
“While we recognize that every American has the right to peacefully protest, individuals who endorse or espouse terrorist activity or support a terrorist organization are patently dangerous, and potentially criminal,” the letter says, citing a law prohibiting providing material support to foreign terrorist groups. (The material support provision only allows for foreign organizations to be designated, so Americans must be tied to a foreign terror group to be prosecuted.)
“The Committees are investigating the sources of funding and financing for groups who are organizing, leading, and participating in pro-Hamas, antisemitic, anti-Israel, and anti-American protests with illegal encampments on American college campuses,” the letter reads. “This investigation relates both to malign influence on college campuses and to the national security implications of such influence on faculty and student organizations.”
