The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is tracking and countering a new category of extremists: Donald Trump’s army of MAGA followers. This is a dangerous overreach that threatens the First Amendment rights of all Americans.

The FBI claims that this new category of extremists poses a threat of violence and major civil disturbances around the 2024 U.S. presidential election. However, the vast majority of Trump supporters are peaceful and law-abiding citizens. The FBI’s broad targeting of this group is based on nothing more than political affiliation.

This is not the first time the FBI has targeted innocent Americans based on their political beliefs. In the 1960s and 1970s, the FBI’s COINTELPRO program spied on and harassed civil rights activists and anti-war protesters. The FBI’s targeting of Trump supporters is eerily similar to COINTELPRO.

The FBI’s approach is also deeply flawed from a constitutional standpoint. The First Amendment protects the right of all Americans to express their political views, even if those views are unpopular or controversial. The FBI’s targeting of Trump supporters chills this fundamental right.

The FBI’s approach is also counterproductive. It will only alienate Trump supporters and make them more likely to radicalize. Instead of targeting entire groups of people based on their political beliefs, the FBI should focus on investigating specific threats of violence.

The FBI’s targeting of Trump supporters is a dangerous overreach that threatens the First Amendment rights of all Americans. We must stand up against this abuse of power and demand that the FBI focus on its core mission of fighting crime, not targeting political opponents.

Here are some additional arguments against the FBI’s approach:

It is unfair and discriminatory to target people based on their political beliefs.

It is a waste of resources to investigate people who are not a threat when real threats from our adversaries exist domestically.

It could lead to violence, as people feel increasingly persecuted by the government.

All Americans must call on the FBI to end this dangerous and unconstitutional practice. Furthermore we must demand Congress dismantle the FBI and assess whether a new organization focused on what the country needs should be reestablished. We cannot allow the government to target Americans based on their political beliefs.