Domestic Terrorism: How Trump will Destroy Free Speech and Gun Rights
So-called domestic terrorism accusations have been used by DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and a host of Trump administration officials as justification for the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, MN. And while these two victims of the Gestapo tactics employed by ICE may or may not fit the definition, we are beginning to see how the use of the words “domestic terrorism” or “domestic terrorist” are being used by Donald Trump as cover to expand his tyrannical abuse of power by destroying the First Amendment’s protection of free speech and the Second Amendment’s protection of gun rights.
We begin with Attorney General Pam Bondi and a memo she released in early December 2025 ordering the FBI to comprise a list of “extremist” Americans found to be exercising their free speech rights to criticize Trump and his policies. And to show just how serious Trump was about this, he offered special funding programs bribes to states willing to help him and his flunkies in the FBI and DOJ round them up (via KenKlippenstein.com):
The target is those expressing “opposition to law and immigration enforcement; extreme views in favor of mass migration and open borders; adherence to radical gender ideology,” as well as “anti-Americanism,” “anti-capitalism,” and “anti-Christianity.”
In addition to compiling a list of undesirables, Bondi directs the FBI to enhance the capabilities (and publicity) of its tipline in order to more aggressively solicit tips from the American public on, well, other Americans. To that end, Bondi also directs the FBI to establish “a cash reward system” for information leading to identification and arrest of leadership figures within these purported domestic terrorist organizations. (The memo later instructs the FBI to “establish cooperators to provide information and eventually testify against other members” of the groups.)
The payouts don’t end there. Justice Department grants are now to prioritize funding to programs for state and local law enforcement to go after domestic terrorism (emphasis added).
Bondi’s memo went down the punch list of so-called indicators of domestic terrorism identified by Trump in his National Security Presidential Memorandum-7 (NSPM-7) directive, which Bondi said her memo was intended to implement. NSPM-7 was essentially a declaration of war on just about anyone who wasn’t MAGA following Charlie Kirk’s assassination (his death is explicitly mentioned in the memorandum), but Bondi’s memo to the FBI was the plan for how Trump will wage it.
I should mention Trump appears to have taken his cues from Joe Biden, who once labeled people exercising their God-given, constitutionally protected right to free speech to protest government as domestic terrorists for pushing so-called “anti-government rhetoric” for expressing their “opposition to Covid measures.”
On the topic of destroying gun rights, Trump’s intentions in this area became clearer following the murder of Alex Pretti after Kristi Noem and White House advisor Stephen Miller slapped the “domestic terrorism” label on Pretti before the body was even cold. They were followed by Trump and a parade of administration talking heads who blamed Pretti for (legally) carrying a firearm:
“I’ve been to a protest. Guess what? I didn’t bring a gun. I brought a billboard.” —Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during an ABC News interview
“You cannot bring a firearm loaded with multiple magazines to any sort of protest that you want. It’s that simple. You don’t have that right to break the law.” —FBI Director Kash Patel
“You can’t have guns… You can’t walk in with guns. You can’t do that.” —Donald Trump
Back to Pam Bondi for a moment… during her nomination for the AG job, I documented how she is simpatico with Trump concerning the matter of gun control.
Trump’s intentions concerning gun rights goes back to his first term in office. He openly embraced Nancy Pelosi’s gun-control agenda, banned bump stocks by executive order, pushed for enhanced background checks, and called for the expansion of red flag laws on a national level.
Trump was also willing to take on other parts of the Bill of Rights—such as the right to privacy and the right to due process—to advance his pro-gun control, anti-Second Amendment agenda:
He proposed forcing social media companies to develop tracking tools to “detect mass shooters before they strike”
He threatened to have his DOJ take Google and Apple to court to force them to turn over personal information on users of a phone app that calibrates rifle scopes
He called for the creation of a phone app capable of conducting remote background checks via the NICS system, giving government real-time access to personal information without due process and create a national gun registry
Only a few days ago I asked a question once thought unthinkable: Would Trump and Hegseth order the military to shoot protesters? It turns out that the answer to that question is closer to being a “yes” than a “no,” especially when dealing with people who are found to be using their free speech and gun rights which, in the Orwellian world of Washington politics, qualifies as domestic terrorism.
Free the People publishes opinion-based articles from contributing writers. The opinions and ideas expressed do not always reflect the opinions and ideas that Free the People endorses. We believe in free speech, and in providing a platform for open dialogue. Feel free to leave a comment.
