Trump administration speeds up new rules that would make it easier to charge some protesters By REBECCA SANTANA Updated 4:19 PM EDT, November 6, 2025 Excerpts: "The new rules empower officers from the #FederalProtective #Service [#FPS] to make arrests and charge people for actions near the federal property, and they include new rules regulating unauthorized use of #drones and tampering with digital networks. "The Homeland Security news release gave some examples of conduct that the Federal Protective Service could now charge someone for, both on federal property and off, including wearing a #mask while committing a crime, #obstructing access to federal property and tampering with government IT systems like card readers. "Spencer Reynolds, a former intelligence and counterintelligence lawyer at the Department of Homeland Security who’s now with the #BrennanCenter for Justice, a think tank, said Congress gave the Federal Protective Service the ability to work and carry out arrests off of federal property as necessary. But he’s concerned that the new regulations codifying these powers will be used as a way to target #protesters. " 'I see this as being guidance to go after peaceful protests where they are happening in the vicinity or even not in the vicinity of federal property,' he said. "In a report last year issued by the Brennan Center, Reynolds said the FPS expanded dramatically after Sept. 11 and that’s led to 'overreach under political pressure.' " [...] "The Federal Protective Service is tasked with protecting federal properties. The agency used to fall under the U.S. General Services Administration, which is responsible for purchasing and managing federal real estate, but when the Department of Homeland Security was created in the aftermath of Sept. 11, the FPS was transferred to Homeland Security." Full article: https://apnews.com/article/federal-protective-service-rul… #USPol #AbolishICE #AbolishDHS #DHS #Fascism #SilencingDissent #CriminalizingProtest #Authoritarianism