Defending Dissent: Advocacy Toolkit

The right to protest is under attack in the United States

From restrictive state legislation, to threats from the President, to the deployment of the National Guard, to universities cracking down on student protest, our right to speak up is increasingly at risk. These attacks disproportionately impact already marginalized communities—and they threaten to undermine civic participation and silence dissent. 

Human Rights First and Amnesty International USA are collaborating to support students, advocates, and organizers as they defend their campuses, cities, and communities from the authoritarian practices of the Trump administration and those who seek to silence our right to protest. Our new “Defending Dissent” initiative equips activists to defend the right to dissent at multiple levels.

This toolkit will help activists:

• Learn more about the various attacks on protest rights happening at various levels across the country
• Pass a “firewall for freedom resolution” at their university to demand universities defend student rights, not capitulate to Trump’s authoritarian practices
• Demand that Congress pass the Protecting Our Protestors Act of 2025, H.R. 3651, to protect protest across the country.
• Be better equipped at protests by knowing what to prepare for.