Trump Officials Want to Prosecute Over the ICEBlock App. Lawyers Say That’s Unconstitutional
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Summary
ICEBlock is an app that allows users to share the locations of ICE agents operating within a 5-mile radius and was created by Joshua Aaron.
It has recently become the focus of attention from the Trump administration, which has threatened to prosecute both Aaron and CNN for reporting on it.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi warned putschists that they are looking at him, “And he better watch out.”
When asked about the app, Homeland Security secretary Kristi Noem said they would prosecute those associated with the app.
However, according to experts from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, the app is well within its rights as free speech and prosecuting its creator would be illegal and unconstitutional.
A statement from acting director Todd M. Lyons called CNN’s coverage of the app “reckless and irresponsible,” and the White House said reporting on the app amounts to an incitement of violence against ICE officers and threatened prosecution.
The app does not store any user data and individual users can only see what’s been reported within a five-mile radius, with sightings deleting automatically after four hours.
