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"It starts with BreakThrough News, next they come after Democracy Now – and it only gets bigger from there." House Republicans have waged a McCarthyite campaign against BT, accusing us being "influenced" by foreign governments, because its MAGA agenda is so deeply unpopular. As Rania Khalek explains on Democracy Now, they're attempting to criminalize dissent and an independent press, because progressive politics are on the rise – and Republicans are losing the American public.

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Washington, D.C. – On July 27, around 100 people mobilized in front of the Philippines’ embassy to give their annual People’s State of the Nation Address (PSONA) and to expose the true relationship between the U.S. and the Philippines.

The march started from Stead Park as organizers were handing out fliers to passersby and constructing a large effigy of President Donald Trump, President Bong Bong Marcos Jr., and Ambassador of the Philippines to the U.S. Jose Manuel del Gallego Romualdez. The effigy stood tall and exemplified the relationship between the three individuals.

Trump stood front and center sporting devil horns, Marcos at one side held a large bag of pesos symbolizing the upwards of 80% of remittances that the Filipino government takes from migrant workers in the U.S., and Romualdez at the other side holding up a bloodied peace sign. The effigy was constructed by over 40 people and was placed at the head of the march to the Embassy of the Philippines.

Once the group reached the embassy, they took over the streets and began their program. Next to the effigy were three people satirically dressed up as Trump, Marcos Jr., and Romualdez, with Trump carrying leashes connected to the other two’s necks.

A member of Anakbayan DC spoke on a recent campaign stating, “Iris is a local youth activist who traveled to Los Angeles to attend the Kalayaan Summit, which successfully gathered the largest convening of Filipinos this country has ever seen. Despite being able to travel to LA, on the way back home, there were complications with TSA and getting a confirmed ID. Iris was not allowed by TSA to travel back home. Without a clear way home, Iris requested help from the LA consulate. She asked for help with notarization, access to Assistance to Nationals (ATN) funds, and also travel documents. However, the Filipino consulate of LA denied this request, saying they only give ATN funds to migrants in distress. But we know that this is one of the many falsehoods that the Filipino government uses to hoard funds that never make it to the Filipino masses.”

During the speech, an SUV broke through the marshal security line and sped through the protest, though no one was struck or hurt. The police and Secret Service were present; however, they did nothing.

A member from Bayan DMV spoke about their experience trying to give a letter to the embassy right before the mobilization, stating, “This letter detailed the conditions of hundreds of Filipino seafarers that are currently being targeted and detained by ICE and CBP. We were simply there to demand that the government provide assistance, and do you know what they did? They gave us the runaround. They locked the doors on us. They told us that we need to have an appointment, that we need to email, that we need to call, and these are things we’ve done time and time again. The consulate ignored us, rejected us, and they called us ‘insincere,’ but they have exposed themselves for not caring about our kababayan. They even barred one of our members from entering the consulate for five years; simply because we demand they do their jobs.” After the speech were calls from the crowd for Ambassador Romualdez to “do your job or step down!”

Rob Cheng, a member of About Face: Veterans Against the War told the crowd, “Did the U.S. military actions in Venezuela and the blockade of Cuba, did that make the people of Latin America safer? When the U.S. worked with Israel to launch their illegal war against the sovereign people of Iran, did that make the Middle East any safer?” The crowd responded “No!” in unison. Cheng continued, “So why do we kid ourselves thinking the U.S. having military bases in the Philippines, Japan and South Korea makes the people of Asia any safer?” He ended his speech with a rallying cry, “No boots on the ground, no bombs in the air! U.S. out of everywhere!”

The program ended with the crowd fervently destroying the “three-headed beast” effigy of Trump, Marcos Jr. and Romualdez.

#WashingtonDC #DC #Philippines #PeoplesStruggles

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"We are in a very visible, explicit war for our basic survival right now… Our neighborhoods are not being boosted with funding or relief, but with militarized agents to surveil us, intimidate us, and kill us when we're deemed a threat for being Black, brown, or poor." Violent crime is at near record lows across the US — but killings by ICE and police are surging. From Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, both killed by federal immigration agents this month, to Corey Ruiz, shot by Madison police last week, communities are responding the way they historically have: with mass protests and demands for structural change. Meanwhile, TPS protections are ending this week for roughly 350,000 Haitians, as the Trump administration ramps up a new anti-immigrant crackdown on New York City. Rachel Domond, an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Houston, says the timing of this isn't coincidence — it's strategy: “Trump is waning in popularity. People are becoming increasingly conscious that the ills in our society are systemic, and people are angry. They tell us that immigrants are taking all the jobs, or poor Black people are abusing the social programs available, and that's why you don't have what you need. But these are all lies designed to distract us from the real people responsible for our conditions, which are billionaires who hoard all of the wealth.” Watch full episodes of BT Live, join breakthroughnews.org as a member today!

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The premier reportedly told Trump that there is ‘no choice’ but to attack Iran again with heavier and more ‘significant’ strikes

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Suddenly, for centrists, refusing to support Democrats and withdrawing their support isn’t much of an offense, and indeed could be something worthy of “serious conversations.”

Over the past few weeks, progressive and self-identified democratic socialist candidates are racking up major victories in New York, Pennsylvania, and Colorado, and leading in polls in Wisconsin and Michigan. In response, centrist pundits, politicians, and funders are increasingly threatening to boycott, leave, or otherwise announce their uncommitment to the Democratic Party. But unlike the Uncommitted Movement of 2024—which sought to use their leverage as voters to pressure the Biden, and ultimately Harris, campaign into adopting the both morally and politically correct position of ending support for genocide—the emerging Centrist Uncommitted movement is animated, in large part, by their support for genocide and lockstep support for Israel.

First up is perennial centrist sage James Carville, whose claim to fame is winning an election 34 years ago and spending the next several decades occupying cable news panels or calling in from gaudy pink mansions to scold Democrats for never being sufficiently centrist. He has one note, and he was going to elevate it after the recent wave of Left electoral wins, telling his podcast listeners after Mamdani-backed candidates in New York won 8 for 8 last month, “I actually do think it’s time for Democrats to talk the S-word: schism.” He added that some DSA-aligned candidates “have no place in the Democratic party” and, of the broader coalition: “I’m not in that fucking political party.”

Did this brazen act of disloyalty to the party result in any condemnations or scandals, like the meltdown over streamer Hasan Piker’s insistence he would not support Gavin Newsom if he won the nomination? No, because the loyalty demands only go left, never right, as we will learn.

The loyalty demands only go left, never right.

Carville is by no means alone. CNN reported that same day that there’s apparently a brewing conspiracy on Capitol Hill for centrists, namely pro-Israel centrists, to form their own party or otherwise divorce from the Democratic Party. With the courage typical in these ideological meltdowns, these designs were, of course, leaked anonymously to a friendly outlet. “One Democratic lawmaker sitting in a battleground district told CNN,” Sarah Ferris, Ellis Kim, and Annie Grayer reported, “that they are so concerned about the rise of the Democratic Socialists of America that they have recently begun having serious conversations with donors about leaving the party altogether.”

It’s a funny formulation here by CNN: The anonymous threat is framed as being from a congressperson in a “battleground state,” implying their concern is electoral, and they are forced to respond to the organic demands of their constituents to support Israel. But then it’s immediately followed up with an acknowledgment that they’re actually taking cues from their “donors,” with whom they discussed the issue before any voters are mentioned, much less centered.

One of the few Democrats who has the decency to make this threat publicly is increasingly right-wing and erratic Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman, who indicated last week he will leave the party over its supposedly insufficient support for Israel.

We have evidence elsewhere of a pending Centrist Uncommitted movement backed by (far more consequentially than media whining) a donor strike—especially if anti-zionist Abdul El-Sayed wins his Democratic primary on August 4 in Michigan. “Some Jewish Democratic leaders in the state,” reports the Times of Israel, “are prepared to go even further.”:

“Several prominent Metro Detroit Jews who have traditionally fundraised for Democrats are also planning fundraisers for the presumptive GOP nominee, former US Rep. Mike Rogers, as a ‘hedge.’… Others affirmed the idea that the Jewish Democratic donor class, feeling abandoned by the party, would back Rogers.”

Other pro-Israel commentators, such as alleged gun control advocate Fred Guttenberg, have openly threatened to leave the party.

Unfortunately @RoKhanna, this is the kind of position that will cause people like me to step away from the Democratic party. https://t.co/npdNPE4D0q

— Fred Guttenberg (@fred_guttenberg) July 17, 2026

After Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani secured the Democratic Party nomination for mayor of New York City last year, party leaders either dragged their feet in endorsing him or—as was the case with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer—never endorsed him at all. House Minority Leader (and the House’s number one recipient of AIPAC money out of 435 members) Hakeem Jeffries made veiled mob threats for months over Mamdani’s refusal to spout pro-Israel bromides, before reluctantly being forced to endorse Mamdani days before the general election, releasing a statement with all the charm and enthusiasm of an ISIS hostage video. Other Democrats, such as New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, accused Mamdani of being a “jihadist.”

It may seem vulgar to compare this genocidal fit to the 2024 Gaza Uncommitted Movement, but it’s a useful window into brazen hypocrisy and double standards. In retrospect, no group of people in the country were more loyal to the Democratic Party than the Uncommitted Movement, which was trying to save Democrats from themselves. Yet that movement’s acknowledgment of reality—that support for genocide would demoralize the base and reduce volunteer and GOTV energy—was framed as petulance, lack of loyalty, or a secret desire for Trump to win. Democrats were attempting to run a marathon with a rock in their shoe. The Uncommitted Movement insisted the rock must be removed. And the zionist ideologues that comprise a great deal of our media and party establishment insisted they were anti-winning the marathon. A grotesque combination of racist, stubborn, stupid, and cruel.

Democrats were attempting to run a marathon with a rock in their shoe. The Uncommitted Movement insisted the rock must be removed. And the zionist ideologues that comprise a great deal of our media and party establishment insisted they were anti-winning the marathon.

The emerging Centrist Uncommitted movement is, of course, not motivated by any such humanitarian or practical concerns. It’s motivated by venality and pro-corporate politics, but is being supercharged by a deluded commitment to the dead-end ideology of zionism and its never-ending regime of indefensible and extreme regional violence. A goal these Uncommitted “donors” and pro-Israel electeds openly profess.

The idea that threatening to leave, or not vote for, Democrats to extract concessions from the party is a uniquely left-wing phenomenon is a popular canard but not one supported by evidence. Indeed, it’s become something of conventional wisdom that disgruntled Bernie voters sat out the 2016 election or voted for Trump or Stein, but the reality is they voted for Clinton at a rate twice that of Clinton voters supported Obama in 2008. The anti-Obama PUMA movement, or the Party Unity My Ass Movement as it was called, was far more potent than any effort for Sanders supporters to boycott the general in 2016. But it nevertheless became conventional wisdom that the latter was of greater consequence than the former. Partly this is, of course, because Obama won and Clinton didn’t, but also because the Left’s loyalty to the party is taken for granted, whereas centrists must be won over and catered to. A dynamic that, conveniently, works out well for Wall Street, Corporate America, and zionism.

Centrists must be courted, pandered to, and their petulant threats to leave the party—in service of genocide rather than principled opposition to it—must be coddled. But those using the only lever they had to enact change in the doomed 2024 election were threatened, mocked, belittled, and turned into a punchline for disloyalty.

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Scientists have discovered two new mechanisms for how a well-established antibiotic works, paving the way for the potential development of new antibiotic treatments.

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As with his proposals for government-run grocery stores and a tax on the second homes owned by rich New Yorkers, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani's recent call for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an accused war criminal, to be arrested on US soil sparked outrage among Trump administration officials and others on the right.

And just like his other proposals, despite the claims that the mayor's comments displayed "extreme views" and were dangerous and divisive, Mamdani's demand that the US execute the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for Netanyahu is broadly supported by the public.

A poll taken by The Economist/YouGov between July 25-27 found that 49% of Americans believe the US should arrest Netanyahu, who arrived in Washington, DC on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump and attend the late Sen. Lindsey Graham's (R-SC) funeral.

Just 27% of respondents said the US should not execute the warrant, while 23% were unsure, according to the poll released Tuesday.

Nearly a quarter of people who voted for Trump in 2024 agreed with Mamdani, as well as 21% of people who identified themselves as supporters of Trump's MAGA political movement. The view was also held by 68% of Democrats and 55% of Independents, as well as 24% of Republican voters.

Forty-seven percent of respondents also said they believed Netanyahu was guilty of war crimes.

With Americans increasingly disapproving of Israel and the powerful pro-Israel lobby, sympathizing with Palestinians, and now backing the arrest of Netanyahu by an "overwhelming margin," said the Institute for Middle East Understanding, Trump is nevertheless "welcoming him back into the White House to lobby for more impunity, more war, and more of our tax dollars going to Israel."

Columbia University professor Anthony Zenkus wrote that while nearly half of Americans believe the US should execute the ICC warrant, "we've got prominent Democrats and Republicans and their online supporters calling Mamdani a terrorist for wanting to do that very thing."

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Mike Waltz, are among those who have condemned Mamdani's demand for Netanyahu's arrest. Waltz said the US would not execute the warrant because the country, like Israel, is not party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, and does not recognize the court's authority. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has threatened to "dismantle" the court.

On Tuesday, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) denounced the White House for hosting the Israeli prime minister while Israel is "wrongfully detaining an American citizen," 20-year-old student Sama Safi, who was detained in the West Bank on June 2.

"As I speak, we've not been able to get justice for American citizens killed by violent Israeli settlers or by the IDF," Van Hollen continued, referring to the Israel Defense Forces. "As I speak, Palestinians in the West Bank are under violent assault by Israeli terrorists who are terrorizing Palestinian villages, lighting mosques on fire, torching cars, pushing Palestinians off their lands, killing innocent Palestinians."

"When Donald Trump meets with Bibi Netanyahu, things don't go well for the United States of America," said the senator, noting that five months after Israel convinced the administration to launch an "illegal war against Iran," American soldiers are being killed and injured in the region.

"On top of all that," said Van Hollen, "Prime Minister Netanyahu has a warrant out for his arrest for committing war crimes. He should be nowhere close to the Oval Office of the president of the United States."

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From Common Dreams via This RSS Feed.

Ang Bayan Ngayon | July 26, 2026 Workers across the country united to demand higher...

The post Labor News From The Philippines: Workers Across The Country Mobilize For Wages, Jobs And Rights appeared first on REDSPARK.

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The delegation seeks to improve upon its performance at the San Salvador 2023 Games.

On Tuesday, the Cuban delegation added more victories at the 2026 Central American and Caribbean Games in Santo Domingo, excelling in volleyball, field hockey, and women’s softball.

RELATED:

Mexico, Cuba, and Colombia Lead the Central American and Caribbean Games

In indoor volleyball, Cuba defeated Venezuela 3-0 in straight sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-19). With this result, the Cubans finished the first phase with a 2-1 record, securing second place in Group B behind Puerto Rico.

Despite the loss, Venezuela also advanced to the quarterfinals. In the knockout round on July 28, they will face Mexico, while Cuba will take on the host country, the Dominican Republic.

In women’s field hockey, Cuba defeated Barbados 7-1 in a match they dominated from start to finish. The Cuban women’s team scored three goals in the first quarter and maintained control with 70% possession and seven penalty corners.

Cuban team enters stadium.

Central American and Caribbean Games.

The #Cuba delegation marching in the inauguration of the Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe 2026 #SantoDomingo2026#SiempreXCuba#DeporteCubano pic.twitter.com/DLMZaTLgXu

— Francis Chow (@fchow8888) July 25, 2026

In women’s softball, Cuba extended its lead to 4-0 over El Salvador in the fifth inning of their third game in the preliminary round. With six hits and no defensive errors, the offenses of Elizabeth Robert, Yilian Rondon, and Lisaidy Samon were key to maintaining their dominance.

These results strengthen Cuba’s presence in team sports, adding to the individual achievements already attained in sports such as badminton and taekwondo.

The Cuban delegation seeks to improve upon its performance at the San Salvador 2023 Games, where it won 23 medals and finished tenth in the medal count.

#Cuba | President Miguel Diaz-Canel denounces U.S. ‘maximum pressure’ as ‘sadistic’ collective punishment.#teleSUREnglish pic.twitter.com/ZYCJEpRWPL

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) July 27, 2026

teleSUR: JP

Source: EFE

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Could taking plant biomass and burying it in the deep, anoxic parts of the ocean be a workable large-scale strategy for carbon sequestration? The concept has intrigued scientists for years, and now a recent international workshop led by UC Santa Barbara researchers has taken the first steps toward developing it.

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Washington, D.C. – On July 20, community organizations gathered for an emergency press conference at the United States Attorney’s Office (USAO) with the legal team and family of Nolberto Sanabria Meza, a father and husband killed during a U.S. Park Police chase. The press conference discussed massive developments in the case and their struggle for justice.

The event was held by the DC Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (DCAARPR), partner organizations and attorneys E. Paige White and Bernadette Armand to discuss the enormous implications of USAO’s refusal to prosecute for the killing of Meza, which happened 30 days earlier, when Park Police initiated a reckless police chase under the pretext of stopping a stolen vehicle.

During the course of the chase which caused two crashes, Meza, a moped delivery driver, was struck and killed, and several diplomats were hospitalized. The driver and passengers of the allegedly stolen vehicle were arrested and charged with stealing the car and killing Meza. Shockingly, all charges against them were quickly dropped by the USAO, including the theft and the murder, citing insufficient probable cause. The family has still not received answers from the USAO, Park Police, or Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

“There are cameras everywhere. And yet the USAO says that they don’t have enough evidence to charge the individuals in the case with murder,” said attorney E. Paige White. She continued, “And so the question then becomes, who killed Mr. Meza? Was it the stolen car? Was it the police? Why did this chase begin? Release the videotapes and the surveillance footage, showing the chase, showing the murder of my client!”

This particular chase happened due to rollbacks by the Trump administration of protections against federal police chases. Federal and local police chases were previously banned in DC except for in the most extreme cases, due to an incident in 2020, when Karon Hylton Brown was killed after being chased by MPD for ten blocks while he was riding a scooter. Trump signed an executive order which expanded policy to allow federal chases last summer around the time he declared a bogus “crime emergency” as pretext for his federal takeover of DC.

Discussing Park Police’s previous no-chase policy at the White House, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, an official from the Trump administration said, “We got that rule changed in 24 hours because of President Trump’s leadership. The next night, they had so much fun. They pulled people over, they started to take off, they chased ‘em, they stopped ‘em.”

Merawi Gerima of DCAARPR said, “Trump signed this EO with the express intent of unleashing federal agents in DC last summer, telling them to ‘chase until the wheels fall off.’ In the first six weeks of that executive order, Park Police themselves had 22 chases. 18 resulted in crashes.” Gerima continued, “The people dying and being hospitalized by these chases are not the police and are often not the drivers of the cars they are chasing. They are bystanders like Nolberto Meza.”

“What happened to Mr. Meza is not only foreseeable but is a predictable outcome of this dangerous executive order, and we stand together with the community to say ‘shame!’” White said.

The fact that charges were dropped on the owners of the vehicle is extremely suspicious, given that it's coming from the same Trump Department of Justice which has been aggressively targeting Black youth for exactly these types of cases for the last year. The implications of Park Police being unable to clear the very low bar of probable cause in this case are enormous.

DCAARPR and its partner organizations continue to call for Justice for Nolberto Meza, and demand the identification and charging of the Park Police agents, the release of all information and footage, financial reparations to the family, and policy changes so an incident like this never happens again.

Those policy changes include the ban of federal and local police chases, the abolition of the Safe and Beautiful Task Force, and critically, community control of the police.

Nolberto’s nieces need to repatriate his body to Venezuela, where the rest of his family is currently living. This process has been made even more difficult and expensive with the devastating earthquakes in Venezuela.

To donate and keep up with the case, follow @dcaarpr and @dcagainsttrump on Instagram.

#WashingtonDC #DC #InjusticeSystem #DCAARPR #PoliceChase #KillerCop #NolbertoMeza

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By John McEvoy – Jul 27, 2026

Defendants were not told criminal damage case could carry a terrorism connection until after they were found guilty

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) wants to sentence five more Palestine activists as terrorists for committing criminal damage, it can be revealed.

Brendon O’Hagan, Amanda Kelly, Hmeera Atiqnisar, Mohammed Malik, and Alma Yaniv were convicted of criminal damage last month for a protest at a Barclays bank branch in Burnley in 2024.

It was carried out in the name of Palestine Action almost a year before the group was banned under terrorism laws.

In the agreed facts of the case, the prosecution’s lawyers acknowledged that Barclays provided investments and loans to Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm.

The court heard that the activists smashed windows and sprayed red paint over the building, with damage costs allegedly amounting to £212,805.

Court filings show that it was only after the trial concluded that the CPS decided to apply for a terrorism connection to be added to the case.

The move came after the judge overseeing the case requested submissions on whether the case should be designated as having a terrorism connection.

This means that neither the jury nor the defendants were aware that the case could carry a terrorism connection until after the guilty verdicts were delivered.

If the judge agrees to attach a terrorism connection to the case, the activists will have to serve much longer prison sentences.

They would be treated as terrorists upon release for decades, with requirements to register new electronic devices, email addresses, bank accounts, and romantic relationships with the police.

The move suggests that a ruling last month against another four Palestine Action activists, who were sentenced as terrorists by Justice Jeremy Johnson, is already having far-reaching consequences for protest-related trials in Britain.

Johnson treated the four protesters as terrorists even though they were only convicted of criminal damage at an Elbit Systems factory in the Filton area of Bristol.

Atiqnisar, one of the defendants in the Barclays case, told Declassified: “You go through a two-week trial only to be told after it’s over that you were on trial for terrorism.

“Johnson’s judgment has opened up the floodgates for potentially hundreds of activists to be sentenced as terrorists for taking direct action against genocide.

“It’s a few broken windows and red paint that they’re now saying is terrorism. It shows you the lengths the state is willing to go to in order to protect the Israeli weapons trade.

“I’m definitely scared. I can’t say I’m not scared. It’s frightening but what’s far more frightening is living in a world where genocide is normalised and people abstain from resisting it”.

Terrorism connectionIn court documents seen by Declassified, the prosecution’s lawyers acknowledged that “no determination was sought before trial” to sentence the activists as terrorists.

However, they argued that the circumstances of the case changed during cross-examination and opened the door for the defendants to be charged under terrorism provisions.

Four of the five defendants gave evidence that “they were members of, or affiliated, with Palestine Action at the time of the offending” and “had attended Palestine Action training”.

“The present offending formed part of a wider Palestine Action campaign directed against Barclays comprising in excess of twenty similar attacks”, the prosecution lawyers wrote.

These matters “emerged for the first time during the defence case and went significantly beyond the defendants’ respective defence statements”.

The defendants’ statements in court, the lawyers argued, allow for the criminal damage convictions to carry a terrorism connection under the Sentencing Act.

They said the offending “involved serious damage to property; was designed to influence the government or intimidate the public or a section of the public; and was undertaken for the purpose of advancing a political or ideological cause”.

Palestine Action carried out dozens of direct actions against Barclays branches in 2024 in an attempt to force the bank to divest from Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms firm.

In the agreed facts of the case, it was acknowledged that “Barclays PLC provided investments, loans and other corporate financial services to Elbit Systems, a weapons and military technology company”.

Equipment manufactured by Elbit Systems, the agreed facts continued, “has been used by the Israeli military during operations in Gaza, including during the conflict in 2023-2024”.

It was also conceded by the prosecution that Elbit has been “involved in the construction and maintenance of sections of Israel’s West Bank barrier” including “cameras and remotely operated weapons systems”.

In October 2024, three months after the Palestine Action campaign, it was reported that Barclays had sold all of its 16,345 shares in Elbit. Those shares were worth over $3.4m.

Palestine Action Activists Sentenced as Terrorists

Filton precedentLast month, four other Palestine Action activists were sentenced as terrorists in connection with the raid at an Elbit Systems factory in Filton in August 2024.

Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Rajwani damaged 40 military assets belonging to Elbit, including quadcopters, allegedly causing over £1m in damage.

During the sentencing hearing, Justice Jeremy Johnson ruled that this constituted “serious damage to property” as defined within the Terrorism Act (2000).

He also said the action was “designed to influence the UK government and to intimidate a section of the public, and was for the purpose of advancing a political cause”.

This was despite defence counsel submitting that the Terrorism Act was never intended to allow for the designation of activism as terrorism on the basis of property damage alone.

Johnson’s ruling marked the first time that protesters had been sentenced as terrorists and appears to have opened the door for further terrorism convictions in protest-related cases.

Notably, his failure to clarify where the threshold lies for “serious damage to property” appears to have allowed for lower-level direct action campaigns to be caught in terrorism provisions.

Watch how Labour turned property damage into ‘terrorism’

Lowering the thresholdThe move to prosecute the Barclays activists as terrorists comes despite that incident taking place almost a year prior to the proscription of Palestine Action.

When the government was building its case for proscription, the MI5-based Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) listed three incidents of alleged “terrorism” carried out by the group.

The incident at Barclays had already taken place when the JTAC report was drafted. But it was not classified among those three incidents, all of which allegedly involved over £1m in damage.

In fact, the Barclays action appears to be the first protest case involving less than £1m in damage costs to be pursued by the CPS under terrorism provisions.

This suggests that scores of protest-related criminal damage trials could now be pursued as terrorism without the knowledge of juries – and, in this case, the defendants.

Moreover, it raises concerns about how the law could be applied arbitrarily to protest cases, with some being designated as terrorism and others not for no discernible reason.

The defendants have applied for a pre-sentencing hearing for legal arguments to be heard regarding the attachment of a terrorism connection to the case.

They are due to be sentenced on 4 September 2026.

(Declassified UK)

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