USA14 July, 20262 min read
Trump Administration Uses NSPM-7 To Sentence 8 Activists In Alvarado Texas Prairieland Protest
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Blumenthal detained by US authorities at Dulles on return from Iran. US agents seized Blumenthal's devices and interrogated him.
Sentences and anti-terror law
In Alvarado, Texas, 8 activists were convicted on federal charges tied to a 2025 protest outside the Prairieland ICE detention center that led to the nonfatal shooting of a police officer, and the defendants received a cumulative 450-year prison sentence. The convictions were the first under NSPM-7, a counter-terrorism memorandum signed by President Trump in September 2025, and FBI Director Kash Patel hailed the case as a blow against “Antifa and its funding networks across the country.”
Chloe Truong-Jones, Network and Engagement Attorney at Palestine Legal, said prosecutors used § 2339A, explaining that “2339 requires that some kind of international nexus be established,” while also arguing it can be used in ways she described as dangerous. Truong-Jones added that the government used the case as “a laboratory for a larger crackdown on the left,” linking the July 4 events to policies outlined in NSPM 7 and to what she said was an intent to chill dissent.
Detained at Dulles
American journalist Max Blumenthal said US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers detained and questioned him at Washington Dulles International Airport upon his return from Iran, searched his belongings, and confiscated his smartphones after he refused to provide access. Blumenthal described the seizure as punishment for his reporting, saying, “As punishment for my factual journalism, I was subjected to political harassment by the Trump administration upon my return from Iran.”
The Grayzone reported that on July 10, 2026, CBP interrogated Blumenthal about his trip, searched his belongings, and demanded access to his smart phones, and when he refused, CBP officers forced him to turn them over for detention. Jenin Younes, a civil liberties lawyer who serves as President of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), said, “The practice of seizing and searching a journalist’s phone or other electronic devices at the border raises grave First and Fourth amendment concerns.”
Reporting, war, and backlash
Blumenthal said the scrutiny followed his recent reporting from Iran, including coverage of public reactions to regional developments and reporting on US-Israeli aggression and the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei on February 28. The Grayzone said Blumenthal visited Iran to report on the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, interviewed members of Iran’s negotiation team, top political officials, academics and average citizens, and documented destruction in Eastern Tehran that left at least 40 civilians dead.
Blumenthal told The Grayzone that “The US government is clearly threatened by my reporting from Tehran,” adding that the seizure of his devices was “a clear act of intimidation aimed at deterring me and others from doing further critical reporting from Iran.” The Grayzone also described how it said he was targeted by an Israeli doxxing outfit and Laura Loomer, and it quoted Blumenthal saying, “Our reporting at The Grayzone has clearly become a problem for this criminal cartel.”