WASHINGTON – Late last night a federal district court in the District of Columbia issued a ruling that the National Park Service cannot interfere with an ongoing protest critical of Donald Trump. The court issued a decision prohibiting the Park Service from revoking the permit of Accountability NOW USA or confiscating and destroying the group’s property.
Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of D.C., Accountability NOW argued that threats by the Park Service to revoke their permit violated its First Amendment right to free speech.
Accountability NOW has held a 24/7 demonstration on in D.C. since December 2025 calling for the impeachment and removal of Trump from office. Their protest includes signs that read, “Trump raped little girls,” and “Kids, if your parents are MAGA, they love child rapists.” The Park Service informed the organization that these signs are “obscene” and could lead to the revocation of their permit to protest.
After the lawsuit was filed in April, Accountability NOW faced another threat from the National Park Service for displaying a flag with the legend “8647,” a reference to the organization’s position that President Trump should be impeached and lawfully removed from office. The administration deemed the flag to be a “threat.”
On June 10, 2026, Accountability NOW moved for a preliminary injunction to allow it to display its signs and flag and substantially similar speech without fear of enforcement actions by the administration. After the court heard argument on June 23, the parties agreed that the court could treat Accountability NOW’s motion as a motion for summary judgment—in other words, a motion seeking final judgment and relief rather than only preliminary relief.
In last night’s ruling, U.S. District Judge Randolph B. Moss granted Accountability NOW’s motion and entered a permanent injunction in its favor, finding that its signs and flags are protected by the First Amendment.
In his opinion, U.S. District Judge Randolph D. Moss wrote, “Plaintiff’s signs and flag fall well within the heartland of protected First Amendment speech, and Defendants offer no plausible basis for suppressing Plaintiff’s core, political speech. If ‘hard cases[] make bad law,’ N. Sec. Co. v. United States, 24 S. Ct. 436, 468 (1904) (Holmes, J., dissenting), one can only hope that easy cases make good law.”
“We at Accountability NOW are pleased that the Court has upheld our First Amendment right to display signs addressing the President’s alleged sex crimes, as well as our peaceful 8647 flags and artwork, at our 24/7 demonstration,” said Anita Carey, organizer with Accountability NOW USA. “We will continue to exercise our constitutional right to lawfully and peacefully call for the President’s impeachment, conviction, and removal from office. As the nation celebrates 250 years of independence, this ruling underscores the enduring importance of public dissent in our democracy."
“Again and again, the National Park Service has tried to shut down this speech simply because it is critical of Donald Trump,” said Aditi Shah, staff attorney at ACLU-D.C., who argued the motion in court. “The definitions of ‘obscenity’ and ‘true threat’ are narrow and for good reason; the government should not have wide latitude to shut down critical speech using ‘obscenity’ and purported ‘threats’ as covers. We’re grateful that the court saw through the government’s ruse.”
Legal documents related to this case, including today’s ruling, are available at this link:
###
Related Issues
Related Content
Accountability NOW USA v. Griess, et al. – Defending the Right to Display Signs Accusing President Trump of Sex Crimes
Stay Informed
Sign up to be the first to hear about how to take action.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy statement.
By completing this form, I agree to receive occasional emails per the terms of the ACLU’s privacy statement.