Social Media Erupts at Trump After Threats Against Student Protestors: 'There Are No Illegal Protests In A Democracy'

Social media users are berating President Donald Trump online after the president took to his own social media app to levy threats against student protestors within the US.

On Tuesday, Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from educational institutions that allowed students to protest "illegally" on campus.

"All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests. Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came," he wrote. "American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS! Thank you for your attention to this matter."

Social media users quickly responded to his sentiments with frustration and anger, pointing out how Trump's rhetoric directly conflicted with the First Amendment.

"Seriously WTF is an illegal protest? There are no illegal protests in a democracy. Protests are illegal in a dictatorship," said one user.

"Trump is trying to criminalize free speech by calling lawful protests 'illegal.' This is a violation of the 1st amendment & proof Trump & the right don't actually support free speech. Supporting free speech means supporting the right to protest even over issues you disagree with," wrote another.

"Peaceful protests, of course, are not 'illegal.' A government ban on peaceful protests would violate the First Amendment. The goal here seems to be intimidation and fear to chill free speech," wrote a third.

Earlier this year, a few days after assuming office, Trump signed an executive order beginning to plan out the deportations of international students who engaged with pro-Palestine protests on campus.

"To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you," Trump wrote in the fact sheet to the executive order, obtained by Reuters. "I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before."

Users have pointed out that dictatorships and "fascist" regimes from the early 20th century implemented similar policies in order to avoid public unrest.

"He is going to make it illegal for anybody to protest, and when we finally do he will declare martial law. Yes, that's what the fascists did in the 1930s and 40s," wrote another user.

"Presumably, this government by Truth Social posts will define exactly what an 'illegal protest' is, and that definition will not be so broad that it encroaches on free speech guarantees we've enjoyed for two centuries," said another.