ACLJ Sues National Archives, Calls for TikTok Ban, and China Wants Its Balloon Back

Earlier this week, we told you how the ACLJ had filed a lawsuit against the Smithsonian after its employees targeted and harassed a group of pro-life students, teachers, and parents when they tried to visit the National Air and Space Museum.

Now we’ve just filed a new lawsuit against the National Archives for the same discrimination against pro-lifers – on the same day. If the radical Left thinks it can weaponize taxpayer-supported institutions to target pro-lifers, it’s in for a rude awakening from the ACLJ. In this particular incident, our four clients, including a woman and her daughter, were told to remove their pro-life shirts if they wanted to enter. It’s infuriating.

And now we have the strength of 40 Members of Congress taking up the case to defend pro-life citizens from being targeted. An official letter signed by 40 U.S. Senators and Representatives was just sent to Smithsonian Institute officials demanding an explanation for why it allowed employees to abuse and kick out pro-life visitors because of their hats. And the letter cited the work of the ACLJ to bring this offense to their attention:

According to the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), “Once in the museum, [the students] were accosted several times and told they would be forced to leave unless they removed their pro-life hats. The group all wore the same blue hat that simply said, ‘Rosary PRO-LIFE.’ Other individuals in the museum were wearing hats of all kinds without issue” and “The museum staff mocked the students, called them expletives, and made comments that the museum was a ‘neutral zone’ where they could not express such statements.”

As Members of Congress, we are unaware of any laws, rules, or regulations prohibiting members of the public from wearing pro-life hats inside Smithsonian office buildings. Furthermore, there is a large body of jurisprudence reinforcing citizens’ First Amendment rights on public property. As a federal entity and the recipient of more than $1 billion in federal funds every year, there should be no debate as to whether the First Amendment applies to the Smithsonian. We are deeply concerned about this unjust expulsion of young Americans from museums—subsidized with taxpayer dollars—for wearing apparel that your staff disagreed with.

It’s gratifying to see Congress standing up for pro-life Americans as we head into court to defend them.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Last week’s Chinese spy balloon debacle has renewed calls to ban TikTok, the Chinese social media platform that the Chinese Communist Party uses to data mine your private life and influence your children. Sound dramatic? I wish I had just made it up.

I asked ACLJ Senior Counsel for Global Affairs, former Secretary of State, and former head of the CIA Mike Pompeo if he agreed that it is time to finally ban this dangerous application. Sec. Pompeo gave a stern warning directly to America’s parents:

Let me talk directly to parents. Parents, if your child is using TikTok, the Chinese Communist Party is capturing lots of information about them. What they watch, when they watch it, how they watch it, what they watch in sequence, who their friends are that are watching it right alongside them – what their face looks like. Lots of data, and goodness knows how they will ultimately use that. So parents, for that reason alone, should take it off their kid’s phone.

Second, they are also flooding your children with propaganda, Chinese Communist Party propaganda. They are speaking to them in ways to undermine Americans. Talking about an American nation that is decadent and in decline and a Chinese model – a Communist, Socialist, Marxist, Leninist model – as the primary way that one should think about the world. They are using this both as an information collection tool and to change the minds of American young people.

We ought to ban it from not just our government phones, but every single application should be taken off every phone here in the United States, whether on a phone or a laptop or anyplace else.

And, as Sec. Pompeo reminded us, he has dealt directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China will use every tactic it can dream up, including getting into our kids' heads, to gain more leverage over the American people.

They say the Roman Emperor Nero played the fiddle while his city burned. What that means is he was an ineffectual leader and perhaps caused more harm in a time of crisis for his people. Today the privacy and security of millions of Americans are under attack, while parents think it’s just dance videos and makeup tutorials, and President Biden is pondering what to do.

The ACLJ is joining the call to ban TikTok across the board. We need to not only individually delete this potentially catastrophic app but also ban it from every app store. It’s too dangerous not only to our national security but also to the security of our nation’s families.

Today’s full Sekulow broadcast includes more details about our two major lawsuits to defend pro-life Americans, including students, from being targeted and harassed, as well as more discussion with Sec. Mike Pompeo.

Watch the full broadcast below: