"A US military veteran arrested on federal conspiracy charges after participating in a June 2025 protest against US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told the Guardian he refuses to plead guilty and is ready to face justice.

The right to protest is 'supposed to be fundamentally American', said Bajun Mavalwalla, who walked foot patrols as US army sergeant in the Horn of Panjwai, the birthplace of the Taliban and one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan’s Kandahar Province.

'It’s among the rights that when I joined the military, I thought I was joining to protect.'"

theguardian.com/us-news/2026/m…

#USPol

US veteran charged with ‘conspiracy’ over ICE protest refuses to plead guilty

The right to protest is ‘fundamentally American’, says Bajun Mavalwalla who awaits trial and faces six years in prison

^{Aaron Glantz (The Guardian)}