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Jessica Plichta is arrested on live TV in Michigan after protesting US actions in Venezuela, sparking fears of a crackdown on anti-war dissent.

In a chilling scene broadcast live to thousands, an American activist has been arrested by police in Grand Rapids, Michigan, mere moments after giving a television interview criticizing the US military intervention in Venezuela.
Jessica Plichta, a 22-year-old preschool teacher and co-founder of the anti-war group Grand Rapids Opponents of War, was handcuffed and led away by officers as news cameras rolled. Her crime? Allegedly "obstructing a roadway" during a protest earlier that day. However, supporters and civil rights groups argue the timing of the arrest—executed only after she spoke to the media—signals a targeted attempt to silence dissent against the Trump administration’s foreign policy.
Plichta is not just a random protester. She had recently returned from Caracas, where she attended the "International People’s Assembly for Sovereignty and Peace" just weeks before the US raid that deposed President Nicolás Maduro. While the Trump administration had ordered a blockade of Venezuelan airspace, Plichta and other activists defied the ban to witness the situation on the ground.
The viral footage has sparked outrage online, with netizens comparing the heavy-handed police response to authoritarian regimes. For Kenyan observers, the incident is a stark reminder that freedom of speech is increasingly fragile, even in the "land of the free." As the US tightens its grip on Venezuela, it appears to be tightening the leash on its own citizens as well.
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