Protesters Disrupt Carr’s First FCC Meeting Since Kimmel Suspension

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2025 – Protesters interrupted the Federal Communications Commission’s meeting Tuesday, the first since Chairman Brendan Carr pushed to suspend Jimmy Kimmel Live!

Chanting “Fire Carr, the censorship czar,” demonstrators were swiftly escorted out by security after disrupting the meeting’s opening remarks. The outburst was captured on the commission’s livestream, where FCC Secretary Marlene Dortch appeared visibly unsettled before the audio briefly cut out. Carr, however, responded with a faint smile.

“We can’t have a chair of the FCC that’s using his position to threaten free speech,” Paco Fabian, director of campaigns at Our Revolution told Broadband Breakfast. “Our message is clear: We are calling on Carr to get fired or resign.”

The meeting room protest lasted less than a minute, but outside, a box truck circled the FCC’s headquarters on L Street for hours with banners blasting the FCC’s policing of content, including  a quote from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, calling Carr’s actions “dangerous as hell.”

Kimmel suspension sparks free speech clash

Tuesday’s events came two weeks after Carr made national headlines when lawmakers accused him of “bullying” ABC affiliates into suspending late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who had criticized Trump supporters for politicizing the assassination of Charlie Kirk. ABC subsequently pulled the program nationwide, though it was reinstated later.

Carr went on a conservative podcast in September and warned broadcasters they may risk fines or license revocation if they continued to “run content that ends up being a pattern on news distortion.”

Since becoming chairman, Carr has moved to reopen news distortion complaints targeting CBS, ABC and NBC. Defending the move in a recent interview, he said the FCC needs to refocus its attention on holding broadcasters accountable.

But, groups behind Tuesday’s disruption – Our Revolution, Public Citizen, and Free Press – counter that it is Carr himself who should be held to account.

“We need to hold the FCC accountable and Brendan Carr accountable for his actions threatening to shut down different media outlets because of their content critical of Trump,” Fabian said in a video posted to X.

Activists warn of ‘dangerous’ media consolidation

The groups also faulted Carr for “greenlighting dangerous media consolidation and serving the interests of billionaire oligarchs,” in a statement Tuesday.

“Carr has sided with corporate power brokers like the Ellisons and Murdochs, working to create media monopolies that silence independent voices and undermine free speech,” the groups wrote, saying Carr was “eroding democracy.”

The uproar comes as the FCC prepares to revisit broadcast ownership rules and consider consolidation requests, including Nexstar’s proposed $6.2 billion merger with Tegna.

That deal would give Nexstar control of 265 television stations in 44 states and push its reach close to 80 percent of U.S. television households, twice the FCC’s 39 percent limit.

“We are very concerned about the merger between Nexstar and Tegna. We hope the FCC doesn't approve it,” Fabian told Broadband Breakfast. 

Wider concerns about power and politics

Fabian argued the episode reflects a wider “pay-to-play” culture across Washington.

“We’ve seen companies take action based on comments made by the FCC chair, so that any business they have before the FCC gets approved,” he said. 

He also pointed to federal contracts awarded to companies like Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Starlink as evidence of outsized returns on political spending, warning “this marriage between government and the oligarchy” also spans oil, media, tech and crypto.

Past disruptions at FCC meetings

The FCC appeared more prepared for Tuesday’s interruption than another major incident that took place the day the FCC rolled back Obama-era net neutrality rules.

During the commission’s controversial vote to repeal net neutrality rules on Dec. 14, 2017, demonstrators inside and outside the FCC shouted “Shame on you!” and accused then-Chariman Ajit Pai of catering to corporate interests. Security removed several protesters from the hearing room as the 3–2 vote proceeded. The meeting was also briefly evacuated because of a bomb threat. 

Earlier that same year, in April 2017, activists from Free Press “Rickrolled” an FCC meeting – singing parody lyrics to Rick Astley’s Never Gonna Give You Up to protest Pai’s early rollback of net neutrality. 

The group that staged Tuesday’s protest, Our Revolution, was founded in 2016 by Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., after his first presidential campaign, and focuses on progressive policies and organizing.