Unfortunately for President Donald Trump, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit — which is the very court that ruled yesterday against reinstating his controversial travel ban — is one of the nation’s few federal courts with its very own YouTube channel. And it’s the only court that posts trial proceedings on the world’s biggest video platform.
While there are 13 circuit courts across the country, others, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, primarily utilize their YouTube channels for educational videos, reports NBC Bay Area. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, however — which is located in San Francisco — is the only one that broadcasts actual trials, as well as live audio streams of proceedings on its own website.
Launched in 2010 and currently counting 6,000 subscribers and 1 million lifetime views, the court’s most popular YouTube video by a longshot thus far is the State of Washington v. Donald J. Trump, in which the court ultimately decided that Trump’s executive order temporarily banning all refugees as well as immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries would remain blocked. The news sent Trump into a spin yesterday evening, whereupon he furiously tweeted, “SEE YOU IN COURT, THE SECURITY OF OUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”
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The hourlong video of the trial (below) currently counts more than 130,000 views. The case was so closely followed on social media that the hashtag #9thCircuit was also trending on Twitter yesterday evening, per NBC Bay Area.
While it is unknown what will ultimately happen with the ban, which could make its way to the Supreme Court, several YouTube creators have harnessed their influence to show solidarity for communities affected by the legally questionable executive order. VidCon founder Hank Green, for instance, raised $72,000 last weekend for a handful of U.S.-based refugee resettlement organizations.
