Color of Law
This may be the most delicate subject I’ve tackled. So, up front, I need to be clear: assassination and terrorism are not legitimate tools of protest. In my view, the assassination attempts on Trump and the brutal assassination of Charlie Kirk, all were politically beneficial to the MAGA movement. There’s nothing so powerful as a martyr. Trump’s “Fight-Fight-Fight” moment in Butler, Pennsylvania won him the Presidency. And MAGA-world is now raising Charlie Kirk to political “sainthood”. Vice President Vance in particular is doubling-down to stifle protest, all in the name of Kirk.
But there’s plenty of political violence to go around, much of it committed under the “color of law”. The signature Trump policy of sending out roving squads of “ICE Agents” to round up undocumented migrants without warrant or due process is violence that we see every day. People of color are tackled in the street by masked para-military “agents”, thrown into unmarked vehicles and whisked away to unknown locations.
Those undocumented are dumped into brutal and inhumane conditions. The Administration brags about it; “Alligator Alcatraz” and El Salvador’s CECOT and Rwanda (for God’s sake). The violence is the point.
Sending military forces onto the streets of American cities against the express wishes of local and state governments is violence. Using the Justice Department, and regulatory agencies as cudgels to attack ( get “retribution” on) political enemies is violence. And the stripping of political and physical rights from visa holders, the transgendered, and many Americans whose sole “flaw” is to stand against the President, is violence.
Crazies
American history is replete with the people’s response to this kind of “legal” violence. Sure, there was the Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s, based on Dr. King’s philosophy of non-violence. But there also were Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) who took further actions. And ultimately the Black Panthers, were willing to stand for their rights with guns.
There were the anti-Vietnam War marches, student non-violent protests on college campuses across the country. But there also were the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), who were willing to go farther. And finally the Weathermen who specifically targeted government buildings for destruction.
Again, I am not advocating violence in response to Trump’s authoritarianism. What I’m pointing out, is that once the government chooses violence as a means of controlling the nation, it shouldn’t be a surprise that violence is also a response.
And, independent of political ideology, there are “crazies” who will find motivation in the chaos created by violence. They might kill Democrats (Minnesota) or they might kill Republicans (Utah), but their common thread isn’t political ideology, it’s personal instability. In American history, the violence of slavery not only generated over 300 “slave rebellions” (not insane, just desperate), but also an environment where attacks like John Brown’s raid on the US Arsenal at Harper’s Ferry were not only foreseeable, but inevitable.
Norms
Of course, the violence of one side is used to justify an increase in violence on the other side. A policeman once explained to me about how he engaged with a suspect. “I will respond with one step higher than they do”. It’s easy to say, they did this, so I’ll do this much more. And that’s the path our Nation is on right now. One side says they have the “legal power” of the government, the consolidated authority of the unitary executive, to do almost anything they want The other side says they “represent” a defense of American freedom and tradition, with the “moral authority” of our historic legacy on their side.
Previous Presidents, even in tremendous times of crisis, felt the weight of maintaining American “norms”. George Bush’s response to 9-11 was the huge power-grab of the Patriot Act. Government actions that were seen as intrusive and likely Unconstitutional before 9-11, were handed over to the Executive branch soon after. But as time passed, the extremes of the Patriot Act were narrowed by the Courts, the Congress, and also by the Presidents themselves.
Witch’s Brew
But President Trump is steeped in the extremist ideologies of the Heritage Institute. He’s advised by Stephen Miller, Russell Vought, Tom Homan, and billionaires whose fortunes give them unlimited access and authority. There seems to be no boundaries. He’s backed by a Congress unwilling to exert their independent authority. And, he’s “regulated” by a Supreme Court majority beholden to those same ideologies and billionaires. It’s a “witch’s brew” that sees violence under the “color of law” as an acceptable path of governance.
The inevitable counter-violence plays right into their hands. It’s what they want, to justifying even more power, and more violence. It’s an ugly, unending circle, and where it stops … nobody knows.
