Will Americans roll over?
Americans do not take well to having their cities turned into East Berlin (Washington Post):
Tensions over President Donald Trump’s deployment of federal law enforcement erupted on a busy Northwest Washington street Wednesday night as a mix of local and federal authorities pulled over drivers for seat belt violations or broken taillights while nearly 100 onlookers chanted: “Go home, fascists.”
The checkpoint, which appeared to begin around 8 p.m., included more than 20 law enforcement officers, many wearing face coverings and vests labeled “HSI” — Homeland Security Investigations. Some vests indicated agents were with Enforcement and Removal Operations, a branch of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that arrests and removes undocumented immigrants. They stopped dozens of cars at the busy intersection of 14th and W streets NW, in front of a popular chain bakery, a veterinary clinic and a high-end outdoor apparel store.
View on Threads
The federal deployment is as ridiculous as Trump’s hair and tanner, a “blending of autocracy and absurdity,” as Greg Sargent puts it. So was this “sub attack” by one of Trump’s “bloodthirsty criminals“:
Oliver Willis snarks, “How do we know there wasn’t a second sandwich thrower on the knoll?”
But I’m somewhat irritated with The Lincoln Project’s stance on Trump’s takeover of D.C. The group is adamant that Trump’s action is yet another distraction from his Epstein files woes. It is. But Republicans do few things that are not at least twofers. The man who hid in the White House bunker when protesters flooded Lafayette Park has had a taste of indemnified autocratic power and he wants more. He will never be a member of exclusive Club Dicktator. But Trump is doing his best Charlie the Tuna for the world’s autocrats to prove that he’s worthy. Intimidating Americans is a bonus. That makes D.C. is a threefer.
View on Threads
Marcy Wheeler understands that the distraction narrative is the distraction. She writes, “the invasion of a second blue city is another step in a mostly pre-planned map for fascism, and Trump’s brief inability to redirect his online mob’s focus on Epstein merely created a speed bump in that march of fascism.”
Have a morning shot of Trae Crowder. He gets that too.
The Post story on neighborhood resistance concludes:
A group darted into a CVS store near the checkpoint and emerged with hastily made signs that read “Police checkpoint ahead” and “ICE,” then headed a few blocks south to warn people. Aspeakerblared “Ice Ice Baby” from the sidewalk. Some people shouted advice at the drivers, encouraging them to ask for badge numbers or remain silent.
“Sir, you don’t want to do this,” one woman shouted at law enforcement. “You do not want this role in history. You did this job to protect and serve. Look what they’re doing to you. This is the community.”
Police left the area around 10 p.m.
Do not go quietly.
* * * * *
Have you fought dicktatorship today?
50501
The Resistance Lab
Choose Democracy
Indivisible: A Guide to Democracy on the Brink
You Have Power
Chop Wood, Carry Water
Thirty lonely but beautiful actions
Attending a Protest Surveillance Self-Defense