Since June 14, millions of people took to the streets in dozens of cities and towns in USA to protest against Donald Trump In more than 2,000 demonstrations grouped under the slogan ‘No Kings’, the Republican’s authoritarian drift has only intensified. The escalation in the actions of the president, his Administration and his party is accompanied by an increase in resistance and rejection and, also, tensions. And all the elements are combined this Saturday, when a second edition of ‘No Kings’ is called.
This time they are at least 2.600 and the marches and demonstrations that are expected on this day of protest. Behind their organization are a handful of well-known groups, such as Indivisibles, Public Citizen, the American Civil Liberties Union, MoveOn, the Human Rights Campaign or the American Federation of Teachers. But it is also supported by more than 200 national and local organizations and groups, as well as countless citizens who are mobilizing individually.
“The president believes that his government is absolute but in the US we have no kings and we will not surrender to chaos, corruption and cruelty,” the organizers have written on the marches’ website, which They expect participation to be even more massive than in June. So the demonstrations occurred on the same day that Trump celebrated his 79th birthday presiding over a military march.
Now the fears and tensions are greater. In the United States, which has been in an operational shutdown with the Government for three weeks, political violence has escalated. The Administration’s demonization and repression of dissent is also on the rise. Federal forces and immigration agents are increasingly militarized and undertake their actions more harshly. And the president has deployed uniformed personnel to American cities and directly urged the military leadership to “deal with the enemy within before it gets out of control.”
military deployment
Four months ago, Trump had only authorized the deployment of National Guard soldiers in Los Angeles to, supposedly, protect federal forces from protesters who are carrying out a tougher arrest and deportation campaign of immigrants.
The strength and brutality of these operations against immigration and crime, however, has been increasing. And since the summer Trump has also authorized military deployment in Washington DC, in Memphisin Chicago and in Portlandalthough in the last two cities the courts are preventing it for now.
The summer day of protests began with an episode of political violence: the murder in Minnesota of a Democratic congresswoman and her husband. This Saturday comes with the intensified radicalization and polarization caused by the murder in September of the influential ultra-conservative activist and Trump ally Charlie Kirk.
A few days after that assassination, Trump designated the Antifa movement as a terrorist organization and issued a proclamation establishing a force to combat those who present “anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism and anti-Christianity”; “immigration extremism, race, gender” and “hostility toward those who hold traditional American views on family, religion and morality.”
Non-violence and de-escalation
Aware of the tension and how easy it can be for any spark to fly, the organizers of this Saturday’s demonstrations have been emphasizing calls for focus on nonviolencewhich has dominated all anti-Trump protests so far. They have been made safety training y de-escalate.
The peaceful message is clear but so is the determination. “The purpose is to stand up in solidarity, organize, defend our democracy and protect each other and our communities and say enough is enough,” Lisa Gilbert of Public Citizen told The Washington Post.
“The violence does not come from our protesters, it comes from the Administration, with its militarized raids and its masked agents walking our streets terrorizing communities,” Gilbert also declared to ‘The Guardian’. The president wants us to be afraid, but he will not intimidate us into fear and silence. “It’s incredibly important for people to stay peaceful, stand up proud and express what matters to them, and not be cowed by that fear.”
Republican attacks
Both Trump and his Administration and the leadership of the Republican Party They have been trying for days to portray the demonstrations as “un-American” actions. They have linked them to the operational closure of the Government, accusing the Democrats of refusing to negotiate until the day has passed, and the Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessantdeclared a few days ago on Fox Business “Reyes does not mean no nominations.”
The politicization does not end there. Mike Johnsonpresident of the Lower House, has called ‘No Kings’ a “protest of hate against the US” and, like other Republicans, speaks of the demonstrations as supposedly organized and “paid for.” Johnson has even said that in the streets we will see “or terrorist” and the “pro-Hamas wing” of the Democratic Party.
These are words that, in other circumstances, could be read as a mere intensified rhetorical confrontation. But it is impossible to read them in isolation.
La fiscal general, Pam Bondisaid recently: “You see people there with thousands of signs that are identical, purchased and prepared in advance. They are organized and someone is financing it. We are going to get to the funding of Antifa,” he continued, “we are going to get to the root and we are going to find and charge all the people who are causing this chaos.”
Above Bondi, Trump has spoken of the radical left as the “enemy.” And he is a president who has assumed executive authority to be able to persecute him.
Subscribe to continue reading
