The fascistic tendencies of President Donald Trump’s administration have been revealed yet again to the world, this time in the Nation’s capital, Washington, D.C. While the ever-increasing totalitarianism of this administration is hardly a surprise at this point, it does not make the reality any less horrifying to those who value freedom, human rights, and the lives and dignity of their neighbors.
To briefly summarize, Trump has used the excuse of “out of control crime” in D.C., despite the city having a record-low crime rate compared to the last 30 years, to justify a military takeover. This takeover seems instead to have been sparked by the attempted carjacking of a former DOGE staffer. Apparently, if one attempted carjacking is enough to marshal federal troops to a city, we can expect the Marines to be summoned to Grand Valley State University by the end of the week. That is, unless our cars don’t matter as much as the car of a Musk-sycophant who played his part in the destruction of federal agencies and programs that millions of Americans were dependent upon.
Of course, as we can all safely assume, this federal takeover of the capital has little to nothing to do with crime rates, cars or the safety of nepo-babies like the DOGE staffer. This is transparently an attempt by the Trump administration to see what they can get away with, if this blatantly fascist action is met with any real resistance and to pave the way for similar occupations in the future. D.C. was targeted not because of crime, but because it is a liberal stronghold. This became crystal clear when Trump talked of sending the military to other cities, such as Chicago.
While Trump seems likely to meet resistance from the Chicago mayor and Illinois governor, they aren’t the resistance that matters, much in the same way that California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s “resistance” when Los Angeles was occupied wasn’t the resistance that mattered. The resistance that mattered then, and the resistance that matters now, is the resistance of the people in these cities. As readers likely remember, when Trump marched ICE and the military into LA they were met with ferocious resistance from community members, who came out in droves to defend their neighbors and their city.
Over the years, especially under the Trump administrations, we have seen what is possible when millions of people take the streets to jam up the gears of oppression. The people of California drove ICE out of LA. The people have forced American cities, universities, businesses and trade unions to divest from Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, preventing millions of dollars from going to aid in the slaughter. The same people are likely the primary reason that killer cop Derek Chauvin now rots in a cell for the murder of George Floyd. When a mass of people take the streets to disrupt and fight back, a populace can become ungovernable, no matter how brutal the fascists they fight.
