We Aren’t Headed Toward #Authoritarianism. We’re Here

The U.S. has a long, dark history of deploying troops to attack #protestors that dates back to the 19th century. What can we learn from it to counter #Trump’s latest attacks?

Zeb Larson Jun 11, 2025

"On Saturday evening, Donald Trump announced that he was deploying 2,000 California National Guard troops to quell anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. He did so using a rarely used law that allows the president to take control of a National Guard if there is a “a rebellion or danger of a rebellion against the authority of the Government of the United States.” This is against the wishes of Governor Gavin Newsom, who has said that the troops will only inflame tensions. Protests continued throughout Sunday night and seem likely to escalate on Monday.

"This is a calculated attempt by the Trump administration to provoke a conflict. They hope to show cities in chaos in order to justify accelerating 'deportations.' Even though deportations remain stubbornly popular, approval over their methods is slipping, and the images of ICE agents raiding restaurants, immigration hearings, and schools undercuts the narrative about deporting criminals. #StephenMiller is reportedly angry at the 'slow' pace of arresting immigrants without due process and sending them off to brutal prison camps in foreign countries to which they have no association, like El Salvador, Libya, and South Sudan, and wants to speed them up to reach a quota of 3,000 a day. But to do that, they need to demonstrate greater urgency. They likely picked California because of the state’s size and prominence, and to undercut any attempt at states bucking or resisting immigration enforcement.

"This is an incredibly worrying step in the country’s march toward authoritarianism. The fact that the police are shooting rubber bullets at reporters is equally disturbing, as it seems clear that law enforcement will side with the federal authorities. We can’t rest complacently and assume that 'it can’t happen here.' It can and it is. And U.S. history offers plenty of past examples, with state militia and federal troops having been deployed against protesters as early as the 19th century. Back then, both were used to put down labor disputes and force striking workers back to work. Major strikes such as the #StrikeOf1877, the #GreatSouthwestStrike of 1886, and the #PullmanStrike in 1894 all ended by either federal troops’ or state militias’ force.

"At the turn of the 20th century came the massacres of African Americans. In 1917, strikes and labor disputes in East St. Louis, Illinois, erupted into one of the most violent race riots in U.S. history. African Americans fought back against white attackers, and the Illinois National Guard was called in to restore peace—but they chose in most cases to join in on the attacks or at the least, just stood back and allowed them to happen. Anywhere between 40 and 150 Black people died, and thousands more were left homeless. During the #TulsaMassacre in 1921, the Oklahoma National Guard disarmed Black citizens trying to defend themselves and marched them into detention camps, even after white rioters had commandeered planes from the local airfield and dropped bombs on their homes—an unprecedented act."

Read more:
https://www.damemagazine.com/2025/06/11/we-arent-headed-toward-authoritarianism-were-here/

#USPol #NoKings #Protest #Solidarity
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#NationalGuard #Resistance #OathToDefendTheConstitution #FashPatel #TrumpIsANazi #StephenMillerIsANazi