Violence by the State

Use of the Military

- Ruth Ben-Ghiat

Trump signed an executive order designating Antifa as a Democratic Terrorist Organization to allow agencies to investigate, prosecute and dismantle anyone "claiming ot act on behalf of antifa - which essentially gives him a free pass to attack anti trump rhetoric.

Recently the Trump administration has attempted to deploy the military for domestic law enforcement, either at the border or on the streets. (Which, normally, the president is strictly barred from doing by law.) In the short term, probably expect something border-focused — but also as a trial balloon for potential deployment against protestors (as Trump weighed doing in his first term).

• The Insurrection Act is intended for genuine crises and very limited circumstances.
• It’s been invoked only at rare moments in our nation’s history, like the Civil War. No president has invoked it against a state’s wishes since Lyndon Johnson did so to protect Civil Rights marches in the 1960s.
• Abusing the Insurrection Act for non-emergencies — like immigration enforcement — or to try to intimidate political opposition would be a major attack on the rule of law and on the apolitical integrity of the military.

Read more about the Insurrection Act and Deployment of the National Gaurd

The Insurrection Act is not martial law. It does not suspend or even change the constitutional protections we all have. The military does not replace civilian law enforcement, but rather supports it. All the same laws and restrictions that apply to regular law enforcement also apply to military personnel (more so, in fact — service members also have to follow military law).

Weaponizing Law Enforcement and Justice

Trump selectively chooses who to enforce the law against in a manner that can only be seen as retalitory. His administration wants to use the system to punish opponents and dissenters.

How to spot Unlawful Political Targeting

1. Is there evidence of political interference?
2. Does evidence support that the subjects and investigations are being treated the same as other similar cases?
3. Are courts the actions of the justice department?

Sources:

• Tracking Retaliatory Use of Arrests, Prosecutions, and Investigations by the Trump Administration

Illegal Detaining/Imprisonment

With the intention of spreading fear and compliance, the administration has been going out of it's ways to make sure detention centers have hostile conditions. When they deport immigrants (and also citizens) they do so to places with a lot of violence and danger.

<p>Centers like the "Alligator Alcatraz" built in the Florida Everglades have been reported to deny showers, air conditioning, healthcare, and safe food. </p>

Sources:

• Florida nonprofits, doctors, families of detainees call for immediate shutdown of Alligator Alcatraz

How to Discuss Cruelty

- Ben Raderstorf

This may seem like a no brainer - if someone does something evil people will recognize that and be against it. But massive strategies have been taken by the right to dehumanize and vilify their victims to allow their violence to go unchecked. These talking point strategies can be used to break through the brainwashing.

Key Terms

Disappeared: Coined between 1976 and 1983 to describe the US backed right-wing military junta in Argentia that abducted and killed nearly 30,000 people under the accusation that they were terrorists.

Tactics

• Use Pluralism: This is recognition that, sooner or later, in one form or another, all of us could end up in the minority. So we are all better off if the rights and dignity of all are protected.
• Lead with HumanityDon’t talk about people as a collective group of others, talk about each person as an individual with stories, families, and personalities. Take the example of the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo who marched weekly in Buenos Aires holding pictures of their missing loved ones to call attention to the violences and disappearances in their country.
• Explain the TacticTalk to others about how autocracies use scapegoating and cruelty to gain control. Capitulating and accepting violence allows these regimes to take even more rights from us.

- Ruth Ben-Ghiat

• Don’t Accept/Repeat Divisive Framing Don’t use the white house’s narrative meant to further dehumanize the victims and scare the population - especially without proof.

Sources:

• How Autocrats Disappear People and Information, and How We Can Fight Back

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                <h2>Resources</h2>

• How Not to Look Away An article on coping and reacting to the violence around us
• What to do if You're Targeted by the White House Mostly focused on organizations but some aspects apply to individuals