Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

Since Trump has retaken office and gained his footing as a dictator, acts of political violence against Democratic elected officials have been swiftly increasing, and the nation has entered a civil war. Trump has commanded hundreds of National Guard members from Texas to invade Chicago for at least 60 days despite opposition from the mayor and governor. “Chicago Mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE Officers! Governor Pritzker also!” Trump posted in response on social media.

With increased Department of Homeland Security (DHS) presence and aggression in Chicago, community members have been fighting back to keep each other safe. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker have repeatedly denounced the terrors DHS and ICE have been inflicting, and have repeatedly pushed back against Trump’s weeks-long threats to activate troops to the state. The feds have been targeting primarily Black neighborhoods, and recently raided an apartment complex where they dragged residents out at night, including naked children, and zip-tied them.

On the west coast, Oregon has been holding 24/7 protests for over three months outside the Portland ICE detention facility, which have recently gained nationwide attention for their wackiness and peacefulness that DHS clash with. Trump said he would deploy National Guard members to quell these protests, but the state’s highest-ranking military leader, Brigadier General Alan R. Gronewold, said that Oregon’s National Guard have two duties: “One, to defend America, and two, to protect Oregonians. And so by serving in this mission, they will be protecting any protesters at the ICE facility.”

Trump has a history of violent rhetoric and encouraging the unlawful use of violence, like with the January 6 insurrection. His hateful speech has become normalized and has created a trickling effect seeking to drown out Democratic officials. Just last month on September 24, Arizona Rep. John Gillette posted on social media that Washington Rep. Pramila Jayapal should be executed.

“Until people like this, that advocate for the overthrow of the American government are tried convicted and hanged…it will continue,” Rep. Gillette posted in response to a video Rep. Jayapal uploaded.

Rep. Jayapal’s video was a clip taken from her “Resistance Lab” series, which provides organizing and training tools to resist dictatorship with nonviolent response.

“Our goals are to help people understand how democracies fall and the most effective resistance movements that have challenged authoritarians and dictators; to turn anger, fear and frustration into action in the short-term while also preparing for a coordinated resistance movement for the longer term; and to build community across the country that can help grow our movement,” according to the website. “At the end of the day, we want to get people strike-ready and street-ready and make sure we protect our people, our freedoms and our democracy.”

Rep. Gillette took issue with Rep. Jayapal’s use of the words “strike-ready” and “street-ready” from the clip she posted on social media, which happens to be part of the mission statement of “Resistance Lab.” He claimed the Washingtonian was encouraging people to engage in violence.

In an interview with the Arizona Republic, Rep. Gillette said he used a “poor choice of word,” when replying to Rep. Jayapal, and that he should have used “firing squad” instead.

Rep. Jayapal issued a statement on September 26, which in part said:
“This is appalling, unacceptable, and dangerous from anyone, but particularly from an elected official. It is a call to violence designed to suppress nonviolent democratic organizing against authoritarianism and further polarize the American public for political gain. Sadly, it makes the world a more dangerous place for each of us.”

Thirty Arizona organizations issued a letter to House Speaker Steve Montenegro to take action against Rep. Gillette for his violent social media post, and that the call for Rep. Jayapal’s execution is “deeply concerning in light of the recent assassination of Minnesota Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman and her husband, the shooting of Minnesota state Senator John Hoffman and his wife, the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the arson attack on Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Home.”

On the early morning of June 20, the day of nationwide “No Kings” protests, a man named Vance Boelter posed as a police officer and modified a Ford SUV to appear like a cop car. He knocked on Sen. Hoffman’s door, and allegedly shot him nine times and his wife, Yvette, eight; both miraculously survived. The shooter then went to Rep. Hortman’s home and allegedly shot and killed her, her husband Mark, and their golden retriever Gilbert, who later had to be put down.

In April, Gov. Shapiro’s house was targeted over the genocide and Palestine by an arsonist suspected to be Cody A Balmer. State police woke Governor Shapiro, his wife, his four kids, and two dogs and guided them to safety.

Trump’s use of violent rhetoric against his political opponents has emboldened others, including those in positions of power, to behave similarly and act out aggression. Threatening to imprison elected state officials over their determination to protect their citizens is part of Trump’s plan to seize power, and is often what other authoritarian leaders do. Trump has declared war on the American people, and blue states he is targeting must protect their residents at all costs, or watch them be tortured, kidnapped, and disappeared or murdered in detention facilities.