He Sent Troops And a Message
What Happens When a President Uses the Military to Escalate, Not De-Escalate
Yesterday, President Trump ordered 2,000 National Guard troops into Los Angeles in response to protests sparked by his expanded travel ban. This was a military show of force staged to send a political message.
📎 WSJ: Trump Orders National Guard to Los Angeles
Let’s not get it twisted. There were real flashpoints in LA — video evidence shows protestors damaging federal buildings, slashing tires, and clashing with officers. This wasn’t a purely peaceful demonstration.
📎 AP: Federal Authorities Arrest Dozens in LA
But here’s the line authoritarianism always wants to blur:
Isolated acts of destruction don’t justify mass military deployment.
And protest — even loud, angry, messy protest — isn’t an excuse to turn a city into a combat zone.
What We Saw
Tear gas and stun grenades deployed by ICE and DHS agents
44 arrests over immigration-related raids
Public streets militarized
LA’s own mayor caught off guard by the federal escalation
📎 LA Protests Escalate Amid Federal Crackdown
This is not “restoring order.”
It’s hijacking federal power to suppress opposition.
We've Been Here Before
In Lafayette Square, peaceful protesters were tear-gassed so Trump could hold a Bible on camera.
In Portland, protesters were pulled into unmarked vans by unidentified agents.
In Atlanta, students were dragged from their car and tased on live TV.
This is a pattern: militarize dissent. Discredit the protest. Centralize power.
What We Do Now
Even when protest turns messy, our response must be grounded in democratic values — not force first, not fear as policy.
We don’t have to defend broken windows.
But we should never accept broken norms.
🔥 Take Action
📞 Call your local and state officials. Demand they publicly condemn Trump’s troop deployment.
🗣️ Talk about what really happened — not just the noise, but the misuse of power behind it.
🖋️ Write a letter to the editor. Post online. Help others see the broader stakes.
📣 Attend or support a protest — and push for trained legal observers and de-escalation.
🤝 Donate to legal defense funds like National Lawyers Guild or a local bail fund.
This moment is bigger than LA.
It’s a test of who we are and what we’ll tolerate.
We don’t build safety through suppression.
We don’t preserve democracy by threatening it.
We rise up again and again because silence is not an option.
In defiance and solidarity,
— Take Action Now