by Jordan Rock

Every week in the last four years has brought a new horror to my doorstep, but the most constant terror has been the actions of the current administration, and the worst damn president that I have been alive to see. How can anyone support this administration? America’s new nightmare.

America was fine with the sexual assault allegations. Americans were fine with “grab em’ by the pussy”. People were fine with an acting president not releasing his tax returns. They were fine with immigrant children in concentration camps. They were fine with rampant police brutality, and now we’re here.

Now American citizens are being kidnapped off the street by unmarked federal agents for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every time this administration commits an atrocity and shows its true colors, I hear a chorus of people making excuses online.

Now people in my city are being unlawfully detained without any rhyme or reason, and federal agents are beating protesters in the streets. Protesters, I’d like to remind you, who are protesting police brutality. There are no other words for this. This is fascism. America’s new nightmare.

FASCISM

And it’s about to go nationwide. Listen to me. I’m a black man, and at 27 years old. The police have stopped me twelve times in my life. I could have killed any one of those times. I am afraid of that every time I step outside. Now that fear has been heightened. 

Let me back up. I’m so angry right now, it’s hard to think straight.
I’m from the 8^th Ward, of New Orleans. You know, bad streets, good people. I’ve been living in Portland, Oregon since the top of this year. Downtown Portland has been a staging ground for massive BLM protests since the killing of George Floyd, and I’ve been proud of the people of my new home for standing up and screaming at the American police institution to stop killing us. The police, naturally, set up a curfew in order to criminalize anybody that happens to be downtown after dark. Videos show the police brutalizing just about anybody attending or adjacent to these protests.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m furious about that, because it seems like there are bad cops no matter where I hang my hat, but that’s not what I’m angry about tonight.

https://katu.com/news/local/us-attorney-asks-for-review-of-reported-dhs-arrests-in-unmarked-vehicles?jwsource=cl

AMERICA’S NEW NIGHTMARE

I’m angry because I keep getting reports that federal agents in army fatigues are kidnapping people off the streets at night.
Federal agents, without any form of identification, have been unlawfully detaining Portland citizens. Literally shoving them into unmarked vans and holding them hostage for hours without any reason besides it was night and they were wearing black. That’s right, if you live in Portland, and you look like a protester by their loose definition, there’s a chance that you will be disappeared by government spooks.

HEARD of PACT?

Here’s what we know so far. PACT is a new federal agency. It stands for “DHS Protecting American Communities Task Force. In the bill that introduced them on July 1^st they are “a special task force to coordinate Departmental law enforcement agency assets in protecting our nation’s historic monuments, memorials, statues, and federal facilities”. What I read from this is that the Trump administration is mobilizing government spooks to snatch up people that are out here protesting. So far, everyone that we know has been snatched has also been released. But this is just the start of something much bigger and more nefarious.

As of the 19^th of July, Deputy Secretary of the DHS Ken Cuccinelli said on NPR that not only is this unconstitutional task force not going to stop operating in Portland, their operatives and the tactics that they employ are about to be spread nationwide. People, do you understand what this means?

If ICE is Trump’s Gestapo, then this is his SS. This is a literal secret police force that is forcefully detaining anyone that has any complaint against the institutions of this country and happens to be outside and alone at night. And they are about to go nationwide. This is America’s new nightmare.

I don’t know how many times I have to say it, but this administration is fascist. The very rights that this nation was supposedly founded on are being trampled right in front of our eyes. I know how this goes because I know my history.

This is just a trial for the true horror that is to follow.
People, I implore you to be careful. To stay alert at all times, and always travel in groups if you can. Stay safe but keep talking. Keep fighting for your rights, and don’t let these scare tactics silence you. This cannot be allowed to continue.

Talk. Fight. Vote. 

Otherwise this won’t be America’s new nightmare.  It will be real life.