By Russ Bellant
In the most recent developments of executive authority, Donald Trump has now explicitly identified non-violent political groups as targets for suppression by federal forces. This update is presented to explain the evolving challenge to freedom of expression and organizing, as well as the acceleration of fascist networks taking dominion.
On September 22 Trump issued an Executive Order to target “Antifa”, which was characterized as an organization that posed a “terrorist threat” to American society. As has been widely reported, Antifa is not an organization but an outlook. The creation of this false threat is to alarm society and justify the buildup of an even more repressive government apparatus.
On September 25 Trump issued National Security Program Memorandum #7 (NSPM-7) titled ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence.” The text of this actually should be titled Targeting Progressive Voices for Maximum State Terror. NSPM 7 says “Violent threads animating this conduct include anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, and anti-Christianity.” They also claim that “extremism on migration, race and gender” is subversive. So, since “extremism” is a subjective term, this legitimizes attacks from federal agencies and agents on persons and organizations that speak forcefully against Trumpworld policies and actions.
This is justified in the NSPM-7 by asserting that “This guidance shall also include an identification of any behaviors, fact patterns, recurrent motivations, and other indicia common to organizations and entities that coordinate these acts in order to direct efforts to identify and prevent potential violent activity.” Potential does not mean actual. Giving a speech strongly condemning the violence and illegality of ICE actions is not an implied call to violence against ICE, but they have said that such speech inspires violence and is therefore “insurrectionary” and thus illegal. There go critical speech rights protected by the First Amendment.
The irrational, dishonest claims the Trump supplicants make and the threats they utter justify our concerns regarding NSPM-7. On October 7th, Trump, Kristi Noem and Pam Bondi met with ten rightwing actors in a media event. Noem told everyone that Antifa wants ”to kill people that just want to raise their families.” Bondi says that “we are employing the full might of federal law enforcement … we are going to take down Antifa, destroy the entire organization from top to bottom.” Trump adds “we are going to be more threatening to them than they are to us.”
All of this is about an “organization” that does not exist. So, to try to give life to their mythology, they will apply these measures to groups that they will say are Antifa or Antifa-like. Likely targets are groups that confront ICE and troops that are invading our cities.
The last month has seen three more cities invaded by U.S. troops – Memphis, Portland and Chicago. Many protests were held in Chicago and day after day ICE pepper-sprayed demonstrators. They shot one woman multiple times and killed a man on his way to work. There were also Chicago police pepper sprayed. After some people were doubting that the event occurred, the Chicago Police Chief affirmed that 27 police officers were sprayed.
They also sprayed a young Chicago pastor who was asking ICE agents to repent. They responded with a heavy dose of tear gas, then he was dragged and then hit in the face with another heavy dose at close range and dropped to the ground. So agents are operating with a license to abuse free speech on anyone.
In Trump’s October 7 meeting he also repeatedly said that Portland was in utter chaos, was crumbling and that protesters were violent and the mayor and governor were permitting violence and then lying by saying that no violence occurred. He had a guest saying that his life was threatened daily for his support of Trump. The manufacture of lies will be a characteristic of every invasion planned for every city that he invades.
In the Executive Orders and NSPM-7 documents, the Left is targeted as the author of political violence, social disorder and assassinations. No references are made to the injuring and killing of Minnesota legislators by a Christian assassin or the Trumpworld backing of a book, UNHUMANS, that justifies mass murder of Americans who oppose Trumpworld. Co-author of the book Jack Posobiec was a speaker on the September 21 memorial for Charlie Kirk. He was part of the Trump retinue that bemoaned the killing of a rightist but are ok with killing their opponents.
In a study of deadly political violence, the National Institute of Justice in 2024 reported that most of the deadly violence comes from the political Right. The NIJ, which is the research arm of the Department of Justice, reported that “Militant, nationalistic, white supremacist violent extremism has increased in the United States…Since 1990, far-right extremists have committed far more ideologically motivated homicides than far-left or radical Islamist extremists, including 227 events that took 520 lives.” The Trump administration took this report off the federal website when they started amping up their Left-is-terrorist campaign.
Finally, Trump has placed Steve Miller, determined Racist and Deputy Chief of Staff, in charge of the operation of the entire repressive apparatus. Trump once said of Miller that he wants to reduce the U.S. population to 100 million people that look like him. So that is why he is in charge.
Background
Trump has issued Executive Orders (E.O.s) related to military invasions of our cities. On August 25 he signed an E.O. to create “specialized” units for “quelling civil Disturbances.” They would be created within National Guard units by the Secretary of Defense, who would also create a “quick reaction force…for rapid nationwide deployment.” So, going forward, the Pentagon will be focusing more on the U.S population.
Also created in the August 25 E.O. is a directive that each law enforcement agency tied to a District of Columbia task force, as well as the Department of Justice agencies, shall create an online portal for recruiting candidates for specialized units to be created for “ensuring public safety and order.” Although these units would be based in D.C. “they could be deployed…in other cities.” In other words, they too will be nationally focused. As of now, none of these units have a name.
When the White House says that they are fighting crime, that has a certain appeal to the public. In the case of D.C., the claims of high rates of crime were not true. The majority of the 30 largest U.S. cities are in “red” states and many have higher crime rates than “blue” cities. But the National Guards in 19 ”red” states will not be used to “fight crime” but will be used to work with ICE to help meet Trump’s goal of one million deportations per year, according to Newsweek.
Only cities that vote Democratic with Democratic state leaders will get troops in the streets, up in people’s faces, with automatic weapons. Trump has openly announced that he intends to send military forces into Chicago, New York City and Baltimore to “fight crime.’ At different times he has said that he will go into “blue cities” and “big Dem cities.” In other words, he is openly giving political reasons for ordering military invasions of our cities.
Trumpworld has begun implementing its plans to invade “big blue cities” with his takeover of Washington, D. C.’s government and placing troops with armored vehicles on their streets, while arming them with military weapons. His targets are mainly cities with major Black populations. He is conjuring up images to his MAGA base of rampant, out-of-control crime, a common racist appeal, despite well- known data showing dramatic drops in crime in D.C. And he is targeting homeless encampment occupants with jail if they do not decamp. Trump said on X that they must move out “IMMEDIATELY.”
D.C. is suing. The Mayor, Muriel Bowser, said that Trump’s takeover is an “authoritarian push” and “an intrusion in our autonomy.” Clinique Chapman, director of the DC Justice Lab, told the New York Times that “young black boys will bear the brunt of this.”
When Trump says he is “fighting crime,” what crimes has he said he wants to target? In a July 24 E.O., #14321, he advocates incarcerating homeless and mentally ill people. This is proposed without due process. While this could populate and increase funding for private “detention” centers being built with $45 billion in ICE funds, Trump says that this “will restore public order.”
So how does Trump gain politically by placing armed troops in Dem cities? Those cities are more likely to have anti-Trump rallies. Trump has said that protests of him or his policies are “insurrectionary” and thus illegal, so he could do mass arrests of protesters or issue threats to do so in order to discourage such rallies. No more First Amendment rights if you are a critic.
In a recent report, radio program host Thom Hartmann has raised another motive. Given how Trumpworld is sweating the outcomes of the 2026 elections, he says that Trump could use troops to enforce his unlawful edicts against mailed ballots and even seize voting machines per an Executive order using claims of fraudulent activity. Diminishing the urban vote could help his supporters win state-wide elections. There are organizations in MAGAworld that focus just on changing elections to achieve their preferred outcomes.
On August 12, the Washington Post reported that the Pentagon had already developed a plan for a unit called Domestic Civil Disturbance Quick Reaction Force that would have 600 troops on standby around the clock to deploy with one hour’s notice to stop protests or other “disturbances.” By invading cities with majority or high percentages of Black, Brown, Middle Eastern and/or Asian residents, Trump also raises his standing with white supremacy in MAGA world. As other scandals diminish his standing, this can encourage his base.
Trump did this in 2020, ”flooding the streets of Washington with federal agents…to crack down on racial justice demonstrations” per the New York Times. They added that “some agents violently cleared protesters from Lafayette Park.” Military helicopters and ground formations were used against protesters.
Trump had planned for 800 troops and 500 agents in D.C. Then six states added over a thousand more national guardsmen to D.C. Trump plans to get extensions for keeping the occupation force in D.C. for an indefinite future. This federal invasion is actually the first step in Trump’s Executive Order 14288
(Russ Bellant is a freelance writer who has studied extreme right forces for decades. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Texas Observer, Toronto Star and The National Catholic Reporter. He is retired and lives in Detroit. He served in the Army as a Sergeant in Airborne Artillery. All of his work is self-funded.)
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