Trump's America: Is this the end of free speech?

When I was 14, I lost a friend in a horrific, freak accident. She was walking across the street when her skateboard slipped out from under her, and as she turned to retrieve it, she was hit by a car. And then she was gone. The memorial was held outside, with music playing and people smiling through tears. It was the first time I felt the dissonance of grief. I remember her mother hugging me, dazed, whispering, “Don’t forget her.” I never did.

That year, 1992, was full of things I couldn’t understand, and they happened at the same time. After we left her celebration of life, I remember getting into the car and turning on the radio, where there was breaking news about the LA riots that had just broken out after four white police officers were acquitted for beating a Black man, Rodney King. The entire country had seen that video, just like we’ve now seen the video of Renee Good. And so many of us felt like there was an injustice committed that day, too. Over sixty people would end up being killed over those five days, and while we tried to make sense of it all, even from the neighboring county, we felt like it was happening in our own backyard.

That time feels eerily familiar to what I see happening right now. A lot of us are carrying a strange kind of grief, not because we’ve lost one person, but because it feels like we’re losing the country itself. It’s not the same pain, but it moves the same way. There’s heartbreak. And a growing sense of disbelief that this is real. That it’s happening here in the United States.

What makes it worse is that Trump keeps bringing up the Insurrection Act, the same law that was actually used during the LA riots. But back then, it was used because California’s own governor requested help. It wasn’t forced on us by a president. It wasn’t a threat or a power grab. But that was then. What’s happening now isn’t a response to crisis; it’s the creation of one. Now, Trump talks about the Insurrection Act like it’s something routine. Like it’s a normal step to take when people protest his policies. It’s not. The truth is, the Insurrection Act is used rarely, and only under extreme circumstances. But by repeating it over and over, he’s trying to make it sound normal. Like sending the military into American cities is just business as usual.

And that’s what really sticks with me. He keeps saying the words so we’ll stop flinching when we hear them. But the reality is, if Trump wanted to stop the unrest in Minneapolis, he could. He could pull ICE out. He could end the fear, end the tension, stop using federal agents as enforcers. But he won’t. Because he’s not reacting to the chaos, he’s creating it.

He’s not just abusing power. He’s getting us used to the idea of abuse. He’s softening us. Preparing the country to accept whatever comes next. So when something even more extreme happens, people won’t be shocked. They’ll already know the words. This is the slow drill of authoritarianism.

We’ve already seen how this plays out in real time. What used to look shocking, ICE raids, federal agents in our cities, citizens detained without cause, is starting to feel expected. ICE officers have already shot multiple people, and we still don’t know the full scale of what’s happening.

Just today, I’ve heard from multiple people, unconfirmed but consistent, that a deployment of 10,000 to 15,000 ICE officers may be headed to San Diego. Whether that specific number ends up being true or not, or whether San Diego is the first or the fifth target, the reality is that this is the plan. This is what they’re ramping up to. The goal is to build toward large-scale federal deployments, tens of thousands of agents, rotating through city after city. And this time, the danger isn’t just to immigrants. It’s to anyone who stands for truth, protest, or basic decency.

Because that is a lot of people. And if it’s true that they’ve already hired 22,000 ICE agents, then sending this many wouldn’t be a stretch.

Why is he targeting blue states? It’s actually a lot simpler than people think. Blue states didn’t vote for him. He believes he’s locked in for the midterms in red states, where MAGA candidates are still running strong. So what he wants now is chaos. He wants fear in the states that rejected him. It’s retribution. And it’s a disruption, right before the election, to put as much friction and fear between us and the ballot box.

Just this afternoon, two U.S. officials confirmed that the Department of Justice is now targeting Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey for allegedly “obstructing law enforcement.” Not because they broke the law or interfered with an investigation. But because they publicly criticized what the federal government is doing in their city. Because they stood up and said this wasn’t right.

Governor Walz didn’t hold back. In a public statement, he called it exactly what it is:
“Two days ago it was Elissa Slotkin. Last week it was Jerome Powell. Before that, Mark Kelly. Weaponizing the justice system and threatening political opponents is a dangerous, authoritarian tactic.”

And he added something else that cuts to the heart of what we’re seeing:
“The only person not being investigated for the shooting of Renee Good is the federal agent who shot her.”

Mayor Frey also spoke out forcefully. His full statement reads:
“This is an obvious attempt to intimidate me for standing up for Minneapolis, our local law enforcement, and our residents against the chaos and danger this Administration has brought to our streets,” he continued, “I will not be intimidated. My focus will remain where it’s always been: keeping our city safe.”

He shouldn’t have to say that. Not in a democracy. But we’re past the point of “shouldn’t.” This is what authoritarianism looks like as it settles in. It looks like legal threats instead of bullets. It looks like the justice system turning inward, aimed not at criminals, but at the people trying to stop them. With public officials being criminally investigated for telling the truth, and mayors being treated like enemies of the state for refusing to hand their city over to an unaccountable federal force. It uses language like, “obstruction,” “insurrection,” “law and order”, used not to clarify, but to justify whatever they want to do next.

This is what Trump is trying to make feel normal. That federal law enforcement can be used to punish critics. That elected officials can be investigated for protecting their own communities. That speaking up is somehow a threat. It’s not just abuse of power, it’s the normalization of abuse. It’s setting the stage so that when worse things happen, nobody’s surprised. And it’s happening right now.

When I started writing these posts, I said I was either documenting the fall of America or her greatest comeback. And I still believe it’s her comeback. But that won’t happen on its own. It will happen because people remembered what was normal and refused to let it be rewritten. Because we saw what they were doing and still chose to speak. Because we stood in the middle of the noise, the lies, the fear, and didn’t move.

And if it turns out that ICE really does show up in those kinds of numbers, here in my city, or anywhere nearby where I can reasonably get to, I’ll be there. Not in some dramatic way. Just as a person who refuses to look away. I have a child at home, so I won’t be traveling far. But I’ve already started making plans. I bought a whistle. And if you see someone standing off to the side, in a dress, staying out of the way but refusing to disappear, that might be me. I won’t be interfering. I won’t be doing anything violent. I’ll just be standing there, watching and documenting, making sure someone is keeping track of what they’re trying to hide.

The midterms will be here before we know it. Yet the time from now until then is going to become increasingly chaotic and unstable. There is nothing that Trump, his enablers, and his cronies won’t do to stay in power, and we need to remember that with everything they say and everything they do. We have to see it all through that lens. And we absolutely cannot let them normalize any of it. If we lose our grip on what’s real, if we start to accept the unacceptable just to make it through the day, then we’re handing over the one thing they need most: our silence. We can’t give it to them. We have to keep naming what this is, even when it feels exhausting, even when the people around us want to pretend it’s not happening.

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed. It’s okay to feel scared. Most days, I do too. But the truth is, those feelings mean we’re still connected to reality, to each other, and to what’s at stake.

And that’s exactly why I still have hope for America. I hope you do too.

I’ll see you tomorrow,
Heather

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