Fighting Back Against Trump Violence and Retribution

What the opponents of the regime's lawlessness and abuse are doing—and why they give me hope

Protestors in Minneapolis over the weekend. (Photo by Octavio Jones/AFP via Getty Images)

Both Minnesota and Illinois filed lawsuits yesterday in response to the lawless abuse committed by federal agents in their cities. They are not alone in fighting back against a dangerous, out-of-control regime that is terrorizing communities and abusing its power in an effort to sow fear and coerce officials into doing its bidding.

In the last two days, that list includes Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and six federal prosecutors in Minnesota who resigned their positions following the Justice Department’s pressure to investigate the widowed wife of Renee Nicole Good and the DOJ’s reluctance to investigate the deadly shooter, Jonathan Ross. The list also includes thousands of protestors in the streets of Minneapolis and around the country.

I want to share with you some of what each of these states and individuals are saying (although we have yet to hear from the federal prosecutors who resigned today). I think their words—while addressing harsh realities—are uplifting because they remind us that we are not alone; plenty of Americans see what’s happening and refuse to kowtow to the violence and retribution of Donald Trump and his regime. It strengthens my conviction that we will get through this dark period—that the day will come when these lawless and power-hungry sadists are held accountable for their actions.

"Thousands of armed and masked DHS agents have stormed the Twin Cities to conduct militarized raids and carry out dangerous, illegal, and unconstitutional stops and arrests in sensitive public places, including schools and hospitals—all under the guise of lawful immigration enforcement," the Minnesota lawsuit states. And more:

This operation is driven by nothing more than the Trump Administration’s desire to punish political opponents and score partisan points—at the direct expense of Plaintiffs’ residents. Defendants’ actions appear designed to provoke community outrage, sow fear, and inflict emotional distress, and they are interfering with the ability of state and local officials to protect and care for their residents….

When the federal government itself violates legal rights and civic norms on such a broad scale and public panic is high, state and city governments bear the costs— both tangible and intangible. Defendants’ agents’ reckless tactics endanger the public safety, health, and welfare of all Minnesotans. Additionally, Defendants’ agents’ inflammatory and unlawful policing tactics provoke the protests the federal government seeks to suppress.

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The Illinois lawsuit is equally clear in fighting back. “The Trump administration has unleashed an organized bombardment on the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, causing turmoil and imposing a climate of fear,” it begins. It continues:

Though Defendants describe this assault as ‘immigration enforcement,’ the reality is that uniformed, military-trained personnel, carrying semi-automatic firearms and military-grade weaponry, have rampaged for months through Chicago and surrounding areas, lawlessly stopping, interrogating, and arresting residents, and attacking them with chemical weapons…

The occupation of Illinois and Chicago is intended to coerce Plaintiffs to abandon their policies, which value and respect the State’s immigrants, and devote their resources to further the immigration policies of the current administration. Illinois and Chicago have refused to do so.

The U.S. Constitution stands as a bulwark against Defendants’ onslaught against Illinois and Chicago. The Tenth Amendment preserves Illinois’s sovereignty. That sovereignty “is not just an end in itself: Rather, federalism secures to citizens the liberties that derive from the diffusion of sovereign power.”

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Now let’s turn to Sen. Kelly, who has been targeted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Trump for participating in a video that urged military members to refuse illegal orders. Here’s how he describes why he filed a lawsuit yesterday.

Pete Hegseth is coming after what I earned through my twenty-five years of military service, in violation of my rights as an American, as a retired veteran, and as a United States Senator whose job is to hold him—and this or any administration—accountable. His unconstitutional crusade against me sends a chilling message to every retired member of the military: if you speak out and say something that the President or Secretary of Defense doesn’t like, you will be censured, threatened with demotion, or even prosecuted…

I’ve never shied away from a fight for our country, and I won’t shy away from this one. Because our freedom of speech, the separation of powers, and due process are not just words on a page, they are bedrock principles of our democracy that has lasted 250 years and will last 250 more as long as patriotic Americans are willing to stand up for our rights.

So today, I filed a lawsuit against the Secretary of Defense because there are few things as important as standing up for the rights of the very Americans who fought to defend our freedoms.

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Lastly, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is refusing to give up his position and the independence of the Fed to an unhinged White House occupant who—convinced that he should be determining monetary policy—has pressured the Justice Department to criminally investigate him over the central bank’s renovation of its headquarters.

I have deep respect for the rule of law and for accountability in our democracy. No one—certainly not the chair of the Federal Reserve—is above the law. But this unprecedented action should be seen in the broader context of the administration’s threats and ongoing pressure.

This new threat is not about my testimony last June or about the renovation of the Federal Reserve buildings. It is not about Congress’s oversight role; the Fed through testimony and other public disclosures made every effort to keep Congress informed about the renovation project. Those are pretexts. The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the President.

This is about whether the Fed will be able to continue to set interest rates based on evidence and economic conditions—or whether instead monetary policy will be directed by political pressure or intimidation…

Public service sometimes requires standing firm in the face of threats. I will continue to do the job the Senate confirmed me to do, with integrity and a commitment to serving the American people.

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Add to this list everyday Americans who are taking to the streets, aiming their cameras at increasingly reckless ICE agents, blowing whistles of warning, and speaking out loud and clear that they do not belong in their communities. These protests continued today in Minneapolis even as federal agents tear gassed them and expanded their violent assaults.

As I wrote yesterday, these thugs and their bosses want us to be afraid, thereby increasing their power to pursue a terror campaign against immigrants and citizens alike. “We must keep standing up and speaking out to thwart these dangerous people who despise our beloved country,” I concluded.

Yes, Trump and his regime are escalating their attacks. But the actions of the last few days by fellow Americans—to fight back against what they know is wrong—provide reasons for hope.

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