Thread by @neversremedy

I spent the last 14 minutes crying over this man. This man whom I’ve never met and knew nothing about until a few days before, when threats against his life were ignored. My teen held me, reading only the headline. [CW: graphic details of torture]

rawstory.com/2018/10/jamal-…

This is a tipping point. There has always been evil in the world, but right now, evil is in charge. Evil is spreading into the highest levels of government, not just in the U.S., but across the country. There is no one with significant power right now to keep it in check.

The largest military force in the world is in the hands of a corrupt, puerile man who thinks only of himself. When his ego isn’t fed, he lashes out in vicious, destructive ways that can harm millions of people. Or just one at a time. Like Jamal Khashoggi.

politico.eu/blogs/on-media…

Trump has decried the media’s portrayal of him for years, but since winning the electoral college—likely by committing treason—he’s increased his vitriol against journalists/journalism to the point he’d like to do away with the entire First Amendment.

aclu.org/blog/free-spee…

independent.co.uk/news/world/ame…

To the point where he allowed a journalist to be captured by another dictator to be tortured and dismembered until dead.

observer.com/2018/10/nsa-so…

And Jamal Khashoggi, a journalist to the end, recorded his death on his Apple Watch, so the world would know the truth of what happened to him.

This is supposed to be a warning, not just to Saudi Arabia’s journalists, but to those in the U.S. as well. Speak out against a fascist regime, and this is what you get. Or worse. Maybe next time, they’ll make a journalist watch their children dismembered first.

Maybe they’ll decimate an entire village that supported the truth. Maybe Trump will order keys to be turned, and missiles fired at the people he swore to serve.

There has always been evil in the world, both in the form of torturers who listen to their favorite music while they work, and dictators who cannot stand to face a mirror of their true selves. They cannot seem to learn that by hurting others, they end up hurting themselves.

Hurting a country’s citizenry hurts those who depend upon them for their wealth. By silencing those who speak out against them, they further chip away at the power they hold so dearly.

We cannot allow this to continue. We cannot allow the U.S. to become the worst dystopian future I, and other writers, could fathom. Trump, and those like him, want us to be silent. Do not be silent. They want us to ignore their crimes. Hold them up for all to see.

Journalists, remember, Jamal Khashoggi turned on his watch. Even in the midst of excruciating agony, he spoke truth to power. He told the world: you have not silenced me.

@threadreaderapp Unroll please.