(Thread)
Unidentified federal special ops teams dressed in full military tactical gear have been shooting protesters in Portland and silently disappearing them into unmarked vans in the night.
It is a pilot program to be brought to other Democratic cities.
Unidentified federal special ops teams dressed in full military tactical gear have been shooting protesters in Portland and silently disappearing them into unmarked vans in the night.
It is a pilot program to be brought to other Democratic cities.
You should not be able to watch this video without getting a sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach & developing goosebumps.
This isn't an arrest.
The only markings on their tactical uniforms are generic patches saying "police."
This is kidnapping.
This isn't an arrest.
The only markings on their tactical uniforms are generic patches saying "police."
This is kidnapping.
Apart from the "POLICE" patch, these guys are dressed *exactly* like many of the militia and boog boys who have violently raided and attacked BLM protests.
All the nazis have to do is go on Etsy to look identical.
They are setting us up to be shot by feds or kidnapped by Nazis.
All the nazis have to do is go on Etsy to look identical.
They are setting us up to be shot by feds or kidnapped by Nazis.
In Chicago, the feds are literally training civilians to do exactly this, to form civilian vigilante terror squads to disappear suspected undocumented immigrants from urban communities.
Trump's administration is deliberately creating brownshirt squads.
Trump's administration is deliberately creating brownshirt squads.
This comes on the heels of white vigilantes attacking BLM protesters across the country, often with the help and encouragement of the police.
Here in Philly, the police egged the vigilantes on and let them roam while arresting us for "curfew violation."
billypenn.com/2020/06/17/the…
Here in Philly, the police egged the vigilantes on and let them roam while arresting us for "curfew violation."
billypenn.com/2020/06/17/the…
And lest we forget, we watched Democratic mayors across the country not only tolerate National Guard occupation of our cities and communities during BLM uprisings, but actively welcome it as a way to evade political responsibility.
kensingtonvoice.com/en/national-gu…
kensingtonvoice.com/en/national-gu…
Mayors like @phillymayor also gave their police carte blanche to gas and shoot rubber bullets not only at protesters, but at civilians in their own neighborhoods.
They've been trying to evade accountability ever since.
phillymag.com/news/2020/06/2…
They've been trying to evade accountability ever since.
phillymag.com/news/2020/06/2…
Even as they've been forced to tepidly apologize for their abuses at whiter protests, they've evaded accountability for pumping abortifacient gas into entire Black neighborhoods, shooting rubber bullets indiscriminately at grandmothers and children there.
philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/phi…
philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2020/06/26/phi…
Not only radical white supremacist nazis but also just plain run-of-the-mill MAGA racists are increasingly viewing Barr's Antifa terror designation as a legalization of not only unconstitutional police terrorism, but of vigilante violence "eliminating" protesters.
Here's another person saying that the video I shared earlier of militarized federal agents kidnapping someone with no Antifa markings on them into an unmarked van in the middle of the night was fine because of Barr's terror designation.
Trump and Barr are deliberately setting up a scenario in which white vigilantes will have free reign even to the point of kidnapping and killing protesters.
These unidentified "agents" will give cops plausible deniability.
They'll say, "oh, we thought they were feds."
These unidentified "agents" will give cops plausible deniability.
They'll say, "oh, we thought they were feds."
Even if you don't care about protesters and just want Biden to win and out Trump...
You're a fool if you don't think this won't be used to impact the November election.
National Guard and police were illegally deployed outside ballot drop-off in our Philly primaries.
You're a fool if you don't think this won't be used to impact the November election.
National Guard and police were illegally deployed outside ballot drop-off in our Philly primaries.
Here's a Black journalist pointing out that he had to run a gauntlet of police and soldiers to vote.
If you don't think illegal police and National Guard presence at polls and ballot drop-off locations and won't actively depress the vote, you have no concept of the level of fear and anxiety police generate in the communities they terrorize.
Here's @phreedomjawn, a young Black voter in Philly, saying that this primary was the first time in six years they didn't vote, because there was an error in the absentee ballot they received, and they felt unsafe going out to vote with police and NG guarding the polls.
Trump and Barr are actively working to make the streets of Democratic cities so completely unsafe and deadly for Black and brown people that they will stay inside rather than risk voting.
They are using Antifa and BLM as a pretext for normalizing the LITERAL KIDNAPPING of civilians off the street by people in unmarked vehicles wearing only generic patches for identification.
They are working to give racist vigilantes the cover they need to kidnap & murder people.
They are working to give racist vigilantes the cover they need to kidnap & murder people.
They are working to give police plausible deniability for just LETTING people in tactical gear and rental vans kidnap people they don't like off the street.
This is so incredibly fucking dangerous and so not a drill.
This is so incredibly fucking dangerous and so not a drill.
They are normalizing brownshirting in advance of the election, they will almost certainly find a pretext to deploy these methods in Democratic cities in the lead-up to the election.
They are going to terrorize voters off the streets.
Again.
They are going to terrorize voters off the streets.
Again.
And in case anyone's forgotten, the mass gassing and shooting of protesters with baton rounds on 676?
That happened the eve of the Philadelphia election.
That happened the eve of the Philadelphia election.
I'm a Democratic committeeperson.
Every year I use the eve of the primary and general elections to do turnout in my ward division.
This last election eve, I was teargassed.
I watched my husband get shot twice with rubber bullets.
We were arrested for walking down a sidewalk.
Every year I use the eve of the primary and general elections to do turnout in my ward division.
This last election eve, I was teargassed.
I watched my husband get shot twice with rubber bullets.
We were arrested for walking down a sidewalk.
I was in a bus full of screaming women who were in agony because zip cuffs left on too long cause extreme pain and nerve damage.
They refused us water, and I was finally processed into a neighborhood I didn't know after midnight with no cabs or rideshares out.
They refused us water, and I was finally processed into a neighborhood I didn't know after midnight with no cabs or rideshares out.
Election morning, I was chemical burned and my wrists hurt so much that I screamed when my husband tried to touch my hand affectionately.
And I'm white.
Far more than Black and brown folks arrested and gassed, I had reason to assume I would leave custody in one piece.
I was still traumatized and injured.
Imagine what it felt like for people who didn't go in with my privilege.
Far more than Black and brown folks arrested and gassed, I had reason to assume I would leave custody in one piece.
I was still traumatized and injured.
Imagine what it felt like for people who didn't go in with my privilege.
This is state-sponsored terror.
Our cities' mayors have allowed police to enact it against us, allowed soldiers to occupy our voting places.
Now, our federal government is looking to roll out unprecedented fascistic terror operations in the leadup to the election.
Our cities' mayors have allowed police to enact it against us, allowed soldiers to occupy our voting places.
Now, our federal government is looking to roll out unprecedented fascistic terror operations in the leadup to the election.
NONE OF THIS IS NORMAL.
NONE OF THIS IS OKAY.
THIS IS FASCISM.
NONE OF THIS IS OKAY.
THIS IS FASCISM.
We need to be demanding that our local governments fight back and refuse to accommodate these fascist incursions.
We need to make Democrats understand that to give room to this now is to clear the way for Trump terrorizing his way to victory in November.
We need to make Democrats understand that to give room to this now is to clear the way for Trump terrorizing his way to victory in November.
Fascism slow-boils the frog of democracy, turning up the heat so gradually that the frog doesn't even realize it's dying until it's too late.
This is our last chance to jump.
We are so very, very close to already being boiled.
This is our last chance to jump.
We are so very, very close to already being boiled.
This is not a drill.
We are very much on the edge of no turning back.
We take action, or we die.
The end.
We are very much on the edge of no turning back.
We take action, or we die.
The end.
