President Trump declared that anyone who protests his military/birthday parade—even peacefully—will be met with “very heavy force.”
“We’re celebrating big on Saturday … if there’s any protest that wants to come out they will be met with very big force. And by the way, for those people who wanna protest, they’re gonna be met with very big force,” Trump said, repeating himself. “And I haven’t even heard about a protest, but, you know, these are people that hate our country. But they will be met with very heavy force.”
This is the president saying that he will crush anyone who dares to use their First Amendment right to speak out against a lavish display of power—6,700 soldiers, 50 in-air helicopters, 34 horses, and 28 massive 70-ton M1 Abrams battle tanks—that will cost more than $45 million in taxpayer dollars. His threats of “very heavy force” are entirely credible, given his gleeful deployment of thousands of National Guardsmen and Marines (who were without rules of engagement at the time) into Los Angeles without the consent of the city’s mayor, Karen Bass, or the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, after protesters interfered with ICE roundups.
As far as protests go, there are at least 1,500 massive “No Kings Day” actions planned for the afternoon of Trump’s parade, June 14, in Washington, D.C. and across the country. There are signs that the president’s bombastic response in Los Angeles is causing the number of those who intend to attend a protest on Saturday to increase.
“This country doesn’t belong to a king—and we’re not letting him throw himself a parade funded by tens of millions of our taxpayer dollars while stealing from us and stripping away our rights, our freedoms, and the programs our families rely on,” said Indivisible, the organization organizing the actions. “On June 14th, we’re coming together to send one clear message: No Thrones. No Crowns. No Kings.”
Trump is itching to brutalize dissenters, and his history suggests that he is more than willing to send orders to do so, especially in the nation’s capital. Saturday has the potential to be disastrous.
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