What’s happening here isn’t “law enforcement,” it’s the behavior of a security apparatus that’s slipped its leash and started treating the public as an occupied population.
When masked federal agents roam a city with impunity, firing into cars and smearing the dead as justification, you’re not looking at public safety, you’re looking at a domestic intimidation force that’s learned it can operate without consequence.
Call it whatever you want: a parallel police state, a rogue internal militia, an unaccountable enforcement caste. The label matters less than the function, and the function is fear.
And the irony is almost too on‑the‑nose: a country that lectures the world about authoritarianism is now running operations that mirror the very regimes it claims to oppose.
If another nation deployed masked federal units to terrorize its own citizens, Washington would call it a human‑rights crisis. When it happens here, it’s rebranded as “security.” The cognitive dissonance is doing more work than the agencies themselves.
This isn’t drift, it’s design. A state that treats oversight as optional and violence as administrative routine eventually stops resembling a democracy and starts resembling something far more familiar to people who’ve lived under coercive rule.
And the most telling part? The people in power don’t even bother hiding it anymore. They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger.
I’m working on a new piece about this from a behavioral standpoint that will drop later today. I invite you all to check it out and thank you for writing this piece.
Anger isn’t the issue. Americans are excellent at anger, top notch, in their own tier with the coverage coming out these days.
The problem is direction. After 9/11, the rage was real, and it was immediately channeled away from the people who failed and toward targets that had nothing to do with the actual breakdown. That’s the danger here. Authoritarian systems don’t fear public anger; they count on it. They redirect it, weaponize it, and turn it into permission for even more state power.
The question isn’t whether the public will adapt.
It’s whether the public will recognize who’s actually holding the match.
Everyone is quite rightly focusing on the physical violence but I can't help but notice the property damage aspect;it sounds like a lot of smashed car windows. No one's going to get reimbursed for that. Glass companies in MN must be swamped.
Trump and company are not going to be stopped by a sternly worded letter. Dems must provide real opposition. Think outside the box. The regime is not looking to compromise only dominate and terrorize their opponents. Open your eyes Democrats you have been labeled an enemy of the state.
If Trump treats states like occupied foreign countries, perhaps it's time for them to act accordingly and secede. Where are all those guns that the NRA promised would let us defend ourselves against a tyrannical government?
Once again, we see our elderly Senators trying somehow to,pretend that this is business as usual. “I don’t like shutdowns” implies that this is just another Senate vote, and that the effect of passing more money for ICE isn’t signing a detention and death order for millions of Americans. At 86(King) and 78 (Shaheen) these relics should either get their heads out of the sands of the political politeness of a bygone era, or get the hell out.
This is frightening- the video in which the woman attempts to prevent the ICE agents from entering her home without showing a warrant to justify a search shows us an extremely brave individual standing up to a group of armed thugs who are very comfortable in abusing their power. All of these instances show all of us that these bands of agents are hopped up with their message of superiority and might, and seem willing to shoot anyone in their way. The Democrats in Congress must not cave!
All the videos are horrendous and hard to watch with my own eyes. The one that sent my lunch up into the back of throat, though, was pulling the disabled woman trying to get to the doctor out of her car and carrying her by all four limbs to wherever. The sneering "didn't you learn anything" attitude is revolting.
It truly is revolting- they are expressing their intentions out loud, brazenly- we killed someone last week, you could be next. I don’t like the fact that I have interpreted that comment in this way, but to me, it is the meaning behind those words. And they (ICE) don’t feel the need to hide.
What’s happening here isn’t “law enforcement,” it’s the behavior of a security apparatus that’s slipped its leash and started treating the public as an occupied population.
When masked federal agents roam a city with impunity, firing into cars and smearing the dead as justification, you’re not looking at public safety, you’re looking at a domestic intimidation force that’s learned it can operate without consequence.
Call it whatever you want: a parallel police state, a rogue internal militia, an unaccountable enforcement caste. The label matters less than the function, and the function is fear.
And the irony is almost too on‑the‑nose: a country that lectures the world about authoritarianism is now running operations that mirror the very regimes it claims to oppose.
If another nation deployed masked federal units to terrorize its own citizens, Washington would call it a human‑rights crisis. When it happens here, it’s rebranded as “security.” The cognitive dissonance is doing more work than the agencies themselves.
This isn’t drift, it’s design. A state that treats oversight as optional and violence as administrative routine eventually stops resembling a democracy and starts resembling something far more familiar to people who’ve lived under coercive rule.
And the most telling part? The people in power don’t even bother hiding it anymore. They assume the public will adapt to the new normal. That’s the real danger.
I’m working on a new piece about this from a behavioral standpoint that will drop later today. I invite you all to check it out and thank you for writing this piece.
—Johan
Former foreign service officer
The public will not adapt. This is the United States. Like 9/11. Strike us and we just get angry.
Anger isn’t the issue. Americans are excellent at anger, top notch, in their own tier with the coverage coming out these days.
The problem is direction. After 9/11, the rage was real, and it was immediately channeled away from the people who failed and toward targets that had nothing to do with the actual breakdown. That’s the danger here. Authoritarian systems don’t fear public anger; they count on it. They redirect it, weaponize it, and turn it into permission for even more state power.
The question isn’t whether the public will adapt.
It’s whether the public will recognize who’s actually holding the match.
Start here:
https://open.substack.com/pub/johanuniverseends/p/on-power-morality-and-why-the-immoral?utm_source=app-post-stats-page&r=490k23&utm_medium=ios
I read it. It was good.
Thank you so much!
Everyone do what you can to influence your elected officials votes. We don't deserve this.
If you have ICE fascists in your city, help protect your neighbors as best you can.
Everyone is quite rightly focusing on the physical violence but I can't help but notice the property damage aspect;it sounds like a lot of smashed car windows. No one's going to get reimbursed for that. Glass companies in MN must be swamped.
Trump regime will claim this whole thing is good for business; that’s the absurdity of authoritarian tactics..
Trump and company are not going to be stopped by a sternly worded letter. Dems must provide real opposition. Think outside the box. The regime is not looking to compromise only dominate and terrorize their opponents. Open your eyes Democrats you have been labeled an enemy of the state.
If Trump treats states like occupied foreign countries, perhaps it's time for them to act accordingly and secede. Where are all those guns that the NRA promised would let us defend ourselves against a tyrannical government?
Once again, we see our elderly Senators trying somehow to,pretend that this is business as usual. “I don’t like shutdowns” implies that this is just another Senate vote, and that the effect of passing more money for ICE isn’t signing a detention and death order for millions of Americans. At 86(King) and 78 (Shaheen) these relics should either get their heads out of the sands of the political politeness of a bygone era, or get the hell out.
This is frightening- the video in which the woman attempts to prevent the ICE agents from entering her home without showing a warrant to justify a search shows us an extremely brave individual standing up to a group of armed thugs who are very comfortable in abusing their power. All of these instances show all of us that these bands of agents are hopped up with their message of superiority and might, and seem willing to shoot anyone in their way. The Democrats in Congress must not cave!
All the videos are horrendous and hard to watch with my own eyes. The one that sent my lunch up into the back of throat, though, was pulling the disabled woman trying to get to the doctor out of her car and carrying her by all four limbs to wherever. The sneering "didn't you learn anything" attitude is revolting.
It truly is revolting- they are expressing their intentions out loud, brazenly- we killed someone last week, you could be next. I don’t like the fact that I have interpreted that comment in this way, but to me, it is the meaning behind those words. And they (ICE) don’t feel the need to hide.
It is *indeed* the meaning.
What if the whole city just shuts down and nobody answers their doors? 🤷♀️
I think the proper term for most Democratic lawmakers is "Quisling."
Right on...every sentence.
I'm sure Schumer is already calling everyone in the caucus to see whose willing to defect.
😢