We Are No Longer in the Warning Phase
From ICE raids to military crackdowns, the United States is no longer flirting with fascism. We are living it.
I have a personal rule when I write: always offer something actionable—something you can do about the issue at hand.
But today, I’m breaking that rule. Because before we act, we have to see clearly. And right now, I believe it’s absolutely vital that every one of us truly understand where the United States stands at this moment in history.
This is not just another escalation. This is not politics as usual.
What we are witnessing is the collapse of constitutional norms and the rise of something darker—something we’ve seen before in other nations, and prayed we’d never see here.
So today, I’m not giving you a checklist. I’m giving you the truth.
From Fascism to Full Control: The Line Has Been Crossed
Within the past 48 hours, Donald Trump has illegally deployed thousands of federalized National Guard troops into Los Angeles1, directly violating the sovereignty of California and defying the will of both Governor Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass.
As if that weren’t enough, reports now confirm that active-duty Marines from Camp Pendleton are on high alert, and some are already being deployed.2
This isn’t hypothetical.
This isn’t a drill.
This is what a dictatorship looks like in real time.
Let’s be clear: Trump did not invoke the Insurrection Act. He used a Title 10 executive memorandum, one that explicitly bypasses consent from state leadership.
According to his own order3, these troops are being deployed to “protect ICE and federal property” in the face of what Trump deems a “rebellion.”
But the rebellion he refers to?
Peaceful protests against mass ICE raids.
Raids that have kidnapped over a hundred people in the Los Angeles area—including children.
This isn’t law enforcement.
This is authoritarian suppression.
This Is Illegal
The deployment of troops without the state’s request or approval violates longstanding legal norms—and potentially federal law.
Even within the narrow confines of Title 10 authority, the criteria for federalizing a state’s National Guard are extremely strict.
They have not been met.
What Trump has done—federalizing National Guard units over the objections of both California’s governor and Los Angeles’s mayor, threatening to arrest elected leaders, and preparing to deploy active-duty Marines for domestic use—is a grotesque abuse of power. And quite possibly a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act.
Passed in 1878, the Posse Comitatus Act bars the U.S. military—specifically the Army and Air Force—from acting as domestic law enforcement unless expressly authorized by Congress or the Constitution.4
While it doesn’t apply when a state’s National Guard is under control of the governor, it does apply once those units are federalized—exactly what Trump has done here.
And it absolutely applies to Marines.
Put simply: using the U.S. military to police American civilians is not just authoritarian—it’s likely illegal.
This is not some abstract legal debate. It is a real-time constitutional crisis.
Trump is not restoring order—he’s unleashing force.
Force that no one in California asked for.
Force that’s being used to punish dissent, not protect people.
The Fascist Playbook Is Open
Trump’s recent actions are textbook authoritarianism.
Step 1: Create a crisis.
Step 2: Blame political opponents.
Step 3: Deploy force to suppress dissent.
Step 4: Criminalize resistance.
He’s already:
Labeled peaceful protesters as “insurrectionists.”
Threatened to arrest Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.
Demanded a ban on protest masks (a clear attack on anonymity and safety).
Federalized National Guard troops without state consent.
Positioned Marines for civilian deployment.
Directed ICE to continue warrantless raids across the country.
All while he rage-posts on Truth Social, demanding arrests and violence against protesters who dare to resist him.
This isn’t about restoring order—it’s about performance and punishment.
Los Angeles law enforcement didn’t request help. In fact, they’ve said the situation was already under control.
But Trump doesn’t want control. He wants a spectacle. He wants submission.
This is the same man who delayed National Guard deployment during the January 6 coup attempt.
But he sends troops within hours to shut down protests about immigration raids?
This is not normal. This is not America as we knew it.
This is the thing we were warned about, what we warned everyone about.
And it is here now.
Every Trump Voter Owns This
I will not soften this: every person who voted for Donald Trump bears responsibility for the regime we are living under today.
This did not come out of nowhere.
He told us he wanted to be a dictator.
He told us he would round people up, deport millions, silence dissent, and use the military for “order.”
People laughed it off, called it bluster.
Now look.
He has built a paramilitary ICE force, criminalized protest, assaulted press freedom, and is deploying Marines on U.S. soil against American civilians.
Don’t tell me this is about the economy. Or about “disruption.”
This is about subjugation.
And everyone who cast their ballot for him—again—chose to hand power to a man who dreams of a police state.
They own this. And we must hold them accountable for it.
The Time for Warnings Is Over
We are past the point of warnings.
We are past the point of “what if.”
This is happening. Now.
The list of sanctuary jurisdictions released last week?
That’s not just a list. It’s a map. A target list.
It’s Trump telling us where he intends to send his enforcers next.
This is coordinated. It is accelerating. And if you're still waiting for the moment to act—it has arrived.
So What Do We Do?
We resist. Smartly. Loudly. Relentlessly.
We talk about it. We don’t let it normalize.
We organize.
We show up, even if it’s just sharing the truth online, funding the people on the front lines, or calling out the cowards in Congress who are staying silent while democracy dies.
We protect each other.
If you have privilege, use it. If you have a platform, amplify the truth. If you have power, wield it now.
This is not the time to look away. This is not the time for “both sides.”
This is the time to decide who you are.
Because the United States is no longer creeping toward authoritarianism.
We are in it.
Is your city on Trump’s “sanctuary jurisdiction” hit list? 👉 Check the list here.
If you found this article important, share it. Loudly.
Authoritarianism thrives in silence. It counts on us feeling overwhelmed, confused, or too exhausted to speak up.
Don’t let that happen.
Send this to your friends.
Post it in your groups.
Share it on every platform you use.
Let people know: this is not politics as usual. This is the line being crossed.
And if we don’t say something now, we may not get another chance.
https://apnews.com/article/insurrection-act-trump-troops-newsom-military-national-guard-a842f79e1c0e244039be274a6f266a7a
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/09/politics/marines-mobilized-los-angeles-protests
https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/06/department-of-defense-security-for-the-protection-of-department-of-homeland-security-functions/
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/posse-comitatus-act-explained