Non-violence and Video Documentation
In his latest video, progressive influencer Robert Reich highlights the importance of both NON-violent protest as well as video documentation of the non-Constitutional and illegal acts of violence and warrantless arrests / arrests without cause being promulgated by ICE as well as other federal law enforcement agents now under his control.
Donald Trump WANTS violent protests in American cities so he can justify the use of force and violence against American citizens. As we learned last week in Trump’s unhinged hour plus speech before our military leaders in Quantico, Virginia, Trump wants to deploy military forces domestically against US citizens to fight “the enemy within,” which for him and his administration means anyone who opposes him and his MAGA cultural revolution. These are acts of a fascist and authoritarian government, not acts of a Constitutional republic (where the power of the chief executive is constrained by checks and balances) like we have had in the United States for over 200 years.
In this latest video, Robert Reich highlights the 4 part plan Donald Trump and his MAGA forces now running the US government are following to employ the “Insurrection Act,” use security forces as well as our US military to intimidate their opposition through violence, and ultimately prevent anyone from removing them from power in the USA. These are the steps Reich outlines:
Deploy ICE into "blue cities"
Exaggerate the scale and severity [of violent protests and crime]
Deploy National Guard troops
Invoke the Insurrection Act
Friends, an emergency is upon us now. Sadly, in the name of “taking back America for God and Jesus,” many good and well intentioned citizens of the United States who identify as “evangelical Christians” have been swept up in the nationalistic, narcissistic and oligarchic movement we now call MAGA. If you are one of these folks, please read or re-read your Bible. Jesus did not come to earth to support and defend “empire.” Jesus was not an advocate and champion of violence and repression by the state. Author Tim Alberta explains and documents these dynamics well in his book, "The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism"
Please consider attending and peacefully protesting at a “No Kings 2” rally in your area on Saturday. October 18, 2025. Our rally in Charlotte, North Carolina will be from 10am to noon:
https://www.mobilize.us/mobilize/event/835377/
Also please consider taking and using your cell phone to record video of local protest events and cases where federal forces (law enforcement and/or military) are used to violently repress and arrest people.
We have entered a new era of Constitutional crisis in the United States, and we each have roles to play. Unlike our forebears and ancestors who struggled before us in the past, we do have tools and resources to resist and oppose oppression which they did not. Smartphones with video recording and publishing / sharing capabilities are some of these tools. Apps and platforms for organizing, protesting, sharing information (including “trusted voices” like Robert Reich, Heather Cox Richardson and others) are powerful and vital for us to use in this struggle for our Constitutional values and democracy.
https://www.resistandheal.com/trusted-voices
We can and should learn important lessons from history, because the struggle for human rights and self-determination is ongoing and rooted in centuries of hard work and sacrifices of our ancestors. For some examples of these lessons from the US civil rights movement specifically, and the powerful roles of MEDIA and citizen journalism to document and ultimately REIST oppression, watch “Charles Moore: I Fight With My Camera”
Description: Charles Moore is the legendary Montgomery photojournalist whose coverage of the Civil Rights era produced some of the most famous shots in the world (the dogs and fire hoses in Birmingham, the Selma Bridge, and Martin Luther King's arrest in Montgomery, among many others.) His photographs are credited with helping to quicken the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The noted historian, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. said that Moore's photographs transformed the national mood and made the legislation not just necessary, but possible. This is his story.
Check out the “Racial Healing Through Digital Storytelling” resource page I maintain for “Storychasers” for more on this.
Democracy is not a spectator sport. This is not a drill. Many Germans were passive in the 1930s as Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party rose to power. Millions of Germans supported Hitler and eventually grew afraid to oppose him.
We must NOT repeat the mistakes of the past. We must build community, and together confront and overcome our fears. We must peacefully resist fascism and authoritarianism. The United States of America was not founded as a theocracy, and we must oppose attempts to establish a theocratic government “taking back the nation in the name of God.” We must advocate together, peacefully and firmly, for the values of human rights, self determination, and religious tolerance.
Ultimately, we need to work together to “heal our culture, as culture healers, not culture warriors.”
Peaceful resistance and nonviolent protest are essential tools in our struggle to heal our culture. Hope to see you at “No King’s 2.” You can listen to my comments at the first No Kings rally in Charlotte on June 14, 2025 on YouTube:
More links to join me in advocacy for these values are available on:
https://wesfryer.com/advocacy/
via Robert Reich’s Substack:
https://open.substack.com/pub/robertreich/p/trumps-plan-to-invoke-the-insurrection?r=4unjx
#ResistAndHeal #HealOurCulture