KILLINGS IN KENOSHA & PORTLAND
We are inside the cycle of violence now. How to fight anti-democratic forces using a soup pot and spoon.
This week’s Authoritarianism Project newsletter can only briefly summarize the overwhelming rush to political violence in America in the last week—including new outbreaks of police violence and protests, the killing of both pro- and anti-Trump protestors, and the rapid acceleration of paramilitary movements encouraged and praised by the elected leader of America.
Political violence is the new normal. In the past, reporting in Brazil or Turkey or Cambodia, I saw how factionalism and cycles of revenge could fuel street protests, repression, and shootings, which themselves become critical tools for political victory and election mobilization. The other side’s violence justified almost anything.
Now we are in that cycle of violence. It’s no longer a question of who did what to whom, first, or yesterday, or the day before. All sides can claim to be acting in self-defense, even when they bring weapons, in advance, to a parade designed to provoke confrontations with their enemies. Indeed, that’s a central format of authoritarian policy—declare enemies, provoke them, then react to their reaction. The cycle benefits a chaos candidate—as Kelly Anne Conway admitted in her recent FoxNews interview, "The more chaos and anarchy and vandalism and violence reigns, the better it is for the very clear choice on who's best on public safety and law and order," meaning Trump. She is the Angel of Death: Trumpism is now pegged to violence. Behind in the polls, Trump can only hold or gain ground with naked appeals to fear, and that fear must be fed.
Chris Boffey, an old friend, has written to point out how the Kenosha shooter, a 17-year old vigilante with a black rifle, was recruited and encouraged on the path toward shooting three people. Chris’ career as a Navy officer and international lawyer in undemocratic places (Russia, Kazakhstan, Dubai) has made him sensitive to the danger American now faces. Chris points to the way the Kenosha shooter was abetted by both national attitudes toward violence and the specific acts of police officers that night. Notably, the shooter (a juvenile) was able to repeatedly interact with Kenosha police, who praised “you guys” for showing up with guns, shared water with the armed vigilantes, and then, after the shooting, simply let him walk away, even though he had his hands up and was attempting to surrender to police. The end result (three shot, two dead) was enabled by the impression that the gunman was somehow deputized by police, informally. He clearly sought that status, volunteering as a police cadet, and that night bringing both a medical kit to treat people and a gun to shoot them, while attempting to physically align himself with police forces. This is the “parastate” enforcement that is so dangerous to democracy, when unaccountable political allies take on the roles that should be done by sworn police officers and trained public servants.
I was enjoying a normal Saturday at home when I heard blazing horns and revving engines in my “quiet neighborhood” of Portland. The Trump caravan had arrived. About 1,000 vehicles with flags (Trump, Gadsen, Thin Blue Line) were supposed to pass down Portland highways, but some surged around police lines and drove downtown streets blaring their horns.
Live, during the actual caravan on Saturday, Trump retweeted a video—approvingly—of his supporters shooting paint balls and spraying mace at counter-protestors. “The big backlash going on in Portland cannot be unexpected,” he warned, calling protestors “GREAT PATRIOTS.” Some anti-Trump people can be seen throwing water bottles and trash at the paraders, or burning a Trump flag by the side of the road. It’s worth pausing over that disparity—one side organized, traveling substantial distance, seeking to provoke, and dressed in paramilitary gear (often tactical vests which serve no purpose other than making you look like a soldier or policeman) while wielding weapons. The caravan organizer specifically encouraged people to bring guns to the parade. The spontaneous resistance was with water bottles. A paintball gun may fire “non lethal” munition, but shooting someone is still an assault and in most states it would be legal self-defense to fire back with a real gun. These scenes were cheered by Trump, as they were happening. A couple of hours later a man was dead.
The victim in Portland was a friend and supporter of Patriot Prayer. Based across the Columbia river from Portland, Patriot Prayer has been the spark for most of the pro-Trump rallies held in Portland, going back to 2017. The small group has often summoned the support of the Proud Boys, a fist-fighting battalion of volunteers who parade through downtown to attack protestors and “defend free speech.” Patriot Prayer is is itself led by Joey Gibson. I had a chance to see Gibson in action recently, when he spoke at an Idaho rally for anti-government militias. He was perhaps the most memorably focussed of the many speakers that day, delivering his talk in a energetic, stage-consuming frenzy of religious demands—the manic street preacher personified. He talks about Jesus Christ being King, but with his tattoos, profane speech, and skateboard stylings, Gibson looked like he belonged in a Portland brewpub. Gibson has made his career by fiercely denouncing the city, the liberals, the protestors, the atheists, and anyone who isn’t a super patriot by his definition—meaning a Christian flag-waver.
Trumps authoritarian instincts were given full flower after the shooting. Later than night and early the next morning, the president tweeted or retweeted 107 messages, filled with rage and conspiracies. He mused about having one of his opponents (Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York) arrested and jailed, and insulted the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler, even publishing his office phone number and asking supporters to call. He threatened to send federal troops to clear demonstrators outside the White House, attacked the mainstream, reality-based media (NPR, CNN), while embracing the far-right One America Network and specifically endorsing its claim that “a well funded network of anarchists” was engaged in an organized “coup attempt.”
That’s the authoritarian playbook: Silence the messenger, arrest your opponents, blame everything on invisible conspiracies, and encourage and capitalize on violence by your supporters. The tragedy of an actual killing of a Trump supporter will now be compounded by even greater violence.
You can stop this. One technique is to organize for “caserolazos,” the Latin American protests that take the form of banging on pots and pans. This can be done spontaneously, in response to sudden provocations. In Northern Ireland, banging on pots and pans was used as a warning system of the approach of British soldiers. In Argentina, the speechless nature of a pots-and-pans protest had both a musical attraction and an ability to unite diverse groups of people who might not agree on slogans or party platforms.
I’ll try to include a positive step we can take in every issue of this newsletter. But for now, get an old soup pot and a metal spoon ready, and respond in real time to threats to our democracy.