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The Trump administration is positioning the upcoming No Kings protests as an excuse for crushing dissent
(www.mediamatters.org)
this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2025
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Yeah I feel the same way. The last No Kings event in my area seemed like people were treating it almost like a street festival or parade. There was no confrontation, but had there been, I think everyone would have immediately complied and gone home. "Hey guys, the police said we have to turn the music down" type energy.
I like No Kings because it lowers the barrier of entry for regular people to become politically active, and it completely undermines the narrative in the article that someone had enough money to pay for hundreds of simultaneous protests across the country and in Canada Mexico and Europe.
Each person should participate to the level they are comfortable with and can manage their own group's safety. But I also think that since it's been a few months, the conversation should shift towards, "How can we help the immigrants and legal resident non-citizens in our city? How can we make the most of the power we have together to stop the actions of the fascist government? Can we raise funds and get support to pull off a national general strike? Can you sign a strike card?", since by next year a "Pokémon GO to the polls" type campaign is way too little, far too late.
Let Fox News doublethinkers doublethink and portray whatever false narrative. The solidarity of people is built over time and I think they will feel more empowered each rally and be able to take more effective action. It's up to all of us as much as core organizers to harness that energy into something useful.
Its a balancing act.
I will never stop criticizing the stupidity of "I changed my profile picture. I am helping". But parade protests where you get EVERYONE out very much show the force that can potentially be mobilized/motivated. It is on a similar level to getting people to ACTUALLY call their representatives.
But, at the end of the day? Most people only give so much of a shit. And a parade protest, much like a profile picture "protest", is going to that well. Obviously escalations tend to recharge (or demoralize...) that reserve. But we saw it with BLM and (the clusterfuck that was) Occupy Wall Street and so forth. Getting people out is good. But it makes them start looking for a way to say "I did my part. I basically marched with Marty King". At which point said movement loses all meaningful support and is a few people dancing outside of an ICE facility (which, again, I think is actually frigging awesome and mad props to encouraging more people to costume up in PPE).
Like I said, I have a LOT of reservations about "No Kings" (and that doesn't even get into the kinda sketchy way it was organized...). But I'll be there and so should all of you who can. But... there is a time for parades and dancing and a time to be ready to get your shit rocked by jackboots and we are a lot closer to the latter than the former.
I agree on much of your points and definitely acknowledge the risks of movements losing steam after achieving only modest wins. My take though is Tantrump's compulsive need for attention is why I think No Kings is not going to peter out on its own. Canada's boycotts were thought to have gone away but constant remarks of annexation have helped people en masse to maintain it.
I think it's important to recognize everyone's tolerance is different and Americans aren't used to protesting and striking like they do in Europe, Québec, parts of Asia and South America. Even top level commenters here voice hesitancy for the risks to their safety from the gestapo or provocateurs escalating things. The size and all-inclusiveness of these protests and sufficient advance preparation against violent provocations have kept it peaceful, and have successfully slowed down ICE agents' escalation. Despite federal agents still acting recklessly, if only the most dedicated and prepared folks were there then the media narratives of 'militant antifa rioters' would be believed by the general public.
Portland has laid bare Trump's entire plan is to "aura farm", and that it falls flat when it gets turned into a joke. The goal seems to be to project power when his government sends in the military to end all the crime, homelessness, drug use and dissent. Trump is weak, his government departments filled with incompetent hacks. His strongman image leaks air each month the US survives, so the further the momentum can be sustained the better.