The fear that hovered over half the country during Donald Trump’s first term as United States president has returned, and his promotion of violence to accomplish political goals may be his most troubling threat. As before, Trump has promised to allow the police broad leeway, even advocating for a “violent day” of policing. He wants to legally protect officers who commit violence and end agreements that give federal authorities oversight of local police departments with a history of misconduct.
Trump also has the power to shape the Justice Department in a manner that can be used to serve his own vendettas, in a way that wasn’t possible before a Supreme Court ruling in July found that current and former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for activities carried out within their “constitutional authority.”
What this will mean for organizers and those facing the wrath of Trump’s reign can be inferred from his previous term in office and what he promised during his most recent campaign, such as his plan to deport millions of undocumented immigrants in the “largest deportation program” in the nation’s history.
Fariha Huriya, who works with Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid in DC, is preparing for the worst under Trump’s incoming administration. “If we [mutual aid activists] are in danger by giving out free food, free clothing, free legal advice — I mean, what does that say?” she tells Teen Vogue.
In interviews and public statements, Trump has pledged to go after the “enemy within,” including what he calls “the radical left.” During his previous term, amid the George Floyd protests in 2020, the Justice Department used a loophole to deploy National Guard troops armed with bayonets against DC protesters. A 2023 ACLU lawsuit alleged that military helicopters hovered “as low as 45 feet above people’s heads” during those protests.
Also that summer, members of the US Marshals shot anti-fascist activist Michael Reinoehl (who died later from his injuries) in what Trump celebrated as “retribution” for Reinoehl killing a supporter of the far-right Patriot Prayer organization. (Per The Guardian, Reinoehl claimed he did so while protecting a friend from a group of armed Trump supporters.) Said Trump, “We sent in the US Marshals. They knew who he was. They didn’t want to arrest him, and 15 minutes, that ended.”
The Supreme Court’s ruling last summer essentially granted the president unprecedented power to enforce federal law. This means that a figure like Trump has the potential to direct the Department of Justice to target activists that challenge his authority — including federal prosecutions.
As part of Trump’s crackdown on the 2020 uprisings, federal prosecutors initiated court cases against more than 300 predominantly young Black people for infractions typically handled by local authorities. Under William Barr, Trump’s attorney general, US attorneys were told to aggressively go after Floyd protesters, according to reporting from the Associated Press. Some of those prosecuted are still in jail today. Arkansas activist Mujera Benjamin Lung’aho, for example, is currently serving five and a half years for “firebombing” police cars.
