This Week In Fascism is a weekly Refusefascism.org feature that exposes the rapid unfolding of a fascist USA and the necessity to stop it.
The question no longer lingers on whether there was collusion with Russia. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, his supporters and regime operatives continue to deny reality (the emails are fake, the meeting never occurred, etc.) and lawyers including Bush-era officials like Torture Memos author John Yoo are working overtime to make the case that collusion is not a crime. As was said in the Refuse Fascism July 15 speech, “Make no mistake, while the media focuses people’s attention on charges of collusion with Russia and Trump’s narcissism, the regime has been steadily moving ahead with their fascist program on every front.”
Here is how they have moved forward this week:
Attacking Immigrants, Refugees, and Muslims
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- July 12 Las Vegas, NV: Attorney General Jeff Sessions gave a speech about sanctuary cities to federal, state, and local law enforcement. Sessions made the egregious assertion that, “When cities like Philadelphia, Boston, or San Francisco advertise that they have these policies, the criminals take notice. According to a recent study from the University of California Riverside, cities with these policies have more violent crime on average than those that don’t.” Authors of the cited study have issued a firm rebuttal to the false usage of their research and the claim that areas that offer safe-haven to immigrants are hotbeds of crime because of it. Collingwood and Gonzalez O’Brien have stated that, “Municipalities that chose to designate themselves as sanctuary cities for undocumented immigrants experience crime rates no higher than they otherwise would.” Despite attempts to clarify this, the Department of Justice has doubled down on the lies with spokesman Ian Prior continuing to argue that the statement was data-driven.
- July 16, Texas: Several Texas counties are now profiting from working with ICE in tracking and detaining undocumented immigrants through the 287(g) program. Eight counties have joined the 287(g) program that allows sheriff’s deputies to become “certified immigration officers.” More than half of these counties allow federal agents to stash (and profit from) detained immigrants in their jails. Nationwide, 16 counties participate in the 287(g) program. 13 counties have joined during Trump’s presidency.
- July 19, Washington, D.C: The U.S. Supreme Court, as part of enabling the enforcement of the muslim ban, granted the Trump/Pence Regime’s plea to deny 24,000 refugees who already have been assigned to a charity or religious organization in the U.S. from entry to the country.
- Emboldening Shock Troops
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- July 12 Brooklyn, NY: An inter-racial couple was assaulted by attackers who spouted the N-word repeatedly and threatened to lynch the man.
- July 14 Rochester, MN: ‘Identity Evropa’ white nationalist posters were plastered in Rochester near University of Minnesota campus.
- July 14 Helena, AL: A muslim family found that their cars had been vandalized with anti-muslim/racists slurs spray painted including the “N-word.” Their windows were broken, tires flattened, and cars were doused with motor oil.
- July 15 Houston, TX: A group of Trump supporters calling themselves the “Texas Freedom force” gathered at their height to 60 people to counter-protest the Trump/Pence Must Go rally and march. Some wore paramilitary uniforms and were armed with automatic weapons. While they tried to intimate through word and deed, Refuse Fascism activists and others bravely rose above this and held their rally and march.
- July 15 Los Angelas, CA: 80 Fascist thugs came to contest the Refuse Fascism march, to try to intimidate and silence protesters, and to “defend” the Trump Star. They assaulted two individuals and harassed and attempted to intimidate many others. They tried to disrupt the chants, shove cameras and megaphones in people’s faces, and rip up posters and materials.
- July 16 Murfreesboro, TN: Just a week after the Islamic Center of Murfreesboro was vandalized, another incident of anti-Islam vandalism occurred on the car of a muslim man where vandals left pieces of pork bologna and at least one used condom on the car.
- July 17 Washington, D.C: The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a report on anti-muslim incidents from April-June 2017. According to the report, “the number of hate crimes in the first half of 2017 spiked 91 percent compared to the same period in 2016, which was the worst year for such anti-Muslim incidents since the civil rights organization began its current documenting system in 2013.”
- July 17, New York, NY: Tucker Carlson jumped on the Glenn Beck bandwagon and utilized his Fox News platform to dedicate a six-minute-plus segment to demonizing Roma refugees currently residing in California, PA. Being the bullhorn for the most extreme xenophobia, Carlson calls the dozens of Roma living in asylum in this town Gypsies. He proceeded to fixate on the rumor that the refugees engage in public defecation (it is alleged that children have pooped in public but Carlson makes no distinction). He accuses them of “rejecting” America’s culture and mores.
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- Waging a War on Women and LGBTQ People
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- July 13: On July 11, Jeff Sessions gave a closed-door speech to Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a Christian Fascist group that provides legal counsel but remarks were not available until July 13 when posted online by The Federalist. One of ADF’s most prominent clients is Jack Phillips, the Colorado baker who violated antidiscrimination laws by refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding and whose appeal will be heard by the Supreme Court. “The president has…directed me to issue guidance on how to apply federal religious liberty protections…and I will soon issue it.” He went on to say, Trump “has been an unwavering defender of religious liberty.” Religious liberty is code for legally emboldening the most hateful and bigoted political christian fascists to be freed up to oppress women and LGBTQ people.
- July 12 Washington, D.C: The Trump/Pence Regime pulled $213.6 million in funding from teen pregnancy prevention programs and research projects at over 80 different institutions. The regime axed the funding for teen pregnancy prevention suddenly during an appropriations subcommittee meeting.
- July 12, Washington, D.C: Candice Jackson, the acting head of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stated to The New York Times, ““90 percent” of campus sexual-assault complaints “fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right.” These are remarks that no apology can undo especially when measured against the actions of her office which is working hard to turn back the civil rights of rape survivors. Betsy Devos continued to voice support for Jackson and did not seem to see any irony between this and her recent letter insisting that the OCR be a “neutral, investigative agency.” This came on the eve of meetings regarding Title IX enforcement.
- July 13, Washington, D.C: Education Secretary Betsy Devos held “listening sessions” to discuss the federal government’s role in enforcing Title IX. One third of her time was dedicated to giving “men’s rights” advocates a seat at the table. Doing so gave disproportionate attention to the notion of the falsely accused and perpetuates campus rape culture.
- July 13 Little Rock, Arkansas: Arkansas is currently leading the pack in anti-abortion laws at the state level, condemning women to being incubators as they barrel forward with four horrific anti-abortion laws. A federal Judge heard arguments to challenge these laws which if not blocked will go into effect at the end of this month. The ACLU and Center for Reproductive Rights are suing to stop the profound abortion restrictions that the legislator has passed. This includes a ban on the most commonly used second-trimester abortion method: dilation and evacuation. One of the bills known as the Tissue Disposal Mandate makes it illegal for women to have an abortion without notifying the man who impregnated her—even if the pregnancy was the result of rape. This legislation contends that the aborted fetus is a deceased family member—and the man who impregnated her (rapist or not) gets equal say regarding the disposal of the fetal tissue.
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- Expanding Wars for Empire
- July 18 Washington, D.C: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has announced moves to close the State Department office that is responsible for bringing war criminals to justice known as the Office of Global Criminal Justice. This regime has no desire for a small office that addresses issues surrounding war crimes and genocide or helping to inform policy to address such monstrosities.
- July 18 Nationwide: Standing in stark contrast to the policies and actions of the Trump/Pence regime in their 6 months in power, war is something feared by the people of this country. According to the National Security Poll conducted by NBC News and Survey Monkey 80% of the American public stated that they were worried or somewhat worried that the U.S. would become engaged in a major war during Trump’s presidency. The majority of respondents think military action is the wrong way to approach international threats.
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Between the collusion scandal, Trump’s record low approval ratings, and the temporary death of their health care bill is an opening through which the mass action of the people could burst through and make our demand that the Trump/Pence regime must go resound throughout the country, in the halls of power, and around the world.