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.

Reading the paper each day there is a deluge of horror. If we step back more and look at the course of this week, we see that these are not just disparate acts but a program that is further defining its shape. This cascade of cruelty that leaves us breathless indicates that we are quickly approaching a precipice to an America we cannot return from. The rabid Trump base is clearly, “just getting started.” The question is: “are we?”

Whipping Up Fascistic Shock Troops and Criminalizing Dissent

Trump’s xenophobia, racism, sexism are exemplified most recently in his political appointees, his travel ban attempts, and his contemptuous budget and healthcare reforms. Combined, these acts have set the terms for the fascist shock troops he has unleashed. Nationwide cruel and vengeful acts have taken place at a torrential pace this past week against Muslims, women, black people and LGBTQ persons.
Washington, D.C. Late last week the third noose in a week was found hanging. This one was on the door of a house at a construction site in the predominately African American Hillcrest neighborhood. Around the same time, fake ICE fliers warning residents against providing any aid to immigrants were found on lampposts and cars throughout the city. New York, NY: In Brooklyn and the Bronx over the past week three violent assaults against LGBTQ persons were committed. In three separate incidents, after enduring homophobic slurs and threats: a woman was beaten unconscious on a Brooklyn bound Q train (leaving her with a broken eye socket), a man hit in the head by another man’s cane, and a man beat a woman with an umbrella lacerating her face.
Columbus, OH: Rahma Warsame was viciously beaten by a white man after defending another Muslim woman who was being verbally harassed. Warsame, a Somali immigrant, lost teeth and endured several facial fractures after standing up to this white supremacist. Portland, OR: A little over a week after Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche and Ricky Best were stabbed to death on the train for defending women against a white supremacist, alt-right activists converged to hold a pro-Trump rally despite pleadings from the Mayor not to. The rally was organized by Patriot Prayer, whose most recent rally was attended by Jeremy Christian (the alleged murderer).

A bedrock of a fascist regime is the criminalization of dissent. After the publication of a photo of Kathy Griffin holding up a fake decapitated head of Donald Trump Ms. Griffin was attacked by Trump and his children, had a Secret Service investigation opened against her, was fired from hosting the New Year’s Eve show on CNN, had all of her appearances canceled, and received specific and detailed threats from Trump’s fascistic mob. In a press conference she held, she defied Trump and his gang’s intimidation, refusing to back down. When describing her reasoning for standing up against this fear-mongering she stated, “today it’s me and tomorrow it could be you.”

Genocidal Program for Muslims

Shortly following the aftermath of the Islamist attack in London, Trump memorialized it on twitter by advocating for his Muslim ban: “We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” On Sunday at a fundraiser Trump stated,  “This bloodshed must end. This bloodshed will end…,” “(a)s president, I will do what is necessary to prevent this threat from spreading to our shores.” On Sunday he also tweeted, “We must stop being politically correct and get down to the business of security for our people…” What does “security for our people” look like? Ask his friends and allies:

Following Trump’s lead, Clay Higgens, Louisiana republican congressman issued a call for a holy war on Muslims via Facebook post: “The free world… all of Christendom… is at war with Islamic horror…Hunt them, identify them, and kill them all.” Fox and Friends guests on the June 4th show supported Trump’s messaging with calls for the internment of Muslims.

Fox contributor Nigel Farage stated  “unless we see the government getting tough, you will see public calls for those 3,000 [terror watch list suspects] to be arrested… if there is not action, then the calls for internment will grow.” Katie Hopkins echoed the message stating, “we do need internment camps”

Trump also received support from his bigot buddy and radio host Michael Savage “Why don’t you intern all of them before they run people over on a bridge,” “how do we know that the internment in World War II didn’t help us win the war?”

Waging a War on Science and the Planet

The Trump Regime suppresses the science that doesn’t fit its religious, political, or  economic agenda causing current and future generations to pay a terrible price. The Trump/Pence Regime’s withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord is a stark example of this. As sea levels rise, glaciers disappear, and arctic ice sheets melt, as record high temperatures persist, the water cycle strengthens so that there is both an increase in flooding and drought, these fascists refuse to acknowledge climate change or take any moves to join in regulation to mitigate this disaster.

As a recent article on www.revcom.us, “Trump/Pence Regime Withdraws from Paris Climate Accord: Putting “America First”—Torching Humanity’s Future” states, “breaking from the Paris accord is part of the Trump/Pence regime’s drive to more aggressively assert U.S. global power and dominance around the world, including by setting new terms with other global powers…Trump’s “America First” rejection of the Paris accord also marked an emphatic declaration that the Trump/Pence cabal remains hell bent on beating back its opponents—“obstructionists” as Trump called them—and continuing its forced march to consolidate the fascist regime.”

Continuing Threats of Nuclear Proportions

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis continued the Trump/Pence regime’s war drumming at North Korea during a speech this past Saturday at Shangri-La Dialogue (a security conference) in Singapore. While Mattis has previously said that the effects of military combat with North Korea would be “catastrophic” (albeit from the stance of American interests) he continued to saber-rattle by calling the situation an “urgent military threat” and stating “(w)e’re working diplomatically, economically, we’re trying to exhaust all possible alternatives…”

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As Refuse Fascism’s call for a Summer of Struggle states, “Obstacles, protests, and investigations have delayed some aspects of their fascist program, but they are not deterred – rather, they are moving aggressively to bludgeon and eliminate all opposition.  Their sharpening of the struggle must be met by even greater resistance.  We must shed illusions that this regime will just go away. This summer our resistance must grow to the point where we drive this regime from power.” Join us, the world can’t wait!