Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Philadelphia’s DA have warned troops they’ll face charges that Trump can’t save them from if they violate residents.
As Donald Trump floats expanding his authoritarian military crackdown to liberal-led cities beyond the nation’s capital, troops deployed to carry out his anti-democratic schemes might be at risk of prosecution themselves — and the pardon-happy president may not be able to save them.
Thus far, by my count, two Democrats in states that may find themselves targeted have vowed to spur local or state prosecutions — which couldn’t be overturned with a presidential pardon — for anyone who violate residents’ rights if and when the Trump administration expands its troop deployment.
I do fear we are going to see things go hot to some degree or another before 2028 (maybe even 2027…).
But it is the difference between guaranteed slaughter and hoping that people choose sanity. And, even more cynically, it is the difference between “expendable” groups (e.g. Trans folk) being slaughtered versus white middle class liberals. Which is obviously a long standing issue with Democrats (and most mainsteram left leaning political parties) but also aligns with the “Just let them start shooting and we’ll fight them back and fix everything” fantasies that are so common in these discussion spaces.