Sunday, May 11, 2025

TRUMPWORLD AUGMENTS REAL FASCISM WITH FAKE FASCISM

You might be aware of this story:
President Donald Trump's acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia was spat on by an irate woman while on air giving an interview to Newsmax....

In the altercation, the woman, walking a small dog, can be seen coming up to him, proclaiming, "You are Ed Martin!" She then spat on him and strode away, gesturing furiously back at him.
Right-wingers are now reporting that the woman has been arrested -- or is there an arrest warrant out for her? Either way, she could face a massive fine and eight years in prison. Or is it twenty?



18 U.S. Code § 111 exists and does concern assaults on government workers. But I can't find an actual news story reporting the arrest of this woman, or even a story mentioning the arrest warrant. There's nothing in the mainstream press, and nothing at Newsmax (where you'd expect the story to appear), Breitbart, or any other right-wing site.

So was there an arrest? Or do the Trump administration and its allies merely want the base to believe that this woman has been hunted down (or is being hunted down) and will face a draconian sentence?

A bigger story right now is, of course, the arrest of Newark mayor Ras Baraka at a Homeland Security detention facility in his city. (Baraka has since been released.)

Three members of Congress were also at the facility. They weren't arrested, and the reason they weren't seems clear. CNN reports:
Under the annual appropriations act, which allocates funds for federal agencies, lawmakers are permitted to enter “any facility operated by or for the Department of Homeland Security used to detain or otherwise house aliens.”

The law is also clear that members of Congress are not required “to provide prior notice of the intent to enter a facility” in their oversight capacity....

Baraka, to whom the appropriations law doesn’t apply, was held for a few hours before being released.
The Trumpers are deeply authoritarian, but for some reason they're still observing some limits. They knew that it was unquestionably legal for these members of Congress to be at the facility, so the agents didn't arrest them.

But the Trumpers think that's a bad look. They appear weak. There's no worse sin in Trumpland than weakness.

So here's a Fox News headline:
DHS Says ‘Arrests Are Still on the Table’ After New Jersey House Dems Caught on Camera ‘Storming’ ICE Facility."
RedState:
Arrests Very Much 'On the Table' for Dems Who Stormed ICE Facility to Stump for Criminal Illegal Aliens
Gateway Pundit:
“Definitely on the Table” – DHS Spox Says Members of Congress May Soon Be Arrested For BODYSLAMMING Female ICE Agent
Here's the "bodyslam":


It's obviously upsetting the Trumpers that no member of Congress was arrested at the scene, so they need to talk tough right now. I don't know if the regime will actually go through with the arrests -- my guess is no -- or will simply wait for this story to drop out of the news cycle. But right now it's clear that the Trumpers are worried that they dont appear authoritarian enough.
Posted by Steve M. at 10:47 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)