“The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You’ve got to build about five more prisons.””

Donald Trump

PEAK TO PEAK - In October of 2024 I wrote a piece for my column titled You Should Buy a Gun. (https://www.themtnear.com/stories/diversions-you-should-buy-a-gun,20891) I suggested three reasons to buy a gun. The first was to send a message to MAGA leaders who routinely threatened violence. People like former North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who told supporters, “Some people need killing,” apparently referring to “socialists” and “communists.” 

The second was to deter and prepare for potential attacks by hate-filled extremists. The third was to maintain the potential to protect yourself and your loved ones if the rule of law completely disappears and America as we know it no longer exists and disintegrates into anarchy or totalitarianism.

I took some heat for that article. A friend labeled me as “defeatist.” Some said I exaggerated the dangers of another Trump presidency, and some called me “paranoid.” Let’s review what has happened since then. 

Trump won. He immediately pardoned approximately 1,500 people indicted or sentenced for their roles in the January 6th attack on the Capitol – an attack that injured approximately 140 law enforcement officers. Four officers who responded to the attack died by suicide within seven months. Trump pardoned people convicted of violent crimes by a jury or a judge. Some of those judges were Trump appointees. 

A week or two ago one of the men Trump pardoned – a man who had been sentenced to eight years in prison for his violent acts – was arrested for burglary. Trump also granted clemency to members of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys, two violent extremist groups.  

And don’t kid yourself, these hate-filled extremists have plenty of friends. Trump received 77,303,568 votes in 2024. If even one percent of those voters are hate-filled extremists eager for violence, that’s 773,035 Americans. And that still leaves 76,530,533 who may not be filled with hate and may not be eager for violence right now, but who were fine with voting for a man who had promised to pardon these criminals. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that in 2024, there were 110 active white nationalist groups, 533 active hate groups, 16 male supremacist hate groups, and 838 anti-government groups in America. 

After freeing the violent (but white) criminals, Trump gave Elon Musk and DOGE access to vast amounts of your personal information, including birthdays, Social Security numbers, addresses, tax returns, bank accounts, information about your children, and much more.

Although Trump’s primary purpose may have been to allow Musk and the other oligarchs to exploit the data for commercial gain, we don’t know who has access to that data. 

The government does, but let’s save the topic of whether we can trust our government for another day. Who else has the data? Maybe the insurrectionists and hate groups do, too. Maybe it’s already on the dark web. In any event, you and your family are now less safe, easier to find, easier to threaten, and more likely to be the victim of identity theft and other crimes. 

But Trump was just getting started. Upon taking office, Trump announced his intention to use our military against American citizens to suppress protest, including protests by people he described as “the radical left” or “the enemy from within.” 

He nominated a Fox News anchor with white supremacist tattoos as Secretary of Defense – a man the National Guard did not trust to participate in protecting President Biden’s inauguration because of his Christian nationalist views. 

He fired career admirals and generals and replaced them with others he believes will choose loyalty to him over the Constitution. He fired the Judge Advocate General of the Army, Navy, and Air Force because, as Hegseth explained, Trump did not want the military’s top lawyers to pose “roadblocks to orders that are given by a commander in chief.” 

The Uniform Code of Military Justice requires servicemembers to obey “lawful” orders. Trump doesn’t want any military leader questioning whether his orders are lawful. 

And the danger of Trump using the military against Americans is higher today because of the Supreme Court’s decision giving a president absolute (or at least presumptive) immunity for acts committed as president within their core constitutional purview. This makes it more difficult for a servicemember to argue that an order was unlawful. 

And while that decision did not give other government officials immunity from prosecution, Trump has shown that he will pardon anyone he wants to regardless of what crimes that person has committed against American citizens.

Trump’s efforts to prepare for using the military against Americans did not end there. He has already declared eight “national emergencies” to increase his power and to circumvent Congress. He declared vast areas along the southern border to be military installations to circumvent the Posse Comitatus Act, which restricts the military’s role in domestic law enforcement. Rumors circulated in April that he might declare martial law.

But Trump did not just replace our military leaders with flunkies who will be loyal to him. He did the same thing at the FBI and at many other federal agencies. He installed Kash Patel as the director of the FBI – a man who fought to prevent the agency from investigating links between Trump associates and Russian officials. 

One of Patel’s first acts was to scrap the FBI unit charged with ensuring that the agency complies with rules governing FISA warrants and warrantless surveillance. Several senior FBI officials resigned or retired because of Trump’s politicization of the agency. 

Across the government Trump replaced experienced civil servants with people whose only qualifications are their blind loyalty to him and their willingness to disregard the law. 

Trump also issued orders that make citizens less safe from rogue law enforcement officers – orders that militarize local police departments, increase legal protections for officers accused of civil rights violations, and that reduce federal oversight of law enforcement. 

Trump began systematically trying to erase America’s history of racism by punishing entities with DEI programs, removing books from federal libraries, and in general creating an atmosphere favorable to hate. And favorable to Handmaiden evangelicals – people who, despite the evidence of carbon dating, believe the Earth is only six thousand years old. 

This is bad policy because it divides us and distracts from important issues, but it also fosters an environment where hate and violence against are allowed to grow and are tacitly encouraged. If you are black, Hispanic, Asian, Jewish, Catholic, gay, or female you are less safe than when Trump took office.

Trump immediately went after immigrants, including legal immigrants who dared to say things he and his cult don’t like. Trump used alleged antisemitism as one excuse for this crackdown as well as for his fascist attempts to control what universities do and teach. This  likely created more problems for Jewish students and academics than it alleviated. 

This administration has consistently and intentionally ignored laws and procedures intended to protect innocent people and to provide due process to citizens and non-citizens alike.

 Are you OK with these tactics because you’re a U.S. citizen and they don’t affect you? Good. Because Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of deporting American citizens in violation of the Constitution. In April he sat next to El Salvador’s president and said, “The homegrowns are next, the homegrowns. You’ve got to build about five more prisons.”

Trump and his administration have nothing but contempt for the law. They see the law as an impediment to what Trump called his “Unified Reich.” They routinely violate court orders. Vice President Vance has repeatedly opined that the courts lack the power to impede Trump’s agent. 

There is legislation pending in Congress that would prevent judges from holding Trump or other government officials in contempt if they break the law or violate court orders. That means even if a federal judge says that the government violated your rights and issues an injunction to stop the violations, the judge would have no power to enforce the injunction. 

As much as some folks get frustrated by the law’s complexity and how procedural rules sometimes slow things down, the rule of law protects all of us. That’s why founding fathers created a Constitution that includes a judicial branch. That’s why the Fifth Amendment states the government can’t deprive you of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.

Now let’s consider White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller – a man Olivia Troye, former Trump Homeland Security Advisor, described as a “horrible human being.” Miller is the man responsible for dark skinned children being kept in cages. 

A few weeks ago, Miller floated the idea of suspending habeas corpus. For those who don’t know what “habeas corpus” means (like Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem), the suspension of habeas corpus means the government can disappear you indefinitely without notice and without any valid reason, and you have no right to seek redress in court.

Trump’s Gestapo tactics and contempt for the rule of law are shameful. Not only are Trump’s tactics un-American, but they endanger the lives of our law enforcement officers by reducing trust. The International Association of Chiefs of Police says, “Building and maintaining community trust is the cornerstone of successful policing and law enforcement.” 

Many state and local law enforcement leaders believe Trump’s tactics are eroding public trust in law enforcement, and that puts our law enforcement officers in danger. Earlier this year in Santa Fe, police leaders stood before a packed auditorium and showed photos of their uniforms so residents would know what their local police officers look like. 

I served seven years as an Air Force Judge Advocate and two as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney. I prosecuted domestic violence cases for seven years and served as a municipal judge for the City of Boulder. I taught law at the University of Arkansas (where I shared Bill Clinton’s old office). I’m 67 years old and for 65 of those years I believed in our imperfect legal system and wrongly thought my fellow Americans believed in it.

 I’m old enough to remember when Republicans like Sen. Barry Goldwater and Attorney General Elliott Richardson refused to defend a criminal Republican President. But those days are gone. You can’t count on Republican senators and representatives to uphold the rule of law or to protect your legal rights. They’re actively trying to make judges powerless to protect your rights. We may one day live in an America where you are on your own.  

I’m not here to debate the Second Amendment. But seven months after I wrote my October article, I’m feeling pretty good about it.