June 12, 2025
by Marybeth O’Mara
Every week now feels awful and jam-packed with news, and this week has not only not been a respite, but has, in many ways, felt more jam-packed and more awful.
After publishing last week’s newsletter, I gleefully watched BlueSky as Elon Musk and Donald Trump escalated their falling out with a frantic series of posts in which they threatened each other’s effectiveness at rooting out waste and inefficiency (this went both ways), the expense of the Big Beautiful tax Bill (Musk to Trump), government contracts (Trump to Musk), reputation in Jeffrey Epstein’s files (Musk to Trump), reputation around drug abuse (Trump to Musk), and more. At least several dozen tweets and Truths were posted and replied to (and re-posted, and commented on) and the spat dominated the news cycle for a couple of days. It was fun to follow, but as with all things and all timelines Trump, it was soon overshadowed by more—and more threatening—news.
On Saturday, California residents began protesting ICE raids at Home Depots in the Los Angeles area on Saturday, after watching ICE detain migrants in many cities as they attended their mandated hearings for asylum or citizenship at federal buildings! Protesters confronted ICE agents, who were masked and unidentifiable, and called the LAPD for assistance. By dinnertime, the president signed an order for 1000 California National Guard troops to be assigned to help quell the protests in order to allow ICE to continue their raids and detentions of migrants, whether legally in the US or not. Governor Newsom went on a media campaign, letting the feds know that he had not authorized or requested the National Guard deployment, as was required by law, and that he would continue to protest the deployment of federal troops while working to restore order in the few protests that got ugly. On Sunday, the National Guard troops showed up in LA, a reporter was shot by a non-lethal round fired by an LAPD cop while broadcasting, and reports of vandalism were expanding. Defense Secretary Hegseth approved orders to deploy US Marines to LA, and they arrived on the scene Monday. The rest of the week has been a back-and-forth between federal agents and troops, and the locally-elected officials in California, and as I write this, Newsom’s lawsuit against the federal government over these deployments is unfolding in a court hearing. Also this afternoon, as all of this was playing out, California’s US Senator Alex Padilla was asking a question at a news conference held by Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. He was forcibly removed, forced to the floor, handcuffed, and eventually released. This is an ongoing situation.
As the situation in California has become more heated, the feds have announced that they are sending ICE agents to conduct large-scale raids in sanctuary cities in states with Democratic governors, including Chicago, New York, and Philadephia. Border czar Tom Homan promises to “flood the zone” with ICE agents conducting large-scale raids in the immediate future. Spontaneous local protests have emerged in the affected cities and have been overwhelmingly peaceful.
As all of this is playing out, so is the continued attack on American health care by Robert Kennedy, Jr—-he fired his entire board of vaccination advisors this week, and has begun to replace them, many of whom are published vaccine “skeptics.” The attack on higher education continues, as does reduction in funding for school lunches, Medicaid, public transportation, public broadcasting and radio, and so so much more.
Are you frustrated yet?
Luckily, scheduled for this Saturday are the No Kings protests, rallies, and marches, which is possibly the largest coordinated set of protests in the nation’s history. Over 1400 protests are scheduled, hosted by a wide array of organizations, including the ACLU, Indivisible, 50501, and many others (see below.)
Whether you are new to public protests, or a seasoned rebel (or Crone!), this weekend is the right time to get involved. Remember that a few weeks ago, I cited Erika Chenowith’s “3.5% Theory,” in which she contends that an authoritarian movement cannot resist when at least 3.5% of the population steps out to publicly resist in nonviolent, organized action.
Given the overt threats and recent actions by the administration, especially in LA but threatened in other places, there is a real possibility that some of this week’s protests could be disrupted in ways that the April 5th protests were not. Given this reality, it is good to be prepared. In addition to carrying your favorite posters, and applying sunscreen, remember to carry a mask in case of pepper spray, wear shoes you can move quickly in, write your name and phone number in Sharpie on your arm, and know these “rules” shared by the ACLU:
Be there! Make your voice heard! As Holocaust survivor Elie Weisel wrote, “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
See you Saturday!