The recent deployment of the United States Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles is a new stage in the democratic backsliding of our country. Experts who study authoritarianism expected this was coming.
Authoritarian movements are known for using the military to frighten people into obedience. It’s shocking, but it’s also a key tool in their playbook. And it can be very effective — if we allow it to happen. Domestic deployment of the military is not a spur-of-the-moment response to protests. It is a well-thought-out plan that abuses the President’s broad emergency powers. That’s why those of us who care about democracy must keep our eyes on the bigger picture of authoritarian strategies.
The authoritarian playbook contains many tactics (like pardoning illegal behavior, investigating critics and rivals, and regulatory retaliation), and they’re all being deployed at once. It’s important for us to understand what we’re up against and support those who are resisting from multiple angles.
How Authoritarians Seized the Opportunity in Los Angeles
In Los Angeles, communities stood up to protect their families, friends, and neighbors who have been terrorized by ICE raids. Despite the anguish people were feeling, protests were overwhelmingly peaceful. People exercised their basic constitutional rights of lawful protest and free speech.
However, to an authoritarian movement, protest presents both a threat and a ripe opportunity. The threat? A challenge to their abuses of power. The opportunity? To rebrand the protests as chaos and violence, justifying the deployment of troops for “public safety” as a way to deepen control. This is what happened when the administration sent the National Guard and Marines to Los Angeles over the objections of Governor Gavin Newsom.
To be clear, there was no public safety crisis. The real danger to Angelenos first came from heavily armed and masked ICE officials detaining day laborers from Home Depot parking lots, workers at garment warehouses, and even people arriving to scheduled check-ins at ICE facilities. After that, more danger came from the use of military force against those who showed up to protect their neighbors from the terror of family separation. Peaceful protesters faced rubber bullets and tear gas for lawfully exercising their First Amendment rights. This is the definition of a manufactured crisis.
Domestic deployment of the military during peaceful protests does not improve anyone’s safety. I’d be remiss not to point out that this tactic also harms the military itself in both reputation and morale. It signals that the military is something to fear, not trust or respect. And disturbingly, military members who joined to serve our country are being sent into their own communities to round up their neighbors. This is not what they are trained to do, nor why I believe they signed up.
Zooming Out: What We’re Expecting Next
Los Angeles is a testing ground. Authoritarians are always checking to see what they can get away with. Each time they succeed at limiting public displays of dissent, they win a little more ground and it becomes harder to fight back.
The President has stated that he will send ICE tactical teams to New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Northern Virginia. If that happens, we can expect more lawful protests, and more opportunities to attempt to justify the use of force. If it doesn’t happen, we must remain alert. A key tactic in the authoritarian playbook may temporarily dissipate, but it doesn’t go away.
The reason I keep referencing the “authoritarian playbook” is that it is a multi-pronged approach. It shape-shifts. It keeps us guessing. And we have to stay focused on everything else they’re doing because it’s all connected.
For example, Senator Josh Hawley has used what’s happening in Los Angeles to justify investigating groups supporting immigrant communities and peaceful protestors. In letters to these organizations, Hawley demands all of their internal communications, financial records, grant applications, and other sensitive information. He threatens potential referral to the Department of Justice for criminal investigation if the groups don’t comply. At the same time, the House Committee on Homeland Security has launched a similarly invasive probe into more than 200 organizations working on immigration.
In addition to investigations, we’ll continue to see political violence minimized by an administration that has gutted programs to detect and prevent such violence. The chaos is deliberate and unending, designed to demoralize and overwhelm us.
Having an awareness of the shape-shifting involved is essential. Being responsive is important — but it’s not enough.
Philanthropy Must Not Flinch
The authoritarian movement wants us to fear that our philanthropic investments are now risky. We must not bend to fear. Instead, we must stand side-by-side with our grantees and each other. Together, we can resist the weaponization of law enforcement, bad-faith congressional investigations, and attacks on our partners’ ability to serve their communities.
But how can we do this if we never know exactly what’s coming next? We can provide broad, general operating support to those working to create a multiracial, inclusive democracy. Efforts to fund include:
- A broad pro-democracy ecosystem of researchers to understand authoritarian threats;
- Legal and policy advocates to counter them; and
- Movement organizers to build a popular front against them.
Flexibility, trust, and courage will be key. Front line organizers, mobilizers, and coalition builders must know we have their backs. This means providing funding and taking principled stands.
If you’re looking for ways to get involved in pushing back against the authoritarian playbook, please get in touch. Democracy Fund is proud to support the Courage Calls Us campaign and other efforts that are underway.