A wall at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum displays these words.
First, they came for the socialists, and I did not speak
out — because I was not a socialist.Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak
out — because I was not a trade unionist.Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak
out — because I was not a Jew.Then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me.
The Rev. Martin Niemöller
German Lutheran pastor, Martin Niemöller, wrote these immortal words. He sometimes changed the names of the groups to resonate with the audience he addressed, but the message remained the same. If we don’t speak up for our neighbors as Christ taught us, we may also end up unjustly treated or worse.
Our Silence will not Save Us
We’re in danger of allowing our silence to pave the way for tyranny. This government is coming for us, and we have to answer the question, “How will Christianity respond to the tyranny of our times?”
Smash-mouth Against a Wall by Federal Agents
On July 28, 2020, Newsweek reported abuse alleged by a photojournalist who was taken into custody after documenting the ongoing anti-racism protests in Portland, Oregon. When this event happened, protests had arisen stemming from the police slaying of George Floyd for 61 consecutive days.
The photographer, Grace Morgan, reports a tear gas canister landed at her feet and began spraying its noxious fumes. When Morgan kicked the can away from herself, at that point, she was tackled from behind by two marshals who took her into custody. Morgan asserts being searched in the courthouse parking garage and again upstairs. There is no information about the gender of the agent searching Morgan’s body.
Officers walked her around from floor to floor at the Hatfield Federal Courthouse. Periodically an officer would order her to face the wall, and the officer would take ahold of the back of her head and slam her face into the wall. This occurred with others taken into custody as well. Morgan had been maced and had trouble seeing where she was going. The captives were shackled and put into holding cells for over 5 hours.
Numerous Potential Violations of the First Amendment and Humiliation Tactics
The officers involved returned her equipment and video footage. Morgan stated, “They told me that my footage had been reviewed and the Attorney General had decided to drop all charges and release me, so I was given my things back and sent back outside. They did destroy a lot of my stuff unnecessarily.” Agents had also cut her gas mask off of her face the night before.
At no point did the agents state what the charges were against or the other detainees. These activities should disturb every single one of us. The press, in this case, photojournalist Grace Morgan, had the right to videotape what was happening in accordance with the right to a free press under the First Amendment. She did not commit an arrestable offense, and in kicking the tear gas canister away from her body, she was protecting herself from harm.
Morgan alleges repeated physical abuse to her head by fit officers undoubtedly much bigger than her. She was cuffed without charges being read, and from what I can tell, Morgan was not Mirandized.
Oh hey, here’s the video of my arrest, cool cool cool, cool-cool, coooooollll. Jk it was horrible and scary and sucked #PortlandProtest https://t.co/xAjm3cPBRc
— Peter (@gravemorgan) July 27, 2020
The Attorney General is not the Arbiter of “Free Press” Content
On top of that, Morgan’s footage was reviewed by the “Attorney General.” The article is unclear if that refers to William Barr specifically because it is capitalized, or a representative of the Portland US District Attorney’s office. At any rate, under the auspices of Barr’s office, that somebody acted like a judge and jury by viewing Morgan’s video content and effectively ruling it was “harmless” and was returned. By what authority? Not the First Amendment.
This begs the question, would they have kept or destroyed the footage had the material been deemed “damaging,” to Barr and Trump? The First Amendment awaits this answer; the American people must demand it. These secretive, Gestapo-like tactics cannot continue.
Warning: Ignoring or Discrediting Judges and the Judicial System is the Beginning of Official Tyranny
Federal agents took Morgan into custody just days after a federal district judge issued a temporary restraining order. The order blocks the US Marshals Service and the Department of Homeland Security from targeting journalists and legal observers of the protests, as reported by CNBC.
Judge Michael Simon ruled that the American Civil Liberties Union case had demonstrated enough preliminary evidence that required judicial review of potential First Amendment violations. The Justice Department inspector general has committed to reviewing the conduct of federal agents involved in these incidents.
Even after identifying themselves as members of the press, victims were tear-gassed, shot with rubber bullets, and subjected to pepper balls. The officers hit them with police batons, and often with no warning.
Part of Judge Simon’s order included the following direction. Journalists and legal observers “shall not be required to disperse following the issuance of an order to disperse, and such persons shall not be subject to arrest for not dispersing following the issuance of an order to disperse,” but he indicated that they “remain bound by all other laws.”
The interim executive director of ACLU of Oregon stated, “Federal agents from Trump’s Departments of Homeland Security and Justice are terrorizing the community, threatening lives, and relentlessly attacking journalists and legal observers documenting protests. These are the actions of a tyrant, and they have no place anywhere in America.”
Judge Simon wrote, “Although the Federal Defendants assert their right to disperse ‘violent opportunists,’ there is no evidence that any journalist or legal observer–let alone any Plaintiffs–has damaged federal property or acted violently towards federal officers.” He continued, “Indeed, the evidence before the Court shows that journalists and legal observers attend the protests as ‘guardians of the public interest,’ not as vandals.”
Trump Voters, You Can Change your Minds and still be Patriots
For those of us who did not vote for Trump in 2016, it will take little convincing, if any, to support Joe Biden just to get Trump out of the Oval Office. But for those who supported Trump the first time and are having doubts, I invite you to change your mind. It is our prerogative to change course when something does not go to plan. Trump’s administration has gone off the rails and is out of control.
Martin Niemöller once Supported another Tyrant, Adolf Hitler, but he Changed his Mind
Martin Niemöller authored the famous quote above. . . “they came for the socialists, and I didn’t speak out–because I wasn’t a socialist” . . . Niemöller was a nationalist and he first thought that Hitler was inspiring a national revival and would make Germany great again. That is until Niemöller met Hitler in 1934 along with a couple of influential Protestant bishops. Niemöller realized during this meeting that the Nazi secret police, the Gestapo, was eavesdropping on his Pastors Emergence League. He began to recognize this regime as a dictatorship. Niemöller became a vocal critic and wound up imprisoned in Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps from 1938-1945.
Our Detention Centers are Concentration Camps
We know what happened then, and we know that Trump is a Hitler-wanna-be. We can draw so many parallels between the Trump administration and the Third Reich that it is truly scary. Among some of the more egregious examples are the “detention” centers at the southwestern US border. They are glorified concentration camps and the little children are suffering.
Trump has no Respect for the First Amendment
Trump and Barr used over 12 police entities to break up an hours-long peaceful protest in Lafayette Park across from the White House. Orchestrated by US Attorney General Barr, Trump used these police organizations like Brown Shirts to violently disperse a legally assembled protest with flashbangs, rubber bullets and tear gas. This happened all for a ridiculous photo opp and strange and obscene use of the Holy Bible as a prop in front of St. John Episcopal Church, the “church of presidents.”
On the day we laid civil rights icon John Robert Lewis to rest, Trump suggested we delay the November election. This was especially tyrannical given Lewis was nearly killed fighting for the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. No American president has ever done that, and elections have been held during numerous national crises.
If we do not work to legally remove Trump from office, I can hear the lamentations of Martin Niemöller now…
They came for the African Americans, and I did not speak
Out — because I am not an African American.They came for LGBTQ people, and I did not speak
Out — because I am not an LGBTQ person.They came for Latinx people, and I did not speak
Out — because I am not a Latinx.They came for the righteous protesters protecting our rights; I didn’t speak
Out — because I let them do this dangerous work on my behalf.They came for me, and there was no one left to speak out.
Let this not be our future. How will Christianity respond to the tyranny of our times?
Image: Federal law enforcement officers, deployed under the Trump administration’s new executive order to protect federal monuments and buildings, face off with protesters against racial inequality in Portland, Oregon, U.S. July 18, 2020. (Reuters)
