This week, in a scene reminiscent of a crackdown  in an authoritarian regime, U.S. troops stationed in our nation’s  capital at Trump’s behest fired tear gas and rubber bullets on peaceful  protestors to disperse them as Trump delivered a “law and order” speech  from the White House Rose Garden. The sounds of protestors screaming and  shots being fired could be heard in the background as Trump spoke tough  talk, and threatened to send the U.S. military to cities to take  control. Trump then awkwardly swaggered to St. John’s Church, with a few  in his inner circle, and held up a Bible. It was a scene evoking a  democracy in collapse —while the country and the world looked on in  horror.

While Republicans largely remained silent and  went along, top generals, some of whom formerly worked in the regime,  spoke out about the violation of our Constitution, and Trump and the  military troops he used, violating their oath. Democracies turned on  Trump, while he embraced strongmen from Russia and Brazil, and by week’s  end said he would pull troops out of Germany.

Trump spent most of the week cowering in the  White House — having extended its perimeter with, ironically, walls of  his own — and continued his tough talk, using term like “dominate” and  referring to protestors as “terrorists.” As with his inability to show  any empathy for 100,000 Americans dead from the coronavirus, Trump made  no effort to acknowledge the social unrest with healing words or  actions.

But the American people were not deterred.  Protests continued, and by Wednesday, the 9th day, had turned mostly  peaceful. Americans, who had been cooped up at home for months from the  coronavirus took to the street in the broadest protest in U.S. history,  spreading to more than 650 cities and towns, across all 50 states — and  even in cities worldwide.

Read the full list here: https://theweeklylist.org/weekly-list/week-186/