On the 8th of February, far more protesters than expected turned out for a protest against Trump, Musk, and Fascism than organizers had planned. Well over 100 people, possibly twice that or more over the course of the afternoon showed up for the rally on Alafya Trail near a busy shopping mall and equally busy highway. Orlando cops threatened arrest for more than 100 people without a permit, but backed down after a stern lecture from FL State rep Anna Eskamini about constitutional rights.
Some of the organizers retreated before this threat was rebuffed, warning some vulnerable folks to get out in case OPD launched their 3ed attack in less than a year. Mass arrests would have been impossible without hundreds or even thousands of cops due to the open terrain and number of people. More people kept coming though, so those who left were quickly replaced. Eventually the crowd split into two units to ensure cops didn’t decide they had an excuse for a repeat.
Experienced organizers often scoff at threats related to permits, but nobody knows what the law is or if there IS any law with Trump in office. Thus the organizers acted with caution in dangerous times.
Once again though, protesters have opposed Trump in the open and gotten away with it. Trump’s threats of martial law and ordering National Guard troops to fire on protesters have not been delivered on. Activists in Chicago and Aurora served up stinging defeats to ICE, and the big LA ICE protests seem to be going down mostly unopposed.
Protesters and organizers have seized the initiative from Trump, and anyone familiar with warfare knows what that means. We have the ball, now is the time to PUSH with everything we’ve got, doing more of what is working.
My guess is that those behind Trump cannot afford to lose their fortunes to the economic devastation a hot civil war would bring. Presumably they also know shooting at protesters in the now very tense and heavily armed United States would almost guarantee such a civil war and wreck their economic position. So far, Trump has been forced to eat his words and blustering threats about martial law.
