This past Friday, the top three Republicans in the House of Representatives—Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer—attacked the upcoming No Kings rallies on October 18 and slandered them as “terrorist events.” Johnson said, “They have a ‘Hate America’ rally that’s scheduled for Oct. 18 on the National Mall. It’s all the pro-Hamas wing and the, you know, the Antifa people, they’re all coming out...”

This is a dangerous new low from these fascists, and while the charge is patently ridiculous, it also has to be vigorously opposed by every person and organization opposed to what this regime is doing. Especially in light of Trump's moves to surveil, suppress and classify anyone who opposes this regime and refuses to go along with it as a "terrorist," this needs to be taken very seriously.

Everyone should double down on their commitment and determination to go to No Kings Day and to bring others.

The No Kings coalition itself both dismissed the charge with the ridicule and contempt it deserved and then made the point that, “Instead of reopening the government, preserving affordable healthcare, or lowering costs for working families, Johnson’s attacking millions of Americans who are peacefully coming together to say that America belongs to its people, not to kings.”

Bernie Sanders quickly came to the defense of the coalition with a video statement. The Steady State, a group that includes more than 330 former ambassadors, inspectors general, flag officers, Defense and Homeland Security officials, and senior intelligence officers, also came out against Johnson’s slander. 

More is needed. What does it say when a nonviolent mass action is demonized as "terrorism," while actual lawless terror is being perpetrated on defenseless people by the illegitimate Trump fascist regime every day? No matter how groundless and ridiculous these attacks are, they do fool and rile up the hard-core base of Trumpism. Vigilance is called for. 

These accusations are both absurd and extremely dangerous. In the words of Refuse Fascism’s call for millions to amass in DC beginning November 5, to drive the Trump fascist regime from power through sustained non-violent protest: “Fascism is not a looming threat. It is upon us now.“ A key part of enforcing the whole fascist program is crushing—through violence and repression—all opposition, and to paint all those who oppose this fascist program as enemies of the state.  

This regime’s attempts to crush dissent must be confronted with a spirit of “an attack on one is an attack on all.” The poem from Pastor Martin Niemöller in summing up the deadly harm of conciliating with Nazi Germany contains living lessons that must not be repeated today:

First they came for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.

As others have pointed out, this is a very short poem! It is a warning, not an instruction to follow. And the only way this ominous direction can be stopped, defeated, and reversed, is by all of us, the tens of millions who hate this fascist nightmare, coming together to stop this before it’s too late. By uniting all who can be united and overcoming divide-and-conquer, to drive the Trump fascist regime from power.

Everyone should stand up against this attack on No Kings Day and step up efforts to bring others to fill the cities and towns nationwide on October 18. And every group and every individual opposed to this regime should plan now and start to organize for the mass, nonviolent outpouring planned to begin on November 5, in Washington, DC. To continue with the call from Refuse Fascism:

Humanity's only hope is for the decent people of this country to rise in our millions. We cannot wait for future and rigged elections. We must drive the Trump Fascist Regime from power.

Beginning November 5, the one-year anniversary of Trump's election, flood DC in nonviolent protest. Surround the White House. Surround the Capitol. Surround the illegitimate fascist-packed Supreme Court. Come back again and again. Across the country, refuse to comply. Every person of conscience, millions of us together, grind the machinery of the fascist regime to a halt.

Don't stop until Trump is removed.