“Fascism is a qualitatively different way that this system enforces its rule over people.” 

–Bob Avakian

It is hard to rank the many outrageous and downright criminal violations of law and custom that Trump has perpetrated, but his threats against Chicago this week have to be near the top. As Noche Diaz points out in the accompanying video, Trump and his flunky “War Secretary” Hegseth literally threaten, and glory in, the prospect of murder and openly scorn “tepid legality.” Trump posted “Chicago about to find out why it’s called the Department of WAR,” with an image of Trump dressed in an Army uniform and helicopters flying in the background with the words “Chipocalypse Now.” This came while ICE agents and weaponry were poured into a naval base north of Chicago, even as the question of what other outright military force will “invade” Chicago to carry out this war is not yet clear. (Noche’s video goes into a number of critical dimensions of Trump’s threatened assault on Chicago, and people should listen to—and spread—the whole thing.) 

In an interview on MSNBC with Jen Psaki, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said that there has been no direct communication from the White House and that he, Pritzker, has been relying on contacts with the National Guard and other agencies to clue him in. Pritzker made the point that all this is “not normal.” 

The estimated proportion of households in Chicago with undocumented immigrants is 8 percent, the majority from Mexico. In a city of nearly 3 million people, that’s a lot of human beings, most of whom are doing their best to scrape out a life in very hard conditions. With all the hype that has gone into this, it would not be wrong to expect and prepare for some kind of Nazi-like attempt at “shock and awe”—i.e., an operation of unprecedented lawlessness and brutality, beyond what they have done in LA or other places.

While there is widespread fear, people in Chicago have continued to mobilize and get into the streets to protest this in different ways. City officials including the mayor, Brandon Johnson, have opposed Trump’s move. At this point, plans are proceeding for the huge annual parade celebrating Mexican independence—which should be a site of defiance and resistance against Trump fascism.

All this is very positive and people do need to actively resist potentially unprecedented levels of repression. At the same time, more--much more--is needed. As Bob Avakian says in his social media message REVOLUTION #132, “The whole point of principle…”

At the same time, there is the very real question which a number of people have seriously raised: Already millions have protested what the Trump regime is doing, yet this regime remains in power and is rapidly rampaging ahead in perpetrating horror after horror—so how could even a massive mobilization to DC have a chance of succeeding, of actually driving out this regime?

The answer is that, as important as mass protests have been, what is being called for by Refuse Fascism is not just another protest. In keeping with the unprecedented nature of what is happening with the terrible tyranny of this fascist regime, what is being called for is an unprecedented, historic mobilization and convergence of millions in DC—determined to create a massive “political earthquake from below,” bringing about a profound political crisis such that the completely illegitimate nature of the Trump fascist regime stands out all the more sharply, provoking and motivating major shifts and realignments throughout society, including within the dominant institutions, such that this regime can no longer function and cannot remain in power.