I'm glad I was wrong
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This past Saturday, there were an estimated 1,500 protests across the country and the world against President Donald Trump, who you’ll note, is not a king. Before Saturday’s “No Kings” protests, Governor Mike Kehoe (also not a king) activated the National Guard, a move that I found to be an extreme escalation in response to protests that showed no sign of getting violent.
I railed against the initial silence from Mayor Cara Spencer’s administration, and took to various social platforms, including TikTok, to call Kehoe a coward. I also predicted that these National Guard troops would, in fact, be on the ground, and would be specifically positioned to incite violence against protestors, giving Kehoe and Trump an excuse to further their authoritarian goals with military might.
I was wrong, and that’s a good thing. But that’s not the full story here.
Nationwide, the No King protests were peaceful, Trump’s military parade was an embarrassment, and the National Guard was never deployed, because they were never necessary in the first place.
But before the planned events had even kicked off, a Democratic lawmaker and her husband were murdered in cold blood in their home in a politically motivated attack. After Trump won his second term in November of 2024, I predicted street-level violence within six months of him assuming office, and it looks like we’re right on cue.
The most frustrating thing about the lead up to Saturday’s protest was how some people bent over backwards to justify and downplay Kehoe’s activation of the National Guard. I was told “sure, he’s activated them, but he probably won’t deploy them,” as a justification for why it wasn’t actually a big deal. This type of thinking is bonkers. If you justify an authoritarian action because it isn’t a worse authoritarian action, you’re simply justifying authoritarianism. Sure, he’s brought his gun, but he probably won’t pull the trigger. Do you see how insane that sounds? I understand that I was a theater kid in high school and college, but I have to imagine most people have heard of Chekhov’s gun, right?
Kehoe’s activation of the guard was an intimidation tactic, executed on behest of a President who has expressed his fondness for authoritarians. They weren’t deployed, but they could have been, and they can be in the future. Protestors in the state of Missouri (who have a LOT to protest!) now have the fear that the National Guard can be turned against them if they step a little too far off the government-sanction boundaries that have been established. Kind of a tough blow to the first amendment, eh?
Not only that, but elected officials and public figures who support progressive causes now have the fear that they and their families could be targeted for assassination. Anyone who thinks that the Minnesota assassin was the only person who is willing to get violent in service of right-wing political beliefs is lying to you and lying to themselves.
So yes, I was wrong this time, and there were no boots on the ground in St. Louis to incite violence during the No King day protests under the guise of keeping the peace.
Does that mean that Mayor Spencer should have stayed silent? Absolutely not. (I still think her statement was weak.)
Does that mean that the Guard will never be used against peacefully protesting Missourians? Absolutely not.
Does that mean that we need not fear violence from an empowered right wing in our country? Absolutely. Not.
It means that Kehoe, Trump, and the rest of their sphere have put their guns on the table, and now we all just have to wait until they all inevitably go off.
A few bits and bobs
Missouri Republican says special interests killed bill aiding child sex abuse survivors (Missouri Independent)
4TheVille Emergency Hub plans to keep assisting St. Louis tornado victims (STLPR)
In a Substack post I highly recommend, Ryan Enos more eloquently expresses the same sentiment I had on Saturday, that there won’t be a defining moment when authoritarianism is officially declared.
You made it to the end! Here’s the Star Wars language Coors Light sign.