This short video was produced by the Lincoln Project, a group of Republicans (including most notably Steve Schmidt, former campaign director for John McCain), Republicans who can no longer stomach Trump and rightfully consider him an existential threat to our republic. After watching the video, check out the link below it to Professor Juan Cole’s commentary on the Portland invasion by Trump’s secret police. Professor Cole points out that while Trump justifies the unconstitutional kidnapping of peaceful demonstrators in Portland by his private army based on his concern about antifa-driven violence, at the same time he has cheered on armed thugs in Michigan.

Trump’s Secret Police whisk Portland Protesters into Unmarked Cars, but allowed Right wing armed militiamen to invade Michigan State House

EXCERPT:

“On May 1, armed protesters entered the State House in Michigan. Some broke into the legislative chamber and stood, with guns, over the state representatives, one of whom put on a bullet proof vest. The militias and right wing agitators came again two weeks later and the legislative session was canceled. These were a right wing mob protesting the shut down of some economic activities by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer as a mitigation measure against the coronavirus. As a result of Whitmer’s measures, Michigan is in a substantially better place than the slavishly pro-Trump Deep South this July.

“Trump had encouraged such lawlessness, tweeting, “Liberate Michigan.”

“You will notice that no CPB agents were flown out to Lansing to defend the State House from this potentially violent armed mob. None were hustled into unmarked vehicles by nameless Federal agents.

“The difference in response to the the two protests demonstrates conclusively that the CPB agents in Portland were functioning as Trump’s secret police, since they were only concerned with suppressing dissent when it was dissent against the policies favored by the president. It is not about a neutral rule of law for all. The infiltration of US security agencies by far right wing conspiracy theorists such as QAnon makes these infractions against the Constitution even more frightening.”

Here’s a (fairly safe) prediction: Soon we’ll see more and more ad hoc military-style bands of right-wing thugs (like those Professor Cole describes flourishing in Michigan), inspired by Trump’s lawlessness to initiate lawless operations of their own, so that no one watching is certain anymore whether these are the President’s secret police or secret police wannabes … and more and more law-abiding people will be afraid to leave their homes to participate in lawful demonstrations, what are supposed to be our birthright as American citizens.