Blurring the Line Between Separation of Powers, Trump is ‘Unleashing’ Cops
The targets aren’t just local and state officials; they’re Black people, Latinos, Indigenous people, and other marginalized groups
Building on the pre-existing Homeland Security Task Forces, Trump plans to target local and state officials and use the military and national security apparatus to increase the amount of militarized equipment police have access to. The “Strengthening and Unleashing America’s Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens” executive order also provides police officers legal protection through the administration’s Attorney General.
These policies have the support of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), which has an outside influence as its president sits on the Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC). Not only has the FOP president made racist comments while falsely claiming there's a war on police, but he and other police union leaders have introduced legislation like the “Protect and Serve Act” and the “Thin Blue Line Act,” which are built on those false narratives.
After signing his executive order forcing police to work with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in late April, some sheriffs have been outspoken about the White House’s overreach. San Miguel County, Colorado Sheriff Bill Masters said, "This executive order is an attempt to federalize, by intimidation, the San Miguel County Sheriff's Office to do the current administration's bidding on their political cause of the day.”
The latest order “unleashing” the police gives federal authorities the means to go after local and state police who refuse to blur the lines between local and state law enforcement and federal law enforcement. That means a sheriff like Masters could be targeted along with local and state officials for simply enforcing the separation of powers dictated in the U.S. Constitution.
Aside from targeting local and state leaders, the dog whistles in the order make it clear that it is meant to focus on Black and Brown communities.
As history tells us, Black people stand to bear the brunt of this move. The language is focused on many far-right talking points relating to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. The first section of the order makes it blatantly obvious that the goal is to target non-white communities.
“When local leaders demonize law enforcement and impose legal and political handcuffs that make aggressively enforcing the law impossible, crime thrives and innocent citizens and small business owners suffer,” reads the order. “ My Administration will therefore: establish best practices at the State and local level for cities to unleash high-impact local police forces; protect and defend law enforcement officers wrongly accused and abused by State or local officials; and surge resources to officers in need. My Administration will work to ensure that law enforcement officers across America focus on ending crime, not pursuing harmful, illegal race- and sex-based “equity” policies.”
The first section ends with the order saying that the result “will be a law-abiding society,” making it clearer that he is again giving police a green light to violate people’s civil rights and forcing them into silence. It’s not about crime. It’s about keeping people from holding local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and their officers accountable while reversing even the tiniest bit of progress made since 2020 by protecting corrupt cops.
“The Attorney General shall take all appropriate action to create a mechanism to provide legal resources and indemnification to law enforcement officers who unjustly incur expenses and liabilities for actions taken during the performance of their official duties to enforce the law. This mechanism shall include the use of private-sector pro bono assistance for such law enforcement officers.”
Further illustrating the Trump administration’s motivations can be found in the third section, which says the order will empower police to “aggressively police communities” and will also “strengthen and expand legal protections” for cops. The order strives to enact enhanced sentences for crimes against police despite every state in the U.S. already having laws that do this. While there is a lot of propaganda in the order, it is used to justify broad, dangerous policies.
The third section ends with ordering Attorney General Pam Bondi to review consent decrees between the federal government and local police departments. These typically revolve around a department’s culture of violating people’s rights. The third section bleeds into the fourth, which demands an increase in the “provision of excess military and national security assets in local jurisdictions to assist State and local law enforcement.”
“Within 90 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of Defense, in coordination with the Attorney General, shall determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime,” reads the order.
As the administration’s focus on targeting speech continues to grow, it seems this order is meant to add Black people to the mix of pro-Palestine protesters who have been targeted alongside Latinos expressing themselves through tattoos. The notion that Trump acolyte Stephen Miller may soon be the head of National Security, what’s to stop him from declaring any U.S. citizen a threat to national security? And if he does, who do you think will be the targets?
If the administration is willing to go after judges, mayors, and even police chiefs and sheriffs, what would make anyone think they’ll be exempt? If Trump’s actions after the first 100 days tell us anything, it’s that anyone who is vocal about civil rights and justice will be targeted by the administration in due time. The order is clear on this point as well.
The goal is to target officials who:
“willfully and unlawfully direct the obstruction of criminal law, including by directly and unlawfully prohibiting law enforcement officers from carrying out duties necessary for public safety and law enforcement; or
“unlawfully engage in discrimination or civil-rights violations under the guise of 'diversity, equity, and inclusion' initiatives that restrict law enforcement activity or endanger citizens.”
Outspoken members of marginalized groups could inevitably be targets, as the order will serve as a test of who they’ll arrest. The wording is general, making what will be deemed ‘prohibiting law enforcement’ dubious, especially when local and state officials simply upholding the U.S. Constitution are made targets of the administration.
This raises another question: What will this later mean for outspoken advocates and activists seeking a better society? Will they be deemed a threat to national security? Many questions like this revolve around every Trump executive order, and organizations like immigrant rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are challenging them in court.
But as we all know, the courts move way too slow, and the dozens of white nationalists in the Trump administration know that. At a time when police killings of unarmed civilians continue to set records each year, the Trump administration is moving to exacerbate that problem by removing accountability and granting cops more power (and money), thus taking protections away from the citizens they are supposed to protect.
Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
Exactly 👍🏿 Amy Cooper dog whistles!
Arturo, thanks for bringing this all to light. This regime has gone the farthest and is the most nakedly aggressive with regressive policies of all recent administrations. However, as others point out, this is an extension of existing policies that created an already unchecked, overpowered and heavily militarized municipal police presence. It's a dangerous step backwards.
Decommissioned MRAPS, body armor and M4s from overseas wars were already landing in police departments. Cops rarely, if ever, are punished for abuse of force or wrongful death, even with video evidence. Police unions have an abundance of legal counsel, making the pro bono part of this redundant. Mental health and other public services are consistently under or unfunded to annually boost police spending, so more money is useless.
Police work is important, but the simplistic romanticizing of it in culture and the public at large leaves discussion around it frustratingly binary. The sooner this country finds a UK or French policing model more appealing than Judge Dredd, the better.