After an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, a great many Republican officials scrambled to defend the shooter and blame the victim. Some in the party, however, went much further — and took aim at dissent itself.
Republican Rep. Roger Williams of Texas, for example, appeared on NewsNation just two days after Good’s death and told viewers, “People need to quit demonstrating, quit yelling at law enforcement, challenging law enforcement, and begin to get civil. And until we do that, I guess we’re going to have it this way. And the people that are staying in their homes or doing the right thing need to be protected.”
As a rule, “people need to quit demonstrating” is not the sort of statement American leaders make — demonstrations are part of the fabric that helps define who we are as a people — but Williams wasn’t alone.
A fellow Texan, GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt, also told Newsmax last week, “The bottom line is this: When a federal officer gives you instructions, you abide by them and then you get to keep your life.”
On Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem sat down with CNN’s Jake Tapper and asked, “The question is, why are we arguing with a president who’s working to keep people safe?”
It was a rhetorical question, but the answer is that (a) the Trump-ordered ICE raids are not, in fact, keeping people safe; and (b) in a free country, we’re still allowed to argue with a president.
But to fully appreciate the party’s message, consider what happened when Donald Trump spoke to reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday night when he was asked whether he still believes “deadly force was necessary” in the incident that killed Goode.
“It was highly disrespectful of law enforcement,” the president replied. “The woman and her friend were highly disrespectful of law enforcement. You saw that. They were harassing them. We were following for days and for hours. And I think, frankly, they’re professional agitators. … These are professional agitators. And law enforcement should not be in a position where they have to put up with this stuff.” So Trump’s answer to whether it was “necessary” for an ICE agent to shoot an unarmed mom in the face was that the victim had been “disrespectful.” All of which serves as a timely reminder that the Republican Party’s line on dissent has reached an ugly and radical level that is plainly at odds not only with the First Amendment, but with the American tradition. The “Late Show” host, Stephen Colbert, in his opening monologue on Thursday night, told his audience, “The message from this administration is clear: Only they determine the truth, and when their forces come to your city, obey or die, and if you die, you clearly didn’t obey.” The host continued, “This should be an alarm bell for the entire country, whether you live in a red state or a blue state, because if we let this go on, regardless of who your state voted for, one day you’ll have unaccountable armed government agents acting with impunity in your town.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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