In real time, we are watching the United States of America slide further into authoritarianism. As the administration’s response to protests in Los Angeles escalates, President Donald Trump’s handling of the issue must be understood in the context of his broader assault on democracy and the rule of law.

If deploying the National Guard and the marines to control citizens exercising their democratic right to protest was not a clear enough message, on Monday, Trump said that “it would be a great thing” if Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, was arrested over his opposition to the federal government’s intervention.

President Donald Trump said he would support the governor of California being arrested. Credit: AP

Another alarming example of encroachment on citizen’s rights is the recent news that the Trump administration is engaging the US-based tech company Palantir to merge government data to create one enormous mega-centre of personal information on citizens. Here, it joins China and Russia in the use of mass surveillance to monitor and control its people.

The notoriously secretive tech company already has deep connections to the US government, particularly to the Central Intelligence Agency and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement – the agency that provoked the protests in California as it carried out raids and mass arrests of illegal immigrants across Los Angeles late last week.

In its contract with ICE, Palantir is developing a surveillance platform that will allow the government to prioritise people for deportation, track deportations, and streamline “deportation logistics”.

And in yet another government contract revealed last month,........

© Brisbane Times